Monday, May 19, 2008
Changes...
Sorry I have been a bit M.I.A. lately on blog posts, but I've had some sudden job changes in the last month. Hopefully soon I'll be back to more regular posts. Ta-ta for now!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Girls, Girls, Girls
Last weekend was Maliah's bachelorette party, which was an extravaganza at her mom's house in Phoenix, AZ. I arrived Friday evening after an extremely fast and easy plane ride from Los Angeles. About 20 girls or so descended on the house for the festivities, and they had prepared with numerous air mattresses, copious amounts of liquor, and LOTS of guacamole. Friday night was spent coordinating the airport pick-ups for all the girls, and meeting and greeting for those of us who had not met before. The moment I stepped into her mothers kitchen (of her gorgeous 5 bedroom 5 1/2 bath house), a margarita was thrust in my hands. I should have known that the night was going to end up bad when my food options were a flour tortilla with quac and salsa inside, and some berries. You would think I would have slowed my drinking knowing nothing was really in my stomach to absorb it, but I soldiered on consuming 2 margaritas, and then switching to vodka cranberry which is always a dumb move. I ended up calling Denise from the couch in her mother's living room, and then just never got up. I woke up there the next morning with a random blanket over me, and another girl asleep in the chair next to the couch. It was a bangin way to begin the weekend.
Saturday we all headed to the pool. Some sat in the sun, while others (like myself) stayed under the shady shelter. I was a bit hung over, and so tired because all the margarita mix in my body woke me up at like 8:15 that morning. Someone brought out champagne, but I couldn't even think about alcohol at that point, and only wanted some food. I was STARVING. I went back to the kitchen and found a large container of veggie burgers. I microwaved one for myself and topped it with, once again, quac and salsa. It tasted so good and helped to ease the rumbling and gurgling in my stomach. I hung in for a bit longer, but finally at 2:30 I went for a nap knowing there was a fun-filled night ahead, and I needed to be conscious. Maliha woke me at around 5:00 to let me know the live singer had arrived. Yes, we had live entertainment. Maliha's mother, Karen, had been at a charity event in Phoenix, and this man had entered himself in the auction, saying he would come to your house and play live music. I guess no one was really bidding, so her mom bid out of sympathy, and low and behold, won. What better occasion to have this man come and play his acoustic tunes than a bachelorette party. Honestly, I enjoyed his renditions of Paul Simon, John Denver, and other easy listening artists, and I MUCH preferred it to the live entertainment that came next.
From what I gathered, the story was Maliha did not really want a stripper, but her friends wanted her to get one. So, she made all these ridiculous requirements for the stripper she did want, knowing it would be near impossible to find. He must be attractive, be intelligent, be able to carry on a conversation, etc. Well, her friends told her later they had found this man (although I'm still not convinced he met these demands ). I was told he is not really a stripper, but is a "male model," cute and knows stuff about NASA. Do not ask me, I was not involved in this process. The guy shows up, and it's pretty awkward. He looks like a douche to me (Hollister type t-shirt, true-religion jeans, and white loafers, ugh) and I doubt he knows a lot about NASA, but I never confirmed this suspicion. Then, someone announces we are going to draw him... at this point I realize I'm in some straight girl nightmare, and I cannot run (ok, that's dramatic, but I should have been more drunk at this point than I was). He takes off his clothes, except for a small bedazzled g-string, and wouldn't you know it, he has a BELLYBUTTON RING!! Every person I have told this too, automatically says gay, but I think he's just that much more of a douche.... I have no other words. Maliha sits next to him on the couch and I think attempted to have a conversation while he is lounging in his pose, but she is pretty much slurring at this point so who knows what was said/understood. I love drunk Maliha, it provides for so much comedy and memories.
After the "drawing," the music starts to play and he proceeds to do very awkward lap dances for the girls. Oh, I forgot to mention he won't allow any pics because he doesn't want these on the internet because they might hurt his "modeling career." hahaha! I can only laugh. It was so weird because he's just some dude, who's not a stripper, pretending to be a stripper, but is doing it really badly. When it was finally all over, and someone announced the cabs were there to pick us up, I was so relieved and thankful that I had avoided being shoved into that lap dance chair. The cabs took us to Scottsdale, an area in Phoenix that is packed with bars/clubs. We bar hopped, drank, danced, and everyone was having a pretty good time, but when we decided to enter a 3rd club, poor Maliha was stopped at the door. The guard saw her staring at him with those glazed over eyes, swaying back and forth, and decided she looked drunk off her ass (and he was right). I guess he asked her if she was drunk, and all she could do was say yes because at this point, there was no sense in trying to deny it. It was awesome. After everyone found out Maliha was being held outside, most of us decided to just go home. Most people had been drinking pretty much all day, and had reached their max capacity of alcohol. People raided the kitchen when we returned (I of course had quac and salsa), and then passed out various places around the house. I actually made it to my bed that night, so I was proud.
Sunday morning people emerged slowly from their sleeping nooks, and you could tell that everyone had lost their steam. It was time to go home. People gathered according the departure times, and went to the airport in shifts. My flight out was at 3:00PM, and after another nice, easy flight, I landed in LA around 4:30. I called Denise immediately (we missed each other like crazy) and told her all about the trip as I was searching for my bag. I realized I had gone the wrong way, turned around, and there she was on the phone with a BIG smile on her face holding a coffee bean for me. She knows the way to my heart... caffeine. :)
I spent Sunday evening laying in bed watching bad reality television because really, that is all my mind could handle. It was a fun weekend, but it was nice to be home. Now I must used these next few months to recover and get ready for the wedding weekend in Chicago. Wish me luck!
Saturday we all headed to the pool. Some sat in the sun, while others (like myself) stayed under the shady shelter. I was a bit hung over, and so tired because all the margarita mix in my body woke me up at like 8:15 that morning. Someone brought out champagne, but I couldn't even think about alcohol at that point, and only wanted some food. I was STARVING. I went back to the kitchen and found a large container of veggie burgers. I microwaved one for myself and topped it with, once again, quac and salsa. It tasted so good and helped to ease the rumbling and gurgling in my stomach. I hung in for a bit longer, but finally at 2:30 I went for a nap knowing there was a fun-filled night ahead, and I needed to be conscious. Maliha woke me at around 5:00 to let me know the live singer had arrived. Yes, we had live entertainment. Maliha's mother, Karen, had been at a charity event in Phoenix, and this man had entered himself in the auction, saying he would come to your house and play live music. I guess no one was really bidding, so her mom bid out of sympathy, and low and behold, won. What better occasion to have this man come and play his acoustic tunes than a bachelorette party. Honestly, I enjoyed his renditions of Paul Simon, John Denver, and other easy listening artists, and I MUCH preferred it to the live entertainment that came next.
From what I gathered, the story was Maliha did not really want a stripper, but her friends wanted her to get one. So, she made all these ridiculous requirements for the stripper she did want, knowing it would be near impossible to find. He must be attractive, be intelligent, be able to carry on a conversation, etc. Well, her friends told her later they had found this man (although I'm still not convinced he met these demands ). I was told he is not really a stripper, but is a "male model," cute and knows stuff about NASA. Do not ask me, I was not involved in this process. The guy shows up, and it's pretty awkward. He looks like a douche to me (Hollister type t-shirt, true-religion jeans, and white loafers, ugh) and I doubt he knows a lot about NASA, but I never confirmed this suspicion. Then, someone announces we are going to draw him... at this point I realize I'm in some straight girl nightmare, and I cannot run (ok, that's dramatic, but I should have been more drunk at this point than I was). He takes off his clothes, except for a small bedazzled g-string, and wouldn't you know it, he has a BELLYBUTTON RING!! Every person I have told this too, automatically says gay, but I think he's just that much more of a douche.... I have no other words. Maliha sits next to him on the couch and I think attempted to have a conversation while he is lounging in his pose, but she is pretty much slurring at this point so who knows what was said/understood. I love drunk Maliha, it provides for so much comedy and memories.
After the "drawing," the music starts to play and he proceeds to do very awkward lap dances for the girls. Oh, I forgot to mention he won't allow any pics because he doesn't want these on the internet because they might hurt his "modeling career." hahaha! I can only laugh. It was so weird because he's just some dude, who's not a stripper, pretending to be a stripper, but is doing it really badly. When it was finally all over, and someone announced the cabs were there to pick us up, I was so relieved and thankful that I had avoided being shoved into that lap dance chair. The cabs took us to Scottsdale, an area in Phoenix that is packed with bars/clubs. We bar hopped, drank, danced, and everyone was having a pretty good time, but when we decided to enter a 3rd club, poor Maliha was stopped at the door. The guard saw her staring at him with those glazed over eyes, swaying back and forth, and decided she looked drunk off her ass (and he was right). I guess he asked her if she was drunk, and all she could do was say yes because at this point, there was no sense in trying to deny it. It was awesome. After everyone found out Maliha was being held outside, most of us decided to just go home. Most people had been drinking pretty much all day, and had reached their max capacity of alcohol. People raided the kitchen when we returned (I of course had quac and salsa), and then passed out various places around the house. I actually made it to my bed that night, so I was proud.
Sunday morning people emerged slowly from their sleeping nooks, and you could tell that everyone had lost their steam. It was time to go home. People gathered according the departure times, and went to the airport in shifts. My flight out was at 3:00PM, and after another nice, easy flight, I landed in LA around 4:30. I called Denise immediately (we missed each other like crazy) and told her all about the trip as I was searching for my bag. I realized I had gone the wrong way, turned around, and there she was on the phone with a BIG smile on her face holding a coffee bean for me. She knows the way to my heart... caffeine. :)
I spent Sunday evening laying in bed watching bad reality television because really, that is all my mind could handle. It was a fun weekend, but it was nice to be home. Now I must used these next few months to recover and get ready for the wedding weekend in Chicago. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gibbons are a Type of Ape...
This is one of the many facts I learned about Gibbons this past weekend. Denise found out about a fundraiser for the Gibbon Center in Santa Clarita, so we decided to actually wake up quite early on a Saturday to go out there and show our support. Our friends Cathleen and Rhonda joined us for the adventure and said it was the single most amazing moment in their lives (well, I'm exaggerating, but it was pretty damn cool). The Center studies the Gibbons to learn about their behavior and reproduction patterns, in the hopes of saving the species and preserving them in the wild as opposed to keeping them all in zoos.
They provided a vegan breakfast which involved tables and tables of food such as granola, bagels, soy cream cheese, soy yogurt, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, fruits, veggies, oatmeal, some sort of potato/bean dish and much, much more. It was like a feast made especially for me. :) After breakfast, the scientist/founder of the Gibbon Center spoke to the attendees and answered any questions people may have. Some of the interesting things I remember are Gibbons are monogamous, fiercely territorial, come in 15 different species (although he may have proof there are 16), and are highly endangered in certain areas of the world. He said that they attempt to keep the ones from the wild and their offspring as free from human interaction as possible, in the hopes they can reintroduce them into the wild eventually. It would not be advantageous for them to trust humans, because then poachers would find them easy targets. Still, some of the more rare Gibbons have come from zoos in China where they were humanized, so he said they do not know if they are Gibbon or human. I'm not sure how the Center keeps the wild Gibbons wild since they are cared for by humans and fed by them, but I am confident this guy knows what he is doing. For more information on the Center, here is their website. http://www.gibboncenter.org/
After listening to the question and answer phase for awhile, Denise and I decided to wander around the area and look at all the different Gibbons. To watch them swing from branch to branch is pretty awe inspiring, and I'm constantly amazed at the seeming awareness and human like characteristics of apes/monkeys in general. One cute moment was when a toddler Gibbon started performing and wanting to play with the children that were looking at him. He was spinning around, jumping, and climbing on the cage. It is like the Gibbon knew these were small creatures that might be willing to romp around with him.
The final highlight of the morning was when the Gibbons decided that they would start performing the territorial call which they are famous for. Since we were surrounded by different species of Gibbon, each call was a bit different. I really cannot describe what these calls sounded like, but they were unlike anything I have ever heard come from an animals mouth. At times it was so loud you had to yell at each other to try to carry on a conversation. Denise got much of it on video, and we have been trying to upload it online to send to people. If we can accomplish this, I will post it on here.
We left hot, covered in sand (it was damn windy), and incredibly happy that we made it out of bed to support this cause and see this wondrous display. Gibbons rule!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Dinah Shore Recap
Dinah Shore has once again come and gone. Denise and I had a great time..... organizing our room!! Sadly, Denise and I did not make our way to bikini clad ladies in the sun, but instead decided to stay home, save the money, and get our room picked up and more zen like. We had actually intended to go, but then at the last minute decided it was just too expensive and could not justify spending all the money on girlbar in Palm Springs. I still have the same feelings I did last year about the exploitive nature of that weekend, and the ridiculous money they take from these lesbians just for a glance at a cute girl in hot pants. I realize that these women have the free will to pay, but my argument stands that they are using the fact that lesbians lack these types of events in other cities to take their money at top dollar. I was told that to get into the dance party at night, it was $90.00!!!! Anyway, I went into this rant last year, so I will stop now before my face gets too beat red.
Despite all that, I was a little sad not to be going because our friends Shannon and Noa had never attended the Dinah, and I thought it would have been fun to be with them for their "first time." As I said, Denise and I spent the weekend getting rid of a lot of unnecessary crap, going through our storage unit, and just chilling with our neighbor boys as well as Lindsey who is in town. It was nice and relaxing, but we did miss our ladies terribly. We felt better though when the reviews of the weekend were less than stellar. Common complaints were WAY too expensive, crappy music, overpriced drinks, and of course, the lack of our presence. ;) We missed everyone, and they missed us, it was a love fest all around. :)
The consensus seems to be that if we attend again next year, we will all rent some sort of house together, bring our own drinks, our own music, and if we attend any parties it will purely be on a sneaking in/splitting bracelets basis because Dinah ain't worth the money, and I intend to stick it to those ladies any way I can. :D That's right, I said it... TILL NEXT YEAR!!
Despite all that, I was a little sad not to be going because our friends Shannon and Noa had never attended the Dinah, and I thought it would have been fun to be with them for their "first time." As I said, Denise and I spent the weekend getting rid of a lot of unnecessary crap, going through our storage unit, and just chilling with our neighbor boys as well as Lindsey who is in town. It was nice and relaxing, but we did miss our ladies terribly. We felt better though when the reviews of the weekend were less than stellar. Common complaints were WAY too expensive, crappy music, overpriced drinks, and of course, the lack of our presence. ;) We missed everyone, and they missed us, it was a love fest all around. :)
The consensus seems to be that if we attend again next year, we will all rent some sort of house together, bring our own drinks, our own music, and if we attend any parties it will purely be on a sneaking in/splitting bracelets basis because Dinah ain't worth the money, and I intend to stick it to those ladies any way I can. :D That's right, I said it... TILL NEXT YEAR!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
March Madness
The month of March has FLOWN by and it seems to have been jam packed with activities.
Can I just say that I have been loving the weather lately. I'm really not quite ready yet for the blazing sun of summer, so I have really enjoyed the last few days of sun and temperatures in the mid 60s. Lovely as Jess would say.
In other news, LOST is in reruns now which is a sad, sad thing. It was getting so exciting there for awhile and so many new things were being revealed. Perhaps they decided to give our brains a chance to rest and absorb before we ended up getting a nose bleed, which leads to cerebral cortex explosion, which leads to death like that guy on the boat and almost Desmond before he found his constant.... see what I mean.
As far as activities post St. Louis, here are some high-lights.
On March 14, my friend Mark held an event at The Factory Night Club to raise money for his friend Van who is riding in the AIDS Lifecycle Ride. The AIDS Lifecycle is a bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for AIDS, and is a goal of mine on my "list of things to do." However, just in order to participate in the ride, I think you need to raise something like $2,000.00, which is a hefty sum if the majority of your friends are either students, "struggling actors," or work in "the biz" living on the unpredictability of the movie industry. So, Mark impressively coordinated a men's swimwear fashion show with brands such as Speedo, Timoteo, and more to get gay men excited about seeing male models in skimpy clothing and somehow hoped to translate that into donations for AIDS. I don't really get it either, but perhaps gay logic is different than most...hmmm I see research potential.
Anyway, most of our friends made it to the event, and the place was packed! After dancing for a few hours, the show began. I had to laugh because some of the lesbians seemed to be getting more excited about men in swimsuits than the gay boys. I heard comments like, "Ooo, he's cute," "Did you see his *&@#," "Nice body." hahaha! They raised a decent amount of money, but not as much as they should have for that show because gays are cheap, but all in all it was a success! My friend Phil's Birthday was also that night, but alas, he was overshadowed by scantily clad men... WE STILL LOVE U PHIL!!
The following weekend there was a large Birthday celebration for a lesbian named Cathy at Oil Can Harrys, which is a gay line dancing bar in the Valley. On Saturdays though, they have Disco Night! Lesbians + Disco + leather daddies, bears, and fabulous gays + drink specials until 10PM = an amazing time!! There were so many lesbians there that one gay man actually felt the need to ask why there were so many of "us," we had to explain it was a Birthday party and we love to boogie. Noa and I seriously danced non-stop for approximately 3 and half to 4 hours and I probably could have kept going if there weren't pesky details like "closing times," and "we need to get home now before I drink more and make a fool of myself."
One high light of the night was one of my favorite writers and vlog stars Karman Kregloe from afterellen.com was in attendance. I have enjoyed her writing since she recapped Tila Tequila for the site, and began watching the vlog "We're Getting Nowhere" when I saw they were recapping America's Next Top Model because as I have expressed here before, I have a sick and twisted addiction to bad reality shows. Anyway, I saw her waiting in the bathroom line, and I wasn't sure if I was going to say anything because I am not one to approach people, but at this point I had thrown back a few too many drink specials, so I just said, "Hey, I like your blog on afterellen.com." I was expecting a, "Hey thanks," and that would be the end of my brush with online fame, but instead she said thanks and actually got out of line to talk to me!! I introduced her to Denise and rambled on about how much I enjoyed her writing... at least I think that is what I said. At that point I could barely make out coherent sentences much less speak in any sort of intelligent manner. Still, I was so impressed that she did that and it just made me a bigger fan of her work. Not a fan as in she will be my new screen saver for my computer, but as in I will continue to enjoy her work and take comfort in the knowledge that she is a really cool person.
It was a extremely good time and I definitely will be returning for gay disco Saturdays, and we plan on bringing our friend Shannon to line-dancing Fridays because she's gonna teach us all the 2-step. :)
The next weekend was Justin's Birthday, so we went to see the movie Monster Squad at a local theater. I had never seen the film, but after a viewing I'm a total fan. I LOVE cheesy 80s comedy, especially the genre of "kids save the world while adults are clueless" movies. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it. I was told they finally released it on DVD, so run to your local blockbuster, independent movie rental place, or "put it in your que," and good ready for good, campy, ridiculous fun.
After the film everyone arrived at Vince and Justin's apartment for a house party, and the festivities ended with us watching stupid shit on youtube as always. All I have to say is, "Ken Leeeeeeee, tolibodeeebodouchu!!!!!"
One final note, I have reached my max of friends with March Birthdays. This month I had Kendra, Phil, Mark, Justin, Angela, Brendan, and of course, my Nani's Birthday to attend/send a card/myspace. If you would like to befriend me, please consider changing the date of your Birthday, or just don't let me know when it is because I will feel pressure and guilt about what to get you, whether or not I can attend, and just what type of cake is your favorite because even with good friends you don't necessarily know that. :) I LOVE YOU MY MARCH BIRTHDAY FRIENDS!!!
ps: also in happenings this month, Denise ate a baby crab... lets please take a moment of silence in remembrance.
Can I just say that I have been loving the weather lately. I'm really not quite ready yet for the blazing sun of summer, so I have really enjoyed the last few days of sun and temperatures in the mid 60s. Lovely as Jess would say.
In other news, LOST is in reruns now which is a sad, sad thing. It was getting so exciting there for awhile and so many new things were being revealed. Perhaps they decided to give our brains a chance to rest and absorb before we ended up getting a nose bleed, which leads to cerebral cortex explosion, which leads to death like that guy on the boat and almost Desmond before he found his constant.... see what I mean.
As far as activities post St. Louis, here are some high-lights.
On March 14, my friend Mark held an event at The Factory Night Club to raise money for his friend Van who is riding in the AIDS Lifecycle Ride. The AIDS Lifecycle is a bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for AIDS, and is a goal of mine on my "list of things to do." However, just in order to participate in the ride, I think you need to raise something like $2,000.00, which is a hefty sum if the majority of your friends are either students, "struggling actors," or work in "the biz" living on the unpredictability of the movie industry. So, Mark impressively coordinated a men's swimwear fashion show with brands such as Speedo, Timoteo, and more to get gay men excited about seeing male models in skimpy clothing and somehow hoped to translate that into donations for AIDS. I don't really get it either, but perhaps gay logic is different than most...hmmm I see research potential.
Anyway, most of our friends made it to the event, and the place was packed! After dancing for a few hours, the show began. I had to laugh because some of the lesbians seemed to be getting more excited about men in swimsuits than the gay boys. I heard comments like, "Ooo, he's cute," "Did you see his *&@#," "Nice body." hahaha! They raised a decent amount of money, but not as much as they should have for that show because gays are cheap, but all in all it was a success! My friend Phil's Birthday was also that night, but alas, he was overshadowed by scantily clad men... WE STILL LOVE U PHIL!!
The following weekend there was a large Birthday celebration for a lesbian named Cathy at Oil Can Harrys, which is a gay line dancing bar in the Valley. On Saturdays though, they have Disco Night! Lesbians + Disco + leather daddies, bears, and fabulous gays + drink specials until 10PM = an amazing time!! There were so many lesbians there that one gay man actually felt the need to ask why there were so many of "us," we had to explain it was a Birthday party and we love to boogie. Noa and I seriously danced non-stop for approximately 3 and half to 4 hours and I probably could have kept going if there weren't pesky details like "closing times," and "we need to get home now before I drink more and make a fool of myself."
One high light of the night was one of my favorite writers and vlog stars Karman Kregloe from afterellen.com was in attendance. I have enjoyed her writing since she recapped Tila Tequila for the site, and began watching the vlog "We're Getting Nowhere" when I saw they were recapping America's Next Top Model because as I have expressed here before, I have a sick and twisted addiction to bad reality shows. Anyway, I saw her waiting in the bathroom line, and I wasn't sure if I was going to say anything because I am not one to approach people, but at this point I had thrown back a few too many drink specials, so I just said, "Hey, I like your blog on afterellen.com." I was expecting a, "Hey thanks," and that would be the end of my brush with online fame, but instead she said thanks and actually got out of line to talk to me!! I introduced her to Denise and rambled on about how much I enjoyed her writing... at least I think that is what I said. At that point I could barely make out coherent sentences much less speak in any sort of intelligent manner. Still, I was so impressed that she did that and it just made me a bigger fan of her work. Not a fan as in she will be my new screen saver for my computer, but as in I will continue to enjoy her work and take comfort in the knowledge that she is a really cool person.
It was a extremely good time and I definitely will be returning for gay disco Saturdays, and we plan on bringing our friend Shannon to line-dancing Fridays because she's gonna teach us all the 2-step. :)
The next weekend was Justin's Birthday, so we went to see the movie Monster Squad at a local theater. I had never seen the film, but after a viewing I'm a total fan. I LOVE cheesy 80s comedy, especially the genre of "kids save the world while adults are clueless" movies. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it. I was told they finally released it on DVD, so run to your local blockbuster, independent movie rental place, or "put it in your que," and good ready for good, campy, ridiculous fun.
After the film everyone arrived at Vince and Justin's apartment for a house party, and the festivities ended with us watching stupid shit on youtube as always. All I have to say is, "Ken Leeeeeeee, tolibodeeebodouchu!!!!!"
One final note, I have reached my max of friends with March Birthdays. This month I had Kendra, Phil, Mark, Justin, Angela, Brendan, and of course, my Nani's Birthday to attend/send a card/myspace. If you would like to befriend me, please consider changing the date of your Birthday, or just don't let me know when it is because I will feel pressure and guilt about what to get you, whether or not I can attend, and just what type of cake is your favorite because even with good friends you don't necessarily know that. :) I LOVE YOU MY MARCH BIRTHDAY FRIENDS!!!
ps: also in happenings this month, Denise ate a baby crab... lets please take a moment of silence in remembrance.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Missouri loves company...
It has been a bit since I verbally threw up online. My apologies for those that anxiously await notification that I have updated this blog with fascinating tidbits from my extremely exciting life, but it has been a bit of a madhouse here at work. :)
We have entered the notorious (well, notorious for Immigration lawyers) season of H-1B filings which must, MUST be in the fedex box on Monday, March 31, 2008 to arrive on the doorstep of Immigration on April 1, 2008 in the small chance that your application sneaks in and is picked for H-1B eligibility. I can't remember if I wrote about this last year, but at the risk of repeating myself, I will provide a brief explanation. H-1B is a temporary work visa which is available generally for 6 years (but must be renewed after 3). It requires a bachelor's degree, a job offer, and approval by the Department of Labor. The government allows about 65,000 H-1B applications to be accepted a year, last year, something like over 300,00 people applied. What this means of course, is many people did not make it in, and that the 65,000 spots were taken up in the first day! So, this is why it is so important that your clients application be there on the first day that they can apply, to try to increase the chances of getting picked. Of course, all our clients waited until the last absolute moment to tell us they wanted to apply, and I have been scrambling around the last week or so trying to track down clients and their employers to get all the needed documents compiled and organized into a neat little package to be mailed out. Today, I will finally finish my last ones.... phew!!
So, that is why I have been a bit M.I.A. lately, but do not worry, I am back to once again take precious moments away from your day to tell you about what's going on with me!!
Back tracking a bit, a few weekends ago Denise and I made our way to St. Louis for my grandmother's (nani as all the grandkids call her, which I invented as a child cause I'm a genius) 80th Birthday. As it turns out, Vince was going back to St. Louis that same weekend, AND his mother had booked the EXACT same round trip flight as us! We discovered this information late one night while discussing coordinating a ride to the airport, and we were all extremely excited (and perhaps a bit worried that this might be some omen for disaster? well, maybe that was just me). Anyway, we were able to finagle it so that we all sat together on the way there AND back. We watched movies, got drunk, and as I said, I think pretty much had more fun than anyone else on our flights.
As for our actual time in St. Louis, it was great, but too fast as always. We stayed the whole time with our friends Kate and Joe which was really nice because (1) they are just awesome, and (2) we could escape family for awhile and just chill for the night.
We arrived Thursday around 5:30, picked up our rental car (which was a PT Cruiser... Denise's FAVORITE ;), dropped Vince off, deposited our things at Kate and Joes, and went out to Thai food which was amazing and SPICY!
Friday Kate and I took Denise around the city to various high-lights. We went to lunch at Blueberry Hill (a famous restaurant where Chuck Berry still plays!), later went to a Bissingers chocolate bar which was amazing but also a tad sickening at the end, and finished with a coffee at Coffee Cartel, an old hang out of Vince and I back when it was more gay (before those damn straights took over;). One other thing was that day, it was FUCKING COLD!! It was so cold in fact in prompted deep discussions about why midwest winters just seem to be so biting cold. It is like pins are hitting your skin as the wind blows against your face. It is definitely unlike the cold we have here in the West. St. Louis was definitely much colder than Tahoe, even though there was like 3 feet of snow in Tahoe and it was just as cold temperature wise. We decided that it must have something to do with the humidity in the air, but what do we know... anyway, moving on. That night, we went to see the movie Juno for a low key outing event. The film was cute, but I think I had just heard too much hype for it to live up to. Also, I had a bit of an issue about the way they approached the idea of abortion, and the way the clinic was portrayed. I heard an interview with Ellen Page where she discussed this briefly, but I still don't think her explanation was convincing. Still, Ellen Page was adorable and the characters were well written, so as far as movies go I felt it was pretty successful.
Saturday was the big day. The party was at a community center in an area called Shrewsberry and started at 3PM, so we got there around 2:30 or so. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but I guess there had been a few slip-ups, so she was a bit suspicious. However, when she entered, I think she was shocked at the amount of people that were there. She started to cry when she saw me, which of course made me cry, and it was a love fest all around. The party was nice. Lots of catching up. My brother was there with his wife and little boy Brendan who is so cute and smart, but was having a hard time not throwing a fit every time something did not go his way. I got to see my cousin Rachael who I have not seen in many years, which was great. Also, my other cousins Angela and Laura were there, and Denise and I spent most of our time talking to them and catching up. They are really amazing girls.... seem much more together than I was at their age. My aunt Marcia brought some wine, so there was actually some alcoholic beverages at the gathering (my family usually has dry parties), which was nice to cut the nerves a bit. The room was only reserved until 8:00pm, so we wrapped it up around 7:30 or so. I was tempted to go back to my Nani's to hang for a bit more, but I thought it was time for a break from family, since we would see them again tomorrow.
Instead, I took Denise to this lesbian bar called "Novaks" in downtown St. Louis. I had heard they had moved to a new space since I had been there and it was much nicer. Well, the rumors were true! The Novaks I knew was this small narrow bar that had a small triangle stage at the end for the periodic Drag King show (which is why to this day I cannot hear "It's gettin hot in here" without seeing a drag king gyrating his hips in a girls face). The place it has moved to is a really cool warehouse type space with exposed ceilings, red brick, and a large round bar in the middle of the room. In the back room there are plenty of pool tables and draw poker machines because that's what the les's like to do in the midwest. We were actually given a pleasant surprise when we learned that there was a drag queen/king show that night, AND even more surprised when we saw once again how cheap drinks are there!! 4.50 for a rum and diet! However, the thing which eventually drove us out was all the smoke. St. Louis has yet to institute the no smoking in doors policy.... COME ON people, get with it!!!
Sunday was the Science Center with the my Nani, mom, Jeff and Sara, Brendarn, Denise and I. Brendan was SO excited to go there and see the dinosaurs. However, I'm not sure he realized that the dinosaurs there are animatronic, which means they move and roar. The closer we got to them, the more he freaked out, and eventually had a melt down. We decided that perhaps it was in our best interest to explore other areas of the Science Center, which was a lot of fun. Towards the end of the day, we made it back to the area where the dinosaurs were, my brother tricked Brendan into getting in an elevator which deposited them downstairs right where the dinosaurs were. Brendan realized he had been tricked, was pissed for a second, but then cautiously made his way closer and closer. We even stood under them to show him that our heads were safe below the T-Rex jaws. He actually ended up getting pretty close, and I was proud of him because I don't know if I would have done that at his age (I was afraid of Halloween until I was like 7, and don't get my mom started on the story of me screaming in the bank at the moving dolls in the window). After the Science Center we stopped by the Zoo to take pictures of this incredible metal sculpture of animals they recently added to the outside of the walls. When Brendan was told we were only looking at the outside of the Zoo and not actually going in, he decided this was yet another reason to loose it. He recovered after he saw the sculpture and some horses in the park, but it was pretty obvious it was time to go home.
We all went over to my Nanis' for conversation and Pasta House take out. It was good, but I barely ate any because I knew we were going to the most amazing Vietnamese food in a few hour with Kate, Joe and Vince, so I wanted to save my appetite. At about 7:30 we said our emotional goodbyes (it is always so hard for my mom), and met everyone for dinner at Pho Grand. The meal was fabulous as always, and I have decided we must try to eat there at least once whenever we get back to visit. After we went for ice cream at Ted Drews (a famous custard stand there) and decided that all we wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch embarrassing videos of me in my youth, and watch the penguin surfing move which I can't recall the name of right now, which we did.
Monday we said a sad goodbye to Kate (Joe was at work), and departed for the City that is Los Angeles. It was a lovely little trip, and I can't wait to see everyone again. We are thinking B-town for Christmas, but that always involves a brief stint in the Lou, so we will be back again soon to the gateway to the west!!! oxoxox
ps: hopefully i will post some pics later
We have entered the notorious (well, notorious for Immigration lawyers) season of H-1B filings which must, MUST be in the fedex box on Monday, March 31, 2008 to arrive on the doorstep of Immigration on April 1, 2008 in the small chance that your application sneaks in and is picked for H-1B eligibility. I can't remember if I wrote about this last year, but at the risk of repeating myself, I will provide a brief explanation. H-1B is a temporary work visa which is available generally for 6 years (but must be renewed after 3). It requires a bachelor's degree, a job offer, and approval by the Department of Labor. The government allows about 65,000 H-1B applications to be accepted a year, last year, something like over 300,00 people applied. What this means of course, is many people did not make it in, and that the 65,000 spots were taken up in the first day! So, this is why it is so important that your clients application be there on the first day that they can apply, to try to increase the chances of getting picked. Of course, all our clients waited until the last absolute moment to tell us they wanted to apply, and I have been scrambling around the last week or so trying to track down clients and their employers to get all the needed documents compiled and organized into a neat little package to be mailed out. Today, I will finally finish my last ones.... phew!!
So, that is why I have been a bit M.I.A. lately, but do not worry, I am back to once again take precious moments away from your day to tell you about what's going on with me!!
Back tracking a bit, a few weekends ago Denise and I made our way to St. Louis for my grandmother's (nani as all the grandkids call her, which I invented as a child cause I'm a genius) 80th Birthday. As it turns out, Vince was going back to St. Louis that same weekend, AND his mother had booked the EXACT same round trip flight as us! We discovered this information late one night while discussing coordinating a ride to the airport, and we were all extremely excited (and perhaps a bit worried that this might be some omen for disaster? well, maybe that was just me). Anyway, we were able to finagle it so that we all sat together on the way there AND back. We watched movies, got drunk, and as I said, I think pretty much had more fun than anyone else on our flights.
As for our actual time in St. Louis, it was great, but too fast as always. We stayed the whole time with our friends Kate and Joe which was really nice because (1) they are just awesome, and (2) we could escape family for awhile and just chill for the night.
We arrived Thursday around 5:30, picked up our rental car (which was a PT Cruiser... Denise's FAVORITE ;), dropped Vince off, deposited our things at Kate and Joes, and went out to Thai food which was amazing and SPICY!
Friday Kate and I took Denise around the city to various high-lights. We went to lunch at Blueberry Hill (a famous restaurant where Chuck Berry still plays!), later went to a Bissingers chocolate bar which was amazing but also a tad sickening at the end, and finished with a coffee at Coffee Cartel, an old hang out of Vince and I back when it was more gay (before those damn straights took over;). One other thing was that day, it was FUCKING COLD!! It was so cold in fact in prompted deep discussions about why midwest winters just seem to be so biting cold. It is like pins are hitting your skin as the wind blows against your face. It is definitely unlike the cold we have here in the West. St. Louis was definitely much colder than Tahoe, even though there was like 3 feet of snow in Tahoe and it was just as cold temperature wise. We decided that it must have something to do with the humidity in the air, but what do we know... anyway, moving on. That night, we went to see the movie Juno for a low key outing event. The film was cute, but I think I had just heard too much hype for it to live up to. Also, I had a bit of an issue about the way they approached the idea of abortion, and the way the clinic was portrayed. I heard an interview with Ellen Page where she discussed this briefly, but I still don't think her explanation was convincing. Still, Ellen Page was adorable and the characters were well written, so as far as movies go I felt it was pretty successful.
Saturday was the big day. The party was at a community center in an area called Shrewsberry and started at 3PM, so we got there around 2:30 or so. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but I guess there had been a few slip-ups, so she was a bit suspicious. However, when she entered, I think she was shocked at the amount of people that were there. She started to cry when she saw me, which of course made me cry, and it was a love fest all around. The party was nice. Lots of catching up. My brother was there with his wife and little boy Brendan who is so cute and smart, but was having a hard time not throwing a fit every time something did not go his way. I got to see my cousin Rachael who I have not seen in many years, which was great. Also, my other cousins Angela and Laura were there, and Denise and I spent most of our time talking to them and catching up. They are really amazing girls.... seem much more together than I was at their age. My aunt Marcia brought some wine, so there was actually some alcoholic beverages at the gathering (my family usually has dry parties), which was nice to cut the nerves a bit. The room was only reserved until 8:00pm, so we wrapped it up around 7:30 or so. I was tempted to go back to my Nani's to hang for a bit more, but I thought it was time for a break from family, since we would see them again tomorrow.
Instead, I took Denise to this lesbian bar called "Novaks" in downtown St. Louis. I had heard they had moved to a new space since I had been there and it was much nicer. Well, the rumors were true! The Novaks I knew was this small narrow bar that had a small triangle stage at the end for the periodic Drag King show (which is why to this day I cannot hear "It's gettin hot in here" without seeing a drag king gyrating his hips in a girls face). The place it has moved to is a really cool warehouse type space with exposed ceilings, red brick, and a large round bar in the middle of the room. In the back room there are plenty of pool tables and draw poker machines because that's what the les's like to do in the midwest. We were actually given a pleasant surprise when we learned that there was a drag queen/king show that night, AND even more surprised when we saw once again how cheap drinks are there!! 4.50 for a rum and diet! However, the thing which eventually drove us out was all the smoke. St. Louis has yet to institute the no smoking in doors policy.... COME ON people, get with it!!!
Sunday was the Science Center with the my Nani, mom, Jeff and Sara, Brendarn, Denise and I. Brendan was SO excited to go there and see the dinosaurs. However, I'm not sure he realized that the dinosaurs there are animatronic, which means they move and roar. The closer we got to them, the more he freaked out, and eventually had a melt down. We decided that perhaps it was in our best interest to explore other areas of the Science Center, which was a lot of fun. Towards the end of the day, we made it back to the area where the dinosaurs were, my brother tricked Brendan into getting in an elevator which deposited them downstairs right where the dinosaurs were. Brendan realized he had been tricked, was pissed for a second, but then cautiously made his way closer and closer. We even stood under them to show him that our heads were safe below the T-Rex jaws. He actually ended up getting pretty close, and I was proud of him because I don't know if I would have done that at his age (I was afraid of Halloween until I was like 7, and don't get my mom started on the story of me screaming in the bank at the moving dolls in the window). After the Science Center we stopped by the Zoo to take pictures of this incredible metal sculpture of animals they recently added to the outside of the walls. When Brendan was told we were only looking at the outside of the Zoo and not actually going in, he decided this was yet another reason to loose it. He recovered after he saw the sculpture and some horses in the park, but it was pretty obvious it was time to go home.
We all went over to my Nanis' for conversation and Pasta House take out. It was good, but I barely ate any because I knew we were going to the most amazing Vietnamese food in a few hour with Kate, Joe and Vince, so I wanted to save my appetite. At about 7:30 we said our emotional goodbyes (it is always so hard for my mom), and met everyone for dinner at Pho Grand. The meal was fabulous as always, and I have decided we must try to eat there at least once whenever we get back to visit. After we went for ice cream at Ted Drews (a famous custard stand there) and decided that all we wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch embarrassing videos of me in my youth, and watch the penguin surfing move which I can't recall the name of right now, which we did.
Monday we said a sad goodbye to Kate (Joe was at work), and departed for the City that is Los Angeles. It was a lovely little trip, and I can't wait to see everyone again. We are thinking B-town for Christmas, but that always involves a brief stint in the Lou, so we will be back again soon to the gateway to the west!!! oxoxox
ps: hopefully i will post some pics later
Monday, March 3, 2008
Lesbian Turkish Oil Wrestling
Yes, you read the heading of this post correctly. Denise, myself, and friends attended an event put on by the producer of the L word, Ilene Chaiken, called FYKE which featured lesbian Turkish oil wrestling. Let me just say that one more time... Lesbian Turkish Oil Wrestling. Really, it had been my great pleasure all week to tell people I was going to such an event because when else in my life am I going to get to say that!!
Now, I decided to do a little research on this type of wrestling just for my own edification, and found that making it a match between women seems to be Ilene Chaiken's twist on the event because in Turkey, it only involves men. An episode of the L word featured Turkish oil wrestling between women at "she bar" hosted by the character Dawn Denbo, climaxing in a drag down, oil filled, smack down between Dawn Denbo, her lover Cindy, Molly, and Shane. The oil wrestling I attended on Saturday night was a sort of cross promotion for the L word and the constantly referenced online site called ourchart.com.
If you would like a more in depth exploration into the history of oil wrestling in Turkey, here is a link to it from the extremely accurate wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_oil_wrestling
When I google imaged Turkish oil wrestling, I was given countless images like the one below.
I can see why I was told by someone that this sport is very popular among gay men. However, as seen from the photos above, this is nothing like what I saw Saturday night.
Before I get to the actual event, I must say that on Saturday day, Denise, Noa, Shannon, Vince, Justin and I went on a BEAUTIFUL hike in Eaton Canyon back to a waterfall. It was a gorgeous misty and foggy day, and the green hills around us just came alive. We had done this hike once before, but it was last summer when everything was bone dry and the water was nothing more than a trickle. After all the rain we have had this year, the water was gushing down from the waterfall and forced us to negotiate over rocks, climb hills, and balance on trees in order to traverse the water back to the falls. It was a wonderful day and I was so overcome by the beauty of nature. Any LA people reading this blog, I TOTALLY recommend this hike, but do it soon before the water starts to get sucked up by the blaring sun.
After enjoying the beauty of nature, I was ready to enjoy the beauty of two women soaked in oil wrestling. haha! I had to say it....
So, we all arrived at the venue a little before 9:00 PM. The email sent out by the promoters said that between 9-9:55 they would sell tickets for 10.00, but after that they went up to 20.00. Although I was excited at the prospect of telling people I had attended lesbian Turkish oil wrestling, I was not really willing to pay 20.00 for that prestige. Also, we had a feeling the later we were, the less our likelihood of getting tickets became, and from what I heard the line was like as the night went on, we were right!
We were in line waiting for them to open the doors, which they finally did at about 9:15, but this was long enough for us to be subjected to the really annoying lesbians who think they are more important than everyone else so they MUST be on some list or be able to cut in line. Ugh... annoying. However, we got in without any issue and went straight to the bar after dealing with all the egos outside the door.
For hours lesbians just kept pouring in through the door, crowding around the wrestling ring set up in the middle of the room. Denise, Noa, Shannon and I were able to secure a spot at the front of the ring, but we paid for it by a number of shoves, squeezes, and smelly armpits. Finally the event started with an introduction to the sport by Michelle Wolff (you will only know her if you watch Dantes Cove on the HERE network) and the host was Elizabeth Keener (aka: Dawn Denbo on the L word, and the sister of Catherine Keener who I LOVE).
They introduced the wrestlers and began the first match. Oil was dumped out of a bucket onto the ring floor, and they got down to it (and I mean literally down). In all honesty, it was more fun to say we were going to lesbian Turkish oil wrestling than to actually watch it. People were shoving you the whole time, it was likely that oil would get on you if you were too close (and I liked the shirt I was wearing), and one of the wrestlers was not wearing a great outfit and as a friend of mine so politely stated, "her ladies were falling out." After the first match, we decided we would just hang out with friends and people we had not seen in a long time, and catch some of the matches on the televisions provided.
The rest of the night was really the best part. I saw many friends who I have not spoken to in months, took lots of pics (well, Denise took lots of pics), and even made a few videos. Cybill Shepard's daughter, Clementine Ford was in attendance who is also staring in the L word this season. She is SO cute in person, and as Denise said, she could be the exception to the monogamy rule. ;) haha! I gest, I gest. I also spotted Ilene Chaiken in the crowd inspecting her creation and seeming quite pleased.
At one point in the night I was trying to sneak between Elizabeth Keener and Clementine Ford who were getting their pictures taken by a fan, and Elizabeth Keener playfully bopped me on the head, so that was pretty cool. :)
So folks, lesbian Turkish oil wrestling just turned out to be an entertaining springboard into a really fun night with friends and those I have lost touch with, which is completely fine with me.
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