Saturday, December 13, 2008

Weekend update

Surgery complete! I survived!

Pros:
I look like a mummy!
I got three different color hospital wristbands! (and a vay nize dose high-power pain meds!)
In two weeks I'll have a straight nose again! Which means I'll be able to breathe well again! and my glasses will fit correctly!
It snowed a few days ago! I love snow!

Cons:
I can't actually breathe yet. Or sleep, for that matter.
I still have two 10 page finals to write up.
So, why am I writing a facebook note instead?
Because my fun little cocktail of pain meds/antibiotics/face bandages make concentrating on schoolwork pretty difficult.
However, they do make Graffiti THAT MUCH more fun.

In the end:
CHRISTMAS BREAK TIME IS SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT.
Everyone have a great one!

Friday, December 5, 2008

I miss the days when I wrote papers I was proud of.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

This finals period will be characterized by a very specific cocktail:
Justice, Jamba Juice & Djarum Blacks
Bring it on.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Picked up my new glasses today. They're a lot stronger than the last pair. Long distances are in focus, everything nearby is super crisp, and I already have a pounding headache to accompany the gorgeous view. Boo.
It's strange, but as much as I like this new clear world, I almost miss the blurriness. It was fuzzy and welcoming and didn't hurt my head. I guess only time will tell whether this newfound clarity will be worth the pain.

In other news, I bought a cool book! Advertising in the 1970's- basically, a historical picture book. It features a wide range of ads: from cigarettes to cars to movies to vacuum cleaners, all of which are pretty entertaining. Though, the best part is realizing that no matter how much the art of manipulating society may evolve over time, it never really changes. Comforting, I know.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Mondays are Delicious

...My life is so exciting that I blog about meals.

Actually, this one was special. Introducing, the First and Best Steak Ever To Be Grilled At My House! (Thank you, Kyle) Every once in awhile I fall into veggie-mode and forget how much I like meat. But meat good, me like meat. Ooga.

On top of that, we got a pack of St. Arnold's Divine Reserve. Why were we so excited about "just another beer", you ask? Because the Divine Reserve is a small batch they brew uniquely each year and then NEVER MAKE AGAIN. If you're really into the whole connoisseur thing, they like to describe this particular one (No. 7) as

"...dark, slightly chocolatey weizenbock with an undercurrent of bananas and cloves."

Well whatever it's supposed to taste like, it was a perfect compliment to the MMM MEAT.


Okay, that's enough procrastinating my work for this hour. w00t.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Oh, the STRESS!

So, who's seen the music video "Stress"?

It's a pretty interesting interpretation of the music. Clockwork orange meets GTA4. Definitely a lot better than I would have come up with. The first time I heard the song all I could picture were killer bees. Lots of killer bees. (Then as I learned to appreciate it over time, the song came to mean something more personal: now it reminds me of that terrifying and urgent tingling in the pit of your stomach you feel the night before a really really hard test that you haven't studied for. Mhmm. Whatta great song.)

It's even more entertaining if you watch it on YouTube because you face great moral dilemmas such as:
What is scarier?
That people like those in the video might actually exist,
or that people like those who comment on the video do exist...

(I mean, really?? "thrashing"?? Who says that?!)

Speaking of sTrEsS, what's the deal with CNN? I haven't seen a shiny happy picture in days. All these people moping around about the DOW closing below 10,000 or the global shockwave the whole ordeal has caused or banks buying banks buying banks buying banks. Come on guys, cheer up a little, it's almost my birthday!

Though on a serious note, I do feel really detached from the crisis. My daily life hasn't changed in the slightest (other than FINALLY having something to talk about with my exec business school frendz besides cheese). Part of me feels like the media is hyping this WAYY up just because they can, but the another part of me realizes that 700fuckingbilliondollars isn't being thrown around just for a politico-media frenzy (...I hope.)
I guess what I'm trying to say is that just like the millions of other political issues being torn to shreds at the moment, I try to care, I know I should, but at the same time I find things that are more pressing in my life to pull my hair out about. Like how I have a test tomorrow that I haven't studied for. *cue justeece*

Besides, I bank with Chase, bitches, I'm going to be QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!

remixxin'

Saturday, October 4, 2008

I really like carrot cake.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I GOT DA POWER!

And it's about time. I'd bet money that one more day would have irreversibly damaged my ability to ever care about school again. Ever. But what do you expect following a week of no assignments, no class, no responsibilities? As much as I appreciated the slack (given my entire neighborhood was without power) it screwed up my body cycles of "no worries summertime" and "study study schooltime." And really, how can I do homework with only 2 hours of available daylight and a city-wide curfew? How am I supposed to focus on classes when I have soooOOOOoo much complaining to do?
I really hope getting electricity back at my house switches on an a fresh academic mindset. I probably need that more than most household appliances anyway (because the most important things are battery operated anyway, amirite?)

Maybe next time the rain-gods will plan this out a little better: the idea is to pummel Houston with exciting! dangerous! weather without actually causing any longterm damage.
The middle class demands entertainment, after all.

Above picture taken at the Esplanade post-storm.
That'll teach 'em to plant trees in the area.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Treasure Island 2008

*melt*

Video: Justice remixes D.A.N.C.E.

This is a super cop-out post.
More eventually.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

ROCK YOU LIKE A

Ike update: We survived!
The storm ended up being 110 mph winds when it hit, just barely missing being a Category 3. Which made for an exciting morning. (4:00 green lightning storms, baby!) Our house wasn't harmed, but one of our trees snapped in half and it looks like a forest threw up all over our yard. Pictures of zomgdamage to be posted. Still no power or running water in the house, I'm posting this via telepathy. No school Monday woot.

Edit: Sun Sept 13
Still no power. Running water is possibly contaminated. Everyone smells.

Edit: Mon Sept 14
If you ignore the massive debris everywhere, it's actually quite nice outside. Temp in the 60's (in Houston? In the summertime? NO WAI)

Post-hurricane playlist:

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hooray?

Advisor training starts today.
My summer is officially over.

ohwell.
Here's last week in terms of seeqpod:

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Saturday, August 9, 2008

So it's official...

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 10%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 90%



SiteMale-Female Ratio
youtube.com
1
wikipedia.org
1.08
facebook.com
0.83
flickr.com
1.15
weather.com
1.08
isohunt.com
1.94
discovercard.com
0.87
moli.com
0.96
ytmnd.com
1.25
io9.com
2.33
btjunkie.org
1.94
easybib.com
0.9

FIND OUT YOUR BROWSER'S INTERNET GENDER HERE.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Keep Houston __________

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Not another Music Post

I'm going to ease back into this blog-writing business by defaulting to music obsessions and the unoriginal thoughts that accompany them. Cool.

Dethklok
I like the show Metalacolyse as much as the next guy, but I love the band. I guess there is something beautiful about a pretend death metal band with a cult following that openly mocks their fans and genre. Wikipedia says that "the album [is] the highest charting death metal record ever with 33,740 copies sold in its first week." HOW ABSURD.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

Bitter:sweet
Something about the crisp, clean sound forced me to put my dislike for female vocalists aside and fall helplessly in love with this cute little band. How can you resist their upbeat, quirky harmonies? I'm really excited for them to come to Houston in August. I expect to acquire at least one article of clothing from each band member so that my closet shrine will finally be complete.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Scars on Broadway
This is one of many bands that splintered off of System of a Down when they took a "break" from each other. If you ignore the obnoxiously repetitive lyrics, they aren't bad. It's very SOAD-like. In a good way. Notice the sharp contrast with Serj's independent project/band which takes itself and its lyrics way too seriously. System of a Down is the happy medium. GAH, why can't System just get back together already? MAKE ME SOME GOOD MUSIC, GODDAMNIT. And while you're in there, a sandwich would be nice. Thanks.


SeeqPod - Playable Search


Even if this isn't a new artist or a new album- IT'S A NEW MOVIE! Apparently Soulwax put together a documentary about what it's like to be master DJ gods. I can't wait.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Summertime in the City

Pool? Check.
Awesome view of clouds? Check.
Classy green interior decorations? Check.
Cyndi's new apartment at Kirby place now has my official stamp of approval.
(But she's only allowed to move in on the condition that I get to keep the spare bedroom.)

Friday, July 4, 2008

Ah, the Fourth of July.
There's nothing more American spending obscene amounts of money towards blowing pretty shit up to appease the masses.
(Bread and circuses are sooooo Roman Empire.) Besides, fireworks show how much we truly care about the environment. And the poor. And our National debt. (Calm down and remember Rule #20 mmk? No matter how much I mock the holiday, I still ADORE it. Even if this leaves me slightly disgusted with myself...)

Buy the ticket, watch the FILM.
(Seriously though. Go do it. Now.) Gonzo, the Hunter S. Thompson documentary, came out today. I thought it was pretty amazing, especially since I didn't know most of his background story going in. Then again, I can't objectively say whether or not it was actually a good movie since I'd probably end up enjoying anything that has to do the good Doctor. (This explains why I intend to buy all promotional material for the flick: the movie poster pictured here and a handful of severed kitten heads seared with F&L quotes. Delicious.)

And then there was the BBQ,
and it was good.
Learned something new today: apparently they make jalapeƱo flavored burger patties. Apparently they are quite delicious.
Many props to Alex-Randy-Viren on being great hosts. I can't wait to kill you all and claim the house. *ahem* I mean, move in for the school year.
Daft Punk is Playing in My Head, MY HEAD.
The walk back to the Esplanade to watch fireworks was trippy as fuck. Mostly because the medical center at night is absolutely GORGEOUS. You lose yourself in the pretty colors. (And find yourself in the Bright Lights, Big City *happy sigh*) And just so you know, I did actually have Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem reverberating through my skull the entire time. I was living a James Murphy music video. I can now die happy.

Fireworks. are. visual. orgasms.
I have just decided this.

Soulwax remix, anyone?

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Silver Lining on a Shitty Workday

Had a Lunchable for Breakfast.
It was awesome.

I got to play with a roll of bubble wrap at work that is bigger around than I am ( by "play" I mean sit in a classroom for 7 hours organizing and packaging textbooks)
It was awesome.

An EMBA student wandered into the classroom to chat for a bit and in the middle of a sentence he paused and asked me, "Oh no- is something wrong with your computer?" After a slight hesitation he laughed and answered the question himself "Wait. Never mind. That's just your music."
It was awesome.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Sounds of Soulwax

Today's musical obsession: Soulwax.
I know I'm jumping between musical infatuations pretty quickly, but I have a feeling that this one might even last a few days. Maybe even a week. (who knows?!) Not only does this dynamic duo manage to capture everything I love about the electronic, remix/mash-up, and rock genres, they also tend to wear tight black outfits during photoshoots. Definitely a sign we were meant to be.

Remember "E talking" on Erol Alkan's remix album? Yup. That was Soulwax. However, I first noticed them last week during my Justice-binge. Justice remixed Soulwax's NY Excuse, and Soulwax remixed Justice's Phantom Pt. II. (Electronic incest, I love it.)

The best thing about Soulwax is their mastery of such different genres. In the album Any Minute Now (right), they are an alt-rock-indie band who's style is slightly reminiscent of QOTSA, with maybe a bit o' early Beck. (Incidentally, their lead singer sounds like he could have been the lovechild of Josh Homme and Beck. Ohgodthat'shot.) But here is where the personality splits completely... under the name "2 Many DJ's", they made 2 discs of crazy good electro-dance remixes (left). What makes the remix album so extraordinary (beyond the fact that each song is phenomenal) is it's cohesiveness. It isn't just a jumbled compilation of various artists and beats- there are many recurring clips spread throughout the disc connecting the different songs via musical deja vu.

Good stuff.

[Sidenote: Apologies about this post being ALLOVERDAPLACE. This music makes me really excited. That and I drank two cups of coffee this morning to make sure I'd survive the workday. You know, it's one of those days where you spend more time at work than you did sleeping in your own bed the night before (oh wait, that's every night... NEED MOAR coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee)]



SeeqPod - Playable Search
Seeqpod Tracklist
Originals: E talking, Compute, Miserable Girl,
ReMiXeS: E talking (Soulwax remix), Miserable Girl (Soulwax Remix), LCD System- Daft Punk is Playing at My House (Soulwax remix), Muse- Muscle Museum (Soulwax remix), The Gossip- Standing in the Way of Control (Soulwax Remix)

Monday, June 30, 2008

One more time.

Today I decided it would be a good idea to walk out to my aunt's house. She was going to take me to lunch and a haircut, so I figured I would do her a favor and save her the drive to campus. She lives in WestU, so it was really the perfect plan- I could make a pit stop in the Village for a Jamba Juice refueling (or rather, my daily fix), pick up a book I ordered at the WestU library (Kings of Methlehem... I hope it's as cahrazy as it sounds), and then meet her with time to spare. Halfway there, she calls me asking where I want to be picked up, to which I gleefully respond, "Don't worry about it! I'm walking over so I'll probably be there in about twenty minutes." She laughs for a bit and reminds me that she moved earlier this summer. Far away. Past 610. Which means I'm retarded and walking to the wrong house. Now that was a fun conversation. Though I have to say, the award for most awkward exchange of words goes to one we had later in the day:

Aunt: What's that red mark near your shoulder?
Me: What mark? Oh, err...it's from my bag. I always put too much stuff in it so it's really heavy.
Aunt: Ah, okay. I was worried for a moment. And what's that mark on your neck?
Me: Uhm...that's from my bag too. Sometimes I have to change up the way I wear it since it's so heavy...
Aunt: Hm, it looks more like a bruise.
Me: I bruise easily.
Aunt: On your neck?
Me: Wowlookattheclouds! Can you believe that it's looked like it was going to rain all day and it hasn't yet? Houston weather is so crazy.

In other news, I'm temporarily obsessing over Daft Punk. Again. I blame the viewing of Interstella 5555 (anime version of the album. So fucking good.) I went through Discovery on my walk to the house that is NOT my aunt's and it turned out to be surprisingly good background music. Especially for a journey leading nowhere. One more time. (Story of my fucking life, amirite?) The songs all set the perfect walking pace and I realized that the lyrics, though repetitive, shouldn't be discarded as just meaningless accompaniment to the pulsing melody. Music makes you feel so free. Don't stop. Let's just celebrate. You know you need it. Hey. I need it too. Allright. It's good for you.
One more time.


So yea, good day. I really enjoyed my walk. Found some gorgeous flowers (see pic above. I bet you thought I stole that off the inturwebz to add some color to this post, didn'tya? WELL I DIDN'T. Houston really is quite colorful when you stop and look around), really listened to a great soundtrack...

I guess even journeys to nowhere can end up being pretty meaningful if you let them.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

It's not you, it's the E talking.

Newest musical obsession:
Erol Alkan: Bugged Out Classics (Disc 1 and 2)

I originally met him through his rework of Interpol's Mammoth, but fell in love when he remixed Justice's Waters of Nazareth. Listening to this mix has just confirmed that I want to have his children. (Even if it means giving the lame-emo-hair gene a chance at surviving for another generation.)

Basically, the tracklist is a compilation made for those of us who do not have the luxury of attending Bugged Out! parties. Personally, I like the first disk a lot better because it really captures the club feel-- the songs are more intense, upbeat, and basically overwhelm you with the urge to do the D.A.N.C.E. The second disc is aptly dubbed the "Bugged in" mix since it's built of the more chilled-out tracks. Keeping it on shuffle creates a dynamic bouncing-around-the-room experience, since you alternate between frenzied rock-out and soothing trip-out. All in all, LOVE IT. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go yell at my mom for birthing me on this side of the Atlantic.

My two favorites (so far) :

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Mmmm Houston clouds, how I missed you.

Currently listening to:

Friday, June 27, 2008

It's meme-tastic!

If you can name the 8 meme-characters present, I will give you a cookie.
(This really only proves that you can read, but I still think it deserves a cookie.)
If you can name the origin of the 8 meme-characters present, then DING-DING-DING! YOU WIN AT ONLINE LIFE!!1 I will award at least 100 online respect points, but I'm going to have to deduct over 9000 for you being such an IRL loser. I hope you're ashamed of yourself. Go outside and fly a kite or something.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Adventures in Local Music Pt 2

Meet the Future Blondes, a trance-like experimental industrial* project.

Start with Numbers' dark, hollow, shell of a room. Then, abruptly bathe the stage in red light. Cue drum machine and synthesizer. Add one well-dressed man who stares intensely into the audience as he murmurs an ambiguous string of words into an echoing microphone. Shake well. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Listen here.

(Honestly, we were pretty sure he just repeated iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou for the entire 20+ minutes of the song, but once you take a linguistic stream out of context it's almost impossible to interpret. Whatta mystery! We basically have to assume it was something profound!)

Strange as it was, the experience reminded me of how much I adore live music. You don't have to recognizing or even like the band playing. It's all about being pummeled by the surround sound. Thrilling.

Oooh, and speaking of cool experimental music:
Who knew that my freshman-year-roommate's older sister was an PhD certified avant-garde composer? NOT ME, THAT'S WHO. Good stuff though- really trippy. Imagine walking through Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory at night all alone. A bit eerie, but fascinating nonetheless. And delicious! Listen here.

*Wow, that was some terrible musical hairsplitting, even for me. It doesn't help much that the band refers to themselves as "other/other/other" on their website. Listen and decide for yourself. If you DARE.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I think I am a pretty cool guy,

I read too much AND DOESN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING

Book Review:

Sellevision does NOT get my stamp of approval. Even though Bret Easton Ellis says it's "savvy" and "very entertaining," I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. It tried too hard. It was not neither dark nor subtle enough. So maybe it succeeded in mocking a culture, it failed at being clever (wow this is oddly reminiscent of my I-hated-Juno rant.) Sorry. Anyway, it's follows the stories of a handful of shopping network television show hosts- how lives intertwine, how everyone is fucked up and how they fix it. Nothing groundbreaking. Blah.

Today we went to Claim Jumpers for dinner. I have never seen such big portions in all of my life. We need us one of them in Texas.

After that we dropped into Half Price Books, which means I'm now equipped for my plane ride home. I just have to decide between Lunar Park or Girl Interrupted. It really just depends on whether I'm in the mood for my least favorite book by my (currently) favorite author or something (& someone) that I have never read before, a haunted furby or a woman with borderline personality disorder, dark and depressing or dark and depressing. Decisions, decisions...

Sorry, I couldn't help myself:
Random: the Stranger Than Fiction soundtrack has reawakened appreciation for Spoon. Yay!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Just Another Monday

I leave for Houston tomorrow. Ugh.

This morning as I was driving my cousin to work, he asked me, "Now that you've been away for an entire week and a half, what do you find yourself missing most about home?" I hesitated for a moment, assuming he expected some warm & fuzzy answer like "family", "friends", "the teddy bear I sleep with every night", or "this one kid I've been stalking since September." But as I stopped to really think about it, I realized that what I honestly miss the most about Houston is the weather. Mostly the heat and the cumulus clouds, not so much the humidity. If I stayed long enough I would probably start to miss solitude, but I haven't hit that point yet.

"Hmm... probably friends and family."

Started reading Sellevision. Exciting!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Drivin' down the 101. California, here we come.

DAY NINE
San Francisco travels, continued. First stop, Chinatown. Somehow I managed to make it past all of those cute little shops without buying one trashy collectible item. The temptation was killing me, let me tell you. (Of course I'm not sarcastic.)

Though I will say, I was actually thisclose to buying a samurai sword (wait no, Samurai's are Japanese aren't they? Be an ignorant American with me for a moment and just pretend like you know what I mean) Except then I remembered that I still have to buy a new pocket-knife, and that takes priority. I've been knife-less for an entire week now! Sad story, it got taken away at the airport in Houston (Apparently they don't allow knives on planes now?) It was actually a pretty amusing scene: the tweenage kid behind me in line at security turned to his dad and asked, "Did that girl have a knife?" Which was my cue to spin around and smile, "Yeah, sorry about that. I had been planning on overtaking the plane midflight, but I guess now we'll just have to actually reach our destination." Completely straight-faced, he responded, "That takes all of the fun out of it." Then his dad jumped in and started chattering on about how this one time airport security argued with his wife over a cardboard nail file but the kid and I just smiled exchanged knowing glances (knowing what, I'm not sure) I really enjoy temporarily bonding with strangers. Even if it's just over silly things like potentially life-threatening breaches in homeland security.

Next we hit up Japantown, which surprisingly enough was not just a smaller, more democratic and progressive version of our previous stop (that would be HongKongTown. Coming soon to a metropolis near you!) It was really more like a mall than a street of shops- chock full of anime stores, fake cherry blossom trees, and some DE-LICIOUS SUSHI. As Americanized and cliche as the experience may have been, I found it completely delightful. I even gathered up the courage to try a "Japanese" desert- green-tea ice cream with red bean paste wrapped up in a crepe. It was... er... culturally enlightening, to say the least (Who invented that phrase? Euphemisms usually leave you saying more than the original tactless response. Meh.)

After that cultural explosion, we decided to just wander around for a bit. San Francisco is gorgeous. There's this crazy thing called "elevation" here (yes, my dear Houstonians, it does exist) which meant we worked muscle groups I didn't know existed. Which somehow led to an argument with one of my cousins about whether walking uphill or downhill was better. He said they were equal, because while downhill might be harsher on your feet, it's easier in general. I said that uphill was immeasurably better because even though it's a little more work, you always stay in complete control. We continued this discussion longer than I thought humanly possible, and ended with me wondering aloud if this whole issue could somehow be twisted into a metaphor for how people approach general problem solving in their lives. He said that that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard and pushed me the rest of the way down the hill (which was amazingly steep by the way. So beautiful!)
By about 5:00, we decided it was time to head back (Rather, our digestive tracts decided for us by robbing our bodies of inordinate amounts of energy to digest the obscene amounts of Japanese cuisine we had consumed earlier in the day. Yup.) However, as we were driving out of "The City" we passed by the coast and couldn't resist the enchanting call of the beach. My cousin didn't seem too impressed by it, but growing up near Galveston Bay has made my standards for beaches pretty goddamn low. I loved it.
  We just stood around and chatted for a bit while I took pictures of the sand, clouds, waves, and nearby children. Good times.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Too busy to write posts. I'll update eventually. Not that any one was holding their breath.
Till then-- SAN FRANCISCO FLOWERS!

Rock 'n Roll. Deal With It.

DAY EIGHT

Chill day #2.
Sat outside by the pool. Read Rules of Attraction.
Walked to Safeway (for grapefruits! yay!) and Blockbuster (for romantic comedies! boo!)
Sat outside some more. Watched the sun set.
Then at night we went out and saw Get Smart, which was really really good. Really. Cute, good acting, decent amount of political satire, and of course, three million cameos.
Even the trailers before the movie were pretty bad ass. Dark Knight looked glorious, but that's old news. Hell Boy 2 actually caught my attention (I don't care if the movie itself looks obnoxious. It's all about being visually and acoustically pleasing. Who needs a plot when you've got the dude from Pan's Labyrinth and a hardcore metal song in the background? Yeah, that's what I thought.)

And then I went crazy and jumped out of a window. *CRASH *

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Look, there's two women fucking a polar bear!

DAY SEVEN

This was our first intentional trip to "The City, " so I was pretty excited (last time we ended up here by heading 40 minutes in the wrong direction.) Basically spent the day perusing Pier 39 which is a slightly classier, more commercial version of Kemah.
It's really too bad I've already filled my quota of Fear & Loathing references for the year, because Fisherman's Wharf was just asking for it. We rode a carousel. Got my picture taken with a Hannah Montana signed guitar. Fortunte told by Zoltar. Saw a store selling pearl-bearing oysters. Guaranteed. This is not a good town for psychedelic drugs. Reality itself is too twisted.

Though in the Pier's defense, I must add, the (completely sober, in case you were wondering) carousel ride was amazing. There's nothing like riding a creepy gem-encrusted horse spinning round and round to eerie tinkling background music. Just like the good ol' days. Besides, I enjoy wandering around these cute little tourist hot-spots, no matter how much I mock them. Besides, they served a mean clam chowder-bread bowl.


After the Pier, we headed back for the San Rafael Street Fair. Every Thursday, the city shuts down an entire street for people to set up tents and tables to sell their stuff. Fresh fruits, veggies, baked goods, earrings, hippie purses, clothing, vietnamese children. Really, something for everyone. I bought a sundress and a can of homeade mixed pepper preserves. Good day, it was.

I couldn't resist

People are afraid to merge on freeways in San Francisco.
You can disappear here without knowing it.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Journey to Walnut Creek

DAY SIX
So on the surface, today seems like it was just another day of driving, shopping, and eating more Thai. But it was so much more than that.
...Okay not really.
All we did was wander around.
Hooray!

Random sidenote: How have I never heard this song before?
I'm a failure.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Napa Valley!

DAY FIVE

Today my grandma and I drove out to Napa Valley to go winery-hopping. We only hit two, Artesa and Larson Family, but I think that was enough to get a good touristy feel of things.
I've never been too big a fan of wine (I only drink grain alcohol and rainwater, remember?) but I think this experience has changed my mind for the better. Unless this tingly feeling of general well being is just a side effect of multiple wine tastings... nah! It was great because the guy serving neither asked me for my age or the nominal wine tasting fee. I guess he knew that in the end I would buy out his nice little shop... No matter! First, we tried a soft white Gerwurztraminer and then a fruity Pinot Noir RosƩ (deceitfully tasting of strawberries. Pictured right.) This was followed by a crisp Meritage and their award-winning deep, dark Cabarnet Sauvignon. This is the one I ended up buying- something about the varietal aromas married with the vanilla and spice of the barrels gives it a distinctive Cabernet flavor full of currant and dark cherry fruit that you can't help but roll around in your mouth. Yeah, so I didn't really write that myself- it's on their website. In the end, it was good and I was buzzed. Yay wine!

Now it's time for THE MOAR YOU KNOW: Wine Edition.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
  • The name "Meritage" is a sign of quality, caliber, and how much you are willing to pay for the naming license.
  • I found the acidity of the Cabarnet Sauvignon on their website: 0.428 to 0.458 g/100mL, with a pH of 3.69 to 3.81.
  • There are two methods for getting the juice out of the grapes- beating/pummeling them, or pressing them (I bet they still step on them sometimes just for fun...) The beating is usually more for the red grapes and the pressing is more for the white.
  • Red wine is dark because the skin is left on during fermentation. whites, in turn, do not. RosĆ©s are somewhere in the middle. Welcome back to kindergarten kids, that's how hues work.
  • The juice is first put in the vats to ferment and then the barrels to age. Somehow I managed to get a good shot of both when I took a picture of a cute employee. Imagine that.
  • They leave glass stoppers in the barrels so they can see the when the bubbles of CO2 (produced by the yeast breaking down the sugar) stop and the wine is ready to be set in a barn somewhere to age.
  • Wine is delicious. Yum.
NOW YOU KNOW!

On top of the Cab, I also bought tiny bottles of Rose, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. Translation: I can either host a nice wine-tasting in my room when I come back, or revel in the fact that I have the proper ammunition to get myself shit-faced drunk alone on some weeknight. Win-win!

I almost feel bad about enjoying my day so much when duty calls me to go into a seven-month mourning period. Crushingly disappointing as it was, I'm proud of you boys for making it that far. Hope you're ready for next year, because we're going to kick some serious ass!Want MOAR wine-day pictures?