Soundtrack of life: this side or the other side

KT Tunstall is this great new-ish artist that I just discovered on iTunes. Currently have this track on repeat...the words are so sad and yet so pretty.

Other Side of the World - KT Tunstall

Over the sea and far away
She's waiting like an iceberg
Waiting to change
But she's cold inside
She wants to be like the water

All the muscles tighten in her face
Buries her soul in one embrace
They're one and the same
Just like water

The fire fades away
Most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses
But it's to hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily
You're close enough to see that
You're the other side of the world to me

On comes the panic light
Holding on with fingers and feelings alike
But the time has come
To move along

The fire fades away

Can you help me
Can you let me go
And can you still love me
When you can't see me anymore

The fire fades away

California dreamin'

Just got back from Memorial Day holiday long weekend...let me start by saying that the Memorial Day long weekend is definitely my favourite long weekend of the year. It's signals the beginning of summer, not *too* many American flags are waved (see "4th of July"), the weather's usually warm and gorgeous, and there are always big-budget, mind-numbing, wholly-entertaining, but not too much brain-utilizing movies to watch (see "Men in Black" or "Shrek 2"). So this weekend was more of the same...watched X-Men: the Last Stand, took a short road trip up the coast to Tomales Bay (Hog Island Oysters--yum!), and then over to Sonoma for some much-needed R&R at the Sonoma Mission Inn. It was probably one of the nicest spas I've ever been to, mostly because the people there was just so damn nice! More pics to come later...

P.S. I'm now addicted to e-lix-r tonics...doh!

Soundtrack of life: of course it's a good day

Just downloaded this new song by Jewel off iTunes. Don't know if it actually reflects anything I feel per se, but I thought it was catchy so it's now the soundtrack as I drift off to sleep in Dallas...

Good Day - Jewel

I say to myself
Self, why are you awake again? It's one a.m.
Standing with the fridge door wide open, staring
Such a sight, florescent light
The stars are bright
Might make a wish, if I believed in that shit
As it is, I might watch TV
Cause it's nice to see people more messed up than me
I say to myself, as I smile at the wall, let myself fall

It's gonna be all right, no matter what they say
It's gonna be a good day, just wait and see
It's gonna be okay, cause I'm okay with me
It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gotta be

I shiver, shut the door
Can't think standing here no more
I'm alone, my mine's racing, heart breaking
Can you be everything I need you to be?
Can you protect me like a daughter?
Can you love me like a father?
Can you drink me like water?
Say I'm like the desert, just hotter.

The point of it all
Is that if I should fall
Still your name I'll call

It's gonna be all right, no matter what they say
It's gonna be a good day, just wait and see
It's gonna be okay, cause I'm okay with me
It's gonna be, it's gonna be

As long as we laugh out loud
Laugh like we're mad
Cause this crazy, mixed up beauty is all that we have
Because what's love but an itch we can't scratch, a joke we can't catch
But still we laugh

I go back upstairs, turn off the TV
You say "I'll be okay baby, just wait and see."

It's gonna be all right, it's gonna be okay
Gonna be a good day, just wait, just see
Gonna okay, cause I'm okay with me
It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gonna be...

Random Texan observations

I'm into hour 11 of my 24-trip to Dallas. If this were a season of 24, then hour 11 would be the really boring middle "build up the conflict" section where some intermediate conflict has just been resolved, Jack got to see and kiss Audrey for a brief 30 seconds, and just found out that some other bad terrorist plot was in progress. Alas, hour 11 in Dallas is not *quite* as exciting.

Some random observations so far:
- Everything is Dallas (or Texas, they tell me), is really big. The roads are big, the buildings are big, hell, even the car rental building at DFW is big.

- Apparently Austin is not like the rest of Texas. Some of my fellow travel companions have called it "a nice liberal oasis in the middle of redneck country". I wouldn't know, since we're in Dallas and not Austin.

- Even though it's in the south, they don't eat southern food here. The iced tea is unsweetened, and they eat burritos, not jambalaya.

- Starbucks, however, is still the same. But more people seem to order venti-sized drinks. (see point above re: big)

- They're still mad at the Dixie Chicks. Go figure.

Okay, off to bed before my early morning flight back to SF.

From my album: then and now

Last week I was in Vancouver attending my friend's Chrissy's bridal shower hosted by another one of our friends, Jen. Before I scrambled to the airport, we managed to get a picture with the three of us. I was looking through my pics tonight and found another one the three of us took--five years ago, also in Vancouver. It's amazing how much can change in 5 years...back then, we were all in university, and now, Chrissy's engaged, Jen's in law school, and I've moved to San Francisco. As our parents would say: "We're all grown up!" I know it's cheesy, but friends forever, Chrissy and Jen. You both are the best.

Hanging out at the Cactus Club -- Vancouver, Summer 2001

Chrissy's bridal shower -- Vancouver, May 2006

Vancouver, Dallas, Sonoma, and then some...

So I've been quiet on the blog for a while. Work's been busy and two weekends ago I was in Vancouver for Mother's Day and my friend's wedding shower. (pics to come soon) Last weekend was catching up on errands and so forth in SF (aka do laundry), and tomorrow I'm off to Dallas for 24 hours for work. The long-awaited Memorial Day long weekend is coming up this weekend and I'm off to Sonoma---ahhh wine, food, and general R&R.'

Random interesting things I've seen/heard/read about recently:

-the Katamari ball at last weekend's Bay to Breakers

-playing "Kings" is fun, especially as you get more and more drunk

-Dallas-Fort Worth are two cities, not just the name of the Dallas airport. Dallas. Fort Worth. Damn American twin cities that confuse non-Americans! That said, a new W hotel is opening in June in Dallas, so that obviously makes it the cooler of the two.

-exercise your inner stripper at S-Factor. You know you want to...you can even wear stripper platforms. ;-)

The weekend in pics: birthdays and tea fit for a queen

Okay, yes, it's a lot closer to THIS weekend than last weekend, but for some reason I've had zero time to catch up on life this week. Last weekend I went to Mendel & Derek's joint birthday party (Derek bakes a mean chocolate brownie creamcheese cake!), and then had a non-stellar dinner at Jack Falstaff followed by a non-stellar viewing of MI:3. Okay, so the movie wasn't that bad and totally met my expectations of a 2-hour multimillion dollar blockbuster (translation: stuff was blown up every five minutes). On Sunday I had tea with Arielle--the weather was so beautiful that we were both wearing sundresses and had a high tea fit for a queen! (or I guess it's two queens in this case.) Good times overall!!






The birthday boys and their cake












Arielle and me enjoying the sunshine and the tea

From my album: Hey Day

A couple of weeks ago, Penn rising seniors celebrated Hey Day--an annual tradition on the last day of Spring term that dates back to 1916. Today, it's basically a day of (drunken) revelry, with canes, red shirts, and foam hats which you get bitten off by your friends (yes, really) after you are proclaimed seniors by the school president. Here's a look back at my Hey Day...

See those holes in the hats? Those were created by fellow seniors. ;-) Ahh, to be in college again... - Philadelphia, April 2002

When your life becomes SATC episodes...

[Warning: highly flaky, "girly" post up ahead. Skip today if you still want to believe that I'm intelligent.]

A scary thing happened to me this past week. I've always appreciated the humour and just general awesomeness of Sex and the City, careful to note that it is FICTION and not in fact, realistic in any way, shape or form. (Come on, she writes for a column in a second-tier newspaper but wears Oscar de la Renta couture? Riiiiight...) But recently, I've come to the understanding that these seemingly silly (and sometime outrageous) storylines actually happen in real life! (*gasp* Can you imagine?) A couple examples of how events in my life are starting to make it feel like a bad mashup of SATC episodes...

"+1"
So my gal pals C and S (didn't get their permission so I'm using initials) are both getting married this summer (not to each other--I figured I had to clarify since I live in San Francisco). I'm decidedly single. Both of them were kind enough to have "+ guest" (C telling me over the phone, S actually in writing on my invite), but now I've run into this problem of finding the right "+1". Remember that whole silly episode when Carrie was freaking out about Big being her "+1" and why he wouldn't sign the damn card on her wedding present. Well, I don't have a Mr. Big, but I'm definitely missing a +1. I think the resolution is to not have any +1's and be happy that I'm a 0!! :-)

The Old Woman and Her Shoes
I've always known that I've had a lot of shoes. Not too long ago, I've had to move my shoe collection out into the entry foyer of my apartment because it was sucking up too much closet space. I had to up my rental insurance because my shoes exceeded my personal coverage limits. Then I had to start cataloguing and photographing them. And now that I'm single, there are serious fears that I will just die in an earthquake under my pile of shoes as they collapse on me...I'd be that young-but-dead woman with her shoes.  AHHH! And yes, I can't afford a damn downpayment because all my money went to shoes...or it's because the fact that anything decent in San Francisco costs almost a million dollars...or both. But hey, at least I can do the math and I know that $400 X 100 is NOT four thousand. ;-)

Conclusion: I need to be like Samantha and get me a hot bf like Smith Jared. Hopefully before I turn 40 like her. Or 30 for that matter.

From my album: Santa Monica

Oh, don't I wish I could be here right now? As Memorial Day rolls around, this one quiet moment on Memorial Day two years ago on a beach in Santa Monica comes to mind.

The world through the view of my flip-flops - Santa Monica, May 2004

Three Times (and more)

The past week was a haze of jetlag- and fatigue-induced sleepiness. I actually went out to dinner last Thursday (on a weeknight!) at Winterland, which was fun and chic but the entrees came out a bit salty. The appetizers, wine, service and ambience were good, so I definitely recommend going anyway. (My comment card to them warned sternly about the saltiness of the food, so hopefully they'll fix it.) It was also the tail-end of the SF international Film Festival (one of my favourites!), so I got to check out a movie. Cycling Chronicles: Landscapes the Boy Saw was probably the worst movie I've ever seen at any film festival--period. Enough said. But the key takeaway of the night was that I had dinner and a movie on a Thursday night--surprisingly normal-sounding, but definitely indulgent for me. I made a comment about how this was what it must feel like to have a normal job!

Saturday was more sleeping and more film festival. This time we saw Three Times, a movie by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Okay, so I don't like Shu Qi, but I had to say that the movie was beautifully crafted and I truly enjoyed it. It dealt with three different "love" stories through different periods in time--1911, 1966, and 2005, and had thematic names like "Time for Freedom", "Time for Love", and "Time for Youth". All in all, a good flick. I hear it just opened in NYC and will be opening in SF soon in a limited engagement.

Sunday was again, more jetlagged/fatigued slumber, followed by brunch at Citizen Cake and some much-needed spring shopping. It's a tough life, I tell ya.