What is the sound of the day today?
Archive for August, 2004
When I went downstairs to go out of my gate to my car this morning this was sitting in front of my house
Please note the incredible realistic image on the driver’s head rest
Somewhere the aliens are roaming free in Los Angeles…… call 911 if you see them!
The Chunk of Monk Marahthon is on right now.
I set my TiVo to record a few hours late.
Grrrr… I wanted to see them all! (I missed a bunch of them.)
Two photos of my hair for you to check out.
That’s right. A zip tie.
I couldn’t find a rubber band but I had zip ties. So I improvised.
P.S. - I also couldn’t find a brush. Obviously.
I had to run a quick errand to Home Depot yesterday.
It was the first time for me to go to Home Depot by myself (without Yoshi) and I am happy to report that I made it out alive.
I even used their self-checkout station to pay for the item I bought. Thank goodness for that self-checkout station, too.
First, they had “temporarily closed” the aisle where my item was located because they were using a forklift waaaay on the other end of the aisle. The “DO NOT CROSS” barrier was close enough to the item so that I could stand on the other side of the barrier and look at it, but far enough so that I couldn’t reach it. I tried to move the barrier over so I could get at my item and the Home Depot dude at the other end
yelled at me, so I walked around for a bit until they were done with the forklift.
Here is a photo I took of a little slice of Home Depot heaven. It’s the air-conditioning section and I stood there “testing the samples” while waiting for the forklift dude, wishing we had A/C at home. Actually, I wished I had a row of air conditioners, kind of like this one, but mounted prettier.
Anyway, if it wasn’t for those self-checkout stations, I would probably STILL be in line at the cashier. I had originally stood in a regular line before trying the self-checkout. When I walked out the door, I saw the person in front of me in that first line standing in the exact same spot. Doh.
I had to run a quick errand to Home Depot yesterday.
It was the first time for me to go to Home Depot by myself (without Yoshi) and I am happy to report that I made it out alive.
I even used their self-checkout station to pay for the item I bought. Thank goodness for that self-checkout station, too.
First, they had “temporarily closed” the aisle where my item was located because they were using a forklift waaaay on the other end of the aisle. The “DO NOT CROSS” barrier was close enough to the item so that I could stand on the other side of the barrier and look at it, but far enough so that I couldn’t reach it. I tried to move the barrier over so I could get at my item and the Home Depot dude at the other end yelled at me, so I walked around for a bit until they were done with the forklift.
Here is a photo I took of a little slice of Home Depot heaven. It’s the air-conditioning section and I stood there “testing the samples” while waiting for the forklift dude, wishing we had A/C at home. Actually, I wished I had a row of air conditioners, kind of like this one, but mounted prettier.
Anyway, if it wasn’t for those self-checkout stations, I would probably STILL be in line at the cashier. I had originally stood in a regular line before trying the self-checkout. When I walked out the door, I saw the person in front of me in that first line standing in the exact same spot. Doh.
The refrigerator that my Dad and my Mom bought when I was born has finally gone up to appliance heaven.
That thing kept things cool for a long time and after decades of service to my family, it’s going to be taken away when the new fridge is delivered tomorrow. Not only did it store food, but it displayed many of our works of art, and held many notes and messages we left for each other.
I am a little sad about it.
As my Dad pointed out on the phone tonight (yes, I called him), “It held a lot of food.” I thought he meant that it had a fairly large storage capacity, but he clarified by saying, “it held a lot of food and you ate a lot of food.” He continued on, but I was afraid to listen. I suddenly felt like I was the size of a Mac truck shlepping around produce and other refrigerated goodies from place to place.
Then he went on to describe the disgusting, rotten stuff that had gotten stuck in the back of the fridge where no one was tall enough to reach.
Thanks, Dad.
My nose itches like crazy and I’m going to start raiding the medicine cabinet if this itchiness doesn’t pass.
I’ve already been up for almost two hours, which really sucks because it was two hours of sleep I could have used. Oh well. Maybe my body didn’t need the extra two hours of sleep.
I think I’m going to get a Diet Rockstar this morning, anyway.
I’ve never done the commute from east to west in L.A. during morning rush hour. Wish me luck.
I could talk about the exhibitors and cool toys I saw or the fun people I met at Siggraph2004. Or I could blog about the awesome 3D Labs party Chinh brought me to.
But instead I’m going to just post a picture of me and Chinh at the Nvidia party which is still going strong as I type.
Too bad I can’t find a photo of me holding one of the cool (read: not cool) glowy nvidia button thingies. I think Chinh has those on her camera.
I had a great weekend. More parties in one weekend than I had been to in a month (not counting the nightly parties in Montreal).
It was great to see other bloggers this past weekend.
When I’m less “blah” I’ll link back to the folks I saw and put up some pictures. Right now, I just want to take a nap.
My internal clock is screwed up!
It’s 4am and I’m BARELY tired…
As you know, I live in the exciting city of L.A. where on Friday nights, hot girls dress in skimpy outfits and go out to local hotspots to to be seen and to party with celebrities.
Last night, I stayed out until 3am, having a great time.
Here are the details as to how I spent Friday night…
Continue reading ‘Friday night hijinx’
Every day on the way home I drive past this billboard - in fact I wait at a light that takes at least 3 - 5 minutes to change and this is my view….
What do you think?
I was just about to fall into a comfortable tequila-induced slumber when my cell phone rang by my bedside. Seeing as it was 1am, I thought it was some sort of emergency and leapt up to answer it.
“AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” came my Mom’s shrieking voice coming through from the other end. Did I mention she is calling from Taiwan to scream at me?! (Note: My Mom is very loud. Her shrieking like this is actually quite normal and is usually nothing to worry about too much.)
Bleary-eyed and groggy, I stumbled out of bed and into my walk-in closet, closed the door and turned on the light. I’ve been told that I am kind of loud when I talk to my parents.
“What’s wrong? What’s the matter?” I asked frantically.
The only intelligible words that came from her mouth were something about “just talking to your aunt,” “need to put some charges on your credit card,” and “did you call your father?”
My brain feels like it’s been scrambled and she says, “Hold on, here’s your brother.”
Bro gets on the phone and apologizes, “She’s been all nervous/excited all day, sorry. I told her not to call, but she said that you’re always up at 1am (good point) and that she was just talking to Auntie (who is also in my time zone) and she’s still up, so of course you’d still be up.” Ok, what the hell kind of logic is that?!
Anyway, neither my Mom nor my Bro had emergencies (thank goodness), but they did successfully wake me up and make it impossible for me to lie in bed without shaking nervously.
I figured I’d be better off blogging.
… but the margaritas were great. I ate too many chips. Oh well. I have leftover fajitas for tomorrow.
Happy birthday, Jay. It was nice to see you 5000, Sean, Caryn, and all the non-bloggers.
Here’s a picture of the light in the bathroom.
Say it with me… Ooh, pretty.
Is this what happens to me when I have tequila?
P.S. - Dad called at 10:30 tonight. I called him at 11:00 when I left El Conquistador in Silverlake.
As I was talking to my Dad last night, I mentioned that my Mom and Bro had called me from Taiwan.
Bro is on IM right now telling me that after my Dad ended the call with me, he called Taiwan to complain to Mom and Bro that they had called me and not him.
I am pretty sure that when Mom and Bro called me, I had told them that Dad wasn’t home (I had left him a message already).
Regardless… grrrr!
Yes, I called my Dad tonight. I left a message around 9:30 and then he called back around half an hour ago.
I also received a phone call from my Mom & Bro in Taiwan (”Don’t forget to call Dad,” Mom reminded me.).
I feel like I’m 18 again. And not in a good way.
Gah.
A couple of hours ago, our friend La Concha (or as we call her, Concha) called me and asked if I wanted to meet her for sushi at lunch.
I had just eaten a very large brunch and was contemplating how full my tummy felt.
And I actually thought to myself, “Mmmm, sushi. Maybe I can fit some more into my tummy.”
Luckily, I thought better of it and told Concha I had just eaten, at which point she sounded very bummed.
I should have just gone. How’s that go? There’s always room for Jell-O sushi, right?
In a strange turn of events, my Dad has become the immediate family member geographically closest to me.
Normally, my Dad is abroad (in Taiwan) or when he is here in the U.S., he lives at the house I grew up in located in Orange County, where either my Bro or my Mom (or both) are living, too.
Well, Mom has been in Taiwan for several months and right around the time that I took off to Montreal, Bro took off to Taiwan, leaving Dad by himself in the OC house for the first time (I think ever).
This new configuration also leaves me the closest target for my Dad’s, um, Daddiness*? Normally, if Dad is around, my Mom and Bro are the default “buffers” for me from this since they are all stuck in the same house together and I’m not.
How do I describe this tactfully? Let’s just say that I love my Dad, but there’s more than one reason why I never moved back home after I left for college. Ok, to be fair, you can substitute “Mom” and “Bro” into that sentence as well, but that’s not the point.
So anyway, now that my Dad is at home alone, I think he is experiencing some weird empty nest syndrome. Ever since I got back from Montreal (actually this started around the time my Bro left for Taiwan when I was already in Montreal), my Dad has called me every. single. day… leaving me voicemails (often) multiple times of the day for no particular reason but him wanting to know where I am and what I’m doing.
I truly don’t mind talking to him, but to be quite honest, he has NEVER EVER called me with this frequency. All of a sudden, I feel like I’m off at my first year at college and my Dad is calling me every night to check up on me. And THAT’S the part that I find most annoying, is that he is calling just to check up on me. I am honestly very grateful that he is so concerned about me and my welfare, but still, I am not accustomed to this and I feel like I’m in some weird Twilight Zone episode. (Incidentally, Bro called me from Taiwan to tell me that two days after he left town, my Dad called Mom and Bro in Taiwan to complain about how I didn’t return his calls while I was in Montreal. So I had Mom and Bro nagging me from Taiwan to call my Dad so that he would stop calling them. Nice.)
I don’t even want to go into the fact that we hardly ever conversate** and that our phone calls sound like this:
(as with Ernie, stuff spoken in Mandarin is in italics)
Dad: Hello?
Joz: Hello?
Dad: Thanks for calling me back. I thought something happened to you, it’s been so long since I heard from you.
Joz: I just talked to you last night. Is something the matter?
Dad: No. What are you doing? Where are you? What did you do today? (he has a suspicious tone in his voice)
Joz: I’m at home (in the car/in the office). I’ve been working. I’m always working.
Dad: I didn’t hear from you all day, so I thought something might have happened to you.
Joz: I’m FINE, Dad.
Dad: (he asks again) What are you doing? Where are you? What did you do today? (he has a suspicious tone in his voice, AGAIN)
Joz: I already told you… I’m at home (in the car/in the office). I’ve been working. I’m always working.
Dad: Ok, call me more often. Otherwise, I don’t know if something happened to you. (his suspicious tone implies he knows I’m off doing something really horrible)
Joz: Ok, I hope you’re ok, too. Bye.
Dad: Don’t get arrested or anything.
-click-
What?! Anyway, I actually didn’t know until today that my Dad had left me some more messages over the past three days on my voicemail (weird delayed voicemail thing). When he called tonight (11:30pm), I called him right back to tell him I honestly wasn’t ignoring him and that I just didn’t know he had been leaving messages for me.
So tonight, he went into this whole tirade about how he worries about me all the time because I’m living in L.A. and how being a girl in L.A. is so dangerous. And how if I don’t call him every night how is he going to know what’s going on with me and that I’m okay? And how he knows that my nighttime minutes begin at 7pm, so that I should call him more often in the evening to “chat.”
Have I mentioned that I HAVEN’T LIVED AT HOME SINCE HIGH SCHOOL? That I’VE LIVED IN L.A. ALMOST THE ENTIRE TIME? That my Mom FINALLY stopped doing this to me a short while ago… and now my DAD is starting with it?!?!
And the kicker? He actually said to me, “I’m here at the house by myself now and what if I fell or something happened to me? If you don’t call, no one would even know it. So you’d better call me every night, just to make sure I’m ok.”
Wow, with that one statement, I felt the guilt of a thousand Asian mothers washing over me.
*Stop making fun of me. The problem with dictionaries is that they are just not up to date with the latest jozjozjoz lingo.
**See above footnote. Besides, I know the proper word is actually “converse” but it’s just not as much fun as “conversate.”
My morning was dragging, and my shirt inside out when I decided to walk three miles to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for some reflection. It only took me about thirty minutes and the walk was interesting enough that it didn’t drag. I walked over the freeway and traffic was moving nicely, and I thought about how easy it would be to hop onto a slow moving truck and let it take me wherever it was going. But then I remembered that it would most likely take me somewhere in the valley way hotter then here, maybe Sylmar, so I kept walking. The cemetery was quiet and I walked around looking at various people’s expressions of what their loved ones had meant to them, reading epitaphs both generic and very personal. I walked on grave sites and through mausoleums and sat quietly at memorials. I spotted two kids making out behind Cecile B. DeMille. I saw a family adding toys and flowers to a little girls grave. I saw a man sitting by his late mother thinking. I walked on grass and on gravel paths and sidewalks and mud. I watch men in uniform shoot into the air to mourn a fallen friend. I saw the withering impatiens by the gift shop and the roses and tulip just placed in vases on various plots. As I left a woman in a vibrant blue dress looked toward the sky and wiped the sweat and tears from her face and then, while Taps played on nearby trumpets, she disappear behind the willows. On my way back home the traffic on the 101 was at a stand still and hopping on a truck’s roof would have been really easy, but pointless since they were stagnant. I bought some bread at the Armenian bakery for a buck and when in my house made a peanut butter and fluff sandwich and ate it while petting the cat and watching bad T.V. for a few before buckling down for some work. Today seems a little bit heavy, I am not sure why, it is good though. And my shirt is still inside out, and I am totally ok with that. -professoreric
You know?
Like on the days that I sleep too much, I can keep a little bank of the oversleepingness* and then “withdraw” from my sleep bank on days where I didn’t get enough.
On second thought, I’d probably be overdrawn most of the time, so forget I said that.
*Who says that “oversleepingness” is not a word?!
Yoshi was great enough to make the drive home and we walked through the door a bit past 2am.
Why I am still up at 4am when I have to be at the office in a few hours, I don’t know.
Maybe Bossman won’t notice the bags under my eyes.
…especially ones spent in a massage recliner while leisurely reading books for pleasure after having cold leftover pizza for breakfast.
Better yet, it was in a quiet house since I was the only person up and about for about 3 hours.
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