Just a little diversion

So one of my friends sent this to me... it's quite an achievement in animation... or something like that :)

The sound effects are priceless!!

FAIL! No, wait, WIN!

Fail Blog is a collection of some of the funniest stuff on the web.   Seriously, have a couple glasses of wine (or a bottle) and check it out.  I've literally laughed out loud.  You've probably gotten one of the email forwards with photos of all sorts of stupid signs or people doing stupid things marked FAIL!  Recently, I found this post that was actually marked WIN instead of FAIL, which is a hard-to-get label reserved for stuff that is actually more clever than stupid.

I want to meet the person responsible...

see more pwn and owned pictures

... for this.

Is that funny or what? No? Okay, perhaps have another drink.  Like me.

Tour of California

Below are some photos I took at the Tour of California yesterday. The race started in Santa Clarita and ended in Pasadena with 5 circuits around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We had rock star parking and walked around the Lifestyle tents before the race arrived and got a lot of freebies and the all-important cowbells to ring on the sidelines. We also ran into Bob Roll, who is one of the commentators (and former cyclist) for the Tour de France. Tammy and I got our photo taken with him! Instead of hanging out with the huge crowds near the finish, we found the best spot on Rosemont Avenue to the east of the Rose Bowl where we could see them coming up a slight incline during the five laps. That didn't slow them down though! They were still going close to 30 mph!

I've never been to the Rose Bowl.... I've always wanted to see it since it was the site of the phenomenal Depeche Mode 101 concert in 1988.



There was a breakaway of about 9-10 riders who came through first, followed by the Peloton around 4 and a half minutes later and of course all the team cars. The race is led by a CA Highway Patrol car and every time he drove by, he would give an update on the race to the crowd. That was cool. Each lap took round about 9 minutes.

Attached are some photos and a video I took. Lance Armstrong's team is Team Astana and I got a good picture of the team at the head of the Peloton (light blue and yellow jerseys).

Tammy and I making a 'Bob Sandwich'



Team Astana up front... Lance is toward the left with the yellow helmet

This video shows how fast they were cruising!

"My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you!"

Not really.  I'm not really interested in recruiting anyone, but this week I saw "Milk", which marks the third movie I've seen in the past 18 days.... truly remarkable for me.  I'm someone who is extremely picky about movies.  As a general rule of thumb, I am just not interested by movies that the general public seems to get hyped up about.  The standard shoot 'em up, action-packed thrillers just aren't my thing.  I tend to like movies that are lower budget and more appealing to emotions rather than excitement.

"Milk" was just one of those movies that I knew I wanted to see.  I enjoy films that are based on reality... makes sense because as a kid, I always wanted books with "real pictures" as my mom used to tell me.  None of those cartoony books for me.

Many people (like myself) may not know the story of Milk: That he helped spearhead the fight against a wave of anti-gay legislation that swept the country as part of Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade; that he advocated coming out as the most powerful weapon against homophobia; that he was shot to death after predicting his own assassination.

The story was told interspersed with actual footage from the era.  It's unreal to think that this was going on just over 30 years ago.  The footage of Anita Bryant was especially unsettling, as she was rallying people to have every gay and lesbian teacher fired, along with anyone who supported them. As if being gay was something that was taught in schools.  This is what was happening in the 1970s.

I have to say that of the Oscar Nominated movies I've seen, I would cast my vote for the Reader first and Milk second, but it was still a very moving and poignant movie.

Always double check before hitting send.

Last night, I got home sorta late and finally got to bed around midnight.  I had just fallen asleep when my phone started ringing.  It was one of those rings that incorporated itself into my dream and it took me a couple rings to figure out what it was.  I looked at the phone and it was a St. Louis area code, but a number that I didn't recognize.  Definitely someone drunk dialing.  I've never drunk dialed anyone... maybe drunk texted, but 9 out of 10 dentists agree that it's not the same thing.  There is a down side though.  With drunk dialing, you may not remember what you said, but with drunk texting you have to face reading what you wrote the next day.

 Here's what went down:

Me: "Uh, hello?"

Him:  "Hey baby, happy Valentine's Day.  I know it's late, but I've been doin' a lot o' thinkin.  I really, really miss you and I am sorry.  I am truly sorry baby.  I know I messed it all up."

Me:  ::pause:: "It's okay baby."

Him:  "Really?  Oh man, I swear I'll make it up somehow.  How 'bout you come over?"

Me:  "Now?"

Him:  "Yeah, baby.  I NEED to see you.  We can cuddle up and talk it out."

Me:  ::cringing::  "Sweetie, not tonight.  I'll come tomorrow.  I promise."

Him: "Yeah, okay.  Thank you baby, I'll make it up.  Oh, can you bring my Playstation?"

Me:  "See you tomorrow."

I did a reverse phone number lookup and some poor sap in Kirkwood, MO, is gonna be disappointed today.  I feel sorta guilty.  Nah. 

"Um, perhaps later"

Tonight was a really fun evening with friends that involved some, shall I say, interesting conversation... 

It did spark my memory about a movie I really like called "Kissing Jessica Stein".  It's a very cute story and I definitely recommend it.  However, Fox Searchlight ruined the ending, so if you happen to watch it, just ignore about the last 5 minutes.  Anyone has gone out on a lot of dates and feels as though they've run out of options will appreciate it.

Here's the trailer.   Don't know why the title is in Spanish.

Calling all guys

Guys, do not, under any circumstance, take your date here on Valentine's Day.

No matter how luxurious the tablecloths are or how friendly the 16-year-old fry cook waiting on your table is, this will not get you laid.  Guaranteed.  Unless your date is Harold.  Or Kumar.  Or Neil Patrick Harris.

Girls' Nites are Important

Friday was Tammy's b-day and to celebrate, a few girls (and G Money) gathered at Sheryl's new place in HB. It was a chill evening with stolen guacamole* and lots of pizza (some of the best I've had in CA) and a really odd British movie.  I think the best part was the girl talk that ensued amidst the movie, food, drinks, and cake.  I miss having my close girlfriends to talk about stuff such as why we can't find any suitable guys to date.  Or, if I do happen to find someone I fancy, turns out they don't like me.  Of course.   It was reassuring to know that we're all in similar boats and it's not just me...yet alarming because if these phenomenal girls are having dating issues too, I am in deep yogurt.

I can honestly say that I don't try very hard.  I don't go out looking for dates.  I don't know what I am thinking because it's highly unlikely that some handsome dude is randomly going to show up at my door with flowers.  I really would prefer to meet someone though a group I am involved in, or perhaps church, or work, or even school if I decide to get a Masters'.  It's easier to see whether they are psycho in the context of groups and if they play well with others.  The problem is that so far I've had no luck and it makes it more difficult to keep trying.  I joined up with eHarmony a couple years ago and it's been retarded.  First of all, I get tons of communications from people who aren't even within the same state!  How is that supposed to work? One guy was in Michigan and offered to move to be closer... uh, no thanks.  I've gone out on some dates and they've literally turned out to be disasters, but at least with a free dinner.   Last November, I got matched with this guy Andrew in Oceanside.  He really seemed to be a good prospect.  We exchanged several of the 'guided' communications... each time I would respond, he would write back within the hour.  I thought this could really lead somewhere until he stopped responding FOR NO REASON.  Now I just logged in after several months and found that he closed communication with the reason being "other".  So original.

Anyway, it had been awhile since I logged in and I today I had 1659 matches.  That's almost 1700 people who apparently have better options... how can my odds be better by going to a bar where there may be only 30 people?  And why doesn't this website let me purge my matches and start over?  I don't want to be reminded that this many people aren't interested!

There is one bright spot... I had a communication waiting from Jacob in San Bernardino.  Yes, he is from the 909, but he seemed genuine enough and deserved a reply.  We'll see what happens.

I don't mean to sound bitter.  I just always figured that other things in my life would have been more difficult than finding "the one" and I didn't have a contingency plan for this.  I don't even like that phrase because I think that people have more like 4 or 5 "the ones".  It just depends on who finds who first.

*After reading my blog, Sheryl felt extremely guilty and confessed to the theft of the guacamole.  Therefore, she should be absolved of all sins relating to the matter.  Heck, it wasn't even ready made dip which would be much more of a crime!  It was just the seasoning, so she still had to pay for the avocados, tomatoes, and onions and then actually MAKE the dip.  And, did I say it was good??

A Young Jodie Foster

I don't like to talk about my looks much. Frankly because I don't think there's much to talk about, since I'm simply gorgeous average. However, I will break my silence just this once.

Last night I was invited to a SuperBowl party at my friend Jane's house. I met Jane when she was working at the Curves I belonged to before they had to close down. She and Lori (Curves owner) were really good friends, so they've graciously welcomed me into their club. There were several interesting people at the party, including one man who had been drafted by the Seattle Seahawks back in the day. That man knew a little bit about football. Anyway, I digress. Did I mention that Jane and Bill have a margarita machine in their outdoor bar? Yeah, that makes for fun times.

Back to the story. One of the women asked me if I had finished school yet. I was like "Pardon?" Jane's daughter-in-law started laughing because she knew I just turned *gasp* 30. The woman looked perplexed at our reaction and I said "Yes, I'm done with school." She said "Oh, well you just look like my daughter's age." That begged the question "And how old is she?" "21." I love this woman.

Later in the evening during conversation, Jane's friend said that I looked familiar. I started to panic thinking that maybe Jane had introduced us before on another occasion and I had forgotten. I hate when that happens. She kept staring at me up and down and finally she said "I've got it! You look like Jodie Foster!" The other women in the room said "YES! That's it!" "You look like a young Jodie Foster." I suppose I was flattered, as no one had ever made that comparison before, but I definitely don't see it. She continued to say that I looked like the Silence of the Lambs-era Jodie Foster. Perhaps this woman just wanted to eat my liver with some fava beans...

By "young Jodie Foster" I hope she meant this:


And not this:

Back in the saddle

I had taken a break from biking since I had been pretty busy lately with vacations, visitors, and general obligations. However, now is the perfect time to get back to it and today I decided to tackle one of my fears: riding on a road. It doesn't sound like much, but you see, I am into self-preservation and therefore prefer to ride on paved trails safe from the hazards that results from the general public behind the wheel.

Nothing good can come of me riding a lightweight piece of metal with two skinny wheels next to 3 lanes of traffic traveling at 55+ mph. That is why I wear a little ankle bracelet with my info on it so I don't end up with headstone saying "Here lies the pieces of an unknown person who should've taken up a safer hobby like knitting."  I started out on the sidewalk in order to gain a bit of confidence instead of jumping straight into the bike lane. The sidewalk turned out to be no picnic and probably not much safer for me or for others. Besides dodging the average jogging mom or dad with the specialized double-wide jogging strollers who are oblivious that they are taking up the entire sidewalk and can't hear my squeaking breaks behind them because they're listing to Jay-Z on their iPhones, there are the people with their dogs on extend-a-leashes. The extend-a-leash is my new nemesis. I understand that sidewalks are for pedestrians, but at my state of fitness, I'm really not traveling much faster than a jogger and so I don't see why people can't control their dogs when clearly an outstretched leash across a sidewalk in front of a bicyclist is not going to turn out well for the person, the bicyclist, or the dog.

I decided to try my luck on the road instead. All was going well until I needed to make a left turn. Now, I could've done my normal routine where I go onto the sidewalk and use the pedestrian crosswalk, but this time I decided to head out into the left turn lane and wait for the green arrow, just like real road cyclists do. Unfortunately, the green arrow never came. Apparently no cars were wanting to turn left to trigger the light and I was sitting out there like a freakin' traffic cone with traffic cruising by on my right and left! I was finally able accept defeat and scoot across the 3 lanes back to the sidewalk and just decided to head back home while I was still in one piece.

I know my story is not half as funny as Anne's terrifying trip to REI on her bike... you definitely need to check this out! It's one of my favorite posts.