Tiny Bits of Progress June 23, 2008

I keep putting off writing posts because I have a personal expectation to be constantly witty and entertaining. I’m too tired to be either right now, so I’ll just try for dry and factual instead.

I have been making slow progress on my list. This past Friday Kyle and I had a small game night at my brother and sis-in-law’s house (list item #74). Euchre. Oh, how we missed Euchre. For some reason Kyle and I figured no one around us knew how to play it, and were getting rather desperate to find people that did. Apparently all it took was asking. Who knew?

While the game play wasn’t quite as colorful as it was in college, with Kyle’s flame-haired roommate’s constant barrages of insults and rule challenges, it was really, really fun. Kyle and I sadly lost two of the three full sets we played. And I started to fall asleep once the clock struck 10. I’m getting freakin’ old.

We have also continued to take Audrey on more hikes (#92). Most recently we went with our friends Dan and Sara, and their dog Kieva. They knew of a great place that was mostly shaded the whole way, due to it running along a creek bed. There had at one time been a road, and vacation homes located along this route too, but a freak flood many years ago took care of most of that. It was interesting to see how the plants the owners had brought in have flourished left to their own devices. I have many pictures, but of course keep forgetting to make note of where it was we went on each hike, so they now all blend together into one long uber-hike photostream. Here are a few though.

“Bridge out ahead.”  You think?

 

Humongous plants from previous home owners.

 

Great swimming spot where we stopped for lunch.

 

It almost felt like we lived somewhere that has real vegetation! Mainly because most of these trees had been imported. Yeah Maples!

 

You forget this kind of thing exists when you’re surrounded by concrete 24/7!

 

Tired puppies.

 

I have also managed to complete another nephew/niece sweater (#7 and #9). I had already made one for my niece Helena, which went fairly well, with the exception of my miscalculating just how many stitches should have gone into the sleeves and producing sail-like sleeves:

The one I just finished was for my newest nephew Noah (how’s that for alliteration). It was supposed to be finished just after his birth, but luckily I had apparently been following the directions for a bigger size, and it should fit him for fall. Thankfully, it came out much more proportional:

Kyle and I have also been trying to celebrate the holidays with decent flair (#96). I keep forgetting to take pictures of all of them though. Mother’s Day was celebrate at afar, with the sending of cards and phone calls, and Father’s Day was spent with me sleeping most of the day at Kyle’s parent’s house.  Oops!  Memorial Day was great. With Mark and Renee back in the US, they had another of their annual crawfish boils to celebrate the holiday. Them little suckers sure are tasty. Although I do hate to see them plopped into the water. I like to be the typical blind America and not know from where my food is coming. And of course we forgot our camera. Here are pictures of Easter and Cinco De Mayo though:

A great shot of my Easter Nostrils.

 

Yes. Taco Bell and some Cervasa. We’re living the dream.

 

I have also been plugging away at the AFI movie list (#100). I need to make a separate page of all the movies I need to see, and cross them off there. I’m somewhat disappointed in myself for not liking the ones I’ve seen more. Although I did enjoy “Philadelphia Story”. Or at least I did until the DVD started freaking out by skipping and freezing. Maybe I shouldn’t count having watched that one. Hmm.  Anyway, Kyle and I tried our best to make it through “Birth of a Nation”, but just couldn’t do it. It’s freakin’ long, and we did make it about 2 hours in.

“Harvey” was also not that great for me. I was hoping to, since it’s my dad’s name. But seriously? 60 years ago people would have run screaming from a home or a paying catering job just because a man who lived there tried to introduce his 6′ 3 1/2″ best friend who happened to be a white rabbit, and invisible? What ever happened to people just having that crazy uncle that everyone indulged? And if he had lived in that town with everyone else for his whole life, they would have already known he was crazy. And don’t even get me started about the forced commitment of the aunt into the insane asylum.

Some older movies I do like, because they were able to still have some resemblance to how real people act and react. Others, like “Harvey”, not so much. Yes, I know 60 years can make a difference, but mostly just in how interactions are portrayed, rather than the real-life interactions themselves. But I just have to admit to myself that I can’t make myself like an old classic just because you’re supposed to. I hate “Annie Hall”.  There, I said it. Moving on.

Even though I have made little steps of progress, I keep having some set backs as well.  I had been doing really well with working out at least 3 times a week (#40), and had made it up to 6 weeks of doing so.  Then I went on vacation and got a cold, and it went all to hell. Last week I only worked out once, and that was more a kind of. So, I’m having to start over on that one. Not that it’s bad for me or anything, but it’s just a tiny bit demoralizing. Although I have noticed that my lung capacity is improving, and my muscles are letting me work out longer each day. My calf muscles are getting a bit more toned, and I seem to have a teeny bit less junk in the trunk. I’m getting pissed it’s not working on deflating my little belly pooch at all yet, but I’m still holding out hope. I had even been waking up at 5:30 or 6 am, on my own, with no aid from an alarm. What is that all about?!? It’s like I’m some adult or something. Not quite sure how to handle it.

I also seem to be struggling with eating one serving of vegetables a day for a month (#42). I’m on my third attempt. On my first attempt, I made it 10 days. That’s a lot of vegetables for someone that hates them. Again, not an item that’s necessarily bad to keep messing up, but I really don’t like vegetables.

After ranting for much longer than was initially meant, I will stop now.

Question June 11, 2008

Does staying in a Super 8 in Bloomington, Indiana over the weekend count towards list item #70 “Go on a romantic weekend getaway that is outside of LA?” Does it help that we very well may be washed away in a freak flood? We will be dressed up for a wedding and all. Kyle will even be in a tux. Yes? No?

Sometimes I love living in LA… June 9, 2008

So this has absolutely nothing to do with my list, but I’m so excited, I’m posting it here anyway.

I just received a knock on my door, and as I am home from work today, I answered it, thinking it might be the mailman with a package.  It was something even better.

Living in Long Beach, Kyle and I often see various film crews up and about throughout the city, especially in the downtown and beach areas. Apparently Long Beach is one of the cheaper places to film in SoCal, and LA being the entertainment capital of the world and all, it happens a lot. A few days after we had first moved in to our new apartment, a crew was actually set up on our very street, filming a TV show in a old reception hall right across from our apartment. It sucks, because you’re not allowed to park on your own street to make space for the food and dressing trailers, and so they don’t have any unsavory vehicles making their way on camera. Not that a horribly beat up CRX would ever be considered unsavory. But I digress.

So back to the knock on my door. It was a woman going around letting occupants know that on June 18th, they would once again not be able to park on their own street, because once again some film crew would be using the reception hall. I was a little miffed at first, since the hours were from 9 am to 10:30 pm for no parking, and we have two cars that HAVE to be street parked. But then I read a little further down the letter, and one word stuck out like a beaming beacon of excitement.  Dexter. That’s right, Dexter. I’m sure many of you may have no idea what that means, but to me, it means one of my all time favorite shows, to be found on Showtime, or in our case Netflix Watch It Now, will be filmed on my street, mere feet from my door.  Dexter himself (or if you want to get all realistic, Michael C. Hall, also well known from Six Feet Under) may very well be walking up and down my sidewalk. I’m feeling very fangirly, and not just a little faint.

Will it be wrong of me to try and get out of work that day? Although what will I do with my damn car?

Not a Very Encouraging Start, and List Item #35 June 2, 2008

Yeah, so I’m apparently really bad at maintaining a blog, since my second post is coming a month and a half after my last.  I seem to be sticking to things pretty well in other parts of my life recently, so hopefully that momentum will rub off on this.  I’m going to try and make it a Friday or Saturday thing to come here and update.  Or maybe during the week sometime when work is slow. My guess is no one is reading this anyway, and it’s mostly just for me to keep track of my list.  Ah well.

I have managed to make a start on the list, and even have item #35 crossed off completely.  I finally signed up for and went to the UCLA Open House for their interior design program. I’ve been mad and disappointed in myself for giving up on my design degree ever since I dropped the program at IU all those years ago. When I first moved out here, I had started to look into interior design programs, but all but three were only offered by private schools, which = $$$, of which we do not have a lot. I had even applied and signed up for an Art Institute program, but luckily realized another $40,000 in debt was a bad idea.

Of the three public programs, none seemed to fit perfectly. There is UCLA Northridge, which is located about 2 to 4 hours away from me, depending on traffic. No way. Then there is California State University Long Beach, which I became very excited about, especially since it is a BS and is FIDER (now called CIDA) accredited. This was until I read some fine print that stated they only accept students who do not already have a degree.  I find that to be total crap, but it doesn’t change the fact that I will not be considered. The only other public program is offered by UCLA Extension, up in LA, but since it is only a “professional certificate” I was hesitant to consider it.

But the more I looked into the program, the more reasonable it started to sound. They only allow students that already have a BA or BS. So it is geared towards working adults, and also means I would not be surrounded by a bunch of 18 – 21 year olds trying to test their boundaries. Not that it wasn’t great when I was that age, but now that I’m pushing 30, I’d probably go postal if I had to be in that kind of environment again. I have also learned that is basically the equivalent of a Master’s. Why it can’t just be a Master’s, I don’t know, but I guess I shouldn’t try and get too hung up on titles.

So after reading up about it a lot online, in their class catalog, and now having attended the open house, I am feeling pretty serious about signing up.  I had been worried that it was only a professional certificate, and how that would translate to the working world. But they have two quarters of required internships, plus a very strong placement office, and apparently 98% percent of their graduates are working in the field, which is pretty amazing. And even though it may be a program that is only really recognized out here in LA, we’re going to be here for awhile anyway, and being able to get a job, maybe even from my internship, will mean more when we leave anyway. Plus the program, even though if you attend full-time will take 2 1/2 years, counts as four years of schooling towards the NCIDQ exam later on. (That is the interior designers qualification exam, so you can officially call yourself an interior designer. You must have 6 years combined school and work experience before you can qualify to take the exam, so getting four years of schooling in only three helps a lot!)

They do also offer advanced standing, which is good, since I have 4 semesters worth of design classes under my belt already. If everything goes well in that department, I will be able to have 6 to 8 classes waived. There are others, like AutoCAD and Lighting Design, that on paper says that they could be waived, but since it’s been many years since I had AutoCAD, and I barely scrapped by in lighting, I know it will only be detrimental to not take them again. I have my fingers crossed for getting out of 6 classes, which will then leave me with 24 total to take, and at two classes per quarter, I would be done in 3 years.

That sounds like a bit to me now, but when I realize we’ve already been out here for that long, and how much happier it might make me, I think it will be worth it.  It will be a lot of hard work, and there will be times I will curse myself for even considering going back, I’m sure. But I feel much more prepared to handle this than I did 5 or 6 years ago. I can do this!