Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend. I'm also veryyy tired but I needed to post before the effects of this weekend wear off and this post gets lost in the land of lazy.

On Friday I picked up Killer bright and early from the airport; this time with no confusion as to the difference between the Arrival and Departure levels or the upstairs and downstairs. At 8:30am, Killer took the wheel from SFO Int'l and we drove to Roseville. The drive was pleasant; not too many cars on the road except for that damned construction going on where the 92 meets 880 in Hayward. We spent the day lounging around and sleeping in while it was pouring rain outside. I didn't get much sleep the night before because I technically work a full Monday-Friday but with two "work at home days" during the week. When I plan to hang out with Killer, which doesn't happen often, I just scramble to do all my work through the night so I can hang out with him during the day while staying somewhat near my computer to consistently upload work during work hours. We had a nice home-cooked dinner with his parents. I am not a big fan of red meat but Killer's stepfather works some sorta magic when it comes to meat. I enjoyed lamb for Christmas and ribs for that night's dinner. Around 8:30pm we left Roseville and had a nice and easy drive back to Union City. **Both drives were nice and pleasant because I didn't do ANY driving. Thanks Killer =)

Saturday we kind of...lazied around until it was time to head out. First, we had a disgusting lunch at Burger King although we were both craving it at the time...then felt yucky afterwards. Second, drove to Kmart so that I could pick up some black flats, then headed to the Berkeley Thai Temple to get dressed up in Thai costume for the Chinese New Year parade in SF =( I had to wear this 3/4 sleeve button-down shirt which was so tight around the chest area (Asian-Americans grow bigger boobies when raised in America and Thai costumes for females definitely do not accommodate any sort of body type apart from that of a nine year old boy) and this bolt of fabric wrapped in a half pant/half skirt thing. My costume could have been worse, and I HAVE been through worse, so they made up for that by giving me a "Bump-It" hairstyle and told me to make my makeup darker. As a fashion design student, omg, alumni I mean, wearing something I dislike is like stripping me of my dignity. I felt really ugly and uncomfortable. I also felt bad because they dressed up Killer. Our parade entourage was small and pretty bland. I was freezing by the end of the night and changed right on the sidewalk of Columbus Street. Also, I was having problems with my "time of month" and making a mess of myself but thank goodness Killer is not easily disgusted by naturally womanly things and took care of me well =) Post-parade Killer and I had a FANTASTIC dinner at Cafe Rouge on 4th Street in Berkeley. I can't wait to share more nice dinners with him. Having good food with good company gives me a sort of sustained happiness high that lingers for dayssss. NO MORE CHAIN RESTAURANTS! Except for the occasional BK French Fries or In-N-Out.

Sunday, watched Firefly and Vice Magazine TV before taking Killer to the airport. Which sucked.

=( Miss you already.

Overall, had a really really great weekend. =) But I still miss my person.

Dear Killer, we MUST find this meal. I love the tater tots in a pot and milkshake in a beaker. So cool!

This morning on the drive to work, my mom is trying to get into the carpool lane and mutters under her breath "Stupid lady in the carpool lane, I hope you get arrested." Eventually, that lady speeds up a little, giving room for mom to merge into the carpool lane, and there I tell her "Mom, she's got an infant in the backseat". Whomp Whomp. Crazy Asian Mother.

We're finally getting our own tables and SPACE at the office. My supervisor is looking at desks at Ikea. No more folding tables! I hope that eventually they get me and my fellow photo editor get iMacs because Photoshopping on my little MacBook screen is very annoying.

MAX IS COMING TOMORROW! yay!

Very very rarely I find a song I like on the radio. Right now it's Unthinkable (I'm Ready) - Alicia Keys ft. Drake. Alicia Keys is pretty much the only female on the mainstream radio that can sing and play an instrument aka an actual ARTIST, not a performer. I can't even nominate Keri Hilson who sounds like shit live.

K, time to head to work!

Righteous!

This is the red Jesus scarf my mom got me from the Olympics. I desperately wanted something with "Canada" branded on it but everything was sold out. ** (more complaining at the bottom)

This is going to be a good post.

Today my company's website launched. A lot of the products are from the Holiday but we are constantly adding new garments. Expect Spring 2010 stuff soon!

Couturious
The website uses 3D, photorealistic models and you can basically dress them any way you want. Layering, zipping/unzipping, buttoning/unbuttoning, tucking, EVERYTHING. Right now the collection of garments on the website is still small, but MORE MORE MORE is going up soon. From there you can decide whether or not you'd like to purchase those items used on the website.

In the afternoon we went to Headquarters for a little group speech and champagne toast. It was an exciting little field trip.

I also bought Killer's plane ticket. OMG, SO EXCITED. =) I didn't want my dad to put him on Standby and be completely unsure whether or not Killer would make it here for the weekend, plus my dad is flying two of our neighbors on his Companion list already, plus Killer would probably have to wear his uniform just for a higher advantage on catching a plane (which is pretty much abuse of his uniform, I think). Soooo, I just purchased a ticket from Virgin and now I can be giddy.

I went grocery shopping after work with my mom and here's the dialogue.

Me: "Sooo, Max is coming this weekend because I was complaining to him that I had to do the Chinese New Year parade and then I'd have to ride BART home by myself late at night because everyone else is going out clubbing after and I'm the only underage one and he didn't want me to ride BART by myself so that's why he's coming because he wants to make sure I get home safely."

Mom: "Riiight."

Today Killer went to LA for his LAPD Orientation/Training/Exercise/Whatever/Thing and it went very very well from what he told me. He also got a call back for a job with a great pay at an office and he had to turn it down because he's going to be gone for two months of Marine stuff. It's still nice to hear back from jobs, even if he can't follow through. =P

So yea, today was just a great day. And I'm really glad that it was great for both of us because I most definitely would not be this happy if my other half had a sucky day.

<5!

Monday Funday

Last night I retired to my bed by 9ish? pm and chatted on the phone with Killer until 11pm. Miraculously I fell asleep once again before midnight! I think last week I was keeping Killer up late...as in 3-4am as I worked away on the computer and this week I've started sleeping the same time as Killer which is usually before midnight and his way is mucho better. This morning I was well rested at 7am (NEVER EVER EVER HAPPENS) and woke up without pressing snooze. I was all set and dressed and made up and ready for work and then my mom tells me "I asked my boss if I could start later so that our carpool schedule works out better." Usually I would have responded with a grumpy "djshfksdgfhjdf I coulda slept in for an additional half an hour!!!" but this morning I didn't need it!

On Sunday (yesterday ) I went to the crepe cafe and...

1.) THEY CHANGED THE SHADE OF PURPLE I PICKED
2.) THEY ADDED A FLAT BRONZE COLOR (NO SPARKLE) SO IT LOOKS LIKE DIARRHEA.

I spent an entire Saturday a few weeks ago going with the co-owners to Ace, Lowe's, and Home Depot pouring and discussing and arguing over different paint colors and they ended up changing it last minute. Whatever, I've got to make it work now. The owner is funny, she keeps calling the owner of Bicycle Garage to do manly things for us that us women wouldn't care to do...like installing lights, moving heavy things....I think he's getting annoyed but he did come to my house once for drinks with my dad so it evens out I guess. The new co-owner is waaay superstitious and it's beginning to annoy me. No red. No blue. Feng Shui, no black, on and on....and then I saw her open an umbrella in the restaurant. Stupid.

Next weekend I have to freaking march in the freaking Chinese New Year Parade in SF and...

1.) I HATE PARADES. I had to do the Union City 50th Anniversary one and I hated that shit.
2.) It's going to be freaking cold. Very much unlike Union City's parade which was freaking hot.
3.) I'm not Chinese
4.) I don't want to dress up.
5.) I don't like smiling and waving at people.

I already requested that I not wear a dress or anything itchy; I almost begged to be a "villager" because they get to wear cotton, nothing sparkly or tight or loaded with jewelry. I was taken by surprise when the coordinator told me Killer could come (as a bonus) when I didn't respond to her first text. It made me sad because it's not easy to just INVITE Killer anywhere since he lives in Irvine. I complained to Killer about this and everything else and he decided to come up NOT because I was a complaining baby, but because I told him I'd have to take BART back by myself at night since everyone will be going to some place for drinks and an afterparty and I'm the only underage baby.

I thought I cut my finger on glass from a picture frame this morning but I ignored it. Now that I've looked at it and saw the blood from the cut that actually did happen...my finger hurts.

Time to work. <5!

United against the elimination of Logan extracurriculars.

There's this group gaining popularity on Facebook titled "United Against The Elimination of Logan Extracurriculars"

It's dumb.

About 830+ people have joined the group and have already held a protest in from of the New Haven Unified School District. The group THINKS that the school district is cutting sports, band, colorguard, and whatever other extracurricular there is from Logan. NO, THEY'RE NOT DOING THAT.

What the school district is doing is cutting up-front funding to pay for stuff like uniforms, trips, busing, and fees for facility rentals for practice and competitions. There are dumb idiots that have already long gone graduated and haven't paid for trips they've been on. To this day there are band and guard kids that have not paid in full for their trip to the Olympics in Beijing. Parents are idiotic for thinking they could just send their kid on an expensive trip that they may not be able to afford and then not pay for it. Who the hell gets to go on vacation and not pay for it on time or in full? Kids are dumb for not reminding their parents when to pay and the programs are dumb for LETTING these kids go on trips with bills to pay and the District is dumb for not passing a policy that does not allow to graduate from high school if they owe money and then it's even more dumb that these kids just stand outside the building to protest instead of actually attending the Board Meeting to let them know what they like and dislike. Nobody every reads the fine print of the policies that are passed but then they are quick to hate what they can without bothering to attend an actual meeting.

i hate this city.

blah blah blah

It's 4:01am and I'm up doing work. On Wednesday I was told by my supervisor that I could work from home. Instead, I stayed up aaaall night long doing work so that I could spend the day in Irvine with Killer. The garments and purses I had to photoshop were excruciating to work on; I didn't get far in quantity. Killer's internet wasn't working at his apartment so I'm just going to set a dumpload of images into my dropbox in the morning. I'm worried that I won't meet the expectations of my supervisor which is why I'm up aaaall nght right now to work on some more.

I love working. I'm serious about my work, I'm not lazy but I do admit to procrastination, I've got goals and expectations, I'm proud of what I turn in, I've got that good sort of pressure to impress the people I work with, AND I get paid. I never felt this way about school and homework.

Anyways, I left my house at 5am yesterday to get to the airport. My flight departed at 7:30am and I arrived in Santa Ana at 8:30. I got to spend about 10+ hours with Killer. Majority of the time we just laid around and then made a quick trip to Fry's Electronics and then McDonald's for dinner. It's pathetic that something as lame as going to McDonald's for dinner gets a mention in this post but that just goes to show how deprived I am of boyfriendgirlfriend time.

"I remember waking up, and you were holding my hand. It made me really happy. Also, I think you woke up once just to turn around and kiss me, then went zzzzzzzzz"

Yesterday is probably the only time I'll get to see him for the month of February :/

I'm still pretty shocked that my parents let me go to Irvine for the day. They won't let me stay overnight but this is a start. They're also going to the Olympics later today (Thursday morning) so they probably didn't think my trip was a big deal. I'll make sure to tell them I appreciated it.

Grumble

Not that I'm generalizing, but generalizing (hehe, Golfy), my sister can spend all day on Youtube listening to Filipino boys and girls singing. ALL DAY LONG. Not that she goes looking for Filipinos, but I can generalize that all her favorited videos are of Filipinos. Gabe Bondoc, Passion, RinontheRox, and a whole list of other Filipinos. They out-belt each other in bathrooms for acoustics, creating covers with the ukelele OMGHATE, forcing riffs in every other line of the song, taping endless bedroom recordings with unnecessary gibberish camera-talk, for example, discussing for 10 minutes how boring their day was, and holding improv sessions on the street. It's really annoying.

Anyways, the reason why I'm so annoyed is because last night she was blasting this group of Filipino kids doing a cover of Halo by Beyonce. Blasting. WHILE I WAS TRYING TO WATCH SNOWBOARDCROSS. Like really? I'm trying to catch this piece of history and your beloved Filipino Youtube stars are killin' it for me. Halo is not even a good song.

I hastily snatched my WeSC headphones and dropped them on her lap. "Please shut up those damn Filipino singers." She gladly obliged.

This morning I realized my mouse may have been entangled in the mess of cords from my headphones because it wasn't in my backpack. I also managed to wake up at 7:20am and left the house at 7:45 am. Momma is letting me borrow a mouse from her work with that wretched ball cursor but anything is better than photoshop with a trackpad. When you spend 8 hours a day photoshopping, not having a mouse is tragic and sucky. So sucky.

Don't tell me I'm racist. I hate karaoke with a passion and I'm speaking the truth when I say that all the Youtube stars my sister listens to are all Filipino. I also like adobo and lumpia and 95% of my friends are Filipino and NOT Youtube stars and that's why I like them.

Yes, this couple had an glamorous, sexy, quirky wedding but my goodness their invitations are BLOODY BRILLZ.

Zodiac

Dragon and Snake for Killer and I.

Dragon: A powerful sign, those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dragon are energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky at love and egotistic. They’re natural born leaders, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top.

Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion. Unfortunately, this passion and enthusiasm can leave Dragons feeling exhausted and interestingly, unfulfilled.

While Dragons frequently help others, rarely will they ask for help. Others are attracted to Dragons, especially their colorful personalities, but deep down, Dragons prefer to be alone. Perhaps that is because they’re most successful when working alone. Their preference to be alone can come across as arrogance or conceitedness, but these qualities aren’t applicable. Dragons have tempers that can flare fast!

Health
Considering their hard-working nature, Dragons are healthy overall. They do get stressed and suffer from periodic tension/headaches, likely because they take so many risks. Dragons could benefit from incorporating mild activity into their lives. Yoga or walking would be good as these activities can work both their minds and their bodies.

Career
Dragons prefer leading to being led. Jobs that allow them to express their creativity are good choices. Some good careers include: inventor, manager, computer analyst, lawyer, engineer, architect, broker, and sales person.

Relationships
Dragons will give into love, but won’t give up their independence. Because they have quick, sometimes vengeful tempers, their partners need to be tough-skinned. Dragons enjoy others who are intriguing, and when they find the right partners, they’ll usually commit to that person for life.

Dragons and the 5 Elements
Earth Dragons – Years 1928 and 1988: More rooted in the ground, Earth Dragons make better decisions because they act more rationally. Earth Dragons are level-headed and able to control their behaviors. They’re more supportive of others, but they prefer being admired by others.

Snake: Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Snake are seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming, good with money, analytical, insecure, jealous, slightly dangerous, smart, they rely on gut feelings, are hard-working and intelligent.

The Snake symbolizes such character traits as intelligence, gracefulness and materialism. When it comes to decision-making, Snakes are extremely analytical and as a result, they don’t jump into situations. They are effective at getting the things they want, even if it means they have to scheme and plot along the way.

Snakes are very materialistic creatures, preferring to surround themselves with the finest that life has to offer. This is especially evident in the home, where luxurious furnishings and surroundings help Snakes seek the peace they need in order to thrive.

Health
Snakes prefer living a life of calmness, preferring quietness over noise and a manageable workload rather than a schedule that’s overly-booked. Snakes become easily stressed when their lives aren’t peaceful or in order. Too much of this way of life can shorten a snake’s life!

Careers
Snakes do work very hard, but they have a tendency to be job-hoppers as they become easily bored. Their somewhat laid-back attitude causes them to be mistakenly categorized as slackers, but nothing could be further from the truth! Snakes are very creative and extremely diligent. They’re excellent problem-solvers and thrive under tight deadlines. Good career choices for Snakes include: scientist, analyst, investigator, painter, potter, jeweler, astrologer, magician, dietician, and sociologist.

Relationships
Snakes are excellent seducers so they never have trouble attracting others. However, they’ll be the ones to decide when a relationship has potential and when it does not. Once they’ve chosen a partner, a Snake’s insecure side will begin to show through. Snakes guards their chosen partners much like a prized possessions, becoming jealous and even obsessive. Snakes prefer to keep their feelings to themselves. It’s important to never betray a Snake’s trust as a betrayed snake will make it a goal to get even some day!

Earth Snakes – Years 1929 and 1989

Earth Snakes always seem to be calm and content. They’re friendly and approachable and believe that they’ll reap great rewards by working hard and relying on common sense.

Moguls

Killer was doing my second job for me =) and he emailed me these two pictures of shoes. He's cute.
I spent today dreaming about clothes and shoes...












and...dreaming about the things I'd like in my shared apartment with Killer.

Bullseye

I was supposed to go to Irvine but there is something unknown and ridiculous going on in Los Angeles. United has been flying 757s (the jumbo jets) aaaaall day long. Usually there's 3-5 big planes and loads of little express planes but nope. 757s all day and oversold status all day. So ridiculous that flights to LAX are being diverted to Orange County and passengers are being bussed back up to Los Angeles.

I'm bummed. I've been spending the day daydreaming and watching the Olympics.

On the other hand, the company decided to keep me. My pay rate increased $2 and I can't or shouldn't really talk about it until the website launches and that should be happening on Monday.

bloodstream

Wake up
Look me in the eyes again
I need to feel your hand upon my face

Words can relay nice
They can cut you open
And then the silence surrounds you and haunts you

I think I might've inhaled you
I could feel you behind my eyes
You've gotten into my bloodstream
I could feel you floating in me

The spaces in between
Two minds and all the places they have been
The spaces in between
I tried to put my finger on it

***
I thought life was getting good, but no, none of it matters if you're there and I'm here.

It's like electricity. And ice. It hurts.

Friday Mugshot

Alexander McQueen passed away yesterday so it is only fair that I sport the only McQueen piece I could afford...which was free. [silk scull scarf]

I didn't "meet" McQueen but I interned with Viv and Sylvia for a lady that did pr for him. We were fortunate to work at the opening of his store on Melrose. So, we were all kind of gawking at him, working indirectly for him, etc. He was/IS one of my favoritest designers and I'm going to miss his innovative, badass, theatrical shows and garments.

Today concludes my "Test Week" with the company. I hope it's all good news from here.

Me and my momma have started carpooling because we both work 45 minutes away from home and I work approximately 5 minutes further away from her. It saves money on gas, especially because my clunking land whale of a bucket van is a gasoholic. My mom starts work at 8:30am so I kinda just mess around for an hour doing all sorts of nonsense. I should have started Photoshop but working on it from 10am-6pm already makes my eyes bug out. Don't need an extra hour of it.

Hopefully I make it to Irvine tomorrow as planned. Parents think there might be some sort of convention going on because every flight is oversold. I'm banking on the fact that it's Valentine's weekend and lots of couples won't be willing to split up for that last seat on the aeroplane. Please dear airplane gods, let me on a plane. I don't need to come back...well, at least by Monday if I have a job waiting for me...

knockturnahl

It's about 4am and I've been laying in bed for an hour.

Last night I slept for an hour and 45 minutes because I was slaving over my work.

I'm currently undergoing a "Test Week" for a company that shall remain unnamed until or if my place there becomes official, but I must say I Lalalove this unofficial job I've got. It makes this whole transition/wait period before I move to LA far more pleasant. I'm not just existing and slaving away to make money just to prepare for my move; I'm learning, enjoying my work, proud of my products, and making good money.

I worked from 10-6, came home (preparing for that LA commuter traffic now that I'm going to be a usual to Bay Area rush hour), scarfed down dinner, prepared to work on my other job (which IS official), but gave up and slept from about 8pm-3am.

The sound of rain is relaxing and comforting but I am faaaar from sleepy now.

Killer has gotten the call to go to Infantry Training Batallion (ITB) in April and he'll be doing his thing at Pendleton for TWO whole months. Sure, it's way better than him getting deployed but you get your cake and complain about it too. We might get to talk on the phone for a bit on weekends but that's it. We're planning to spend a week together (hah, around "Spring Break" which doesn't exist for us now that we're both outta school), before he goes and a couple weekends inbetween the next couple months. He should get back before my graduation in June which is lovely :) and overall June should still be feeling wonderful as it marks the beginning of summer...

But! Then in July he goes to another training thing called AT (dunno what it means) which will probably in Utah and last for 2 weeks. It should suck about the same. You'd think that it should be easier since it's a quarter of the time spent at ITB but then it's evened out by being held in a different state.

Because Killer finally got the call to go to ITB, he will become deployable upon completion (that's why he didn't deploy last October) which sucks. The chances of him getting deployed are sorta slim so I'm hoping for no extra craziness overseas or anything awful that the Army can't handle and lead to Obama calling upon le Marine Corps. ;)

2 months and 2 weeks. It won't be bad. Because at the end of the summer we'll finally be in LA.

This is going to be a good year.

Five

aaaalll mine =)

Dear Johnny Appleseed

Every woman on Earth probably spent tonight crying their hearts out during opening night of Dear John.

Nicholas Spark's is a genius. He crafts his stories out of all the sappy dreams and ideas of romance that stupid women, well, dream of. His movies are dumb, but he is rich. Him and the Twilight lady should hook up. I watched A Walk To Remember which was okay, then a little bit of The Notebook which was "okaaaay....???" and then I heard about Dear John and I was like "Okay, wtf."

I'm not watching the movie but here's my Dear John synopsis.

John is a super tough Army dude. Everyone's scared of him because they thing he's grumpy, has epic temper tantrums, and will basically bust a cap in yo ass with a gun that he's not allowed to have when he's not at drill or whatever. PS, he probably wears his dogtags all the time because that's what Army dudes do.

Savannah is the perfect Christian girl with morals, school smarts, and she's conveniently hot AND virginal! One day her purse gets dropped into 4 ft of ocean water and the super tough Army dude saves her purse and they fall in love.

Savannah forgives John for being a grumpy, scary Army dude because she's a good, forgiving Christian. It's like Beauty and the Beast and they fall in love. She's not scared of him either because nobody would dare take advantage of a sweet, virginal, Christian girl.

John decides to reenlist in the Army after September 11th. Savannah agrees to write him a letter for the 12 months that he's gone. It's bad luck enough that his name is John because a "Dear John" letter, with origins from WWII (so00 vintage! Go Savannah!) is one in which a girl usually sends to her man to dump him while he's overseas.

The dude that Savannah picked over John is Tim. Tim is sick and probably a really nice Christian so he tells John "I only want her to be happy so marry her if I die. And please don't bone her until AFTER you're officially married. Because that'll be bad." John, pretending to be the bigger man says "Naw, fuck that. I was out there defending our country and she dumped me. But it'll sound a whole lot more romantic if I say, 'No Tim, you're a great guy, you'll get better and marry her.'" And Tim says "Wow, you're nice" and him and Savannah get married.

Cheating is bad but John catches Savannah staring at the moon (their inside joke) so he is reassured that she still wants him. The end.

Really awful synopsis for a really awful movie. I should do one of these for Legion!

"I love you to death, mon petit chou-fleur

for cereal

no backsies"



I love you back

Shoe Lust

$25.99
$20.00



For 2+ years I've been lusting over these Sam Edelman Zoe boots inspired by the Balenciagas that only the Olsen twins have (as it seems). I found this website that's got them for $199 instead of $345. Omg, I caaaan't!!!

My boyfriend should be proud of me cuttin' down on the clothing just so I can save money to move in with him -__-

Cloud Cult

Continuing on from the last post about the temple girl...the more I read about her, the more I liked her.

I was shocked to see that she liked Cloud Cult, a band I pretty much had forgotten about since the Mac Crash of 2009. I downloaded their songs after a recommendation from Jessie of Metromix LA and loved them since then...til now since I completely forgot about them once my Itunes lost all my music. They are strange, in a cool way, I think. They've got an added cellist, violinist, and a guy that plays guitar and switches to trombone sometimes. They are a "green" band. They ask concert-goers to bring iPods to their concerts so they can download music straight away. They still sell cd's which are made of post-consumer products, their tour buses have solar panels and a bunch of other green things.

Their music is very hard to categorize, and it's weird finding a song to introduce to you, so I'm going to settle with this.


It's an instrumental set to a woman sharing a near-death experience. This is just one song, and it's strange, but fyi Cloud Cult's got happy songs too, haha. There's another song set to some dialogue from The Princess Bride!

Hmm...

Every day I find myself slacking off a little more with my online job. It really is dull and through the internet I find so many wonderful things that distract me! From wedding ideas, plane tickets, new shoes, hotels, diy projects, ffffound...I even catch myself looking for new work during the time that I'm supposed to be working!

I came across the blog of this girl I used to see around the temple. She's one of the older generation kids, having graduated from UCLA in '06 which is way outta my age league. She couldn't find a job so she went backpacking with friends through New Zealand and a bunch of other countries all around the world.


She bungee jumped at this spot in NZ which is the 2nd or 3rd highest bungee place in the world. I admire how quick she was to jump! No hesitation.

arsapree.com

Her blog is easy to read, she's adventurous, athletic, funny...and there's a blog entry about her and her friends climbing onto the roof "Jason Bourne style" to dry clothing that was hand-washed in their bathtub.

She also kept up with a regular "FOOD PORN" post =P

To Killer, she got to swim with a pod of wild dolphins. I'm jealous too.

I'm Lost In My Dreams.

I hate it here. Los Angeles was my city. I had so much opportunity then and I've got nothing now.

It belongs to me and you too

Scattered across the centre of San Francisco are almost seventy semi-secret spaces, privately owned but open to the public. Subject to the fine print of a little-known pact between City and Commerce, these so-called POPOS (Privately Owned Public Open Spaces) allow alluring vistas of San Francisco and access to its intimate interiors. However, they are often poorly indicated – perhaps a deliberate tactic by the private companies who own the spaces to prevent the pesky public from using them. Accessing POPOS sometimes even requires walking past security guards, or through unmarked doors. No wonder many are underfrequented.

A concerted effort of concerned citizens – and this map produced by them – is aimed at raising awareness of the existence of these fascinating spaces, 68 in all, both north and south of Market Street, many in existence for decades. This map is part of a guide produced by SPUR (San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association); the 45 round indicators are POPOS set up between 1959 and 1985, the squares mark the 23 inaugurated after the 1985 Downtown Plan, which stipulated the zoning regulations requiring commercial urban development to be counterbalanced by POPOS.

POPOS come in many guises. They can be either indoor or outdoor – and indeed even on rooftops. They might be the size of a small park, or merely a ’snippet’. There are single-area POPOS, and ones composed of several different spaces. Some are open at all times, others accessible only during office hours. Quite a few are graced with public works or art. POPOS operated under the Downtown Plan need to provide access to restrooms and other amenities.

SPUR lists all 68 POPOS in downtown San Francisco and rates them from poor over good to fair and excellent. For a complete overview, download SPUR’s guide. Or take one of the architectural tours leading you through the network of POPOS in San Francisco’s downtown. Below is a brief legend to the map above.

1. Redwood Park: An urban park at the foot of San Francisco’s most striking skyscraper with redwoods, sculptures and a fountain.
2. 505 Sansome Street: A greenhouse in the lobby of an office building, connecting to Redwood Park.
3. Empire Park: An urban garden on the site of a demolished building.
4. Embarcadero Center West: Three separate open spaces.
5. 456 Montgomery Street: An urban garden cascading into the middle recess of a building.
6. 343 Sansome Street: Two open spaces, one a sun terrace on the 15th floor (with an obelisk), the other a lunchtime mall.
7. 650 California Street:Two “largely barren” plazas.
8. 600 California Street: A ’snippet’ without amenities or seating, but with lots of art pieces.
9. 555 California Street: A “grand, almost forbidding” plaza, with a sculpture, a garden and teak benches.
10. 345 California Street: A “shady snippet” with granite benches and some planters.
11. 200 California Street: A public sitting area in a pedestrian walkway, featuring a bronze sculpture called The Hawaiian.
12. 150 California Street: A sun terrace with tables, chairs, plants an public art – but you have to get past a security guard.
13. 50 California Street: A snippet enlivened by a small café.
14. One California Street: Snippets around the building feature trees and benches, and is partly occupied by the indoor café’s tables and chairs.
15. 101 California: An urban garden within a large plaza, dominated by three stepped pyramids.
16. 100 Pine Street: An urban garden squeezed in between a few skyscrapers, a “gem” but without direct sunlight.
17. 444 Market Street: A plaza leading to the entrance of the Market Street building.
18. One Bush Street: A “beautifully designed and maintained” urban garden surrounding “the first postwar high-rise” in San Francisco.
19. Citygroup Center: A greenhouse in a former bank building.
20. Trinity Alley: A pedestrian walkway with a narrow plaza.
21. Crocker Galleria: Two rooftop sun terraces, one on an historic bank building, the other “accessed from an obscure staircase in the northwest corner of the Galleria”.
22. One Post Street: Snippets with stand-up tables and square concrete blocks at sitting height next to food services.
23. 595 Market Street: Two triangular entryway plazas. One “could become a pleasant public sitting area”.
24. 555/575 Market Street: A “beautifully landscaped” urban garden between two highrises.
25. 525 Market Street: An urban garden with a double granite fountain.
26. 425 Market Street: An urban garden surrounded by highrises that is “shady but nonetheless a jewel”.
27. 14 Fremont Street: A wide sitting area in a pedestrian walkway, furnished with tables and chairs.
28. 333 Market Street: A small plaza with planters.
29. 45 Fremont Street: A narrow plaza with a hedge of Japanese maples and a row of metal benches.
30. 50 Beale Street: A “rather large” urban park full of trees and bushes, and including a railroad car housing a Bechtel Corp. museum.
31. 77 Beale Street: An entry plaza featuring a water wall, granite planters, Gingko trees and sitting ledges.
32. 201 Mission Street: An urban garden in the setbacks on Beale Street.
33. 123 Mission Street: An urban garden in three successive parts, with plenty of vegetation.
34. One Market Street: A plaza oriented to the sunny side of the building.
35. 135 Main Street: An enclosed front courtyard turned into an indoor park with a metal wall water feature.
36. 160 Spear Street: An entrance walkway widening into an urban garden with water feature and aluminium sculpture.
37. 180 Howard Street: A public sitting area in a walkway that is a continuation of (36).
38. 201 Spear Street: A walkway widening into an urban garden, centered on the sculpture of a photographing man.
39. 211 Main Street: A front entry plaza with sunny exposure and the potential to be a “very pleasant space”.
40. 221 Main Street: “Four benches in a sea of paving”.
41. 301 Howard Street: A small urban garden featuring a food truck in an Art Deco building, thus “destroy[ing] the charm of the little pavilion”.
42. 199 Fremont Street: An urban garden that is the result of the collaboration of a sculptor, a poet and an architect.
43. 100 First Street: A popular sun terrace with water spouting from a black granite wall.
44. 25 Jessie Street: A “small but lovely” urban garden with a water wall but without seating.
45. Golden Gate University: A bridge turned into a ’snippet’.