bumblepug

newsom for ca governor

as i watched the news last night, it was mentioned that mayor newsom may run for ca governor in 2006 or 2010 if he can snag the democratic nomination (though it was said that he may be too controversial with same sex marriage issue).  while this would be terrible for sf because they'd be losing an awesome mayor, it would be really great for the state (hey, i rhyme!).  ca would definitely have the hottest governor and i think we'd get a lot more attention and $ based on that!  isn't that how politics should operate?!  more hot=more $!  it doesn't hurt that he has been fulfilling his election promises.  yay, go newsom!

word up!

(web) site for cool eyes!

an urban dictionary- just what you needed to make your sunday complete!

http://www.urbandictionary.com

tips of the day

1. do not wear bronzer as blush unless you want to look crazy! 

that's exactly what i did this morning and thank god i took a look in the mirror before i walked into work. 

2. do not think one in-n-out cheeseburger and water qualifies as dinner (especially when it is eaten at 7 pm).

i found myself unable to sleep due to hunger so i chowed down a bowl of all bran at midnight. 

3. drink lots of water when you ingest lots of protein.

i just drank my protein shake and i'm as thirsty as a camel (could also be residual side effexts of the in-n-out burger- they are salty little suckers!).  actually, do calems get thirsty?  afterall, they do have that big bump on their back for water storage, right?

4. don't believe everything you hear (duh!).

i was listening to the am "dish of the day" on the way into work and it said shaq wants to be a(n) (undercover- right like you wouldn't recognize shaq?!)  cop (and is doing so in his "off time"- well not the undercover bit), britney spears wants to be a csi, and david lee roth is working as an emt (yikes, thus ends my calls to 9-1-1!).  wtf?!  what kind of world would that be like?  probably not one i'd like to be a part of!

as the world turns

it feels like a lot of stuff is happening.  i guess a lot of stuff is always happening, it's just a matter of whether or not i'm paying attention.  well, for whatever reason it may be, i've been paying attention lately.

wendy's is gaining support.  ralph and i passed it last night and it was quite a pakced house but at least there were 4 people inside and a car in the drive thru.

going down the list...

a new pope has been elected signaled by the white smoke.  congratulations, former cardinal joseph ratzinger of germany.  he has taken the name pope benedict xvi.

a new food pyramid has been introduced by the us government.  no surprises here, we were long over due!  it appears that it is something that needs to be customized by age, sex, and activity level.  this makes a lot more sense than the old pyramid which was a general across the board sort of recommendation.  click here for the story.  click here to customize the pyramid for your daily food needs.  i'll probably continue with my own way of eating as will most americans. 

scott peterson is getting mail from women who are interested in winning his heart!  yuck-o!  who are these women?  they are certainly writing him from a mental institution!

and in my own life...

i think i'm getting sick.  ralph and i played soccer with dog last night and it was a lot colder (55 degrees) than i thought (70 degrees)- guess that happens when you run.  i was wearing a t-shirt and by the time we left, i thought i had hypothermia.  i was freezing all night and i'm still cold, but also headachey, and congested (beyond normally allergy stuff).  pass the airborne, please!  hopefully this passes quickly because i'm all out of sick time!  why am i always getting sick?!!  can i trade my immune system for a stronger one?

the tea place was closed yesterday for floor maintenance!  how could they do that to me?  maybe that's why i'm sick?!  anyways, they have special hours today that i wish i had paid closer attention to because i can't remember if they open at 6 pm today or close at that time. 

i'll be watching dolce this week (thurs-sun) which dog is going to love!  it'll be fun to see what having 2 pugs is like.  i'm sure my arms will be sore after walking the 2 rascals!

tonight is my tv night: scrubs and law & order: svu.  i hope they're not repeats.

add to my shopping list: meet the fockers (released on dvd today!).

that's all for now.  time to find a gallon of water, some vitamins, and a bed...

new words

the new dictionary has been released and 57 new words have been added.  let me find more on this...

some of the new words:

wedgie

weapons of destruction

webmaster

Taliban

a good mix of privacy, pugs, and fashion

yikes, check this out (you'll need speakers)...

pugs are the number one dog breed search on yahoo- bet the westminster dog show has a lot to do with this!

and everything you wanted to know about fashion week!

new name for girl and dog

i decided to change the name of the site to it's a pug's life because girl and dog was causing too much of a stir!  i was tired of people ending up here because they were expecting to see something obscene.  the url will remain the same because that is what the people who know me have bookmarked (though i'm sure they could handle the change).  hopefully the new name will not yield similar results.

it's a pug's life, after all!

thai delights

last night ralph and i had the best dinner at thai delight.  it hit the spot because i've been craving thai for a while, especially the wood-like taste of the sweetened iced tea.  it's on my top five list of favorite beverages.

we also decorated my tree, using ribbon instead of garland this year.  i was happy that ralph figured out how to turn on my pilot light because i have a feeling it's going to need relighting throughout the season.  my manager called right after ralph had fixed it, how psychically (sp?) convenient.  ;0  although i can't complain because they are quite responsive unlike the previous managers who needed a fire lit under their ass to motivate them to fix any unit problem(s).

i'm currently stuffed beyond comprehension which i can't believe because i only had soup for lunch.  it usually takes more than soup to get me this full but it was fairly hearty, chicken bones and all!  lisa saved me some caramel chocolate gooey dessert so that will fuel me through the evening.

i have tpr lsat class tonight from 6-9.  i hope it is an intro course where i claim my books, have a general review, etc., etc.  looks like i can still catch scrubs at 9:30 so i'm all set even if it is a full-lengther.  wish me luck and dinner.

tidbit on counterfeit money:

a co-worker's boyfriend cashed a check at a bank of the west in reno and some of his money was given in $100 bills.  of the bills, one was counterfeit but it made it past the bank!  how could such a thing happen...it was a real $5 bill that somebody had overimposed a picture of ben franklin on and changed the corner 5s to 100s.  it looks real, feels real, and smells real (i'm probably the only person who would think to smell it but then again i smell everything).  her boyfriend tried using the $100 at a store and they told him it was counterfeit (which he didn't know at the time).  they pointed out that ben franklin's face may be on it but that abraham lincoln's face appeared in the hologram (hologram must be the same as bill face).  in addition, the strip that runs through the money reads "us 5.." and if the bill were a true $100 it would read "us 100."  you catch the drift.  so, next time you go to the bank, check your money before you leave.  the bank didn't catch this one because it was real money that needed a "visual" inspection (but didn't get it) and made it past the "pen" inspection.  as they told her...they can't exchange the bill because her boyfriend is at fault for not checking his money before leaving the bank.  how is the lay person supposed to know what to look for- read above, again.

list-loving

highlights of the weekend:

banana split sundae at ghiradelli...then watching a 20-minute argument in an unrecognizable language, with lots of arm and hand motions.  pretended to take pictures of ralph when i was really taking pics of the fight in case they needed witnesses or another other type of proof.  trust me, we weren't the only ones standing around not calling the authorities.

completing my thanksgiving day grocery shopping by 9 am on saturday!  this may be a trivial thing to be happy about but i really dislike crowds and mayham so i was able to avoid the last minute rush.

going to the beach with dog and ralph...then losing my car key.  i was carrying my car key loose from the key chain and it must've fallen when i was running around with dog.  we're grateful for the geniuses that drew a large picture of a key in the sand and then put the key in the middle of their drawing.  that was the best ever!  i wrote a huge thank you note next to their drawing and drew me, ralph, and dog.

discovering that archer farms market (a target brand) has awesome spice chai tea mix.  it's sold in a small rectangular tin in their tea section.  seems to have a lot of caffeine.

the lowlights:

totally missing the kdfc party.  we arived just as it ended.  oh well, we still had a chance to see the beautiful lights and decorations in the hyatt. 

paying $2 for 12 oz. of water in the hotel gift shop because i was totally dehydrated from having taco bell and potato chips in the same night.  the cashier was weird but spoke excellent japanese- at least i think he did but who am i to say?  i can't speak japanese.  he left to a back room for a while and anybody could've walked out of that little store with just about anything.

paying $30 for dog shampoo and conditioner.  her skin better stop itching!  i thought our problems were solved...she needs to go in for some serious skin tests if the itching persists after use of the special fur products.  maybe her items will make my hair silky.

wondering if ralph was going to accidentally drive us off the cliff as he talked on his phone while driving us home from the beach.

sitting in subway for nearly 2 hours thinking of something to do and then getting to my car to amanda's phone message reminding me about the party at hanamaru, after i had totally stuffed myself on a footlong- on the one day i actually ate the whole thing. 

going to marshall's and realizing that i threw away $5 at subway because i stashed my change in the plastic subway bag!  i wanted to go to get it because $ is $ but ralph convinced me to take it as a loss.  i'm finding tiny ways to recover that $5.  hmmm...no more starbuck's for one week!

things to do:

dishes

hang clothes

clear table- ok, i know i keep listing this, but you should see my table- this is the most dreadful task (you'll see why when i post a photo!)

find pyrex thermometer at bed & bath for mom's turkey

buy ginger ale for tart cranberry dipping sauce and white wine for the gravy

remember:

mashed potatoes and some form of fatless butter so i can drowned them at dinner time.  if my potatoes fail, i can buy this mashed potato and butter flavored soda as an unexpected alternative!  heck, they can do the whole meal...

gravy

2 pumpkin pies

cranberry relish (this tastes a lot better than it sounds)

tart cranberry dipping sauce

utensils

dog and dog's toys

anything else?  i'm sure i'm forgetting something important.

chai review

chai seems to be just about everywhere now: it's sold in boxes, as powder mixes, in squirt bottles, at coffeehouses, at convenience stores, the list goes on and on.

amanda and i did a taste test and we found oregon chai, flavor: the original, to taste like rubber, whether it is sold in the box at the grocery store or in your convenience store fridge in a little glass bottle (i'm glad this was free, thanks to a local dot com that has a better beverage selection than most 7-11s).  then we tried another oregon chai flavor: chai nog (a's favorite).  i'm not a fan of egg nog so i decided before i tasted chai nog that i wouldn't like it.  i was quite surprised with my teaspoonfull first taste, at how good it is.  so for all those egg nog lovers and haters, i would rec. a glass of chai nog (hot or cold), and at a party...i would rec. adding a shot of brandy.

melissa also offers another good resource for tasty chai by mocafe.  i'll have to hunt some of this down since i like the original taste of chai though the chai nog is appealing during the holiday season.

story about brandy and eggnog: one of my co-workers had a very rambunctious son (no longer ramb.), who seems to have calmed down as he's getting older.  at one of the company's early holiday parties, eggnog was served in a punch bowl with a bottle of brandy next to it.  i think the son was not well-supervised so he managed to sneak some brandy from the eggnog table, and some more, and some more- i don't think he knew what it was but he sure did like it!  by the end of the evening, he was a little tipsy.  he did some funny things...wrapped his mouth around the alhambra water spouts (but under the hot water spout- oops).  my boss walked by and said, "oh, i'll remember to stay away from that one on monday."  i'm sure i find more humor in this because i was there but maybe you would too, if you've ever seen an intoxicated 3 year old.

so help add chai to the dictionary.

tricks and tips

it seems like everybody outside of my job is celebrating halloween today. it's so exciting! i totally forgot to dress up today or even wear anything closely resembling anything halloweenish. it crossed my mind at 7:06 am but by the time i was brushing my teeth at 8:15 am, it totally vanished from my mind.

i just had my allergy shots and the entire department was dressed in costumes and many had false eyelashes. i'm glad they were dressed up because waiting to get allergy shots for 20 minutes would've really annoyed me otherwise (it's usually a 2 minute wait). it's so much easier to not get upset with somebody dressed as a cat or a nun than if they were wearing plain ol' office clothes. guess there was a lunch party?!

i was able to talk to kyle about the achilles and shin aches i've been getting and it seems that i have a tendon weakness due to a few things: wearing heels (i know, i know, i won't anymore), increasing distance too quickly, and not stretching or warming up enough and slowly enough. i thought the problem might be my shoes but he said for the mileage i'm doing they should last for at least 1 year (and they're only at 6 months). i'm bummed because i just bought more running shoes online yesterday. so here are the tips i picked up from him: warm up longer, increase mileage very slowly (just read in self mag that it should be 10% per week), ice achilles and shins in 20 minute incraments, wear "kyle-style" flats (this means some nasty granny shoe that has no lift whatsoever!), continue with some sort of activity such as power walking, etc. (so they muscles don't get weaker) without re-creating pain, and have ralph massage my calves (yay, i love massages!) from heel to calf. a few random things i learned from the phone call...you should always massage (and apply lotion, etc.) towards the heart in order to prevent swelling in the feet or elsewhere because it directs the blood to the heart, rather than overwhelming other parts. i had hear this before but i always thought it was a myth. also, wearing high heels wreck havoc and weaken your leg tendons. and last but not least, running shoes with styrofoam in them can deteriorate over time simply by sitting around. the clock starts ticking on them as soon as they are manufactured. i thought it was all about wear but apparently, both things matter. so if you've had running shoes that have been sitting in your closet for 10 years and only have 10 miles on them, it's still a good idea to get a new pair before you start a new running routine. what a lot of info!

as for dog's skin...my mom stopped by the vet this morning and we spoke at lunch. she mentioned dog's irritated skin to them and they said it sounds like dermititis (sp?, or something like that). in other words, her skin is very dry and pugs are prone to skin problems. another thing my mom pointed out is that her skin began itching after i stopped giving her a daily dog vitamin. solution: she bought more doggie vitamins and the vet's office had a derm pill that has helped most of their dog patients that had terrible dermititis. if she's still itchy in a week, i'll need to re-evaluate the course of action!

tgif

last night's hot tub experience was so relaxing. the room had a tub (which was highly chlorinated), sauna, and a shower and some of their other rooms have a cold plunge. i created my own cold plunge by turning the shower water on ice cold every once in a while since the hot tub and sauna heat were a bit too much at times. it was pretty cool because we were able to choose a "relaxing" radio setting and we controlled the volume, as well as the jet settings in the tub. i was obsessed with the sauna and creating steam (there was a bucket of water with a big spoon to pour over the hot rocks) until i could no longer breathe. as ralph put it, "it was hotter than arizona" in there. there was a cool wall fountain that i think could be turned into a cold plunge with a little effort. before that we had great mexican food at la morenita. it was perfect becuase it was authentic, portion sizes were perfect, and it wasn't too heavy. it just might be my favorite mexican restaurant now.

i'm bummed about my recent shin and achilles problems. i couldn't even do 1.5 miles yesterday because the pain was too intense. i thought taking a few days off would do the trick but maybe there's something more i should be doing, icing, who knows? i'm playing phone tag with kyle in hopes that he'll have a solution for me. i think it's my fate to not be a runner. i better stick to low-impact things like sitting on the couch watching my netflix. btw, when i received original texas chainsaw it was cracked in half!

dog has been itching her skin like a maniac recently. i know she doesn't have fleas or ticks because she regularly gets frontline applications and i've searched every inch of her skin. i'm going to make an appointment with the vet because she's needs her glands "done" and at that time we can ask the doc about her skin irritation. maybe the weather is drying her skin, and her diet has switched from eukanuba lamb and rice to ivd duck an potatoes, and my mom washes her all the time. oh the woes of a highly allergic dog! is duck leaner than lamb? is there such thing as dog lotion, other than fur conditioner? i'll do some internet research and post my findings shortly.

tonight is aunt b's party and i'm excited about dog being a party animal. i need to find some (empty) beer and soda cans, streamers, and ballons to tie to her harness. she's really going to dislike me tonight! i need to do some baking when i get home because i never got around to it last night. i'm going to make pumpkin cupcakes, a snake-shaped crescent roll sub, and boojitios (my own creation, recipe tba, which is going to be a virgin version of mojitios). this should be interesting.

info corner:
record number of voters in ca (which i'm sure would be much higher if not for recent voter registration scandals by those soliciting door to door registration).

mark cuban and some digital cameras create voices of iraq.

bay area guide to halloween 2004.

i think a livestrong magazine is on the horizon (i was solicited by harris polls yesterday for a poll that seemed to be testing the waters for a new magazine and its topics and pricing, nothing on the website to date).

feeling unispired

i'm glad for days like yesterday that balance out days like today. i'm tired and my eyes feel soupy. i'm supposed to get allergy shots today but i'll wait until tomorrow because i have a meeting that begins before my shots could end.

i saw an ad for a cd that plays not only music, but smeels as well, called scentories. i thought i was in the twilight zone when i saw the commercial on tv because i felt like i was being brainwashed. does anybody else find it odd that smells can be played? i tested the gadget (created the fabreze, the scent mogul) at fry's and i definitely would not buy it because the smells are rather artificial smelling and if i want smells coupled with another experience, i'd either ride the ca ride (smells and images) at disney's ca adventures or i'll open my refridgerator (which is enough of a scent to last a year). not to mention, you can't just buy the scented cd, you need the entire scent player (similar to cd player) so it can blow scented breeze (which doesn't blow enough air out anyways) into the air. my left thumb and right thumb head towards the floor for 2 thumbs down.

he says, she says

he says:
(he, being ralph)
apple has introduced the new photo ipod. it's neat that they added this feature, but what about a basic necessity in a walkman? a radio! photos are cool but i'd rather be able to tune into the tvs at the gym when something is on, such as presidential debates, world series baseball games, etc. maybe one day they'll not be so scared of adding this feature with a record function. i don't care if they think they will lose money on download sales because people will record music off the radio as opposed to downloading. i think people would still download for clean versions of the songs.

thank you and good night.

she says:
(she, being me)
i think the ipod new photo ipod is way overpriced! who is going to pay $500-600 for this when you can buy a mini ipod and a sleeky mini digital camera for less than $600 combined? and this can't even take pics it can only store them?! i'd rather take a mini-vacation and stick with my older model than throw down the cash just yet. they are introducing new features so quickly that it's only a matter of time until something really great and $-worthy comes out.

p.s. u2? couldn't they have chosen another band? i know they do great cause-worhty things but i'm tired of bono already!

highly unorganized

i'm feeling highly unorganized at the moment but peaking this feeling was losing an earring (in addition to being without a debit card for the last 3 weeks!)...i thought it was a smart idea to bundle some really nice earrings in a napkin (so they wouldn't get scratched) and then toss the bundle in my glove compartment. as i waited at a stop light, i reached for the napkin with the earrings but only found one. i freaked out because they were really nice and i feel like everything i'm looking for is always lost or misplaced. is there a big hole that swallows my belongings? on top of being late, i was frustrated with the fact at how discombobulated things have been lately. i speculate things are going this way because i'm messy and haven't made an honest effort to file, do my laundry, or get organized at home in a long while.

i think it all started with a bad night's sleep. i fell asleep on ralph's couch at 10:30 pm and didn't walk to the bed until 2:30 am. once i was in bed i was consistently waking up every 2 hours as though i was going to be late for something important. what kept me up was the fact that my limbs felt (particularly my fingers) like they were polish sausages and my head felt like it was full of food. in reality, i was feeling gross because i was totally dehydrated (due to the fact that i had cheese puffs, walnuts, and a mini york peppermint patty before bedtime, yes, i pms-ing) and my head was totally congested because i fell asleep without taking my allergy medicine the day of allergy shots. at 4:36 am, i woke up because i couldn't stand the thirst or the snot clogging my brain anymore. i looked at dog and ralph as the rain was pounding outside, wondering...how can they sleep so peacefully? how come he didn't anticipate my thirst and snot with a glass of water and a box of tissue? i was just bitter because they were asleep and i was searching for water and kleenex in the dark. for some reason i have really good night vision in the pitch black but not when i'm driving in the dark with headlights on, go figure. after drinking some water and stuffing a wad of tissue under the pillow i fell asleep until i needed to pee at 6 am. then back to sleep...zzzz...next thing i know it's 8:06 am and i'm suppose to have dog walked, be dressed, and have gassed (sp?) up the car by 8:30 am? yeah, right.

at least i did 3 miles yesterday. that was the good part and the fact that ralph made dinner. the 3 miles took longer than expected because i had terrible pain in my shins and achilles. i suspect this happened because i normally warm-up for 5.5 minutes but yesterday i only warmed-up for 3 minutes and it was super cold outside, so maybe i should've warmed-up for something closer to 8 minutes. i have decided not to run today. i might do the elliptical or the recumbent bike instead. i want my shins to heal a tad before i go back to the mill. part of the problem may have to do with the fact that i need new running shoes.

last night the ca democratic party phoned me to confirm my enrollment as a volunteer. i need to call my local unit for an assignment and i guess i volunteer wherever they need me. i hope they don't need me to do a phone bank because i really dislike disturbing people with phone calls to persuade them during their dinner that my call is more important than their dinner. w.e. i'll be optimistic, maybe i'll be assigned to hold a kerry sign on the street corner so people can honk for support or flip me off and yell profanities at me for disagreeing!?!

i could really use some chocolate in my veins right about now. can they do that? i think that might ease my craving for swimming in a chocolate pool and drinking the chocolate water!

things that would help right now:
- a mug of l.a. burdick dark hot chocolate
- a goose down comforter draped over me at my desk
- having exercised for the day in the am
- having an atm card (so the cashier at safeway can't refuse my request for cashback with a check based on the fact that i haven't written 50 checks at that particular safeway!)
- having a balanced checkbook
- being more organized
- macy's and other retail places not decorating for chritmas in october!
- a new episode of scrubs now instead of later
- somebody answering this question: how can polls be open prior to election day? i don't understand how people are voting at polls already. please explain.

here's are useful $ tips that i should read when i'm in a better mood and have a working atm in my hands.

and where in the world is dad? this is odd.

a.c., when can i start volunteering at the aic?

new yorker

way to go, new yorker! click on link to read about their political endorsement, obviously for kerry!

on to other things...i'm a netflix subscriber, again. third time is a charm but between me and ralph, i'm sure this has gotta be something like our sixth time subscribing to the service. they just reduced their prices and i've been wanting to lay on my couch more often lately so it was perfect timing. i should get my flix tomorrow and i'm redy to be scared...blair witch, original texas chainsaw (1974?), and confessions of a teenage drama queen.

i'm lovin' the red sox!

the red sox are on a roll and i'm so excited for them! i wish i could be at fenway for one of their games, even st. louis would do. i've caught a few minutes of each game, which is all i can take when watching baseball on tv (quite a different experience than the live thing).

this weekend was really mellow. didn't cook or bake. didn't carve pumpkin. didn't do election/proposition review (must do tonight). on friday ralph and i went to consuelo's and then we saw the grudge. the food was so good but we were let down by molten chocolate cake. if it was molten, so am i. it was so cold and barely tasted like chocolate (embedded are some links for good molten cake recipes that i've tested and been happy with). on the other hand, their filet mignon, sopes, sangria, and mojitos made up for it so we left satisfied, mas o menos. as for the movie, it was so scary! i had my hands over my eyes for most of it because there were some disturbing images that i didn't want to carry over into my dreams and wild imaginiation. i would definitely catch it if you're shopping for scares and frights close to halloween.

on saturday we went to the outlets and i bought some overpriced cole haan's (which i retutned the next day) and a plain jane white button down at banana republic. stopped by the coach outlet and it was good for leather purses but they don't carry the signature bags. oh well.

yesterday was an errand day and i hung out with my mom. i feel like i did 5 million things from my "to do" list and i was lucky enough to squeeze in a strawberry crepe! i found some awesome flat shoes which i have been ordered to wear (by my pt) from here on out as long as my back pain persists. i should really get working on my abs so i can wear mini-heels (the kind that make your feet look like little pig's feet) by christmas! i ordered my shoes online to save on the price, get free shipping, and skip paying taxes. yay! so glad i didn't buy them in the store on the spot. my mom and i also picked some goods from kyle's garden which is quite impressive. when i own a home i hope i can have a garden as plentiful as his. mine will definitely have pumpkins though. now that i have fresh basil and vine-grown tomatoes, i'm inspired to make a caprese salad for dinner.

i cleaned my bathroom at 11 pm and it feels so great to not have my makeup bag items and dirty clothes all over the floor and toilet top. it was really gross before. now if i can just get working on the rest of the place. today i'll try to get to the living room and my bedroom after the gym. pg&e person is coming between 1-5 to light the pilot and i'm so embarrased for my mom because they might think the mess is hers. i'm so glad i'm not there to let them in! ;)

today i'm going to boost my mileage at the gym. i've been doing 2.5 miles (don't laugh!) and i'm going to move it to 3 today. i've been running for about 2 weeks and i'll be ecstatic when i can make it to 6 miles, that's my goal. i better get a new pair of running shoes soon because mine are losing their bounce.

i came up with a genius idea for dog's halloween costume (speaking of dressing dogs). best of all, it is easy to make! i'll post pics on saturday because we're going to ant b's halloween party on friday (i better confirm that dog's attendance is ok before i get too zealous with the costume idea). i still need to find a gold crown for my costume and some fake bees for ralph's.

i just received an email from grant and sav confirming their wedding date. i can't wait. my third friend to tie the knot!

haven't heard from dad yet. he's probably consumed with very important things regarding his health right now. i'll try a few more times later.

ralph's corner: on kerry and recent economic advising.

magazine junky recovers missing purse

ralph and i bought pumpkins last night- a wide variety in fact...cinderella pumpkins, regular pumpkins, and mini pumpkins. i wanted to buy a white pumpkin, too, but i decided my front door area (not even big enough to be called a patio) is too small to accomodate an entire pumpkin family. the cinderella pumpkins are so cool! they are oddly colored and awkwardly shaped. i've also heard them referred to as fantasy pumpkins. i'll try to find some pics or links to post.

before buying pumpkins, we ate at taco bell. being a genius about my purse (as always), i hung it on my chair. when we arrived in the albertson's parking lot i realized, "i forgot my purse!!!!!!" i was so worried because i had just paid down my credit card, i actually had cash in my wallet (a rare occurence as those who know me know), and my purse probably cost more than all the items in the wallet itself. my mom and roo just had their purses stolen so i thought that would be my luck, too. ralph raced backed to taco bell and my purse was gone. the employees were kind enough to stash it in the back because they knew i'd return. everything was in its place!!! see, sometimes it pays to be a regular at taco bell! yo quiero taco bell! ironically, while we were in eating, ralph's wallet had fallen out of his pcokets and i told him right away but i also said, "i wasn't going to tell you because i wanted to see how long you'd go without noticing that your wallet had fallen. but i would've told you before we left." karma is an odb.

i bought my first and thier first issue of women's health last night- the female equivalent to men's health. the issue is a bit scrawny but i imagine this is the case of all "first" magazine issues. i skimmed through it a bit last night and it is interesting and almost as good as men's health. it has a few useful articles, a lot of helpful information, and less advertising than say, cosmo! but naturally, all of their models have visible abs and what not. guess i should expect that considering the men they use as models in men's health. one interesting thing...they must assume that men's health readers are not also women's health readers. why do i say this? a lot of the health stufff is simply being regurgitated from past men's health issues. i'm on to their game! that must be really convenient for them...same info, different packaging. currently, they are offering 6 issues for $12 as their promo subscription offer. maybe next year it will be a monthly magazine. it is quite expensive at $4.99; i paid $5.40 for one issue (it's surely no competitor with in touch at $1.50-$1.99 per issue)! if they stop feeding me men's health info that i've already read, i might considering subscribing because i need something to replace sunset. i've also become a big fan of the new yorker since it's the only non-aarp-magazine in the lobby when i get my allergy shots. the articles are interesting and informative and i love the witty cartoons and silly illustrations. add this to the list! check.

current countdowns:
- 1 day until anthony's bday (so i'm sure you can guess the title of tomorrow's post)
- 11 days until halloween
- 14 days until the election of all elections, yes, that's 2 weeks!!!!!! they are already voting in fl.

note from my sponsor at the kerry edwards camp! ;) sorry for the caps but they like being proper.

Dear jane doe,

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You may not live in a so called battleground state, but that doesn't mean you can't make the difference on Election Day. We have implemented two critical programs that are going to make a big difference on November 2, and you can start participating in both today:

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As a member of the Kerry-Edwards Phone Corps, you can start helping our volunteer efforts in key battleground states around the country. Members of this dedicated group of supporters make phone calls into battleground states to recruit volunteers for specific events such as canvassing and phone banking.

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Road Trip to Victory
We are looking for dedicated volunteers who are willing to travel to a battleground state this weekend, next weekend, and/or Saturday through Tuesday of election weekend. These volunteers will join the thousands of volunteers already working on the ground who are the core of our field operation.

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This election is now in your hands. Let's go win another day.

Thank you,

Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager

men's health for women

i like reading men's health more than any other magazine. i'm so glad i gave ralph a subscription last year for xmas. is it weird considering i'm not a man? i suppose he likes reading my mags and he's a guy so maybe it's a way to learn about the opposite sex.

the info sources in men's health are more interesting than female mag equivalents and there are less pages dedicted to advertising. maybe if female-oriented mags structred themselves more like this, there would be more than 10 pages to read after removing all of the ads. i still wouldn't want to go without my glamour but i find men's health a complimentary read. the same publisher has created women's health, probably on shelves as i type- we'll see if its a worthy competitor! more on this later.

state abbreviation for massachusetts

somebody just phoned to ask me the state abbreviation for massachusetts.

"it's m-a."
"are you sure about that."
"yes, it's definitely m-a."
"isn't that maine?"
"it's m-a. i lived there. maine is m-e."
"ok, thanks, bye."

she's cool but don't call me for an answer if you think you have the answer, even if it is wrong, and then question my answer which is right! ugh.

go kerry from m-a!

ralph's corner

useful link from ralph brought to you by google, which has introduced a google desktop search engine.

and some other useful links in case you ...
inhale a bug
need to know something about anything
need something cute to wear

stress in the city

i'm not sure how carrie, samantha, miranda, and charlotte were able to find sex in the city because all i seem to experience there is stress, especially on the day of a very special appointment, when i'm stuck in 2-hour traffic jams! i also seem to find disgusting things on the street...such as a stuft animal bunny that had puke smeared on it, a big pile of dog poop that was stepped in at least 50 times, and some man rolled out in a corridor who smelled of alcohol and cheap musk. perhaps i just parked in a particularly nasty alley yesterday.

the speacial appointment sucked! essentially, it was a casting call and i felt like an actor who was under-dressed and not as enthusiastic as my competitiors. it turned out to be a group interview of approximately 30 people who were all there for different positions. we had to submit a resume, state our names, position desired, and then sum up in 25 words or less why were qualified for the job. what a nighmare. to top it off, we were in a stuffy room filled with the background noise that only the tenderloin can offer. luckily, only 2 people were there for the position i want but after the commute, it seems less and less appealing. also, they seem to be less like an education setting (what i expected) and more like sales sharks (not what i was expecting). the bottom line with them is money and students equal money. :(

dinner with lindsay and amanda was a good time. we had japanese and then amanda took us to this cute place called break time that served all sorts of souffles and other interesting treats. i missed the debate in real time and i tried to watch it at 10 but i couldn't keep my eyes open past kerry's first response. no offense to kerry, i was just super tired from having 6 hours of sleep the night before and then having to wake up at 6 am. i heard kerry won, again, not to my surprise. around 9 pm, i caught glimpses of replays on other networks and bush's facial expressions were as goofy as ever. way to go monkey boy!

on the way to work i was thinking about my teeth and my addiction to tea and coffee drinks. my loves stain my teeth. so i came up with the bright idea of the white coffee bean. does such a thing exist? i think it should be created so we can become a nation with brighter smiles! white tea does exist already though it is usually expensive. then i was on a roll with new ideas...for example, i love the oreo cookie but not the oreo filling. i was thinking that oreo should create a box of cookies that is simply the chocolate wafer- sans filling. my other ideas must have not been so great because they have already escaped my mind.

i purchased my halloween costume and i'm super excited about celebrating as a bee! i found a non-hooker-looking alternative to my original idea. after the bee thing fell through i was thinking of being uncle sam (rather, aunt sam) since it's an election year but the costume was rather pricey and not fitting in my budget this year. hmmm...new purse or uncle sam costume that i can wear maybe once every 4 years! the choice was simple.

if you haven't registered to vote, i believe the ca deadline is tomorrow. so get busy today! i was visting cnn.com this morning and i was reminded of how the electoral college works. it reminds me how a village idiot could be elected regardless of popular vote, but rather because of electoral votes- a very rare occurence in our history.

i hope to hike this afternoon with amanda and ralph. now i just have to talk amanda in to going to rancho (she may already prefer this too because of the photo ops at the farm!) because our current trail is starting to bore me! ;) maybe i can trespass into an animal cage again just for old times sake!

ouch...my lips are cracking from the over abundace of antihistamines in my system! any tips besides drinking more water and wearing lip balm? off i go to glue them back together again!

superman is not immortal :(

it's crazy to hear that the original superman, chris reeve, passed away yesterday. kerry had just mentioned him in friday's debate in an effort to support his case for supporting stem cell research. also, ralph and i went halloween shopping and we wanted to be superman and super girl. eerie. may he rest in peace.

study: living in the suburbs can make you sick

the title of this entry is also the title of the article that has found that suburbs promote poor health habits! c'mon, did we really need to conduct scientific research to come to this conclusion? i think funding for research on the lifespan of the housefly would've been more useful. their findings point to "suburban sprawl" and dependence on the automobile, leading to no exercise which creates poor health, etc., etc. interestingly, they found no connection between depression and suburbs. i think they better do this study over.

final thought: the true issue boils down to lack of time. we're always in a rush and our bodies pay the price for fast food, automobile reliance, and poor mental health. cheers to life in the city!

2nd pres debate tonight at 6 pm (PT). go kerry!

henna tattoos and the fda?

i was just reading the fda newsletter (a pastime of mine ;) ) and i learned that henna tattos can be harmful (and lots of other interesting stuff, scroll up when you get to the link destination!). i guess it's like anything you put on your skin...it's always absorbed (and it makes me reconsider my nair use). i actually came across the fda newsletter by accident as i was trying to do some spf research. apparently i missed the announcement that spf 15 as the minimum is no longer sufficient in most climates. the standard spf should be 30. this info comes from robin, of course. makeup and moisturizers that currently include spf 15 may soon be required to change it to 30. i'm still unable to find press or other info on this so pass it along if you come across it.