October 27, 2007
the fires of october
october is burning.
the first fire started on october 10th, but i'll get to that.
the next fire ignited last sunday. traveling with a friend to vegas for the weekend, i was awakened by a call letting us know that malibu was burning. we turned on the news in time to watch the fire engulf a church and the malibu castle.
we'd just flown in the evening before, and changing our fight to get out the next day was impossible. so we watched the news for a bit, and after the fire jumped the canyon, we took one look at each other and immediately booked a car to head back to los angeles.
traffic from vegas on a sunday afternoon is miserable without the santa anas blowing and we crawled along the highway at an agonizing pace listening to news radio and getting updates from friends as often as possible.
as we dropped into the valley six hours later, we passed semis overturned and crumpled by the force of the winds, watched brush fires kicking up in santa clarita, and our anxiety thickened with the smoke. finally, we wound through carbon canyon as the flames dropped into the opposite side of the canyon. fire trucks stuffed with watchful waiting fireman were parked in driveways all the way back to the house.
we evacuated all of the important stuff from my friend's house and left with plans to return the next day if we needed to help get the animals out of there. we headed back to my place to sleep, and wait.
the next day the canyon was closed and a mandatory evacuation was in place preventing us from driving up the canyon. leaving the gimp (me) behind, the boys sneaked up the canyon on foot to evacuate a couple of monkeys, marmosets, a bunny and a cat from the property while i waited fretting in a beach house on pch watching the fire burn relentless.
everyone returned safe a few hours later tired, dirty with only a couple of monkey bites to show for their efforts. by wednesday the fire was contained and we headed back to the house to survey the damage. the fire had come right up to the ridge behind the property and before it was stopped by fire crews.
or at least that's what we thought.
settling back in, we pulled the bags out of the car, popped a couple of tylenol pm and tried to relax. but early friday morning we were pulled out of sleep by the frantic neighbor crying fire.
i pulled out of a sound sleep to wide awake in two seconds flat in cowboy boots and pajamas straight out the door and across the yard to confirm that yes, there was a nice big brush fire flaming 20 feet in the air just behind the house.
911 was called, already packed bags were tossed back into the car with keys in the ignition awaiting another dash right back down the canyon.
but those firemen are pretty efficient and made quick work of the fire. while the trucks and water tankers maneuvered around for the best position, a single file line of firefighters trooped over to the ravine, quickly located the best way to make it down and lemming-ed right over the edge chainsaws buzzing and pickaxes burrowing a neat firebreak all around the fire while the rest of the team unwound the hose and went to work putting it out.
there's a good reason that everyone loves a fireman. well that, AND they put out fires. exhausted and nervous, we returned to bed, immensely relieved when the rain came along the following afternoon.
oh that first fire on the 10th? amgen had a little reduction in force. and as the Johns (a close facsimile to the Bobs) informed me, "...your position has been affected." in other words, i had been reduced.
it's weird, but suddenly i do feel much lighter.
Posted by heidijanet at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2007
it's not that bad
so today in a meeting, the subject of vday came up, and i made a snide comment about valentine's day and my inclination to vacillate between apathy and disdain for the greeting card holiday.
this sparked a dialogue between a colleague (and also a close friend) and another colleague who expressed surprise at my snarky cynicism. this was the exchange that followed on the typical pattern of my rare and often ill-advised dalliances:
colleague: wow, i never would have expected that...
me: (hemming and hawing) yeah i don't even really get involved that often and when i do...well...
colleague: what happens?
friend/colleague: um...have you ever seen heidi eat bacon? (he then pantomimed some kind of messy devouring of said foodstuff, followed by the onset of mild indigestion)
me: yes, well...erm...can we move on?
after which my dear friend sent out this as visual aid.
not that bad
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
Posted by heidijanet at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
meaningless hack
so on friday, someone hacked into my web server and replaced the index page with an triumphant message against a black background accompanied by ominous background music. which would have been totally amusing if it wasn't so annoying. now there are all kinds of little glitches with my publishing features and other annoying little things while i fix things here and there.
the thing i can't figure, is why anyone would bother to hack a site that receives double digit daily traffic, mostly from extended friends and family, and is updated with such infrequency it can hardly be worth anyone's effort.
at any rate it's all (mostly) fixed now, and my 22 friends that stop by to see what might be new can go back to holding your breath for the next update. :)
Posted by heidijanet at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2007
i resolve.
my resolution this year was pretty simple--lower my expectations to zero and see what happens.
upon relaying this to a friend the response was a resounding, "that's a good one for you! i give it a week."
which was a well placed observation. it's more than a little difficult to change your nature in one fail swoop. it was working fairly well there for a while, but with no small amount of effort.
and frankly, the new year so far has treated me fairly well. not without just a little bit of rough treatment. i have a bruise on my wrist from a game of air hockey that went just a little awry. i managed to allow my hairdresser to have fun with copper--to mixed results and at la'vie l'orange i selected a shade of red for my toes that borders right on the edge of trashy. which given recent history ranks right there on the bottom of the list of things to worry my little head about.
so, tonight i took a small moment to stand barefooted in the middle of my kitchen in a rare moment of contentedness in gratitude of the moment.
and then managed to break it down with a little sleuthiness combined with curiosity that has always been my downfall.
maybe i should add a little less introspection, heed the advice against idle hands, oh and while i'm at it neuter my natural inclination and instincts altogether.
then gloat to my dear friend, i made it a whole month.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2006
happy [belated] birthday to me
dancing in toscas
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
i celebrated my birthday a week ago sunday in san francisco with some of my nearesst and dearest. it was one of the most fantastic weekends i've had in a while. which was a relief after running up to my birthday with persistent bouts of insomnia, paralyzing introspection and a kind of concern about this one that i've never had before.
maybe all you need is time to hang out with your dad in the backyard, have an unexpected encounter with experimental olives, consume french food for 12 hours straight and cap off the evening dancing with friends to dean martin blasting from the wurlitzer at tosca's on columbus.
and stop to remember that watching time pass, regardless of your current state of affairs, is still better than the alternative.
Posted by heidijanet at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2006
monday greetings
best card from boss ever...
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
coming into the office i find this on my desk from my boss. apparently my secret is out.
Posted by heidijanet at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2006
times are a'changing
it's been quiet again. i think that my almost daily updates have slowed way down to once in a blue moon in part to my dear friends and family members using the site to "stay in touch" instead of reaching out. but also, what has historically felt like a place that was just under the wire, has felt less so recently, particulary after reading this. [via ariel]
but i miss the exercise of writing on a regular basis, so as usual ,this is more for my own benefit and amusement than anyone else's. so i may tone some of the revelations down, but keep the frequency up.
so for all the news that's fit to print...
migration. i've emigrated from my lovely abode on abbot kinney in venice to a peach condo in a gated community in calabasas, a little town in the valley stuffed with suvs, soccer moms, starbucks and the toughest smoking laws in the country.
the first time i announced my plans to a group there was a collective gasp as though the world had slightly shifted on it's axis for a moment at the news. i moved to los angeles reluctantly four years ago from san francisco, and settled into my neighborhood which was as close as i could get to the city in la. this little strip of heaven was a little gritty, a little dangerous, but full of character, great food, funky boutiques, most within walking distance. the culture was a fabulous mix of political activitsts with "impeach bush" spray painted on their houses, artists, writers, yuppies and smokers outside of abbot's habit jacked up on caffeine, conversation and indignance. there were playhouses, poetry centers, boardwalks and turnabouts all within walking distance. the shopkeepers served wine while you browsed, and started pulling your favorite items out when they saw you trekking up the walk. and then there was always sweet david at the corner market who delivered wine to your door if you couldn't make it down to the corner and inquired frequently about your post-breakup dating life--and in my case with great concern at it's apparent non-existence.
i loved the foggy mornings and cool evenings. the sunday farmers market and brunch at lilly's. the daily stop to grab a large cup of the strongest coffee from the paul/paul baristas at abbot's habit en route to work. the baguettes and croque monsieur at the french market where all the europeans smoked on the patio reading the paper while patrons of an upscale spinning class suffered through the second-hand smoke wafting in the doorway--i always felt a wicked, politically incorrect sense of satisfaction at this little arrangement.
now in calabasas the whole lot of us would be fined and possibly jailed for such an offense.
however, the two hour round-trip daily commute was killing me. i will be working too many hours at work and travelling so much over the next couple of years, that i came to the realization that i was paying a premium to live in a neighborhood that i only enjoyed two days a week (if that), it had been eight months since i'd stood on the beach that was just five blocks away and my yellow beach cruiser had a layer of dust and two flat tires from sheer lack of use.
so when my dear friend daniela bought her first lovely condo fifteen minutes away from the office and offered up a room along with a standing invitation to stay in the spare room of her boyfriend's fabulous pad in santa monica i jumped at the chance.
so now i'm well-rested in a lovely loft condo in a gated community with a pool and a clubhouse where the frogs in the creek keep me awake at night instead of the traffic and emergency response vehicles.
however, i have made a solemn promise to myself to resist the urge to bleach out my hair, spray tan, french manicure my toenails and turn in the mini cooper for an suv that will haul all those great finds from home depot with a starbucks in one hand and a hand weight in the other to replace my sherman mcd while en route to meet friends for a drink and a sampler platter at the local tgi fridays.
in other news...
i visted nyc. and barcelona. and vienna.
it's been a busy month.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:01 PM | Comments (3)
December 28, 2005
post-holiday social irony
i spent a fantastic christmas holiday with my mother in orange county, lounging and eating and watching old movies. i can now nod along knowingly at cocktail parties when obscure references to philadephia story, king kong (the original), casablanca and it happened one night crop up.
which would incidentally explain my sudden urge to pincurl this morning.
i travelled home with a carful of gifts and in excellent spirits, then stumbled into my empty apartment.
i spent the entire day alone cleaning and straightening and putzing...when i finally decided that it was time for me to venture out into humanity! go out and mingle with the masses for some post-holiday movie-watching.
my ideas of swimming anomously among the masses kind of crumpled a bit as i rushed in with my medium cup of popcorn and soda in hand, into a cavernous theatre occupied by a solitary woman yammering on her cell phone and a middle-aged gentleman who chuckled at the film in all the wrong places.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)
July 05, 2005
what the 4th is all about
takes two to grill
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
good food, good friends and...caution tape.
good times.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2005
hiatus
i've gotten a few emails wondering what's going on...so for the friends and loved ones who check in now again...apparently i'm on a wee hiatus.
not intentionally, just not feeling talkative lately.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
works on men of all sizes
the big even of the week at work, was the annual amgen chili cookoff last week, which is an extravaganza of chili booths, beer, wine, coworkers and their families gathered to...uh eat chili.
the thousands of amgen folks and their family units swarm the contained area around my building and it's a zoo of breeders on a rampage.
wandering through the kid's area packed to the brim with hundreds (i swear to god) children, daniela and sarah, and i all looked at each other and the first word out of our mouths was a simultaneous, "uh, contraception?"
we settled at a table in the midst of the swarming children for some chatting and eating when suddenly behind me there was a long, loud and incredibly annoying and disruptive whistle.
i turned, eyebrow raised and looked hard at the whistling 10 year old boy. he immediately ceased whistling, spun around on his heel and ran.
i turned back to the table, "see ladies, that works just as well with 10 year olds and 30 year olds alike."
Posted by heidijanet at 08:42 PM | Comments (1)
May 05, 2005
yup. i need a vacation.
i am not the kind of person that believes in signs, but i do look for patterns. anyone who keeps up with me here or in real life, knows i'm a workaholic.
after running my time allocation for the last six months, and realizing that i am averaging, AVERAGING almost 65 hours per week.
in just the last four months i've also managed to be out of the office on business (of course) 25% of my time this year (i was out the entire month of january), i managed to break my back, get a promotion and rack up over 70 hours a week.
last thursday, when my alarm clock began optimistically bleeping at 5:30am, i reached out for the almost completely spent snooze button, and came face to face with my very first thought of the day, "i need a vacation."
so...checking my horoscope yet again today:
LEO: Don't be shy about putting in for your vacation days now, no matter how busy it happens to be at work. You need some time off, you need it soon and you need it together. Be sure your sweetheart is just as adamant. You both have at least one favor out there that's overdue to be called in, so if you need to, make that call and pull those strings. Do whatever it takes to make this time together happen.
then, receiving a directive this morning from a woman i consider a mentor and respect very much, that i work way too hard--i've decided that i have officially uncovered a pattern.
so, i'm taking a week off. before july. i starting to plan right now. i may need to be a little loose with my definition of sweetheart--as everyone knows that in order for me to actually meet anyone that could be considered a sweetheart, they'd have to throw themselves on the hood of my car at 9pm when i pull into the driveway at night.
but that is a minor detail. however i am taking destination suggestions from anyone with any good ideas. i'm looking for warm, affordable, in or outside the u.s. where i can sit quietly, get my melatonin producing and stare at something other than this cursed computer screen.
and if anyone would like to come along, i'm keeping my definition of "sweetheart" very loose this week. *grin*
Posted by heidijanet at 10:50 AM | Comments (4)
May 02, 2005
technical problems, getting help and tiny victories against the spam misery in the world
i've been silent for the last couple of weeks. there are times that i go silent because i need a break or i'm overworked...but this time it i was in a protracted battle against comment/trackback spammers.
i shut down my comments last December after getting slammed with over 10,000 comment spams in less than a week. i set MT to force manual approval of all comments before they posted...but this became enormously inefficient at that scale.
i was sad to close comments, but i was overworked and didn't have time to upgrade/install plugins etc. etc. that is required to get a handle on the situation.
THEN i started getting trackback spam, which was just too much. after struggling for 2 days to upgrade MT, install MT blacklist and incorporate the little tweaks necessary...naturally i ended up breaking a few things.
so (for once) taking ariel's advice i turned to blog barter to get it all configured correctly for a very reasonable trade for something on my "expert's" wishlist.
(which, after the fact i just charged over to her wishlist and picked out something nice in the quoted price range, as though it was christmas. note to novices in getting help, you're supposed to agree to it first. fortunately she was very polite about the whole thing.)
at any rate...after tediously deleting all 10,000 comments spams (btw, martin i think i deleted a comment from you by mistake, sorry), i have opened comments back up and have missed hearing from my friends and family.
particularly those that (mistakenly) believe that reading my blog is just like staying in touch with me. a common problem i think, and as usual, ariel expresses this weird phenom better than i could.
so i'll be posting more regularly, and i hope the handful of folks that read along make a little noise from time to time. after all the trouble i went through it's the least you can do.
Posted by heidijanet at 12:02 PM | Comments (5)
March 21, 2005
fixed! (sort of)
about a month ago, fed up with comment and trackback spam, i attempted to upgrade my movabletype. and proceeded to break it. fixing it dropped to the bottom of my priority list for a while, but now it's all fixed.
to the five folks a day who want to know all about towel folding and my handful of friends and family who drop now can again and breathe a sigh of relief.
Posted by heidijanet at 10:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2005
curb your enthusiam. please.
i dropped off my car today for service, and was given a rental for the day. as i was discussing my car options with the agent, she beamed widely as she offered me my choice of convertibles.
i turned to look out the window at the downpour outside, raised an eyebrow and replied in my familiar smirking sarcasm, "oh yes, excellent--a convertible! either one is fine."
i'm back in a suit today, which is my sad-ass excuse for deflating the poor woman's enthusiasm for her offer.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 09, 2005
skin deep
i'm wearing a suit today. black with silver pinstripes with a funky stiff collar and a knee-length skirt. my hair is smoothly tied back without of any of my characteristic unruly bedhead.
i'm mystified and slightly amused at how my outfit is affecting my demeanor today. i'm a little more stern, my gait is a wee more purposeful. i'm not joking around as much with co-workers and my expression seems to be stuck firmly between a bemused smirk and a condescending stare over the tops of my reading glasses.
i keep resisting the urge to carry a ruler for gentle knuckle-rapping of misbehaving co-workers.
all of this is amusing the hell out of me.
(and feels a little, dare i say, naughty)
Posted by heidijanet at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 02, 2005
singing a new song
i worked an eight-hour day today. with a full hour lunch.
and i am right now at this very moment sitting in front of my fireplace with an excellent glass of cabernet enjoying the silence.
tomorrow i think i'll do it again.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
glass houses
chatting with a friend today, about a new addition to his department who's a little quiet. however, he was speculating that because she had rings on her middle fingers, it suggested a dominant personality.
as i was about to jump in and add to that notion and get into what that might mean for him, i suddenly noticed the ring on my middle finger.
and quickly hushed myself.
Update: after meticulous research (read: googled) wearing a ring on your middle finger might actually suggest an identity crises. given this hypothesis, you'd think i was actually a pinky ring kind of girl.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 15, 2005
gag reflex
curled in front of my fireplace this morning, eating my breakfast of an omelet, latte and croissant from the french market i've been happily reading stiff -- a book about the curious lives of cadavers. mysteriously i have no problem reading through the copious details of human decomposition while eating my omelet.
i DO however have a very serious issue with discovering a single hair in my food. a serious gagging, retching, close to vomiting problem. i cannot eat around it, pick through it, nothing close to even considering finishing a plate of food where i have found, run into, spotted, or god forbid chewed through hair.
ack. my stomach turns just thinking about it. not to mention it ruined my fabulous feta/spinach/mushroom omelet on this fine saturday morning.
*sigh*
Posted by heidijanet at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 06, 2005
bad sign.
checking my horoscope this morning...well, this just doesn't sound all that good.
LEO: You needed an ocean liner; what you got was a kayak. Make do the best you can.
yeah, you're telling me.
Posted by heidijanet at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 01, 2005
i resolve '05
it's that time again. i'm going to shave the list to just a few things i can really focus on. i sometimes get so carried away in my oh so endless number of things i want to accomplish, and still find myself sliding down the path of least resistance.
this year i resolve:
1. i resolve to love my loved ones. to expend more energy and attention on the people i love. and less energy at work. i resolve to prioritize according to those who will never consider me expendable.
2. i resolve to sit down less. i sit down too much at the computer, reading books, drinking cocktails, watching movies, watching cable, sitting in meetings, sitting down for lunch, cramped in airplanes, reclining out on the front patio reading a newspaper, it's just altogether too much sitting.
3. i resolve to invest in experiences, not things. running through my expenses, i was shocked at the portion of my income that goes toward stuff i think i just have to have. to quote gloria steinham, "We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs." well, aside from my ACLU membership dues, i'm ashamed of myself.
in the spirit of keeping it simple i'm keeping the number of resolutions to three.
happy new year to all, i hope it finds you well.
Posted by heidijanet at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 20, 2004
fun wih bears
trouble with working too much is i'm forced to cram way too much of my life into a 48 hour period over the weekend. bills, xmas shopping, catching up with friends, wrapping presents etc. etc.
but i did manage a lovely sunday with my friend lynn, we were charged with photographing flat teresa (a la flat stanley) all over the west side and collecting souvenirs for her eight year old niece.
it was the most fun i've had in a long, long time.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 16, 2004
wide-awake
every morning on the way to work, i stop in at abbot's habit and get myself a large cup of coffee. it's become a little ritual, i park in the red zone right out front, smile and wave good morning the group of haggard gentlemen smoking and talking politics out front, the baristas inside see me coming in and reach for the large cups before i get to the counter for my "usual".
this morning, tired and strung out from a few intense and stressful weeks...i stumbled up to the counter, leaned over and stopped the barista mid-reach and said, "this morning i'll take a large latte. and make it a double."
my favorite coffee-puller grinned and started whistling times they are a-changin'.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 09, 2004
lightheaded
it's unusually overwhelming at work right now. i've been furiously digging through my days in meetings and memos and emails and updates and conference calls rarely leaving the office before 9pm, and most nights closer to 11pm.
feeling a little lightheaded in an early morning meeting, i stopped to wonder why...and realized that i have not eaten...
...since tuesday.
*sigh*
i need a wife.
Posted by heidijanet at 11:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 06, 2004
context is everything
Forwarded to me from daniela this morning:
This ad actually ran in The Atlanta Journal newspaper ...
SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, race unimportant. I'm a very good-looking girl who LOVES to; play, take long walks in the woods, hunting, camping, fishing trips, and cozy winter nights by the fire. Really like a man with a pickup truck. A candlelight dinner will have me eating out of your hand. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Rub me the right way and watch me respond. Kiss me and I'm yours. Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Daisy.
Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society, about an 8-week old black Labrador retriever.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 20, 2004
disappointed.
so i've been looking forward to this party tonight all week. pre-thanksgiving at chez warren, erin's amazing food, good people.
but then i wake up this morning and i'm SICK! 100 degree temp. sore throat. aches. pains. headache.
i'd force myself to go, but i don't want to get everyone else sick too.
*sniffle*
Posted by heidijanet at 04:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 17, 2004
cross-dressing ---> camoflauge dressing
on my way into work this morning there was a short bit on a tiny school in east texas that came under fire from conservative groups for their annual TWIRP day, on which the students cross-dress in a fun little role reversal for homecoming week.
apparently the concern was that this pushed a liberal agenda promoting a homosexual lifestyle among their students.
the day will hence forth be known as "camo-day" and the students will now dress as soldiers.
because you would never find homosexuals dressing up as soldiers...
Posted by heidijanet at 10:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 14, 2004
love ride 21
i'm back from love ride 21. i'm exhasuted and windblown. so until i get the energy to fill in a little more detail, take a look over here.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:34 PM | TrackBack
November 13, 2004
vigilante on the side
i had a wonderful dinner with my dad and lee tonight at the buffalo club. i rode on the back of my dad's harley, which i love because you really get to see things differently on the back of a bike.
on the way home, we stopped at a light at 17th and pico, and were waiting to turn right to head home.
a woman in a saturn turned left in front of us, when suddenly a small ford truck sped into view out of nowhere and slammed into the woman's car. her car turned 180 degrees spinning right toward us. for a split second i thought she was going to slide right into us. thankfully her car stopped a few feet short.
then, we realized that the truck that slammed into the woman just kept on driving. my inner vigilante kicked into gear, and i leaned forward and yelled, "hey that guys just taking off! we need to get his plate number!!"
but lee and my dad were on the same wavelength. we sped off down the street after the guy and lee got his plate number.
we turned around to head back to the scene of the accident, and realized that the woman had also sped down the street and was right behind us. i motioned for her to follow us back to the scene of the accident.
then of course, i chastised her for trying to chase him down herself. a single girl alone in her car should never try to chase someone down like that...well unless she had a couple of harley guys at her back. ;)
anyway, we gave the police the information they needed to track the guy who just hit her and ran. fortunately no one was hurt. but man, i just hate it when i see people just run away like that. but talking to the police, i guess it happens all the time.
i feel bad for the girl, but it felt really good to step in and help. vigilante work is very exciting.
Posted by heidijanet at 10:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 11, 2004
daddyo!
my dad's down for the annual love run, and this year i get to go!
me & my dad
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
he drove down on his harley with his good friend lee and i met up with them for a drink tonight. sharing fun bar tricks, i challenged them to a classic passed along to me by daniela...
m: "so you push the cork into the empty wine bottle and then fish it out only using the things available at the table"
lee: "suction?"
dad: "heat it up?"
lee: "use a knife."
me: "nope. nope. and nope."
lee: "fill it with water?"
dad: "fill it with beer!"
me: "um no."
lee: (to me) "you're drunk!"
dad: (to lee) "no, WE'RE drunk."
lee: "oh. yeah, right. we're drunk."
interesting role reversal to hang out with one's dad and his buddy while they're throwing 'em back on a road trip.
Posted by heidijanet at 10:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 02, 2004
defection
such high hopes for the day. i got up early. i voted, optimistically tracked the polls all day. met friends for drinks...thinking maybe there'd be cause for celebration.
it's 11:00pm PST and it's not looking good. not good at all.
if (when) bush takes it, i'm defecting. who's with me?
Posted by heidijanet at 11:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 31, 2004
all hallow's eve
peek
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
it's been a long time since i stayed out until 5:30am, it was a fantastic night out in downtown los angeles. good music, great friends, fabulous time.
Posted by heidijanet at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 29, 2004
jab
just lost a game of scrabble by 3 points...to the word jab.
double letter, triple word.
insult to injury.
Posted by heidijanet at 11:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 10, 2004
venturing into alien territory
i ventured east of the 405 today with my friend daniela. we actually made it all the way over to melrose--where she discovered a pair of $10 sunglasses that she happily swapped for her D&G sunglasses.
it's been years since i've ventured down melrose on foot. the first time was while visiting my ex when he first moved to los angeles. i remember flying down from sf, meeting him for lunch as my dressed up, pale as a ghost, cropped hair, black and denim, scarved self sat snickering away at the suntanned, bubblegum platform heeled traffic thinking that there's no way i'd never fit in here.
this time, however, either i've acclimated or melrose has become distinctly more retro-punk and less bubblegum--cuz i kind of dug it. in spite of the fact that there were a surprising number of stores with almost identical merchandise--with only slight variations in the front window.
art installations lined up on the sidewalk of burned and twisted lampposts, garbage cans and chained up bicycles, left me wishing i had a much better camera.
and on top of that, i serendipitously uncovered my halloween cosume at aardvarks, for the fifth year in a row. i'll be heading up to san francisco this year, so that makes my holiday plans that much more exciting.
overall it was a great sunday, inspiring a vow to uncover more of los angeles' neigborhoods. it's time i stopped secretly feeling that by hoveling out in the west side--it will make it feel less like i actually live here.
since it looks like i'll be sticking around a little longer.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2004
simulated skin is no laughing matter.
exercising some skills outside of my job description, i found myself in a sound booth recording a voice over for an instructional video, for the second time this month.
one segment of the script called for me to say, " simulated skin pad", but i kept stumbling over the phrase with the equivalant of verbal recoil at the concept. *gack*
however, being a professional, i decided to smile for that phrase to "lighten" the tone...which made me think about the limbs & things superstore hawking simulated skin pads for demonstration purposes only...which was a very short trip to a snorting and giggling fit verbally incapacitating me. understandably, the producers in the sound room were perplexed and straight-faced, reducing me to a squirming 10 year-old trapped in a church pew giggling FOR NO APPARENT reason. which just made it worse.
with tears running down my face, i had to politely excuse myself. until my inexplicable laughing ceased.
good thing i'm a constant source of my own amusement--i just can't seem to find anyone else to let in on the joke.
or it's just a very short trip from a slight smile to laughing my ass off at the slightest provocation.
Posted by heidijanet at 03:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2004
twisted. and wrong.
there are sometimes those moments when you visit home and you wonder if your mother has officially...erm, lost it.
i walked into my mother's kitchen only to stumble upon the sunday afternoon "snack" perched on the counter, um in it's finest sunday dress:
if i wasn't questioning my genetic pre-disposition to such twisted behavior already, i certainly am now.
um yeah--i'm going to chalk it up to shock therapy toward a vegan lifestlye. ahem.
Posted by heidijanet at 09:24 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 14, 2004
master plan...diluted a little
i've had a secret fantasy, well not really a secret per se...but definitely a fantasy that's trying really hard to become a plan. i have been fascinated with the idea of buying a patch of rural land and putting up a compound of prefab homes for about 6 months. i figure that within the next 3 years, if i'm really responsible, i can get that patch of land, put up the first module 2 years later, and by the time i'm 40, i'll have my own little compound. how's that for a seven year plan?
so today i was very excited to head out to the caboom fest in santa monica with my good friends Dan and Sandra who are down for the weekend from san francisco, to check out a prototype of the MD 280 (which will be auctioned off later in the year on eBay).
i wasn't horribly impressed with the design, a little too small, no decent ventilation, no storage to speak of...so i remain attached to the LV Home. and it's also clear the industry is just a little too new and the elitism of the architects is keeping it a little too expensive to justify. but on an up note, i ran into a friend i hadn't seen in ages who's building his own prefab prototype so maybe i'll learn from his experience.
Posted by heidijanet at 05:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 05, 2004
yes. we know.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
my sentiments exactly.
Posted by heidijanet at 01:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 15, 2004
more sister spawn
my widdle niecey laney is growing up!!
Posted by heidijanet at 07:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2004
weekend bbq
it's been a while since i've attended a bbq and ended up getting down to the music in the backyard, but it happened over the weekend with a gathering of workfolks for judi and sacha's birthday.
and, since i was the only photographer at the party armed only with my cell phone--and my moblog was deleted in my recent site disaster-recovery debacle--i've posted the fuzzy, poorly lit low resolution photos over here.
there were fabulous asian fusion foodies with excellent drink at lew's lovely abode with a wee bit of excessive raucousness tossed in that i won't repeat here. because well, i'm sending the aforementioned work folks to my site to view the evidence.
however, in the interest of fairness (and for entertainment purposes only) please feel free to email me directly with any good stories from the party i may have missed. especially the ones about me. i hate it when i miss those. disclaimer: all denials will be issued on a case by case basis only.
(moblog will be back soon for the 5 people a day that i'm sure are sorely missing it)
Posted by heidijanet at 04:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 17, 2004
there should be a law
i've been on planes quite a bit lately. i wish i could say it has been all fun and exciting, but unfortunately. it has not.
as i was flying back from cleveland this week, completely exhausted trying to get a little sleep for the first time in what felt like weeks, i concluded that there should be a miss manners for the traveller. and this should be required reading before you can step foot on a plane. now, i don't know anyone that would consider relying on me to be a "miss manners" of anything, but i'm going to get on my sassy horse and lay a few down anyway:
1. don't bring your own peanuts as your snack. why would you do this? they give these to you on the plane. and if you sit next to me, i will gladly give you mine too. personally, i hate the little tiny, insignificant bags of peanuts. i really do. but for some reason when folks get these hot little items in their hands, they rip into them immediately, the peanutty stench fills the cabin and everyone scarfs them down as if it were manna from heaven. now assuming you aren't satisfied, if you ask the flight attendant, they will give you more. really.
2. don't direct your nasty "i'm annoyed" look at the parents of fussy children. save your silent glares for the guy who insists on taking up the entire length of both armrests even though he's sitting in the aisle seat or the woman who crushed your suit coat in the overhead with her shopping bag full of see's candy and "my grandma went to cleveland and all i got was this stupid t-shirt" gifts for the folks back home instead of the poor mother who can't get her 18-month old to stop crying.
planes are loud, cramped and scary places, with nothing to look at (except for all those people glaring at you) and nothing to do. but more importantly, babies don't know how to pop their ears when the altitude changes. i would whine and cry too if i couldn't get my ears to pop. and you know you would too. so cut the kids a break. and the parents too.
3. don't rush the front of the plane the moment it stops moving. I don't understand this strange compulsion. as soon as the plane rolls to a stop, everyone jumps up, flings off their seatbelts, snatching their bags out from under the seat and the overhead compartment to cram into the aisle. and wait for the the door to open. it's not a race folks. this doesn't make things go any faster. everyone just ends up crunched into more compact clumps hunching down in the aisle. elbows bumping heads, rear ends pushing over children and bags shoved into kidneys. it's just silly.
oh, and while we're on the subject, stop and let the folks out of their seats before rushing by. more often than not, you'll just end up knocking over the old lady without even offering to help with her bag. and who wants to be that guy? trust me folks, even if you manage to shave a few minutes off the process by shoving your way off the plane, and racing through the terminal--most of us just end up standing around together waiting for baggage claim to spit out our bags.
it's just like the asshole on the road who honks, swerves, gives you the finger and races around you in his car so he can get next red light. first. then sits there as you pull up and stop right next to him.
4. Yahtzee is NOT a game for the airplane. i don't think this requires explanation.
5. if i have earphones on, i don't want to talk to you. somehow the guy next to me from cleveland didn't get this very simple concept. i don't like to chit chat on planes. i just don't. i don't care where you're from, where you're going, what you do for a living or what you're reading. and i'm not interested in sharing personal information about myself. that's why the earphones are stuffed in my ears. it's my own personal advertisement that i'm not interested in conversation.
so, go chat up that woman across the aisle expectantly looking around the plane for someone to chat with. you know the one. you might recognize her by her matching floral print luggage with the identifying ribbon tied on the handles. she's the one who takes two trips a decade, and both of them are to see her family. she'll have pictures, stories and an endless need to hear all about yours too. i'm not that woman. i have earphones on, i'm reading a book and i don't want to talk. unless of course, you're playing yahtzee. but you probably wouldn't want to talk to me just then.
if anyone has more ground rules for flying, please feel free to contribute. maybe i'll collect and self-publish them then become one of those annoying people at the airport forcing flyers into the hands of unsuspecting travellers.
because you know...folks aren't carrying enough instructional paperwork while they rush through the airport as it is.
Posted by heidijanet at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2004
secret admirer
okay so every day this week, when i get into the office, there's a treat on my
desk. yesterday it was a bag of candy. today it was a fortune cookie.
i can't decide if i'm flattered, or unnerved by this.
Posted by heidijanet at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2004
all this, with only a minor chance of side effects
finding a couple of quiet moments in the maelstrom that has become my life these past couple of weeks to check in and run down...
i've accepted a full-time position at Amgen, i've been working here for about 7 months as a contractor, and finally decided to take the plunge. keep your fingers crossed that my edges stay sharp, that i can resist the temptation to immediately couple up and breed...and that my laugh doesn't recede into a
muttering chortle as i join the ranks of a corporate behemoth.
in an effort to stave off the chances of this, i overleveraged myself a little and finally got...the mini. i justify this by reminding myself that it gets almost twice the gas mileage to fuel my hour-long commute, and i get to work just a little bit faster. well...a LOT faster. frankly, i only need two words to really justify my purchase. malibu canyon. *grin*
i'm also heading off to vegas with the girls for the weekend before my "official" start date. i figure this way i might have just enough debauchery in my system to get through the first few months with a wicked smirk whenever i get the urge to start peeking at co-workers ring fingers or cooing over babies or some crap.
wish me luck!
Posted by heidijanet at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2004
back in the city
migrating north for the first time since last summer, i finally made it up for rex's dine and vine. or vine and dine. or wine and wine...which is closer to
reality.i caught up with friends i hadn't seen in months, and in some cases years. while there i learned a few things:
1) while things change, more often than not, they remain the same.
2) although sometimes. things change quite a bit.
3) that instead of hearing the use of "frisco" in reference to the city as an earmark of someone from out of town, the locals have started to use frisco, you know to confuse the transplants.
4) i used to scoff at the seemingly excessive valet parking in la. but i have to admit, trying to find a parking spot in the haight for lunch at my favorite hideaway restaurant...i missed it. a lot.
5) most disturbing revelation of all? for the first time i drove into the city, and it didn't feel like home. *sniff*
Posted by heidijanet at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2004
no one?
reunion.com keeps sending me spam to inform me that 5 new students have signed up, 0 looking for heidi wright.
i find this a little depressing. every time i get it.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 26, 2004
time for a quickie?
yahoo launched it's own horoscope content. now they offer a quickie forecast, you know for those in an astrological hurry. for today:
Heidi's Daily Leo Forecast
Quickie: What a way to begin the week: You're radiant. You're the lamp. They are the moths.
ah, well. see that'd be a nice change.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 25, 2004
ah, love
solo moviegoing report. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. such a painful movie. beautiful but painful. if you asked me why i liked it, i couldn't tell you. and it's not so much that i liked it. i mean i liked the film, loved it in fact. but i didn't much like how it slowly worked on me like a dredge, scraping up that feeling. the feeling of having something that had been packed down nice and tight polished over and silent, and in less than two hours it had expanded and burst screaming, "remember me? i'm that feeling you get when that really precious thing is torn and shredded right before your eyes. did you really think that you could forget?"
on the way home, the driver in the car in front of me reached out of his window as he passed by to pick a purple blossom off the flowering plant on the median. then he turned and offered it to his girl who was sitting in the passenger seat.
it was so fucking sweet i wanted to ram my car right through their trunk.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 09, 2004
strange dreams again
i woke up this morning having had another one of those strange dreams that have bothered me all day.
this time, i was going to a huge party. i arrived at a huge warehouse, and got somewhat lost trying to find loft #60. i wandered up and down through a strange maze of stairs. some of them you could go up, but not down. and vice versa. there were maps on the wall like you would see in a mall, except you had to push a button to light up the indicators, and for some reason you had to manually enter where you were with only had a few moments before it went dark again. which was confusing, because i didn't know where the hell i was. i'd look at the map, light it up to see the numbers, then quickly glance around to see which loft numbers were near me. by the time i reached out to enter the number, it went dark. i did this several times before i finally was able to briefly see where i was in relation to loft #60.
i finally made my way to the correct door, and went in. it was a loud party with hundreds of people. there were a few people from work. some old friends i hadn't seen in years and years. a couple of distant family members, and colin farrell. which was weird.
so i'm walking around, talking to people then suddenly the lights flicker on and off, the party's over. the loft immediately empties out and the only two people left in the room are myself and an old boss of mine from years ago. he was my career mentor, but i haven't spoken to him in years.
we look at each other and automatically walk together down to my car saying nothing. my car is a datsun B210, which was my very first car inherited from my grandmother when i was sixteen years old. for some reason he doesn't have his car, and in my dream there are apparently no cabs to call.
we drive down the road, come to the stoplight and i put my blinker on to turn left. all signs indicate that this is okay to do, there's even a left arrow that turns green. but as i turn left on to the road, it quickly becomes clear that it's a one-way street, and i'm driving the wrong way. so i maneuver over into the shoulder, but there's no immediate opportunity to turn off the road. it doesn't occur to me to just turn my car around and drive the correct direction.
i finally get to a place where i can turn left onto a road driving the correct way, and i do. there's a big island in the middle of the road and a curb that drops off on the right hand side of the road. i finally find the exit i need to take my ex-boss home, and it's on the other side of the island. there's no place to turn left. i drive slowly hopefully finding a place to make a u-turn, and i can't keep the car on the road, i keep dropping the tires off the curb to the right and it's a serious struggle to keep the car straight. there's nothing wrong with the car, i just can't seem to drive properly.
i finally arrive at a rotary where i can make my way the other direction, but by this time i'm so frustrated, i gripping the wheel with white-knuckles and cursing at the horribly designed roads, lecturing the absent highway planner about how it's impossible for me to find my way to where i want to be. then i remember how hard it was to find loft #60 and i start bitching about that, how not only could i not figure out where i was going, but i couldn't figure out where the hell i was, for crying out loud.
finally my ex-boss who's been smugly silent until this point, turns and looks at me, and says, "it's your responsibility to know where you are and where you are going, and no one gives a rat's ass how hard it is for you to figure it out. but either way, at least keep the goddamn car on the road."
this has bothered me all day.
Posted by heidijanet at 03:15 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 27, 2004
it's MAGIC!
a co-worker of mine has a magic 8 ball on her desk, and from day one i've developed the nasty habit of stopping into her office and giving it a good shake with a very serious question. statistically, it's wrong more than it's right, but i still find myself drawn to the damn thing like my freewill astrology horoscope.
i usually ask it personal questions, and lately it's been offering up the infuriating reply that the answer is unclear, or that i should concentrate and ask later. i have limited patience with such indecisiveness, so i immediately shake it again until the light blue fluid inside is frothy with anticipation. and in what i'm certain is resentment for such harsh treatment, it spits back that i should not count on it.
this vexed me, so i found an online magic 8 ball, but apparently they're all part of one pervasive hive mind and this one does the same damn thing.
so i've decided that i need a new tool for inaccurately predicting my future. thanks in advance.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:56 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 10, 2004
it's quirky to be single?
during my morning commute last week, one of the top editorial stories for the morning news was announced, "is it possible to be single and happy? one happily single woman calls this idea, being a 'quirky single'..."
this disturbs me. not that someone can be single and happy, but that it has been coined as quirky.
as a single, professional woman in her early thirties, i have found myself surrounded by women, and some men, that are fixated on meeting someone that will make them happy. for the rest of their life. this idea frightens me a little. but what frightens me more is that so many people perceive "happy" and "single" as mutually exclusive ideas. which annoys me to no end.
now, don't get me wrong, i'd love to meet someone that i enjoy spending time with. if that enjoyment happened to last a lifetime, all the better.
but i seem to be surrounded by people who seem to have taken on a second job devoted to finding their perfect, lifelong partner. endless hours spent researching cosmo, preening, grooming and strategizing for how to draw this one person out of the faceless crowds. lately, every conversation seems to be dominated by finding that one person to complete us and make us whole.
behavior is analyzed and over-analyzed ad naseum. wracking brains about what this or that really means. a 300-pound yoke of expectation is hung around the neck of every first date, dalliance or interlude. ultimatums are given, rigid interpretations and compatability lists are made. it's fucking exhausting.
i'm not suggesting that i don't fall victim to some of these overanalyzations and obsessions from time to time, i do. it's part of the fun. but, i'm not trying to triangulate the position of that one person to determine whether or not they are a suitable for a lifelong attachment--i'm beginning to suspect that some people just aren't well-suited to that. what i take issue with is the prevailing notion that we are not, and never will be, completely whole until a mate is found.
i cling to the idea that if i am happy with where i am right now, and become comfortable in my own skin, only then would i be able to or even interested in sharing a bit of that with someone else.
what i want to understand better is why so many of us hang our hopes for happiness and fulfillment around the necks of other people that are, in effect, doing the exact same thing. do two unhappy, incomplete and dysfunctional people make one happy, fulfilled whole?
i suspect not. and i suspect that we are asking too much of other people and not enough of ourselves.
and the idea that choosing to be happy and single can be described as "quirky" is just one more indication that as a culture we have wholly unrealistic expectations surrounding coupledom.
which of course, might explain why 50% of men and over 40% of women cheat on their spouses. it also might explain why half of all marraiges end in divorce.
so why do we cling to these romantic ideals of marraige? and how is it that being voluntarily single and happy is something quirky?
i wonder.
Posted by heidijanet at 11:30 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
February 06, 2004
fab prefab
i've become a woman obsessed. scrolling through metafilter yesterday, i stumbled across a link to fabprefab.com, and was intrigued. i'd just read an article in wallpaper about the future of low-cost home design. now prefabricated homes are not a new idea, but looking through some of these amazing new modern designs i'm fascinated.
imagine. buy a lot of land in the desert, which is only about an hour or so east of los angeles for $18,000. buy the new LV home kit for $30,000. then again about $50,000 to erect it, with some help from my father to wire and plumb etc. AND, they only take about 7-10 days to erect.
i could be into a wonderful new home for less than a $100K!
i'm going to start saving today.
Posted by heidijanet at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 05, 2004
birthday party
had a little birthday shindig for michelle down at the buffalo club in santa monica. many drinks, great wine, more people than we could fit at the table--i heard at some point that evening the girls were harassing the bartenders, threatening to sign their names in the fogged up windows er...with their breasts...then something about eighteen inches? so maybe harassment isn't the exactly the right word.
at any rate, happy birthday michelle!
Posted by heidijanet at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 02, 2004
sister spawn update
i've made it back from salt lake in one piece. after a long weekend serving as the family's drop-shipped, ad hoc cleaning lady, personal shopper, driver, family crises mediator and babysitter -- i have to admit, it's nice to be home where i can have a stiff drink at the end of the day, kick my feet up on the table and not think about whether or not we're going to kill the new baby with poorly planned feeding times, medications or cold drafts. oh, and get back in the habit of DAILY showers.
but i had a wonderful time with my sisters and my TWO, count 'em two, nieces. for the photoraphic documentation...click here.
Posted by heidijanet at 05:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 21, 2004
knit one, purl uh knit another
i spent my monday holiday, with my mother and my step-grandmother florence. mother wanted to go to a store called the "yarn lady", thinking that with florence being the farm-raised, wholly domesticated woman that she is, she'd be tickled. of course mother didn't bother to ask if florence had ever even picked up a knitting needle. she hadn't.
what she didn't count on, was that her 32-year old unmarried childless workaholic urbanite of a daughter, who considers the coffee machine her only useful appliance and take-out food cooking at home, would walk into the yarn lady, let out a little squeal of glee at the hand-loomed, hand-dyed nobby yummy yarn and subsequently rush the crowd of greying ladies to snatch a knitting for beginners tutorial, a pair of #36 needles and 2 skeins of fantastic merino wool and plop down her credit card.
i've been knitting since monday, my fingers are sore and i've had to redo the scarf once already [damn tie off!] and i love it.
and i just know that somewhere there is a spate of exes, girlfriends and family members that are slack-jawed in shock convinced that surely the fourth horse of the apocalypse has, in fact, arrived.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:28 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 20, 2004
logjam
okay so my long absence from entries has created a log jam in my mind, so much has happened over the last few weeks...christmas parties, celebrations, visits and photos with family, new years, excessive consumption, unbelievable workload, travel to vegas, spectacular lapses in judgement and complete lack of sleep...i could go on and on...but it's just too overwhelming to try.
so i'll just recant my most recent lapse in judgement, mostly because the others [as usual] are not fit for print.
so i'm in the garage, digging out the christmas decoration boxes having finally decided to pack away my fabulous, if a little excessive, christmas lights and my precious charlie brown tree. i crane my neck and spy the ones i need at the top of the "box stack", towering 10 feet above my head. so i decide to scale the inevitable jumble that lives in every garage (isn't there? if you don't have a garage jumble, then give me a ring, you're hired) in front of the stack of boxes. with my right foot on the back of my grandmother's old puke-green wingchair that i refuse to get rid of, and my left on top of the dresser that holds all my childhood clothing, i reach way up to pull down the boxes. as i pull backward on the second box [you can see where this is headed can't you?] i stupidly try to do some sort of jerky pull so i don't bring the box lid down. because, you know it's far more important to _not_ lose the box lid.
at the second jerky pull [heh. no pun intended], i lose my balance, drop the box, do the slow cartoon-esque clockwise motion of my hands... "whoa...oh...no...fuck!", i reach back and grab the edge of the open door behind me, which promptly swings shut bringing me and the jumble down hard with excellent commotion on the concrete, cushioned only by my fortunately [for once in my life] ample behind. i also managed to jam the front fender of my bright-yellow low-rider bicycle into the lower left of my back. *oof* so now i have a knot bruise the size of texas in the middle of my back and my left ass feels permanently clenched.
i swear to god, i need supervision.
sigh.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:43 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 11, 2004
dog days
in case anyone wonders if i've been hit by a truck...i've worked over 100 hours at work this week.
and counting...
that's a new record.
Posted by heidijanet at 12:03 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 02, 2004
i resolve - 2004
ok, in line with last year's resolution, to resolve things more often, so here we go:
1. i resolve to learn to play the drums this year. properly.
2. i resolve to strengthen my poor post-injury body to that next year i'll be able to go skiing at least once.
3. i resolve to expand my social network to include more folks with something to say, and more grownup activities. i'm a little tired of waking up on sunday with a hangover and a foggy recollection of discussions about haircuts, second dates and where did you get those shoes?!
4. i resolve to travel. this is a long term resolution, but i specifically resolve to go to italy this year. or paris. whichever housing situation works out.
5. i resolve to be less cynical about love.
okay, another year down. another to go. happy new year!
Posted by heidijanet at 09:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 31, 2003
i resolve recap
reviewing last year's resolutions, i found that i in fact made some progress over the last year...
2003 review:
i never make resolutions at the new year, but after the dramatic events of the past year it seems a shame not to. so i resolve to--
buy a smaller safer car. and drive it in the right lane. --ok, so i purchased a honda CRV, smaller and safer, but have been lulled into complacency, or more likely overcome by my impatience and find myself in the left lane more than i would have expected. but overall am a more conscientious driver. so that's a step up.
leave the house for no reason at least once a week--i've managed to take a major step up here. this was a direct result of developing a minor case of agoraphobia after the accident. i now manage to make it out on a pretty regular basis. although, i usually have a reason. i'm not sure what that was about.
spend less money on my cats. they don't care. --this has worked well. the only thing i find myself buying weekly is this fuzzy ball thing that hangs from the door frame on elastic. the damn things are about $8 and my cats destroy them within five days. but they LOVE them, so i just have to.
spend more money on food. acknowledge that coffee isn't food.--i definitely spend more money on food, but usually by going out. i also spend more money on wine...i'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. but it sure makes those lonely nights more bearable.
stand on 2 feet and walk around. a lot.--okay this has progressed much more slowly than i would have liked. it took 8 months to get out of the leg devices, and i still have some atrophy to overcome, but i'm walking a lot more. i even manage a sad looking shuffle-run when need be. folks who don't know about the injury think it's really funny-looking and laugh at me, but it's been a major development for me. and i'm very proud.
make some friends. real friends--not 'hey you wanna grab a drink?' friends.--i managed to make some good progress with this. i've made some great girlfriends, and some really good drinking buddies and am looking forward to getting back to my old social habits.
welcome in 2004 from another time zone.--okay, someday i will manage to do more than get drunk in someone's kitchen. however, this is not the year for that. i will be celebrating with some girlfriends, some champagne and hopefully a few decent pool games.
i also resolve to resolve stuff more often.--stay tuned for my 2004 pipe dreams.
Posted by heidijanet at 01:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 17, 2003
it was very naughty.
the infamous "who's been naughty?" party went off great. the triad of naughty hosts above, were some of the only ones that dressed up. which means we had the most fun. but i have to admit being surprised at the low dress up rate in los angeles. what about the theatre? the drama? are angeleans too cool to dress up? so i can add that to my list along with "too cool to dance with utter abandon at clubs"? apparently that's also uncool in la. whatever.
however, there were over 100 folks crammed into my apartment in venice over the course of the evening, because it was too damn cold outside to take advantage of the party tent erected out back. folks were very generous bringing rations, so we'll have to throw another party just to get rid of all the liquor and soda.
the only unfortunate event of the evening, well the only unfortunate event fit for public consumption, was that someone made off with my digital camera. *sniff* so if anyone wants to take pity on me, you know what