I finally completed my first furniture painting project.
Before: Ugly, stained, scuffed storage cubes
After: Funky, bright, fuzzy fun cubes!
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.: posted by Vera 
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The National Do-Not-Call List goes live today. This is probably the single best thing Dubya has helped make possible. Are you going to add your number to the list? I am, as soon as the 100 million people trying to access the site this morning are done with it.
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.: posted by Vera
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New glasses
I got new glasses! They have a greenish glow.
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.: posted by Vera
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I don't know if you have ever been in a relationship where "I love you" isn't part of the daily vocabulary. I have, and at the time I preferred it. There are so many "I love you"'s being squandered by people who say it at the end of every phone conversation or in every email or every time their significant other says something really funny. That and I thought that we were above the "I love you," that we knew we loved each other and didn't have to say it, not even once - you know, the old actions-speak-louder-than-words routine. But after four years of not a single "I love you," I did get a little worried. Now we are broken up, and I have to accept that it's never going to happen. We have completely passed up that chance. And I feel really fucking ripped off.
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.: posted by Vera
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I took some first pictures of my new pad and its surroundings. Yes, this means that all of my unphotogenic boxes have been unpacked. I'm all moved in!
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.: posted by Vera
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Yesterday I drove to Novato for a Sunset Party in Stafford Lake Park. There I hung out and hooped with Amy and Sarah. I also made some new hooper friends, Aimee and Donovan from Berkeley, who might join us at the next BAH (Bay Area Hoopers) gathering. They both had gigantic home-made hoops with rice inside which made the hoops susurrate as they went around. And look, I even got to try the fatty hoops!
 
 
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.: posted by Vera
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I have moved into my new place. Pictures coming soon.
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.: posted by Vera
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My favorite Moontribe shot so far.
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.: posted by Vera
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Besides being almost completely thief-proof by making it extremely difficult to break into, even with a Slim Jim, my bug can do many other neat tricks:
- When I press the "unlock" button on the key once, the driver side door unlocks. When I press it again immediately after, the passenger side door unlocks. Note that I said "When I press ..." for a reason because it won't happen when you press the button.
- When I press the "open trunk" button for three seconds, the trunk will blink and unlock. If I then don't lift the trunk door within another three seconds, it will automatically lock itself again.
- When I press the "lock" button on the key, all the doors lock and the bug honks quickly to assure me that it is locked.
- After about 30 seconds of driving, all the doors lock automatically.
- In order to change the time of the clock, all you have to do is press the "h" button or the "min" button. This is easier than any watch I have ever seen. Sometimes all I have to do is think about moving the clock back by one hour, and it will be 8am all over again.
- Whenever the engine is running, the headlights are on. Whenever the engine is not running, the headlights are off. That way you never have to remember to turn your lights on or off. You do, however, still have to remember to grab your keys from the trunk before shutting it.
- When the tank is low on gas, the bug beeps violently when you get in.
- When a person with bad energy enters the bug, it also beeps violently.
- When it starts raining, the windshield wipers automatically activate.
- The vase next to the steering wheel is self-watering.
- When I simultaneously floor the gas pedal, press the hazard lights button, and pull on the emergency brake, the bug will jump over buses.
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.: posted by Vera
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My first Moontribe
Moontribe was an awesome experience. First, there were obstacles:
1. Right after we got there, I locked my keys in the trunk of my car. It took us about five minutes to find out that somebody at the camp had a Slim Jim, but it took us about two hours to locate that Slim Jim and then another couple of hours to find somebody who could actually break into my car with a Slim Jim. After about an hour and a half of trying like a trooper, Satchi finally succeeded in unlocking the driver's side door. Satchi is a hero and totally saved the day. Many thanks also go out to Jeremae, the owner of the Slim Jim.
2. The tent we had borrowed for the trip was unfortunate enough to be missing its poles. So it basically wasn't a tent, but just a flat tarp. We built a home out of it anyway.
3. The camp site and the dance floor were separated by a creek. There were only two ways to get across the creek: Wade through a shallow section of it or tug yourself along a rope on a slippery and muddy log. So each time you wanted to cross the creek, you had to choose between a 100% chance of getting your feet wet and a 30% chance of getting your entire body wet by falling into the creek.
But none of these obstacles thwarted our amusement. Despite everything, I felt like I had come to the perfect place, a place in the middle of nature where beats coming from the forest greeted us as soon as we arrived and followed us anywhere we went for almost 24 hours, a place where I could take turns dancing and watching people dance. My favorite Moontribe moment? One time, in the very early morning, there was a guy on the dance floor who was a very captivating dancer. Another guy walked up to him and expressed his appreciation. He and the dancer shook hands, and the dancer thanked him for the compliment. I watched this scene and started smiling. As I looked up, I saw another girl who had watched me watch the scene and started smiling too. It was a chain reaction of positivity and smiles. Here are a few more moments I won't soon forget:
- Feeling completely elated after the meditation, or energy work, that Philo did with me, even though my keys were still locked in the car. Philo has officially achieved magician status in my eyes.
- Seeing the eyes of my bug blink as Satchi finally woke it up from its deep sleep. Satchi is a magician, too.
- Being jealous of Ariel's and Philo's hoops because they had glow sticks taped to them, and they looked especially cool when in mid-air.
- Watching the naked fire dancer.
- Seeing the moon shine through the trees onto the dance floor and a few hours later watching the sunlight slowly creep onto the same dance floor.
- Running into a stunningly beautiful, scantily clad, rainbow-themed girl who offered us handfuls of bee pollen for breakfast.
- Watching Christabel from Circus Hoops go at it with her hoop. She is good.
- Making two new Moontribe friends at the In'n'Out in Fresno on the way back. See you Sunday at the Sunset Party, Sasha and Mang!
I didn't take any pictures of any of these moments, but Philo took some really amazing ones.
Today, my mosquito bites are starting to itch.
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.: posted by Vera
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I know this is going to sound like an award acceptance speech, but if someone had told me six or even three months ago that I would soon be going to a Moontribe full moon gathering with Philo and Ariel, both of which I knew only in the blogosphere then, I would have said "Yeah, right." But this weekend it's totally happening! Philo and I and a bunch of hoops are leaving for the desert tomorrow morning.
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.: posted by Vera
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What does it mean to "speak" a "language"? How well do you have to know Japanese in order to be able to say "I speak Japanese?" I think the definition of speaking varies greatly when it comes to foreign languages. Some people claim to speak eight languages. When I hear that, I do not believe that they really speak eight languages. What they really mean is that they can count to ten in eight languages or ask where the bathroom is in eight languages, but they probably aren't fluent in eight languages. But wouldn't you have to be fluent in French to be able to say "I speak French?" I think so. Let's see how many languages I speak.
1. I speak German because I spent almost 20 years there.
2. I speak English because I have lived in the U.S. for the past seven years.
3. I can read and understand French because I took French in school for six years.
4. I know a lot of Latin because I took Latin in school for six years.
5. I understand some Dutch because it is very similar to German.
6. I can read and understand some Spanish because it is similar to both French and Latin, and because I took one semester of Spanish in college.
Does this mean I speak six languages? I think not. I speak German and English, without a doubt. To say that I speak French would be pushing it. To say that I speak Spanish would be downright ridiculous.
I work with a guy who is originally from Czechoslovakia. He went to Germany for college and now lives in the United States. When he says that he is trilingual, I believe him because he has spent a lot of time in Czechoslovakia, Germany and the U.S. When somebody claims to speak four or more languages, I get very skeptical because it is just not very likely that he or she has lived in - NOT just visited - four or more countries, each with its own language.
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.: posted by Vera
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I recently received the Economics Alumni Newsletter from Cal Poly. The letter told me that one of my professors died. I can't say that I was surprised because Dr. Ho was very old, but I can say that I was sad. During my senior year, Dr. Ho was my teacher and advisor for my Senior Thesis, a 40-page paper titled The Economic Effects of Advertising, in which I tried to quantify the effects of consumerism on a macroeconomic level (Yes, I really talked like this in college). Dr. Ho had an accent and a very soft voice, and it was hard to understand him at first, but after I got used to listening to him, I thought that he had great things to say. He led me and pushed me while I was doing my research, sometimes in opposite directions over the course of the project, but I think it made for a well-rounded result.
My econ friends and I were always amazed that Dr. Ho came to class every day because we were certain he was the oldest working professor at the entire university. According to the memorial section of the alumni newsletter, he "continued with his work until just a few days before he died." I think we all know that he really loved his job.
Dr. Ho died on April 22, 2003. On the same day, the boy and I broke up.
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.: posted by Vera
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Three reasons why the toilets at work are totally fun:
1. Sometimes, right after I flush, I notice that the seat cover on the toilet seat is not moving. Then I nudge it a little, so it will fall into the toilet bowl and be flushed down with everything else. (inspired by the dullest blog in the world via Amy Leblanc)
2. Yesterday, whoever or whatever was in the stall next to me sounded JUST like a dinosaur.
3. One time, my employee badge separated from the string around my neck and landed in the toilet bowl. What would you have done?
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.: posted by Vera
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One of the cool things about San Francisco is that lots of cool people live here. Cool people tend to have cool stuff. Sometimes these cool people get sick of their stuff, and they give it away. You can then later buy their really cool stuff at the thrift store for really cheap.
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.: posted by Vera
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Hooping happened.
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.: posted by Vera
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Joost has started a Mars blog. How cool is it that he is passionate and knowledgeable enough to be blogging about Mars?
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.: posted by Vera
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My favorite number is 5. May 5th is my birthday. Today, June 5th, I found my new place to live. Yes, it's the one I talked about this morning. My only concern was the size of the closet in the bedroom. So I went over there again tonight to size up the closet one more time and was told upon arrival that I could also have the closet in the hallway. That did it. I wasn't worried about closet space anymore. In the least. I said that I wanted to move in. She said "It's yours." So as of June 15th, I will be a resident of Potrero Hill, the coolest San Francisco neighborhood! WOOHOO!
Here are the juicy details:
- I will be living on Texas Street between 18th and 19th Streets.
- I will be living with Zaina, who is from Sydney, Australia, dreams of becoming a yoga instructor one day and, needless to say, has the cutest accent, and Joe, who is from, um, the United States, works for a company that was recently acquired by VW and has been learning German. They are both wonderful and interesting people, and the chemistry between us was definitely right on.
- The place is HUGE. It has high ceilings, hard-wood floors, one split bathroom (for those of you who don't know, which included me a few weeks ago, that means that the toilet and the shower are in two separate rooms), three bedrooms, a huge blue kitchen, a living-room, a patio, a huge yellow office, and a HUGE basement for storage(!).
- I will be sleeping in a reasonably sized room with beigish sponge-painted walls and a west-facing window.
- Joe and Zaina have Christmas light chains in almost every room. It made me feel right at home.
- There is a quirky little room next to the kitchen which houses the fridge and the washer and dryer. There is also a dishwasher, which comes in handy for lazy people like myself.
- The landlady Rita lives downstairs. She is about 70.
- The street parking is plentiful. The building is on a very steep street where parking only happens at 90 degree angles.
- Now get this. The living-room has views of downtown, THE BUILDING IN WHICH I WORK, and of as far west as USF. AND. The kitchen and the patio, which are on the opposite side of the apartment, have views of the Bay Bridge, the rest of the bay, and the 280 freeway. What can I say, I'm a sucker for views.
- Did I mention that I can walk to work?
In short: I couldn't be happier with the place I finally found.
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.: posted by Vera
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I think I found the place I'm going to move into! I think. I hope. I saw it last night, and it's in the perfect location, and the people were very cool and offered it to me on the spot. I decided to sleep on it and give them a call later today. The room and the closet are on the smaller side, but the rest of the space is so huge that it makes up for it. I think. Aren't you sick of me going on and on about this apartment search? I know I am. Hopefully I'll just shut up and move in already.
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.: posted by Vera
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