i ate texas!

January 26 marked the first time in over two years that I boarded an airplane, destination: Houston. The reason: for an unfortunate event, the viewing and memorial service for my first cousin, Virma, who passed away January 20, of "natural causes." No one knows the real cause, but many suspect cancer, and she's suffered from different ailments all her 49 years. Some results are scheduled to arrive this week from tests she took before passing away.

Death is a weird thing. I saw Virma's body in the coffin, and for a long time, during the whole time we spent at the funeral home, I kept glancing over where she lay, and kept thinking that her chest would start to move up and down or that she'll eventually wake and get up. I can't remember the last time that I attended a funeral, especially for someone so close. Other relatives passed away over the years, but they were either abroad or in other states and I couldn't make it to say good-bye in person. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was experiencing this final good-bye to my cousin. I'm glad I went, to say bye, and to help comfort her siblings. Rest in Peace, Manang Virma.

The rest of the time was spent with meeting and re-meeting real blood relatives that I haven't seen since I was a child. My "skills" at keeping up with the different branches of the famiy tree don't compare to most others in our clan who know every single person and their life history. I constantly asked my parents who's who and how we're related, there's too many to remember, and some of these folks aren't those notorious stereotypical Giliginich "aunties" or "uncles," the folks you address as such, but aren't blood related to you.

Houston is a place where it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to anywhere, and that's on the highways! Folks I talked to weren't kidding when they said that the city is spread out. We arrived at Hobby Airport, at the south end, and the hotel where my parents stayed at was all the way on the northern side of the city, because it's closer to where my cousin and her family live. The hotel/motel was Comfort Suites, and they provided continental breakfast that included a make-your-own texas-shaped waffle!

On Saturday, it rained. The manly-man rain that lasted for hours excited me. Again, that's real rain, not like the wimpy ones out here in the Bay Area. However, some of our plans to go sightseeing at several different venues changed slightly, so that the places we would visited included a roof. Also, driving in such rain proved a little difficult at times; the rain just fell so hard, and we drove all over the place.

I called my former marathon runningmate and former Houston resident, Hennifer, to ask for "what's there to do in Houston," and she suggested to visit "The Galleria," an indoor mall with an ice rink and higher-end shops. I wasn't in a shopping mood, but wanted to see the place anyhow. Then for dinner, we scarfed down tons of food at a Chinese Buffet. The food in Houston's a little cheaper than in the Bay Area, and I was told that tax is only something like 2%, amazing!

I never thought that I'd make my way to Texas, since I have superficial issues with a couple of people who came from that state. Texans do have so much pride in their state; a lot of SUVS have those metal Texas-shaped decorations on the back. I mean you don't see California-shaped, or New York-shaped metal things on cars. I wonder if I'll ever go back. My father wants to buy land down there to start up a farm. We'll see about that.

a new day has come

It's a little before 11am on Monday morning. While the rest of the almost everyone is at work, I'm here in Elk Grove, still in my jammies, chilling out. It's a beautiful day out, the sun's shining, oh how I can't wait to go out there. This is the longest I've stayed in EG. Arrived late Friday night, and will leave sometime later this afternoon. Gotta soak in as much of my "freedom" for the next week, before the madness really starts.

Received a couple of emails from former colleagues and made sure I replied right away, because otherwise, with my track record for communicating, we'll definitely lose contact. Yeah, I'm really bad at keeping in touch, should've made that one of my New Year's resolutions.

Now I'll eat my breakfast and prepare for my day.

it was really lucky

Surprisingly AWESOME and funny!

Bancy told me that I may like this movie. I didn't want to see it at first, but temptation faced me at Costco today when they sold it for $12.99. Impulsive buying, so I told myself, noooooo!

A few minutes later, Roomie and I stopped by Blockbuster Video where they offer pre-viewed DVDS at a sale price; 3 for $25. It was really lucky that they had two copies of "Confessions" and so I grabbed one, also grabbed "Million Dollar Baby," and "Connie and Carla," which my sister recommended. I'm afraid to see "Baby" because I heard it's super depressing. I'm drawn to more light-hearted flicks, but not fluff. I mean I love my drama too, but for a day like today, light-hearted was the way to go. That Lindsay Lohan is one talented gal. She looked good before her current real-life dramas made her look like a skeleton.

This French flick, that Roomie rented, brought some grit, drama, and violence to the afternoon. Warning: dog lovers should avoid this movie at all costs. Talk about heartwrenching, a story about three brothers finding their way.

so long, suckas!

My last day at work, and I knew I had tons of work ahead, things to finish up, incriminating evidence to shred, phone calls to cut ties, good-bye emails, and all the other fun stuff.

My boss "Linda" comes in my office as soon as I arrive and waits for me to get off the phone: "So what will you do the next few weeks. It'd be great if you could help us out on a temporary part-time basis, just to finish off these things that you do that no one else can do." I replied with: "I've got a lot of personal things to take care of before school starts, so I'll have to think about it."

So now you want me to stay..."now you're interested ha?! Intriggggued, even?" It's a little late, it's my last day for Pete's sake. All the exit work's gone full steam ahead. If you'd asked me to stay a few weeks ago, things may have turned out a little differently. I've made other plans already.

LGN took me and "Beef" to lunch at Beach Chalet. The gorgeous weather blessed us: nippy air, great visibility out into the ocean, the clouds cowered way in the distance, beautiful waves. My burger was delicious. Oh and dessert, called a Chocolate Sandcastle, makes me drool like Homer Simpson.

Later in the afternoon, my colleagues gave me a warm send-off with a little gathering. I always feel awkward when I'm the center of attention like that. I think some people felt genuinely sad as they said goodbye. I'm touched.

I wound up staying until 9:30pm because like I said, I had to search for and destroy any incriminating evidence against me. Shred shred shred.

It didn't feel like it's over. Perhaps it's because I'll be so close to the office almost everyday when classes begin, or even worse, that I'll somehow come back to work there. I know for sure that my phone will ring off the hook come Monday, when Noralay or Linda ask where this or that is, or how to do this, etc. Ugh, perish the thought.

As for now, I'm a free man!

ONE MORE DAY!

Til I flee from this hellhole called work.

the farewell tour

I started my farewell tour of lunching today. The next three lunches, for the remainder of this week, were booked in advance since last week; smart move by those who wanted to secure a date before I depart from that place.

Bancy treated me to Cafe Durango last Friday, well I'm sure she felt her arm was twisted into the situation, but it's so like us to make her pay for my meal. Ahhh, will miss these lunch dates with her.

I was surprised she didn't call to ask me what I planned to do for lunch today. Just as well, she irritated me because she irritated some maintenance men who came by several times a few days before to fix the broken heater that "someone" kept complaining about but was never in her office (in her own defense: because of "meetings") to let the guys come in and do their job. My lack of eating breakfast most of last week and now seemingly this week puts me in dangerous alert of extreme moodiness and bitchiness at around 11am. So to fix all that, I confronted her right before taking off for lunch and told her to her face that she irritated me. After I got that off my chest, I let her drive me around to get lunch. What a sweetheart.

I'm sure it was my turn to irritate Bancy late in the afternoon because I didn't know how to reply to an email one of my other colleagues sent to me, asking if I was available to lunch with him and "a few others" in one of the remaining days before I leave from that place forever. So I called her phone several times reading a variation of possible diplomatic, yet heartfelt sorry responses. It's not like I can take a rain check. I wanted to include some humor to the reply with "sorry I can't lunch with y'all, but I'll just take the cash," to which she advised, "maybe not."

Anyhoo, the whole "this is my last week" hasn't sunk in yet. There's lots of work to do before I leave, so I'm a little freaked out about all of that. But freaking out about wanting to leave the work in the right hands or finishing everything defeats the purpose of me sticking it to the man. Oh I'm torn.

mural

Ran into this mural on Church St./15th St. while on the way to brunch at Crepevine. Good thing ChieChie saw it. I didn't read the little story or description about it, but it's a timeline of the happenings on Market St. from early 1900's to some not-so-distant future. Fascinating.

on the waterfront

Roomie wanted to eat lunch at Slanted Door down at the Ferry Building. He got agitated due to hunger so we hurried down to the Embarcadero. We searched for the restaurant, but instead ran into a couple of his old friends and chatted it up for about fifteen minutes or so. Guess his friends made his hunger dissipate for a bit.

We couldn't find Slanted Door, so we decided to eat Japanese instead after I saw a man chowing down on something that looked like katsu or potato croquette. The food at Delica rf-1 tasted very delicious. I ordered organic butternut squash soap and just about one of each of their fried items: potato croquette, pork katsu, chicken ball something, and shrimp ball. Some tasted better than others, but the food did its job.

We walked around and explored some of the other stores and shops. Got dessert from Ciao Bella Gelato...yummy. The renovation of the ferry building looks great. I can't remember how it looked before, but the scenery impressed us both. Roomie kept saying how chichi it was there, and the place was packed! Not overcrowded, thank goodness, but a healthy amount of bodies. Even though the air felt so cold, it was a beautiful day nonetheless. I still am on a mission to find that 100% cotton scarf and beanie. A craft vendor across the street on Justin Herman Plaza didn't have any, just wool and acrylic. Sigh.

Later in the evening, we returned to the Embarcadero to dine with a friend for his birthday at La Suite, a "modern French cuisine gem from the Chez Papa, Maman, and Baraka team." Talk about chichi. We enjoyed the benefits of Dine About Town.

so far

I think I'm making somewhat good use with my vacation time from school. I mean I do cringe everytime I think about it, but at the same time I also feel super guilty that I'm not working on anything graphic related. I swear I experienced burnout in the fall. My main problem was that I forgot my purpose for going to school: to learn graphic design. Instead, I did what I swore I wouldn't do: get involved with my classmates and making friendships with them a priority rather than focusing on the projects. I mean it's important to network, especially since almost every instructor places importance on that skill. But getting caught up with other people's drama isn't really networking. I need to go back to the drawing board and figure myself out again, and hopefully emerge with renewed focus, creativity, strength and motivation.
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Knocked off another movie off my list, "The Turning Point," on VHS that I bought from Amazon years ago. I finally unwrapped it and forced myself to watch it as I ate brunch.
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Found myself in a weird mood late this afternoon. I knew that I needed to run some errands, but I dilly-dallied and felt the effects of cooped-up-in-the-apartment syndrome. While talking to Roomie on the phone, my mood changed from pleasant (as if) to agitation.

I wound up driving, just driving on a somewhat quiet road to get away. Driving just for fun in lieu of driving to a predetermined destination is ten times better, especially when the road isn't littered with many other cars.

"you are the bitch i always wanted to be"

Luckily caught an episode of "Girlfiends" as part of my late Friday night. How come I didn't discover this show long before? How come I didn't listen to Pastris when she raved about it so many years ago and didn't believe her when she said I'd like it? How come before, when I'd catch it accidentally and laughed out loud that I didn't pay attention to its regular schedule (Mondays @ 9pm on UPN)?

reality begins

Last night, looking around my small studio apartment, the thought crept in: "How am I going to keep this place? Rent? How can the bills get paid?"

Today was goodbye to fee waiver day. Goodbye to free tuition. I'm officially a "starving student" now, right after writing that $1561 check out for tuition.

The week before school starts, I hit the pavement lookin for another job. Temp agencies, here I come. Or maybe Starbucks.

rubi wednesday

Finally finished the last morsel of "Rubi." Last night was about the end of the telenovela, tonight was about the rest of the special features. I must say I felt a little disappointed, disturbed with how the series ended. The synopsis I found on Amazon was written for the original 1968 version, so luckily, some surprises in this new version were left for my viewing pleasure, or disturbance.

I had great fun talking on the phone with a friend of mine while at work. I assumed a telenovela character's mannerisms and all other ism's I could remember. It took my friend by surprise, but I think he was amused. Mission accomplished. Telenovelas are a drama queen's dream.

cry me a river

Yesterday, I finally started telling folks at work that I submitted my resignation. When I mentioned it to the lady that I can't stand, all of a sudden we got a little sentimental and something came over me that I felt like bawling. I especially choked up when I said "It's been great working with you all these years." I ran out of her office as fast as I could. I wonder if she suspected.

take the plunge

First thing I did when at work this morning: submitted my resignation. The heater in my office didn't work; big surprise, since it's the middle of winter. My nervousness and hypothermia and my boss "Linda's" rushing off to a meeting didn't allow me to relax when I had my "talk" with her. I just said something to the effect of: "I'm leaving; I'm concentrating/focusing on school." Her responses were something like: "Bummer; shoot; well I completely understand you want to pursue your studies; you've certainly made yourself indispensable; ok."

My shock I think still continues up to now. I shredded a ton of stuff, and took home some of my HTML books and knick-knacks, mementos of brighter days. My last day at the office is January 20.

I always feel weird after I resign. I don't know whether to rub it in people's faces or not say anything, or celebrate or what. All that "goodbye" attention feels foreign. Goodbyes are definitely not my forte.

During the first week after school let out, I watched "Amelie," where the ending basically said to go after your dreams. In "March of the Penguins," all the chicks naturally had to take the plunge when the time came. My time is now to take the plunge.

Now I'll look for a part time job through a temp agency. I'll finish my degree at SFSU and move to Sacramento afterwards.

"March of the Penguins" by the way is a fantastic movie. I love how cute penguins are. They're awesome. Almost every minute I watched the DVD, I kept wanting one as a pet/companion; they're so huggable and adorable. But the fascination only comes in small doses. A whole movie and special features devoted to the cute critters probably made me o.d.

the last three weeks

I stopped blogging because when I detoxed, I guess part of that process was staying away from the computer. I closely associated my blogging and reading other blogs with me venting or needing to escape from my stress and other negativity that the horrible fall semester brought. I wound up with a stupid B+ from GD III. hateful, annoyed, angry.

I watched a few DVDs; I finally saw "Xanadu," a trippy movie...1980 at its best! Maybe the best way to enjoy this movie was to experience it in an altered state. There's always a next time! My sister in Arizona borrowed it when she went back, so I'll have to wait for that opportunity. The only reason why I bought the DVD: to see how the song "Magic" by Olivia appears in its natural environment. That's one of my karaoke standards everytime I go to Do Re Mi karaoke rooms in Japantown.

On December 23, the governor let us state employees out at noon, so Bancy, her friend, Roomie, and I watched "Brokeback Mountain." I didn't see what the big deal was, I mean yeah, Heath Ledger did a really great job with his role, but the perhaps the theatre we watched it in didn't have the best sound because I could barely understand anything they said. He mumbled his lines all throughout the film. Thank goodness his acting and body language allowed me to somewhat understand what happened on the screen.

Later on that evening, Roomie and I saw "Transamerica," with Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers, a Canadian actor (I'm seeing or discovering more and more folks in the entertainment business from Canada, what's up with that?). We originally intended to see "Brokeback" at another theatre with a better sound system, but we left ourselves open to other possibilities. I enjoyed this movie a lot more, as I connected with it because it was funny. Ms. Huffman did a fantastic job with her character, a transexual. Actually the other members of the cast delivered also. I do recommend this flick. I wanted to see it again, actually.

The day before we saw these movies, when the rain came down heavily. I exclaimed to Bancy that the rain feels so cool only when you're wearing the right gear, like the shoes. I felt so giddy when we went out to lunch, I felt like breaking into "Singin' in the Rain;" I actually did a couple of turns or Gene Kelly moves while walking on the sidewalk.

today

Well really early this morning, I went to bed at 3:30am because I watched the special features of "March of the Penguins." The night before was another one of those where I take a supposed 90 minute nap at 7pm only to wake up at 8am the next morning, so I felt ok to sleep so late. I couldn't sleep, and finally, about an hour later when I did fall asleep, my cell phone rings and after fumbling with it and picking it up from the floor, it's Roomie on the other end informing me that their flight from London changed and they'll arrive a few hours earlier. Ok, great, thanks for the info. Then I couldn't fall back to sleep, but then woke up at 11am.

I spent the afternoon watching "Rubi," the spanish telenovela on DVD Pastris gave me for Christmas. Played by the gorgeous Barbara Mori, the protagonist is a gold-digging superbitch who gave up love to marry money and the all the people she's involved with. There's not just a love triangle, but a whole spider-web of intrigue and loves gained, lost, gained again, and lost again. It's getting juicier. I finally finished the second side of the first disc. Two more two-sided discs to go! It's super-dramatic. Unfortunately, while I went to Amazon to grab this photo, I read the synopsis and found out the ending. Whaaaaaaaaa

Watching each disc is very dangerous because I'm glued to the tv. I mean I missed an appointment the first time I watched because I couldn't dare look away in the middle of it, and today, I almost missed picking up Roomie from the airport! Apparently, telenovelas are like soap operas that run for only a few months, and what they did to compile the DVD set is edited a whole bunch so that some of the details might be missing, according to Pastris. Characters appear out of nowhere that already are part of the storyline, but their purpose comes to light later on. There's so much drama in these people's lives, it's amazing. You laugh, you cry, you love, you hate...Rubi takes you everywhere!