soap and water

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

yet another christmas has come and gone. my mini-vacation to miami now seems like a distant memory. i wish the same could be said about the extra pounds i put on. i basically ate my way through the holiday. cookies, candy, snacks, soda, etc. all found their way into my belly. it's serious diet/exercise time for this little piggy.



my time in florida definitely flew by, but it was a great trip all around. it was nice to be surrounded by family. i think that deep down it was something that i very much needed. it's always great to get away and forgot about all the little things that are bothering you and that's just what i did. hopefully, having that time with family will snap me out of this permanent funk i seem to be in.



most of the my time was spent inside with family. we played games, talked, ate, ate, ate, etc. we did go on a few outings: long key nature center, ikea, & the young at art museum. my sister and i went to the beach for a nice stroll down the boardwalk. the weather was perfect although a bit windy. we grabbed a drink at a bar and people watched. there are some truly interesting outfits happening beach side. it was nice to simply relax and stare out at the water.



i spent a lot of time entertaining the little ones. i actually quite enjoyed it since i'm not able to see them that often. they are definitely a handful. each with their own little personality. even when they are being slightly naughty, they're still adorable. it's that innocence they exude. at times it was hard for me not to laugh.



on day one, miss morgan kept telling me how much she loved me. by day two, it had faded. hehe. i couldn't believe half the things that came out of her mouth. the first thing she said to me when she saw me was, "you have girl hair. it's all crinkly." on christmas morning after opening a present, she had this to say, "i never asked for that." priceless. it amazes me how children come up with this stuff. she is definitely the queen of quotes. my all time favorite was this one: "googa is a bad word". it's not just the quotes, but the delivery of them. she always had a modelesque pose. we worked on her poses. i think she has the makings of a future top model. heidi look out.



davis is your typical boy for he's always finding trouble or is it that trouble is searching him out. he likes to push boundaries but then again who didn't at that age. his new thing this year was making the peace sign every time i took his picture. has he been looking at my korea photos? i tried to asked him where he picked that up from but he remained silent. it took all my effort to persuade him not to do it in every photo. davis is definitely mommies little helper. out of all them he's always in the thick of things. he assisted my sister in making the pumpkin cheesecake which was very good and he even vacuumed using the dust buster. he's full of questions and doesn't hesitate to ask you things over and over again. what a bright little guy.



little paige—what do i say about a true princess. she sure does love her stuffed animals and television. i'm not sure how she keeps track of all of their names. paige has a flare for the dramatics. a definite actress in the making. by far her favorite thing to say is, "i never get to...". then has a little tantrum and seconds later is back to her sweet little self. she's a cuddlier. anytime i was on the sofa lying down, she'd lay right next to me. what a sweety. she's also the budding artist. she loves to draw and make things. she made me a charm braclet. how sweet is that!



what else can i say. there was no family drama or bs. it was only filled with fun times. now, that's the way it should be. i'm glad i had the opportunity to get there. i think i would have been even more depressed if i hadn't. i'm looking forward to many more fun-filled family days. perhaps there will even be a holiday at the beach...



the flights there and back were pretty uneventful. i had to rush to my connecting flight on the way to miami. on the return flight i got stuck between a grandma and her grandson. not sure how that happened but neither one seemed to mind. i spoke with the grandma from wyoming for a little bit. they had just been on a caribbean cruise. how fun does that sound. on the last leg on my journey i got seated next to a couple and their baby. i think he could immediately see my dread because the first thing he said was that the baby doesn't cry much. and he was right. just where will i end up next is any one's else.

stay gold & be well…

holiday photos are here

p.s. i had chick-fil-a twice! double yum!

the man in the long black coat

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

ummm...there was a baby in my classroom today. no, i didn't make a typing error. there really was. has anyone ever tried to teach with a month old baby in their class? it's very distracting. i will give him credit, he didn't cry that much. although, it was quite distracting watching the mom get up every five minutes to keep the baby quiet. not sure if the baby will be making an appearance tomorrow. i think this is a first for my school. this class could end up being quite interesting. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

p.s. my florida vacation post & pictures are coming soon

little drummer boy

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list...


just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well...

myxomatosis

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

cookies to the right of me. cookies to the left of me. cookies everywhere which can mean only one thing—cookie party! who doesn't love cookie parties. the holiday season is great because it allows us to do the one thing in life that makes us all happy which is excess eating. i think i ate enough cookies to last me well into 2009. last night pevil & mrs. b hosted a cookie exchange. there were tons of delicious cookies, wine, and good peeps. we even had our own project runway in the form of a cookie decorating contests. sadly, my babies didn't make the cut. personally, i think that were so cookie forward that no one knew what to say about them. they came as a set: punk rock baby, his trendy girlfriend, & cracked out cookie. here they are in all their glory.



we ended the evening with a white elephant gift exchange. i was lucky [or not so lucky] to be in the number three position. the lovely gift i selected was a tic-tac-toe shot glass set that came with its own cocaine mirror. oh, how i simply love 80s decor. it didn't take us long to bust out the set and put it use. i worked my gift hard. so hard in fact that mrs. b stole my lovely tic-tac-toe shot glass set. sadness. that left me to select gift number two which ended up being guatelmalan tchotchke. it was a bus with fruits and what appeared to be a turtle on top. i called it chi chi since that was painted on the side. nobody wanted chi chi so i was stuck with it. the "best" gift by far was the giant cat picture book. seriously, who buys a book that big. thanks again to pevil & mrs. b for being fabulous hostess. can't wait til next year.

tomorrow, i'm setting off for florida. it'll be a full day of flying which i'm so not looking forward to. i just saw an article on yahoo about a plane that caught fire at the denver airport. guess where i'm flying into—denver. hopefully, my flight will go smoothly. keep your fingers crossed. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

cookie party pics are here

boom chickaboom

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

november's photo theme is ready for your viewing pleasure. there's a lot of great portraits. check it out here. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

heart-shaped box

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

i'm going to begin this post with a rant: enough with the flip-flops already, people! in case you haven't figured it out, it's wintertime. it kills me when i see someone in a pair of dress pants, hat, scarf, jacket and they're sporting flip-flops. meanwhile, i'm wearing a freaking parka. i'm tired of seeing people's grubby red toes peeking out at me on my way to work. save the flip-flops for summer, wear something sensible. whew, that felt good.

so, the other day i was riding the balboa bus home when some guy, who's got the whole waist of his pants down by his ankles look going on, sits in front of me. he immediately pulls out a tiny bottle of whiskey and downs it. instead of putting the empty bottle in his bag, he opens up the window tossing it onto the street. he sits back down and pulls out a strand of gold caps and places them on his front teeth as if he was trying to impress us. with that, he leans back in his seat and proceeds to slide his hand down his pants just like al bundy. really!

i do love the characters one encounters while riding public transportation. however, i'm beginning to hate those people who insist on standing in front of the door and act like its a hassle for them to move when you try to exit.

on sunday, i battled the elements and made my way to el rio via butterbean's cars to attend the bay area rock girls benefit. misty helped with the event so i felt it was important to come out and show my support. because girls do rock! i haven't been to el rio in ages. it used to be one of my haunts back in the day at j.a.b. the turnout wasn't too bad for a cold, rainy sunday night. i did discover my new favorite girl band—megamoog. they were so adorable! although she did look a bit frightened. they had a very cutesy felt sign with their name on it. i'd definitely check them out again.

i was lucky to see butterbean twice this weekend. she stopped by after her haircut on saturday. we chatted for a bit in my apartment then made our way out to clement street. since it was quite chilly out, it seemed only fitting to warm ourselves up with some good korean soup at the tofu house on 5th avenue. i'd never been there and was very curious to try it. the kimchi wasn't the greatest but the other sides and soup were delicious. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

west of the fields

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

spent the day down in the mission district. my first stop: mission bazaar which was held at the armory. not one of the best bazaars i've been to. i was expecting more crafts on the cutesy side. this was one had mostly clothes. there were a couple of interesting vendors although their stuff was way out of my price range. my lighting bolt jacket seemed to be a hit. i got several compliments on it and someone even asked to take a picture of it. i'm sure the pattern will be appearing on their clothing in the near future.

afterwards, i strolled up & down valencia street searching out christmas goodies to no avail. in one shop, the clerk asked me if my watch had superpowers. i found some striped tube socks. the shop was selling them for $8 a pair. i had to pass on them. there were several d.i.y. shops along the sidewalks. i heard someone say that made pornoments one christmas. there was scary puppet thing on the street. i didn't like it at all. i saw some girl walk off with what looked like a velvet unicorn picture. on a pay phone i noticed this sticker:



it made me laugh. i realized i really do need to get more. there's lots of interesting things happening. its getting colder. i'm happy about that. i love cold weather. it gives me an excuse to bundle up. i like wearing scarves. getting my haircut tomorrow. hopefully, she won't screw it up. it's always a gamble getting it cut in my hood. just where will i end up next is any ones guess.

stay gold & be well…

bukowski

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

i'm a clean plate kid. are you?















the day of the turkey has come and gone. it seems like only yesterday that i was having my first thanksgiving back in the states. i must admit that this year was a lot better for me than last year. i was still experiencing cultural shock back then. i don't remember being as social as i was yesterday. my morning started out a little hectic, as i scoured the streets of geary for balsamic vinegar. who knew it would be so hard. eventually, i found some at a russian market. my beet dish was saved. yay!

once again, misty had the gathering at her pad. there were eight of us this year. we started off the afternoon drinking wine and eating spinach dip [crack for the thirtysomething crowd]. i was quite tipsy before we even sat down to eat. it's a good thing i switched to water otherwise i probably would have been a mess. there was a ton of delicious food. everyone out did themselves with the dishes they prepared. i didn't want to stop eating but i had too or else i would have exploded. we ended the day by planting ourselves in front of the tv watching movies. what a perfect way to end a fabulous day with friends. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

until it happens to you

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

on thursday night, i met up with misty at hotel des arts to attend brazilianizing 2008, a closer look at art from brazilians living in sf. it was a fundraiser for quan yin healing arts center, which is apparently in danger of losing their funding from the county. seeing that i'm all for a good cause & good art these days, i figured i should check it out. there was a lot of amazing art work there. art aligned the walls on all 5 floors of the hotel. i saw a lot of pieces that i would have loved to bought but with the recent economy and living paycheck to paycheck i figured that wasn't the smartest idea.

one of my favorite pieces:


the hotel, itself, is definitely worth checking out. i do believe the have ongoing exhibits. a majority of the rooms have been painted by artists. not only the inside but the outside door as well. there were quite a few rooms vacant that night so they had them open for the guests to check out. it's great to know that hip trendy places like this exist. i just might stay the night there for the hell of it. i do think it might be haunted. the hallway lights kept going on and off. spooky. here are some rooms:







i actually got to play tour guide this week. as you may recall, my trip with the students to the zoo got canceled last week. this weeks destination was—city hall. exciting, huh! i know you are all jealous. i was slightly dreading it since i had no clue as to what to say about city hall except that i saw rosie o'donnell get married there. fortunately, the student coordinator created a scavenger hunt for the them so there was no need for me worry. well, until i found out she didn't create an answer sheet which meant i had to participate in the hunt as well. before i left her exact words were, "don't worry it'll be super easy". yeah, not so much. it took me forever to finish and i didn't even get them all correct. oopsies. there were about 15 students who went on the activity. i divided them into pairs and told them it was a race. they had an hour an half to complete the list of questions and hand them in to me. the race concept sort of fell flat. they all handed them in at the same time. go figure. overall, the scavenger hunt seemed to be a success. even though some of them didn't find all the answers they had a good time trying.

my new favorite quote of the week comes from top chef's fabio. for their quick fire challenge they had to make hot dogs. here's what he had to say, "i love hot dog. do i know how make hot dog? no. i make sausage." just where will i end up next is any one's else.

stay gold & be well…

jen nothing matters to me

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…



today i found myself stepping out of my political wallflower motif and heading downtown to take part in "join the impact: prop 8 protest". we couldn't have asked for better weather. it was 80 degrees which must have been a record for the middle of november in sf. i literally felt as if i was melting. reminded me of days spent in florida. the turnout was fantastic. so many people: young, old, gay, straight, men, women, people of all races,etc. it was a really get feeling seeing people come together and show their support. while at the rally, i ran into some peeps that i haven't seen for some time. that was cool. afterwards, we grabbed some lunch [standing in the sun makes you hungry] and then headed to the pilsner for a few beers. i must admit it was nice spending the day outside. i must remember to do more of that. just where will i end up next is any one's else.

stay gold & be well…

p.s. be sure to check out the photos. i found superman's home.

prop 8 protest pictures are here

earthworm

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

i had to drive a mini-van this past weekend. enough said…
on a brighter note, i've started my christmas shopping. shopping is f.u.n!

stay gold & be well…

mississippi kite

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

we welcomed november with rain. i must admit i love rainy days, especially when you don't have to go anywhere. the rain always makes me think of the past. the most prominent memory i have is of the summer thunderstorms in florida. i used to love sitting on our back porch listening to it hit the roof. there's also the time when i was living in athens, ga, that my friend & i went outside to sit in the pouring rain. i still remember how refreshing it felt on such a hot summer's day. granted, i don't enjoy it as much if i have to be out running around but then again who does. there's just something about rain that i find so comforting. it is the best sleeping/being lazy weather afterall.

so, yesterday was halloween. this is the one time of year i miss living in new england. fall is beautiful there. it's just not the same in sf. on friday, we had a halloween party for our students. all week i was trying to encourage them to wear a costume which definitely proved to be a chore. most of them seemed to embarrassed at the thought of dressing up. i was actually surprised when most of my students in my morning class came in costume. the school held a costume contest as well as a pumpkin carving contest. the students appeared to be enjoying themselves. i left during the pumpkin carving, so i'm not sure how that turned out. the top three winners of the costume contest were: caesar, a mad scientist, & dracula.

my morning class

that night was d&j's halloween party. their house looked amazing! they definitely went all out. walking up the stairs into their apartment, it was completely covered in black plastic. to add to the spookiness, the theme from halloween played in the background. there were also themed rooms: the spider den, the classic kitchen, & the enchanted forest/graveyard. the cast of characters included: sarah palin [x3], a priest, ethel mermain in a swimsuit, some devils, a cracked out ronald mcdonald, etc. it was good times. i think i finally got home around 2 am. that's late for me. it definitely made up for not doing anything last year. hurray, for halloween parties.


unicorn from the future


the spider & emily strange


in my last post i mentioned "another" job. it seems i might have jumped the gun in mentioning it. since that post i've left that job. sometimes things simply don't work out. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

pics from school are here
pics from d&j's are here

stay gold & be well…

how to bring a blush to the snow

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

i'm baaaack! took a wee bit of a break from writing. started a second job so haven't felt compelled to blog. ok, i can't blame it entirely on the job—i got lazy. surprise, surprise. in all honesty not much has been happening in my life since the last time. i've been keeping a low profile for no apparent reason. still looking for my mojo but won't bore you all with that same old story. anyway, here's a list of things i never blogged about: barak n roll, brunch with friends, drag saturday [where we got squirted by a vagina], the spider web song, decorating the haunted mansion, grease 2 songs on the corner, sweet sensations with shane, crazy lady singing a rape song on muni, the garage sale fundraiser, my "other" job, why i love cherry cider, etc. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

4 more days to halloween. do you have a costume yet?

fortune

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

"gosh, batman, this camel grass juice is great." — robin, batman series
when i was younger i didn't want to be batman for halloween, i wanted to be robin. so my mom did what any mom would do, who couldn't find a robin costume, and made me one. it was my all time favorite halloween costume. since then, i've always had a soft spot for the sidekicks: robin, aqualad, arsenal, etc. even the comics i read reflected my attraction to the lesser heroes with such favorites as nightwing, the outsiders, the titans, young justic, etc. years later, i'd once again don a robin costume this time making it myself. so it comes to no surprise that i got completely excited with the thought of a possible tv series based on dick grayson's early years. it seems that many out there see this as a bad idea, however, i'm keeping an open mind. it's about time the sidekicks have their day. check the story out here. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

wonders never cease

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

a caught a bug this week. something has been going around school so i guess it was inevitable. please don't hate for my late postings, i'm doing my best to stay on top of it all. now that all of that is out of the way, let's get down to business. last weekend i went to concord to hang with huegel & his family. it was nice to kick back poolside with an old high school friend. his boys are growing like weeds and asking a million questions as children often do. lachlin took to me immediately but it took his brother a good couple of hours before he'd even look at me.





on saturday, we had a mini picnic at the concord vietnam memorial. the weather was absolutely gorgeous. most of the time was spent chasing the yellow ball down the hill. back at the huegel ranch, it was pool time. scott, heather, & i chilled out in the backyard while the boys slept. we drank pina coladas. it was just like being on vacation. that night scott took me to "the wc" aka the creek, or simply downtown walnut creek. on our way to the bar we heard this gem of a conversation that summarize "dtwc": "hey, i know the gay bartender at chili's. we can get some free shots." and then while at some random redneck bar we heard yet another conversation about the gays. this one involved some guy who sells motorcycles and pretends to flirt with the men in order to sell stuff. the girl in their group then mentioned the eagle tavern and he replied by saying it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so gay. he went on to mention the trough in the bathroom with mirrors. sigh…



sunday after breakfast, we piled into the car and headed off for briones park to take a mini hike. it was a hot one. everything was so dry. it felt good to be out in nature. we picked a spot to rest that was surrounded by cow dung. apparently, cows roam these parts although i didn't see any. i decided to nickname the place poo poo mountain. scott & i invented a new game that day called poo poo golf. the boys loved it. just where will i end up next is any one's guess. oxox

stay gold & be well…

photos from the weekend can be view here

reveal

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

well, another month has passed us by which can only mean one thing: another photo theme has been completed. september's theme was music. it proved to be a bit harder than i expected. overall, there were some great shots in the bunch. check them out here. if you want to see the rest of my music photos that didn't make the cut go here. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

spaceman

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

be sure to check out the new and improved shot&scrawled site, the photography & writing of j.ethan. most of you have probably already read what was on there previously. it's still all there, just a new format. if you haven't, what's stopping you. the most recent addition to the site is korail monitors, my photo project of the subway monitors in korea. let me know your thoughts. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

a fine romance

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

i had myself a pretty uneventful weekend. most of it was spent catching up on some much needed sleep. i've been filling in for my boss this week which meant twice as much work and longer hours. it's great for the paycheck but i felt exhausted all week. one more week to go, then it's back to normal. hopefully, this coming week won't be as bad. i had to listen to several students complain about their teachers and classes. and of course, none of them liked the answers i gave them. oh well. i am the boss after all. hehe

i did manage to get out saturday night and attend jojo's heaven or hell birthday bash. you can always count on his parties have delicious food. the rest of my time was spent uploading photos from time in korea to flickr. i can happily say it's all done. YAY! tonight, i'm going to do nothing except veg-out in front of the tv watching the emmy's. yeah, i'm a geek that way. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

sailing song

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

on thursday, i took my toefl class out for a picnic in the park. we were celebrating their successful completion of the class. i don't envy anyone who has to take that class. as a teacher and a native speaker, i found it quite difficult to get through the material. mostly due to the boring subject matter of all the listening passages. it's all academic based. snore! trying to make the class interesting for the students was always a challenge. by the end of the semster, the class had dropped from ten students to three. so with the three that were left, i got pretty close with them. it was kind of sad to have to say goodbye to them. two of them, toi & sohee, i had taught in level 4 and were heading back to korea. the other student, daniel, is transferring to another school. it was nice to be able to get to know them a little better outside of class. i wish them all the best. just where will i end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

brinx job

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

misty had a small gather at her house for dim sum & champagne on sunday to celebrate her birthday. i was so excited when sunday finally arrived. all week long, clement street did her best to tempt me with the many dumplings & other goodies that fill the storefront windows. however, i was strong and held my own knowing that on sunday i would be gorging on many of them. figuring we needed something sweet, i decided to make banana pudding which from here on out will be referred to as "nana puddin". i gained 15 pounds by just making it; afterall, it consisted of: cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, pudding mix, whipped cream, & nilla waffers. let's just say i'm surprised i didn't bust into the nana puddin pre-party. if i do say so myself, it was quite freakin delicious. i ate three bowls and could have kept going. later on that night, i would find myself in a sugar coma. damn you nana puddin for being soooooo good. just where will i end up next is anyone's guess.

stay gold & be well…

for misty's birthday photos go here