Haiku My God the Weather is Perfect Friday

going on vacay
first to denver then cali
for family time

and to celebrate
cindy and omar's wedding
with all our good friends

summer is so here
happy summer to you all
time to drink outside.

Read This

Click this link, buy the book, wait for it in the mail then read it. It's the best book I've read this year, so far.

I picked up the AM New York

today so I might find something interesting to write about, but on my way out of the subway I found what I was looking for!

Super cute: A guy (young man/teenager) was teaching his girlfriend (young woman/teenager) how to ride a bike.!! How effing cute is that, you guys? I didn't know not everyone knew how to ride a bike, either, but I guess sometimes you just don't learn when you're a kid. Like Pheobe on Friends.

Watched Harry Pooter last night (the newest one) and that is one more cute movie. I'm stolked on the 'arry pooter franchise.

Finished another Murakami book. This time, A Wild Sheep Chase which I'm not 100% if I would recommend, but I definitely liked it. It was really far out, mythological (a sheep man who enters people's bodies) and existential (a guy on a journey, doesn't really know what he wants in life.) Thumbs up overall.

Pastoral

Took a beautiful drive in the country, where I was staying, dahling, and there was some seriously old stuff. Apparently Connecticut is downright steeped in history. We took a little ride over to the Millbrook Winery which was cute and small. There was the requisite Sideways character at the tasting, swirling his glass to get the nose right, asking ridiculously specific questions about the grapes and the weather. Please, if you want to do some wine tasting go to California.
Nonetheless, it was really beautiful and very fun. The wine was pretty tasty, too, and if you're ever up in that arear, you might think about taking on the Dutchess Wine Trail, which is super small but the views of the countryside and of the little tiny rolling hills are breathtaking.

Cars

Renting a car in NYC is so expensive. (How expensive is it?!)

But, seriously folks. Babe and I went to the country this weekend, darling, for some rest and relaxation, which we did. In order to get there, we needed to rent a vehicle. From around the corner, it was $95 a day = $350 for the three day weekend. Forget it! From Newark, it was $50 = $200 for the weekend. Wrong again!

So, we took the long way and went from our place by cab to Grand Central ($5) then by train to Mt. Kisco station ($20) then took a bus ($3.50) to the Westchester county airport, where we rented our car for $15 a day = $60 for the three day weekend.

And look at our coche! Neat, right?

Haiku Wireless in the Country Friday

wireless! who knew?
at the country house, darling
in connecticut.

rain outside makes for
good and hearty napping, yo!
relaxed already.

someone played hookie
and it wasn't only me
happy friday, late!

No HNT

BFF asked me if I would participate in HNT this Thursday, and I was honored to be invited! Not like HNT requires an invitation, anyone can participate but it is always nice when someone asks you to do something. I have thought about it, to tell you the truth. The other day, I was trying out my new camera (thanks, babe!) and I had a picture of my foot that I thought I might throw up on the bloggage for HNT. But I decided not to.

Pointless post, but I wanted you to know I've been thinking about contributing. If you don't know what it is, hop on over to BFF's site. She'll show you.

In other news, it's Derek's birthday! Happy Birthday D-funk! Can't wait to see you and all the Berkeley Homies in just a few weeks.

Wow. Sorry for the most boring post ever. I'll try to think of something interesting.

Let's Get to the Point

So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels to be me

Sick, you guys! Saw Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers last night at Madison Square Garden and it was totally rockin!! I totally forget sometimes that this guy has been making music for thirty years. Of course he played old songs and totally news ones, and Stevie Nicks, who can shake a tambourine like she invented it, came out and sang on a few of the songs. The band seriously rocks and the crowd - I'm guessing about 20,000 people sang just about every word. Free Fallin brought tears to my eyes and Last Dance with Mary Jane brought back memories of driving to Santa Barbara. Top notch show.

TwoFer

2 For Tuesday

Two Names You Go By:
1. Codfish
2. Coddie
Two Parts of Your Heritage:
1. Indian
2. Indian (the other Indian)
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. Denim skirt (hello sara bustamante!)
2. Cute brown shirt.
Two of Your Favorite Hobbies:
1. Blogging (I love you guys.)
2. Cooking.
Two Things You Want Really Badly At The Moment:
1. A new dress that makes me look super skinny for Cindy's boda.
2. To be on vacation.
Two Pets You Had:
1. Candy-dog.
2. Petey.
Two Things You Did Last Night:
1. Went to the Birds in Bryant Park.
2. Had a picnic with Babe.
Two People You Live With:
1. Babe.
2. Possibly Jane Irwin's ghost.
Two Things You Ate Today:
1. Plum.
2. Hummus Foul.
Two People You Last Talked To:
1. My Co-worker
2. My Co-worker
Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow :
1. The vicious cycle that is work
2. Pilates.
Two Longest Car Rides:
1. NoCal to NYC
2. NYC to Denver
Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas
2. Halloween.
Two Favorite Alcoholic Beverages:
1. Beer
2. Wine
Two Things You Can't Live Without:
1. Babe
2. My cell phone.

Yup, still scary.

Tippi Hedren in her debut.

The scariest image (to me!) from the movie. Except for of course the scene where the old man's eyeballs are rolling around the floor.

Cool.

In case you were wondering if the movie The Birds was still scary, the answer is yes. It's still scary. Babe and I caught a Bryant Park free mewvie in the park and watched Hitchcock's classic with about 1,000 other NYers and it was super fun.

Also interesting, thank you IMDB, is that the movie could have ended like this: "A number of endings were being considered for this film. One that was considered would have showed the Golden Gate Bridge completely covered by birds."

How cool (and what I mean by cool is scary) would that would have been?

Seriously, for you cynic-heads out there, this movie, whether it scares you or not, will make you cringe and your insides itch when the birds either a) take little tiny nips out of that soft part between the actor's fingers or b) dive bomb the childen's heads, faces, and necks while they're running away.

Wedding #1

Lovely wedding flower

The only gas station in Newark.

The Hilton that looked more like a crazy Shining Hotel on the website than in person.

Babe and I. Arrrrr!!!

This weekend, we went to the first wedding of 2006 the year of love.

Happy Father's Day

Dad!

Haiku No Kidding The Front Page! Friday

hella crazy work
week this one was a doozy
but, it's completed!

we made the front page
now we celebrate and chill
thank god its friday!

wedding this weekend
and birthday party tonight
have a great time, kids.

Wolf River in Wisconsin

so pretty

bubble wrap

if you have speakers, this is fun

NYC

It's true that in the City people are always talking. Yesterday I walked home with the phone pressed to my ear as I talked with BFF about life and while walking uptown, more than 5 people had something to say to me. I ignored them, to be sure.

But, one guy said something particularly nice (I mean, I'm sure what the other men said were probably *nice* too) but this one guy said "Has anyone told you today how beautiful you are?" I naturally kept walking and pretended I didn't hear (he was likely drunk), but I noticed what he said and thought that was nice.

Sometimes, though, even if you ignore what people say, you can't forget!

I've asked you before about Whistling Camp and so far haven't heard back. I always whistle or sing when I walk around town and the other day this guy said to me "Who told you you could whistle?!"

Ignored him, kept walking, but now every time I start to whistle I wonder just how bad I sound. Stupid meanie.

Food, Drink, and TV

Food
I'm not going to get into the whole cheesesteak debate because I've never been to philly (well, except once and that was a truly terrible experience so I try to pretend it never happened because I was young and I was tired) and because I just don't care. But this is my blog and I can recommend any darn thing I want to so I would like to recommend Wogie's in the West Village for their cheesesteaks, beer, and outdoor seating. Their wait staff are all hotties, too, and the food is cheap, fresh and delicious. MMMMM. Babe and I love it, and every couple of months will go sit outside and get a nice cheesesteak, with onions and covered in Cheez Whiz.
Drink
Right by my house (commonly pronounced rybymyhouse) there is a neat little tiny beer garden called Hallo Berlin that serves tall cold German beers for not too expensive. They also serve sausage and kraut, but whatever. I go for the beer.
TV
I finally caught the season finale of Big Love and the season premiere of Entourage last night. Both were so good it wasn't even funny. As one of my coworkers said, the finale of Big Love was explosive! They were exposed!! And then watching the show, you feel (or I felt) like why should anyone care that they are polygamists? Does it really make any difference in my life? Entourage on the other hand was not so much explosive as funny, laid back, and relaxing to watch. That show has very little drama and very good looking people. Thumbs up once again.

Ears

I've been reading these books by Haruki Murakami (as you know) and he's just blowing my mind. The books are strange journeys - they seem to be about young men (30s) who have recently lost their wives and who are now searching for meaning... among other things. In any case, he also has an obsession with ears. Murakami's characters will often note that they were first attracted to their women because of their perfectly shaped ears. These women often keep their ears hidden, too, from general public viewing and sometimes are employed as ear models, showing their ears only for a price.

So weird. I just never really thought about ears before.

why dude?

I took my little lamby face niecey poo on the carousel at Central Park, she was so happy!! She's such a beautiful little girl and so nice and she loves being on the merry go round. What I do not understand is why the people who make the carousel are trying to scare the hell out of the babies and their aunties.

So. Scary. Why?

Haiku Friday

it finally stopped
raining so go ahead and
break out the flip flops

babe is off camping
i'm hanging with my sister
and her family

i got my hair cut
and have a cool new hair do
i bet you're jealous.

nava and ben

060606

Six weird things about me.

1. I have only one grey hair on my head (that I can see!) and I've had it since I was in high school in exactly the same spot. That's weird, right?
2. I'm very, very scared of mirrors when it is dark. You could go so far as to say I'm scared of Mirrors in the Dark. Freak me out why don't you. If I walk into a bathroom and the light is off, I'll close my eyes until the light is on. Think I'm joking? Imagine how freaky shit it is when you can't find the light switch with your hand, in the middle of the night, with your eyes squeezed shut just knowing that dark ass mirror is right there.
3. Is it weird to dream every night a lot? Cuz I do.
4. I always get two words mixed up: umbrella and elevator. I use them interchangeably and won't even realize.
   
5. I can count on two hands the amount of times I've booted in my life. (At least since the first grade. I have no idear before that.)
   
6. I have terrible pedestrian road rage. Living in Times Square I am near a lot of wonderful people visiting New York City a lot of the time and sometimes these peeps have a habit of stopping right in the middle of the sidewalk or even at the top of the subway stairs or whatever. I find my selfish whispering(?) under my breath "I hate you."
   

Crazy Australian Barterers

Did you hear about this crazy promotion? It's called Beer 4 Bags and the way it works is you buy beer, then take it to this bag store and trade in your beer for a bag.

On Sunday, Babe and I looked all over the village for six packs of Sapporro so we could get the bag you see pictured here. Couldnt find six packs anywhere. Our runner up choice was Leffe and Cooper's. We never found either downtown, but when we came home to Hell's Kitchen, Leffe was in the first store we went to. Go figure.

No spoilers within

It is impossible to include a spoiler about the "season finale" of The Sopranos because nothing happened. Nobody was shot, no one died. We could make questions out of it - what was in the envelope Jr. gave to the hospital orderly? Will this girl work out for AJ? Why was Meadow written off the show? Was she? Who cares about Phil Leotardo's heart attack?

Too bad about poor Vito.

But otherwise, nothing. Unlike the series finale of Will & Grace which was cute and sad, or the series finale of That 70s Show which was funny and stupid, this season closed with a whisper. Maybe that's because it started with a bang?

100 Things Updated

You know, I've always considered BFF and my blog a "collaborative effort." In other words, I once again stole this from her.

1. My nickname comes from the spanish version of my real name.
2. I've been in the Pearl Jam fan club for 10 years.
3. I've seen them in concert at least 8 times.
   
4. I'm obsessed with Pilates.
5. My husband is a part time handy man and is installing an air conditioner as I lounge around playing on my blog.
   
6. The countries other than the US I've visited are Amsterdam and Mexico. Oh! And Canada.
7. I've been married for three years this summer.
8. Babe and I have been together for ten years.
9. We don't have any kids and I've never been preggers.
10. I bet we'll have kids eventually in which case my blog will become a haven for pictures of babies and stories about spit up and diapers. Weee.
11. I seriously love my apartment. Everything has a place and there is a place for everything.
12. I decided this morning that hero sandwiches are my favorite food.
    
13. I quit smoking cigarettes over a year ago but can still get worked up about wanting one when I've been drinking.
14. I still love my job.
15. I'm reading a fantastic book called the Wind up Bird Chronicle. I think I recommend it.
    
16. I don't usually recommend stuff because I get irritated by people's negative commentary.
    
17. Babe and I were fated to be together.
18. I still know the words to songs from my youth like LL Cool J's I need love.
19. Sleeping late on Saturday is one of my favorite things to do.
    
20. Cooking is fun for me.
21. I love to get manis and pedis.
22. I quit biting my nails about a year ago, too. It's gross to always have your hands in your mouth when you live in a city like NY.
23. I generally don't let the little things bog me down.
24. My sister said I'm the most hopeful person she knows.
25. My grandma said I have a happy spirit and no one can be sad around me.
26. My grandma is 90 years old and has strong opinions about the president (whom she cannot stand).
27. My cousin is having a baby.
    
28. My sister is coming this week.
29. I, like BFF, wear a size 10 shoe but we cannot really share shoes for our divergent tastes.
30. I love the rain. I also love the ridiculous heat and humidity of the summer. I also love it when it is windy and cold and snowing in the winter.
31. My least favorite quality in people is neediness.
32. My favorite quality in people is bravery. But that is subject to change.
33. I still miss my dog Candy.
34. My favorite new kid on the block was Donnie Wahlberg.
35. My sisters are my bestest friends. And BFF is my sister. Even though she's always mad at me. HAHA.
36. Oak trees are one of the biggest things I miss about California.
37. And the ocean.
38. I eat lean cuisine almost every day for lunch. When I die my body will probably never decompose due to the preservatives. Is that too morbid?
39. I've been to burning man three times.
40. I rode around the playa on a bike with no shirt on. It's called the Critical Tits Bike Ride.
41. One of my best friends from high school died. She and I hadn't spoken since graduation. We never really got along but I felt sad when she died.
42. I love to kick it.
    
43. Drinking wine, cooking dinner, and chilling with friends and Babe is the perfect night in my opinion.
44. I love television.
45. Reading is my favorite past time.
46. I only have one tiny tattoo, a tiny dot given to me by Aron in his back yard in high school. It's called a pot-dot.
47. I used to love roller coasters when I was younger, but now they scare me.
48. I used to love scary movies when I was younger, but now they scare me. I had to sleep with the light on after watching Sixth Sense. And Blair Witch.
49. My mom and dad are supremely awesome individuals.
    
50. I went to UC Berkeley for college, Go Bears! And I think it's the best school in the whole wide world.
51. I love me some berkeley homies.
52. I'm proud of my achievements.
    
53. I wish I had a bike.
54. I cannot play an instrument.
55. I've never been to New Orleans.
56. I've visited about 2/3 of the US fifty states.
    
57. I won't list them all.
58. My favorite food when I was a kid was macaroni and cheese.
59. I love my grrls from college.
    
60. Coffee is an addiction that I am just fine with.
61. I never thought I'd wear pink, but I really like it.
62. I can't remember the last time I had full-fat ice cream.
63. I'm constantly dieting.
64. I would sooner stop speaking than refer to myself as "chubby" or anything like that.
65. I am envious of people with beautiful blogs. I'd like to redesign mine.
    
66. I can't believe how long I've kept this blog going.
    
67. The scaredest I've ever been was the morning after grad night in high school.
68. I once sat on a train - bridge inches away from an amtrak speeding by my face. It was probably more like a couple of feet, but really, who cares.
69. Babe's tattoo brought us together. His awesome red hair, too.
70. I love red hair.
    
71. I dyed my hair pink as soon as I got to college.
72. When I went away to college, I tried to go by my middle name, kumari, instead of my first name but it just wasn't right.
    
73. Huge procrastinator.
74. This summer, I'm going to California and Denver.
    
75. This year, I've already been to California, Denver, and Wisconsin. And Washington DC. And Connecticut. For a minute.
76. I thought City Island was going to be some neat, forgotten little place but actually it was pretty fucking lame.
77. I'm digging on taking pictures these days. Lots of that has to do with you.
    
78. I prefer diet coke to regular coke but I think diet pepsi tastes like dirt.
79. I love California Red Wine. MMM.
80. Worrying is stupid and I try not to do it as much as possible.
81. I used to have my nipple pierced.
    
82. I had this friend in high school, Jennifer, who told me she didn't think it was healthy to be friends with someone like me. Ouch.
83. I wasn't very nice to her.
    
84. Since then, I've tried to be nicer.
    
85. I'm a scorpio. Duh.
86. I think I'm moving back to Cali soon.
87. New York City is a super fun place for Babe and I to live.
    
88. I cried when I got to the pearl jam show on Thursday.
89. My apartment is now air conditioned.
    
90. My husband rocks the hizouse.
91. In college I majored in Mass Communications and Rhetoric. Try explaining that to people.
92. Shrimp strikes me as kinda gross.
93. I never knew I would ever be as neat and tidy as I am now. Thanks, Babe!
    
94. I stinkin love games!
    
95. I've seen Bad Religion in concert three times, once 11 years ago.
96. I'm brown.
97. I've been described as indefatigable. Had to look it up.
98. I'm going to concerts this summer! Just went to PJ, going to see Tom Petty at MSG, and am going to see PJ again in Denver, and Ben Harper, in September.
99. I love sad movies. I cry at every one of them.
100. This was a liberating exercise for me.

Haiku Pearl Jam Concert was so good Friday

immortality
jeremy, tremor christ, once
baba o'reilly

the crowd sang along
to every song they played
perfectly of course

screamed my lungs out til
it filled this room. how much diff
erence does it make?