Well, thankfully, wherever I've lived ( San Jose, California, and Reno, Nevada) there haven't been long periods of time in which a blackout or power outtage caused any serious problems. Most recently here in Reno some weeks ago, in my parents' and in my area, we had a blackout, and I was sitting there at my folks' place watching Burn Notice when suddenly all the electricity went out. I was so mad because I'm like, WHAT THE FUCK??? Nothing like the tv going off in the middle of one of your all-time FAVORITE SHOWS. Of course there's always reruns but don't try to tell me that when I'm watching a good episode and there won't be a rerun for a while. We just grabbed our big flourescent Coleman light and turned it on, and then I went home to notice that this blackout was fairly large in range, including my entire neighborhood and the entire few miles down the main street. I have LOTS of candles, so I just lit some candles and turned on my emergency light and sat there for another hour.


Sometimes, though, I think it's good to do without all the electronic shit we rely so heavily on.

I think most everyone I know is feeling the burn from the bad economy. For me the easiest thing to cut is to quit so much shopping on Ebay ( the only reason I was able to even get those curios was because Robert bought them for me) and then nest, cut back on buying things that I really don't 'need' such as DVDs, CDs and books. If I'm tempted to buy some of those ( and it's tough to be in a bookstore, trust me, and not walk about with a bagful of stuff).

Hope all my LJ friends had a great Fourth of July...Friday night Robert came over and I had spent the day putting the mermaids in the first case. I have several more mermaids arriving, and that will be the end of my collection...four small girl mermaids, 9 mermaids from a Canadian artist Elena Creative, two custom ones from Sharron Alexander, a custom Japanese koi pond mermaid from PGM, and a custom-made tattooed mermaid from JACS studio. I have one extra small shelf on top and I'm going to replace the assembly-line doll mermaids on the bottom shelf with the custom made ones. Today, I'm working on the Davy Jones display :)


The empty mermaid curio: Looks awful lonely:




Now they all have company:





And here's a closeup of some of my favorites. Even Robert was stunned by their beauty...when I showed him he was like, "Wow...those are spectacular. I had no idea they're so detailed." Of course he was staring at their um....bare breasts LOLOL more than anything else.

I know this is crazy, but I'm probably the only person who doesn't have an Ipod and doesn't download music online...my computer is slowly dying and it's too slow. I was at the gym working out the other day and listening to my...you got it, my CD PLAYER...and this little girl actually asked me what it was LOL. Everyone else has Ipods. Maybe one day I'll get one.

No matter what the media says about him, he will always remain one of my favorite pop/ R & B artists of all time. When I was younger, his videos rocked my world...Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller...well, let's just say that I'd love to go out and buy a DVD of all his great music videos. He was a fantastic dancer...who the hell could ever forget the Moon Walk and his other moves? I remember when I was in third grade, I used to read this kids' magazine called DYNAMITE and on that front cover, there was the Incredible Hulk...but one of the articles featured Michael Jackson and a chance to enter a drawing to win his then album, OFF THE WALL.

My fave song would be Beat It, next Billie Jean, and then Dangerous.

Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.

I think the thing I miss most about being a kid is the lack of worrying...these days, I worry about bills, the mortgage, working, making enough money, you name it...getting old, getting out of shape...as a kid, the only thing I had to really worry about was which toy to play with in the bathtub and do a little homework before going to bed when I started school. But mostly, being a kid was about being really totally carefree.

http://news.aol.com/article/arrests-in-miami-area-cat-deaths/526335




I hope he dies.

Well, at this point, I don't have an S.O so it would be my friends :)

Wow...there were a lot of fairy tales I loved as a kid. Some of them really frightened me. I guess the one I'd say that stands out the most to me is probably Snow White since that was the first Disney animated movie I remember seeing.

I'm actually living in it right now. I bought this house back in 2000 and put my personal touch everywhere. No one else has lived here but me, and I have photos of when the foundation was laid. It has 'me' written all over it, from the hardwood floors to the custom-built fireplace and hearth to every book and every decoration in every nook and cranny. I really count my blessings because this is what I did dream of...and my goal was to get it myself, not with anyone else's help. Just me. It is a dream fulfilled.


However, the other dream home is also this...a monastery somewhere. Sound weird? No. There IS a huge part of me where my dream is to live a simple, monastic and spartan lifestyle, and dedicate myself to helping others find inner peace, solitude, and zen :)

I never use my land line but it's still there. I have an old dial-up ( not DSL) for the computer so that's mostly why the landline is there. But 99.9% of the time, my cell phone is always on, charged, and ready to go.


Oh my landline is still there too because on my voicemail for the landline, my cat Spartacus meows on the voicemail greeting. And since he passed away early this year, I thought I'd keep that greeting for as long as I can.

That everyone do more random acts of kindness :)

This is something I really wish I was more skillful at...languages. I took Spanish for three years in high school and can speak a little, enough to get by, but I'd like to learn how to actually master the language. I've always been held back by learning languages because I'm embarassed that I might say the wrong thing or pronounce it so badly, it's laughable. I also took French for two years in junior high school and I'll say that it was a lot harder than Spanish. But in my spare time I'd really love to learn another language, and since my grandparents were from Japan, I really wish my mother had spoken more of it. ( My dad doesn't speak it even though his father was from Japan and who also spoke flawless English in addition to his native Japanese). I know little expressions but wish that I had learned it. It's kind of embarassing LOL that I know some caucasian people who speak Japanese fluently, just like my mom and grandparents. :P


I was thinking of getting a Spanish or Japanese language program to learn on my own at home...

A client of mine at the gym who sweated all over the machine and when I handed him a towel to wipe it off, he looked and me and said, " Isn't that your job?"

I'm not really sure what it is about Wednesdays. Today seemed to drag on forever. It could just be that sometimes, it's because this is the middle of the week, and the day seems to go on and on. I swear, after I get off from work on Wednesdays, I rush home, and to me, it's officially Thursday, and the weekend is but a day away.

Well, it was a mellow Memorial Day weekend and back to work and everything tomorrow. :) Right now we're having weird weather, for the past couple days there seems to be thunderclouds kind of hanging around. Not that I mind storms...in fact I did see some lightning, but only a little bit of rain fell.

I'm just mellow, and just kicking back right now.

* sigh *

I just realized that I answered the LJ question about apologies ( notice it says Close Call and then underneath it says the question about accepting or rejecting apologies...this is the third fucking time I must have spaced out and answered the wrong question or forgot to delete my old draft...well, at least I can blame that on Ambien ;))

With apologies...well, what can I say? We've all had them rejected...and that isn't a good feeling. Most of the time though, in my experience, people usually do accept them or I accept them...I don't like holding grudges or not forgiving.

I hope all my LJ friends have a terrific weekend. I'm not planning on doing a whole lot...maybe catching some rays with a friend ( if there's anyone who should look like a California raisin by now, it's me) and hanging out with a few people for salad and barbeque...other than that, it's going to be a mellow weekend. |

Oh yes and I resumed collecting of some POTC and Davy Jones items along with the mermaids ( I'm going to have to take some pictures of the ever-growing mermaid collection) and got a sign from Ebay that's in the shape of an arrow and says " Davy Jones Locker"...I'm putting that in the hallway near the POTC/mermaid room LOL.

Have a great weekend LJ friends :))))

Well, there was one serious accident...when I worked for the club in San Fransisco, I often got off very late so there was little traffic at that time. But it's amazing just how careless people can be. I worked on O Farrell Street and was turning left onto Van Ness. I went down Van Ness and came to the next light, which was green, and this couple went through the red light and smashed into the passenger side of the car. My car literally skidded across the street and slammed into the island curb. My entire passenger side was smashed, part of the front hood and bumper totalled, the engine was messed up, and the radiator was completely torn up. I couldn't get out of the driver's door because it had locked up, and the fire truck had to come and pry me out.

I was furious...I didn't start screaming or anything, but I was terrified. I swear, inside me, my heart was racing. The couple, who were from Indonesia, had a little car, but they were going fast and they went through the fucking red light.

I had to have my car towed obviously, and I was shaking. I called my parents right away and my dad was like, " SHit!! Are you allright?" But I was actually in tears because of my CAR being wrecked...that was my baby and I had it only one year at that point...the car I still have today, my old E320 Black Benz. It's a safe car though...it's why I never want to give it up. We've had adventures, that car and I:)

I didn't want to have them drive to the city all the way from San Jose to pick me up so I called up a good guy buddy of mine and he zoomed up to the city and met me at an all-night diner and took me home. The next day, he took me to the auto body shop where the car was being assessed. That car of mine was in the shop for TWO MONTHS while they basically rebuilt the front and the passenger side. At the time in 1995, the cost to repair it ( covered by insurance obviously, and I wasn't injured), was almost 13,000 dollars.


It could have been worse...I was lucky I didn't get hit on the driver's side or I would have definitely been fucked. Still, it left me paranoid and shaken to drive again for a while.

" My student is a Honor Student at _________* ( insert whatever school goes here)

Do I really give a shit about your kid being an honor student? I know my parents would have never put that on their bumper.

So I have some new ones.


" My kid is in county jail for a year"

" My kid is a meth freak"

" My kid can kick your ass"

" My kid broke out of the state sanitarium"



I'm really surprised I haven't seen any " My kid is better than your kid" bumper stickers.


I'm just so not into those.