A fly can’t bird but a bird can fly

So today I was standing in line at Safe to buy some bagels for Ronnie and I’s breakfast.  As I was checking out I saw a sign they had up saying help the hungry this Thanksgiving. Adding $1.00 to your bill will provide 2 meals for the hungry.  $5.00 will provide 10 meals.  So I asked the checker to add it on to my bill.  She didn’t know what I was talking about.  So I pointed to the sign, and she still didn’t know.  So she asked another checker about it and HE didn’t know either.  Said it was a new thing they didn’t know about.  Well by this time, the line behind me has gotten huge and people are starting to get angry.  One guy said, "here, donate to Breast Cancer Research," and hands me a coupon from Safeway for that.  I said thank you but I do the Breast Cancer walk every year.  "Well aren’t you giving," said another.  Embarrassed at holding up the line, I said never mind, I can donate next time I shop.

Sheesh!  Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it has been far too long since I have written in this blog. I am mad at Friendster (this web site) for being sore losers to Myspace and loading my blog with bad ads. Booo! Down with the man!

Things are going good for me. Ronnie and I are as happy as ever and Byron has lost his manhood, making him a better listener. Hmmm go figure. Work has been about the same though changed a lot for Ronnie. I am in fact looking into going back to school and ordering catalogs for Masters Programs.

Halloween has been mellow this year. Urian and I carved pumpkins. (mine is already moldy and his fell into it’self.) We went to a friends Halloween party which was pretty neat. The best costume by far was a Steve Erwin outfit. We went as a cowboy and an indian. The scary thing tonight will b parking. We live close to the castro and so EVERYONE parks near our house. We aren’t going to the Castro this year. Each year has been less fun and all the yokles that come from suburbs complaingin about all the fags (In the Castro of all places!) has gotten old. So we are either going to go to another friend’s party or just go to a bar with a couple friends.

Also! This Saturday, Ronnie and I fly to Jamaica mon! 1 week in paradise! It still doesn’t seem real…but once I have the sand on my toes and a coconut in my hands, I will know the dream is a reality.

So when I was selling comics at APE a couple weekends ago…someone picked one up and contacted me to design a character for them. My heart was pounding and I was so excitied to be asked!! So all weekend I slaved away and sketched and watercolored then sketched some more until I came up with someting I liked. Let’s see if they liked it too. Now comes the waiting to hear back from them part…

We also had another out-of-town guest stay with us this weekend. This time it was Joellyn. An awesome chick who has been friends with Ronnie for 6 years. She was visiting up from LA to apartement search. She found a couple she liked and one she LOVED near our place. All three of us are keeping our fingers crossed because she works from home and has offered to walk Byron around her lunch hour. That would be sweet…

My ankle is still bruised so I have decided to go to Kaiser tomorrow to get it looked at. I am very scared of the idea of perhaps having to do surgury…

So my ankle contiues to bother me. It got all black and blue and puffy. So I an walking around like Mad Eye Moody from the Potter books, trying not to feel like a giant beast. I also steped back on the scale to jump back into weight Watchers (I have been off it since Paris in March) and am disappointed at myself for how much weight I have gained. So yeah..a tough morning.

Easter was good. Dad, Ronnie and I went to Foreign Cinema and feasted for hours. Dad and I tried to go see V for Vendetta after that, but a street fair was blocking our way as it was right on Union. ah well, I just spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Byron and Kingdom Hearts II.

Now I am at work with my foot propped up on my wine.com membership box and a katamari damacy stuffed toy as a pillow for softeness. Doesn’t sound real? Believe it my beauties…it’s true.

Last weekend was APE…the Alternative Press Expo where Ronnie and I sold our comics. It was very sucessful for Ronnie and I sold a few of my comics too! Someone even left a card for me to be an animator for their company. We’ll see how that goes. Ronnie’s friend Mark flew out to also sell things at the con. We had such a good time togther. the three of us ate pizza and played a lot of video games. Ahhhhh college-ish life..hhaha.

Byron our pup is doing well. He uses his potty pads about half the time and has a small parasyte he is taking meds for. He is such a love. He came to work the other day, met lots of people and peed on the carpet in front of one of my bosses. Whoops.

Last night Ronnie and I went to The Smiths night at Popscene. We had so much fun dancing together. I even got a bit drunkish, which hasn’t happened in a long time. Well, my drunkiness, combined with not looking at the ground and talking to Ronnie lead me to fall on a piece of broken concrete and sprain my ankle….again. I guess it has been a few years….so I am trying to ignore the annoying pain.

Oh and Happy Easter everyone!

PS_ I am sorry about all these stupid ads. Friendster is dying to it’s competitor myspace and need to find the most annoying ways possible to milk a few last dollars. If you have a myspace account…I am going to start posting this blog there. If you don’t have a myspace account…(yes family members that’s you) I will keep posting here too. Again…sorry for the ads.. )

Pics below are of our table at APE and Amy, Mark, Ronnie and myself selling our goods.

Our pup is now home. We drove down on Friday to the dreaded Bakersfield, checked into our hotel, then met Ricky and Steph at Mimi’s Cafe for a nice dinner. The next morning we went to pick up Byron., When we walked in the door he came running right to Ronnie, ignoring his puppy sister. Of course this melted Ronnie’s heart. The ride home was good. It was very hard to drive and not look at the pup because the sheer cuteness is too much to take in while trying to be a good driver. He was wonderful. Went potty on the puppy pads, slept and looked out the window a lot. When we got home, he took a look around then made himself at home.

He sleeps a lot. (Except at night when we want him to) Byron also loves to cuddle. He is a love bug. He is still learning how to use the potty pads, but does half the time which is good for a 8 week old pup. He really wants to sleep with us at night, but we are going to wait until he has better potty skills. If only this fella knew how many people want to see him! His first visitor tonight is Kirsten.

Below: pictures of Byron. He loves to chew converse. Good taste.

Yesterday, Ronnie and I returned from our 4 days down in the hot desert sun of Arizona. We were there with my dad and my Auntie Linda. Every year, dad and I go down to see the Giants Spring Training. It was simply amazing to be out of the rain and in the sun. The first night we got there we gambled, drank Bud and listened to a casino band. We then ate tater tots at 2:30 in the morning. Auntie had us all beat with her chilly dog. Drunkenly, Ronnie and I stumbled back to our room and crashed and burned for the night. The next day, we went to Scotsdale for our first Giants game of 2006. I was a little nervous that Ronnie may get bored but he seemed to be having a great time. We drank beer, ate hot dogs and the Giants whooped the White Sox’ bootie. World Champions? No way! We then went back to our hotel for a dip in the pool and hot tub, then played dominoes by the pool until the sun set. Then we went back to our rooms to get cleaned up and went to the Range steakhouse where we all overate. We then gambled again then called it a night. On Sunday we went to a cheesy fake western town called “Rawhide.” We rode in a stagecoach, shot rifles (fake) stomped around in cowboy beats and saw a terrible gunfight show about Billy the Kid. Te-rri-ble. But our visit there was fun. We were all craving wings so we returned to a Tempe favorite of ours…Hooters! Talk about junk food! But it tasted so good todrink beer, eat wings and sit outside in the sun. We all played video poker that night at the bar for hours and really had an amazing time. The next day was time for our second game in Scotsdale where we had our butts handed to us by the KC Royals. It was still a sold out game and we still filledc the stadium with our laughter. That afternoon we played dominoes again but this time on dad’s patio in his room. We also saw one of those purple desert sunsets. We ate some yummy mexican food that night and played a bit more video poker. On our final day, we spent time in Scotsdale buying western toys and eating meat at the famous Pink Pony. We were all sad to leave the desert but are all looking forward to our next visit. Every year in AZ is always so much fun. It was great to spend so much time with Auntie as we seem to not get much time together. It was also so much fun to have Ronnie there. It was my first year with a boyfriend in our group, so he was a wonderful companion as always.

In other news…two more days until we get Byron…we take another trek down to Bakersfield on Friday night where we may see Ricky for dinner…then get Byron on Saturday morning.

Below: The ball park, shooting at Rawhide, Ronnie and I, Dad and Auntie with a Camel, Ronnie and I again, Me, Dad and Auntie, Me and Dad

Yesterday was a hard day of work and Ronnie and I had to stay pretty late…but we had tickets to a show that we were supposed to meet up with Andy…so we decided to push past our grumpy-ness and go. For the first time I was actually more excited to see the opener band than the headliner. The New Pornagraphers were first. Ronnie had taken me to one of their shows several months ago before I knew any of their music. Back then they were awesome! I danced and got “rocker-neck.” You know, where you bounce your head too much and it starts to hurt. I got some of their cds and listened to them often at work. So I was super excited to see them again. Just like before, they blew me away! Ronnie and I danced and bounced, annoying the people around us. We lost Andy in the crowd as he was looking for Marie and we wanted to enjoy the show.

Next up was Belle and Sebastian. I have heard their music only through Andy. I rememeber he would play it nonstop in college and if I ever stayed the night, it was in the cd player as we went to sleep. So I was used to their older mellow stuff. I was pleasantly surprised when one of the lead singers just bounced around the stage in a skinny stripped shirt. It was very New Order. I am guessing a lot fo songs were from their new album or they just rock out more live. So even though we couldn’t find Andy in the HUGE crowd at the SF Concourse, we found a nice open lil space where we could dance, see the stage and not annoy people. So now I have a new respect for Belle and Sebastian…like I do for most bands I see live.

Did you know today is my birthday? The big 2-6. Though I am still one of the youngest of my friends. Ronnie bought me all kinds of awesome gifts like a comic I saw and he had to special order and a Gamecube!! Mario Kart here I come! Then he took me to breakfast. (Yeah we got up early) As we were driving to work I thought to myself how awesome it is that I am an adult now, living with my boyfriend, going to my work in high heels…but I still got video games and a comic book for my birthday. How perfect is that? Tonight I head out to dinner with a small group of friends, parents and Auntie to celebrate my birth. Oh happy day!

Below: The New Pornographers then Belle and Sebastian

That sounds awesome! On Friday we had a raging birthday/housewarming party that went on till 2:30am! The next morning, Ronnie and I met up with Ricky and his girlfriend Steph and did the Pier 39 thing which was a lot of fun. Ricky’s new girlfriend is awesome. Then we went home and worked on our comics. I finished inking all the pages and Ronnie worked on the cover to his book. Yesterday we enjoyed the weather by walking to the castro and having brunch at Bagdad Cafe (One of our favorites) We like to sit outside, read the NY Times and people watch. Then we walked home and worked more on our comics. Then for dinner we went to a great pizza place and at night after more comic-workings (we’re almost done and ready for print!), Ronnie played video games while I read my new book Marley and Me. It was a perfect weekend.

We also got some new pictures of Byron. It amazes me how fast he is growing…espeically his FUR!

So I am back from Paris. I made it through the cold, the smoke and the tourists and let me tell you, it is everything you would expect Paris to be. Beautiful, artistic and radiating history. My 8 days there will be a trip I will never forget. One of the fun things about a long trip in another country is coming home. You really respect where you live and it just feels so darn good to be back “home.” I missed all the things that had become my daily life. My time with Ronnie, coffee breaks with Brown, sushi, American coffee, co-workers, my bed…all mean so much more to me now.

Of course now that I am back, I am caught up in a whirlwind of things to do. Last night< Ronnie and I had sushi with dad, tonight we are having a birthday/housewarming/St. Patty’s party at our house, tomorrow I get to hang out with my friend Ricky that I haven’t seen in a year, Sunday I am going bowling to celebrate Livia’s birthday, Monday is Ronnie and I’s 7 month anniversary, Tuesdday, the Belle and Sebastion concert, Wednesday is my real birthday, Thursday, a concert of Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab and Friday Ronnie, Dad, Auntie Linda and I fly to Arizona for the Giants Spring Training! *Phew!* and on top of all this, 2 days after we get back we pick up the pup! AND! Ronnie and I both have to finish up our comics for the convention we have a table for (APE…see below). When will we have time to do that you ask? I wonder the same thing….

So I am sorry if I have been bad at returning calls or hanging out…after mid-April I will be human again!

BELOW: Poster for APE (Alternative Press Expo)