Happy Belated Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I went over to the BF's house. His brother and his brother's family were visiting from out of town, so I got to meet them. They were all very nice. I even helped in the kitchen. I think he's slowly trying to teach me to cook so that I'll cook for him. Right now he does all the cooking, and I think that's just fine!

I am vegetarian. However, I'm going to try to take it a step further and make the move to veganism. We'll see how that goes. Ridding cheese from my diet will be a hurdle for me. But the milk, eggs and butter will be easy (except for baked goods/ desserts), as I've never much cared for them anyway. There are amazing advancements out there in terms of finding substitutions, so as long as I don't get lazy and do my research, I should be fine. I'm doing this for dietary and ethical reasons. Also, going veg really helped clear up my complexion, but I still have break-outs after I eat dairy, so I'm hoping my face will really clear up and glow if I go vegan.

Saw the Twilight sequel, "New Moon". It was great, loved it. That whole series is my guilty pleasure. I need to read the last book, but someone told me what happened in it (even after I asked them not to- booo!), so I really lost my motivation to read it now. Anyway, my sister and I made t-shirts. I messed up my iron-on letters (long story), so my shirt just says "Team Ed" instead of "Team Edward". After watching the movie, though, my sister and I thought about switching shirts. Jacob was just so hot, warm and charming. He really was good for Bella, and I started to switch alliances. And my sister didn't want to wear "Team Jacob" anymore after she found out that the actor is only 17 years old. She felt like a pedo lusting after his body and wearing that shirt! After she told me his real age, I decided to stay on Team Edward. Choosing any team and liking the movies are slightly childish, yes. But at least gunning for Edward doesn't feel so pervy!

I know making t-shirts seems a little extra, but we found the shirts at the $.99 store and we had the iron-on letters hanging around, so why not? A pic of our shirts (we look kinda blobby because we're pulling down the shirts so you can read the letters):

Swollen Lip, Crazy Kids

There's nothing a-brewing anymore, so I'm glad I didn't really say anything about that. Well, I did, but then I quickly removed my post. I thought my BF and I might break up, but we didn't and everything is happy and good. He said he would take me to the ballet soon. I can't wait! He also invited me to come with him to stay with his family out of state for Christmas, but I think he only did it out of guilt, because he forgot that he told me we would go up to Santa Barbara for Christmas, just the two of us. The idea of meeting so many new people at once for such an extended length of time (5 days) freaks me out. I'm way too shy for that. And the pressure! I would sweat bullets the whole time. I'll probably pass. I hope he doesn't take it personally.

Had a zit on the outside of my lip. Tried to pop it the night before, but woke up on Wednesday and the whole bottom, left side of my lip was completely swollen. It looked like I was stung by a bee or smacked in the face. I went to sub and all the kids stared at it. Kids don't even bother trying to be subtle about the gawking. It was embarrassing. My BF teased me and said they probably thought it was herpes or something... "Ms Lady Ma'ame had a dick in her mouth!" I assure you, that wasn't what caused my swollen lip! And no, I don't make the kids call me Ms. Lady Ma'ame, although I do like the sound of it. I just said it because I'm all anonymous and what not. Here's a photo I took. It's kinda blurry and doesn't show the full horror of it, but you get the idea:

Met some interesting kids this week. The subbing highlights:

1. One girl told me that her aunt got married to her cell mate in jail. Her aunt was released from prison and returned home to her... HUSBAND! She and the cell mate still write each other regularly. Her husband has NO idea, and the family is anxious because the cell mate gets out in two years. DRAMA! It will go down. There's totally a screenplay in this. I want to write it. Maybe I will.

2. Another 17-year old girl showed me a picture of her eight month year old daughter and her fiancee, a 28 year old man. She plans to marry him. Has been dating him for like four years now. That means he's probably been boning her since she was like 13 and he was 24. Hurl! I wanted to just shake this girl. She's crazy gorgeous and very sweet, and the guy is a total loser. And I'm not just saying he's a loser because he thought it perfectly appropriate to wear a du-rag in their professional family photo. No, but because he's a fucking pedophile. Her parents gave their consent because they think the damage is already done and he's stepped up and is taking care of his baby.

I had other things to say, but this is getting too long. I'll leave you with a photo. I took this in the parking lot of my local CVS store. I think this car belongs to the 40-something year old cashier woman. She wore two high piggy tails on either side of her head and was dressed like a fourteen year old. She popped and snapped her gum loudly. She was very sweet and friendly. A total character, as you can imagine. If you can't read the writing on the car, it says, "I Guess Ya'll [sic] Can Still Call Me a Lil Girl! Cause I Still Ride Big Wheels!" Apparently she's riding on twenty-twos...

Checking In

I met two old college friends for dinner on Friday. One of them flew in from Hong Kong, and it was the other friend's birthday (well, the day after). Then the next day we all met up for a barbeque. It was a nice reunion : )

There are things a-brewing, but I shouldn't talk about any of it yet until I know for sure...

Promised a friend I'd help him move Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after I get off work. He's an environmentalist, and he's moving into an apartment only five blocks away from his current place. So, of course, he's decided to forego a moving truck and just walk all the boxes there... either by hand or by skateboard. I commend his conscientiousness, but just this once, I wish he'd break his rules! I'm not looking forward to walking five loooooong blocks with his crap. I might have to cheat on my share.

The Leak

My sister and I have been really tired and foggy in the brain, and she's been having a lot of headaches ever since she moved in here nearly two years ago. We thought it maybe had to do with the poor air quality in our new city, or perhaps just stress, but today we found another culprit.

Our hot water heater was "leaking", or pumping CO2 back into the house. Check out this picture:

Omigod. How did I- or anyone not notice this? The hoses are supposed to be hooked up so that the CO2 goes outside, but it's been going inside instead. I don't know how long this has been going on, but it's really scary!

Luckily, my friend came over on Saturday and smelled something. Our oven's pilot light went out the day before and leaked gas all day, so after we returned home and relit it, we had to air out the house. But she insisted she smelled it by our water heater near the back door and begged me to call a gas guy. I didn't smell anything, but I was probably used to it. The gas guy came by today and as soon as he walked to the back part of our house, his CO2 meter started going off, the numbers quickly climbing on his gadget. He quickly shut off the gas valve and told me what to do.

I think the only thing that saved us is that when we're home, we almost always leave all of our doors open (front, side and back), our rooms are on the other side of the house, we're hardly ever home, and our house is incredibly drafty. There's actually a hole in my bedroom wall with a screen over it. That pumps in fresh air. Unless this came undone on its own, it's been this way for years! Yikes. We really dodged a bullet here!

I'm just so relieved that I've found an excuse for my lethargy, because I'm a hard worker. I've never been a lazy person. But I've been so incredibly tired; it's been hard to motivate myself to do anything. I hope that my energy returns soon, now that I'm not inhaling carbon dioxide or monoxide or whatever poison. I looked it up online (nothing you don't probably already know):

Carbon dioxide is a silent killer. Did you realized that you have to take precautions, not just in the winter, but all year round? It is invisible and odorless and is the main cause of poisoning deaths in American. Carbon dioxide poisoning can be caused by faulty gas or water heaters, ranges, ovens. Also noxious gas are released from charcoal grills. Carbon dioxide inhibits the use of oxygen and if inhaled long enough, it will cause brain death and ultimately death. Symptoms of carbon dioxide poisoning are similar to flu symptoms such as headache, fatigue dizziness, nausea and confusion.

Lie to Me

Saw Precious last night at the Magic Johnson theatre on Crenshaw (aka The Hood). The experience shocked me, and not just because the story is shocking. If my eyes weren't seeing the sad tale unfold before me, I would have guessed from the audience's reaction that I was watching a comedy. Not a seat was left in the house, and throughout the movie there was loud, screaming laughter and constant yelling back at the screen. I'm actually a movie talker (to the chagrin and dismay of my family), so I would fit right in there if the movie were a comedy. But Precious is not a funny movie, and their jovial reaction felt a little inappropriate. I think maybe the movie hit a raw nerve with a lot of people, and all they could do to manage their discomfort was to turn it into a joke, to laugh.

Celebrated the BF's birthday on Tuesday. I only had $1.25 to my name (95% of my paycheck is going towards my credit card bills), so he had to come pick me up and pay for dinner, which was kind of sucky of me! But I like to think that I made it up to him. I baked a cake and gave him a present he claimed to love. I wasn't sure if he'd love it or hate it, so I was really nervous. I painted a portrait of him! I hadn't really painted since high school, and was never very good at it, but I got a gust of inspiration and gave it a shot. He loved the results and sent pictures to his friends and family. He said two people asked about my rates, and after seeing the painting, his sister told him he should marry me! Bless her heart : ) (I met her a few weeks ago. She was very nice. I don't think it was like "omigod, she's so talented, marry her", but more like, "omigod, that's intense; only a girl who really loved you would spend months painting you, marry her").

I don't mean to brag, but it's kind of exciting! When I let myself get caught up in his ego strokes, I feel like I've finally stumbled upon something that I do half-way decently... It probably sucks, but I wouldn't know that... ignorance is bliss! I hesitate to put it here because it will probably ruin the illusion that I have a tiny speck of talent. He's just probably being nice to me and building me up, because what asshole would tell his girlfriend that he hates her birthday gift and that she's a talentless hack?

Anyway, the colors are richer/ deeper than what you see here, but I had to take the picture without a flash, so it desaturated the color. Also, I ran out of time. I couldn't get the glasses quite right, but oh well... close enough:

Happy Belated Halloween!

Hope you all had a nice Halloween! Mine was laid back, but cool. I met a friend for a drink in Hollywood. She booked a small part (in a skit) on the Conan O'Brien (sp.?) show, so we were celebrating, too. Neither one of us dressed up, but luckily we went to a spot where about half the people were dressed and the other half weren't. We should have went to West Hollywood, because the gays know how to costume and they know how to party! It's always such a grand spectacle there on Halloween. But it was cool where we were. We saw a crazy costume. This guy actually transformed into a working car! A real transformer! His little wheels whizzed him right down the sidewalk and everything. I thought that was crazy! He goes down further than what you see in the second picture, but I was trying to catch him mid-transformation. My camera takes pictures slow.

What else? My BF was telling me about how his mom "tamed" his ex-wife, as well as his brother's wife. I told him that I thought he meant to say that she crushed their spirits, from what it sounds like. His brother's wife went to art school and loved to dress in bright colors and fun, edgy fashions, and his mom got on that real quick and made her over to be a soccer mom/ label whore. Ugh! I mean there's absolutely nothing wrong with looking upscale cookie cutter if that's the look you want, but if that's not what you want or who you are, then to hell with anyone who tries to change that. Now, I don't mind meeting her and being friendly, but I really hope he doesn't expect me to be best buds with that meddlesome woman. 'Cuz I know what's on her agenda! Project Spirit-Crush in full effect! But I really don't have the energy to fight with her or to be bothered by her pettiness. If it means that much to her, then my plan is to appear to be the kind of woman she would approve of (basically her mini-me) whenever we meet, and then once she's gone, go back to being me. Free bird!

At an inner-city school where I sub regularly, one of the girls leaves her backpack at school 7th period (end of the day), and swings by to get it before first period the next day. There aren't any books in it and it's not heavy or anything, so I think she must get jumped on the way home, or has someone at home who steals stuff from her or something. It's really sad. I had an idea to do an urban version of a 4-H program (where one of the skills taught would be sewing), but I should probably just focus on getting my own life together before I try to change anyone else's life. Plus, my friend who was going to do it with me flaked, and I really don't have the knowledge to spearhead something like that on my own. So, alas, I put that in my "Book of Ideas", where all my ideas go to die. But someone should do that. I mean, look at this book bag! How sad is this? If you can't tell what's going on, the bottom is stapled together: