So I just saw United 93. I was a little fearful of the feelings it might elicit, but I actually didn't have a breakdown like I thought I might. Ever since 9/11, I've shied away from anything too emotional that would make me angry. Had the movie Pearl Harbor come out after 9/11, I probably wouldn't have seen it. It's silly I know, but that day, the whole week following it actually, put me off to so many things, sad movies and crocheting, for example. Like most Americans, I was glued to the television for a week following 9/11, crocheting an afghan while crying the whole time. Even at work, I don't know where we got it from, but we pulled in a small tv into the crib (it's the room behind the nurses station), waiting and hoping the search and rescue teams would pull out survivors. Unfortunately, there weren't many.

I think this is actually the first time I've written about this day, and it's been over 4 years. I don't even think I wrote about it in my journal, in fact, I think I've written in my journal about once a year since then. Maybe it put me off to writing in my journal as well. I guess the magnitude of that horror made my petty problems and concerns so miniscule, I just felt silly writing about them when the world was seemingly coming down around us. If it weren't for this blog, my silly little corner of the internet, I wouldn't be writing much at all.

My cousins in Mexico don't seem to understand the fear we Americans have now, just how much we've changed. They think because I'm brown and speak Spanish and yes, I call myself Mexican, the terrorists weren't after me. The fact of the matter is that I am an American citizen, and quite thankful for it in fact. I always thought of my ethnicity and nationality as two separate concepts, and even though I've always been a little too patriotic for what most people think I should be, I guess I never realized just how American I am. I'm not just talking about the material things. In fact, in that regard I'm not that after the American Dream. It's the old-fashioned stuff, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Each and every one of those things is why my mother came to this country, why she worked her ass off. She knew what it was like to have her life determined for her on the day of her birth. The color of her skin, her genitalia, which part of the state she was from, all these things she had no control over determined who she would be had she stayed in Mexico. But I digress...the point is that I am Mexican but I'm also an American.

My sister worked at the World Trade Center in LA for 14 years, and now works in the 2nd tallest skyscraper in downtown. Had the WTC in LA been a target on 9/11, my sister might very well be dead. If what happened in New York and Washington hadn't made me angry, just the thought of what might have happened here in LA just gives me chills. It really could have happened to any of us. It DID really happen to all of us in a way.

Anyway, like I said, no breakdown here. I just wanted to get my thoughts out. And before you go on to Fugly or Pink is the new blog, let's all just say a prayer that everyone on this planet can just stop trying to kill everyone else, no matter how justified we all think we are.

News on the Fake Tooth

I should be getting it in a couple of weeks. I spent half the day driving around mid-Wilshire and Beverly Hills, from my periodontist to the dental lab, but it's worth it to get my shiny new toof. I'm really hoping I'll be pleased because so far I've had a decent experience.

And just when I began to despair that my time with my adorable bald periodontist was coming to an end, he offered to do my general work as well! He doesn't have to waste his time on my measly fillings and wisdom teeth extractions, especially since that's not his bread and butter, but he's just a cool guy like that. I heart him.

You get what you pay for

I hate my {free} blog. It's always broken. I finally updated the damn thing yesterday, complete with visual aids, and it's off into oblivion, again.

Aargh.

I've been remiss

in my blogging duty. I've just been busy doing very boring things like working and planning a brunch. I did have a bit of excitement in April when I went to New York with my family and some friends. We did the usual touristy things like go the Empire State Building, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (with my 72 year old mother leading the way!...she's a bad ass), visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and walked from Brooklyn up to Little Italy for a hysterically dismal lunch.

The highlights included walking through Central Park on a beautiful spring day and getting a backstage tour and meeting the stars of Wicked!!! It's no secret I'm obsessed with Wicked. Not like stalk-the-actors-and-memorize-the-minutiae-of-their-lives obsessed, but just good old-fashioned-listen-to-the-CD-almost-every-day obsessed. When we mentioned to Eden Espinosa (who plays Elphaba), that we were from LA, she said she was from LA as well. We were so starstruck (which we normally never are), that we just stood there like a bunch of morons going, "Oh cool." Duh! She could very well have been from our neck of the woods and we just stood there like dumbasses. Oh well, it was a good time and we've have many laughs about it since.

In other news, my niece Gabbie starred as Miss Hannigan and her brother Jacob made his debut as Rooster Hannigan in their school's production of Annie. We were quite proud of them.

And last, here's a picture of Gabbie in the dress I made for her school project on Queen Mary I. Oops, guess it was a bit too long after all.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, I actually went on a date. It wasn't horrible, so I may do it again. Who knows. I may just get lazy and annoyed again, but for now I'll just go along for the ride.

I was such a cute kid...what happened?

I spent the evening finally helping my mom sort through family photos, many of them damaged by a flooded garage years ago. Here are some of my favorites. There's the famous too-big lime green bikini that I sported in Acapulco. It kept falling off, but hey, at 3 I wasn't too modest anyway.

Then there's the infamous potty picture. Whenever moms of toddlers tell me their pained stories of attempts at potty training, I tell them to just do what my mom did, tie the brats to their potty chairs. Worked for me, I was potty-trained at 12 months. Of course, to this day I can't void unless I have chonies around my ankles, apparently I need to feel some sort of restraint when peeing.

There's the Halloween 1985 picture of me dressed like a nurse (who'd have known). The chubby Asian kid is my little buddy Dominic Lau. I often think if our mothers believed in arranged marriages Dom and I would have been betrothed in preschool. Dom went on to push me in the 2nd grade, causing me to fracture my arm in three places. So I guess I should blame my slightly gimpy arm on him. Anyway, you can't tell from the pic, but the book in my hand is "Go Ask Alice." Obviously, someone wasn't monitoring my reading materials at 8 years old.

And finally one of me at the organ. No story to that one, just love my little pigtails.

I LOVE THIS SHOW

How I Met Your Mother. I want to date every single one of these guys. Even Barney, the token dickhead with a heart of gold.

Being a spinster comes in handy...

when your niece needs to make a costume for a school project. I spent the last 3 days at my sister's house making this. Now if I had a family of my own, would I be able to get away with that?

I had planned on going out Friday night, but my plans were thwarted by aforementioned project. My love of anything Irish is well known. But I seem to have a little St. Patrick's Day tradition of my own...making plans for Midori Sours and maybe just a taste of Guinness (yuck), and then getting assed out. Every year something happens that prevents me from following through with my plans. Granted, for the past couple of years I really don't feel like going out to a bar or club. But because it was St. Pat's, I was REALLY looking forward to going out last night. Unfortunately, my sewing skills aren't that great so it's taking me a lot longer to finish this dress than I had anticipated. I had to stay one more night to work on it and since I'm working this weekend and the project is due Tuesday, I really wanted to finish yesterday afternoon and then celebrate at McMurphy's Tavern.

So as disappointed as I was to spend one of my favorite holidays in a sweatshop, my sister was much more upset than I was. Upon being informed that I had to cancel plans with my friends, my sister responded with, "Damn you! You could have met your future husband tonight and I want a niece or nephew!" She had even bought some sparkly green bracelets for me to where out. When she came home, we were no where near being done with the dress at that point and, once she saw how much work was involved, she didn't make me leave.

So now my sister is acting like a biological clock by proxy.

**ETA** My niece got an A on her project. Now that's what I'm talking about!

10 Things Guaranteed to Put Me In A Good Mood

I can always find something to blog about on 2Peas.

1. Sour Punch Straws
2. hearing a Violent Femmes song on the radio
3. flannel pj's
4. cold Dr. Pepper in a can
5. hearing from old friends
6. sucking on a lime
7. getting hugs & kisses from my sister's kids
8. getting a compliment
9. finding money I'd forgotten about (doesn't happen nearly enough)
10. Vegas baby, you just can't be in a bad mood in Vegas

Painting

Been busy doing this bit of craziness in my craft closet. Don't worry, it's only one very small wall.

McDreamy

So I first fell in love with Patrick Dempsey when I was 10 years old and watched "Can't Buy Me Love." I really think he was the template for my taste in men. It's no secret I'm a sucker for goofy, nerdy men with big noses. Since then, anytime I would see him in a movie I'd be the only person in the theater going, "Oh my God! It's Patrick Dempsey!!!" Now that he's such a big name thanks to his McDreamy role on Grey's Anatomy, he's everywhere. And I'm loving every minute of it. To be honest, I HATED Grey's Anatomy when I watched the pilot. The only reason I continued to watch (on mute for a few episodes) was to see my darling lover boy Patrick. But now I'm completely addicted to this show. I'm even seriously contemplating buying a McDreamy shirt. Yeah, I'm a geek.

Here are then and now pics of my darling lover boy. Yeah, he makes me wanna do bad things.

And the letdown...

So the weekend o' dates never materialized. Homeboy from Seattle called Saturday afternoon to say his friends were having a barbeque (on a drizzly day? yuck) and if I'd like to go. Uh, drive way out of my way to Lawndale (double yuck) to who know's what kind of situation to hang out with a bunch of people I don't know? No thanks.

Then Sunday, what can I say, I bailed on biker dude. I just was never enthused by this poor guy, and then I REALLY wasn't feeling adventurous enough to go on my first motorcycle ride with this cold ass weather. I felt really bad for him, but let's be honest, I felt worse for myself. It's all about me right?

When it rains, it pours...

I've noticed that when it comes to guys, there will be extended periods of drought when NOTHING comes my way. But every few years (yes years, when I was younger it was every few months, but now gravity and time are leaving their marks), there will suddenly be a convergence of interest at the same time. Today, Valentine's Day 2006, I have had 3 men express interest. THREE.

#1 A guy at the hospital asked me to be his Valentine and gave me a bag of candy. I don't know how I feel about dating someone from work.
#2 Someone I went out with year asked me out for Sunday and just happened to be in my area today. Hmm.
#3 A friend of a friend who will be flying into LA this weekend.

Why can't these things be rationed out? My sister says it helps to keep one from being desperate. Maybe.

I know that none of these will go anywhere. But it is nice to know I'm not yet completely repulsive to all guys.

So as my sister often tells me, a girl's gotta eat.

Hitting a Spinster Milestone

Today after running some errands, I realized I hadn't eaten in about 20 hours. Remembering that I had nothing to eat at home and standing right in front of Olive Garden, I decided to have a meal at a sit-down restaurant alone. ALONE. I've never done this. Sure, I enjoy spending time alone and running errands by myself, but going into an actual restaurant, sitting down, and eating sans company, that is a first. But I figured, hey, it was only a few years ago that I started going to the movies alone and that turned out to be a great thing, why not try dining alone?

It was immediately obvious that I was a thing to be pitied. Here are some of the choice comments from my excursion.

Greeter outside: "Are you meeting anyone?"
Me: "No."
Greeter [opening the door]: "Oh." (This "oh" was just a beat too long).

Hostess: "One? Is that right?" (Hostess looks genuinely anguished by this)...
Me: "Sure is."
Hostess: "Let's see what we can do for you." (Hostess is very cheery now)...
(A minute later...)
Hostess: "Is a table ok?"
Me: "That's fine."
Hostess: "Oh, let's just get you a booth."

(Upon arriving at booth, Hostess takes away the extra settings)...
Hostess: "Sorry." (The sad emoticon inflected in the comment.)

Server: "I'll get your meal as soon as possible." (Insert another sad emoticon).

Later...

Server: "Are you still ok?" (The day's last sad face.)

Now maybe I was just being sensitive, but I really don't recall quite such comments from restaurant employees. It made me chuckle a bit. I'm really proud that I actually did it, and enjoyed the experience. I could have done without most of the pitying gestures, but like I said, it's a milestone in my spinsterdom. No doubt there will be many occassions when I'll have to dine alone, I'm glad I picked today to test it out. Overall it was quite an enjoyable experience, thanks to the scrapbooking mags I had with me. I was able to plan out some simple layouts for a gift I'll be giving on Saturday.

Now vacationing alone, THAT will be my spinster magnus opus.

My life is monumentally boring...

and my blog is broken yet again. Fuck this.

10 Everyday Items I Couldn't Live Without

So fellow Pea and Foxy Michelle posted this challenge on 2Peas like 2 seconds ago, so I promised her I'd put it on my blog.

The 10 Everyday Items I Couldn't Live Without are:
1. my computer
2. Silicone Glove lotion from AVON
3. Labello lip balm
4. my shower radio
5. bras
6. Nitrile gloves
7. nail polish
8. color in any shape or form, i.e. colored pens, SB supplies, clothes
9. warm socks
10. my comb for "ethnic hair," as my hair is quite enthusiastic ;)

And here's another challenge I saw on 2Peas.
What are 5 Things That You Consistently Worry About Each Day?

1. my fake tooth flying out of my mouth
2. my Shooting Butt Pain (aka sciatica) acting up
3. any manner of bug flying into my mouth
4. locking myself out of my apartment
5. Ok, that's it, I just don't worry that much I guess. The things I worry about are kinda lame, but that's a good thing right?

I got tagged by Bucket a while back, but I'm barely getting around to this. Sorry.

Four movies you would watch over and over again (in no real order):
Say Anything
Dirty Dancing
Singing the Rain
Grease

Four places you have lived:
in LA-Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, South Central, Atwater Village
and El Paso, Texas

Four T.V. shows you love to watch:
Medium
Lost
Gray's Anatomy
How I Met Your Mother (LOVING THIS!)

Four places you have been on vacation:
Cancun
Puerto Vallarta
Italy
Greece

Four web-sites I visit daily:
only FoxyCroppers
but almost daily, TwoPeas

Four of my favorite foods:
Buffalo Wings
French Dips
Picadillo (a type of soup)
anything with lime

Four places I’d rather be right now:
at the movies
on a beach in Cancun
in New York watching Wicked
in new York watching Martha Stewart live

Back from Mexico

So I'm back from Zacatecas. I took about 400 pictures, not very good ones I'm afraid. But here is the absolute worst picture I've ever taken, and of course, it's of someone I really dig. "Vampiro" from Jaguares, whose butt inspires lust in my otherwise pure soul, was on my flight from Mexico City! He walked passed me while getting to his seat, but slowly enough for me to think, "Damn, that scruffy guy is cute." Then I thought he looked familiar, but upon glancing at his backside I immediately recognized him. Jaguares are playing at the Anaheim HOB this weekend and somehow I missed knowing about it. Damn. Oh well, I have to work anyway. So homeboy was just sitting on the bench at LAX waiting for his ride when I took this picture. I'd have had a perfect shot of him at customs but didn't want to risk undue attention to myself (had some contraband in my luggage, nothing crazy though). So anyway, that trip ended on an exciting note.

So I came back home and found out my college roommate Katie is now a mother! Her little guy Will looks absolutely adorable. I made him a little present so hopefully I'll get to send that out tomorrow.

I'm really lazy right now and I have to go to work tonight, so I'll add a couple of pictures from my trip tomorrow.

This was on fellow Foxy Erin's blog. Yeah, I'm swiping it.

This is me - A to Z

A-Age: 28
B-Bed size: Full
C-Chore you hate: Taking out the trash
D-Dessert you love: Warm apple cobbler w/ ice cream
E-Essential start your day item: Shower
F-Favorite actor(s): Tom Hanks
G-Gold or Silver: Prefer silver but I only ever wear a gold crucifix
H-Height: 5'4"
I-Instruments you play: the recorder, but only one song
J-Job title: Clinical Nurse II
K-Kids: NONE
L-Living arrangements: Just me in my slum
M-Mom's name: Herminia (Mina, Mama Medina)
N-Name something you love to do: Sing at the top of my lungs in my car
O-Overnight hospital stay other than birth: None
P-Phobia: Worms
Q-Quote you like: Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of my own mind.
R-Right or left handed: Right
S-Siblings: Sister (35 yrs)
T-Time you woke up today: 9am (NOT like me at all!)
U-Unique habit: I put things in order at stores (obsessive compulsive trait)
V-Vegetable you hate: bell peppers
W-Worst habit: Procrastination
X-X-rays you've had: right arm, right foot, left hand, teeth, thorax
Y-Yummy food you can make: Turkey
Z- Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Another Crafty Day

Made this altered canvas wall hanging at a class taught by fellow Foxy Cropper Lisa Spiegel. Just love how it turned out. The Basic Grey paper I chose is a little crazy, but the black and white picture I'll use will tone it down a bit. One of the ladies in the class said she'd love to see the picture for it (she must have thought it would be kinky). It'll be a prim and proper picture of us at my friend's wedding this summer.

Last night we had our 12th Annual Groupie Christmas Get Together. We've been doing this since Senior year in high school. Last night those punk asses pulled a mean trick on me. I'd worked Friday night and hadn't slept at all on Saturday, so I fell asleep while watching Elf. Gracie woke me up to tell me that everyone had opened their gifts and had gone home while I slept. Being the gullible oaf that I am, I totally fell for it and was so disappointed that I'd missed all the presents. While I was trying to wrap my mind around their having left, they were busting up in the kitchen. Meanies.

So I got my present after all. Nga got me some comfy pajama bottoms and stinky soaps for my bathroom. It was awesome to get what I needed, but I like the fun of doing the gift exchange White Elephant style. This year I wasn't the only sleepy one there, so we didn't get as imaginative with our pictures as last year, but had a nice time just the same.

Feeling crafty...

and frustrated that I lost my post. And that my pics didn't go where I wanted them. Aargh.

Anyway, I've been in a crocheting frenzy this week thanks to inspiration from joining the Atwater Village Stitch n' Bitch a couple of weeks ago. I have enough expensive hobbies, I don't think knitting will join them anytime soon. For now crocheting (the tackier of the two) is enough for me. Here are the scarves I made this week.

Today I went downtown with Bucket and Crystle to shop for fabric and ribbon and bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Yum. Anyway, I'm thinking of making tote bags a la Bungalow 360. Really digging the Michael Miller and Alexander Henry fabrics. We searched high and low for Amy Butler fabric but had no luck. Here are my fabric finds. Somewhere in my craft closet I have a pile of cute flannel I'd earmarked for pajama bottoms, but thinking of all the stuff I have to get done before the holidays, I may just put that off for next year.