Ordinary People

Why is it that gyms have so many mirrors everywhere? And don't people who continually stare at themselves in said mirrors realize there are other people around who can see them stare at themselves?

Case in point: Last night I watched a gentleman come back to a mirror 4 separate times to flex and look at himself from every possible angle. Mind you, he wasn't lifting weights at the time (which wouldn't be an excuse anyway), but he was simply walking back and forth between the pool, jacuzzi and sauna. At his last turn, he rinsed off, then proceeded to sit on the bench next to the shower while leaving the water on. He dried off, leaned in close to the mirror to inspect a few imperfections on his face, then put on a pair of shorts over his wet trunks. He put on a t-shirt, then his shoes... all of this WHILE WATCHING HIMSELF in the mirror. He even put his watch on and kept glancing up to look at himself.

And he never did turn off the shower water.

As a side note: why do people feel the need to talk on their cell phones while at the gym? Is your conversation that important that you can't wait the 20, 30, 40 minutes to call the person when you're done? And does the person really want to hear you panting while you're on the crosstrainer?

Last night there was a girl who was sitting IN the spa, typing away on her Sidekick? Now, I don't have one, but I'm guessing those things cost a little more than chump change. And again, just a guess, but I'm thinking that Sidekick+ water does NOT equal functioning Sidekick once you fished it out. Let's say you never did drop it in the water, and you were even lucky enough not to have any splashed on it at any point... But the spa?? Isn't the steam reason enough to leave it in your locker? Or better yet, your car?

Whatever...

It sounds so sweet with the sun sinkin' low

Ohhhh, Mexico.


Rather than run down my entire trip to Cabo, I'm just going to give the finer (random) highlights. Please note: this is not to diminish the AMAZING time we had on the catamaran, snorkeling with ginormous schools of fish, horseback riding on the beach, going ATV riding for the first time and having a blast, and the amazing views we had from our room and our breakfast area PLUS being forced to wake up each morning to the sound of crashing waves... Those were all very important and essential to the trip. Got it? Now let's move on:

In Cabo, they have only one main highway. When Cass suddenly called out "Cocos Frios!!!" from the van we were riding in on our way to go horseback riding, the driver asked in broken English if she wanted to go back. On the side of the road there was a man who would open a coconut, stick a straw in it, and sell it to you for $2.50 and Cass couldn't have been more excited. So the driver exited the main road and went back the other way. The funny part was that it was such a random "offramp" and "onramp" that I doubt I would have ever figured out that's exactly what they were among all of the random hills and piles of dirt. It struck us as very humorous, but I guess you had to be there.





One night we at at this restaurant in downtown Cabo called "The Office". It's entirely outdoors on the beach with rows of tables and chairs. Being that it's on the beach, and it was dinner, you can probably imagine it gets quite chilly. But I guess in wanting to keep the atmosphere as purely Mexican as possible, they don't bring out portable heating lamps. Instead, they have guys whose jobs it is to bring you a huge Mexican-woven blanket to put around you. Nice touch.

At the airport heading home, I smelled a very potent gentleman behind me. Definitely someone trying to mask the smell of a hangover - or a morning session at the bar - or both - with some very Stetson-esque cologne/aftershave combo. This gentleman leaving Mexico is described as follows: mid-40's, greasy hair slicked back, sunglasses, button-up plaid shirt with a too-tight brownish leather jacket, tight jeans, a huge belt buckle and cowboy boots. I breathed a sigh of relief (and clean air) when we walked outside to board our plane, and then another when he sat nowhere near me. I was just about to move away from the two strangers next to me and into one of the two empty seats next to Heather when the smelly gentleman was being ushered to his correct seat. Apparently he picked the first seat that looked good, thus ignoring his actual seat assignment. He was seated in between his two "buddies", neither of which wanted to sit by him for obvious reasons. His friend then suggested he just sit in the empty seat infront of their row - in the exact seat I was just about to move to. Because he had caused a bit of a scene in switching seats, I was nervous for Heather being seated next to him - and for the rest of us around him. Oxygen is already limited on an airplane and now it would be tainted the whole way home.

Well, seems I had nothing to worry about for Heather. Within the first 15 seconds of him sitting down he had begun making small talk, and she said these exact words, "it would be really great if you didn't talk for the rest of the trip. Thanks." I think my jaw literally hit the ground, as did his two buddies' behind her. Classic, classic, classic. The four or five rows ahead and behind ours laughed so hard that it pretty much shut him up and he didn't say anything more. Pretty sure this was in part due to the fact that he was passed out. But whatever works.

I have just a few more words that will forever remind me of our time spent in Cabo:
Shake Boy
"lobster juice"
"wine opener"

It's a Beautiful Day

I have been in an extraordinarily good mood the past two days. There are several factors involved with this. Allow me to run through the various reasons. It's really great because my day ended horribly on Sunday. I'm either being blessed in overabundance for that experience, or I'm recognizing the small everyday things with my eyes open wider. Either way, hopefully I'll be able to continue to add to it as I think of more.

1. My brother got good results back from his MRI on his back on Monday. No surgery.
2. I got my tax return.
3. I heard House of Pain's "Jump Around" on the way to work today and had my own Dance Party, USA in my car. (Thanks, Hedder)
4. I finally hashed out a few things with a friend of mine and walked away feeling really good about it.
5. I got my computer back. Twice.
6. My computer is finally working just fine. (Thanks William)
7. I ordered a new phone and got a huge discount on it (Thanks Z!).

Nice to Meet You Anyway

Yes, I am STILL listening to Gavin DeGraw.

Trader Joe's

Tonight was my monthly trip to Trader Joe's to stock up on all things vegetarian. Surprise, surprise more randomness was dropped in my lap. Here are three examples.

As I entered the store, I was having a conversation with Heather on my cell phone. She said something that made me laugh... A good laugh. While I was laughing, I was able to steer my handicapped cart with only one hand. I ran into the fruit stand that was being stocked by two guys. One of the guys just stopped and stared at me smiling for a long time while I was distracted trying to steer the cart away from any and all objects. I finally realized what he was doing and immediately wondered what was going through his mind. Probably "get off the phone you crazy lady and steer your stupid cart away from my stand". Well, actually all the people that work at TJ's are super nice, and we crossed paths a few minutes later and he made sure to make a big production of steering WAAAAY around me with his load. We both had a good laugh.
In case you're wondering why this is random, it's not often that I realize that I can sometimes be the object of randomness for other people. This was quite possibly one of those times.

The second thing was as I was standing near the veggie meat and cheese section, I was standing behind a woman. The only reason I noticed her was that as she stood there, she all of a sudden started to do a sort of dance, hopping up and down, moving one leg up at a time. It was kind of like a more hyper "pee pee dance". All of a sudden she dashed away quickly, leaving her cart. She apparently felt the need to browse the sauces at that moment, then returned for her cart, pushing it to her next destination, still sort of hopping... SO WEIRD. Serious Twilight Zone experience.

The third and last random thing was that as I was grabbing my bags to leave after paying, I looked up and noticed a guy who was just entering. I knew IMMEDIATELY that I reckognized him from somewhere but I couldn't put my finger on it. This happens to me all the time and it makes me CRAZY!! Did I know him through a friend? Was he the husband of a girl I knew? Did I have a class with him at one time? Did he work somewhere I frequented often? It's still obviously driving me crazy and I know that if I hadn't been leaving at that moment, I would have probably followed him around a little just to get a better look to try to jog my memory.

Oh, such a sad existence. Maybe not sad exactly, but human, I guess.

Confucious says

There are a few things in life that really confuse me. Here are two:

Spinners on cars that don't deserve them. I'm not exactly a fan of spinners, but I do understand their purpose, which is to draw attention to your car. A NICE car. Now, maybe it's because I live in Riverside, the armpit of Southern California where meth labs and mullets are in abundance. But I can honestly say I've seen spinners on everything. But the funniest thing is that spinners on most of these cars are the ONLY thing they've improved on their car. Maybe they're hoping for people to understand the irony of seeing spinners on a 1994 Chevy Lumina with a fading paint job, or on a beat up Honda Civic hatchback. But stop it. It's not ironic. It's annoying.

Another thing that confuses me is in this day and age where I can post my random thoughts on a website with relatively no effort at all, where students can download their homework from a website their teacher has set up, where we have sattelites that can track storms down to the street we live on, and where we can launch a big piece of metal into space and back.... Where we have all this amazing technology, yet somehow we can't get a news reporter in New York to interview someone in California via satellite without a FREAKING 4 SECOND DELAY on their response!?!?!?!? Figure it out!!!! And stop driving me crazy with it.

Ground control to Major Tom

It's midnight. I am leaving on a plane headed for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico tomorrow... er, today. I'm all packed and ready to go. Although I started packing on Monday, so I'm not exactly sure what is in there. Just hoping it's clothes.

I'm sure I will have plenty to report on when I return.

It's H & H, so it's gonna be good.

Hasta la vista.

You sing your song while sittin' at a red light

Yesterday morning I had one of the best surprises. I was invited to go see Jonny Lang at The Troubadour do an acoustic show. Seems my friend's friend couldn't go and gave her all 4 tickets. So not only did I get to see Jonny, but I got to see him do an acoustic show, AND I got to see him for free. These are all good things. VERY good things.

If you're not familiar with The Troubadour, it is a very famous club in Hollywood. Let me be more specific - it is a VERY TINY very famous club in Hollywood. EVERYONE has played there. Yes, literally everyone. It's also where I "ran into" Philip Seymore Hoffman *sigh, my love* a few years ago, but that's a story for another time. Any spot you stand is a good spot, no matter what. The fact that it was at the Troubadour meant that it was gonna be a good show, no matter what the music was like. Turned out the music was good, too.

Keri Noble opened up the night. Good singer. So-so material. Really, she was just filler and she admitted it. Not a bad way to pass the time.

If you read my post on the last time I saw Jonny, then you would recall a certain rather crazy girl in the crowd. Well, our friend was in Hollywood last night, and in rare form. Thankfully she was far enough away from us where we could laugh at her without her having any idea.

Jonny's set was absolutely amazing. The band sat in a semi-circle most of the night, except when the drummer was a little off to the side at his mini kit. Great vibe, as you could watch them all play off each other, instead of the typical set up with the lead singer up front, and everyone else... everywhere else. We were about 4 people deep a little off to the side. I got to see all of Jonny's creepy faces he makes up close and personal. At one point, he came over to the keyboard which was on the side I was standing. He was shaking people's hands between songs, having dialogue with the crowd. It was awesome. Such a great club.

He's got an entirely new band with the exception of his bass player. Not sure what sparked this huge change, but it was great. I'm a huge fan of bands changing things up a little and doing acoustic sets and this band was absolutely amazing. Everyone looked to be about 12 years old, but played like they were old pros. It would be interesting to see what they were like plugged in.

Jonny has made a few life changes recently, most notably of which is that he became a Christian a few years ago. It's been reported he was sick of the booze, the drugs, the empty life he felt he was leading. He made his first record when he was 15 and started touring immediately after with the biggest names in blues and got caught up in that life like most do. So he has now chosen to follow Christ, and it's showing in his music and his demeanor. I've been a fan of his since way before we began to believe the same things, so it only makes me like him more now that he's been bold about his faith and is now starting to sing about it. His new material is really incredible and positive (I guess he's not technically a "blues guy" anymore then, huh?). He did all the old favorites and also did a few covers: James Taylor and Stevie Wonder. Also did an old gospel song that had everyone clapping along and singing about God.

The Troubadour doesn't have any rules against photography last night, so I happily snapped away. Here are some pics from the evening. Good times.


I just liked this pic


A view of the set up for the night, minus the keyboard player who is not in the shot on the left. Look closely and you'll see the beginnings of a scary face.


Keyboard player who is actually the electric guitar player who is doing double duty on keys and lap steel. Pretty sure he's 12, and he has probably the best posture of anyone I've ever seen.


Jonny on keys, singin' his little heart out.


Well done, boys. Take a bow.

Magically Delicious

I have recently re-discovered the joy of Lucky Charms. Ever since I saw them at Heather's house but she didn't have any milk - I have been dying for some ever since.

I remember when the purple horseshoes were new, and what a huge deal we thought that was. "Chris!! There's a new shape in the Lucky Charms!!!" We HAD to have the Lucky Charms right away to check out the new purple horseshoes for ourselves. Turned out they tasted... well, exactly the same as everything else.

Because I do random things very often in my life, I typed "Lucky Charms" in to google, just to see what I would come up with. The first article that popped up detailed the harm in Lucky Charms, since they're full of additives and sugar, which is why it tastes so stinkin' good...

Of course the General Mills website states that Lucky Charms are full of calcium with 12 vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, General Mills, I'm not sure that moons, hearts, and rainbows actually qualify as vitamins and minerals.

But while I was searching Google, I also came up with a little quiz based on your preference for marshmallow shape. Not sure how accurate or even how worth your time this is, but if you're interested, click here. I also came upon the tragic story of how the creator of Lucky Charms died while driving to visit his comatose daughter. Not quite so lucky, it seems.

Oh well. The love affair was fun while it lasted. But next thing you'll tell me is that Corn Pops aren't actually made of corn, and are therefore not a vegetable.

Tough Ain't Enough

Okay, so I did okay on my Oscar picks. Not too disappointed in any of the winners, except for Sideways for Best Adapted Screenplay. And I still wish Finding Neverland would have come away with something. But who needs a freakin' Oscar to tell you you're good? Right Mr. Scorsese??