!

I just found out my boyfriend is a published writer!

Comic books and fossils...now I know he was supercool when he was 12. At least he was $20 rich!

another great thing about LA

Even though we're technically paying for water, heat, and trash removal on top of our rent (we didn't have to do that in NYC), our utility bill here is half...that's right, HALF...of what N and I used to pay in New York. And we have central air, and we don't torture ourselves by only turning on the a/c when we're about to keel over from overheating! We leisurely turn it on whenever the thought enters our minds. Wow, what a luxury.

too many stewie posts, i know

But here's two videos I just uploaded that have been in my archives for awhile.

First, Gashi (my brother's puppy) chasing a laser dot while Stewie stands altogether unimpressed and bored to the side:

Then, a pretty boring video of Stewie's first trip to Silverlake dog park that I previously blogged about:

marina del rey

A couple days ago, I had to visit a fulfillment house for work in Marina del Rey so N picked me up from there at the end of the day. We hadn't been to Marina del Rey yet, so he brought Stewie in the car and we decided to walk along the water for a bit. Unfortunately, that particular beach doesn't allow dogs on the sand (leash or no leash), so we were relegated to walking along the sidewalks and piers. Still beautiful, though! We saw a seal in the water and heard it barking, along with a rowing crew team and lots of interesting birds. There was also this weird phenomenon of people sitting in parked cars staring at the water. The water was lined with lots of empty benches and the weather was beautiful...why would anyone want to sit inside their sealed-up car and look at the outside world through glass instead of just exiting their car??? There are a lot of things about LA that I still don't get.

That's Stewie trying to stick his snout between the fence rails to look at the water.

another one of N's torture sessions

a funnel on stewie's head. he looks so happy to be wearing it!...right?

poor stewie...

This is the kind of stuff N subjects him too. That's one of my hairbands N put around his snout while he was buried in his favorite blanket. Who am I kidding...I laughed for a long time at him, too.

But don't worry...he's fine afterward :)

love it

love, love, love it.

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/10/browser_game_pick_small_worlds.html

a quake, a quake, oh what a mess they make!

N and I just experienced our second earthquake since we got here in late January. Actually, it was my first, since I slept through the first one...kindof. N shook me awake in the middle of the night saying "Did you feel it?? Did you feel it???" and I mumbled something like "leave me alone I'm tired" and went back to sleep.

I knew earthquakes were here (I experienced one when I was at Berkeley for 9 months) but I certainly didn't expect them to be this frequent. According to the government, Southern California gets several hundred quakes a year that you can actually feel. The past two felt like waves, whereas the one I felt in Berkeley felt like vibration. It was enough to make our blinds and hanging pots clank together.

My cubicle at work has a bright red construction hat in it and I thought it was leftover from someone's Halloween costume. Apparently everyone has one at their desk for earthquakes! I grew up in Illinois where everyone's fears revolved around tornadoes; I know nothing of earthquake safety. Should probably brush up on that.

lack of focus

This blog is quickly losing relevance to NYC or LA, which was definitely not my intention. I had grand aspirations for it to reach a wider audience who was either interested in either city or wanted to do a move like we did. But i'm pretty sure that I know each of you who are reading this personally, so I'm sure your reading is due to a personal connection to me anyway. So let the unfocused word barf begin!

Time for a D-I-E-T update. It's almost the end of week 5, and I've lost 5 pounds so far and N has lost 10 (stupid boys--isn't this always the way?? I swear it's easier for men to lose weight than women). It was N's birthday last Thursday so I first gave him a UCLA water bottle to hint of the gift to come, then he opened his Amazon packages which held the Perfect Pushup, Perfect Pullup and an arm hanging accessory to do ab exercises with the bar. He'd had his eyes on this stuff for years now, I think. And it's not a superfluous purchase because it's for health reasons, right? ;)

The last time I successfully did a pullup was in 9th grade, I think. And then I did two before giving out. So I don't think I'll be getting much use out of that gizmo. But I can use the Perfect Pushup, right? Apparently not--I attempted one and fell flat on my face. I then tried a girly (ah-hem, I mean *modified*) pushup with them and succeeded, but it was really tough. I always thought girly pushups were too easy, but with the perfect pushup they are really difficult, but doable. Maybe I can get some use out of it in the end.

We set a somewhat arbitrary date to "end" our diet--my brother's wedding at the end of June. So we still have a long ways to go. I'm hoping I can add another 10 to that 5 I've lost so far.