Alas, no shirtless Matthew McConaughey

Friday was the last day of Spring Break. For. The. Rest. Of. My. Life. Decided it was a good day to go hiking in Runyon Canyon, the park in West Hollywood that boasts Matthew McConaughey and Orlando Bloom as frequenters. It was also one of the things/places to do/see before I leave LA.


Absolutely gorgeous day for a hike. The park has two ways to go up. Left and right. We went "left" thinking it was the more strenuous path and we wanted a workout. On the way up, I remember making comments about how yeah, this is the tough way up. On the way down was when we discovered that we had gone the wrong way. The "right" way was actually hillier, rockier and steeper and subsequently I almost ate it a couple of times. In retrospect, the left path was paved. I really don't know why we thought we were being hardcore hikers on a paved road....


After about five mintues.

After about three mintues.

Me.

Wes.

Sprinting to the top.

Wes, when we reached the top.

Nature gives me a runny nose.

"Not" staged at all...

Friday Fanny Pack Redux.

Wes is tall.

I liked this house with the rooftop pool.

"Urban dystopia" or "Two garbage cans and a bench with graffiti on them"

A gopher? Also saw a lizard thingy and butterflies. Ah, nature.

I always get a kick out of the Hollywood sign.

Stunning view? Yes. Smog? Yes.

I think that's the Valley, or at least North.

Wouldn't mind this villa either with the infinity pool.

Note the unpaved trail we should have been ascending not descending.

On our way down, we noticed a small spot of smoke over yonder. By the time we got to Amoeba on Sunset this is what it turned into.

And then a few minutes later. Turns out the fire was started by two teenagers from Illinois lighting firecrackers.

All in all, a really great way to spend high noon on a beautiful Friday, minus the fire.

March 29, 2006: devouring a Whitecastle in Manhattan after watching a Knicks game


March 27, 2007: went to the eye doctor and had my eyes dilated, was given these floppy Terminator shades to protect my eyeballs

Like I said, this year's spring break has paled in comparison. Not only did I not go anywhere but instead of working on my portfolio, I've been goofing off every night this week. It hasn't been a total loss though. Here's why:

-Added Kahula to my almond boba one night. Why have I not done this before?
-Tossed my first salad. Usually Wes is in charge of the salad tossing but this time I stepped up. It wasn't a perfect toss but pretty good for my first time. Wes said my tossing had too much juice. Salad tossing jokes never get old.
-Resurrected the idea of getting a tattoo except now I have the perfect design. Left forearm, a little below my wrist, off center will be a silhouette of a cat, from the back, with its cute little paw on the page of an open book. Cat? I love cats! Book? I love books! I really, really, really, sincerely don't think I will ever get tired of looking at that. I might even have the cat slightly pudgy so it looks like Perry. I don't see how a library can refuse to give me a job after I get it. That my friend is called dedication.

Spring Break '07

Last year's Spring Break was spent in New York waiting for a table at Chickalicious, eating Whitecastle, and rubbing elbows with Naima from Top Model at Hotel Gansevoort. This year's Spring Break involves nothing but working on my portfolio so that I can graduate. I had planned on going into work for half a day and then planting myself in front of a computer in the Mac Lab but alas I slept in and am now planted in front of my laptop listening to my Amy Winehouse station on Pandora. Amy Winehouse kinda reminds me of Gina Gershon, or her somewhat younger, less attractive sister.

I guess I can't really complain. Not including Friday's ditch day, I had myself a pretty good weekend. My weekend summed up in purchases and subsequent returns:
1) White, grey, and pink $6 tees from H&M
2) Levi's 565 jeans (from the Beverly Hills store no less). I've given up completely on getting skinny jeans.
3) Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses in plum from the new Barney's CO-OP at the Grove. Instead of putting my purchase in an ordinary, low end plastic bag, they gave me a black canvas tote bag. Sweet!
4) White button down shirt by Madonna for H&M which I returned the next day because Madonna does not know how to design clothing. All of that stuff was crap, in particular the catsuit which I considered buying before seeing it in person.
5) Wicked tickets. Finally.

It's a little scary to think that by next Monday, I'll be starting my absolute last quarter in grad school...

KROQ DITCH DAY 2007

Yesterday was Kroq's Ditch Day at Six Flags featuring a private concert with Modest Mouse. Wes won tickets and since he never has anything to do and I was finished with my internship and finals, off we went.

Theme park attire always requires a fanny pack. Stylish and practical.


Batman was way excited that I was way excited to meet him.

Had no idea Wes was a big Speedy Gonzalez fan.

Flashing our Kroq wrist passes just before going on Viper. It was great because there was absolutely no line.

The plan was to ride, eat, ride, eat. The turkey leg marks the beginning.

Chicken strips and fries, not as exciting as a turkey leg but yummy nonetheless.

Good job Wes.

Ride #2: Granny's Grand Prix.

Granny Wes.

Had no idea there was a petting zoo at Six Flags. I'm pretty sure that's a goat freaking me out.

I want to say this is a pig or a hog.

If I had been faster, you would've seen the goat and Wes staring at each other fondly.

"THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!!!"

Just fun. Before all of this, we also squeezed in The Riddler, Colossus, and Log Jammer. Again no lines. So great!

It had been awhile since we last ate (an hour), so Wes decided it was time for funnel cake. This would be a good time to mention the hordes of Thai teenagers working at the park. When we first got there, I said to Wes that this must be where all the Thai people are because everyone we talked to had a Thai accent and looked Thai. Then I noticed that their name tags said "THAILAND" and I thought, something funny is going on here. The rides, the food carts, the cleaning up people were all Thai kids. I guess Magic Mountain is too cheap to pay regular American teenagers that they had to fly out my kin. I get this awful feeling these Thai kids had no idea what they were signing up for. Someone in Thailand probably promised them a great summer job near Los Angeles. But anyway, the Thai girl that rang up Wes didn't know how to give him the proper change and then the other Thai girl messed up on his funnel cake which prompted Wes to ask, "How many Thai girls does it take to make funnel cake?"

Trying my damndest to eat both the funnel cake and my blue raspberry Icee.

Wes is such a trooper. Afterwards we went on Ninja, our last ride. No Goliath, which I'd been on on another occassion, Superman, or Tatsu but that's ok because if we had, I'm quite sure the funnel cake and Icee would have reappeared.

Geez, I don't know when I last ate some good ol' runny cheese nachos. By the looks of it, I'd say awhile. This was funny too because Wes and I just chose a random rock to sit on to eat our nachos before going to find the theater for Modest Mouse. Some lady came by and asked if we were in line and I gave her a funny look because it was obvious that we weren't but then we looked around and did sorta seem like there was a lot of people around us all of a sudden. So Wes went to inquire and it turned out we were in line for Modest Mouse. Perfect!

Concert was hella fun. They had two drummers, two bass players, keyboardist, and the lead singer/guitarist. At one point, they also brought out a trumpet, electric banjo, and accordian. I might have to take up the electric banjo. Sounds good. They came out for an encore too but that was sorta runied when the people in front of us started farting some really foul, rotten egg, farts.

I couldn't leave without a giant lollipop. This thing is 11 servings and has over 120 grams of sugar. Came back home and took a "nap" from 7-11, showered, and went back to sleep. High five for Ditch Day!!!!

Jackson Pollack vs. Darth Vader

I'm turning into one of those annoying biotches who say things like "I can't wait to go to the gym" or "I just know when my body craves protein". HAHA. Actually, Arthur overheard that last one in WeHo when we met up for brunch. Anyway, when I was at the gym today, I noticed that the whiteboard outside one of the racquetball courts said "Jackson Pollack vs. Darth Vader". Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's a fair match up.

It's Finals time again, the most dreaded/beloved time of the school year. On the one hand, there's always hella crap to get done but on the other hand, you don't have to go to class (usually) and you can stay up late whining and procrastinating about all the work you have to do and of course, not do any of it until the last minute, and then you get to go to campus and turn in your last minute bullshit and complain to your fellow classmates about how f'ing tired you are because you only went to sleep for half an hour, an hour ago.

LUV IT.

The Audacity of Reading For Fun

I picked up Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope because ever since I heard his name, and went who?, I felt compelled to find out everything about him. I saw him on 60 minutes and was not disappointed.

Also picked up The Kiterunner because everyone keeps saying how good it is and now it's going to be made into a movie. I'll be damned if I watch a movie adapted from a book before reading the book itself.

The Secret was revealed to me this weekend (much thanks to Christine for loaning us the DVD so we didn't have to spend $24.95). I actually have a previous blog (October 27th entry) on The Secret before I knew that it was The Secret I was blogging about. The Secret seems ridiculous at first but I don't mind saying that I watched it twice. The second time around, I watched with pen and paper in hand. It's basically 90 minutes of listening to people say the same thing over and over again but in a slightly different way. For example, The Secret tells you that "You are the creator of your own reality" and that "Whatever it is you are feeling, is a perfect reflection, of what is in the process of becoming." Say what? Exactly. Look out Universe, Nina's in control!

Also watched 300. It was visually stunning and when I say visually stunning I mean it was an endless parade of barenaked torsos. Damn, I gots to get me a Spartan!

I'm Rich Biatch

So far I've earned a whopping $0.41 after enrolling in Bank of America's Keep the Change program. If you haven't seen their commericals, basically what they do is round to the nearest doller every purchase you make with your check card and deposit the difference in your savings account. YES. Free money. So being the crafty person I am, I've taken to paying for things, like dinner bills, by adding a penny. For example, if I pay $25.01, then BofA will deposit $0.99 into my account. I'm rolling in pennies.

Since it's always easier talking about other people than it is yourself, let's talk about Wes. Wes is currently on temporary sabbatical (read: unemployment) from Yahoo and is going through a mini quarter life crisis. His new current thinking is that he wants to be a music producer. Wes gave me a crash course on samplers, synthesizers, and selling your beats for $50,000. He said we could be the next Neptunes, or Timbaland, or Cee Lo. They could call us WeNi. HAHA.

Currently obsessed with Lil Star by Kelis ft. Cee Lo. Also have been using Pandora but was outraged when it played the Pussycat Dolls' StickWitU as part of my Musiq radio playlist.

There's no wedding in sight but I enjoy exclaiming "I'm gonna have this at my wedding!". So far the list includes:
-fresh warm tortillas from Casablanca
-Nut N Honey shakes from Cafe 101
-ice cream waffles from Rocky Cola
At this rate, I might also have to include ambulance trips to the ER.

Also watched Zodiac. David Fincher did an incredible job of capturing San Francisco in the 70s. I love seeing San Francisco on screen, especially old San Francisco. According to this list, I've seen three out of the eight best movies set in or about San Francisco (Vertigo, Mrs. Doubtfire, Joy Luck Club).