Queenkv’s Brainpickings

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i got my hair chopped off on Wed - layered and it shows off last July’s highlights Mark took me to a yoga class, later that afternoon. it was at a studio on Telegraph. I didn’t have any workout gear, so I borrowed Mark’s new workout pants. It’s amazing that we have the same waist size. I wonder if he could fit into my jeans. I don’t think he wants to try. I have a hard enough time trying to tease him into my skirts - just to see what it would like. Aren’t you curious?

Yoga was lovely and I think I pushed myself too hard. I woke up the next day - with severe pain in my back and arms. I suppose it’s good pain, since that means I was working out. However, it also means I got way out of shape in the last few days. Dude, I weighed myself after my workout, this afternoon - gained about 4 lbs back grrrrrr……..In any event - there was a significant amount of chanting during this hatha session. I’m still a bit wierded out by it - but I don’t mind “om”-ing. That feels cool. If I had more of a chance to stretch, I could have totally done those poses without struggling. But, well, I didn’t.

We treated outselves to the Macroni Grill, after yoga. Yum.

On Thursday - I worked on making VCD’s of our cross-media tape from my newswriting class. Yeah, I liked to tell myself that I was giving our multimedia machines, at Haas, a hefty workout…..but honestly….it was for personal reasons. I used MyDVD to make the VCD’s. Dude, this CD-R even plays like a DVD in a DVD player Cool. I couldn’t get the damn thing to work in my imac, back in my dorm. Allegedly, quicktime should have been able to play them…..but no. didn’t work. So I installed the VLC media player. This rocks my world! It works very coool……I sent out an email to my class to see who wants copies - I got some responses back…..my professor wants me to dump this up on to a website - but i think that’s a bad idea, given that several people have modem connections - which would translate into waiting most of the day to download the file.

Thursday night, I treated mark to a Southern French meal at Cote Sud - in the Castro…..For $25 - you can get an appetizer, entree and desert. Yummy. It’s an adorable place with really steep steps. The only bad thing about Thursday - it rained cats and dogs grrr…..I got away from Chicago to avoid bad weather! it’s not suppose to follow me to my paradise in CA. grrrrrr……

Friday - we slept in. Thank Heaven’s for Caesar Chavez day! Mark had the day off from work When we could move our sleepy butts out of bed, we headed to Yank Sing for dim sum. More yum yum.
(pix from http://www.yanksing.com/our-steamed-pork-siu-mye.htm)

We waddled out of there and headed over to Union Square….for ring shopping….yes, I found the most beautiful ring…..and Mark isn’t telling me when he will propose…..hmmm….so, if you know Mark, maybe you could find out for me??? hehehee….no worries, I love suprises…..I also like solving puzzles….and this is a BIG one…..I’m like a puppy chewin’ on a bone…..a BIG bone….you know what I mean….I just want to know and be prepared….according to my bro, this is not romantic and I should butt out of the whole process…..I disagree - and I’m older….so I must be right….this philosophy has served me well in the last two decades….

So….we met up with Susan and Tom at the beautiful new home in the Mission, later that evening…..damn, most of my friends are buying property and I’m doing something as selfish as finishing grad school……I want a house and dog and Mark. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.

We had dinner at Puccini and Pinetti. Mark had the grappa - a desert wine made from grape stems - it smelled like lead paint and I suspect it prepped him for a nasty hangover for early Sunday morning….We had more drinks at Red’s.
(pix from http://mmrc.caltech.edu/colin/gallery/sf/tourist/)

A random dude struck up a conversation with Mark, saying we made a cute couple….he asked something about sex and being taken advantage of….I didn’t like how the conversation was going - so I told him I had a brown belt in hankido and that I would kick anybody’s ass if they try to take advantage of me….a few minutes later, Mark mumurred that this random jerk said Mark could go fuck himself. We’re not sure what happened to turn this man so nasty against us. I was worried I’d have to protect Mark’s virtue and kick the shit out of this guy. Those were fighting words! I just wanted to get out of there. Outside, I told Tom what happened and he tried to get the jerk kicked out. Tom and Susan are regulars here…it’s like Cheers- almost everybody knew your name…..except for the asshole who tell you to go fuck yourself…..A few minutes late and this guy staggred out of the bar. We guessed he succeeded in getting himself kicked out…

Some people shouldn’t drink.

Things got better after we left in a cab with Jessie, another friend of Tom and Susan’s and a regular at Reds.

Jessie introduced us to O’Mythos on Van Ness….
(pix from http://www.grnight.com/archive/news01_2_03.html)
It was like a Greek Karoke night Lot’s of Greek dancin and folks urging the non-Greek customers to join in on the wigglying….it’s like belly dancing…at least that’s what I think. Mark, flushed in the face, pulled me up….sayind “Come on! We’re going to be married!”

That was a fun fun night….

Sorry about the hangover, Mark!

We spent the night at Susan and Tom’s house. We had breakfast at the Sausage Factory in the Castro. Hey - don’t snicker! I don’t care if it’s across the street from a store called “Rock Hard.” It had yummy eggs and sausage.
(pix from http://www.themenupage.com/sausagefactory.html). We spent the rest of the day wandering through the Castro….it was quite nice….

Mark and I left later that afternoon to check out Betina and Hans’ place. A new couch and a new dining table for them….We had Zachary’s deep dish pizza and Betina’s yummy salad….Ok, this may be horrible for me to say….but this pizza tasted better than any Chicago pie I’ve had, so far. what the hell? Hans kicked out butts in Karoke Revolution…we also played Marry, Date, or Dump

(pix from http://www.biffleys.com/Party%20Family/marrydateordump.htm)
So…we did a Gay/Lesbian round….and I got Sally Jesse Raphael, Rikki Lake and Jenny Jones. Damn! So, even when I had a chance to fantazie….I can’t even think about hot women Oh well….as long as I have Mark.

I loved hanging out with my friends…..no pressures and no worries, truly…sometimes when I talk to students in my program, we really get worked up over all the stress and assignments we have to deal with. I guess being in California also helped with the relaxation.

I flew back to Chicago at 6:35 AM on Sunday. I had a cold slice from Zachary’s for breakfast on the plane…..It was yummy! Great idea from Betina and Hans to bring it on the plane with me….

I miss Mark…..I didn’t want to leave. Mark sent a Southwest email over to me….he booked a flight for next April….thank God! I thought I’d have to wait a 2 months to see him again in May, for our birthdays…hell - one month seems like an eternity, sometimes.

I should do some reading…I should get ready for school…didn’t get my Wall Street Journal today…..my subscription was suppose to start today….

I should do a lot of things, right now…..like dump my vacation pix on to my imac…yes…I have pix of my own….I just used other people’s graphics to show you the places I went to on my vacation….

I should be thinking about tomorrow….but all I can think about is Mark and being in his arms….

I’m homesick….

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I’ll give you a hint - we’re in St. Louis.

This was taken on the last day of our cross-country trip (LA to Chicago) - back in Jan.

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well….I made some VCD copies of our broadcast production for newswriting. After I get past my time on camera, it’s actually entertaining to see how my classmates fared.

we had cake for all the March birthdays. Yummy. I keep telling myself it was non-fat. I think I’m lying to myself.

Mark and I braved the rain to head over to Top Dog’s for lunch….yummy! I had a lemon chicken with mustard and a Calabrese with ketchup. Yummy. I was totally craving these back in Chicago, simply because I had no idea what a Chicago hot dog was suppose to taste like.

(pix from http://www.topdoghotdogs.com/)

It feels great to take care of my Cali cravings.

I can also take my Cali cravings with me! I picked up an order form to mail over my favorite dogs to my dorm in Evanston. It’s a min. order of $25, but I think it will be worth it.

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los angeles was beautiful - 70 degree weather…..heavenly. we listened to an episode of “wait wait don’t tell me” from NPR on our way out of Berkeley, on Saturday. the players complained about a caller from New Mexico, basking in the beautiful weather. the show’s players claimed, “you’re just trying to taunt us…” what the hell are they complaining about? i just checked yahoo weather and it’s in the 50s out there that’s a heatwave for Evanston and downtown Chicago….sure there’s some rain - but it’s better than that damn wind chill factor.

anyways…mark and I loaded up on plenty of home cooking…..my parents love to cook for us and we love to eat. hmmm….panist and lumpia on Saturday night. That was yummy and it had veggies, so I figured I’m doing something healthy :0 On Saturday night, we took Jennie, David and my parents to the Bonaventure.

. That’s where they filmed True Lies, Nick of Time and other Hollywood flicks.

On Sunday, we had a tasty brunch at Mimi’s Cafe and chilled at Jennie’s place for a little bit.
i like to think Katie missed me….but I’m sure I’m deluding myself.

Then we saw Starsky & Hutch. funny film - thank you Jennie for seeing it twice!

ok…..and on Monday, Mark and I went to Disneyland…..I have pix and more to say on that. in a bit.

Tuesday, we went back to the bay area - with a breakfast stop in Calabasas with Mom.

um…yeah, more to say….but I have lunch with Betina now :0

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Betina drove us to Vik’s for lunch. It was her first taste of this Berkeley culinary institution. I’m quite impressed with the new re-design. Vik’s has re-painted the walls from the dull concrete slabs. Now this warehouse has beige walls, with green trim and double the seating occupancy. This was a big deal, since just a few months before, people were eating out in the parking lot due to the lack of space. I remember doing the vulture thing, just to grab a spot for us to eat.

Vik’s was tastly, like I remember. I think I may have blown it up in propotion, since my stay in Chicago. Bombay Palace in Evanston had some tasty treats, but it kinda pales in compairson to the CA offerings. Vik’s was better. The Electric Lotus is better. David found this amazing spot in his Zagat guide - in the Los Feliz neighborhood. My favorite dish was the CHICKEN VINDALOO: THICK CURRY SAUCE WITH FRESH TOMATO, POTATO, AND LEMON FLAVOR.

At Vik’s - I had the Veggie special and I was surprised by the paneer chunks. Yummy. They ran out of pakora And the pani puri was served in an odd manner - now the stuffing was separate from the crusty shells. Basically, you had to crack an opening and stuff the shells on your own. I don’t know if I liked that.

So far, work has been chilll. No customers and plenty of time to finish my helpdesk tickets.

Now I’m off to get my hair chopped off

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after a few amazingly stupid moves on my part, i landed at Oakland International, yesterday afternoon….all the forces in the universe conspired against me, including myself….to keep me in Chicago and Evanston…..

hell….i even went to the wrong airport…..ok - Chicago? please label your god-damn airports….a tiny little plane icon does not cut it!!!!

mark met me at the airport…..with his sexy next car….my little 1999 corolla will be jealous

we stopped by the oceanside cafe for a pasta salad and a small cup of clam chowder…..ah yes….yummy sf chowder….

we watched the remains of a CA sunset on the Berkeley Pier….

i love the weather out here! i can’t feel the knife-edge of the wind….it’s going to be a beautiful day.

we’re driving down to LA to see my family.

i love being home!

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