Queenkv’s Brainpickings

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Paris was heavenly.

I was cold in Chicago….

But I’m so grateful to have the chance to study journalism at Medill - the hands-on-experience and bylines….very cool stuff.

And last…but not least….getting engaged is one of the biggest thrills of my life

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Then we went to Buffalo - to be with Mark’s family for Christmas.

Don’t fly out of LAX - the tickets were cheap….but it was a nightmare getting out of the airport. These are pix from LAX on Christmas Eve.

Then we got stuck in Baltimore…..we didn’t know if we needed to camp out inside the airport….again - a hotel was out of the question since Foxton stole my deposit…..I wonder if they’ll find this post online…c’est la vie.

Buffalo was cold - it was a good thing I had a Chicago winter under my belt and I think that thickened up my blood….so the cold was not a an issue for me.

We checked out the truck Mark’s dad drove around….he let me take it for a spin…

We also did plenty of eating and drinking at holiday parties….my mom would probably remind me that I need to lose weight before the wedding…well, that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for.

Devon did some Irish dancing for us….her mom keeps her adorable green dress pressed between mattresses - so that they come out nice and pointy.

We also tried our luck at Jenga

We visited the largest bike museum in the Western Hemisphere….met up with Mark’s buddies from college days and beyond.

Before we left for DC - the bears took a nice romp through the snow…

So…that’s all.

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On Christmas Eve - my dad dropped us off at LAX - 6 AM. We waited in three different lines (to check-in baggages, to x-ray baggages and to have security frisk our carry-ons and bodies) before we boarded our 8:15 flight to Baltimore…..that’s where we had a connecting flight to Buffalo.

In line at LAX - we faced absolute chaos. One Southwest jerk said we stood in the wrong line….and he bluntly pointed out that there were only 6 southwest agents outside and 30 inside - he said the line may be longer to check-in, inside, but we would get through faster. He was right. While waiting in line for baggage check-in, we milled around the background of a CBS reporter’s stand-up….the usual report on how LAX sucks for traveling and reminder for people to get their asses to the airport 2 hours before their flight departure.

We watched the sunrise was we waited in line.

We boarded the plan with minutes to spare. We were supposed to take-off at 8:15…..it took us more than an hour to get the plan off the ground…apparently one flight attendant was stuck in traffic.

We endured a bumpy ride to the east coast…snacking on danishes I grabbed at a store near the gate. Southwest offered a hearty meal of ritz crackers, oreos and jello pieces. We made it to Balitmore with 15 minutes to spare before our connecting flight.

Our flight was delayed due to the snowy conditions in Buffalo….

We got a real meal inside the Baltimore airport….pizza, bread sticks and some Aspen beer.

Then our flight was canceled because the Buffalo airport was closed.

We got our butts back into another line….fellow passengers whipped out their mobiles and frantically dialed Southwest ticketing…..after five minutes standing in line - all flights for Christmas day were booked until 11:15 AM….after ten minutes of waiting - we heard all flights were booked until 3pm…..after 20 minutes of waiting, we the only flight we seats available, on Christmas Day, was the 10 pm flight.

Shit.

We discussed driving to Buffalo with another passenger. She was ticked off about driving because she didn’t have any CDs in her car. We figured it would be an 8 hour drive. I didn’t want to drive in whatever snowstorms were brewing on that day. By the time we reached the gate at the desk - the Southwest agent said she could put us on standby. We said go for it. Then we checked if could rent a car. She said they were out of car rentals.

I stretched out on a couple of chairs inside the gate and fell asleep on Mark’s lap. I bought some visine and a contact lens case and swapped out the contacts for glasses.

After four hours of limbo - the airport opened in Buffalo and we hopped on the next plane out of Balitmore. We gave the flight crew a standing ovation for getting us out of Balitmore and helping us avoid waking up to Christmas day inside an airport.

Small blessings.

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It’s so good to be home. Last week - my bro, his new gf and jenjen picked us up from the airport. It felt so good to be hugged by family. American accents were music to my ears.

Driving by the downtown LA skyline was heaven. My bro flipped the radio to the local NPR station…..quality American broadcast news….that was pretty nifty as well.

Home.

My dad cooked too much food - we got another turkey dinner, bbq and lumpia. Oh yeah, bring on the lumpia. I also came back with a damn cold thanks to the crazy kids running mad on the plane for 10 hours. Stupid kids. My mom nearly broke down in more tears when she first saw me and touched me and pulled me down into her hugs. Katie greeted us with the obligatory hiss - she’s losing a bit of her edge in her old age.
My ninang had a real Christmas tree at her house…..the pine smelled so good…after all the Christmas lights in London, I didn’t think I would have craved the smell of pine trees so damn much….but I did. I suppose I needed more than the Christmas glitz of Regent Street….I also craved the family spirit of the season….when people pulled out ornaments from our childhood and find a place of honor of the tree….next to the piano.

It’s good to be home. I fell asleep around 8pm….thanks to the stupid cold, I was no match for the jet lag. That lasted for most of the week.

The next day - we had a meeting with monsignor at church. We managed to schedule my home parish for our wedding day. The first choice of our wedding day….very sweet.

Mark headed up to Berkeley for work the next morning. Since landing in LA - I couldn’t sleep past 6AM….often times getting up earlier to take care of my tiny bladder. I spent the rest of the day sleeping….and messing with my domain. Needed to change servers thanks to the bloody spammers who keep hitting my site. Hopefully…the new comment system will allow only human beings to leave their marks behind on my site. Fuck the spammers. I hope you go to jail.

My mom took off from work and we went shopping. First we did some shoe shopping. Then we ducked into a bridal shop. Oh yeah….my first trip to a bridal shop for a wedding dress. It’s good to know my size and in her typical fashion….my mom insisted that I lose 5 lbs. I think I should lose more…..need to get my fat ass to a gym. Or watch what I eat. Or both. Probably both. Dresses….sheesh. I still feel akward about making wedding plans. I trying on dresses that don’t fit. Do the corsets have to be so damn tight? Ten more pounds. I can’t tell you any hard numbers….but I have a feeling a lot of women have had some fantasy of getting married. Maybe they had the perfect man in mind…or locale….or dress. As for me - I never thought about getting married until I started talking to Mark about it. I close my eyes and try to imagine the perfect wedding day and all I can see is the church. That’s about it. When it comes to dresses - I’m clueless. I’ve boned up on some bridal reading material - a-line, empire waists, boat cuts….dress lingo swimming in my head and I’m sure I’m getting their meanings mixed up. One co-worker said she had her mom, friend, aunt and cousin go out and find a dress they could all agree on - she didn’t care what it looked like, as long as they agree. Sounds like a plan…but I’m too much of a control freak to leave that detail up to other people. I should try on more dresses.

Also flew up to Berkeley and checked in on work….showed folks pictures from europe.

brought back gifts from London and other cities for family, co-workers and friends.

I didn’t think I would miss London. It started with our place next to the Burlington Arms. I still miss our little flat in London…..that was home for the last few months. It was lovely to unpack and use closets and drawers and not live out of our suitcases. It was a refuge from the stress of my internship. It was also my library and movie theater. It was home.
I didn’t think London could be home for me….but it was.

I also missed the glam of London - the stores on Regent Street were incredible. I thought the storefronts from Saks and Tiffany’s and Macys - on Union Square - could compete with London’s shopping scene. I was wrong. Mark pointed out that it was also super-cool to live in a country that’s only an a few-hour-plane ride away from places like Rome and Prague and Dublin. It takes us nearly 6-8 hours to drive from LA to San Francisco. That equals a one-hour plane ride. For that same plane duration - we traveled from London to Dublin - another country. It’s really cool to have so many countries in easy reach of our flat - via Stanstead Airport and Stanstead Express.

Damn…and in a few hours - I’m leaving my Cali home….grrrr….I just got here! We’re heading to Buffalo, NY - currently 15 dregrees….Jesus Christ….and it’s snowing….

Then we’re heading to DC - for my final quarter of Medill. I’ll have a Masters of Science in Journalism - by March 2005….It’s currently 31 degrees over there…I don’t think it’s snowing.

I don’t want to leave Cali. God, I love it here.

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All That Jazz
Maurine Dallas Watkins - play
Bob Fosse and Fredd Ebb - music

C’mon babe
Why don’t we paint the town?
And all that jazz

Jazz.

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Lately, I feel like I’ve been jaywalking with my residency.

Here, folks seem to think that because I’m young-looking and female - I don’t know much about how computers work. Which is the same shit I used to get from the MBA’s I had to support at work….you know….those self-starting men and women who think dropping 60 grand on their tutition/year - translates into treating you like crap……and out of that population - many of the men feel they should be given domain admin access to our local machines simply because they think they are “power users.” Hell, I remember one chap sauntered into the lab, with his laptop open - searching for our wireless access. I took one look at his machine and told him we don’t support Linux. And then he bent down, like he was imparting a secret, “But I’m a power user.”

Smashing. Then I told him, sweetly, that probably means you could figure out how to configure your laptop for Linux, doesn’t?

So…at my residency….you can learn a lot by simply watching how folks do things….after an hour with their personal app for scripts and logs - I pretty much could navigate through their file structure…..When a producer asked me if I could help out - I say yes…..

Consquences - if my supervisor finds out I’m doing more than twidling my thumbs….somebody could end-up with a lecture or worse. I used to think I would get in trouble….but since last week….that hasn’t been much of an issue. I came over to London with huge expectations - based on the students who went before me…I was ready to dazzle folks with my editing skills. As it turned out….I was a little mislead about what they wanted me to do - beyond twiddling my thumbs….

Oh yeah, and there was this whole expectation of getting paid…..and I have an e-mail to prove that one….but getting paid wasn’t going to happen - I found out in October and my planned budget for London was shot to hell.

So….back to consquences - it dawned on me that it really doesn’t matter if I go against one man’s rules….I’m not learning my twiddling my thumbs….on top of that….I’m not exactly obligated to do what he says. He has know idea what I’m working on….and well….let’s keep it at that. Now, I do editing on the sly. On producer pointed out she could hand over a CIA certificate or an M15 degree- after my experience with editing undercover. It’s funny…and several people find it’s downright stupid….but hey….who cares. My only obligation is to myself and getting the most out of my internship experience - whether that’s traveling or breaking the rules so I can get real hands-on producer experience. The other producers are happy with my work, can’t understand the rule and want to take me out for a drink.

I need to work on my beat report for this experience….apparently Medill will hold up my grade if I don’t turn one in. I have a bit of an outline….so far: housing is expensive….the dollar doesn’t go far out here….and my residency….will that’s still a work in progress.

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