We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (lighthearted randomness about my normal every day life) with a diversion to local politics. So, if you have no interest in politics, or my opinion of them, then please feel free to read no further.  Don't worry, I won't mind (or hold it against you).  :)

It was a slow day at the office, and when that happens I often find myself browsing the news.  CNN, BBC, NBC, and finally KGW (Portland's local news station).

While browsing I found this article:
http://www.kgw.com/news/Kitzhaber-to-address-capital-punishment-ahead-of-Haugen-execution-134351233.html

Basically, Oregon's elected and sitting governor, has effectively banned the State's voter approved death penalty, stating that he will not enforce it while he is in office.

Why? Not because he thinks that all of the 37 death row inmates in Oregon are innocent, or that they haven't properly been proven guilty, or because he believes their sentence was unjustly given, but because he personally believes that it is "morally wrong."

I think that is crap.

Now don't misunderstand the point I'm making.  I am in no way making a statement as to my personal beliefs one way or the other about capital punishment, and whether or not it is right or wrong. What I am saying is that it is crap that the governor feels it is fully within his right as an elected official to weigh his own personal beliefs as more important then the will of the public he was elected to represent.

Oregonians, regardless of the margin of approval, reinstated capital punishment in 1984.  It is the LAW. Period. And regardless of the governors personal opinion on the subject, the last time I checked he was not above the law.  In fact, as any public servant will attest, he is a servant of the law.

That is why stays of execution exist. That is why pardons exist. And, this is why the appeals process exists. But they exist to be utilized and enforced on a case by case basis, as the law directs and allows. But to make an overarching statement that he will not stand for it in any case because he doesn't believe in it's morality is not only irresponsible, but I believe it is against the spirit of his elected position: To represent the will of the people.

If he truly believes the law to be contrary to the will of the people, then allow the people to vote on it again. That is what a democracy is. 

I'm sorry Mr. Governor.  But this is neither a dictatorship, nor is it a monarchy. I'm sorry that your personal opinions are contradictory to the will of your state, but the bottom line is that you are no more above the law then I am, and to be frank, your personal beliefs only matter when sitting in a jury box, or when voting a ballot measure into law, not in the actual enforcement of it.  

Capital punishment may be right.  And, alternatively, it may be wrong. Regardless it is not your sole choice to make.

engagement photos!

So, we've been debating back and forth about weather or not to do engagement photos. Mostly because we've been engaged for six months and we're kinda late to the game for these.  Then we realized how few decent photos of us really existed, so figured what the heck....but we really didn't feel like paying a bunch for them.  So, naturally, we decided buy a tripod, our own camera, and do them ourselves! Granted, they may not be all that professional looking, but I don't think we did half bad :)  Plus goofing around by the Golden Gate bridge, and running to strike a pose before the camera's auto timer went off was pretty fun.

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Short or Long? Portland or San Francisco? Big or Small? Yellow, gray, pink, or teal? Cupcakes or cake...or maybe pie? Outside or inside? Buffet or plated? Spring or summer?

Then there's the who, when, and where...good thing the what and why are relatively certain :)

Hmmmm, who ever decided to publish the first wedding magazine was a genius. I mean, they've turned wedding planning into something that could instill nail-biting anxiety into even the most level headed, even-keeled future bride. No wonder they pay people to plan these things!!!

Now I'll admit that I am a procrastinator to the core. Always have been. It just seems that I work best that way. In college it was a rare occurrence for me to begin writing a paper more then twelve hours before it was due, making the all-nighter second nature. Much to Tim's chagrin, I pack for vacations often the day of travel. The point being, it's been quite hard to convince me that you can't actually plan a wedding last minute. Not to say that this process will reform my procrastinating ways...but it sure is giving me a run for my money!!

So here is our progress report, and I'll admit I'm pretty proud of us for having figured even this much out...And, sorry folks, but I'm not releasing details yet, it's too early for that. Plus that will ruin the reveal of the wedding website, which is forth coming...

We have:

•  PICKED A DATE (think spring next year) 
•  PICKED A CITY 
•  BOOKED A VENUE (think kind of non-traditional, and FUN) 
•  BOOKED A PHOTOGRAPHER (we got really lucky with this one) 

We have NOT:

•  DONE ANYTHING OTHER THEN THOSE FOUR THINGS. 

Baby steps folks...that at some point may become leaps?

:) stay tuned.

PS: I like Oliver's  opinion on wedding planning...

catching up on random foggy summer days

Well, hello there! I bet you thought I stopped blogging. Nope, for some reason I just blog less in the summer. Though, I don't know that I can really use nice weather as an excuse since San Francisco doesn't really ever get nice weather. But oh well, at least we aren't buried in snow or sizzling in oven like temperatures. I'll take fog any day.

So, how have we been spending our non-sunny San Francisco days? Well, we've been on a bit of an electronics spending spree lately...wait, i should amend that by saying that Tim has been on a bit of an electronic spending spree. In the past two months we've added a second i-Pad, a 42" flat screen plasma television, and an i-Phone to the family. Basically, we've turned into a couple of nerds. :)

And, don't worry, the wedding is still in the process of planning itself. Oh wait, weddings don't do that? Oh shit, I'd better get a move on then. We'll probably start seriously planning stuff after we return from Portland for Thanks Giving. That's when we plan on venue shopping...

And now back to my brand new baby, my i-Phone. Let me just say that my last phone was definitely not smart, so entering the smart phone age has been a bit of shock for me. You mean that I can access my email from my phone? You mean that I can keep my Starbucks gift card on my phone, and just show it to the checker? You mean that I can play Angry Birds on my phone while playing i-Tunes??? Way cool. But, my most favorite feature is the camera, which takes half way decent pictures!!! Woo-hoo! Just to test it out I went on a photo walk on my lunch break the other day, and through the use of my phones camera, and my favorite app Instagram, I snapped up the following:

and one of my favorites, because it's so perfectly random...a pair of lost shoes.

Also, as a side note, because I've decided that birthdays after the big 3-0 are officially side-notes, I did manage to turn 31 last month. We went to Napa to hang out with some sheep. Oh, and we drank some wine too :)

Hope you're all enjoying your summers!

Oliver wanted to say hi

He also wanted to show you all how much fun he's been having on our new porch. Since he's always been an indoor cat, and we've never had an inclosed outdoor space for him, he's never been able to spend time outside. Though, he's always loved sitting in the windowsill with the screen open to the fresh air, and sun bathing on the carpet in the morning rays.

I'm sure you all remember this:

And when there wasn't any actual sun, we ended up with something like this:

Well those days are over. It didn't take him long to realize his favorite spot in our new place. And so far, he's even proven smart enough (which I'm truly surprised by), not to jump off of it. We are on the third story after all...it's kind of a long way down.

Is it possible that he's found something that he likes better then eating?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away...what a load of crap!

Let me just start by saying that I eat apples. Almost every day in fact. And they most definitely did not keep the doctor away. Here's a break down of the last five weeks:

Week one: cough, sore throat. In denial about being sick. Why? Well, because I'm invincible of course, and I don't get sick. Ever. I especially don't get sick right before vacation.

Week two: Cough, sore throat, sneezing, stuffy nose, fever, & chills (a total walking advertisement for Nyquil, which I had none of since I was in another country). Totally pissed about being sick while ON vacation in Mexico, but ignoring it because I had just gotten engaged(yay!)! Finally gave in on day three and made my way to the hotel gift shop for what I think were Mexican cough drops, though I couldn't read the box.

Week three: Cough, sore throat. Post vacation..."It's nothing," and "Oh, I'm fine," become common utterances to co-workers pleas for me to go to the doctor. More denial and avoidance ensue.

Week four: Cough, hack, cough. Finally call doctor to find that doctor is on vacation until June. Sweet. More avoidance...

Week five: cough, cough, cough...Suck it up and go to acute care at UCSF, since doctor is still out of town. Result? ACUTE BRONCHITIS. Lovely. I now have a golden ticket; a prescription for three different meds. An antibiotic that I can't pronounce, but that may also be because I can't read the doctors handwriting, a prescription cough medicine, and an inhaler. Oh, and a lecture from the doctor about not waiting five weeks to get checked out.

Ok, fine. Lesson learned. Now on to the pharmacy! Dear Good Health, it will be so nice to see you again :)

mexico

A few years ago we returned from the Dominican Republic, or as Tim affectionately dubbed the trip "keeping it buzzed 2009." So it was only fitting that Mexico continue the tradition with "keeping it buzzed 2011."

Here's a few not so fun at the time, but funny in retrospect things that I learned on this trip:
* I still hate to fly, which is difficult since I love to travel. Damn you turbulence. I still will maintain that if people were intended to fly we would have wings.
* Miami has the worst most un-organized customs checkpoints ever. Seriously...EVER.
* I shouldn't use my sarcastic abilities to piss off drunk guys on airplanes (not Tim, lol). Expecially big drunk guys from the South that are sitting next to me, who spend the rest of the flight taking up all of my arm rest and foot space room, and chewing gum in my ear. Oh how much I wanted to punch him. Tim wouldn't let me.
* Try as hard a possible not to go on vacation with the worst cold ever. I failed at this. I spent the entire time coughing, sneezing, sniffling, and at one point feverish (but this could have had more to do with the extreme sun exposure on the first day, lol). However, perusing the medicine aisle at the Mexican drug store was fun.

Ok, all that having been said, on to the fun stuff...

We stayed in an all inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, just outside of Cancun. It looked like this:

The first day we were there we spent the entire day at the pool:

And, by the end of the day I looked a lot more like this:

Apparently my waterproof sunscreen wasn't as waterproof as it claimed. Oh well, we soothed our charred skin with many many of these:

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Meanwhile, here's some pics from the beach:

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Along the way, we had some fun:

We met a few dozen lizards.

We went to a weird tequila museum.

Tim danced (at one point on a stage, but I've been forbidden from posting those pics).
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Oh, and we also got engaged.

It was a good trip.
:)

lets go to the races

I remember from a very young age my father sitting me down, year after year, to watch The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont Stakes. He loved those races.

At the age of seven I knew names like Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, because those were the horses that he had either listened to on the radio or later watched win the triple crown on television.

I think Secretariat was his favorite. It's easy, givin the horses 31 length victory in the Belmont to understand why. I can't imagine what watching that race live on television, or better yet being there in the stands that day to see it in person would have been like. Hell, watching the video re-cap on youtube is enough to make me catch my breath. Watching it live probably would have given me a heart attack.

If you have never seen this race, take a moment to watch it and be amazed.


Wasn't that ridiculous?

I still watch the Triple Crown every single year, and can't actually remember a year that I've missed it. Though, as a kid, watching these races was fun, and routine, I never really got the thrill of it until recently.

We went to our first live races back in Maryland last year. Actually, it was Derby Day and we were at Pimlico race track (where they have traditionally run the second leg of the triple crown, the Preakness), to watch the Kentucky Derby telecast. It was the first time I'd bet on a horse. It was also the first time that I had won a bet. My two dollars turned into thirty-seven, but I never cashed the ticket. It's a souvenir.

I've been hooked ever since.

Everyone has their obsessions, mine just happens to be horse racing at the moment.

Out here in California we have both Golden Gate fields, and Santa Anita (though it's quite a ways down south and we haven't made it to that track yet). But we've spent Sunday's for the last three weeks in a row at Golden Gate fields betting on the horses. Now before any of you start to worry about gambling addiction, and my loosing all my money, let me clarify that a minimum bet on a horse is $2, which for me is often also my maximum bet ;) In a nine race day, the most we'll loose is $18. But our luck has been pretty good, and most of the time we at least break even. Flat out loosing on five or six races, and winning a descent chunk back on an 10 to 1 underdog a couple of times.

There's no real method to how I pick a horse that I want to bet on in a race. I haven't gotten to the point where I buy the horse journals, the tip sheets, and bring my clip boards and track sheets with me. Tim will occasionally bet an exacta or a trifecta, but we're really not all that hard core.

But I love watching the horses walk the warmups. I'll choose a horse because he's pretty,or because he holds his head high and alert, but not because he's the odds on favorite. Or I'll choose him because his Jockey's already won a race or two that day. I favor the giant dark brown ones, over the reds. So, I really have no method, which is why I loose pretty often, but it really isn't all about the money.

I just like watching these giant animals run.

And in two weeks, you can bet on finding me glued to my television, or better yet at the track watching a telecast of the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby. It's been 32 years since a horse has won the Triple Crown, and I think we're long overdue.

Pigeons, dogs?, pigs, and cats...or, how animals have played strange rolls in my world lately.

Some of you may remember me mentioning that I was accosted by a pigeon while back in Portland over Christmas. To be honest, I thought it was pretty funny. I mean how many people do you know that have had a pigeon fly into their head?

Well, know you know a person who has had it happen to her TWICE. Yes, folks it happened AGAIN. I was leaving for work one morning about a month ago. It was just getting light out, and I had just stepped onto the sidewalk across the street from our apartment. I looked to my right down the road to gauge how far away my bus was and if I would make it to the stop in time to catch it. And right as I looked to my right a pigeon dive-bombed into my head.

What the hell? Am I wearing invisible bird seed? Does my hair look like a birds nest(I guess this may be possible)? Or, have pigeons collectively just decided to up and revolt?

Who knows. God help me if it happens again though. I'm starting to feel like I walked into a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
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People own dogs. I get that. Dogs crap. I get that too. But what I don't get is that people don't always understand that they need to pick that shit up. The other day I stepped out of the car directly into an enormous pile of shit. It was made even more lovely because I didn't actually realize it until I had tracked it up three flights of stairs, walked through and around my apartment and gone into my bedroom to take of my shoes. That is when I discovered that my shoe was caked in crap and that my apartment smelled like it too. What I'm choosing not to think about is that there is a distinct possibility that a dog may not have been the offender...if you know what I mean. At times like this I am reminded by my good friend Forrest Gump:

Bumper Sticker Guy: [running after Forrest] WOAH! Man, you just ran through a big pile of dog shit!
Forrest Gump: It happens.
Bumper Sticker guy: What, shit?
Forrest Gump: Sometimes.

*sigh*
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Last weekend Tim and I decided to go to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, because, well, what could be more fun then that? Except that we went on a Saturday, and sadly all the bean makers are home with their families on weekends so the factory was kinda quiet. But alas, we made do. This was quite the educational little tour. Did you know that it takes up to three weeks to make a Jelly Belly Bean? Or, that they package up all the misshapen, irregular, stuck together, too big, too small, and other not up to Jelly Belly standards beans into two pound bags of Belly Flops? Or, best fact yet...did you know that they don't just throw away the Jelly Beans that fall on the ground during production. Nope. They package these up, ship them off to farmers, where they are actually fed to PIGS. We all know that pigs eat anything...but apparently, the consumption of Jelly Belly Beans actually makes pigs leaner. I wish that eating jelly beans made me leaner.
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And, lastly, what would a blog post be without Oliver? My co-worker and friend, Lee, is also in art school. As a project she had to film a documentary. What did she choose as her subject? Why, Oliver of course. Enjoy :)

Eeeek, so I haven't been very good about my promise to post more here...SORRY

I'll let the title speak for itself...
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Ok, that having been said, I don't anticipate there being any coherent theme to this particular post. But, I promise that if you make it all the way through, you'll be rewarded by a particularly amusing Oliver update (since I know that's why most of you read this blog anyway) :)

First up, we went to Portland for Christmas!!! This opportunity presented itself solely because my employer out of the kindness of their hearts, closed the entire office for a full week. Mandatory vacation. Seriously? Yep. Seriously. --And, sorry to all of you in P-town that I couldn't fit into my trip this time around, promise you get priority scheduling rights for the next trip :)

Here is a semi-alphabetical list of why I love Portland (letters omitted because, well, it's my list and I felt like it):
A) Always knowing exactly where I am. For once I get to know more then Tim does about directions.
B) Bridges. The Fremont to be exact. I've seen lots of bridges in lots of places, but I still think this one is my favorite.
C) Crystal. Yep you made the list!
D) Dockside Saloon. And not just because it's where they found the infamous garbage which blew open the Nancy Kerrigan "clubing" case. But, because my old friends own and operate it. Mom, Jimmy, Tim, myself and Ninon met up there for brunch and a re-hashing of childhood stories. Good times. (long live long neck john).
E) Elephant's Deli potato and sausage frittata. Mouth watering right now as I type this.
F) Family. OMG my nieces are sooooo big!
G) Grandma's lemon cupcakes. These were a childhood staple for all five of us. Grandma passed 16 (?) years ago, but I got a hold of the recipe (because I'm kind of a super hero), and I had a nice frosted plate of them sitting on the counter Christmas morning. Disguised as regular cupcakes of course. Priceless.
H) Hood. Beautiful beautiful Mt. Hood.
K) Katie. Yep, you're on here too.
L) Let It Bead. Another favorite shop. And I should mention that I'm pretty impressed that after not stopping in for three years the owner still recognized me.
M) MAX. After putting up with the DC subway system, and San Francisco's lame excuse for metro, I have a whole new appreciation for Portland's public transportation system.
P) Powell's. Powell's. Powell's. Need I say more?
R) Rain. Always have loved the rain, and the fact that it poured the entire time we were there didn't ruin a thing.
S) Stumptown espresso. So good, that I now justify spending $17 for them to ship it to me here in San Francisco.
S etc.) Sara. Because you need to be on the list too.
T) Tavern and Pool. One of the lesser frequented McMenamin's bars. I'll keep going back...even though they changed their chowder recipe.
U) Uncle's Christmas Wrapping. Every year is interesting, but this year he outdid himself. All of our Nike boxes were wrapped inside University of Oregon Ducks t-shirts!

Oh, and here's one reason (possibly the only reason) why I hate Portland. PIGEONS. I was walking to the MAX stop to catch the Red line out to Gresham to visit Brenda, minding my own damn business. A pigeon flew into my face. Let me say that again: A PIDGEON FLEW INTO MY FACE. True story. I can now say with complete truthfulness that I have been accosted by a pigeon (and feathers don't taste very good). It's ok if you laugh at this.
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Second up. New Years resolutions. I didn't make any this year. Though an undocumented, continual resolution is to actually work out more. I hit 30 last year, and apparently that's the magic age for your metabolism to crap out on you. My jeans don't fit. This is unacceptable. I also hate the gym, which is also unacceptable if you are attempting to make your jeans fit again. Do you know what has made me love the gym now? Food Network. Or rather the treadmills equipped with cable television at the YMCA up the street. we don't have cable because we don't need an additional excuse to sit around the house, so I never get to watch my favorite shows. There has to be something wrong with the fact that my motivator to work out is so that I can watch shows like Cupcake Wars, and Ace of Cakes while on the treadmill.

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Third on the list. And, speaking of eating...I read "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I won't give an in depth review because I did that over here on my other blog. But lets just say that its one of the most impacting books I've ever read.
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Fourth on the list. The California Lottery rocks. Remember a few weeks ago when the Mega Millions jackpot was up to like $340 million? Well, I too walked a block down the road to the local 7-eleven to buy a ticket, and as it turned out also a pint of Ben and Jerry's, but that's beside the point. I checked my ticket that night and was pleased to find that I had matched three of the five white balls (1 in 306 odds). Pleased that I had won anything at all I placed the ticket back in my wallet where it sat for two weeks forgotten. Seven dollars is seven dollars, but not worth a special trip to the convenience store. Well, apparently the California lotto works a little differently. It's the only state with a pari-mutuel payout. Hugh? In English, what that means is that the individual payouts are based off of number of tickets purchased and number of winnings. Since everyone and their mother bought tickets for this drawing my $7 ticket turned into $118. Thanks California Lottery for buying our tickets to Body Worlds Vitals (showing at the San Jose Tech museum) and our nice steak dinner last weekend.
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And lastly, because I promised that if you got through this random post that you would be rewarded by a special Oliver update. It's not a picture folks, it's a video!

I got an i-Pad for Christmas. There are apps for EVERYTHING, and as I found out the other night, also apps for CATS. Clearly, I couldn't pass that up. So here you go, a video of Oliver playing with his app.



In case you couldn't tell, it's a ping pong ball, and his nose is what's making it bounce around the screen. I didn't think the cat could get dumber. Clearly I was wrong.