It *can't* be Monday already

*SIGH*

I'm tired... at 730 on monday morning and I'm tired. I couldn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned over and over again and i'm not sure why. Maybe my body isn't used to sleeping on a bed? I dunno but i couldn't get comfortable to save my life.

This is going to be a fairly hectic week. LOTS of deadlines to meet and catching up to do. STILL a ton of stuff to do at the new apartment, although I can officially say that the old apartment is cleaned out and done with.

I also need to learn to save money. I'm about to quit my job and haven't save nearly as much as I should have up to this point. I need to quit that. The upside of that is that I've paid off a huge chunk of debt so hopefully that'll make it easier to save.

This is my life

If i NEVER see another box again it will be too soon. I am literally surrounded by them. I am happy to say that my kitchen is, for the most part, big enough to house most of them... but that means that I haven't been able to cook. You win some and you lose some I suppose (see yesterday's entry).

At any rate, I hope to get things settled this weekend. With the new tv i'd like to be able to watch the superbowl and eat some snacks prepared in my new kitchen. I'm not sure how much I'll get done though because I have a TON going on. Work, internship, ALR paper, unpacking, cleaning, car to the shop, etc etc.

Here's some pics that I think are pretty dandy:



ignore the eye booger... he's a sexy beast



Ikea is NOT for the squeamish



*THIS* is my kitchen :(



At least he has a neat place to eat



Did i mention the boxes?



If you look closely you can see the stove



no words

My day started off better than his...

So at about 640am I was about to head out my door to work (it's GREAT living 10 minutes closer to work). Just as i grabbed my door i heard pounding on my next door neighbor's door....
BAM BAM BAM... Police executing a search warrant open up!

For a split second i thought maybe someone was playing around until I realized that that was a lot of noise to be making at 640am for a joke. I look out the peephole and sure enough there's the whole damn swat team out there with guns drawn about to run up into this apartment. I wake poor B outta a sound sleep and scare the shit outta him and then I just sit and wait... I mean do you go out into the hall when the SWAT team is next door? I decided that wasn't a wise decision. After things quieted down over there I calmly (ha) walked out my front door only to be met by an officer with a gun who said "good morning, ma'am. Everything is ok"
I wish there was a camera for me to look into and give the "nigga please" look because clearly shit wasn't "ok". I mean granted I wasn't the one having the search warrant executed at my house, but it's still a crappy thing to wake up to.

Either way my day started off better than the guy next door so I guess I really shouldn't complain.

An open letter to Eric

Dear E:

There is no "wooooooo" for the new apartment. The water smells like sulfur... or rather it did... I mean according to the lady if i let the water run all day while I'm gone, the smell will go away. So now i am back at the old apartment, taking a shower and brushin my teeth, trying not to think about the gallons of water wasting at my new apartment.

Other than that the move went well. If you might be moving sometime in the near future... get you a dolly, son. We stacked like 83 boxes on the dolly. Heavy dresser? Dolly. Going to Ikea? Dolly. I want a dolly. I just want to be pushed everywhere on a dolly. That's gotta be the life.

At any rate, I'm about to bounce. We're heading to BJ's grandmother's 90th bday party!

Hope all is well in beautiful Oakland.

Talk to you soon,

Love,

Monica

Internship Day 2

I started my internship yesterday. Really it was more like I went to orientation and met a few ppl but either way it was my first day. My initial impression is that I really think that I'm going to enjoy it. The truth of the matter is that I've never had a job that challenged me. I usually tend to take bullshit jobs that pay decent enough without making too much work for me. Needless to say I'm a little nervous about this job, but looking forward to learning new things and testing my skills to see if I can make it in the "real world." It helps that my office there has an amazing view. Not bad for my first trip out of cubicle world.

I also got the keys to the new apartment yesterday. While I like the space and the rent is in my range, I can honestly say that I'm not a fan of the leasing office folks. The guy who helps me is a sweetheart but he's the only one that does any work apparently. It'll be interesting to see how they react when i make my first maintenance call... of course only like 50 ppl live in my building so I would hope they don't take too long.

I'm getting too old for this shit

so one of the things i've been working on is being more social. Too often I complain that folks don't invite me anywhere... truth is a lot of them have STOPPED inviting me places cuz i never go. So this season the new thing has been going to a co-worker's house to watch the Patriots games. That's pretty cool because alot of other co-workers that I wouldn't see often are usually there too and it just kinda helps to get to know them and make things easier in a professional setting.

Well last night after the game B and I went to hook up with some other friends at a bar down the street. I had one of the best times that I've had in awhile. Good music, surrounded by good ppl. It was just a great vibe the only complaints i have are 1) this place lets you smoke inside and let's just say that today I will be washing my hair, and 2) i really get bothered when ppl encourage you to drink after you say "no more, thanks." I mean maybe it's because I've come from a pretty dark place with my drinking, but I just feel like if someone says no to likka there's no need to push them... I mean where are these peer pressuring mofos when I don't wanna eat my veggies?

But yeah, I had a great time. I think that's a spot i'm going to have to visit a little more frequently.

Judgment Day

Today I have my annual review at work. I'm not sure why but this ALWAYS makes me nervous. Forget the fact that I've done a lot of good stuff for the channel. Forget the fact that I know that I'm probably leaving sooner rather than later. I'm nervous. I guess it's just the idea of feeling like you're being judged. Especially when it's by someone who you feel like you can't really voice your opinion on.

Honestly, I just want to know how much more money I will be making this year. I mean the reality is, most of us work for a paycheck, or at least realized that paycheck is extremely important. But it'll be a couple weeks before they talk about that portion of the equation.

In other news, I'm REALLY trying to battle this procrastination thing but sometimes, I just can't bring myself to do what I know I need to do. As a result of this, next week is going to be extremely hectic. Hopefully, I'll get thru it unscathed.

Friends

I am blessed with some of the best friends I never get to see. These are folks who open their houses and hearts to me for no reason other than friendship. Sometimes I'm amazed at just how "good" these folks are. Over the years technology has definitely proven to be a gift and a curse. It isolates us, while bringing us closer. Although I rarely get to spend time with them, I get to interact with my west coast friends on a fairly regular basis which I love. Unfortunately, they're just too far to call on when I want to hit a happy hour after lunch. Either way I love them all immensely and I look forward to spending another summer with them.

0 to 60

In just 3 days life went from boring to overload. I really need to learn to use my time better. The good news is that I really do live for this kind of stuff. I like having stuff to do. My issue is that I need to stop being so lazy and get this stuff done. I want to move away from my "enough to get by" ways. I want to excel. I have three semesters of school left and I fully intend to make the most of it. I am in a very strange but very fortunate place. I've put in a lot of work to get where I am and it's time for me to start making it mean something.

Things You'll See at My House

So I bought my camera yesterday and fell in love. I played around a bit and just tried to get familiar with her. The camera is pretty much the digital version of my manual Nikon so the adjustment wasn't too hard. The camera is lightweight, user friendly and damn sexy.

I spent most of last night photographing various objects in my house. I made two very important discoveries: 1) I love the camera and 2) The stuff in my house is pretty boring. I plan to get out and about this weekend to try to come up with some more interesting subject matter. But in the meantime, here's some stuff you'd see if you were at my house:



Fishbone




Buttercup




USB Monsters




Cars




B

A picture a day

So I was all worried because I don't have a photo for today. Then I overheard rumors of a hawk outside of a third floor window eating a frozen rat. I damn near sprinted up there and there it was!! The thing was HUGE. In fact, it looked like this:



and he was just picking away at this frozen rat. Now i should take this time to point out that i did NOT take that photo. Alas my crappy camera phone would never take a picture like that. But that hawk got me to thinkin about all the random wildlife i've seen in the past 12 months... foxes, deer, racoons, roosters... all just on regular streets. Like they belong there or some shit... the whole thing is pretty odd to tell you the truth. But they make for good picture taking. Which is part of the reason that i'm getting this:



not to take pics of hawks... but to take pics in general. Hopefully i'll get it this weekend. Yay me!

Picture of the Day

I forgot I was supposed to do this....

Three pics so i can catch up



I like this one because it's so calm. The best thing about the Japanese Tea Garden and Golden Gate Park in general is that, even though it's right in the city, it's so secluded from all the hustle and bustle





This picture is GOLDEN for the expression on Kayla's face alone. I don't know what Brian did, but she wasn't feelin it.





I love this pic cuz well... it's precious. I mean I'm not sure what Nasir was tellin his brother, but Asaad was listening intently.

I need to stop being hardheaded

There are a few things that I've learned over the past year or so and although I'm constantly reminded of them, I still tend to stray away. But I really do need to stop being hardheaded.

1. I need to go to sleep around 10p. I did it in college and I need to get back on my grind. I like to feel well-rested. My schedule doesn't permit for a lot of time to "make up" sleep, so i need to get it when I'm supposed to.

2. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I have a friend who's pretty good about making it known when she doesn't like you. While I admire her forthrightness, that's just not my thing. I can be the phoniest bitch ever. I'm not the backstabbing type or anything, I just like to keep people guessing... so I kill em with kindness. I've been a people watcher all my life. I like to watch people and then set them up to act the way I expect them to. I soooo should've stuck with psychology

There's more, but those are my main two right now.

In other news, I've given up meat for 2008... kinda. I hate making my "resolutions" public because then everyone wants to try to "catch" you doing wrong... wack. So if i know you and you try to be on some "aha gotcha!" shit while i'm eating meat, I will say "fuck you" and mean it. So anyway. I've given up everything but fish (and by fish I mean seafood), the problem is I have enough meat in my freezer to feed a starving nation, so... I have to finish that first. Essentially, I can no longer purchase meat for my consumption and once what's in the house is gone, I'm done. I had tofu last night... yummy. I forgot that I actually liked it. I'm just not looking forward to the extra effort/thought it takes not to eat meat. Hopefully i'll fall back into the swing of things rather quickly.

*Yawn and Stretch*

So this is 2008?

I've been sleep most of the day. And it was that good sleep to. On the sofa, lots of body heat. Quiet house. It was lovely.

Last night was pretty cool too. Went to a party at a club. Watched the rookies puke their brains out throughout the club. i'm glad i was never *that* chick. The whole thing was sad to watch. I mean really... find a trashcan or something. Lack of respect. But I didn't let that ruin my night. I enjoyed myself in moderation and so today i can relax without it being a painful experience.

I've set a lot of goals for myself this year so it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. At any rate i'm gonna get some more rest and figure out how to make the most of the next 366 days (leap year bitches!!!!)