5.27.2009

Wet hair day

I showered at 7. It is now almost 9. Why is my hair still very, very wet?!

Edit: It's 9:30. Still wet.

Another edit: 10:40. From wet to damp.

5.21.2009

Yesterday was eventful ...

1) As I mentioned earlier, my diploma finally came in the mail. I have decided that I need to stage my own walk while humming the classic graduation tune.

2) My boyfriend's car was broken into and his stereo was stolen. The dash was also smashed in. This is the third time he has had a car stereo forcibly removed from his car in as many years.

3) My boyfriend and I decided it may be time to upgrade his junker of a car. It runs beautifully, but it looks terrible which seems to draw negative attention. We also decided that he would get my old 2003 Ford Focus (who I named Susan). Next we applied to see how much of a loan we could get for a new(er) car. We are hoping to buy something with amazing safety ratings and AWD. Fuel efficiency comes third, as much as I wish it could be #1. Too bad Civic Hybrids don't have the AWD option.

4) We also prepared for our impending trip to Boulder, CO to see his family for the first time in a year.

5) I started reconsidering masters degree options. What to do, what to do?

6) I forgot to mention: a homeless dude was found sleeping in our apartment complex's laundry room. It will now be kept under lock and key. Hopefully the landlord actually gets us the key soon.

5.20.2009

From point A to point D...egree

People who know me well know that I have struggled for years to finally get my bachelor's degree. For the most part, I have always been a mostly-As-and-a-few-Bs student. But it still took eight long years to finally get this darn thing.

Why do I mention it? I may have graduated this past December, but I didn't get my degree in the mail until today. It is in my hot little hands. Finally.

For anyone who cares, here's my story:

- 2000 - I was 17 and started college as a pre-med major.
- 2001 - I decided that as much as I loved neuroscience, I didn't want to spend my life begging for grants. I became a film major, to pursue another one of my passions.
- 2002 - Catty peers and an adviser who once told me, "I'm sorry, I have no resources for you, good luck with that," led me to abandon all hope for the quality of education in the media and theater arts department. I switched to marketing.
- 2003 - The marketing department revealed their new logo. It was a cube. They said, "The four sides of the cube represent the four years it takes to get a degree." I went to their main office and said, very politely, "excuse me, a cube doesn't have four sides." They shunned me. I switched to English.
- Late 2003 - I was working upwards of 4 simultaneous part time jobs to afford school. An emotionally abusive ex was harassing me. I was tired of being treated like an anomaly for my race and liberal political views and I resented Montana for not being San Francisco.
- 2004 - I left Montana and moved in with my current boyfriend in Boulder, CO. I got a full time job, $10/hour. It's hard to find work without a degree, but luckily I had a ton of extracurriculars under my belt.
- 2004 - I took two classes at a community college while researching other Colorado colleges.
- 2005 - I continued to take online classes here and there from community college. I discovered that very few of my Montana classes transferred to Colorado schools. Back to square one.
- 2006 - I decided to take my full time job to part time and go back to school full time, finally settling on a major in Public Relations. I managed this for two semesters (and received scholarships for my straight As) before money became too tight to continue. I tried getting a second part time job for awhile, but inevitably I went back to work full time out of necessity.
- Late 2006 - My best friend noticed that my old college had developed an online Public Relations degree. I finished the semester at the Colorado college and registered for online Montana classes. I got all of the credits I had lost back.
- 2007 - I enrolled halftime at Montana State University and took classes in the Spring. I lost my job (rather, the job went out of business) and I moved to California with my boyfriend so he could attend law school (and because I love California).
- 2008 - With a steady, well-paying job at UCLA in hand, I went to school halftime for the spring semester. Forty hours of work per week, plus a daily two hour commute, plus six credits of senior level classes. My end goal was in sight, so I increased my course load to full time, 12 credits for the summer semester. For the fall semester, I took 17 credits. Sleep didn't happen much.
- Fall 2008 - I was done. Finally, finally done.
- May 2009 - Bachelor of Science degree in hand. B.S. in Public Relations. A B.S. in B.S.. Awesome.

I'm proud of the fact that I got my current job without a degree. I'm even more proud, but also resentful, of the fact that I finally have this piece of paper. I feel so behind and yet so accomplished.

If nothing else, I can say without hesitation that I am a fighter. It's worlds away from the life I imagined for myself back when I was a ballerina in the San Francsico Ballet's production of the Nutcracker, oh so many years ago. I was going to go to NYU. I was going to be an actress. But I still worked my ass off to get to where I am now.

5.19.2009

Whatever, NYTimes.com

Fine, just post something about what I had been working on for my blog. Whatever. See what I care.

Hrumph.

The basic premise is that we choose to surround ourselves with things not only because we like them, but because we are aware of what they say about us. An iphone isn't just a cool gadget, it's a signifier. Ditto to crocs. *shudder*

5.13.2009

I lied

Apparently last weekend was *not* relaxing enough. I have been hit by the cold *hopefully just a cold* from hell. I'm exhausted, but can't really sleep, I have a sore throat, a bit of a fever and head congestion up to wazoo.

Back to bed to try and sleep. Maybe hopefully.

5.11.2009

Weekends

This last weekend was very pleasant, though busy as all heck. I managed to have a date night with the boyfriend (Star Trek and fancy dinners, oh my!), write a few reviews/articles, and I did some web design. All in all it was just relaxing and just productive enough.

But I could still use a bit more sleep.

5.10.2009

When it happens ...

It's dark, except for the glow of the monitor and my shiny white knuckles. There must be silence or computer speakers blaring in my face. Either or.

I finally figured out the conditions I need to write. Too bad they require I stay up all night.

They say I have expressive eyebrows ...









5.08.2009

Dear Facebook,

On occasion, there are individuals on your site that I would very much like to avoid. Unfortunately you are making this very, very hard.

1) An issue of exes. There is one in particular whose mug I would like to avoid seeing. But because we're not friends on Facebook, I cannot get rid of him. As a result, I have to look at him every time he posts on our mutual friends' pages. Me no likee.

2) Someone blocked *me.* It's fine, I don't mind, but why am I suddenly able to see their posts on mutual friends' pages? I'd block them in return, so I wouldn't have to deal with the mental aggravation, but you won't let me! At least give me a "See less" option. Pretty please.

You're not making the dramatic/traumatic flare ups in life any easier to avoid.

Hrumph.

Best,

Cat

5.07.2009

Personas for Firefox

Personas for Firefox | Persona Detail

I'm more than mildly annoyed that Firefox crashed and lost the persona I had been using. It took ages to re-find it. So, I sent it here in order to make sure I wouldn't lose it again. Enjoy or ignore - whatever you heart desires!

Laterz,

Cat

That's gay.

Rachel Maddow made me cry. I mean, I love her and all, but one of her stories tonight got me all teary.

No, it wasn't because I had to look at Dick Cheney's ugly mug.

Instead it was this story. The Iraq veteran and West Point graduate who came out on Rachel's show was inevitably dismissed from the National Guard because of their ridiculous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I hadn't seen the original interview where he announced his sexuality on air before, and seeing the clip of it today made me cry.

Jump to 1:27


As the daughter of two very liberal parents in San Francisco, I grew up not realizing that "gay" was different. Love is love is love, I thought. Then I moved to Montana and BAM: those things I thought were archaic - racism, sexism, homophobia ... they were still hanging around. There are many, many beautiful things about the state, but leaving my San Francisco bubble left me, well, shell shocked. It wasn't Montana's fault - this hatred exists all over the place. I just didn't know it. I didn't expect to read, "I'm sorry, but men are funnier" in the judges' comments from my speech and debate rounds. I didn't expect that my mom would be confronted and threatened for her race. I didn't expect to hold my friends close as they cried and came out to me, because they didn't know who else they could tell.

So when Proposition 8 (hate) passed in California, my heart dropped. I anxiously await the California Supreme Court's ruling. When hopefully-soon-to-be-ex Miss California Carrie Prejean decided to spread her hatred, I was livid. (And seriously, half-nude, underage photographs, breast implants and you're trying to preach the word of Jesus? Uh ungh. Go away.)

But then Maine legalized gay marriage. And Dan Choi bravely risked his noble military career by coming out publically. And my dear friend got engaged.

Love is winning.

And it makes me cry.

Sweet tears of joy.

5.06.2009

Calisthenics for the brain

I've been writing all my life, but suddenly my brain done gone dried out. Do you think they sell creative juices at Albertsons?

5.05.2009

Money Matters

I've come to realize that I know zilch about investing. Nada. I know that you can do the stock market thing, IRAs, Roth-IRAs, money market accounts, bonds, savings accounts and other such things, but ultimately I only really understand savings accounts.

Now that I'm out of my "every penny goes to school expenses" rut, I suppose I should start saving and/or investing.

How the heck do I go about doing that? I've Googled it a fair amount, but the advice varies wildly.

EDIT: I feel like I've posted about this before, but obviously I did a poor job following up on it. Can anyone recommend any companies that are good for this sort of thing? WellsFargo? ING? The Bank of Awesome?

5.03.2009

Bzzzz

Things are crazy busy at the moment.

I prefer craziness to boredom, but I really hate when I have to let other things go. Housecleaning, for example. It's a pigsty.

It's also really hard to maintain a Los Angeles-centric social life. I've got my friendship maintenance down with all of my long distance friendships and I will also admit to having some fabulous online buddies, but my LA friend pool? Small. I have yet to establish a group. I prefer having a group.

I've spent most of my free time working OR hanging out with family. Now that I've decided to branch out a bit, how the heck do I go about it? Post college, making friends is tough. In school, it seemed a lot easier to find people to "click" with. You know, that instant connection where you can easily talk about everything and nothing. In LA, it feels a bit like people just want to know what you can do for them. That's fine when I'm in networking mode, but sometimes I want people I can just do nothing with. People that are there for the company and you can both truly relax. Where you say, "I'm free, come over" and you figure it out from there. No need to do anything in particular.

Instead I've been on a seemingly endless string of awkward getting to know you lunch and movie dates. Blargh.

5.02.2009

Narcissism

I feel like I spend a lot of time explaining/justifying things about me to other people. I come from a relatively unique background and people question my habits and occasional knowledge gaps. Sometimes I offer up the information on my own, but usually I'm reacting to people who act like I'm stupid. I talk so much about myself because I feel defensive.

This becomes especially noticeable when I'm out at a karaoke bar.

"How do you not know (insert song from the 80s and early 90s)?!"

People don't realize how accusatory this sounds, but when I hear it ad nauseum, it actually starts to irk me.

I'm one of the few people born in the 80s who doesn't know much about it. I learn more and more over time, but when I was actually living in the 80s, my American pop culture exposure was practically nil.

Why?

My dad is a world music DJ/VJ. He also makes avant-garde films.

He uploaded one of his video compilations to YouTube, so I figured I'd post it here. This is what I grew up on instead of Madonna or Billy Idol:

An Overactive Imagination

I always imagined that writing would be existentially romantic. Typewriter. Candlelight. Deep talks in dive bars with profound thinkers. Lots of coffee and cigarettes.

Instead I'm sporting a green clay face mask and typing while laying on my big purple futon at 6:30 in the morning. Alone. Unless my Obama t-shirt counts as company.