Random Uselessness

What happens now?

2009-06-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

As usual, I have fallen off the face of the blog planet. I have such a love/hate relationship with technology, its bound to happen time and time again.

So, no, I have not spent the past few months trying to get my mother back across the border. We have both arrived safely back to the U.S. I spent some time in Sacramento, Tahoe, San Jose, and San Diego before I came back to the place where I can fry an egg on my sidewalk...Phoenix.

So what happens now? After being on the road for 10 weeks, I admit it is a HUGE letdown to come back to a place where I must walk at least a mile to see another human being. It is a letdown to come back to a job that I don't love and can't imagine doing the rest of my life. It is a letdown to go from being surrounded by people practically 24/7 to going back to being by myself. So what is the solution? Its time to pack up my things, move to California, and go to law school. Oh yes, you've heard it hear first! Its a plan I started in motion at the end of last year, but was sort of top secret since I wasn't truly sure it was right for me.

Now to the questions:

Where am I going to school? Santa Clara University
Where will I be living? Um...good question?
When am I moving? Yet another good question...
Where are the rest of the sabbatical pictures? Hey! What does this have to do with me moving?

Ok, ok..so I hear you all loud and clear. I'm not the best planner, and technology and I have only recently started speaking to each other again. All I know at this time is that I have given AZ a valiant effort, and in the words of Jon Bon Jovi, "I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all!" So watch out California! If you aren't ready for gay marriage, you may not be ready for K.Love!

Movin on up

2009-04-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we took a roadtrip to a small town called Avila. Its about half the size of Salamanca and it has the best preserved medievil fortress wall thing surrounding the city. For a few Euro, we were able to scale the wall and run around looking at the city from above. So they are getting ready to kick us out of the internet cafe, and this may be my last entry since its my last day in Salamanca. Today is my mother´s birthday, and she was more than excited to spend it in the streets of Salamanca. She somehow managed to accidentally meet a bartender friend of mine named Carlos, who I didn´t even recognize right away because it was daylight. Its pretty rare I´m out and about during the day since the nightlife rarely dies before the sun comes up. Anyways, tomorrow we are off to Madrid! I have spoken to Raul, my new friend in Madrid, a few times on the phone this week, and he said its a big party weekend this weekend. He will be taking me out tomorrow, so it will be nice to have a tour guide instead of me fumbling around and trying to figure out things on my own. On Monday, Luis will head back to the U.S. and I will be moving on to Barcelona with my mother. Javier Bardem is filming there as we speak, so I´m hoping to chase him down and tackle him if for no other reason than to say I did. Oh, and also, I found out that my mother somehow managed to sneak her tiny self into this country. She never went through customs, we actually aren´t clear how she got around it, but she has no stamp or paperwork saying she entered through Barcelona, so should be fun trying to get her home. Hasta Luego!

Hurricane Georgina

2009-04-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

I thought mom visiting would be a blessing, but I was kind of doing better on my own. She took the same path I did getting here, fly to Barcelona, pass through Madrid, and arrive at Salamanca. What took me 5-6 hour took her almost 15. Why? I can´t even begin to explain, especially she since knows the language way better than I do. Upon her arrival she managed to blow out both of my energy converters and almost started a small fire in my apartment. However, she is now settled here, and having a fabulous time. She met more people on her first day here than I have in three weeks! The awesome thing was that she was able to get me some antibiotics from the pharmacy, and I´m FINALLY on the mend. I´ve gone shopping with her, and finally sat down and wrote out some postcards, so they are on their way kids. On the nightlife front, I got a little to excited with the Ponche chupitos the other night. I helped Luis meet some American´s since he´s having such a hard time with the language, but then got so drunk that I ran away to go dancing. On the plus side I met a nice group of guys from Madrid that kept me out until 1 o´clock the next afternoon. Of course, my life can never go smoothly, so upon saying a nice goodbye to one of them, I proceeded to skid and fall down a small staircase. I now have one butt cheek that is basically black from the bruise. Also, I will add that my mother has been kind enough to invest in several scarves for me so I can walk out in public and not be embarrassed, if you get my meaning. Anyways, I will be meeting up with them again when I head to Madrid on Saturday. I´m down to my last 2 days here. It will be hard to leave. I suppose I´m kind of well known around here now. One bouncer at the Irish Rover wants to meet my mother before I leave. I can´t walk into a club or on the street even without someone saying hello. My cell phone is even ringing with Spanish numbers I don´t recognize! I´m not sure what kind of impression I have left of myself here, but as we all know, K.Love can´t help but leave her mark.

Mom´s on her way

2009-03-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well this week has gone by fast. Aside from me sleeping through most of it, Luis and I have enjoyed the city as well as the night life. We are both ancy to get back into tourist mode, but are waiting the arrival of my mother so we can city hop. This is my last week in Salamanca, next weekend I head to Madrid! Highlights from these week include us being able to find a table and a restaurant and order food we actually liked, going to a Spanish film, and discovering a love of wine. He has tried to blend in a bit and taken up smoking temporarily. Its seems to work well here. Guys and girls come up to him constantly now either to bum a cigarette or borrow a light. His knowledge of the Spanish language is more limited than mine, so he´s getting a bit frustrated. No matter how hard we look, people who understand English seem non existent here.

There was some celebration last night going on that we didn´t understand. I thought we´d be daring and go to a new dance club. Apparently I found the little vegas section of this small city because all the hard core drugs you can imagine were being done out in the open. I suppose the strangest part for me was that the cops were just standing and talking right outside the door. We didn´t stay long and went back to my favorite place where I scored some rediculously oversized hat and ran around until the morning not being able to see a freakin thing. Go me!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-03-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Of course things had to be going to well! Lets see, well when Katy was here she was maced, and someone thieved my PSP. Now, I´m on my fourth day of being sick trying to entertain my buddy Luis. Its hard to try and entertain when I feel awful. I hope it goes away soon. I have no idea about medical terminology in Spanish, but sadly, I think I may need a doctor. I wanted to visit some other towns this week, but don´t know if I can manage. Things will get better I´m sure, but its no fun being since, especially in a different country.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

2009-03-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, well today I´m feeling much better, so here goes my attempt at a better blog entry! Katy has been here a week, and the first few days we did all the touristy things like viewing the churches and museums, and walking down around the river. Since then we have joined the spanish crowd for their lively night life. Things I´ve noticed since I´ve been here. The food is very bland. I´ve tried authentic dishes such as paella, and while its ok, I thought it would have a lot more flavor. Their pastries make up for it though. I can´t describe how amazing it all is. The fashion is very different. The spanish aren´t afraid of color! Red pants are very popular here. Also, the guys wear the most beautiful scarves. What else...while everyone here owns a cell phone you wouldn´t know it since texting isn´t a big deal. Even then, I don´t really see anyone walking around talking. Its pretty cool to see people actually socializing in person, instead of only over the phone. Siesta time runs from around 2-5, which now makes complete sense to me since we´ve been going to sleep at 9 a.m. Nobody really speaks or understands English is this particular city, but they are very patient and helpful when they try to communicate with Katy. All the students hang out in Plaza Mayor to talk with their friends, nap, sunbathe, you name it.

Katy has had so much fun here, that she changed her flight to stay a few more days. Since everyone smokes here, we decided to do laundry yesterday. What we failed to remember is that we have no dryer, and that jeans take a wicked long time to airdry. Since so many people recognize us, we hid in our apartment wearing our workout clothes because we were too embarrassed to see anyone. After sitting around for about 6 or 7 hours, they were still wet, but it was her last night, so we slipped them on and went out anyway. We were pretty miserable, and doing our best not to let anyone touch us. It was pretty hilarious. Tonight will be pretty sad since she is leaving, however, tomorrow morning Luis arrives! I´m very interested to see how people react to us. Unless I completely butcher a sentence, people don´t know I´m not Spanish. Luis is hispanic as well, and is going to attempt to speak Spanish, so I wonder if we´ll be able to convince people we are natives. hasta Luego

Happy St Patty´s Day

2009-03-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here I sit, a broken survivor of the Salmanca night life. Our schedule here has been to sleep a few hours mid morning, walk around the town all afternoon, sit in our balcony and stair at the passersby til evening, the go out and stay out until the sun comes up. If I weren´t so hungover, I would be able to better describe all we´ve done. On the plus side I´ve been working my butt off practicing my spanish. I think about it so much, I have even started to dream in spanish. Very odd. Salamanca is a smaller town than I thought. Last night, Katy and I kept running into people we had met over the week. One guy recognized me immediately as I walked in the door and I had no clue that he had been our bartender just a few nights before. We ended up stumbling on a club that was full of people that spoke English. The funny thing was we hated it. We felt like we were back in the U.S. and now that I´ve experience a little bit of the European style of going out, it seemed like everyone was completely rude. Its really hard to explain unless you experience it. Lets see, what else...oh yes, we´ve managed to be kicked out of a place everyday since we´ve been here. Every museum and store keeps its own hours, and we have no idea when things open or close, so we usually get chased out of each place we try and visit. The crazy event of yesterday was a woman had some sort of anger tantrum because she couldn´t find the water in the grocery store, and attacked the poor cashier in the front. I, being as brave as I am, ran around the corner and hit trying to avoid being scratched by her. I´m pretty sad, because tonight is my last night with Katy. However, I only get a day to recover because then my buddy Luis will be showing up. When I can finally for more coherent thoughts, I will write a better blog, but I am alive and all is well. Oh yes, and I have lots of pictures!

Please Passengers Proceed

2009-03-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to Spain! I sort of did it in a roundabout way and connected through Barcelona to Madrid. The airport etiquette is much different than I´m used to. When I boarded the connection, instead of boarding by rows or zones like I´m used to. Its a free for all run to the door and board as fast as you can. Also, when getting off the plane, instead of deplaning row by row, its a free for all who can run into the aisle and down it the fastest. I literally had to look for gap and run into it, and run with the flow of traffic before getting plowed by the people behind me. From Madrid I made my way to the bus station. Then I finally arrived at Salamanca. From the outskirts you could already see the beautiful architecture it had to offer. Inside the city is much more amazing.

I took a taxi to my apartment in Plaza Mayor. If you don´t know what this is, I suggest renting Vantage Point, which was filmed here and around Salamanca. Its a large pedestrian square outlined with cafes. In the middle groups of friends just pick out a piece of ground and plop down to chat or people watch. My apartment is right above all of this. The owner of the place gave me a tour, a tiny little place that has everything I need including a washing machine in the kitchen! Maybe not as exciting as it sounds, but from what I knew the nearest laundrymat was a few blocks away, and I wasn´t looking forward to draggin my luggage there.

My first day was relaxing enough...I simply unpacked, and made some phone calls. I awoke today to a large group of people chanting. When I opened my bedroom window I was excited to see my first protest! I couldn´t totally read the sign, but something about the education system. This gave me flashbacks to when I was 5 and in Peru and was scared to death by the crowds. I ran and hid under the bed at that time because I thought the police was the army. heh. This time around it was much more exciting. Had I been a bit faster, I would have joined, but I was half asleep as they passed by. I wandered around the square and found a supermarket. I think I lingered too long and walked around the same aisles too many times because one of the clerks began to follow me around the store. I assume they thought I was trying to steal, in truth, I have never seen most of these products, and I need to attempt to read them before buying. I did try to grab a bag of grapes and run to the cashier, but the lady stopped me to weigh and price them. Who knew.

This evening I attempted to get myself lost. Every block you walk there is a different church. However, since I´m staying in the main square of town, it was always easy to find my way back. I´ve found several bars and restaurants I will like to try. I also found this wonderful internet cafe only two doors down from my apartment, and its open til 2 a.m. Actually, most things in this city open late and stay open all night, so finally! A place on my time schedule!

The only interesting thing that has happened to me today is that the red cross boys keeps stopping me. I allow this because they are young and cute, but I have no idea how to flirt in my broken Spanish (help me mom!). They, along with the cab driver, think I´m a student here. My first reaction is hooray! I look young! However, when I scan the crowd I can pick out the students as well. They are dressed in sneakers and tshirts with oversized bags and hats or ponytails, while the rest of the crowd is more dressed up. I realize its most likely my sloppy manner of dress that makes me look like a student, but whatever! I´ll take it!

My friend Katy is arriving tomorrow afternoon, so that should be a whole new adventure in itself. I also found out last night that my friend Luis bought a last minute ticket and will be joining me a day after Katy leaves. Good times!

Baltimore and DC

2009-03-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

My time on the East Coast is almost up. I realize I suck at blogging, but here is a short update.

The weather has taken a turn for the better, so I've been able to explore more. My highlights of Baltimore are mostly eating and drinking. :) I've never had a "real" crabcake before, so I'm used to the flat patty west coast style with lots of breading. Robb took me to a place called the Lexington market and ordered me just one. I was going to object, because I thought I could eat at least three until I saw the thing. It was the size of a grown man's fist and was all meat. Also most places around here you can order steamed shrimp by the pound, and over sized beers for a few bucks. I did get to see Michael Phelps and Jenna Bush's houses. I wanted to knock on Jenna's door to see if secret service would tackle me, but sadly, nobody was home.

Robb and Helen took me to DC on Sunday. I asked to do all the "touristy" stuff, and they delivered. I also asked that we walk everywhere so I can work off all the beer. Lucky me, everything in DC is Vegas walking distance, meaning that its SO oversized it looks like its close, but in reality its a few miles away. I got to see all the standards, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and I also got to see the Hope Diamond! This is that jewel featured in the DiCaprio version of Titanic. Good stuff.

I've posted what pics I have (minus DC) here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristielove3. I will try and post them as I have time. Tomorrow its goodbye US, hello Espana!

Welcome to the East Coast, B*$@H!

2009-03-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

The last night in Charlotte proved to be a fun one. :) I learned over our Thai dinner, that the restaurant we were at is the first Thai restaurant opened in Charlotte. When did it start? 1988! Slow and steady wins the race, no?

Upon leaving, my limited knowledge of the east coast led us to the Beantown Tavern, which I thought had something to do with beans, but apparently is a nickname for Boston. What was supposed to be one beer led to five, and as soon as the owner came out and bought free shots for the bar, I knew it was game over.

Two hours of whopping sleep later, I caught my next flight. My next stop was to visit my friend Robb. Tired, Bobbert and I decided to embark on a roadtrip to Philadelphia! Upon entering Pennsylvania, we are greeted with a billboard of a very pissed off looking woman, giving us what appears to be the middle finger. I was so shocked, I didn't read what it was for, so Robb captioned it "Welcome to the East Coast, Bitch!". Nice.

Given that the weather is SO bitter cold, and I'm still rockin' my AZ gear, we did in 3 hours what takes most people days. We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Liberty Bell, and the stairs that Rocky ran up during his boxing training. Top this all off with a few beers and the greasiest creation ever created, a Geno's Cheesesteak, slathered with hot sauce, and served with a side a EXTRA Cheesy Cheesefries. Fast forward six hours later, and here we sit, in his pad in Baltimore, with what sounds like Havelinas getting ready to burst out of our stomachs to attack.

I'm not sure what is entirely in store for the rest of the week. What I DO know is that this elusive sunshine will be poking his head out again tomorrow, and I will be able to feel my face again.

Goodbye Charlotte!

2009-03-03T13:56:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post on the past few days. The Charlotte area experience the most severe snow storm it has had since 2004. Only a few inches fell, heck, the streets were completely snow free, but apparently this state goes into a big panic and shuts down! All schools were closed. Classes we were going to try were canceled. Needless to say, zip lining is out, as well as most activities since I did not pack for such an incident! On the plus side, Tiff and I have had a lot of bonding time hiding from the snow at the gym, or watching movies, etc. For my last night in town we are going to a Thai restaurant she has wanted to try, and the going to hide in her apt and attempt to carve up a cantaloupe since its going to be a whopping 15 degrees! Tomorrow, I'm making a side trip to Philadelphia to eat a cheesesteak and cruise the downtown area, and then to Baltimore to hang with Robb and Helen. Hopefully warmer weather will greet me there!

The Adventure Begins

2009-03-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

So my last week in town was pretty exhausting. Instead of taking it easy, I decided to go out EVERY night and see as many people as I could. The result? Learning how to function on 2-4 hours of sleep a day, my left knee lost on a street in downtown Phoenix, and a big bruise of my butt courtesy of an evil staircase.

Now, that brings us to Saturday. My first flight. In truth, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that when I set foot out my door, I wouldn't sleep in my bed again for months, nor would I have to lift a finger to do any work. Anyways, the flight itself was uneventful, except for when the pilot announced our final descent, the passenger next to me whipped out a bible and started to pray. Scary.

My girl Tiffany picked me up, and we grabbed lunch where I ate the largest plate of Barbecue I've ever had, drenched in Tobasco sauce, and served with Jalapeno deviled eggs. Apparently the lack of sleep has made me a pregnant woman, and I have been covering all my food in spicy sauce!

Lucky for me, she was tired too, so the day consisted of catching up with Lost, taking an hour nap,and (much to my surprise) some gym time. I crashed, hard, got a whopping 10 hours of sleep! Woo-hoo! I believe there is sushi and a pedicure in my near future, assuming I survive the gym again. And, from recent discussions, it sounds like there may be some zip line something or other happening? Stay tuned...

Former Alcoholics Make Me Laugh

2009-02-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not know, in a few short weeks I will be starting my sabbatical. What is a sabbatical? It is 8 weeks paid time off from said company for employees to "recharge" themselves. Since I will be traveling all over the U.S. and beyond, I am attempting to try and start blogging...again.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. A fine holiday, I suppose, but it gives most males a reason not to be romantic the rest of the year. Given that I have no primary male in my life, I took to the Internet to search for one. And there I found him. He's 5'8", dark hair and eyes, 57 years old with a comedic wit to boot. His name is Robin Williams. This man has Golden Globes stacked on top of Emmys on top of Grammys on top of..well you get it. He is a well decorated entertainer, for for a mere $100, he was going to entertain me for an evening.

If you enjoy improv comedy at all, this man does it better than any I've seen. Although he does have prewritten jokes, he never sticks to the script. I saw him several years ago (and you can see this routine on his Broadway show DVD) and I was smitten. I had to see him again no matter what the cost.

Lucky me, I landed a seat in the 8th row, dead center. If I had made a run for the stage, I would have been able to grab his toe before security took me out. I was THAT close. I figured out what I like about him most is that he does *smart* comedy. What I mean by this is that anybody can tell a story or joke about themselves, but he weaves in very relevant themes with politics, the economy, even what happens in the city and state he is performing him. Even though he has been off the drugs for years, and more recently off the sauce, he still has a manic wonderful energy about him. I'm glad I chose to spend this romantic holiday with him, and a $5 chocolate chip cookie.

10 years!

2008-11-22T22:37:00.000-08:00

A day late, but Weiland has turned 10 years old!! Woo-hoo! May you survive another 10 with me. :D

The Scorpion King Part 2

2008-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

So how is it that my life is SO full of responsibilities takes almost a month for me to get back posting a blog? Well, the sequel is always more disappointing than the original, so here we go.

I wake up from this nap of my about 11 p.m. The next day my roommate was going to move in. I was still feeling groggy, but I wanted to get his room cleaned out so I started moving stuff out. All is going well until I decide to move my exercise ball. I carried it in front of me and I couldn't see when I feel this painfully familiar burning feeling again, but this time in my foot. I thought it could possibly be a joke, but I turn around and there is the little bastard whipping his tail around in circles. He didn't kill me the first time, a mistake I'm sure he means to correct. I scramble to shoo the dogs away since this is my fight. Mano a mano. We have a bit of a staredown and I decide I'm so brave I'm going to throw a tissue over him to blind him and them scoop him up. His tail is still swishing back and forth, but I do manage to grab him. I'm a fool and decide to take a peek at him and my anger quickly fades away to sadness. His tail is slowed down and had fallen, the light fades from his eye, his pincher hands have stopped pinching. Shocking as this may be, I outweigh the guy by a ton or so, so I ended up squishing him when I stepped on him and he gave my one last stab. At last, my friend, we are even.

I toss his remain in the garbage outside and call my sis to tell her what terrible luck I have had. She tells me to go back to the emergency room. Clearly I'm allergic to the venom, and I still have the dose from a few hours earlier wandering around, so I might react more harshy this time. I call up my gal pal Leah and request a ride this time, which she graciously gives. Let me tell ya, the ER isn't exactly hoppin at midnight on a Thursday, so the staff was very amused that I was stung twice not only within hours of each other, but by the same scorpion. Again I'm given the field sobriety test, pumped full of drugs, and left for observation for a few hours. Luckily Leah was with me this time, so the time passed quickly. At about 2:30 I was released and went home and passed out for the next day and a half.

You see, dear readers, I don't need to leave my house to find drama, I seem to come across it when I stay home as well. :)

The Scorpion King art 1

2008-04-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

As may of you have heard by now, I was brutally attacked Thursday night. So there I was, sitting on my couch, finishing up a homework assignment for my evening class. I felt a small tickle on the back of my arm. Its starting to get pretty hot in AZ these days, and share this common trait with my lab in that we both shed excessively in the heat, so I figured it was one of many hundred hairs that was stopped mid-flight and stuck on my arm. I casually brush it away only to feel a burning sensation the back of my arm. I looked down since I was confused as to why my own hair would burn my, when this mighty midget comes marching around my arm to confront his attacker. It was a scorpion. Scorpions aren't known to attack people unless threatened, but this little sucker broke into my house, scaled my couch and then my body, yet he looked me up and down like I was the bad guy. I had my best poker face on as I devised my plan to creep into the kitchen to fetch a paper tail and remove the intruder tail first. I made it about halfway when I apparently flinched during the staring contest because he turned around and went back to the back of my arm. No worries, or so I thought. I took about two more steps when I feel him take a left turn and go under my sleeve and climb into my armpit. Ok, now I'm panicking. He's making his way down my side, and I happen to be wearing my "fat" jeans. From what I know about scorpions I know he only needs the slot a size of a credit card to get where he wants to go, so the one inch gap around my waist was more than enough for him to slide through. Now I know many of have seen the recent movie clip of Hillary Duff in War, Inc where she drops a scorpion in her underwear and dances around as though it turns her on. If I were Brett Michaels, I might try this out as well to see if I agree, but I am not. I figure I'm going to be stung a second time, but I need to get the scorpion off my me, so I decide I'll just whip my t-shirt off.

Ok, I just feel like there needs to be another paragraph here, not because its appropriate writing, but the last one was way to long. So, I rip my shirt off and toss it to the ground, and luckily to not get stung again. I shake my shirt out to try and find the sucker, and he's not there. I start looking around for him because I'd like him to leave, and can't find him. My computer was on so I messaged my sister about what happened and how I was just going to write it off and go to class, but she suggests calling the doctor. The nurse who answers tells me I need to get to the emergency room asap to find out if I'm allergic to the venom. Fine. I call the front office of my class to tell them I will not be there, and the woman who answers immediately goes into a frenzy naming off potential side effects. Can I see? Yes. Can I breathe? Yes. Am I naseous? No. Do I have a ride? No. So she tells me if I choose to start driving myself to pull over if I feel strange at all and to call 911 as certain venom can take a person out very quickly. Well isn't this fantastic news. So what do I do? I proceed to try and hunt down my assassin because if I'm dying, he's going down with me. After several minutes my voice of reason kicks in (a.k.a. my sister) and says to forget my enemy for now and get myself to the hospital. I curse his name outloud since I'm sure he's still around and can hear me, grab another shirt, and drive myself to the ER.

Unlike most people's experiences, I only wait 1-2 minutes before escorted back to the doctor. First I get asked if I got a good look at my attacker. I did. I'm asked to describe him carefully. I look around for the sketch artist, to make sure I give him every detail, but my guess is he's behind the one way mirror. Then I get asked a serious of unrelated question (Does my boyfriend beat me, do I prefer coke or pepsi, etc) and then start doing an equivalent of a field sobriety test. In the middle of this test I notice I'm having trouble focusing and my head is a bit cloudy. Oh great. I'm drunk. Not so, it seems. The attacker I described is the only known scorpion in these parts that is poisonous and it seems he got me. There is good news and bad news in this. The good news is they classify symptoms from level 1-5. I'm a level one, so I should be fine...for now. The bad news is that it can take 4-6 hours for the more severe symptoms to develop, so I will be kept in a petri dish for observation. If I happen to hit a level 4 or 5 they have a new experimental anti-venom drug from Mexico that hasn't been cleared for use, but they feel strongly that it is effective. Right. For the next few hours I sit on a hospital bed doped up out of my mind. My stomach is doing backflips and it feels like the scorpion is running laps from my elbow to my shoulder. Apparently this is fine, but if he makes a break for my wrist or chest it means I've jumped up a few levels. Eventually they are satisfied that the worst has passed, but to watch myself the next few hours and to come back if something out of the ordinary occurs. I drive the one mile back home and collapse on my couch for some much needed rest. Actually, I could really use some sleep right now so I'll just call this part 1 and finish it up a different time. Good night, all. :)

The start of a new decade...

2008-01-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know this already, I crossed over the twenty something line on Christmas Eve this past year. It was a joyous week of celebration where I made a great new friend, enjoyed the company of my mother for a few weeks, and completed a lot of the "to do" stuff I have been putting off. I don't feel any different being 30, but coincidentally I have a lot of big changes happening this year. If I can actually commit to writing on here, I will keep you posted on all the new experiences this year brings. Cheers!

Well its been a long time

2007-07-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've been bouncing around the internet world for awhile. I've had a year long affair with myspace, but its lost its appeal. Every person in the world can track you down there, so I'm trying to come back old friend, even though I'm not great about writing. The only thing I've learned in the past year is that Scott Baio is 45 and single, which means he has a girlfriend, but isn't married. How does this equate to being single? Inquiring minds want to know...

Past memories

2006-05-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

So I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but I'm lazy, and then I forgot, but I saw something today that reminded me of how silly/strange people are. So, lets rewind back to January. I heard a song on the radio, and I'm like hrm..thats pretty good. I did a search on Itunes and was able to find it and some other songs. The band's name? 30 Seconds to Mars. Ever heard of them? Yeah most people haven't. Anyways, about a month ago I was browsing upcoming concerts and saw that they were coming to town, and that tickets were only $15. Score! So, I decided to take Luis for his birthday. I decided to read up on this band since I didn't know anything about them and discover that Jared Leto (aka Jordon Catelano from My So Called Life) is the lead singer. I was stunned just because I can't think of any actor who has successfully launched a music career. Now, I feel the need to list out solo acts that never made it; Bruce Willis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Don Johnson, and Eddie Murphy. Has anyone ever bought a Bacon Brothers (Kevin Bacon) CD, or Dogstarr (Keanu Reeves). Nope. So, anyways, yes, stunned. Now forward to concert night. I have a good buzz going on, I bust through towards the front of the crowd. How did I do it? I was looking for my "friend" Julia. Anyways, it was a great show, so i'm like, ok, I'll go do the meet and greet thing. I'm frantically texting my sister to think of what to say (liquor = mind numbness) and she says to ask if his passion is in music or acting. Simple enough. So I cruise through the band, actually stopping and chatting with Shannon (his bro) for a bit. Nothing significant, but I like him. Plus he's wearing eyeliner and I'm a sucker for guys with eyeliner. Anyways I make it down to J.man and he doesn't really look at me, so I sort of shove my CD in front of him. I say "This is the point where I ask you something profound, right?" And he said "No, please don't". Well I'm drunk, but I'm thinking well my questions really isn't that difficult, so I ask him if he prefers acting or singing. He does give me direct eye contact this time, now lets freeze frame this moment. I've never thought Jared was attractive. Well, I mean, I could tell he is attractive, but he's very pretty, and I don't do the clean look. And for those of you who don't know, here are some definitions from the K.Love dictionary. Clean (as in reference to a person) - Nicely groomed hair, clean-shaven, dresses to impress, lots of times falls into the metro category. Dirty (as in reference to a person) - usually has facial hair, piercings, tattoos, dark hair, and tends to wear all black or dark colors. May wear eyeliner or nail polish. Anyways, now that Jared is a musician he has darkened his hair, wears all black, and yes, lots of eyeliner that makes his baby blues pop. He's more my type of guy now, but judging by all the US I read I know this is just for the stage and he's more clean in his day to day life. Anyways, now that reality is moving again he says "It really doesn't matter does it because I don't have any talent". Then he sort of tosses the CD at me and turns away. I was a bit stunned. Was he looking for sympathy? No, I believe he was intentionall being a jerk. Now the liquor wanted me to say "Well that may be true, but thats not what I asked you", but my mind said "Get your ass out the door before security carries you away". So that was it. Anyways, time has passed and I resumed my listening of their music. I received notice that they apparently put out this new video, so I give it a watch. Now its actually a pretty cool video, sort of The Shining feeling, but there is this one part where Jared runs into himself, and they appear to be singing at each other, and then simultaneously scream at each other. I laughed out loud. It looked quite silly. Its hard to explain. Its just one of those things you need to see. Anyways, Jared thanks for the laugh, but I still think you are a jerk.

A word about the gym...

2006-04-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

So I hate working out, but I like the gym because this is how you see people for how they really look. They don't care about clothes, hair, or make-up. Well, except for this lady a few weeks ago who came in with full on makeup and huge 80's hair. I actually got up and moved across the gym because the smell of AquaNet and perfume was making me sick. She even worked out with a personal trainer. Of course, the way she lifted weights is the way I lift peas up to my mouth that are on a fork..slowly and cautiously so as not to cause a disturbance in the force.

Well, my fun this day was this girl jogging in front of me. I didn't really notice her at first, but then I looked at her and noticed about every 5 seconds her pants would fall half way down and would expose her *sexy* black thong. Now I have always been against the spandex movement, and actually against the size 2 girls who wear size 0 jeans and somehow manage to make it look like they have a fat roll, but wear clothes that fit and don't literally fall off you body. I watched here in this weird jogging situation for about 1/2 an hour. I was mortified since, although not a plump girl, she should not be showing her thong let alone RUNNING in it. Sheesh!

Well hi!

2006-04-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Oh yes I didn't realize I had fallen off the face of the earth for so much time. I think I just got lazy. Its been a long, grueling day at the office and I'm ready to take off shortly, but thought I'd practice typing again. I'm nursing a sprained foot from Saturday's fun at the Music Festival. I got to hear G.Love and Train, but ended up spending most of my time in the port-a-pottie line. At least it had a view of the stage. In my drunken happiness I sort of slid across the sidewalk, spared my ankle, but mangled my foot. Such is me..such is life. Cheers!

Happy Tuesday

2006-02-14T14:20:00.000-08:00

So I haven't seen any hearts or flowers yet today, which is nice. I have however received some online cards and lovely texts. Not much news in the way of Kristie's world. Only 2 more days and I will be with some of my buds I haven't seen in awhile in the city of Austin. Hooray for..uh...what is Texas famous for? Death Penalty? Ribs? Well I hope for the best. Everyone have a great president's day weekend.

2006-02-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

In response to Captain Jack's 2/7/06 post which can be found here: http://markzak.com/blog.asp

Hrm, I typically make it a point not share my views on anything people are willing to start wars and/or die for, but I am a walking contradiction, so I never make any sense.
This whole "freedom of speech" comes from a document that governs the U.S. only, not any other country. While I too am all for it, I don't really expect a lot of the rest of the world to adopt or understand it since there are places where women are forced to still cover there faces or people (yes men too) are fined a rediculous some of money if they don't vote. (That last point might cause an uproar, but in the U.S. voting is a right, not a requirement).
That aside, I assume these people that are rioting are looking at this from a religious aspect. I think most if not all religious groups actively speak out against anything that may poke fun at their beliefs. Religion is basically a foundation most of these people have built a life upon, unlike in the U.S. where I think there is a lot of apathy and people look at sunday service as an obligation or a burden, not something necessary, like lets say eating. Remember when the Last Temptation of Christ came out? The Catholic church through a fit and tried to stop it from ever hitting theatres. Or more recently, the Da Vinci code. Again, this book was readily attacked by the Catholic church who would have, I'm sure, stopped its publication were it invading the writer's freedom of speech. JC to these folks is like a father figure, so to speak. If I were to write a book about him eating people, and it gets published as a work of fiction because clearly (i hope) it isn't true, I think you'ld be slightly hocked off at me.
I suppose my point is I understand why they are mad. Heck, Republicans get mad at political cartoons published by liberal papers and yell "false!" all the time. I do think it seems silly in our eyes because they are reacting in violent ways. Keep in mind they are in countries where unfortunately your voice isn't heard unless you make a big fuss. I'd say that we in the U.S. are just as guilty of this silly behavior, but we pick money over violence and are incredibly sue happy. You get burned by coffee? Sue! Somebody said you have an eating disorder? Sue because you have a rep to maintain!
There we go, thats my 2 cents. :)

El beste del oeste!

2006-02-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

You look confused. Yes, so am I. I'm on day three of having my house ripped apart. The drilling isn't so bad, but I've noticed the mariachi has slowly gotten louder. Today is a fun new addition, as one of the workers (even as I type) is singing along in his falsetto voice. After hearing Pemma talk about them, I have invested in a pair of noise reduction headphones to help ease my pain. They do work, however I must remove my newly purchased armor when I go to the restroom, go outside, or go anywhere in general. The lead dude has informed me that they will be done tomorrow, and next week the carpet will be changed. Its a different group of workers, so I'm curious as to what musical I'll be exposed to.

Aside from being annoyed, and now retardly broke, I have yet ANOTHER trip coming up. Yes folks, I am looking for that new town to move to, since I started to get that scared "omg..I don't want to be here for the rest of my life" feeling. Up next I'll be going to Austin with some of my closest friends from Cali and Maryland. Now, its been quite some time since this group has gotten together. These were the guys I hung out with back when I was completely insane. I'm now moderately sane thanks to medication. ;) Ok, I really have no idea what I'm talking about anymore. *sigh*

Welcome back, Kristie!

2006-01-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

Well its been a few weeks, but now I'm back in AZ. I went on vacation to San Jose for a few weeks to visit the fam, then went down to the New Orleans area with Pemma to volunteer some time for Hurricane Katrina relief for animals. If you have some time, visit bestfriends.org or Best Friend's Network specifically for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Lots of stories to tell from there, I'm trying to find some time to collect my thoughts. Right now its kind of hard though because as I type, my floors are being ripped out. Yes folks, I've decided to do put some new tile and carpet in the house. Its not the entire house, but it is a significant portion. Afterwards I will probably be changing my rediculously bright walls to different and more annoying colors. I'm hoping this makeover will trick my brain into thinking that we've moved again, and I can sit pretty for another year or two. And FYI, I just learned when a telemarketer calls they get REALLY hocked off when you have drills going on the background because you can't hear anything. She actually hung up on me! Ah, fun stuff. Well, back to work (or as much as I can do since its very hard to concentrate).