Friday, March 02, 2007

Scenes from the Driver's Seat

Recently I drove from LA up to San Jose. On my way up, the scenery was stunning, so I decided to drive recklessly, risking my life and the lives of countless innocents, to take some blurry through-the-windshield pictures. I am very pleased that I survived and that the pictures turned out better than expected.

I think this is what it means when people say "the sky turned threatening."



There were brief snow flurries, but nothing that really stuck to the windshield. Apparently, a few days earlier people were using snow chains. Being an oblivious Californian, I have never even seen snow chains in action, much less owned them, so I was VERY glad their services were not required.



Near the top of Tejon Pass, the snowy peaks seemed to melt into the clouds. I definitely swerved a few times taking these shots.



A few hours on: "Blue skiiiiies, smiling at me..."



Nothing but happiness from here on out.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Death Valley Trail Marathon

Two weeks ago I ran the Death Valley Trail Marathon. Although I love Death Valley, and I love running, and I'm never up for any serious awards, I'm still always nervous before a race. The attitude progression is as follows.
Right before the race, I realized, "Golly, a marathon is far!"


This is the proper response when a well-meaning but non-running spouse asks, "Aren't you excited?!"


Summoning some enthusiasm before boarding the bus for the hour-long drive to the start in Beatty, Nevada.


Triumph! Exiting the bus after finishing 26.2 miles of gravelly, mountainous trails. Second in my age group, 19th overall, thankyouverymuch.


The race is followed by the grueling nap marathon, in which I try to sleep as much as possible in a 24-hour period.

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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Not Pictured: Super Mario

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Baby, you can type my car

For some reason, I think I have found the perfect car for Tom and John...aside from the sunny sentiments across the back bumper.






I will leave it to you to determine why it might be an appropriate choice.

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Monday, January 08, 2007

December montage

Two months later, I'm back to blog again! Here is the Cliff Notes version of December.


I had a birthday! Sweeeet. I guess I was more excited about it than my father was.


Then we had Christmas. Overflowing stockings bring out the beast in me.


I fell in love with a reindeer, but we found our glowing noses prevented any effective smooching.


Jeremy sent my parents Tongan fans from New Zealand. They knew just what to do with them.



I'm sure Ian will appreciate these pictures being posted for the world to see. He's like a toddler, discovering the world for he first time. Shiny tie!



We took a trip to the Griffith Observatory, where I had my best celebrity encounter ever. He was so polite...willing to pose for pictures for hours.


This perfectly captures the true nature of my family's holidays.


My mom is the cutest. So cute, in fact...


I just can't resist singing "Shake Your Whammy Fanny" whenever we're dancing.





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Monday, November 27, 2006

Free fall

Today was a be-yooo-tiful fall day. Rained a bit in the morning, then it was sun sun sun and blue skies all afternoon.

I love it when the air is slightly brisk and cool, but not uncomfortable. (And for me, that's like 62 degrees. Anything below 60 and I'm a mess.) Ah, Los Angeles.


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Monday, November 06, 2006

America's Next Top (Hair) Model

So THIS is why people spend oodles of money in hair salons! One cut and color later, I am in love.

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Sunday, November 05, 2006

Green-eyed monster

I bike to work every day, and in my effort to avoid monster hills, I take a roundabout way through residential streets on my ride home. Every day, I pass this adorable Silverlake house.


I have a serious case of house envy. The carved door set into the round turret! The huge beveled front window! And above all, the whimsical, Alice-in-wonderland roof. Merciful heavens, I love this roof.


I can just image the charmed, slightly quirky lives that are led in this house. Every time I pass it, I can't help but think that I should be living in this house, polishing my ancient brass binoculars and dusting my taxidermied parrot collection in the study. If there is any justice in this world, my parrots and I will someday have a house as cute as this cottage.



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Saturday, October 14, 2006

Law and Order: Couture Criminals Unit

Midnight. Fade in on a darkened alleyway. The sound of traffic from a nearby freeway is heard in the distance. The light is dim, and the smell of rotting garbage is pervasive. Suddenly, we hear the rapid clacking of stiletto heels like a gunshot. A woman appears, her face in shadows. She reaches toward her $12,000 crocodileskin handbag, undoes the gold clasp, and pulls out a can of spraypaint in her signature pink. Working quickly, she leaves her mark on the wall and runs. She has almost left the alleyway when she gives her work a quick glance backwards, reconsiders, and goes to add a finishing touch...just in case any other taggers get big ideas about using her sign.
Police are initially baffled. However, one lieutenant has a wife with a pricey shopping habit, and after her spring trip to Paris, he gets his big break upon looking through her photos. Justice is swift, and Coco is once more behind bars, never to terrorize propertyowners in Silverlake again.



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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

True story

Last time Ian visited, we roamed the park and found crazy plants of Seussical proportions:

On my morning runs I began noticing bright red stalks growing everywhere. Thinking Ian would enjoy seeing these fantastic plants, I brought my camera to the park to take a picture.
No sooner do I get set up to take this shot, but Kirstie Alley rounds the corner and walks right into my frame. I tried to make it obvious that I was aiming for the plants and she was blocking my picture, in a I'm-not-a-papparazzo type of way, but she kind of gave me the stink-eye when she passed anyhow. Previous to this incident, we were on a "good morning" basis and I had high hopes of becoming BFFs and having Jenny Craig dinner parties, but now I'm afraid it's all ruined.

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

The revolution...something something...televised



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Saturday, September 30, 2006

Griffith Park

Come trail run with me...

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I run in the hills behind my place almost every day.

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The famous Art Deco observatory. It's been under construction since we moved here, but we are (foolishly?) hopeful that it's almost finished.

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Gauzy layers of smog, towering buildings, and the occasional palm tree. Aaah, my city.

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It wouldn't be Griffith Park without the obligatory view.

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Saturday, September 16, 2006

I'm so conflicted


To conform or to dissent?

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Monday, September 11, 2006


Even the graffiti in Los Feliz is idyllic...

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Our apartment building is well-protected from the more undesirable stuffed animals.

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Our fierce guard dog. We call him Fluffy...er, Killer.

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