Soundtracks

Today I gave myself a present. I bought Sirius satellite radio and I'm getting it installed in my car this week. I can't fricking wait. A co-worker has been letting me listen to his account on the internet and I've been highly impressed. I have never been a radio girl (except maybe in middle school...KROQ!) but this radio seems like it's going to be my new favorite toy. Yeah!

Artists you should check out because I like them:

Brett Dennen

Tokyo Police Club

Menomena

Of Montreal

Bon Savants

I've very tired but I have an amazing blog to write about my theory on traffic. It will have to wait until another day. Goodnight and happy blogging. Leave me a comment if you have Sirius radio and tell me how you like it :)

Men and Motorcycles

When I was younger my dad rode a motorcycle. I was never allowed to ride on it, but one time my dad snuck me on his motorcycle and drove me down the street to a friend's house. I was going to a slumber party and I had strapped my Cabbage Patch sleeping bag onto the back of his bike. I was eight and scared for my life, but I guess it was kind of cool.

Aside from my one fond memory, I've never been a fan of motorcycles. I actually have an intense dislike for motorcycles. As a kid, my dad would leave early in the morning with his friends and be gone all day. My mom was always worried sick when he'd go out on his rides. This was before the days of cell phones so she'd never know when he was going to come home. A lot of times she was afraid for his life on that damn thing, and it freaked me out too. It took two of his friends being killed in motorcycle accidents for my dad to finally hang up his leather coat and sell his motorcycle. We were all very happy he was over that phase of his life.

Now I'm older and I still don't fully understand what the obsession is with motorcycles is. They are dangerous and scary. But what I do know is that it's definitely a guy thing. Guys who ride motorcycles are typically known as "bad boys" or "men who like to live on the edge." They're rugged, rebels, and tend to often be understood. Or that's what the movies tell us to believe.

I have found this stereotype to be true, as all the men I know who currently have a motorcycle tend to fall into this category. I also tend to be attracted to this sort of bad boy. I'm not gonna lie: I love the dark, deeply misunderstood bad boy. I heart him. I love the way they park their bike, take off their helmet, and shake out their sexy, messed up moto hair. I should probably stay away from these types of boys, but currently they are pulling me in. Damn you, motorcycles! You need to be banned from California streets!

Top 5 Songs to Sing Karaoke To

I am on a quest to find a good repotoire of songs to sing at karaoke bars. Go ahead, talk amongst yourselves in the comment section. I know there are plenty of you who read this blog because you tell me about it all the time (and ask me for names and urls to hot comedian's web pages). I will start:

Bring me to life- evanescense

Born to be wild- steppenwolf

Twist and shout- ferris bueller style

and i'm done. your turn.

Woooooooooo

The day has finally come. I was formally introduced to Tom! Highlight of my fricking year and we're only two days in. Hells yeah, 2007!

Best 0f 2006

Albums
The Gold Record, Bouncing Souls
The Sufferer and the Witness, Rise Against
Black Holes and Revelations, Muse
Decemberunderground, AFI
9 Crimes, Damien Rice
The Bronx II, The Bronx
The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, Brand New
Carnavas, Silversun Pickups
As Daylight Dies, Killswitch Engage
Dying To Say This To You, The Sounds

Songs
"For all the unheard" Bouncing Souls
"Survive" Rise Against
"Against All Odds" Postal Service
"Disintegration" Jimmy Eat World
"Better Things" Bouncing Souls
"Man in a suitcase" The Police

Movies
Borat
Clerks 2
Little Miss Sunshine

Books
The Kite Runner
Never Eat Alone
Eat, Pray, Love
Clear your life of clutter with Feng Shui

Live Shows
Rise Against
Bouncing Souls
Radiohead
Rock to Roll
Silversun Pickups

Websites
Myspace.com
Blogger.com
Toothpastefordinner.com

TV
24
Grey's Anatomy
The Office
Weeds
Brothers and Sisters
Men in Trees

Parties
Vegas with the girls
Mexican Fiesta birthday party (baby Guillermo and shoes in the microwave)
4th of July (go girl energy drinks and fireworks)
Amy's wedding!

Trips
2006 was an awesome year of travel. I was fortunate enough to visit all different sorts of mountains and resorts as part of my job. My favorite work trip was to interior B.C. (Big White and Silverstar) where I got to snowboard in the backcountry for the first time ever. Definitely a highlight of my year!

Other Trips:
Tahoe for new years
Vegas Halloween weekend
San Francisco Road Trip
South Beach, Florida
Ohio for Amy's wedding

As we close 2006, I say goodbye with a huge smile. The year started out with four months of winter travel for work. I achieved my goal of snowboarding 50 days in a season so that was a huge personal success. Summer was filled with barbeques, surf sessions, horse races, and long days at the beach. Fall brought significant changes as I left San Diego and moved home to LA for a new job opportunity. I learned a lot about who I am and what's important to me through this process. I'm thrilled to have gone through this revelation and I'm happy to have found the balance that was much needed in my life. I'm a much happier person because of it.

One thing I've realized in 2006 is how people I've met in this journey we call life have left a powerful and positive impression on me. I've met some amazing people who have inspired me to be a better person and go after whatever I want in life. One of my goals for 2007 is to influence others in the way that these people have profoundly affected me. That, and the typical goals of losing weight and eating better of course!

Heaven and Hell

The other day we featured a blog by photographer David LaChappelle. After reading his blog where he talked about his new book and the inspiration for the cover photo, I was nearly moved to tears. His photo is amazing, and the story behind it makes everything even more impressive than it already is. It's Courtney love holding Kurt Cobain in a scene similiar to Michaelangelo's "Pieta."

Here's my favorite quote from his blog. If anyone from my extended family continues to ask me why I'm not married yet, this will be my new answer:

"Talent likes talent, creative likes creative, and genius likes genius. And to settle for anything less is to set yourself up for boredom."

Goodnight.

Not So Teenage Fan Club Part Two

The long awaited part two.

My co-workers and I decide to venture off into the lobby to meet hot comedian in person. We were pretending to get coffee as an excuse to accidentally run into him. As we were walking to get coffee, I got nervous. When I get nervous I don't pay close attention to my surrondings. Case in point: I did not not notice that my cup of coffee was not empty. I started swinging my coffee cup up and down (again, nervous habit) and coffee starts flying everywhere all over the floor!

[insert 2-3 minutes of awkwardness over the coffee spillage here]

We finally get to the coffee room and I pour myself some coffee (mind you, I have a grande latte from Starbucks sitting on my desk un touched). We then decide to talk to Mr. Comedian. He is 100x hotter in person. I'm sorry to discuss his appearance again but I must for the sake of this story. It was awesome. I was so in awe of him I had twinkly eyes and I was totally speechless (a rarity).

After our encounter, I went on the site and wrote the comedian a message. I told him how we are a big fan of his work and it was great to meet him blah blah blah. He writes back saying he loved us, and he apologizes if he was acting strange, but he was super giddy because he couldn't believe he was actually at our building. He's been a fan for so long and to actually enter our building was truly exciting for him. This is funny for many reasons. Here he is super excited to be at myspace and we are excited to experience his hotness in person. The fan club lives on. Hilarious!

Not so Teenage Fan Club Part One

I am about to divulge a very entertaining yet embarassing story.

Part of my job is to work with people who can provide cool and exclusive material for the site. One of the comedians we've been working with is not only funny, but really really good looking. He's so good looking that I've started a fan club of some sorts in our office. And by fan club, I mean population "me."

I take that back. The other girls like him too. I am just the most vocal about it. I should also add that the guys we work with are extremely jealous of this infatuation to the point where they tease us about it during lunch. It's like high school all over again.

One day last week I was doing my morning updates when one of the boys comes up to us and goes "Did you see who's in the lobby? Why aren't you touching up your makeup?" The object of my infatuation was here, in our office, waiting for a meeting! I couldn't believe it..I just thought the boys were playing a mean joke!

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PART 2 COMING TOMORROW. TO BE CONTINUED
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Words to Live By

Life is precious. Find what makes you tick and go with it. Love what you do to the point where going to work is not a chore, but something you wake up and look forward to. Don't be afraid to blend the line between work and play, but always remember to work hard and play even harder. Travel and experience the world, open your eyes to different cultures and experience. Broaden your views and see the world from other's point of views. Being able to see life from both sides of a situation is empowering. Wear your heart on your sleeve and love passionately and deeply. Don't be afraid of getting hurt. Learn to let down your guard even if it is one of the hardest things in the world to do so.

Don't forget to tell others when you're proud of them, happy for them, or just that you love having them in your life. Don't let a day go by where people don't know where you stand. Smile a lot and share your thoughts with others. We are only here for a short time. Unfortunately some are taken away from us prematurely. Never forget who you are, who you love, and what you stand by.

Shed those pounds, LA style!

One of the noticeable diffferences I see in L.A. is advertising. My new route of choice to work is Ventura Blvd. As I cruise down the street for 45 minutes, I can't help but notice what is endorsed on the billboards above me. Instead of signs saying "Lose Weight, join X diet plan now" these signs say "Beverly Hills Lipo Center: For all your waistline needs." What happened to losing weight the good old fashioned way with diet and exercise? People here seem to think a scalpel can even cure weight gain.

I've decided to once again go against the grain. Instead of going to the BH Lipo Center, I'm waking up an hour earlier in the morning and joining a gym...in Beverly Hills.

Traffic, bah humbug!

This morning it took me nearly two hours to get to work. It sucked. I realized that part of the reason I get so damn tired during the day is because I start my two freshest hours in the car going 10-20mph (if I'm lucky).

Now I will use my blog as a personal cry for help: If anyone knows of quicker routes to get from the san fernando valley to Beverly Hills, don't be selfish. Please share them with me! If I like your route, I'll hook you up with Myspace swag.

Tomorrow I am going to experiment with leaving later in the morning in an effort to shorten my commute time. If my plan works, this might even allow me to have the mornings free to work out. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

LA traffic gurus: In addition to routes, if you can recommend good times to leave or side streets to take, I will be very happy with you.

Thank you for your time.

Tom Watch, Day 4

Houston, we have a lift off. It's been confirmed by me, with my own two eyes. He does exist.

It all happened yesterday. I was sitting in my cube rocking out to my co-workers 130 gig iTunes library when i peeped over my cubicle and saw a tall man with brown hair walk by. I stood up. I saw his face. It was Tom himself, in the flesh!

However, Mr. Tom was simply walking down the hall to the reception area. He was not looking around or turning his head towards "the new girl's" cube. He was actually staring at the ground. It must be weird walking around a building with 300 people who work for you and thinking to yourself, "Wow, I created all this." He has influenced so many. It's gotta be cool, but weird.

Today I was walking to get my lunch (my free catered lunch I might add) and there he was again walking the opposite direction in the hallway. It was confirmed: we were going to walk past each other. I got nervous and turned red. Yet I stayed confident and told myself I'd look him in the eye and say hello as we passed. I did it. I smiled, and said hello. He smiled back and said, "Hi." Mission accomplished!

Maybe one of these days we'll be formally introduced.

Tom Watch, Day 2

I've now officially been at The Space for two full days. Still, no sight of Tom. His name was mentioned in a meeting yesterday and my ears perked up. No Tom. Today I was given a tour of the second floor and Tom's area pretty much has its own receptionist and bodyguard. He also has like, four assistants. I have seen them, but not him. I have also been secretly hoping to brush elbows with him by the water cooler. Still no luck.

I told my supervisor and some colleagues today that I thought Tom was fictional. They all gasped and were silent. Ten minutes later, my boss pulls me aside and says "Can you come with me for a second?" He said it kind of quietly, so here I am thinking he's either reprimanding me or he's taking me to meet the man himself, Mr. Tom. Since it's only my second day and there's not much to screw up, I figured it was the latter. I was so excited my face turned red. Tom Tom. The founder himself in the flesh. Like, whoa.

Instead, I was taken into a supply room. This room was filled with swag. T-shirts, hats, posters. You name it, it was in there. I was allowed to take whatever I wanted. Normally this awesome act of kindness would have thrilled me. And the thought of doing all my christmass shopping in this room was ever so tempting. However, I couldn't help but feel a slight bit of disappointment. I thought I was meeting Tom, and all I got was a lousy sweatshirt.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day after that.

To Be Continued...

A guitar strikes a chord..

I've written a series of thoughts over the past month that I'm going to most likely compile into a short non-fiction story. Here is one piece of the puzzle:

"Where's the passion gone in our hearts?
Lost somewhere in the grind
It's time to bring it back
It's time to unwind
Find what we lost
It's time
It's time to bring it back"

I've done a lot of unwinding in my life over the past month. I never felt like I lost my passion, but the flame in my heart that once burned so bright was down to only a flicker. I was tired. Jaded. Spent. I took some time getting to know myself again and you know what? I liked what I found. I realized who I am outside of my work. I spent a lot of quality time with friends whom I hadn't been around much because I had been so busy. I rekindled my love for surfing. I became obsessed with riding waves all over again. Now I appreciate my days at the beach more than ever because I will be restricted to weekend warrior status for the next few months. I started to actually enjoy the game of football. I even began to blog almost daily.

When I think about not snowboarding as much this winter, I get sad. But then I remember Mammoth is only a four hour drive away and I will always have people to drive up with and a place to stay. That makes me happy. I want to go to Whistler in March. I know that no matter what direction my career goes in, I will always continue to make time to do the things I love to do and what have made me who I am.

That's right. I'm bringing awesome back.

Downsizing Part Two

I thought I was serious about downsizing before, but now I'm getting super serious.

I started reading this book:



In true minimalistic fashion, once I am done reading this book I will be giving it away to someone who may find it useful in his or her own life. Any takers?

A Change Will Do You Good

Aside from my friends whom I will miss dearly, here are the top 5 things I will miss about living in San Diego:

1. Waking up at 7 and being in the water by 7:10
2. People who look up, smile, and say hello when they walk by you in passing.
3. My entire life being enclosed in a 2 mile radius
4. Flip flops as the norm
5. Sunsets

*Note: These might change as I get used to life in LA and start noticing more differences


Now here are the top 5 things I am looking forward to about living in LA:

1. Only 4 hours to Mammoth instead of 7
2. A city with tons of energy, culture, and a vibrant nightlife
3. Working for an amazing company and learning tons
4. A queen bed.
5. Bailey!

and last but not least...Traffic ..pause... NOT!

Go Buckeyes!

I just learned how to watch the game of football 3 weeks ago. If only I had begun watching when I was a small child. Then I would have appreciated the OSU shirts and sweatshirts my relatives have given me EVERY year for Christmas since I've existed. At least now I can partake in the fun. Better late than never, right? Yesterday was fun.

Downsizing

Unclutter Your Life

In the process of moving I've taken a strong stance about what items will continue on with me in my next journey and what will not. I originally thought it'd be hard to part with certain things, but now I'm finding that there are very few material possessions in my life that I truly care about. Memories and people are the most important things. Okay, maybe even my surf and snowboards. Seriously though, it feels good to rid my life of clutter. I'm nowhere near being done, but I'm starting to see empty space in my room where possesions once lay. Emptiness in this sense means progress. And it feels damn good.

Leaving the Diego...

And joining my friends Kelly and Brandon from Beverly Hills 90210!

*cue theme song here*

Is that alright?

I've been listening to some great albums lately. In true High Fidelity fashion, here are my top five at the moment and why:

1. Muse "Black Holes and Revelations"
This band truly knocks me out of my chair everytime I listen to them. I really feel like they are reincarnated from the 70's. Heavy guitars with smooth, unique transitions creating a larger than life sound. In the words of my brother, "Matt Bellamy is a musical genius." There is no other band that sounds like Muse right now. I'm a fan.

2. Rise Against "The Sufferer and the Witness"
I haven't been able to stop listening to this record since I got it. It's the perfect length for running or just when I feel the need to burn energy. It's inspiring, thought provoking, and makes me want to fricking punch the crap out of something. Rock.



3. Damien Rice "9"
Only listed at number three because I haven't had the chance to fully digest the beauty of this album yet. But wow. Holy shit. I'm not kidding when I say I get goosebumps when I listen to the opening track. It's that good. Not released yet but check out my Myspace page to hear some of the songs.

4. Bouncing Souls "The Gold Record"
Straight up punk rock with an anthem twist is what you'll get here. I love the Souls because they are one of the few punk bands still around whose lyrics I can relate to word for word. If you listen to the Souls and you know me, you get it. I mean shit, they dedicated the last song on their record to all the songs that haven't been written or heard by others yet. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. Young hearts ARE made of gold, and this album will remind you of that.

5. The Bronx "The Bronx II"
Aside from the fact that the members of this band drip hotness, they also rock so hard they might rip your face off. LA lady, you always look so uninspired! Favorite tracks: Shitty Future, White Guilt.