Hot Summer Nights

Best song to cruise around in the car…windows down and volume cranked!

Testing!

Why are concessions at the movies so expensive?  It seems absurd.  I went to the movies the other night and asked for a small Pepsi.  The guy hands me a cup the size of a thimble, and then asks for $5.25.  For fifty cents more I could forsake the thimble and trade it in for something that looked a little more normal; about the size of a medium drink from McDonald’s.  $5.75 for a thimblefull of sugar water?  Don’t get me started on the $7.00 miniature popcorn.  Get real!  This only drives people to smuggle in their own food.  It also drives them away from the movies altogether.  The main culprit here is the Ultrastar cinema chain here in San Diego.  They have the highest prices and the worst quality.  The theaters are run down, and like I said the concession sizes are for midgets.  The Regal theaters are still outrageously priced but at least they don’t insult you with thimbles.  And they have the rewards program, which rocks.  Every other time I go I get a coupon for a free drink, small popcorn, and the much coveted free movie ticket.

Last night my friend Megan and I went to the Belly Up to see the Platinum Rock Stars, a classic rock revival/tribute band.  It was a pretty fun show!  We got there midway through the performance, but for $12 it was kind of cool to hear some very loud rock guitar and see some crazy middle aged people reliving their glory days.  It was very involved too; they had costume changes for each band and were introduced by a booming voice over giving each band’s history.  We were only in there for about an hour and a half, but that was enough to turn my ears to mush.  I have pretty sensitive ears, and today they’re still ringing and things sound very tinny.  I really have to remember to bring my ear plugs the next time I go there since it can get rather loud.

Platinum Rock Stars @ Belly Up

Today I had brunch with the San Diego Surf Ladies and got to hang out with some people who I don’t get to see all that often.  We went to Naked Cafe (named for their use of “naked” or unprocessed food, not because everyone is actually naked) in Solana Beach.  They have amazing food; I got the coconut french toast.  I felt like I was eating dessert!

The SDSL Crew After Brunch

This afternoon I finally caved in and purchased my very own……vacuum.  Yes, I’m quite excited about this turn of events.  I spent an hour vacuuming my apartment which had sprouted cobwebs in every corner.  My apartment has a vacuum but it’s awful and doesn’t work well at all.

Example. Not me.

I then mopped the hard floors with my Swiffer Wet Jet, which is a stunning achievement in the field of home appliance engineering.  It’s like a little mop, but on the handle is a little trigger that causes the thing to squirt cleaning solution in front of the mop.  The mop heads are also disposable, so you always have a clean mop.  Probably not very environmental but heck if it’s not convenient.  Such is the downfall of our society.

Anyway, my apartment is completely spick and span now!  Very happy.

I also found this amusing cartoon:

This article got me really mad:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1245478/Mild-weather-Canada-forces-Vancouver-ship-tons-snow-Winter-Olympics.html

“Organisers admitted that they seriously  underestimated the impact of climate change when they picked the venue at Cypress Mountain, Vancouver, for some of  the most popular ski and  snowboard events.”

I don’t know why it is, but when I sit down at coffee shops with my computer it’s like I put out a sign that reads “Please come over and talk to me.”  I always attract people who want to ask me to help them get on the internet, want help with their computer, want to know what I do for a living and then immediately want me to give them lessons on internet marketing, or anything else under the sun.

Today I got up early and went to Panera.  The earlier you go, the less likely it will be crowded.  So I got a good table and was really starting to get into a groove, when this lady ambles in.  She was kind of frumpy and had a cane, even though she only looked about in her 50′s.  Anyway, I don’t mind that, but she was one of those talkative people who walks around talking to nobody in particular.  She grabbed one of the Panera workers and asked where she could find any used newspapers that people had left behind, and then had to thoroughly explain the reason why she liked day-old pasteries because you could put them in the microwave.

Anyway, I just KNEW she was going to start talking to me even though I was clearly working on my computer.  Sure enough, she comes over and asks me if my computer keeps running even if it’s unplugged.  I explained that yes it does because it has a battery.  She then pulls out a multi-outlet power strip – you know, the kind you have in an office and can plug about 10 computers into – and asks if I would like to plug it into her power strip.  I think she was under the impression that the power strip would continue to power the computer if the power went out for some reason.  I declined her invitation and explained that I was already plugged into the wall outlet.  Anyway, she starts untangling all her power wires for her laptop and then asks me if I’m from the East Coast.  I was surprised and asked her how she knew, but the only reason she gave was that she would go to New York every year.  But the last time she was in New York was in 1993, visiting her crazy great Aunt.

She then proceeded to regale me with a story about an old college roommate who called her “crazy Anne” for six months, even though her name was something else.  And then, probably because I must have looked utterly entranced by her stories, she proceeded to rant about how nobody makes bagels or pizza like they do in New York, and how this place in Oceanside made this amazing crust to her specifications.

Later on when I was at Starbucks this hyper woman came over and asked me if I could Google a company called Paychex in Carlsbad so she could get the number.  I agreed and searched for the company listing.  She then proceeded to jump up and down as I tried to get the listing, pointing at the computer screen and yapping “no, thats not it – oh maybe this one – no wait this!”  She was so high strung and tense that it pretty much oozed off onto me and I could feel my blood pressure raise by the second.  Finally I sent her off with the regional office number and told her to call them.

I think I’m going to start wearing headphones so people don’t talk to me.

Anyhooooooooooo…………

For Halloween I was a 1920′s flapper.

We went to the Belly Up for a big Halloween party.  It was fun, everyone went all out with their costumes.

The surf was kind of funky today.  I had a tough time catching waves, so it was a little frustrating.  Then the fog rolled in again, making it really dreary after about 3:30pm.

Also, I wanted to share this picture I took at Mecox Beach, in Southampton NY:

New small wave surfboard! 5’5″ shaped by Matt Muhlethaler. Can’t wait to ride it!

Last night at around 8:30 pm Pacific Time I felt my first earthquake. Apparently it originated a bit south of Los Angeles Airport, and it was a magnitude 5. I can’t believe we felt it all the way down here in San Diego! It felt so weird. I was sitting at my computer, which is on a card table. The table itself is kind of flimsy, so it started swaying. I also heard a slight rumble. I felt myself move to, the whole apartment was moving back and forth. I thought I saw the walls move but I think it was the overall effect of me moving and the table moving. It was so cool! I missed the earthquake that happened when we were all in Palm Desert, and I was bummed about that.

So far California is acting completely in character…earthquakes, fires, and the marine layer (which is making it cloudy every day on the coast).

LA Times article about the quake

Today I surfed twice. I was going to surf early with Val but she was too groggy, so we decided to go after she got out of work instead. But I checked the waves on the way back from Panera (where I usually go in the morning to get breakfast and work on my websites) at around 11am and they looked fun! So I went in for an hour before I had to pick Meghan up from the airport.

The waves were breaking on the shallow sandbar, and they were pretty fast. You had to get to your feet and get going down the line quickly or you’d get eaten by the lip (the breaking part of the wave that curls over and crashes down). It was fun…I got super deep on my first or second wave and the lip hit me in the head and I got so worked. It was one of those wipeouts where you don’t know which way is up. I ended up pushed into the sandbar, my surfboard leash was wrapping around my legs tying my feet together, and I was just covering my head with my arms hoping my board wasn’t near me. It was fun!!!! Usually I don’t like surfing those fast waves that break in shallow water like that, but today I was in the mood to just go for it. I think that I’ll get a lot better if I can just be confident in those conditions and just make sure I’m covering my head when I wipe out.

So it’s fun that Meghan is here now. She’s staying two apartments down in the same unit. Somehow it feels like summer because I always associate her with summer in Montauk (since that’s usually when I see her). So I’m looking forward to our traditional apres surf wine and cheese chow downs, meals outside, and funny conversations.

I had a super late dinner, and I really want to go to sleep–I’m so tired!! But I can’t go to sleep like this…I still feel full. I’m waiting to digest a bit more. I ate too much I guess…I was so hungry. We went to a turkish restaurant nearby which is really cute and good. Super healthy too. Just grilled chicken breast with fresh grilled veggies on a pita with melted provolone cheese with a side of the cucumber sauce. SOOO good. Yum.

I can’t wait to see Star Trek. I’m trying to rope in all my friends to go see it. Some of them are a little wary because it’s STAR TREK. They are probably thinking it’s for a bunch of nerds who live in their mom’s basement. So I had some convincing to do. But it got amazing reviews so far, and I knew I wanted to see it as soon as I saw the previews.