i stand corrected

it's actually called a tur-duc-hen (turduchen) - which makes more sense. annie said she preferred to call it a chiduckey - she didn't like the turd to begin with. i agree.

either way, we ate it.
the meat itself was delicious - nice and moist as you might expect from so much juice and fat (especially the duck) but the stuffing left a bit to be desired. my mother and i make far better stuffing. we think it will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime meal. we tried it once, interesting, but no need to repeat. a regular turkey will do just fine next year (if we're not in a land far far away).

so now we're off to the city for a night of food and comedy. we're all going to see greg proops, the guy in 'who's line is it anyway' (the one with the glasses who usuallhy wears a suit, a seinfield like character, sort of). that should be a laugh. and tomorrow i've made an appointment with jerry (no doubt gay, but i much prefer male hairdressers, more daring!) at 10am for a cut. i think i'm going to go short again. the long phase was getting drab and limp. i'll send pictures if it turns out well - if it doesn't, you may not hear from me for a month or so! it's time for a change.

happy tuesday!

christmas in santa cruz

seems to be neverending!

friday we had a christmas party at our house, dad cooked up a pork loin and portabello mushroom sandwiches and tons and tons of appetizers, saturday the four of us went for lunch on the wharf - FINALLY - it was a beautiful day here, and then had some cracked crab just before midnight mass. sunday we went to lynn and sara's to have the traditional christmas ham, and today we eat the turducken!

tomorrow the four of us are going up to san francisco - for a nice dinner and possibly some comedy. and i might get my hair cut (short again!) ... and then after that, the eating might just have to stop.

santa was good to me this year. i got a lovely pair of brown boots, a few new cds (edie brickell and iron & wine/calexico), a massage gift certificate, and a few good books. he also got me some underwear but he must've given mine to mrs clause because i definitely got hers! he forgot to fill the stockings this year but none of us minded.

we had fun decorating the tree this year, laughing as we do everytime, at the ornaments that have meaning to us - the handmade ornaments molly and i made at school. the picture ornaments from 8th grade when i had the 'there's something about mary' bangs, and the ornaments that no one else would appreciate but which we MUST have on the tree and therefore get relegated to the back.

but i think until one of us has kids (and that won't be anytime soon as far as i can tell) we'll probably think about spending christmas somewhere tropical. which is just fine by me!

i'm off for a run now, a vain attempt at exercise so that i can eat more turducken in five hours!

only in santa cruz ...

would you find these on the 'calendar of events' (no joke)

PET DUCK GROUP Meet other people who have pet ducks. Meets every 3rd. Tues. Sign up and vote for a meeting place: www.duck.meetup.com.

PET CHICKEN GROUP Meet other people who have pet chickens. Meets every 4th Tue. Sign up and vote for a meeting place: www.chicken.meetup.com.

SUDDEN DEATH GROUP The Grief Support Program of Hospice Caring Project offers a sudden death drop-in group for persons coping with sudden death of loved ones, friends or co-workers. Ongoing, every Tuesday. 6 p.m. West Bldg., The Congregational Church of Soquel, 4951 Soquel Dr., Aptos. 430-3000 (sorry - this one not so funny, except to call it 'sudden death drop-in group' struck a funny bone)

FULL MOON WALK With Green Earth Singles. Meet at the lighthouse on West Cliff Dr. in S.C. at 7 p.m. We will walk to Natural Bridges and back by the light of the silvery moon. 4 mi. Pat, 475-4335.

RAW FOOD POTLUCK Bring a live food dish. Ongoing, first Friday of the month at 6 p.m.-7 p.m./dinner, 8 p.m./guest speaker. Subud House, 3800 Old San Jose Rd., Soquel. $3/contribution. 475-6144 or 476-4725.

(perhaps those guys should hook up with the chicken and duck clubs!)

funny city, santa cruz!

only in america ...

i can't wait.

we're having a turducken for christmas.
what is that? i hear you ask. can you guess?

it's a chicken, inside of a duck, inside of a turkey.
eat your heart out!

who ever heard of such a thing? but it exists, and we're eating one for christmas. apparently there's a company in louisiana that will debone the birds and stick them together (with stuffing between each layer) and ship it to your house direct in time for the christmas meal. ours hasn't arrived yet, but i am anxious to see what this looks like - apparently it actually looks like a turkey. how they make it look real without a bone structure is beyond, me, but nevermind. i'm sure it tastes good.

happy holidays!

p.s. it's RAINING in california. what's up with that?!

arnie makes me mad

no, not the frenchman (a story untold)

schwartzenegger - who IS he to decide the fate of tookie williams?!
surely he could've done more good alive than dead?

"Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings," Mr. Schwarzenegger wrote, "there can be no redemption. In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do."

who died and made him god?

i really don't know the politics behind this - i only just caught the news tonight.
but what about that 'forgive seven times seventy times seven'
yadda yadda, i guess.

what a shame. i wonder how well arnie will sleep tonight.
eeks. i don't think i could sleep a wink.
guess that's why i'm not in politics.

i *heart* ty pennington

i admit it. i LOVE extreme home makeover, home edition.
EVERY week without fail, it makes me cry!
not a sad kind of cry - the good kind of cry - seeing just how good people can be.
makes me want to get off my lazy ass on the couch and DO something.
i'm thinking of doing some volunteering next week in santa cruz.
we shall see if that materializes. (or how lazy my ass really can be)

but i like to see fellow citizens helping each other.
i was at a party on saturday and talking to a british guy about this very subject.
in london it sometimes feels as though it's so transient, people come and go
they 'do' their twenties and thirties there - and take take take
never really giving back to the community.

then they move to the country and have babies and return only for the theatre or museums
(which, by the way, are mostly free!)

granted, london is set up for the taking. the mayor is constantly promoting londON (captialization his) to show how much london has to offer. but equally, he does not seem to ever focus on how to give back to the city.
and so consequently there's a lot of use and abuse that goes on in the city.

i've enjoyed that about boston. there seem to be so many ways to give back.
and there's a real feeling here of 'everybody's doing it' - so if you're not being philanthropic in some way or another, you're not really doing your part for the city.

i like that. i'm going to see if i can find that in london when i get back in january.
i'm sure it must exist. it's just a shame they make it so hard to find.

we shall see!

regrets?

i was wondering to myself as i was walking yesterday whether i'll have any regrets when i'm older?
already, i wish i would do something with my songs.
i wish i'd ask the guy at my apartment building for a date.
i wish i'd do my sit ups every night so i had a flat stomach.
but there's always excuses.

that got me to wondering whether any of you, my dear readers, have anything you wish you'd done?
or done differently?
and whether there is anything you can share with me at this pivotal age of thirty.
i don't want to know who you are - so please don't leave your name.
and don't bother with anything anonymous but obvious.
(i.e. i wish the man i married loved to dance) because i'll figure those out!
but any big-picture ideas.
anything you can share that might give me pause to think.
and hopefully pause to pause to DO something!

any takers?

daydreams

my daydream today went like this:

i jack in the job.
i grab a few girlfriends and we hit the world, head to the sunshine and relax under palm trees drinking out of pineapples listening to dread-locked musicians play steel drum versions of marley hits. this vacation last a year or until the money runs out, but because things are SO cheap where we are, we can stay for years. we adopt a philanthropic lifestyle doing good for others (thereby pleasing ourselves) and just enjoying a simple life without emails, texts, blogs, deadlines or pressure.

i wish i had time to expand on this but i have to get back to work.
one can but dream.

sunday snow!

i woke up this afternoon to find snow covering everything!
amazing.
the cars behind my house are blanketed with it.
i'm on my way out to watch back-episodes of crap telly at a friends house (she has a vcr, i don't!)
a perfect thing to do on a cold snowy day.

i only just rolled out of bed since i didn't roll into it until around 5.30 (am)
went on a pub crawl - or santa stumble - as it was called
about 100 people or so, all dressed in santa outfits, or at the very least (me) santa hats and festive clothes
it was a fun evening. i went with a girl i'd met at a networking event and she had two friends along.

i thought it interesting how they kept commenting on how bostonians were so unfriendly, while at the same time sitting themselves at a table for four and not talking to any surrounding santas. i'm beginning to think that myth is a self-fullfilling prophecy. i met quite a few nice santas and elves last night! one of them even told me she was going to make sure my last two months in boston were the best ever. i can't remember her name, but it's in my phone somewhere so i think i'll give her a call sometime.

when the stumble finished i met up with another group of friends and we carried on being silly and dancing on the empty dance floor (slight reincarnations of 'praise you' but no where NEAR as good as paris!) then we met some guys from LA who were filming a nike commerical in boston. they had an expense account and a minibar nearby and we still had an appetite for the evening. actually, that's not entirely true. i was ready to find a taxi - but the girls pushed me into the elevator so i didn't have much choice. kept repeating the mantra 'something might happen' - though didn't particularly want anything to happen with these guys, nice as they were.

this was the swishest hotel i'd ever been into. fireplace. minibar with 180 dollar half bottles of wine, canopy bed, chaise lounges (sp?), chic carpet and plush cushions. very very cool, if a bit excessive.

my two friends each paired off with a respective boy while thankfully, the third boy had just recently begun a relationship in LA, so i was spared. so we just sat up and listened to music and talked about music, film, canadians and marriage. (all of us together - lest you get the wrong idea)

and finally i excused myself at 5 and walked home. a good 25 minute walk in the dark, but it was actually a nice walk past the boston common. so quiet at that time of night.

and i fell into bed. and now it's snowing!
happy sunday!

society sings

so here i am again. writing when i've just returned from a night out.
perhaps the best time to write these things.
(even if it takes hours because i keep tapping the wrong keys)

i've just been to a snowball. a charity event for inner-city kids in boston.
i was on the marketing committee.
though sadly i think i was the dead weight because i hardly did anything.
got two press releases into press. but otherwise, it was completely pointless.

the only two people i knew at this entire night were a former student of mine (summer 2004) and her roommate in boston.
but she's lovely, if young. so we had fun.

and so interesting to me from a musical point of view.

there were ALL ages there.

men on the periphery. i'd guess most were in their 40's, maybe early 50's.
and then people my age (the majority?)
and then a few my friend's age (early 20's?)

but when certain songs came on, EVERYONE knew them.

Bust'a'move
Blister in the Siun
Livin'on a prayer
american girl

i couldn't help but wonder how old the girls i was with were when these songs came out.

i'm sure this is how my parents must've felt when i danced in front of the mirror endlessly to the beatles with my hairbrush. how could they POSSIBLY know the words to these songs? they must be 'second time around' for them.

i couldn't help but think about my seventh grade dance in the holy cross hall (the old one) dancing with leah to young MC

or how molly (molloy - not basilius!) and i snuck into the warfield in san francisco to see the violent femmes at 16 and got away with drinking tequilla sunrises by meeting some guy over 21 and licking the back of our hands so that we could rub his stamp onto our hands. we we were so rebelious.

or the drive up to cheerleading camp in 6th grade (at UC Davis, funnily enough where i would end up at university) with jenny elmore when bon jovi was THE band to love.

or tom petty my sophomore year of college with my roommate nina - dancing around our sunflowered-bedecked house with nothing but tomorrow's homework and a batch of chocolate chip cookies to worry about.

i loved it that they knew these songs tonight. because it's not about ownership - but about experience.
i wonder how they recall MC hammer. or where they were when they first shook all night long.

yeah, all night long.

(happy birthday brent!)

harvard, hmph

i'm just back from a charity party in central boston.
7 men, 7 continents, 7 mountains - guys from harvard who are raising money for the children's hospital here by climbing the highest mountains on all 7 continents in 7 months.
they said suggested donation was 20. but there really was no suggestion. it was 20.
but all for a good cause.

as is the snowball i'll be at tomorrow night. am i philanthropic or what?

anyway, the bar was FULL of harvard graduate students.
some of the best and brightest in the country.
sadly somewhat dull. a terrible generalisation, i know.
i did meet one guy called tom (yeah, i know) who worked on the marketing for the ipod nano last summer and who does musical software programming/creating, etc. he seemed pretty interesting. but the questions are always the same:

wow. london? that must be cool?
so, how do you like living in london?
what's it like over there?
how long are you here for?
what do you do? (oh student exchange?)
i did that when i was in school.
wow. that's cool. that must be fun.
but where are you from? (santa cruz)
oh, i've been there, that's a great place.
yeah.

it's not their fault. perhaps i should be more proactive about changing the (boring) subject and initiating something more interesting. but my throat hurt tonight so i didn't bother.

i did meet one guy also from santa cruz, harbor graduate 1995 (2 years my junior)
and we knew a lot of the same people - an interesting 6 degrees.
he knew the guy i had my first date with. (1990. double date. dinner at red lobster. then capitola theater. ghost. patrick swayze/demi moore. it was rob oatey. apparently a firefighter now in SC)
he was the only guy in a surf top at the bar tonight. said he felt like i fish out of water here and couldn't wait to get home.
i sometimes know the feeling.

but a good night, interesting, and nice to meet a few new people.
maybe tomorrow will bring more of the same!
bon nui ...