Sam's Blog

Link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0110950/

I've been thinking a lot about this movie, I've quoted it twice already. Reality Bites is by far one of my most favorite movies ever. It was so hard to watch it after I graduated college. I knew that it was way way way too close to home to even watch it. I am 23 and will be turning 24 in a few months and I find that the above quote is quite true. Most people I knew in college were idealistic and optimistic about what their future held. But the bad economy has forced us into a sense of "reality" that is undescribable to our predecessors and is seen as something to be afraid of by our friends that have yet to graduate. I only know of a few people who actually like their jobs and the rest are either loving grad/med/law school or hating it. It's a very elusive time that we live in, especially considering that the election is coming up very soon. Are we suppose to be living a great and fabulous life? I know that I am not and I don't want to be. I think that I am as content as I could be and there's something that's so nice about that statement. I think that everything happens for a reason.

I've been really bad about posting. It's not that I don't have time, but I don't really have much to say. I am finding that things will happen and I say to myself that I should put it in my blog, but then when I am actually writing it, I forget. So it's a little boring, but it's all I got. My memory has been horrible lately. I do remember that I was perplexed by my belts earlier today. When I put on my belt, I realized that the normal notch I used was a bit loose and when I tried to tighten it to the next notch, it was too tight and it made it hard to do normal things, like sit down. So I am trying to figure out which notch to use...on one hand, seeing that my normal notch is loose, I do realize that it's a good thing because I either lost weight or I was retaining a lot less water than usual. But I still had my dilemma. I opted to keep it loose, I guess it was more comfortable to have my jeans sag lower than to have it tight around my waist. Very weird, but I am glad that it was settled.

The rest of my week was nice. I was able to watch House of Flying Daggers on Wednesday with Josh and Alexis. Alexis works for Sony and they were having a special screening and we were fortunate enough to be able to watch it before its release date in December. I really liked it, perhaps more than Hero because it was a lovestory, but it was visually stimulating and the sound was great. The theater was cozy and I was able to enjoy the experience because it wasn't as crowded as normal theaters. I highly recommend it, especially if you're into Chinese swordfighting movies.

I had dinner with Gabe and Jamie on Thursday. I haven't seen both of them together in so so long. I remember all of our crazy times on the 3rd floor of Dykstra Hall. That was so long ago! Jamie seems a lot like her old self and Gabe is the same 'ole guy, it's refreshing. Since her break up with George, Jamie has become more social, not that she wasn't social when they were together, but I didn't see her as often these past 4 years. We caught up on a lot of things, but many things we noticed have stayed the same. We are all working at the same place since 2 years ago, but Jamie's in school now studying film. I'm glad she's there because she wanted to do that ever since I've known her in junior high. We are going to try to hang out together as much as possible.

Friday night was fun. I met up with Lisa after work and we went to happy hour at Islands. Hooray for half-priced appetizers! I've been going there for a long time now and I can tell, because the waitors all know my drink and food order. It's kinda sad, but it is nice to know that they care enough to remember my order. I use to do that when I worked at Starbuck's and the customers were always grateful. It was nice to catch up with Lisa because I don't see her very often. It's very hit and miss and she's busy looking for a job and everything. I remember how that felt exactly two years ago. I hated that process and it sucks that she is going through it now. After Islands, I went out with M and her friends.

I have to admit, I didn't like the idea of going to Saddle Ranch, but I promised M that I would be DD and it was her roommate, Michelle's outing, so I didn't mind. I like the Saddle Ranch at Universal City a lot better than the one on Sunset. There's a huge dance floor and stage adn 2 bars and 2 mechanical bulls. It was a lot of fun, as you can see from the pictures below:

After all of the fun, we went to Norm's and it was actually pretty good. The last time I was there was 4 years ago and I remember the food was mediocre, not that special. I finally went to sleep at 5:00am (which is the lastest I've stayed up in a long, long time, sadly).

I slept in on Saturday and didn't do much. Had dinner with M and Josh at C & O Trattoria and had some of the killer garlic rolls. I haven't been there in a while and it was fantastic. It was just what I needed. I had a long chat with Andrea over the phone and it seems like Denver has a lot to offer, but she misses home. I miss her a lot too. Our inner circle hasn't met up since her leaving and I think that it's because she and I are the only ones that organize things and plus, everyone has been busy. Apparently, drinks at the local bars there are on average $3 and on special nights, only $1 for beer and well drinks! Crazy!! It's so much cheaper than the $9 drinks at Saddle Ranch and all of the other bars in LA. I know I have to visit Denver soon, plus the altitude adds an extra element to it. She's getting use to the lack of Mexican food and misses Tito's. I think I would too. I feel for her deeply.

Sunday was boring, a day of errands and cleaning. Went to the grocery store and got some food and then watched Master and Commander on DVD. It's not that bad, I guess Kate was right. I just don't like Russell Crowe and it's hard for me to get into any of the films that he is in.

Link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0110950/

There are some days that I am just not “on.” Yesterday was one of them. I never snapped out of my drowsy coma that I usually wake up with. It usually goes away during or after my shower or even on the drive to work. But yesterday was different. I had more sleep than the night before, but that meant that I had 6, as opposed to 4 hours. Even after a few hours at work and coffee, nothing. I was a zombie. “I am Jack's cold sweat.” But I got home and relaxed a bit and had dinner with M. We had to change our dinner night to Tuesdays because she has class on Wednesdays. She just got another interview for a job, that girl is highly sought after, and rightfully so. She deserves it. I volunteered to drive her and her friends Friday night for her roommate’s outing at Saddle Ranch so she can finally drink. She’s always the DD and I am sure it gets old after a while. But dinner was great and I felt a lot better afterwards. I watched Scrubs with Amy and Josh and I felt fine. I’m glad that I have great friends that can brighten up my mood in an instant. It’s a special gift that they have.

My weekend was fantastic. It FELT like a weekend in that it was very relaxing and calm. It started off with happy hour with Calleja at Monsoon Restaurant on the 3rd Street Promenade. Lisa wasn’t feeling good that day, so me and Calleja ate tons of sushi for her. I saw Calleja’s office, which is very nice. Her office overlooks the Santa Monica pier and ocean and the cubicles are spacious. I am glad that we finally got a chance to hang out on a regular basis. She seems really happy with her new job and that is very rare for the people of my generation. After dinner, I went to Jamie’s party. I haven’t seen Jamie in about 6 months, which is weird because we were roommates for two years. She is single again and up to no good! Ha ha. Just kidding Jamie! It was nice seeing old Starbuck’s people and talking to Mike McGranahan again was unreal. I am glad that he is back at UCLA and is around my neighborhood. He’s a solid guy, but dorky as well. It’s weird to think that it’s been four years since Jamie and I have lived together. Seems like so long ago, but not really. Time has flown by faster than I had hoped and only now does it seem so different. Possibly because everybody I know has graduated college (except for some very few that are still there). But who really knows. It’s just crazy. I got home from the party and I met up with Josh & Co. at home and they were watching a Polish movie, Avalon which was totally crazy to me because I missed the first half of the movie.

Saturday was nice because I got to sleep in and an old family friend, Po, was in town and we hung out for a few hours. There’s something comforting talking to someone who’s known me for over 20 years. We grew up together and our families are great friends. She just graduated law school and finished taking the BAR exam last month. She is anxiously waiting for the results while searching for a job. It’s so sad that she’s having a hard time finding a good job; I guess that’s when you know that the economy is really bad. After our rendezvous, I met up with Josh and Co. to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I liked it, it was a different experience. Yes, I know that it was suppose to be a throwback to the older 30’s and 40’s movies and it was successfully done because it was so cheesy. But I liked it, despite not being the biggest Gwyneth Paltrow fan. But Jude Law is still hot. No doubt. We went to the Apple Pan afterwards and it was yummy! One of my favorite burger joints, ever.

Sunday was nice because I started it out having brunch with Lindsay. We went to Blueberry Country Kitchen in Santa Monica. I just love it because they give you free coffee while you wait for a table. You can’t beat that. It was a very relaxing and long brunch, which was just what I needed. It was rather windy that day. The Santa Ana winds were picking up. But it was a beautiful day nonetheless. It was Emmy night and I went to Alexis’ new place to watch it with her and I was finally able to meet her crazy sister. She thought I was crazy too, so I guess we evened each other out. I then picked up M from the airport and we had dinner. It was a great, perfect weekend. No troubles, no drama, no stress.

I talked to Amy Po the other day and we discussed the fact that we can become so unfocused and become so caught up in “life.” It’s so easy to do and most of time we don’t even realize it. She loves Japan because she is able to find out what she can or cannot live without and it also allows for much time to think about the next step. Though most of it is unknown, I think she is probably a lot farther ahead of me because I seek the kind of clarity that she has already. I know that I will soon become more focused and figure out “life.” I just hope that it happens sooner rather than later. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty content with my life right now, but there’s a little part of me that is not as focused as I want it to be and I think that we all have that little “thing” that we are working on. We just need to identify it and try to figure it out, even though it takes a lot longer than expected.

In other news, Lisa has a new website that is in its early stages:
Lisa's website

I’ve been listening to The Ramones a lot lately on Indie 103, my new favorite radio station (besides KCRW) and found out yesterday that Johnny Ramone had passed away. It’s so sad. There’s only one Ramone left. Dee Dee and Joey died recently as well, along with The Clash’s Joe Strummer. Sigh. Punk is not dead, but its legends are dying. I have vivid memories of listening to The Ramones…driving around Modesto with my friends Erica and Brenna and rocking out as much as high schoolers could those days and watching Jordan Catalano sing “I Want to be Sedated,” on My So-Called Life and hearing “Judy is a Punk” in The Royal Tenenbaums. It’s so weird how songs are intertwined in my memories and are sometimes in the forefront of the actual event. My mind works in mysterious ways. But R.I.P. Johnny boy, you are greatly missed, but your music lives on.

It feels like every time I try to type an entry, I get sidetracked and never end up posting anything. It’s frustrating. Well, here’s my goings on in my life, but a very short and condensed version:

On Thursday night, I had dinner with Angela and Amy, my very good friends and old roommates. It’s so nice that we see each other regularly…we are so lucky. It’s too bad the sushi and service were mediocre at Yangtze, but overall, it was great to catch up. It feels like we are always on the same page, the same wavelength and there’s something about that that is so reassuringly stable. I do miss living with them, as I do with Nate, Lisa and Sia. I am enjoying my living situation though. Josh is great and it’s nice to spend so much time with him before he starts school. Our relationship is so much better (not that there was anything wrong with it in the first place, but you know what I mean). I met up with him and Shahab and Emily after dinner and hung out and played poker. Shahab just got some really nice poker chips and we had to test them out and so we played with Emily’s cousins. Micah, his roommate, came home and shared his daily escapades (that always seems to be surprisingly more interesting as the years go by). He has a very exciting life and it’s weird that I see him at work sometimes (he’s an EMT) when we call 911 in the clinic. On a sidenote, when I was on 3rd street, I went to Sur la Table and bought gel burners for my fondue pot. I can finally have a fondue party! Yay!

On Friday, I was very tired because I had only a few hours of sleep the night before. I did some light unpacking and caught up with Alexis and Kate over the phone. I’m glad Kate is having a fabulous time, despite the light rain in New York and I am glad everything went through with her apartment, despite McKenzie’s Canadian residency status. It sounds like a wonderful apartment and even Kate is impressed with it, especially being her first apartment in Manhattan and all. She was excited as well because her friend from high school, Ari, was visiting NY on his way to London (he is going to the London School of Economics for his masters). He was really cool when I met him and I am happy that she is already having visitors from LA. She likes her program and the people in it, so I’m not too worried about her. I didn’t do much that night and actually fell asleep at a normal time.

Saturday was September 11th. I feel so detached from it in many ways. I didn’t know anyone that was affected by it and yet, I do feel bad for those that were. I didn’t really do much that day. It felt so somber and it was cloudy a lot of the day. I went to Emil’s Hardware store and we bought a whole bunch of things for the apartment. We got home and fixed/cleaned things and it was really relaxing. We met up with Angela and Randy at Barnes and Noble and we hung out. Josh and I were fascinated with the book, The Valley, by Larry Sultan. If you guys have any free time, check it out. As I was sitting there, I remembered that I was doing pretty much the same thing that very day 3 years ago. After watching hours of footage about the World Trade Center that fateful day, I went to Borders to find a book, any book, to get my mind off of the events. It was too sad. When we got home, we caught a PBS documentary about September 11th. They followed two companies: The May-Davis Group (North Tower) and Euro Bank (South Tower) and the employees spoke about their experiences on that day. It was fascinating and overwhelmingly devastating. On a lighter note, I remembered that the Orientation Reunion was that day and I decided not to go because I still kept in touch with most of my friends from Orientation and also, it was really expensive. It was also way too soon. I would probably go to one in like, 5 years or so, but I have been gone for only 2 and it seems too soon. But the good part about it is that Catherine Calleja went to it and she stayed with Lisa and we were finally able to hang out on Sunday!

Sunday was spent mostly with Lisa and Catherine. I haven’t seen Catherine in ages, (about 5-6 months) which I don’t understand because she works in Santa Monica. We went to The Omelet Parlor for brunch and it was excellent. It was their first time there. I love introducing new places to friends, but I can’t take credit for that place because Angela introduced me to it a few years ago. We then decided to go shopping at the fun and exciting Glendale Galleria. I haven’t been there since me and Christina went when we were OA’s and spent way too much money there. It’s one of my favorite malls. I always have fun with Catherine and Lisa…they are swell. They had a lot of fun at the reunion and apparently the food was pretty good. I still don’t think that it was worth that much money.

Monday was busy at work, I don’t remember much of it, but I did go to Fatburger for lunch and hung out with Angela at Barnes and Noble that night. We talked and talked about anything and everything. Nate’s show that he works on, The Insider with Pat O’Brien premiered that day and I watched it. Not bad for that type of show. I just don’t like Pat O’Brien that much.

Tuesday was even busier than Monday and all I really remember is the time after work because I was able to catch up with a few friends like Ryan Gallo. It’s nice talking to someone you haven’t talked to in forever. I found out that his ex-girlfriend, Lauren, is working in San Francisco, which seems about right because she hated LA. I’ve been trying to cook more and it is slowly working out. I’m not making gourmet meals or anything like that, but frozen stuff helps and I’m not opposed to premixed packages or anything. It’s kinda nice to have “our” kitchen and know that all of the food there I can eat. Word. We ended our night watching a documentary on Archimedes on PBS. It was fascinating and if you catch it on sometime, it’s well worth it to watch.

Wednesday was a nice day all around. Work was good and people were pleasant. I went to IKEA with Alexis and she bought stuff for her new apartment (which is awesome and spacious). It reminds me of my first apartment in Westwood at Midvale Plaza I, but with more room and it also reminded me of Kate’s old apartment on Kelton because the bathrooms are each inside the bedrooms. I got a large rug for the living room to cover up Kurt’s old vomit stains on the carpet. I think it looks pretty good now. Alexis came over so Josh could help her put a nightstand together and we played Jenga. Twas fun!

This morning was great, no traffic and I realized that it was because of Rosh Hashanah and a lot of people took today off. It was nice because we weren’t busy at all at work today and hardly any doctors were in the clinic seeing patients. I didn’t realize that there were so many Jews in the Westside. It’s nice, but then I figure, why do we get days off only on certain holidays and not others? I am not a very religious person, but it’s weird how that is. Also, from what I know about Yom Kippur, it is a Day of Atonement, and for what I know, it is a day where people atone for their sins of the past year. It is a novel idea, but it strikes me as odd to dedicate one day for that where I think that it should be done throughout the whole year. Maybe people shouldn’t do bad things in the first place so that way they won’t need atonement. I’m not criticizing or anything because there are a lot of things that don’t make sense in every religion, but since it is Rosh Hashanah, it just got me thinking. Don’t get me started on Christmas and Easter and such either. But anyway, work is nice and it has allowed me to type out the longest blog entry ever. Tonight is an outing with Angela and friends for Wynne and I think it’s going to be at a bar in Hermosa Beach. Tomorrow is happy hour with Lisa and Calleja and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence with Josh and Co. and Jamie's party. It’s almost the weekend!

With the long weekend over, I am starting to think about this coming weekend and am hoping that it comes sooner. Work has turned me into one of those types of people that look forward to the weekend. It's not that I do exciting things during the weekend, I usually sleep in and do laundry and go out for a movie or coffee or brunch or something like that, very low key. But I think that I have become someone who is indifferent to their job, even though it's not that bad (but there are days, like today, that go horribly wrong and makes you want the week to end sooner) and it feels like I'm floating by with no real direction. I thought that I was going back to school to pursue something in history, but I don't want to go to school anymore, not for a while anyway. And as for a career, I've juggled around a few ideas, but nothing that I'm enthusiastic about or even realistic. So what now? This is the question of my generation...the dreadful mid-twenties that people write about and make movies about (i.e. Reality Bites and Garden State). But really though, I have nothing to complain about. Everything in my life is great. Friends, family, new apartment, same boyfriend, and a somewhat reliable car. But I know that I am destined for a change in the near future, hopefully for the better.

So here is my "Weekend Update." Josh and I spent a majority of the week unpacking, etc. We watched Hero and then played poker with Shahab, Emily, Kurt, Rob, and Rachel. I surprisingly won and threw all of the poker chips in the air. Nobody noticed because it was really late at night, but I did enjoy that small victory. Saturday was our trek to IKEA with Angela and Randy. Apparently, Josh lost all hope for humanity there. He hates shopping. But we did end up with some cool knives and bathmats and curtains and other miscellaneous things that I am sure we didn't need. I had fun though. And I still have hope for humanity.

Sunday was a day full of sunshine and laughter. Woke up late, and we picked up Lisa and went to Michelle Chung's parent's house in Arcadia. I love her house. But it was really far and I had no air conditioning in my car, argghh. It was so hot!! I heard that it went to the 100's and it felt like it. Luckily, she had a pool and we had Korean BBQ and went swimming. I was able to hang with Lindsay and finally caught up with Lisa's life, now that she is done with Orientation. Michelle is doing great and changed her hair color to bluish-turquoise streaks and I met her new boyfriend. I played with her dogs and hung out for a few hours and then we went to Nate's house in Hollywood for another BBQ. We had hot dogs and burgers, a typical "American BBQ." Nate made his special salsa con queso and Mama Saifer was there in spirit with her lovely brownies that Nate defrosted from the freezer. Yum! It was nice to hang with Nate and his coworkers and also to see Jon and Erica again. Conversation was interesting and involved Nair and scrotums...that's all I am going to say. I was just an observer though.

Monday was more unpacking and going to the grocery store. We now have food! The apartment is finally coming together beautifully and all we need is our coffee table and then we are set. It's starting to feel a lot more cozy, kinda like "home." I am getting use to it more and more each day, it's nice.

Today was okay, mediocre at best. Work was extremely busy...it always is the day after a holiday. But I survived and was able to go to Costco after work and loaded up on all of the "bulk" things that we needed. The crowds were a lot nicer today and made my shopping experience so much more pleasant. M came over and we had tacos and caught up, since she was Michigan all weekend visiting her sister and her nephews. She is by far the hardest working woman that I know and I have to give her kudos for fitting me into her schedule every week. We had lots of fun!! After she left, Josh and I watched Scrubs and have been cleaning the apartment ever since. Glamorous life, huh?!

Link: http://www.tmbg.com/froMain.html

This post is dedicated to Kate. We had our "last dinner in LA" Wednesday night with Alexis and I was overwhelmed by mixed emotions. Like always, we had a great time and ironically, our last dinner was in Northridge, not LA. We decided to meet Kate halfway because she lives in Moorpark, so we met up at Wood Ranch Grill (yum!). I was so happy for Kate because I knew how much she wanted to move to New York. It has been a goal of hers ever since I've known her and she is finally doing it! She just got an apartment as well (Upper East Side!) and everything is working out for her. But I will miss her so much and I know that email and phone calls and things of that nature will occur, but it's still not the same. We explored LA together and discovered cute restaurants and great shops and it sort of got me through my "I hate LA" phase of my life. I have yet to explore the "other" side of town, meaning East LA and Hollywood. I have been to a few places here and there, but not as frequently as I would like. I just wish that there wasn't any traffic so it wouldn't be an ordeal every time I leave the Westside, but I have to work on that and make a conscious effort. She will be moving to a city that is full of great "culture" and I will just have to hear stories about it and live vicariously through her. I am back into my "I love LA" phase and it's nice, especially since I moved to a different part of the Westside, I still have a bit more exploring to do. In any case, it's nice here and it's nice living with Josh and being able to "be" together. Anyway, I will miss hanging with Kate and all of the crazy sleepovers we had. But at least Alexis is moving back to LA! Geesh, two friends leaving in one week, it's crazy! I'm sad, but I am happy too, and I know that we will see each other soon, so I am not going to sweat it.

I think that I am going to see Hero tonight and play some poker. I am trying to forget about the rest of the unpacking...there's about 15% left to do and I am getting lazy. But I think that my trip to Ikea tomorrow will rejuvenate my interest in setting up the apartment. Well, I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend! I'm excited because Nate and Michelle Chung are each having a BBQ! Fun!!