Sam's Blog

Link: http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/

"But I did not believe in him,
Heaven and hell,
World in opposites, kind of reality.
And I gained control of myself,
And I decided to press on.

And as I walked along,
The supposed golden path,
I was trembling with fear,
Oh the lions and wizards yet to come.
I seen in the distance,
Silver mountains rising high in the clouds
And a voice from above did wisper,
Some shining answer from the moon."

Yay to Alexis for letting me post her picture. I finally added a pics page on the left menu. I am going to have to add pictures slowly, so bear with me. And I know some of you don't like some of the pics that I post. I apologize, but you are going to have to email me some good pictures of yourself then. I have hundreds that I need to scan, so those will be up eventually.

Finally, I just have to say that I am glad that I had my M fix. I haven't seen her in a few weeks. I took her to Wood Ranch and it was surprisingly her first time there (considering she loves meat and BBQ sauce). M and I always have solid talks. I love it. We walked around The Grove for a while and it was absolutely beautiful. It felt like winter (sans snow) in Europe. The shops and lights and everything were so lovely. The wind was so cold and I finally had to wear gloves and my peacoat for the first time this season. I love winter clothes, they're so warm and comforting. Ah, alas, it feels like a real winter is coming (well as real as it can get in LA).

Link: http://www.npgonlineltd.com/

I figure I better post this picture before someone else does. So yeah, this Thanksgiving weekend was pretty crazy. Nate’s lovely photo gallery is starting to become complete and there are so many other pictures that I chose not to post for the sake of the people in them. I only received permission from Roni to post hers, but no one else. So anyway, Andrea is here and I forgot how much fun we have together. It’s not that I forgot, but it’s just been a while since she’s been here. She is not a big fan or Denver or it’s men. I’m so sad for her. Her goal was to go out every night she was in town (except for Thanksgiving Day) and drink. Her mission was accomplished and I was one of her sidekicks.

Friday night was “Lush” night, despite the fact that the bar Lush changed it’s name to The Space. Fast Times Band performs there every Friday night and Andrea loved the lead singer (Spicoli). Lisa and I are more fond of the guitarist (Prince). They are a very awesome 80’s cover band that plays everything from Guns N Roses to Human League. They’re fun to dance to and I finally met the lead singer that night. The freak factor was up because Andrea was with us, but she was able to handle it herself. The song “Erotic City” came on and made me realize that 1.) I haven’t heard this song in years (which was funny because I heard it again the next day) 2.) I’ve been neglecting my 80’s music. So I’ve been listening to Depeche Mode and Duran Duran all weekend.

Last night was a semi-reunion of the old gang. Andrea rounded up all of us to go chill at St. Nick’s Pub. It was so much fun and I think almost everybody was drinking and having a great time. Mike P. was there with Matt. Amy brought her friend Dina, whom I haven’t seen in like 2 years, so it was nice to see her again. Josh, Nate, James, both Lisas (Lum and Delvillar) came. Marty, Angie, Jess Jung, Mike Teng and Robin and a few others came with them. Large groups and lots of drinking. It was swell. Andrea drank a lot, perhaps a little too much to the point that we didn’t go the Hollywood Christmas parade tonight. But we did go over to her place and watched it on TV. It was a blessing in disguise because it was so cold tonight and I cannot imagine standing out there for hours in the cold waiting for all of the people to walk by. Good job Andrea! I stayed over and watched an episode of Desperate Housewives. I didn’t really know what was going on and they were trying to fill me in on it, but it seems like it would be an addicting show. Reminds me of Melrose Place, but it’s not as scandalous yet. I’m sure things will start going crazier, especially since they just killed off one of the characters. But eh, it’s okay. I am not going to wait for it to come on, but if I am browsing after Arrested Development and it’s on, maybe I’ll watch it again. It does have Felicity Huffman on it, so it can’t be that bad, right? Sportsnight was an awesome show. This weekend was too short. Sigh. Back to work tomorrow.

Brad is so hot! Even when you can't see his face. Yum!

My friend, Alison, from home wrote me the sweetest email. And I realized that we are indeed going to be friends until we are old and gray. Why not? No reason not to. We have been friends since junior high and though she lives in Davis, we still talk all of the time. It's great and I love it, a lot.

The holidays are a strange time for me. The home that I would go back to isn't the one that I grew up in. I no longer have a home in Modesto and it saddens me that I will never ever be able to go back to it. I still get lost in Bellflower (where my dad and siblings reside) and it doesn't feel like home at all. I use to go there frequently, but lately I've been slacking. It's only 45 minutes away, so I feel as though I can go there anytime, but yet I do not. My family is not big on holidays so I don't feel a need to have to go there on the holidays. But I do plan to go sometime this weekend. I miss my dad and grandma a lot. I no longer have a room of my own and it's such a foreign place to me now. I don't know if I will ever get use to it. I don't know where any of the local hangouts are or even the best coffee shop in the area. Maybe I should stay there for a while and explore. But a part of me doesn't care. I know Ventura (where Josh is from) better than I do Bellflower and Monterey Park (where my mom lives). Crazy, but true. But I am starting to get use to my new apartment and it feels like home to me, so to me, that's all I really need. It's weird to come back to my old apartment (Lisa and I are cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a few friends) again and though I only lived there for a year, I am more comfortable in it than any other place. Even though my room looks totally different with Justin's stuff in there, it feels soothing. It's nice to spend Thanksgiving day here. I wouldn't want it any other way.

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The past few days have been a whirlwind of activities. Everyday of work has been crazy because of the holiday. I didn't get much sleep all week because I was actually doing things after work.

On Monday, I went out for sushi with Aussie, Lisa, and Josh to Niko Niko (right across the street from Trader Joe's on Westwood). They have great happy hour specials. We ate tons of sushi and tempura and talked for hours. I was a bit irritated because I ordered a Coke and waited around for a refill for the longest time. I was thirsty because of the sushi and soy sauce and talking. The waitress finally came by and gave me a glass of water and explained that refills cost extra and she gave me a glass of water and walked away. I was thinking that it wasn't fair because what if I wanted to pay extra for the refill? I really didn't care, but since she took that option away from me, I was stuck with water. But I drank it anyway and didn't raise a fuss.

Tuesday night started off a bit slower. Angela and I had dinner at Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers because she was craving a burger. I love that place and they have the best burgers ever. Angela became a quick fan of it too. Josh called and said that Greg, his best friend, was in town from Texas. Yay! We met up with him, Negin (his fiance), Wen, and Kurt at Real Food Daily. All but Wen are vegan. I had a Kombucha Wonder Drink that made me urinate every 10 minutes. It tasted like ginger and asian pear and was very acidic. Left a weird aftertaste in my mouth. Afterwards, we went to karaoke at the Peppermint. It's been a long time since I've been karaoking. It was fun and it irritated my throat. It was nice seeing Kurt, who was against karaoking in the first place, sing along to songs like "Whip It!" and "Living on a Prayer" and "Beautiful Day." I know that people deep down inside love to karaoke, but they will never admit it.

Andrea was back in town on Wednesday and wanted to check out Saddle Ranch in Universal City. Even though we went there last Saturday, I decided to go so I can enjoy the experience with her. Well, apparently they have a live band on Wednesday nights instead of a DJ. The band wasn't very good either. They did a lame cover of "Last Dance with Mary Jane" and that's when we knew that we had to leave. We went to No Bar in North Hollywood instead and it was a cool place. Interesting people (a lot from the Valley) and bad music (from the jukebox). But we had fun. We chilled and people watched. It was nice to see Andrea again. I've missed her so much and she apparently missed us a lot as well because the people in Denver are very different, according to her.

Today was a success. Dinner was awesome. The best mashed potatoes I've ever tasted (thanks to Lisa) and Henri's ham was excellent as well. Green beans with bacon was surprisingly sweet and lovely. It was fun! I love turkey.

I love Andrea. She is the only one that can get away with that statement. She will be back in LA tomorrow. Yay!! And she apparently has the entire weekend planned out for us, including Wednesday night...here we go!

[Aside]

R.I.P. JFK

Link: http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/

I am feeling so much better. Slight cough, but I can breathe through my nose again. Yay! I finally saw Angela on Thursday night. I swear, it feels like forever if I don’t see her for more than 2 days. It’s funny how that works because we talk on the phone everyday, pretty much. I am getting used to having a best girl friend. Sounds kinda funny when I say it. But ever since high school, I’ve had really good guy friends and though I had many good girlfriends, I never let myself get too close to them. I blame it on my mother in a way, but that’s an entirely different story. I feel blessed to not only have Angela, but also M and Lisa too. I find it funnier because Angela is Asian. I had this thing where I didn’t trust Asian girls for a long time, mostly through high school and a majority of college. Weird, I know, but you all know that I am weird already. But yeah, I guess that’s just ironic. I am glad that I was able to get over that because Angela is fabulous.

Randy, Angela’s boyfriend, is in a play called, A Burning Thing, and it was closing weekend. I went on Thursday night, but the times were messed up and I missed the beginning of it. So I had dinner with Angela instead, at this random corner Mexican restaurant (which was really delicious) near the playhouse. We chatted about life, politics, friendships, and relationships. It was nice. Randy was later on the episode of ER that aired that night. He played a retarded brother of a girl that just had a baby. I am happy that he is getting more work. It must be so hard being an Asian actor. I really admire his plight and career choices and I hope he gets more roles.

I saw Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason on Friday night with Alexis. I don’t know how I feel about it. I definitely know that I paid too much for it (I am never going to The Grove to watch a movie ever again, I would rather go to the Arclight if I want to spend that much, but they don’t have nachos, sigh). It was cute, funny, and Colin and Hugh are still magnificently hot. I think that Rene’s charm wore off after 10 minutes into the movie. But I laughed and was entertained for 1 ½ hours, so it wasn’t that bad. Very cheesy and formulaic chick flick, but I am not opposed to it.

Went to Swingers with Josh after the movie. I had the same waitress that I had last week when I was there with Lisa. I ordered the same thing. I realized that I am very predictable in that sense. But tuna melts are so good there and I can never say no to one. I love their motto, “Ass, cash, or grass, nobody eats here for free.” It was then that I realized that Josh and I haven’t eaten a meal by ourselves in a while. It’s funny how that is. We eat at home together all of the time, but we always go out to eat with others. Such a strange observation on my part but I enjoyed the quality time. There was a loud-mouth jerk sitting in the booth next to us apparently and he was really annoying Josh, but for some reason, I didn’t notice. I then also realized that I have the ability to tune noises and people out without even knowing it. It’s funny, I use to be so sensitive to that kind of stuff. It’s funny how much I don’t care anymore. Maybe I learned it from Charlotte and Dr. Mao, heh, I doubt it, but it reminded me of that episode.

Saturday was awesome. I was finally able to hang with M. We went shopping and she was telling me about her horrible week. Poor girl, totally didn’t deserve anything that happened. She’s a fighter though. We realized that we wouldn’t see each other for a while because of Thanksgiving. So sad. I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving already. Where did time go? Another year. At least I think that I will be spending it with Lisa again. I miss my old flatmates. Anyway, later that day, I met up with Angela. We went to the MAC cosmetics counter and got makeovers. I love smoky eyes, but I can’t do it on myself. I spent an obscene amount of money on some makeup, but I love it. Their makeup remover wipes are the best things EVER. If you need eye makeup remover, please get it. It’s really pricey, but it works so well. I’ve used so many different kinds and it just miraculously wipes everything off without any effort. Angela concurs. We both got fake eyelashes, which were fun and we went out to Saddle Ranch that night for Lisa Lum’s birthday. Saddle Ranch was nice during dinner, but as the night progressed, it got more crowded and as the bull-riding contest came to an end, it was packed. And then it started to rain, hard. So everyone came inside and it became really crowded. There were conversations throughout the table...the watermelon crawl, prostate glands, hot Carls (not the one in Love Actually), Nascar and so on and so forth. Finding room to dance was a feat, but we finally did. It was fun, but the music was too pop for me. But I danced anyway and it was enjoyable.

Today was fabulous because I didn’t do much. I think that I was supposed to do something, but I don’t quite remember. But it was nice to relax. Josh and I watched Wong Kar-Wai’s As Tears Go By and then later Touching the Void which were both great, but hard to stomach, in very different ways.

Tomorrow is probably going to be crazy-busy at work with the upcoming holiday. But I know that I will only be thinking about JFK. It’s been 41 years. I need to call up Eva and watch our marathon JFK tribute. It’s weird though, for a history major, I hate US history. I only like the Civil War and JFK. That’s about it. I’m just not into anything else in the US really. So it will be a special day for me tomorrow.

Link: http://www.hbo.com/city/

My body is starting to shut down.
Can’t keep my eyes open anymore.
I’m getting weaker.
Exhaustion sets in.
But I am still alive.

I don’t know why I do the things I do. I know I’m still sick. I know that I work early. But yet I pretend as though those factors do not exist. Life is nonstop.

My friends mean more to me than my health. I don’t mind. I don’t want to miss anything. Life is too short. So I went to Lisa’s celebration of life at Busby’s last night. There were lots of people that I haven’t seen in a long time; Oscar, Kevin and Sia especially. Sia brought cupcakes from Clementine. An orgasm in my mouth...I missed them. It’s been too long. An hour later, with a few drinks in her, Lisa was jolly. So was Marty. I know that I compare life to Sex and the City episodes a lot, but last night was a prime example. There was an episode in season 2, “Twenty-something girls vs. thirty-something women,” where Carrie notes that a main difference is that twenty-something girls hold up their friend’s hair while they throw up. Though I have done it frequently in the past, it has been quite some time. Lisa and I are still twenty-something girls. I miss Sex and the City more than I thought I did. Sigh.

I hope to sleep more. I am still a bit restless and tired. I feel like a zombie most of the day. It’s a shame. The weather has been so nice. It feels like I am wasting it. I need clarity. I miss M. I wish I could breathe (literally, my nose has been stuffy for days). As I look at my future engagements, I realize that I may never get a chance to rest. Is it worth it? I say yes, for now.

Link: http://www.siteforrent.com/intro.html

How about six years? How do you measure that? I'm not quite sure actually. Until now. Happy six years babe!!

It sucks that I am sick on my anniversary and on Lisa's birthday. Lisa is way older than all of us now, he he!! She will always be my older sister. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the faces that I haven't seen in ages! I'm excited.

So I know that I am sick and all, but I was not bedridden. So my natural inclination was to "shake it off" and go about my normal life. I actually did okay both nights. But I am paying for it.

The UCLA Animation Fall Screening was Friday night. I wasn't feeling well, so I left work early and took a nap. I got up and went to the screening and afterparty. I was DD because I wasn't going to drink. Well, I wasn't suppose to anyway. Rob gave me the new Skyy blue drink (kinda like Smirnoff Ice) and I tried it. Not bad at all, less acidic but really sweet. So that mixed with Dayquil, woohoo! It was fabulous. it's not like I did it intentionally or anything, but it was nice for a while and I forgot that I was sick. There were a lot of new faces there, mainly the first years. It's so strange to think that Josh is on his last year of school (if he finishes his thesis) already.

On Saturday, Josh and I watched Outfoxed. It was quite excellent and I forgot how much I disliked Bill O'Reilly. I'm glad that the sex scandal put him in the spotlight for a while. He totally deserved it. I never liked Fox News anyway. I hope you guys get to watch it sometime soon, it's not too long and it's a fascinating look at conservative television and media. I actually borrowed it from Rox, my old boss at Orientation, and if you know her at all, she would definitely want others to watch it.

Later that night, we went to Mike P's Pirate and Princesses party in Hollywood. What a night! A lot of friends were there. Nate, Lisa Lum, Amy, Angela, Wynne, Alexis, Josh, James, Mike, Kurt, Tripp, and Nadja (almost all of my favorite people essentially). We all drank and had a good time. There were boobs galore, Kurt getting his groove on, random hook ups, lapdances, Tripp sleeping on the couch, allergy attacks, and so on. Great fun! Go here to find you Pirate name.

Sunday was fabulous because I spent a majority of the time sleeping. I have a hacking cough and stuffy head. I wasn't feeling too great this morning either, so I called in sick. I don't want to give my cold to any of the patients. I would feel so bad.

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So Lisa Lum, called me today and said she just saw Jason Lee at her local market. I've loved him for so long! Oh Banky, how I miss you so. She heard his voice (he was on his cell) and saw him and thought of me. I love my friends and I love Hollywood.

Link: http://www.thecure.com/

So I am on a Nyquil high. I took it last night because I was so stuffed up and this morning I woke up and I was still drowsy. I slept so well though. I took the longest shower and was therefore late to work. It’s 10:15am and I am beginning to feel the effects of it wearing off. It’s crazy how much that stuff affects me. I hate that Veteran’s Day is no longer on a Monday. It doesn’t make sense to me, but this one-day off then the next day work is killing me. I slept a lot yesterday, but it didn’t help my cold. I just hope it doesn’t get worse. Argh!

I went over to the girls (Eva, Dre, Mich Garr) place for a political discussion last night. We were all frustrated about the results of the election and decided that we should try to do something about it. Some of Eva’s coworkers were there too, so I met a few new people. We are hoping more people can come to our meetings, but we do plan on going to the monthly LA Democrats meeting and we are trying to research other organizations that we want to be a part of. It’s nice to know that people feel the same way and that we want to be proactive. I’m sure I will be sending you guys some emails in the near future regarding events, if anyone wants to be more involved.

Josh’s Animation department’s fall screening is tonight. I always have fun every year. I hope that I feel well enough to drink…

Link: http://www.toriamos.com/

So last night was fabulous. Not as fabulous as Sunday night, but it was great. I went to the AFI Festival again with Alexis and we saw a screening of The Merchant of Venice. It was the premiere and there were lots of people around. There was a great after party that was sponsored by Absolut and there was plenty of food. I was really impressed. I was more impressed when I realized that drinks were free. So I drank and drank. What else was I suppose to do? They were free!! Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons were not there, which was a bummer for me, but Joseph Fiennes made up for it. He is so gloriously hot and is actually tall in real life. Not many others were there, mainly no name stars from the movie and a majority of them were British, so they didn't make it to the premiere. I did see Tim Daly, of Wings fame, who looks rather good for his age. But the coolest thing was that I saw Joshua Jackson (Pacey himself) who looked to be flying solo there. We made eye contact, I smiled, he smiled, oh yeah. It was awesome. But I did not have enough courage to go and talk to him. I don’t think I will be regretting it too much, but it was a missed opportunity. We mingled with all the Hollywood-types and talked to Alexis’ boss again. He really is such a cool guy. I wish he were my boss. He definitely was ready to get out of LA and go back to NY. It’s funny how it’s either one or the other. We stayed there rather late and I drank a little too much, but it was a good time. I am regretting it a little today because I hardly got any sleep, but it was well worth it.

The week has gone by so slowly. I have tomorrow (Veteran’s Day) off, which is so weird that it is on a Thursday, but whatever. I’m down with an extra day off anytime.

It’s funny how sometimes old friends are able to pick up where they left off. Roni and I have been playing phone tag for years and have seen each other perhaps once per year these past 6 years. That seems so infrequent considering the fact that I was basically living in her house the last few years of high school. But just like that, we’re back at it. She called me on Monday and had a lovely discussion about all sorts of things. It’s nice to know that the trust is still there and that we can be open about all kinds of things again. It is really nice to have that back.

That night, Angela and I went to Palms, a Thai restaurant in Hollywood. One of the best authentic Thai restaurants in town, without question. It’s just way too far for me to go there regularly. It was nice to have one on one time with her again. It’s been a while since we hung out.

I went to happy hour with Lisa tonight. I am pleased that we have kept our word about hanging out regularly because we all know that there is a chance that it won’t happen (from all of my roommate experiences especially). I was afraid that we wouldn’t see each other that often because I don’t live with her anymore, but it seems to be working out nicely. As long as there is Island’s and happy hour, I think we will be okay. It feels like home there now. They all know me and my food/drink order. Feels kinda like Cheers in a way and I love it. Lisa gave me this link to a nifty news website. It’s a bit busy, but I like it. Check it out when you can.

I am excited that I have tomorrow off. I can finally sleep. But I am starting to get sick...my nose is getting stuffy and my throat is kinda sore. Josh has been sick for a few days and I think he gave it to me. Sigh. I hope it goes away soon.

Happy Birthday Mike P.!! I can’t wait for the Pirates and Princesses party Saturday.

Link: http://www.sarabmusic.com/

It's starting to rain again. It's slow, but steady. I have a feeling it's going to rain more tomorrow. But I don't care about rain. I had one of the best weekends in a long time, especially after a long week of uncertainty and sadness.

I just got back from watching Bad Education, a Pedro Almodovar film (who's done other movies, such as All About My Mother and Talk to Her) with Alexis at the Arclight. Alexis works for Sony and was able to get us press tickets, but she forgot to tell me that it was the actual premiere for the movie as well. I was just happy that I finally get to see a movie in the new Cinedome, but I was starstruck for once. We saw a handful of famous people and it was exciting. The director, Pedro Almodovar was there along with the lead actor, Gael Garcia Bernal (of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame) and who is also so hot, but very short in real life. But there were people there that I didn't expect, such as Brittany Murphy, Penelope Cruz, Olivier Martinez (who is so much hotter in person, if you can believe that), Marisa Tomei, and lastly, I sat behind Tobey Maguire, Mr. Spider-man himself (who apparently has a very short girlfriend and likes to eat a lot of popcorn). I've been close to celebrities before, but never this close. So I was excited, to say the least. There was an afterparty at White Lotus and we hung out there for a bit and saw a lot of the stars there just milling about. There was a VIP section that we were not allowed to go to. That's what sucks about Hollywood, there's always a VIP section that you are never invited to. I didn't feel like schmoozing, so I didn't really care. Besides, what do you say to famous actors anyway? I guess that was my small taste of Hollywood...I don't know if I can survive in that industry, but who knows. I did meet the President of Sony Pictures Classics, (Alexis' boss) Tom Bernard. He's a cool guy and very laid back.

But my weekend started off with a lot more excitement. I went to happy hour at Island's with Alexis, Marty, Nate, and Lisa and had a great time. We developed the new verb, vader, and are trying to use it as much as possible. It's basically used (for obvious reasons) when someone has turned evil. Afterwards, Nate and I met up with my best friend from high school, Roni, who came down for the night from San Diego to visit LA. We hadn't spoken to each other in a few months, not because we hated each other or anything, but we just lost touch for a while. We went to Saddle Ranch in Universal City with M, her cousin and good friend of mine, and Tina. It was fun and we drank a lot. I hadn't been that drunk in a while and I figure that I should be, considering the long week that I just had.

The next morning, we all went to brunch at Cafe 50's, minus Tina, but plus Josh. We did a little shopping on Melrose, since Roni had never been, and I got a cool hat and some jewelry. I was trying to set up an outing to watch The Incredibles that night. It was a big ordeal, but it all worked out. We were able to round up about 18 people to watch it at Universal City. I was impressed with the turnout and glad to see so many different groups of mine and Josh's friends joining together. The movie was quite incredible, please go see it! Fine family fun! Just don't bring your baby with you because they are really annoying when they cry during the movie. I mean, why do people do that? We went to a 9:00 show and there were kids and babies everywhere. I don't understand it. After the show, I found myself being restless again and I couldn't sleep. I don't know why that is. Usually when this happens, I know what the cause is, but this time feels different. I am tired, yet I cannot sleep. The positive thing is that I am able to work on my website more.

This morning, I slept in late. It was great, but considering that I went to bed really late, it wasn't as much sleep as I thought I would get. I realized that it had rained overnight. The sun wasn't out. It was a bit gloomy. My mood was indifferent. I had lunch with Josh and Nate at Paco's Tacos. Yum! I think it's one of the best authentic Mexican restaurants around the westside, please try it, it's on the corner of Washington and Centinela. Then I was off to the premiere.

I am glad this weekend was fun. But I neglected everything else: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. I guess I will have to make up for it during this week.

Link: http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com

Four years. If you think about it, we’ve been under his “rule” for four years already and that went by pretty fast. But four years is actually a really long time. It’s equal to all of my high school years or all of my college years. I’ve grown a lot in four years. Enough to know that I don’t want HIM to be a part of my life for the next four years. But I can’t do anything about it. I tried, but it didn’t work. Four years will feel like forever.

In other news, I fell in love last night.
Angela and I went to Melrose and I fell in love with a long gray wool coat. I needed it and I took it without hesitation. It’s been a long time since an article of clothing gave me such a response. And even though it was kinda pricey, it was totally worth it. I am hoping that it is a cold winter so I can wear it as often as possible. I got a few other things while I was there too; I forgot how much I liked Melrose.

Vanessa sent me Michael Moore’s statement below that I think we all should read:

11/5/04

Dear Friends,

Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, 'always look on the bright side of life!' There IS some good news from Tuesday's election.

Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since
Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don't approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out -- and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide – it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact, that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of surprise in 2008.

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com

Link: http://www.toriamos.com/

So it has been a long day. I am more upset now than anything. I think I am numb. I couldn't help it. I cried. I cried a lot. I had lunch with a few old friends, Jesse, Vanessa, Lisa, Angie, and Eva and we discussed this morning's events. We were all devastated and had few words. So we decided to be more active politically to ensure that this will not happen next time. We were thinking Hilary and Obama in 2008! That would be so awesome. It was nice to be around people that shared my views, especially on this eventful day.

As if my day couldn't get any worse, my really good friend from home told me that his father had just passed away. I am so devasted. He was one of the greatest and coolest dads that I knew and I feel so bad for my friend. He was one of the mock trial coaches in high school and I will never forget him. I cried even more. What a day. This is probably one of the worst days ever. Sigh.

Link: http://www.sarabmusic.com/

Kerry conceded. Ouch, it hurts.

Yes, that phrase is a bit extreme, but Puffy needed a gimmick and I think it’s working. In the “most important election of our lifetime,” I think back to the previous election and how I was not a part of it. It wasn’t my fault, I blame the government. It took 3 years for me to become a citizen here. Three long years of waiting. I became frustrated with the system. I was raised here since I was 6 months old and was educated in the fine city of Modesto and went to a great university. Why did it take so long? I was a history major for goodness sakes! I know US history. I probably know it better than most average Americans. But none of it mattered. I still had to wait and by the time things were settled, the 2000 election had already passed. So this is my first election. I am excited. Way beyond excited.

If you know me at all, you then know who I voted for. Some of my friends surprise me though. I don’t talk politics much, but I have been recently and it’s fascinating to hear people's opinions on things. It’s not that it will change the way I feel about them as a friend, but it makes things so much more complex. It’s going to be a very interesting election, no doubt. I’ll be watching all day and will be following it while M and I have dinner tonight.

So if you haven’t yet, vote. Please please please!

I got home last night and fell asleep at 6:00pm. But I woke up a few hours later alert and couldn’t sleep until really late. So I didn’t get much sleep last night either. My sleep cycle is off. Must sleep. But I know I can’t tonight, this election’s got me wired.

On Saturday night, Josh and I went to watch Sideways, the new Alexander Payne movie. I liked it a lot. I don’t think it’s for everybody though. I think that if you liked Payne’s previous work, you would probably like the movie. It’s a character study and I love Paul Giamatti. He’s one of my favorite actors. It’s nice that Lowell from Wings is getting work too, he was excellent in it as well.

Yesterday started off like any other Sunday- brunch with a friend, this time it was with Lindsay. She finally crawled out of the little hole she was in because she finished the GRE’s last week. She also just came back from Boston, and therefore, so much talking was had. I realized that I haven’t seen her in like, a month and it was nice to catch up.

Halloween is such a weird holiday for me. I never really know what to do. I always want to do something grand, but I get too lazy. And also, how can anyone top West Hollywood? Every year WeHo has a parade of sorts on Santa Monica Blvd. and this year it stretched from La Cienega to Doheny. Alexis was so nice to drive Josh and I to the festivities and we had a nightmare finding parking, along with everyone else. Mike P. and Matt gave up and went home after searching for over an hour. I don’t blame them, it was crazy. We finally found parking far, far away. When we arrived, it was fabulous. So many interesting and different costumes. I was a nun, Nate was a Mormon, Josh was a construction/utility worker, Lisa Lum didn’t dress up, and Alexis was our token black friend. We wandered the streets and met a few random friendly people. Everyone was really nice there, except for the crowd pushers, they were rude. I think my favorite costumes were Al and Peg Bundy, a giant penis, Martha Stewart, a human version of a dirty martini, and a kid wearing nothing but Spongebob Squarepants underoos. I had the pleasure of dancing with the Spongebob boy, he was so cute, but so short, but he was awesome. The highlight of my night came when I saw the pope and he glanced at me and gave me a head nod. That was so funny! I felt so proud. The crowds were huge and there were so many people, more so than two years ago anyway. Only thing that I didn’t like was that people brought their little kids there. I honestly don’t think that it’s a place for kids, but whatever. The more annoying thing was that people brought strollers too. Arrgh. I love kids, but really though. Especially since it was late and they were out on a “school night” technically. The best part about it was that I ran into so many random friends that I haven’t seen in so long. I saw Derek, Molly & Co., Jon Cana, Severino, Lunchie, and Tom, a social worker in my clinic. It was nice to see everybody dressed up and running around like crazy.

We met up with Kurt and Tripp and their crew, so we were 10 strong. We were kinda over the crowds, so we went to Fred 62 to get something to eat. My first time there and it wasn’t that bad. It’s so far, far away from my place though. I hope to go back sometime soon. For some reason, I ordered coffee and it was already 1am. Big mistake. I usually am not affected by caffeine, but this time, I had a hard time falling asleep, so I played on the internet for a while until I got tired. And then I had the strangest dreams. Only going off of a few hours of sleep. It’s been a long day.