PostSecret pick of the week

Getting older can really suck!

3 more!!

I had to keep going yesterday... 3 more papers! Yay!!

And so it starts

Behold, my first paper! I got the brushes from Digital Fruit and it took me all morning to figure out that I can't make a brush from a png file. I took a chance and downloaded the CS "only" files... lo and behold,they were the necessary abr files. Woo hoo! I'm now gonna go to town!

Snow in Malibu?

Yesterday, well this whole week really, had crazy weather. It actually started with snow in the 909 last Friday.

The 909 (for you non So Cal folks that read my blog) is more accurately San Bernardino and Riverside counties. They’re the outer edge of the Los Angeles hub, also known as the IE (Inland Empire). During the summer they are the armpit of LA as they are HOT and pocketed in by the mountains so all the yucky air gets trapped there as well. They also have a certain stereotype (much added to and hyped by my morning folks at KROQ, the Kevin & Bean Show) as the Valley of the Dirt People. It’s the last area of LA that still somewhat underdeveloped (thus the dirt). The appeal of living there is it’s still got “cheap” housing ($400k for a nice sized house in the middle of nowhere still is steep if you ask me but similar homes in my area can be easily $6-8 hundred K), but it’s far out there. It’s also more prone to fires in the fall, less likely to get rain in the winter and gets triple digits pretty regularly in the summer. San Bernardino was also the Methlab capitol of the country for years. See why it’s got a bad rep? For those of you that watched the OC, Chino was in the 909. ; )

But back to the weather here; so we had snow in the 909 on Friday. And as one of my guys told me over the phone that afternoon “Not just snow… a friggin blizzard!” Of course that was somewhat understandable, they are the foothills of actual mountains after all. Not such a big deal, but it was just getting started.

Record lows overnight and during the day all week (we got to the low 20s at night… not cool in the land of palm trees!) and then…all kinds of crazy! We had actual snow in Malibu yesterday. SNOW. IN. MALIBU. They closed the northbound 5 through the Grapevine too. Crazy!

And then this morning my car was frozen. I’ve had ice on my windshield before… but not my whole windshield!! I’ve gotten ice crystals before on the roof/hood, but not actual ICE. I had to let the car run with the defroster blasting and then get out of my car after a few minutes and SCRAPE ICE off before I could leave.

It’s worse than just cold though. It’s ruining our crops. California is known for being able to raise produce year round, especially citrus. Prices are shooting up everywhere and we’re losing avocado, orange and strawberry crops like mad! CRAZY!!

Anyway… catch my slide show… none of those pics are mine though. ; ) Enjoy our crazy California weather!

Apparently California has an accent

I called Kentucky today. I talked to a very nice man from one of our material manufacturers to order some more product brochures. I didn’t tell him where I was from other than company name but when I gave him the address he wanted to know where in California I was. So… either he knows every sheet metal company in the country to have an idea where I was located, OR he could tell from talking to me. Maybe there was a caller ID included but I doubt it because he asked for a contact number.

Anyway it was amusing… but not as amusing as his adorable southern accent. It was really hard not to start talking that way. I tend to echo accents and it’s really hard not to (since I don’t want to offend them… go figure). Lately I’ve noticed that I really pick up on southern and New Zealand the most. How often to I hear the Zealander accent you ask? Pretty often actually, one of our manufacturer reps is a Kiwi and I could talk to her all day. I’ve noticed a lot of them at Disneyland lately too (since it’s their summertime now I’m sure). It’s such a fun accent, similar to Australian, but softer.

I'm just saying. ;)

Hair

Here it is. Fun huh?

If Dave Grohl and Jack White somehow had a son

He’d work for Hilti. I know this because I met him today. No joke. He came in with a red Hilti long-sleeve oxford shirt (red with white embroidered “Hilti”) and light khaki pants (that at first glance I swore were white). He totally had this Jack haircut and Dave goatee thing going. I almost laughed out loud when he introduced himself as Kenny because he SO should have been named Jave or Dack. Nice guy. Seemed kinda young to be an account representative, but then again I’ve got to remember that “younger than me” can now include 20-23 years old. Or he just had a baby face. Either way.

And now as I type this KROQ is playing Steady As She Goes. I think I woke up in the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.

ETA: Just kidding... I've decided he's just a Jack White wannabe after finding this particular photo to share with the class.

Cult films never live up to the hype

I finally saw The Crow last night. I should have seen it in 1994. I would have liked it better then. I enjoyed it, I'd watch it again, it's not my newest favorite movie, nor did it ever change my life. I also don't understand what the HUGE staying power it seems to have. As Satan said in South Park last Halloween... "BUT… nobody better show up as The Crow! I'm serious. Every costume party there's like fourteen guys come dressed like the Crow 'cause they wanna look hot and hook up. IT'S LAME! If you come dressed as the Crow, you're NOT GETTING IN to the party!"

Granted... occasionally he was hot, I'm not that into it I guess. He kinda reminded me of Ville Vallo of H.I.M. Hot in one shot and NOT in another. LOL I don't get Goth culture. It intrigues me, but I guess I don't GET it. I honestly at one point asked where Azrael Abyss and Circe Nightshade were (SNL reference for those of you that don't know... I'm sorry... I LOVE Chris Kattan and you can educate yourself here and here).

What's My Age Again?

I was in the car getting lunch and Blink 182 comes on. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan, by far, but I've been known to enjoy them and they have this nostalgic quality to them. My high school boyfriend and I used to joke that our song was Damn It by them. It's about a couple breaking up, but it was ALWAYS on the radio when we first started going out so it became a standing joke... "What's your guys' song?" "Damn It by Blink 182."

Anyway... What's My Age Again? came on and I was just sitting in my car singing along when I realized that this song came out when I was like 16. Not only that but I've now skipped OVER 23 and am now 25. That blew me away. But the truth of the song came to me at that moment as well. It's about a 23 year old guy who keeps doing dumb immature stuff and everyone asks him to act his age. His response?

My friends say I should act my age

What's my age again?

What's my age again?

... No one should take themselves so seriously

With many years ahead to fall in line

Why would you wish that on me?

I never want to act my age

What's my age again?

What's my age again?

I never wanna act my age either. I don't think I do in a lot of ways, and that's probably why the fact that this song is at least or close to 10 years old but still feels fresh to me.

Happy New Year!

How did I end up with such goofy friends?

I went out with some of the homegirls that I grew up with and it was fun to just kick it. A lot of stupid random stuff was said and all I can remember now is:

“Matthew just tried to grab my boobs!”

“Don’t recline, don’t recline!!”

“That’s Bug because she bugs.”
“No I don’t!”
“Heather, how do you thing you GOT that name?”

“*Cha-qua, cha-qua!* And then I was like oh no you didn’t.”

“Oh, he’s SO not gay!”

“I don’t know what you do at your house but we don’t serve that up here!”
“Are hot dogs and rice the new beanie weenies?”

Good food, good friends… saying good-bye to a crummy year and hello to hopefully a better one. Happy New Year all!

PS. That's my current hair color. It's got more red and brown in it this time. I'll probably actually keep this one up. Cute huh? I just need my new glasses and a trim and I'll be set!