Wish You Were Here

Shiver - cold toilet seat. That's what blogging is like for me - approaching 2 weeks since my last entry. Warming up...

It could also be that my current location happens to be in New York where they are experiencing the worst winter snow storm/blizzard since 2006. Yes, the toilet seat is freezing. No, I have not set foot outside since my fingers almost froze from walking home from the grocery store. I have been home bound for the last 2 days. I have watched enough television and reruns of NCIS to last me through the next year, I'm caught up with football and sleep and I are in the healthiest stage of our relationship.

Let's rewind to the days leading up to this cold winter night...

Deflating from all the holiday parties, drinking, felting (i'll explain)... I was a busy lil' elf; working overtime in Santa's workshop. This year, I took on extra projects both at work and on the home front and enjoyed every minute.

My prior position at work left me in isolation 90% of the time. With no colleagues to speak of, it was difficult to promote any charitable initiatives especially since I would have been the chair person and it's only member. Now, I am 1 of 90+ people in my department, hence making it more feasible to appeal to the group for help. My chosen cause was to adopt a family. With the generous help of all my friends/colleagues, we all collectively fulfilled a family's wish this holiday season. The adopted family consisted of the dad, mom, 8 year old boy and a newborn girl. I asked Santa for a miracle this year and a miracle I got. The minimum requirement that we needed to fulfill was to provide the family with at least 1 of their wish list item and a $100 grocery gift certificate. I got to work and sent out my plea, walked around with my gold Adopt a Family donation box, sent my intention out to the Universe and she responded very generously.

The family received over $300 worth of grocery and visa gift card on top of all the donated toys, clothing and other gifts. I was so overwhelmed by the turn out. I cried tears of joy at work as the donations started pouring in on the last day of the campaign. I learned the lesson of having faith in people. Good things will come to good people. The adopted family definitely received their Christmas miracle.

What's next on the list?

Christmas projects:

Before the partying, I worked on my presents for the girls and the special someone. This year, I went back to basics and made my gifts for the lovely ladies. Well, half made presents. I made little cut outs of animals out of felt material and glued it on the store bought gloves. I had SOOO much fun making them. Each animal represents what they like or what I think best fits their individual personalities.

Finally, Party!!! And partied I did - at home and outside with my beloved friends...

At home:

Outside with my Southbay ladies:

At Zairina's

Getting to and Jetting to:

The festivities ended 3:00 am Thurs/Fri on Dec 23rd just in time for me to catch some desperately needed sleep and then get packing for my trip to NY.

I flew out on Christmas Eve - the flight was on time, I got through security sans pat down. It was a very smooth flight. I slept through most of it. My single serving friend was friendly enough but also kept his safe distance. I got in at 6:39am on Christmas day - half an hour earlier than the scheduled arrival...smooth sailing.

First things first. Everyone knows I love celebrating birthdays and of course the ultimate birthday in my book is none other than baby Jesus (^_^)

I started my day in the City by attending a mass at the beautiful St Patrick's Cathedral.

Right after the mass - looking for a place to eat...

Stopped quickly at Rockefeller Center. I wanted to go ice skating but the line looped around the rink...Mon Dieu!

Sesame crusted ahi tuna at Bobby Van's...yum!

Then in the evening we heard the ugly news. A storm was on it's way to NY that will pretty much shut down the city for the next 2 days. It's the second evening and I'm going a bit stir crazy. The snow piled high outside the door, mass transit still suspended and the roads still not fit to be driven at this point. We have been watching the news like a hawk to stay up to date. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

Having S n O w much fun!

Shovel - part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Alas, I return to my old mantra - Everything is Fine, Not Final. Tomorrow WILL be a better day. I will wake up in the morning and recite my morning gratitude. Even something as simple as being alive deserves a nod, as it is quite a feat if you stop and think about it. We're all so fleshy, soft and fragile yet somehow able to dodge speeding cars, sharks, lightning, second hand smoke, fast food, finger pointing and snow blizzards. If you're reading this, you're WAY above average because you have ELECTRICITY AND some kind of communication device that enables you to connect to the most expansive community we The Human have ever seen.

My celebration mantra I share with to you is this:

Be AWEsome!

Write it somewhere where you can be reminded of how wonderful you are - where you can high five yourself for having been up to big things and doing it well. The mirror is a great place for affirmations. Brush your teeth and stroke your ego at the same time. You deserve it. After all, quality of life is only the way YOU define it.

The future is here for us to be amped, to be motivated, to remind each other that each is doing amazing things. Create this world as so and it will transform itself into a place of wonder right before our eyes.

Complete pics here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=a31f44d7d02dce67&sid=0MaMmTZy3Ys5e

Dear Santa,

Thank you for my Christmas miracle. I am where I'm supposed to be. I have what I need. I've got my hands full of my beloved. I know why I didn't get my dancing pole. Apparently, that'll put me on the 'naughty list' (^_-)

Your #1 fan,

Jakey

The Bride wore...

Purple?


Last Sunday, I went to my first ever punk-rock wedding. It was one of those day's where I had the time, not much on the agenda since earlier plans fell through and it also gave me a chance to hang out with my friend Chao for a little while. It was his good friend's wedding and I was the wedding crasher!

The ceremony took place at Baker beach. It was cloudy and cold - no rain though, thank goodness. The wedding was supposed to start at 3:00pm and we were there at 2:50pm. The beach was empty with no wedding parties to be found. At this point, I still did not know that the bride and the groom were total rock stars.

The group started trickling in and Chao pointed out the groom, sporting a full on mohawk! The bride came 15 minutes later and she was wearing a purple sequined cocktail dress.

Now this is the part when I drop-kicked Chao on the ground and punched him in the head for not telling me that I was SOOOO inappropriately dress for this wedding - just kidding of course. But seriously, I wish I wore one of my other million black dresses sitting in my closet so I could've blended a little more.

Groom and their dog Sailor




Bride and her father





As part of their ceremony, they brought a miniature coffin-like box with a bottle of whiskey in it. After they exchanged their vows, they took the paper, placed it inside the box and nailed it shut. The officiant said that the box will only be opened on their 20th wedding anniversary or if they're ever on a brink of getting a divorce, so they can re-read their vows to each other and remember why they got married in the first place. I thought it was a great idea but I'm not sure how I feel about the miniature coffin box...

Groom nailing the coffin... lol! It's all over man! hee hee! j/k

Yes, I was the schmuck who wore a pink, girly dress to a punk rock wedding... Can you say fashion faux pas!

Afterwards, the wedding party went to Fly Bar to celebrate. I popped in for a glass of sangria and went my merry way to meet up with May for dinner and movie. We saw "Black Swan". One word, "Dark". The movie had a lot of holes but the great acting distracts you enough that you don't really think about it until afterwards. Natalie Portman is absolutely Gorgeous! Is it worth seeing? Yes - with a glass of wine and reserved seats at the Kabuki Theatre, absolutely (^_^)

Here's a hilarious video of Tugboat. He recently discovered that he has a tail and has been going ape-shit almost everyday trying to catch it... ha ha ha!

On Saturday, I went to the 'special someone's' holiday house party. He and his college schoolmate played Christmas Carols on his marimba while the rest of the guests sang along. It was so much fun! No, I didn't sing. Well... just a little, but I kept my voice really low. Thank goodness that there were real singers in the group who was heartily belting out the songs so I was able to just be a butterfly on the wall (^_^) It was wonderful to watch and listen to him play. I hope that one of these days I would be able to share the beautiful music that he plays. I was running around all day that Saturday that I forgot to bring my camera again!

My Christmas house party is going to be this Friday. Yes, it will be another cozy event with guests stacked on top of each other... lol!

My tree is up, decorations hung and a yummy menu planned. More on this shindig soon...

Dear Santa,

I've been...

__ Naughty

_X Nice

May I have a Christmas miracle?

Love from your #1 Fan,

Jakey

Forging along...

Last Friday, my sister and I went to a Dior Master, make-up class put on by Nordstrom. It was basically 1 1/2 of sales pitch on what products to buy and 30 minutes of play time with their make-up. It was fun playing with the colors and their make-up brushes but the $250 price tag on their face cream was tres chere!

My make-up was done by one of the Dior artist.

The following evening, I tried the make-up tricks I learned in class and got all dolled up and had a fun night in town with the all the girls.

Miho's birthday dinner at Fang Restaurant

Booty shakin' at Harlot

Complete pics here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=1dc837a5c25deb8d6cdd16a80fdf8c46&sid=0MaMmTZy3Ys2i

On Sunday, May and I perused the aisles of "Deco the Halls". It's a yearly event with vendors selling items focused on the art deco period. We saw this piece hanging on the wall. I took a picture of it and sent it to the special someone...

Me: Great piece!

Cuteness: Cork screw? Does it work? Looks like a marina bimbo - looks pretty but doesn't do anything.

Oh Snap! LOL! He didn't!

I think he forgot that two of my girls live in the Marina. One is a Marriage Counselor in the midst of starting her own practice and the other is a Project Manager for a Marketing company - not bimbos at all...

Still, I chuckled because that is the stereotype for the residents of that area. Pretty funny...

I like this mirror... it would have only set me back about $850!

As the year draws to a close, I cannot help but think back on the events of the past year; it brought with it challenges, growth, risks, and surprises along the way.

Despite the personal heartaches in the first half of the year, I embrace the growth and the lessons that came with it. I know that I'm a better and stronger person to have gone through what I did. I took risks, gave it my all and even though it didn't work out in the end, I have no regrets. Some things are just not meant to be. And yet my heart found a way to channel the love somewhere else.

I found a passion for volunteering and this year is just the beginning. I'm committing to doing more in the future and get more people excited and involved.

New friendships were forged and previous bonds strengthened. I truly am very blessed this way. I have been gifted the bestest girlfriends a girl could ever have. I reconnected with my special someone who has brought even more light and happiness in my life. He touches my heart and I am content. My family continues to be the pillar of my strength, never letting me down even when I've done it to myself. My faith in God, Universe, the Powers Be is unwavering.

I took a risk in changing my path at work and it paid off. I am very pleased with what I'm doing now and the potential for bigger things ahead.

Overall, it has been a wonderful year and I'm not done yet. There's more party to be had, drinks to be drunk, nights to savor, morning light to bask in and probably a couple more blog entries for good measure (^_^)

Peaceful night to you,

Jakey

More of less to come...

Before I ever had my part-time relationship with this computer, all my writing was done in cursive in a spiral bound notebook stuffed with post it notes, funny articles, numerous daily horoscope printouts, half finished poems and bar napkins with illegible phone numbers "inadvertently" used to wipe my ass with - real tangible scraps of thoughts that could be easily lost if the wind blew the wrong direction or the gas passed the wrong way (*^_^*)

Since my introduction to the world of blogging, the journaling has somewhat gained order but lost its personal touch. How else can I show you the tear stains on my journal when I wrote of a heartbreak sometime ago or smell the lavender on page 57 of journal #3. Were I to die now though at least the dash in my years will be in chronological order; 1978 - _____. Its the dash in between the years that matters. That's where the juicy details lie.

Recently, I have taken up the pen once again to write down thoughts which offers less space for blogging. Rarely have I transcribed something from a handwritten journal to the screen. Me sharing in this medium of communication is like an on-stage anecdote of my life; whereas the pen and the paper writing style stems more from my soul; a real extension of my thoughts that will remain close, intact and privy to my own viewing pleasure.

Then again, I wrote this on the computer. So what do I really know?

This view is nothing more than a momentary result of sitting in my humble abode, laptop ready to spoon-feed the keys my daily dose of bullshit. I could have written about the pot of barley soup cooking in my kitchen right now waiting for me to stir it for the 5th time. I found out this weekend that the secret to a great Risotto is to stir it in the same direction constantly until done. So I did the same for my hearty soup. The 17 types of beans, vegetables and soy chorizo all doing its perpetual clockwise dance to hopefully create a perfect union otherwise known as - Lunch tomorrow.

I could have also written about how I've been listening to David Gray non-stop for the past couple of evening. He breaks my heart yet I have him on "Repeat All". His music brings with it stories of lost love, unrequited and the yet to be discovered. His music serves as the soundtrack for the romantic periods of my life. Bittersweet, deep, passionate, forgiving, sweet, heartbreaking, discouraging, hopeful, action packed full of verbs called LOVE.

Perhaps on paper this is what would’ve happened - poetry and imagination over rhyme and reason. Yet, the true matter of either is that it’s just entertainment really. My thoughts, and certainly the way they are organized are first and foremost for my own pleasure. In writing I see my life birthing before my eyes in real time. Each letter unfolding one after another - 26 letters arranged in ways that seldom repeat themselves when expanded into words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, and themes.

Writing may align my thoughts and interests with another and help them to fill a hole in their soul. By writing, so long as that person speaks my language, I have a great opportunity to inspire emotion, transformation, education and possibly some kind of action. Other than that, all work truly deserves to be tossed in the recycle-bin as it was just my way of filling time before my soup is done.

While this entire entry could’ve been posted in parenthesis, I remember now that everything is valid and somehow we do serve a greater purpose. If anything, my barley had its audience of one while I type this out. David Gray serenaded me while typing. And you, well – you gave us the time to share it.

So the barley soup and I, and David Gray, we thank you.

Time to sit back and enjoy the simple things in life - less is more

Jakey

A life in the day

The alarm went off at 6:00am Thursday morning. Disoriented, I reached over for my cell phone to turn off the all too familiar alarm ring tone that I've grown accustomed to Snoozing at least twice in any given morning. My mom got up and started getting ready for the day. I spent the night over at her place knowing that we wouldn't be able to see each other for too long since she had to work on Thanksgiving day. Tugboat started stirring but he is also used to my double snooze routine so he kept himself tucked close to my chest.

By 6:45 am, we were out the door and made our way to church to catch the first mass of the day. My step dad also joined us. Afterwards, we stopped for a quick breakfast and then made my way back home.

This year, I decided to do something different for Thanksgiving day. I didn't have the normal lunch or dinner. In fact, I didn't even have a proper meal at all. I just had nibbles of whatever was available wherever I found myself at the moment. I didn't make any solid plans. I just left everything up to chance. The only thing I really committed myself into doing was to volunteer for Meals On Wheels. Tanya, Dyah and I drove around the City for about 2 1/2 hours delivering hot meals to senior citizens' homes.

The morning started off really well. I gave my heartfelt gratitude to the Powers be. I got to spend time with my mom and my step dad, I got back to the City with ample of time to get ready and got to the volunteer site with time to spare. But nothing could have prepared me for the reality of what I had to do.

It hit me right after our first drop off. With a skip to my step, we walked up to William's apartment door. A quick tap on the door and he opened it. Then it all became so real. I'm dropping off a goody bag and a hot meal because he's all alone or he doesn't have a family nearby or other reasons which I'm pretty sure he would not want to share nor was I in the position to ask. We're only supposed to introduce, smile, deliver, give wishes and move on.

The drop-offs progressively got worst after the first. The neighborhood, the living situation and the people's condition got more depressing. The mood shifted and I moved downwards with it.

What I saw really bothered me because I wish that there was something more that I could have done for them. I wanted to reach out and give them a hug. I wanted to sit down, talk and listen to their stories. I wanted to let them know that even though I was a complete stranger that I care. I wanted them to feel loved, appreciated and most of all not alone.

I was deprived of my grandparents at a really young age. I only have my grandma left on my mom's side. When I saw her last, she told me stories of how her and my grandpa met, stories about my mom growing up and how she met my dad. I think that it's very important to know where you came from. It was amazing to hear the stories leading up to how I came to be where I am today. I believe that sometimes your past can serve as a compass to your future.

Yesterday's volunteer experience stirred a lot of emotion and I am moved to do more. I don't know what it is I'm going to do yet but my wheels are spinning, my heart aches and my will strong. I will make something happen.

Orientation

Right before our first drop off...

Deepest Gratitude,

Jakey

Thanksgiving factoids by the pounds

Some 242 million turkeys were raised in the U.S. in 2010 for slaughter, down 2 percent from 2009’s total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Last year's birds were worth about U.S. $3.6 billion.

About 46 million turkeys will end up on U.S. dinner tables this Thanksgiving—or about 736 million of turkey meat, according to estimates from the National Turkey Federation.

Minnesota is the United States' top turkey-producing state, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Virginia.

These "big six" states produce two of every three U.S.-raised birds, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

U.S. farmers will also produce 735 million pounds of cranberries, which, like turkeys, are native to the Americas. The top producers are Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

The U.S. will also grow 1.9 billion of sweet potatoes—many in North Carolina, California, and Louisiana—and produce 931 million pounds of pumpkins.

Illinois, California, and Ohio grow the most U.S. pumpkins.

But if you overeat at Thanksgiving dinner, there's a price to be paid for all this plenty: the Thanksgiving "food coma." The post-meal fatigue may be real, but the condition is giving turkeys a bad rap.

Contrary to myth, the amount of the organic protein tryptophan in most turkeys isn’t responsible for drowsiness. Instead, scientists blame booze, the sheer caloric size of an average feast, or just plain-old relaxing after stressful work schedules.

Each year at least two lucky turkeys avoid teh dinner table , thanks to a presidential pardon—a longstanding Washington tradition believed to have originated with U.S. President Harry Truman.

Since 1947 the National Turkey Federation has presented two live turkeys—and a ready-to-eat turkey—to the President.

There are two birds, the presidential turkey and the vice presidential turkey, which is an alternate, in case the presidential turkey is unable to perform its duties.

Those duties pretty much boil down to not biting the President during the photo opportunity with the press. In 2008 the vice presidential bird, "Pumpkin," stepped in for the appearance with President Bush after the presidential bird, "Pecan," had fallen ill the night before.

Starting in 2010 the lucky birds will no longer share the same happy fate as Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. For the past five years pardoned turkeys have gone to live at Disneyland’s Big Thunder Ranch.

This year’s birds will instead follow in the footsteps of the first president and live out their days at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.

Gobble-gobble,

Jakey
Rhymes with Turkey
Which I will not be having
Maybe

Cupcakes - Part Deux

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

My determined nature tried my luck again at making the cupcake frosting that totally bombed last night. This time around, I used fresh Mascarpone cheese from Cowgirl Creamery instead of the pre-packaged one which was too watery. What a difference it made! The frosting turned out light, fluffy and Oh so yummy! I'm really happy with turn out. My friend Chao loved it so much he had 7!!!! My spirit is back up so I'm excited to try a different recipe. I even got one of those cupcake decorating kit from Sur la Table...yeay (*^_^*)

Jakey

Babycakes and Cupcakes

Another adventurous week with the ladies, the special someone and my kitchen.

Wednesday evening, I saw Coraline at SF Playhouse. Since I enjoyed the animated version tons, I thought it would be neat to see it as a play. Um..yeah...so I was a bit disappointed with the show. I'm not quite sure what I didn't like about it but it didn't really give me that giddy, childlike feeling I had after seeing the movie on the big screen. The actors on-stage seemed dull and lifeless compared to its animated counterpart which I thought was really ironic.

Afterwards, we walked by an art gallery and saw these paintings...

The artist's name is Saturno Butto from Italy. Not really my cup of tea but worth checking out if you have nothing else better to do at 9:45pm on a Wednesday, the art gallery happens to be right next to the theatre and it's on the way back to the parking garage :)

This was the favorite. The colors were strikingly beautiful and the details were amazing.

This guy gave me nightmares that evening. It was brief but in my dream he looked more like a Clown! The curator spent a lot of time talking about this painting with the Date but I stayed clear across the room and busied myself instead with checking out the old fashioned typewriter that was also part of the art show.

Soooo sinister, Je N'aime Pas!

Not the typewriter displayed at the studio but it looked very similar to this...

On Saturday, some of the girls headed to East Bay for a housewarming potluck. We ate, played Taboo, vegged on the couch and called it a good night.

Earlier this evening, I tried my baking skill which by the way is in desperate need of more tries, practice and everything else that can save the disaster I left in the kitchen. A complete overhaul is more like it! A co-worker shared her cupcake recipe and it seemed easy enough to make so I gave it a shot. The recipe is for a Chocolate Red Wine Cupcake with Mascarpone Icing. The cupcake turned out fine but the icing totally fell flat. No amount of fluffing with the mixer could save the dang thing. I followed the instructions but alas, no luck. I"ll try again tomorrow and if it still does not work, then I'll be eating a lot of chocolate cupcakes for the next few days - 23 pieces to be exact...

She's got her bun in the oven...

And I've got mine (*^_^*)

Complete pics here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0MaMmTZy3Ys1u

Stir It Up, Little Darling, Stir It Up,

Jakey

I have a Black Belt...

IN...

Hee... hee... (*^_^*)

I finished the project I've been working on for the last 2 weeks. A special someone recently celebrated his birthday and I made him a picture puzzle consisting of photos from his childhood all the way to now.

My initial idea was to have his friends e-mail me with b-day wishes and I would somehow figure out how to present it to him. His sister then offered to send me pictures and that's when the seed of idea started to take a life of it's own.

I toyed with a couple of different concepts - first was to make little flags with the wishes printed on it and stick each flag on the cupcakes I had ordered. Second was to create a picture mosaic but the individual pictures were too small to print the wishes on. I finally settled with the idea of creating a picture puzzle big enough to hold the wishes and also make a nice keepsake.

So the e-mail party commenced, wishes and pictures started pouring in and I found myself immersed in planning and execution and enjoyed every minute of it.

2 days before - cutting each piece with x-acto knife ... OMG!, my arm was so sore the next day, thankfully my cute and totally gay chiropractor did some muscle manipulation on my left arm and made it all better...yeay! Fedex/Kinkos did a great job of bringing my concept to life. The finished product was printed on a foam board and laminated. I was quite pleased with the outcome.

5 down and 30 more pieces to go... each puzzle piece took an average of 8-10 mins to cut -

Night before - using sandpaper to smooth out the edges of each puzzle piece

Day of ... with 1 hour to go, a shower to take, a dress to steam, a hair to fix and a dinner to get to...aaaahhh!

Whew! barely made it -

This was definitely the funnest project I've worked on to date. It was a little bit harder than I thought in terms of the initial lay out, cutting the individual puzzle pieces, smoothing it down so that each piece would fit and finishing it on time. It was well worth it in the end - to see the joy in his face was priceless.

I love birthdays - I love celebrating it, I love making the celebrant feel special and I especially love reminding them that their birthday is a gift in itself and it is something to be commemorated.

His puzzle represents moments in his life and how it is all interconnected. Each picture tells a story and the wishes from his friends and family are the glue that will keep the memories complete.

When you reflect on your life and the moments captured on the view finder, what would your picture puzzle look like? How will the pictures connect with each other? What stories will the picture tell? The relationship of our lives whether platonic or romantic consists of conversations and interactions all connected. Make sure that all your pieces are intact. Avoid missing a piece. Be Whole. Be Happy. Be Love.

My picture puzzle will be made up of places I've traveled, my sisters and I in tight hugs, me giving my mom kisses, a montage of my favorite things, Tugboat, my girlfriends in our drunken antics, my special someone and all the amazing people I've met along the way who has helped made me the person I am today. My picture puzzle will be shaped like a heart for it will embody everything that I LOVE.

Special Thank You to Chao for helping me bring this project to life. Your Kung Fu is strong, My Friend (^_^)

The rest of my week focused on getting back in touch with myself to get re-inspired for my next project. Christmas is right around the corner and I have some really fun crafts in the works - more of this later...

Thursday - Picnic at Stinson Beach

Friday at Smuggler's Cove

Saturday - Brian's 31st Birthday at Pier23

Sunday afternoon stroll at Land's End

This is how I stay connected - The music for my soul, the sunglasses for my bright future, the pen for the script and my phone ... to stay connected with the rest of the world outside of my head.

Love Y'all to Puzzle Pieces,

Jakey