girmander

happy 6th anniversary to my lion! i love you so very much!

the lion surprised me with dinner at home, a piece of art work, and a bouquet of lillies. even though he's been deathly ill with the flu.

and i thought he forgot!

i think we are!

we're getting married in a treehouse in big sur!

woohoo!

yoga:

i had a really nice practice yesterday. of course it's my moon week so no inversions. but the intensity that was missing came back to me yesterday. i hope it will be the same today. although i don't practice at home or the studio anymore, it's nice to feel regular people energy around in the gym. this weekend is laruga's jum through and jump back workshop. and next week is tod norean (sp?) not sure if i REALLY want to go to that one but it's like about yoga therapeutics in anusara. we'll see if i can get jazzed about it.

triathalon:

shin pain!!! why o why do i always have shin pain around 2.5-3mi/day? so, i'm seeing a sports med doctor about it to see if i'm really jacked up or what. i mean it's really getting ridiculous. the last thing i want to do is stop running. arrghhhh! umm swimming is going well, apparently breaststroke is the way for me to go. i throw in a lap of freestyle once in awhile but, i get really really tired from it. i don't know if i'm just not breathing right or what. umm biking is good. i just really feel it in my quads.

home:

so i've found some new toys i want for the house:
an indoor composter!
a new clock radio with a stereo speaker for the other side of the bed! morining edition in stereo! yes!
this audio component kicks ass
wouldn't this make nice fluffy clouds above our bed?

and oh yeah a architecture firm and contracting company in ohio that makes straw bale houses! woohoo!

today i was awoken by a woman screaming outside. i looked out and saw the block watch captains and a woman screaming outside. i threw on my robe and that's when i heard the phone ring. i figured it was my neighbor calling to complain about the disturbance outside.

apparently, my neighbor had called to tell me that our next door neighbor's house/car was on fire. stupid me, i kept on asking questions and i should have just said fire? neighbor? shit! and left the house. the lion and i stumbled outside to see the nieghbor's van completely charred and the side of their house smoking (!!) the woman who was screaming had started her paper route when a suspicious guy was crouching next to my neighbor's van. he told her that she'd better not say anything or he'd kill her. after that, the van went up in flames. we all thought that it was a random act of arson, but apparently @ 4:00am there was a person who was robbed by a man that had fit the same description of the guy who started the fire. the fire department thinks the guy was siphoning gas from the van and smoking at the same time. hence the flames.

all i can think about now is:

1. that could have been our house
2. that could have been the lion's car and my car at the same time if we had switched the cars in the driveway (my car has an inside gas lock, his doesn't (!!))
3. this man is still roaming around car jacking, stealing cars and setting them on fire, robbing and being an arsonist.
4. i can't believe neighbor was talking to me on the phone while putting out the fire.
5. nieghbors that have lived 6+ years didn't even come out. isn't that awful?

thankfully everyone is fine. too bad neighbors have 1 car. and now it's charred. and the side of their house is a ripped up by the fire fighters making sure that the house wasn't on fire anymore.

it's a mad mad world.

interestingly enough, earth day is tomorrow and i'm seeing stories from npr and other news feeds that there are gas shortages. not only that but gas is forcasted to be about $4/gallon. not cool at all.

the lion and i have been thinking of cutting our consumption by buying smaller vehicles. him a motorbike and me a vespa. the unfortunate thing is that we don't have a garage. i am seriously thinking of finding ways this summer to get a garage. the nice thing is that my new place of employment is ~ 5mi from the house and his is the same. so, we'd really get great mileage if we had a scoot/bike.

i'm also thinking of joining a csa (community supported agriculture). northstar uses sippel family farms. my only issue with this is that we won't know what will be in our basket each week. the last thing i want is a bag full of okra (*shudder*). i'm down with picking it up @ the clintonville farmers market @ 9am. it just that "not knowing". if that means being able to get 1/2-3/4 of our veggies from the csa for $18/week and then the other 1/2 from my dad and other places, i think that it would really rock. not only is it local support, it's sustainable and organic. now, my dad has to get started on the garden out back for this season.

i played around with the idea of taking the cota bus. it's looking mighty bad. from osu (RPAC) to the new place, i'm looking at a 30min commute with a mile walk or a 51 min commute with a .25 mile walk. i'm saying we need light rail here. badly.

luckily i'm not talking about an LV. but i am talking about my new sweet ride...

i couldn't help it. clancy called my name. i had to have her. i mean i almost thought about this. isn't it the cutest? my ride should be assembled and converted (i am having them make my front wheel quick release) in time for the weekend to tool around in for comfest and pride. yay!

i'm slowly reassembling my practice. it's actually alot harder this time around with all the running and biking i do. not to mention my hamstrings are short to begin with. sunday i went mountain biking on my mmountain bike finally. i'd been using my mountain bike as a commuter bike, so i figure i should use it for what it's intended for. needless to say, my body was f*ed up yesterday and today. i'm going to try to run a recovery run (~3mi) and maybe lift. we'll see how far i get.

~ 1 /12 weeks until cali!

i'm sure that most people have read that warren buffet is giving away $40 bill of his wealth. with $37 bill going to the melinda and bill gates foundation. big whoop right? i mean c'mon this guy is some rich dude. he *should* give it away. hmm... yes. but this man is definitely my hero.

some of you may or may not know, i received a BS in economics. and in some respects, econ is still my first love when it comes to what interests me. still to this day i think alan greenspan is damn near a god. and i've always admired the open ceo letters warren buffet writes yearly - they're informative and mostly written in a conversational style. not only that, when i read "millionare next door" that really cinched it. this man drives a 2001 lincoln town car signature with license plates that read "thrifty". he is definitely not your typcal CEO.

so when i heard on NPR today that he was giving away damn near 91% of his wealth. i was definitely imppressed. but, what imppresed me the most was the article that the NYT wrote about him this afternoon aptly titled "Buffet Always Planned to Give Away His Billions".

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and executive, said today that he never seriously considered doing anything with his $40 billion fortune except giving it all away.

"I think Warren will not only be known as the world's greatest investor, but the world's greatest investor for good," said Mr. Gates

wow and well said. he is definitely a secret yogi. namaste warren. namaste.

so, my sister has been married all of 4 days now. we keep on having this running conversation on hyphenation, not hyphenating, keeping ect... the surname. since she's married and i will marry irish boys with irish last names, it makes for a peculiar situation. maybe i'm making too much of it. but, i could see it freaking people out to correspond with a person professionally with an english name and an irish last name and then finally meet them and realize that they were asian? and then the questions... not saying that it's right. a first name is a first name and a last name is a last name. but unfortunately, we in the united states work on a unspoken race matrix. not only that, but this is who i am. i feel like i'm turning my back to being asian if i don't somehow keep my last name. it's an homage to my past. more specifically, it's respect for my grandfather.

i've also built up my professional career with my last name. i don't publish which is why many people keep their surname. but, i am still known in the professional arena by my surname. who knows - i could publish at some point in time. i'm not thinking of hyphenating to be uppity. alot of people have a bias to women who hyphenate, assuming that they are b*tches. i for one have actually worked with a woman who hyphenated. she was a b*tch. so, i'm sure that it's not unfounded.

the interesting part is that i actually want to be called mrs. irish last name in social situations. I prefer it. because with him and face to face, it makes sense. alone, i feel like i have to explain. professionally, i want to have my surname. does that mean i *should* hyphenate to be kosher? if so, i could be known as 3 different last names. confusing! but, i'm pretty sure i would only the hyphenated last name only on legal documents. sort of like a venn diagram catchall.

here are the options and the debate between each:

keep my surname and not take on his - i thought about this. i really did. but, i want him to know that we are one unit and not to take his name felt like i didn't want to be unified

take on his last name and ditch mine - like i said, it's a respect thing of where i came from and who i am. i will always be asian and to deny that kind of sucks.

hyphenate and really use it as a last name - do i really want to be percieved as being a b*tch? how awkward is that to have to correct someone each time they leave out either name. i have a co-worker who's a product of hyphenation. both names are freaking hard to pronounce so we call him "TR" for the first letters of each last name. do i really want to be known as "YL" or "LY" ugh... then there's the american way of hyphenation vs the english way of hyphenation. surname - married or married - surname? it's really tricky to have the irish last name end with a "y" and my last name start with a "y".

hyphenate and use subsets of each name in different situations - if i'm going to use my married name in social situations and my surname in professional situations... legally, this works out the best. because i can have 3 variations on my name and it's accepted. so legally, i'm hyphenated - professionally, i'm the plain old giraffe - socially, i'm mrs. lion. the only draw back is that i'm 3 different "me's". and the potential of confusion is huge.

let's not get into the kid debate...

what to do.. what to do... any ideas?

i've tried writing an entry for the past 2 weeks. i open up MT and then it sits there for the whole day, i get busy, i ignore it, and then i tab over to it and i get disgusted with myself and close the window. This type of behavior pretty much sums up my whole first month into 2007.

i can't even qualify it as a "malaise" about what is going on around me. it's like i'm witnessing my life changing in front of me but, i'm not a participant - if that makes any sense...

i should be happy. i get a free day now, my parents have more free time and everyone is supportive of my parent's decision. strangely enough, i really don't know how to work in the parameters of not knowing where my parents are at any given time. it's not like i call them constantly or they call me constantly but, i *always* knew where they were *if* i needed to get a hold of them. it's silly, i know. but i'm silly.

on a random note.. i really can't believe i went to this school my senior year *shakes head*

there is some serious unnecessary honking in NYC. I'm not just talking about intersections. I'm talking about when changing lanes, pregnant pauses on 4 way stops, at people crossing the intersection, at random cars parked along the street, the fedex/delivery guys, the list goes on and on...

and i have never seen a city as *to the point* as NYC. these people have the art of the one answer question down. this city is no fluff, no bs, it's a let's get to the point and take action type of town. i can see fear in their eyes if you try to make small talk:

"Noooo... don't talk to me, just freaking buy the gloves!"

it's like they dread the "midwestern shopper". all corn, beef and potatoes, too nice, *waaay* too friendly, all talk, unhurried (don't you know that *I* have a sales goal to make every hour? just effing buy something!) as *we* the midwestern shopper gaze, touch/mess up the pristine piles of clothing, ask too many questions, and chit chat like cows that are grazing on a field of insanely green lush grass. i know you dread *us*.

admit it.

i bet the worst job a new yorker could think of is probably the concierge desk. c'mon... stupid question after stupid question, rotating between inane requests and idiotic guests demanding the impossible. at the hudson, the concierge desk was as plesant as pulling teeth without anesthesia and as impersonal as going to the gyno. which was quite the change from the "W" in the financial district in chicago. i loved the concierge joseph!

let's not talk about the room. i knew 150 sq ft was tiny but NOT what i was expecting for 2 people. i'm used to being close to the lion but, holy hell this was like i was constantly up in his grill.

and then there's the food. i'm all about the food. i am a foodie. but, when is it acceptable to charge 6( x2) bucks for OJ and a 7 (x2) bucks for a side (yes a side = 4 pieces) of bacon? hmm.. never.

this bacon i had better have been from a heirloom pig from the greenmarket or something because i will be severely pissed if it was some store bought *oscar meyer* brand. and i see how you are, you sneaky hostess. give us the breakfast menu and not the full service brunch menu which would have the friggin' listings of your meat meals sides.

and to you mr. chinatown waiter... dude, you swiped my card. you have me paying for food. why must you insist on watching me sign my receipt? do you not want a tip? do you think i can't see you helicopter hovering around? aren't you like busy or something? because i would gladly keep my 6 buck tip and go to tenren for bobba.

ridiculous insanity.

alinea home of the 135 dollar meal i get. but 7 dollar bacon i don't get. is it me? am i weird? on second thought, don't answer that.

now one if by land, two if by sea was interesting. while we were buying the lion suit, our sales dude actually chit chatted with me. he had asked where we were going and i had said "one if". he was like dude that is THE place to propose in NYC. i was like "get out of here!" and he was like seriously, you will see guys dropping on their knees like flies proposing. the lion and i took that with a grain of salt. kind of like *ok whatever*. sure enough a dude proposed - not only that, i looked around a noticed that everyone's dessert had some sort of congratulations, happy birthday, happy anniversary, ect... spelled out on chocolate on their plates. it was the twilight zone of "celebrations". it was weird. really weird. so much for originality, i picked THE place where everyone and their mother celebrates an occasion like their baby's first poop. kind of like tomkat getting engaged on the eiffel tower.

*so, for the cheesy factor, i slipped my ring off and said "do it again! propose to me bay-by!"

*(ok, that was a lie. we behaved like adults. but it would have been funny!)

yes, yes, mission accomplished. we DID indeed buy the lion his suit. it's friggin' so hot, so fly, so bangin', so (ok.. i'm out of adjectives) that he will bust up in flames like peter patrelli on heroes. what i thought was the most hilarious was that the sales dude trying to upsell the shoes and the shirt. like we just dropped some serious cash and you want us to buy what? it's not like i can tell the difference between a brooks brother's french cuff shirt versus and armani shirt (that was 450...). not to mention that he failed to tell us that the jacket AND the pants were priced separately (not until the tailor did his markings...). oh ooops.. yeah a BIG ooops. nonetheless, it was bought. i sucked it up on my dress and the lion is sucking it up on the suit. which he will wear infinitely more times than my one (a really formal event) maybe two times (halloween?) i could wear my dress.

since the lion can't get his original ring made. it was going to look like the damani d-ring that mr b pitt had designed. and since we had tried on the ring at the damani store with no luck. (like really.. why engrave damani on the outside of the ring? that's just friggin tacky) we have to investigate men's wedding ring options. so here is the list:

the cartier trinity (large size i think is 5mm. we'd be doing it in pt/ the second pic is with a bit of bling. i think he'd want it large with the middle ring with that bit of bling):

the georg jensen (he likes the 4 stack with the bit of secret bling):

and the super secret bling: