Month: May 2006

Whatever.

OWBD

You won’t be missed! HA!

So, on May 7th I posted the GTI on craigslist. Two weeks ago I posted it on Autotrader. ONE person came to look at it. ONE. And I was posting it for almost $1000 below KBB. *shrug* So Ben and I talked about it and knowing the Civic would sell faster and wanting to get just ONE car off the insurance (two driver, four cars, lots of wasted insurance money a month) he posted it today on craigslist.

Nine hours and twenty five minutes later and it was being driven away from the house by it’s new owner. We will take the $3700 and put it towards the GTI and only owe $2000 on it. We’ll get that paid off soon and officially have ONE CAR PAYMENT (for Ben’s M3, the title for mine came in the mail today :D)!! YAY!! So, the money I’ve been paying on the GTI every month (payment was a little over $200 but I’ve been paying $250) will be put back into the savings account every month. Actually, I think we talked about putting $300 a month in there.

I’m really glad we got that situated because we were both cutting corners (Ben hasn’t signed up for any more track days and I’ve completely avoided the mall for two weeks 🙁 ) because we didn’t want to end up in a bad situation down the road. So w00t for Civic turnover!! 😀

Friday Cassidy received her classes Superstar Award. She’s been DYING to get this award all year and about two months ago her teacher told her that if she turned in ALL of her homework and improved in math that she would get it. On Monday of last week I asked if she had gotten it and she said that another student had gotten it instead. I was heartbroken for her because her face fell and she was almost in tears when she told me. And a little pissed off at the same time since she HAD turned in all her homework and HAD improved in math so I told her that I’d go in Wednesday to talk to the teacher to see what was up. Before I could even turn my car off after school on Wednesday she came running up screaming I GOT SUPERSTAR I GOT SUPERSTAR I GOT SUPERSTAR. When she got in the car I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her and she read me the letter telling me what time to be there Friday because the parents get to help present the award. She started crying when she read it to me. This award meant THAT MUCH to her.

So my Friday started a off nice and a little early because I left work early to make sure I was there for the award ceremony. They even gave her one of those horrid “My Child is a SUPERSTAR” bumper stickers. We taped it to the inside of the back window of my car. As proud of her as I am, I’m NOT about to stick a bumper sticker on My Precious. heh

(Aside – I owe a GIGANTIC ENORMOUS HUGE thank you to Ben for being so understanding about me ditching out on his track day Friday @ Buttonwillow so last second. I really wanted to be there and I PROMISE that I’ll make it up to you. *devilish grin*)

Saturday we went to Chris’s Graduation Fest. All the NorCalBMW crew was there so, of course, it was a fantastic time. I love getting to hang out with my NorCal family. And I REALLY love Jello Shots. A lot. 😀 The kids had a blast, too.

Sunday I was supposed to go out with the NorCal crew to celebrate Jason’s 21st birthday. But I got a raging sinus headache that started late Saturday evening and lasted pretty much till early Monday morning. So much so that I spent most of Sunday in a Benadryl induced coma. Ben planned a really fun evening for him though. Dinner at Gordon Biersch Brewery, Tracy Morgan at The San Jose Improv, then pool at 1st Street Billiards. He seemed to have a really good time. Well, when they stumbled in the door at midnight they were STILL having a really good time. 😉 I really wish that I could have gone but I felt SO BAD. I’m sure that I’ll have plenty more chances to out drink him though so… 😛

Monday I felt SO much better and after having been stuck inside the entire day before I decided to get out in the fresh air a bit so Cassidy and I spent most of the day digging out grape vines and planting and transplanting and making the yards pretty. We planted the Bougainvillea and also got some fun stuff to plant. Tomato’s, green peppers, green beans and strawberries. She’s SO INTO planting and growing right now. Every day after homework we walk around the house and check on all our plants to see how they are doing. We might have to transplant my Mother’s Day gerber daisy. I think it’s getting too much water and not enough sun where it is. I’ll probably stick it in a pot and put in on the back patio.

SO! That was my weekend. Oh yeah, we topped it off last night by going to my new obsession, Aqui. The food there is SO good. Fresh and healthy (Ben had free range turkey meatloaf casserole which had big chunks of vegetarian tamale mixed into a yummy tomato sauce) and JUST SO GOOD.

Women gain prominence in video game world

Beyond these stereotypical male fantasies, women were all but absent from the billion-dollar gaming industry. But that’s changing, thanks to a core female gamers who are increasing women’s visibility and influence.

I really hate articles like this for a couple of reasons.

One being the same reason I saw Danika Patrick get pissy with an interviewer the other day when he asked her how it felt to be a girl in a male dominated sport. Her answer was somewhere along the lines of, “I’m a female. I drive the car. They are men. They drive the cars. If that’s the extent of the questions you are going to be asking, we are wasting our time.” I had to laugh a little. (But at the same time, I think it’s a little hypocritical of her to be doing a feminine deodorant commercial where they play up the fact that she’s beating little boys at a racing game. If you are going to capitalize on the stereotype, don’t then get pissed when a reporter asks you about it.)

Anyway, so they are girls and they play *gasp* video games. Big deal. They just want to be “accepted like the boys” yet they will tout the fact that they are GIRL gamers every chance they get. Or simply to get SOME publicity. Don’t ASK to be equal with the boys, then play up the fact that you are girls.

The other reason it upsets me is because I can name off a slew of female gamers that have been doing so for at least the last 10 years… when these girls were still in middle school. But you know, they are totally setting the bar. They are guiding the way for little girls all across America… Whatever.

And P.S. girls, Microsoft didn’t pick you to demo games because you are girl gamers and leading the way for more girl gamers, they picked you to get more of the predominant 9 – 35 year old MALE demographic to spend more time in the booth. Bill Gates isn’t the richest bastard on Earth because he’s stupid. He knows how to cater to an audience. He’s a goddamn marketing genius and you were just another pawn to increase sales.

With Love,
Antigone

Because people have asked how the whole “girlfriend” thing happened. Here it is in chat logs.

I messaged Ben as I was walking in the house from the mailbox. I didn’t know if I should laugh or THROW UP.

[15:10] Anna (tmobile): Oh… My… God.
[15:11] Anna (tmobile): One of the little BOYS(!!!!) that cassidy was playing with Monday…
[15:11] Anna (tmobile): Left a LOVE NOTE in the mailbox for her.
[15:11] Anna (tmobile): He called her his GIRLFRIEND!!
[15:12] Anna (tmobile): And drew a picture of her wearing the outfit she was wearing !!!
[15:12] Anna (tmobile): I’m locking her in her room.
[15:12] Anna (tmobile): She is never allowed outside again.
[15:13] Anna (tmobile): Also… Googling “chastity belt”

He wrote her a little letter telling her that he thinks she is “nice and fun and cute too”. And that she is his 18TH GIRLFRIEND!! Then he drew a picture on the back of her in what she was wearing the day they first played together. Complete with butterfly’s and flowers. On the envelope he painted a heart with wings. I have to assume is mom helped with this because it was really well done. I’d POST PICTURES if she’d let me anywhere near the damn thing. But after last night she won’t even let me TOUCH it. heh

Last night when I asked her if I could show the note to Ben…

Her: MOooOOOOM!!
Me: What?!
Her: I don’t want to show it to Ben.
Me: Why?
Her: Because he’ll make fun of me and be like “You LIKE him” and I don’t LIKE him like that. Just as a friend.
Me: He won’t make fun of you!
Her: Yes he will!!
Me: Okay, fine.

*quiet for a second*

Me: Can I take a picture of it and post it on the internet?
Her: NO! MOM!
Me: Nobody READS the INTERNET, Cassidy!!
Her: *glare*
Me: FINE! OKAY! No internet.

*quiet for a second*

Me: So, are you going to tell him that you don’t like him ‘like that’?
Her: I don’t know.
Me: That will probably hurt his feelings… So just tell him that your mom said you aren’t allowed to have a boyfriend till you are 25.
Her: *rolls eyes* Okay.

Walking into Tace Bell later talking about school.

Me: So, does Nathan go to your school?
Her: Do we HAVE to talk about this right now?!?!
Me: Well, I think that when a BOY(!!) is calling you his GIRLFRIEND that we need to talk about it Cassidy, yes!
Her: He’s NOT my boyfriend!! I’m NOT his girlfriend!! No dating till 25, I GET IT MOM!!
Me: OooooKAY!!

I’m pretty sure it’s in her backpack but we had a really busy night last night. We came home from work/school, got homework done, packed a bag, got Ben off to Bakersfield for his track day today, grabbed some quick food then headed to the X-Men preview. (It sucked :() Then I took her to my moms so she could take her to school today because Ben was out of town. SO! I didn’t get a chance to look for it. But you can bet that once I do, there will be pictures. There’s just no way I can’t save this to totally embarrass her when she’s 16!! 😉

Still don’t didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. So I’ve just been dealing with it by having a small nervous breakdown. heh

Why is it that I find MySpace so annoying and I never post there? I’ll give you the short list:

• StupidSlowâ„¢ load times.
• Page after page of aliased flashing gifs that cause me to have seizures.
• BRIGHT YELLOW text on a LIME GREEN background that cause my eyes to bleed in pain and force me to CTRL + A just to read.
• Band Spam. If I like your music I STILL won’t add you. Just. Stop.
• StupidMenâ„¢. No, I won’t add you. No I won’t message you back. No, I won’t tell you my shoe size (WTF?!). I only add people I know in real life or that I’ve met through various message boards/blogs and like. And I don’t like many people so there’s a 98.354% chance I won’t like you either.
• Fucking embedded music players. The last thing I want while browsing the web is your crappy music blaring in the background and waking the dead man in the shed out back. It’s intrusive and ghey and insulting that you even think I’d like that music anyway. Whatever it is.
• Fucking embedded video’s. See above. Every time I visit my little brothers profile I’m assaulted by the sound of some idiot kid having a violent encounter with his keyboard. I’d like to have a violent encounter with the punk that posted it in his comments.
• MySpaceHoochiesâ„¢. They are all over the place. They’ve infected it like a nasty virus. You can’t stand to see them but you still stop and stare. Like looking at road kill. Only road kill is not as Photoshopped and a little more appealing.

It’s sad really. They basically opened a flood gate of stupidity and every moron on the planet with a digital camera and an internet connection now has a way to pollute the web. One of the girls at work was showing another her MySpace yesterday. This is the same girl I overheard asking another how to add “more pixels to her camera” and “what’s the difference between a regular pixel and a mega one”. *shudder*

It’s not that I think all these people shouldn’t be allowed on the internet. (I might actually think that a little but for the sake of my point, believe it okay?) Or that every person on MySpace is guilty of one of the above offences. I guess it’s just my way of not welcoming change. Once upon a time, having a personal spot on the web was kind of a badge of honor us geeks wore proudly. Now, with the invention of idiot proof pre designed community sites it’s just become a new fad. Like those horrid leggings all the girls are wearing now. Or blue eye shadow.

12 year olds posting crotch shots complete with ‘My Humps’ as background music and their names in pink and purple “sparkling” image next to a glowing Playboy Bunny seems to cheapen all the hard work and dedication that goes into what you get at a personal domain. What you see here at aflux or over at Amabilis. Places where the emphasis is on creative individualism and eye candy and on leaving your personal mark on something.

Or maybe I’m just freaking the fuck out because a neighbor boy left a love letter in the mailbox for Cassidy in which he calls her is girlfriend.

Who knows…

There’s a new layout. In case you hadn’t noticed. I really really really love the way it’s turned out. I downloaded a free theme from nifty.nu then spent two days tearing it apart and building it back up. I can never leave good enough alone. I need to update the site section. And still need to get around to doing anything to the about section. But it’s pretty to look at. The graphic will change too. Eventually. It’s too plain right now. But it needs to be simple and everytime I try and create something it turns out LOUD(!!). And that’s the opposite of what I want right now.

Our sunflower and poppy plants have sprouted. Cassidy is beyond excited and if the care she has been giving these little sprouts is any indication of the future parent she might be, she will raise spoiled rotten and completely smothered children. But they will be well fed and watered. Daily. At 3:00PM.

What a wonderful weekend. Wonder. Full.

Before I do anything else I need to thank Ben. For a beautiful ocean view, for an awsome massage that left me feeling weightless, for the magnificent weather Saturday, for driving the entire trip, for waking up to the sound of waves crashing on the shore, for lounging in the hot tub while the cool rain sprinkled down… The list goes on and on and on. But I’m most thankful for the thought. For romancing me. I could not have asked for more. It was perfect. Thank you.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the trip here because I kinda want to keep it magical and private. I want to remember it as ‘our time’ and ours alone. The surprise, the romance, the smile… they all haven’t worn off yet.

What I will tell you is the part when I made an ass of myself before the trip. Twice. There were probably more times but there are two particular people who must love me very much to have put up with me while Ben prepared for this.

First my mom, who love me despite my sarcastic humor. Hopefully.

Thursday night Ben picked up my phone and told me that I had missed a call from my mom and had a voice mail. But I was tired and told him I’d call her back in the morning. Then the next day he messaged me very early:

Ben: what did your mom want?
Me: I dunno.
Ben: She called me too. It might be important.
Me: I left her a message. She hasn’t called back yet.

I should have found this in itself odd. Had it been important there would have been an voice mail on BOTH of our phones that said it was important. And also, I should have realized that Ben would have told me THAT NIGHT if she had called him too. But I’m blond and gullible. heh

When she finally called me back:

Mom: I wanted to know if I could have Cassidy this weekend. I’ll be at Lincoln’s the next weekend so I wanted to spend some time with her.
Me: Oh, I see. You called because you missed HER and want to spend time with HER.
Mom: Well, I won’t be here the next weekend!
Me: But she spent the night at your house last weekend!
Mom: Well, as soon as I get back from your brothers we can go have dinner or go shopping or something.
Me: No, it’s okay. I understand how it is. She’s the granddaughter. I’m just the daughter. I understand that she trumps me on all accounts. Plus, she’s girly and you can make her wear dresses and she LIKES it and I’ll never be… that.
Mom: Anna.
Me: HA! HA! Kidding, I’ll bring her by Saturday morning.
Mom: You are not my child.
Me: I am. And you love me.

I felt bad for laying that on her even though she knew I was kidding. SHE KNEW the plan and I didn’t!! She and Cassidy ended up having a lot of fun. Nana bought her a set of gardening tools and gloves of her very own then put her to work replanting everything on her back patio. Planting is Cassidy’s new Passion of the Monthâ„¢. She’s claimed a spot in the back yard where I told her she can plant whatever she wants and spends about an hour everyday after work looking for seeds on the ground all around the house. Tonight I we’ll plant the herbs my dad and Cherie sent me and the Bougainvillea that my mommy got me for Mother’s Day. Pretty!!

The OTHER person is Jason. Who loves me despite me being a whiny ass.

Friday while at dinner at Benihana’s for Vanessa’s birthday I said to him:

Me: So, you’re coming to the autocross tomorrow right?
Jason: Well, no. I have to work on the track car.
Me: But it’s my first autocross in the M3!! Work on it on Sunday!
Jason: I have the DeAnza autocross Sunday.
Me: Come to the Marina autocross Saturday and work on the track car on sunday.
Jason: Well… *hesitates for a second* I already paid for DeAnza.
Me: Oh. *puts on pouty face*

I probably mentioned it 15 times to him before we went home. I formally give permission for Jason to give me a swift kick in the ass next time I see him. But!!! HE KNEW and about the plan and I didn’t!

Other people that knew: Ivan, Chris, Guillermo, Stuart, Marco, Jeff, Melissa… there might be more! I can’t believe all those people knew and I had NO IDEA. None. Not a single clue.

Well played, Ben. Very will played.

So yeah, the weekend was a fantastic surprise. And as if all that wasn’t enough, Ben came home and helped me clean the living room and kitchen and scrubbed our shower. And that ends the debate for good. I really do have the best boyfriend ever.

EDIT – It’s 4:00PM. I’m slightly tipsy amd waiting to start an hour long deep tissue massage. *has died and gone to heaven* /EDIT

So last night as Ben and I are getting into bed he says, “We aren’t going to the autoX tomorrow. We are going to Pismo.”

What? Pismo?!

So we are in the car on 101 just south of 46. We have reservations at ‘our hotel’ and plan on dinner at ‘our restaurant’. All just because he wanted to give me a romantic surprise…

Love. Him.

Have a good weekend everybody!!!

As Ben and I were walking through the aisle at the fabric store, I turned suddenly and heard the SideKick2 cam click from my back pocket. I was hoping that Ben didn’t hear it because knowing how much he makes fun of me for taking SO MANY PICTIRES EVERY DAY WITH THE PICTURES ALL THE TIME that he’d have fun with it for sure… But he started laughing right away and said, “You have to blog that”.

I’ve had a bit of Blogger’s Block. I’ve started at least half a dozen posts but the words don’t come out right and I start to ramble and get lost as paragraphs change direction and lead to nowhere. I’m sure it’s temporary. I really miss it, though. Feedback, creative expression, freedom. I dunno.

I hope everybody had a nice Mommy Day. We had breakfast at my favorite place with my mom then went shopping at MAC then came home and Cassidy and I planted. My dad sent me some seeds, plus I’d had some that I’d been wanting to plant, and Cassidy bought me a Gerber Daisy I wanted to get into the ground. Pretty soon the fence area in the front yard is going to be very colorful.