Finally doing it!

Yep, I'm taking the Jeopardy! online test, so I can remain in their database and possibly get called on to be a contestant in the future.

I'm such a dork. (But I've been answering a LOT of questions correctly lately and am pretty convinced that I could hold my own on the show!)

**UPDATE: I took the 50-question test and did it in NINE minutes! All the questions were sooo right up my alley. They ranged from French history (duh, speak it/studied it/lived there) to literature (English lit major at UCSB!), to sports questions (!!!!) and finally movies/tv with two answers being "Desperate Housewives" and "Moulin Rouge" the movie.

I better get called in for that show. I rocked that online quiz!

The never-ending homework avoidance

I've lost a good eight pounds since Thanksgiving, when I stopped eating terrible foods. Then I got really sick a week ago, couldn't stomach full meals, and am now left with a smaller appetite than I originally had (which, let's be real, is like a normal appetite for anyone else since I ate so much before anyways). Long story short, my clothes don't really fit me that well anymore. But at least I can fit into my pre-France clothes from 2007. I'm probably closer to my normal size than I've been in two or three years now.

What is normal anyways? Am I going to be clinging to my barely 110-lb. high school and freshman/sophomore year of college weight for the rest of my life? Or will I have to embrace that I'm never going to be back there again and will probably be on the average side from here on out? Either way, I'm sort of eating healthier again, so that's good. I should probably make an appointment to get my cholesterol/triglycerides checked out again soon.

My neck's also been bothering me a ridiculous amount lately, because I think my TMJ is at an all-time low. So when I get a break in my schedule, I'll probably start looking back into physical therapy. Who knows, it sort of helped last time, but I'm really REALLY crossing my fingers that I don't have to resort to surgery as the next step to solving my problems.

I'm just one happy mess, aren't I? Well, the happy part's correct. I really have no complaints beyond medical issues right now. So, I guess you win some and you lose some, huh?

Here's to the rest of a good week! And getting back to my sports law reading and briefs.... or I could catch up on the past two weeks of Private Practice that I missed while working basketball games....

This is so disgusting

This morning (MORNING, as in before 10 a.m.) as I'm getting ready for work, I heard a really troubling commercial on the radio. Granted, it was on the Adam Carolla show, but still, it's not like this was a Love Line commercial or anything.

It starts off like your average online dating ad generally does, however I knew something was awry when the man narrating was asking if listeners were looking for a discreet, new relationship. As in, are you bored with your marriage or current relationship? Are you looking to have an affair?


I'm gagging just thinking about this right now. At first, I almost started laughing because it legitimately sounded like it could have been a spoof, SNL-ish type of commercial. But it kept going. He continually repeated how this could be the love of your life, or just for fun. Ugh, I really can't even think about this anymore, it's so despicable.

And if you even know me one bit, you can understand how this is so appalling to me. I believe that cheating on someone is the worst thing you could possibly ever do. People who sign up for this company deserve to have their hearts shattered for life.

It's not fair that things like this exist and ridiculous people feel like this is an acceptable behavior.

Alright, I'm getting off my fidelity/pro-monogamy soapbox. Actually, no I'm not. I'm so morally opposed to this and hate that this website exists and is making profits!!!!!

How I hate being sick.

I believe that over the course of the past two days, I've slept for about 21 hours. Seriously. I'm not entirely sure what's wrong, but I'd surmise that I've got a cold/flu/sinus combination.

My symptoms are: terrible sinus pressure headaches (which have kept me asleep when I didn't feel like being awake), dizziness, fever, runny nose, deep cough and on top of it all, horrendous cramps.

This is probably the sickest I've been in a while, but I don't feel as bad as I should. I'm thinking I built up a bit of an immunity working with kids in France last year, because before fall 2007, I used to get sick about 3-4 times a season. Now, it's about bi-annually. The last time I was feeling under the weather was some time in July.

Not too bad.

With a couple of naps a day, movies/tv show veg fests, and some low-key class reading each day, I'm hoping I'll kick this thing in a number of days so I can be back to feeling 100 percent.

I like being happy and optimistic and playful. However, I don't think I'm any of that when I'm sick. So wish me luck!

Way better than last winter

It's been so warm and sunny the last few days here in California! Almost like a mid-spring type of temperature.

With a rare day off from work (no complaints here, I really enjoy what I do!) I'm finally getting time to be outside and enjoy the warmth.

My parents are heading down to visit this afternoon for lunch and outdoor activities. Not sure if we'll go to the batting cages in Manteca, wine tasting at the Lodi vineyards, check out the port downtown, or what. Seeing as how my dad is a wine-maker, you can probably guess what we'll end up doing!

I'm really looking forward to upcoming outdoor festivals and farmer's markets that really set California springs and summers apart from other states.

Thanks for making me aware of this, Dane Cook

I hate to put a damper on everyone's night, but seriously, check out who lives around your area at:

Family Watch Dog

It's a good idea, I guess, to be aware of your surroundings. However, in my parents' neighborhood, there are hardly any registered offenders. But Stockton is quite a different story, my friends. It's kind of creepy, especially since one lives right around the corner from us.

Ummm, lesson of the day is, don't hang out in Stockton after dark?

Scary news....

We keep hearing all this b.s. about California's gaping budgetary deficits. But here it is, folks. In three weeks, by February 1, California will have to declare bankruptcy. Our hypothetical situation if our state government can't fix its shit will be to send out I.O.U.s like they're going out of style, alongside massive state employee lay-offs. Well, doesn't this sound like a fabulous plan?

I'm not really that excited to see where this takes us, or what kind of deals the California legislators are going to scheme up. Heaven only knows.

Arnold has another kind of termination he'll need to ward off again.... (da-da, chhhhhhh). Sorry.


I'll be doing my part to keep California's economy rolling. After picking up some groceries at Trader Joe's tonight, I cooked myself a crab cake on a bed of lettuce greens and veggies, with some sweet potato fries. Trying to eat light so I can go out on my dessert date pretty soon tonight ;)

Kind of excited for that.

Why do we call it the "dead of winter"?

Do you ever hear the phrase, the dead of summer? No.

But things are looking up. Anyone who knows me understands that I detest daylight savings time. I hate getting into my car after work at 5 p.m. in pitch black. I hate feeling like it's midnight at 7:30 p.m. The shorter days suck. (Yeah, that's as eloquent as I'm going to get in my pouty-post.)

With January here, we've only got two and a half more months of winter. But the best part is that I can tell the days are stretching out a little bit longer as the weeks pass.

When I hopped into my vehicle this evening, it was 5:15 p.m. And there was still a bit of sunlight lingering on the horizon. I watched it sneak out of view. But the fact that I saw it happen is big. Spring is coming, am I too soon on this yet?

I'm kind of in love with her...

I've recently discovered a new indie (though, she'll probably become super mainstream soon since she's starting to play on the radio more often. I realize I'm pretty slow on the music bandwagon) artist who I absolutely love:

Ingrid Michaelson

Her songs are super cute and sappy and, I'm a girl, what the heck do you want from me?! haha :)

Shocking, she's actually become quite a staple on Grey's Anatomy:

New Year, Old News.

Now that 2009 is here, stories are starting to come out in retrospect analyzing some of the 2008 calendar year.

The first one, I obviously can't avoid. Everyone's talking about it.


The 2008 stock market figures show that last year was our worst financial year since the Great Depression. That's promising, that's really promising. I know I didn't major in economics or anything, but I feel like the stock market is all a virtual indicator that somehow predicts real life. So unless someone smarter wants to fill me in, here's my take on it.

Much like gas prices, everyone is so scared about a stock market crash. People have stopped investing because "stocks are down" and companies are going stale or laying off employees. So why don't we embrace the low stocks and start buying?? If prices are low, that should encourage more spending activity. And wouldn't that in turn raise stock prices and the overall economy? It just seems like such an easy fix that people aren't willing to latch onto. And so what if the dollar's weak? Let's just spend the hell out of it and try to get back up to par.

But then again, that's just my opinion. I'm at least enjoying all the ridiculous year- and season-end sales and plummeting oil prices.

The other thing I can't not talk about is..... Barry Bonds. Quite possibly the bane of my baseball existence. I think Derek Jeter and the Angels used to don that title, but I'm giving it to Mr. BALCO himself today. Unappologetically.

Apparently the all-time home run leader is undergoing hip surgery so that his hopes of playing in 2009 can be satisfied. Look dude, you've been accused, by a federal court no less, of lying under oath for having taken steroids illegally. So maybe he wasn't the biggest user of them all, but for some reason Mr. Bonds won't own up *cough*asterik*cough* I'm sorry, I think I'm getting sick. (Please note, that article is taken from The Onion, and is minorly satirical.)

But I digress. He went without a team in the 2007-08 offseason when the Giants finally broke up with their home run love affair, I mean for God's sake, AT&T park (are we still calling it that now?) was built for him to tee off the cove in right field. Shockingly, not a single team was lured into Barry Bonds last year. So why the F does he think someone is going to do so in 2009? That's quite the New Year's resolution Barry Bonds, quite the resolution.

And I better not have to eat my words in the future (meaning Oakland, I swear to God, if you snag Bonds this year, I might just have to become a full-time Dodgers fan or something).