Finally some new posts!

I am finally done with the semester! Well, almost. We still have to finish up the group project in one class but my part is done and the other class is completely over for the semester. Yaay!

Below are about 3 new posts that I've been able to write just lately now that I've had more time. Enjoy

Cat's Cristmas Party

My housemate Cat (sort for Catherine) invited me to her company Christmas party last week. It was held at the Omni, this really luxurious hotel in San Francisco. We even got a room there for overnight because the party was expected to go late, and they thought it would rain too. Really comfortable room with all the appointments, including 2 TVs in the bedroom, one for each bed. We also had a desk and a full length mirror and a huge bathroom with marble and window dressing around the shower. So nice.

We had fun at the party too. Cat works for this law firm that highly values teamwork, dedication and what they call "Customer Service." That last one seemed to me to denote people who went the extra mile to help others in the law firm, and were just all around nice people. They gave out awards for it and so many worthy people were nominated it ended in a tie with about 10 runners up. Cat says it is true, everyone is so friendly and she loves working there.

We had a a lovely cocktails (juice for me) and appetizer hour (coconut shrimp, scrumptious) followed by a divine dinner. Cat and I both had the fish which was so moist it just melted in your mouth--really yummy. Then came dancing and we both cut a rug with the best of them.

Below are some pictures from the night. I meant to get one with her boss but it slipped my mind when we were chatting with her. Oh well.



Here are Cat and me at the start of the evening.



Cat is posing with her co-worker Trina, who sat next to me and was great to talk to.



Trina's Shoes, which had such a heel and were the exact shade of her dress. Notice the cute roses. She won't tell us where she got them, just that it was online somewhere. Such fun shoes.



Cat and I in our full length glory.

It was such an enjoyable evening. Thanks Cat for inviting me!

Goulies

This is a poem I wrote back in high school. It is still my favorite poem of the ones I've written and I felt like putting it on here. Blogger may change the formatting so I'll do it like they sometimes do when reprinting and I'll put a / between lines. It has four stanzas of 2 lines each and an epilogue. The epilogue will have no /s as the lines are very short. Here goes:

The Goulies come to get me in the dark and sinful night/With dreadful squawks and screeches they announce my coming plight

Evil drips forth from their fingers, swirls around their toady knees/A bubbling, seething cauldron of hatred and disease.

You cannot hide in corners; they'll find you even there/With searching claws and rotting paws and wretched, screaming hair

Your only hope is Northward, fly to the promised land/ Where dreaming goodness dwells building castles in the sand.

Or stay with me
and we shall see
if Goulies act
so terribly.

The End

Living not Documenting

I have been too busy living my life to document it. November and December (so far) have been busy months. Ricardo came to Thanksgiving and met some more of my family. Always a nerve-wracking proposition, but it ended up great. They all loved him and his pictures (he has two websites of his work, which as I've mentioned is excellent), and he said he had a good time too. So that hurdle was successfully jumped. His parents and one sister are coming to visit at the end of the month so I'll have go through the same anxiety he no doubt went through. Wish me luck!

Here are two links to his photo sites: This one is his personal site and this is his travel site.

The day after Thanksgiving we met with my friends Elisa and Eric. Elisa was my roommate at UC Santa Cruz. We took a hike at Hidden Villa, which was lots of fun. Once again everyone got along great. Yeah, things have been going really well lately just in general. Yaaay!

Here are two pictures from Hidden Villa. Hidden Villa is a combination open space and working farm in the hills in Los Altos. Elisa's aunt and uncle run the hostel there.

The sow had a litter of piglets when we went there and here's a picture of them. They were running around so fast it was hard to compose the photo but at least you can see how little and cute they were:



Here's a picture of all four of us at the hostel. Left to right: Ricardo, Joni, Elisa and Eric. Such a beautiful setting.



Ricardo and I have also been to two opera's that I haven't mentioned. The first was back in October I think and was lots of fun. We saw Mozart's "The Magic Flute" then. The second was last week. We saw "Macbeth" by Verdi. Verdi is one of Ricardo's favorite composers, which is why I chose this one. It was for his birthday, which is actually not till December 13, but this is when I could get tickets. He likes opera even more than I do, which is lovely. Good to have some culture. Now we just have to find some good theater plays, which is my great love.

I hope all is well with you.