putting the knit in shizknit

Temescal Canyon

So last week I mention to T, "let's go hiking on Temescal Canyon. One of my guys at work says its great." He answers "we need a GPS system" and I start cracking up - of course, we need a GPS system, we're 2 feet from Sunset Blvd, right? He responds with "yes, one for both of us, in case we get split up. Or a good rope, so one will carry it and the other won't get lost". We didn't get any gadgets, but we did pick up some cool SPF 50 hats at REI.

His enthusiasm died quickly the very next day when the alarm went off at 6:45 AM on a Sunday (and mind you, we were up around 5:30 the day before). It continued as we parked along Temescal Canyon Road and walked into the park.... then 10 minutes into this very rocky, sweaty climb. Oh, and did I mention we had no cel reception? For me, I was having a pretty good time. There always seemed to be more people coming down than up the hill, but it was fine. I heavily recommend water and a towel in the summer - I was sweating up a storm. What great exercise!! We weren't really sure where we were going (okay, so that GPS thing would have come in handy) but we continued to follow people and signs. It was about 2 hours for us to come along a route that took us by a waterfall, to the top of the mountain and back down again. If we did this every weekend, I would have a rock hard ass. I was surprised to find that the Santa Monica Mountains offer many trails like this one, so we have much to discover (get ready, T!).

Manhattan Beach - literally on the beach

5K
29:57 (no PR)
Low tide sand - hard packed, but definitely more of a shock obsorber.

Registration started at 6 AM - we found great parking right by the pier. My shoes got sandy walking down to the shore, and it was definitely a workout. We found a sick sea lion (which at first looked like a bed of kelp) and did our good deed by calling animal control (luckily they have dispatchers 24 hrs) who came within 10 minutes (faster than most ambulances in LA) and called for backup from the marine life conservatory in Long Beach. They rolled him up in a tarp and drove him away for some medical attention. The race itself was great - wonderful breeze, it was half way out then turn around and come back. My difficulty came when my attention span started to run short since the scenery didn't change much....

All good things must come to an end...

And so it did this past Wednesday night, as our jewelry class with Ralph Goldstein ended with the academic year. I was able to finish the emerald cut amythest the week before, so I did a quickie project to finish in one class - a thick band, fit for a man :) Ring size, 7.5, and the best polishing job comes with lots of sanding, inside and out as well as the sides. I sanded for about 3 hours total until my hands looked like they were covered in ash. Final polish was the regular bling polish on the inside, and a brushed polish on the outside. Next up is to figure out how to occupy my Wednesday evenings!

Mid June

In soCal we have something called "June Gloom". Every year in June, we awake to a not-so-dawn-ish fog that sits high (not like the horrible fog in Central Cali in winter), so that it looks like a super cloudy day. Eventually, by about lunchtime, this fog lifts, and the sun comes out to end our days in gorgeous, brilliant sunshine.

June gloom is now over, and we are officially in the latter part of the month. Time is moving very quickly.

I went to a memorial service last week, one of our Professors recently lost his 10 year battle with cancer. The last speaker was wonderful, and he made a statement which was beautifully reflective of our Professor and of all 300 people that were crammed into the room.

"He didn't get to choose the date he was born, nor did he get to choose the day that he died. What he did get to choose was everything in-between."

Sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes we don't get dealt the best cards. Sometimes people are born into better families than others. Sometimes this means we have to work harder than others. Sometimes we have to play it a different way. But life continues on, and time keeps incrementing. We can either sit idle, watching life pass us by, or we can actively participate in it -

I highly recommend What's the Purpose of a Banana? now available on Amazon.com. I've been inspired and amazed by many in my lifetime, but none quite like Carlton. I'm barely religious, but on my first meeting with him, I have to admit that I felt like I had been touched by an angel. His words, stories and love give courage and hope on days like June mornings.

Update...

Many of my long time friends frequently hear about how busy I am... but these last few weeks have been beyond busy. I've taken on some new duties at work, I was finishing up an evening class, and I've been trying to keep some resemblence of a life. However, I love every minute of it. I swear by the "work hard, play hard" type of motto and adore the fact that life keeps me on my feet. I'll do one update post on a few things....

Emerald Cut Ring
This has been my project since my last lucida-inspired ring, I had purchased a gorgeous 5.1 carat emerald cut light amethyst (light pink in color) which I've been working on a very basic (look, not basic to do) basket prong setting with knife edge band. The stone is so beautiful that I wanted everything else understated. The basket setting takes quite some time, as I ran into a number of times where soldering one corner un-soldered another, just from the heat. The reddish stuff you see is the anti-flux, which helps keep it from un-soldering. This last week I was able to saw off the bottom of the basket and attach the band, and sand paper. Hopefully I will finish this upcoming week - I only have 2 more classes left! Please forgive the crappy photos, the lighting is all wrong.... jewelry is one of the most difficult things I've found to photograph.

Birthday, etc.
Wednesday was a crazy, crazy day. With everything else going on, bless my guys for remember my birthday (or even to know when it was!). They got together with a few more of my coworkers to get me a new espresso machine. Let me explain. One of my guys found a small espresso machine he cleaned up after my complaints about the latte's at work. We started making our own dang espresso-based drinks - any given day you'll hear us whistling away some milk in the mornings (and sometimes in the afternoons too). I've been looking for a nice espresso machine for home, usually when I'm that into it, I'll buy it. But what do you know, where on earth do you go to buy one? We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, Dept Stores and a few other places but I could only find either super-cheesy or super-expensive. Well.... they got me something really, really special. Then I started doing some reading on the art of espresso. Who knew there was so much to it - the tamping, the milk, the art of it all. T also sent me some gorgeous flowers too.... :)

Because of all the crazy things going on, dinner had to wait until last night. T surprised me with dinner to Yamashiro's, a well-known asian fusion restaurant atop a hill which has the most amazing views. The place looks like an old Japanese Palace... it is all one-way streets up this hill until you get to the very top. The food was pretty good too..... T had gotten a great table which overlooked the city at sunset.

Work Party

Good food, good wine, and good friend. 'Nuff said.

What's in your wallet?

So I finally got a new photo for my drivers license. I got sick and tired of "is that really you?!" and "can I see another ID?!" and the "Corr Lens" comment on the card (which was quickly removed after I could read ALL of the eye exam signs in the room, thanks to lasik) although the lady at the counter had curtly reminded me up update other items, such as the "WT:" field. Hrmph. Does anyone actually put their real weight on these damn things?

But lookie here - Jury Duty. It hasn't even been a month yet since I've officially changed to my LA address!! Give me a break! To top it off, NO KNITTING NEEDLES ALLOWED IN THE COURTHOUSE! WTF! Right, this is so when they put me on another Jesus-juice length case, I can take my circular Addi's and strangle the crap out of the lawyer who picks me to be on the jury. United Airlines lets me take knitting needles but not the LA County courthouse?! Since when?!

Haram!

My Jordanian friend always uses this arabic term.... this is how I felt about my poor old cel phone when I lost it up on my Mammoth trip. I've been using a pure POS cel for the last few months, bitching and complaining off and on until I'm sure I've driven T purely mad. He's found a way to shut me up. For what has become an annual birthday surprise, he produced a nice upgrade to my current cel phone: Samsung SGH-E630.

(The plastic is still on the screen, thus the bubbles)

The phone wasn't without its own little drama - turns out that it is not compatible with a large amount of T-mobile SIM cards (a certain brand they carry), but with a quick trip to our local store, I was able to get the "rounded edge" SIM which worked beautifully. They transferred my number to this one, and VOILA! I'm in business. The strange triangle-shaped thingy is the speaker phone attachment. This phone has all the features I want and need - small (to fit in ALL of my purses), color, and a CAMERA! Yes, I now have a camera with zoom, flash, built-in mirror, photo features such as frames, sepia/sketch tones and more - so expect to see more camera pics to be posted :)

Saddleback Memorial 5 K Run

0:27:59
439th place over all 5K runners (out of 1335)
139th place out of all female 5K runners
17th in my female age division

Hey, that doesn't sound all that bad for these daikon legs! I took over 2 minutes off my time from the Revlon 5K run, and there were HILLS this time around. This was a gorgeous event, in a gorgeous area. The 5K course was from the Laguna Hills mall through Laguna Woods (formerly known as Leisure World) and down to the Community Center. Parking was much better than the Revlon event, and this time they had chips! These are awesome - you tag them on your shoe, so no matter when you pass the start line, your time starts then. So you can relax, and hang out in the back without having to push through the crowds.

I've found some real nifty watches that are like trainers on your wrist - and expensive as my monitor. This one will monitor your EPOC rate and other stuff, so you don't have to work out harder than you need to - in the optimal range.

We had some great breakfast out in Dana Point, where I found a yarn store with a sale - and couldn't resist some Debbie Bliss yarn. :) The walking trails in the area have a path for horsies - which is quite unusual to see coming from LA..... another unusual sight is a hummingbird nest in plain sight...