Unfurnished Brooklyn

Why am I going to be fired

Part 37:

more cat pictures

Fortunately I've mastered the art of pretending to sneeze when I laugh out loud.

The ultimate youtube music video.

Anything that includes Chocolate Rain and the dancing banana is alright with me.

Have a wunnerful weekend.

Nerd Alert

Once upon a time I collected comic books. I had amassed quite a few Marvel comics- I couldn't get into DC that much. At some point I decided I had outgrown comics and passed them on to my nephew, but I still check out the odd graphic novel now & then*. I was especially into X-Men, and was slightly disappointed in the movies. Though, those movies were way better than the Fantastic Four movies (of which, I only saw the first. Blecch). Ah, well.

I didn't have high hopes for Ironman, until the reviews came out. Then Cheb talked me into going to see it this weekend** and ZOMG I GEEKED OUT. Really. I loved it- despite not being a fan of Robert Downey jr. or Gwyneth Paltrow.

If you haven't seen it yet, do so and wait for the credits to end. I told Cheb we had to wait, and the credits are super long. She wasn't as excited about the short clip at the end as I was. I think I need to get those comics back from my nephew so she can read them. Then maybe she'll understand why I was bouncing in my seat at the last scene.

* Not only that, I can watch Avatar, the Last Airbender over and over again.

** What can I say? The kid likes action movies.

Kafka-esque doesn't even begin to describe it.

I can barely talk about it, but I'll open up just enough to say this: I was seriously traumatized by the Chinese consulate this week.

I was attempting to get a co-worker's visa for a conference*, and ran smack dab into a wall of new (and arbitrary) rules. I've been there three times in the past week- once spending 7 hours on line- and got nothing. We finally worked something out today, but it was a horrorshow. The same time last year, I was in and out in 30 minutes.

How bad was it? I refused a direct order to go there again. I was fully prepared to be fired. I would rather be fired than go back- I would rather dance for coins on the subway than go back to the consulate. It was that bad. If my boss wasn't out of the country handling some other fuck-up, I probably would have been fired. But at least I wouldn't have had to go back.

(That said, I kinda feel for the people working there. Having spent all freaking day there on Monday, I hadn't even heard about the earthquake until I got back to the office at 5pm. What was going on in the minds of the workers- who also had to walk past the protesters outside?)

*We do a lot of business in China, and I have mixed feelings about this.

Children, I wanna warn ya...

'Cause I been to California:

 

Where Mickey Mouse is such a demon. Where Mickey Mouse is as big as a house!

People, I'm trying to upload the pics to Flickr but my heart isn't in it. Not today, anyway. So I'll just give a brief overview of the trip:

Los Angeles is a lot nicer than I expected. Really cool people, beautiful views, and great food. (Fish tacos are my new favorite food.) It can be goofy, but I like goofy.

The drive to Santa Barbara was gorgeous. Even just driving around LA was fun. Hollywood Blvd. is ridiculous, but I did love being the annoying tourist for once (yes, I blocked the sidewalks to take pictures. So what of it?).

Universal Studios was exhausting, but fun. Disneyland was also fun, but not nearly as tiring. We arrived just before the park opened, and shut it down around 10-10:30 pm, and went on nearly every ride. I have heard the horror stories about 3 hour waits, but the longest we waited was around 20 minutes. Mid-week in April? Good time to go. And the weather was perfect. And also: SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!!

(A word about Space Mountain- after our second ride on it we went straight onto the Star Wars ride. Bad idea- I thought I was going to hurl.)

I wanted to visit this yarn shop, but I didn't have a car, and the route I mapped by bus would've taken way too long. Maybe next time? There was a yarn shop a few blocks from where I was staying in Eagle Rock (I found it on Ravelry). I stopped in one day and walked out with two skeins of Sockotta sock yarn for a shrug for Cheb. We also hung out a couple of times at this coffee shop. I really like Eagle Rock.

What else? We went to the Griffith Observatory, the La brea Tar Pits (tar!), did a lot of sightseeing (though nary a celebrity), and generally wore ourselves out. (Oh, and I'm now addicted to Trader Joe's greek style fig yogurt. Wonder if they sell it here?) I went to BabyMelt, which used to have tons of Cheburashka stuff, but of course now that I finally make it to LA there were no more. Something about U.S. licensing, blah blah. I did get the last t-shirt, so there's that.

Anyway. It was fun for the both of us. I'd do it again. But with a driver's license and a rental car.

Oh. So there's my mountain lion.

Last week in Los Angeles I stayed in a neighborhood called Eagle Rock. I kept joking about wanting to see a mountain lion or a coyote.

Now it shows up.

(I joke now, but I'd probably be freaking out if I were there today. I'm such a city mouse.)