I spent some time today fixing up a few of the photos from my sister’s wedding. If you are interested, you may view the album on Flickr.

Oh and Lisa (and/or Dominic), if you absolutely hate any of the photos and want them removed, let me know! :)

Posted at 10:11 PM | (1)

I wasn’t able to post anything the last couple of days because I was in Vegas with my family from Wednesday until this afternoon. The reason for going was so that we could attend my sister’s wedding yesterday. The wedding party was small, consisting of the bride and groom of course, and then just me and Dominic’s brother as maid of honor and best man.

There were about 21 of us total in attendance, which is sizable for what was a small wedding, and yet small when you consider how many people there would’ve been if all family and friends would’ve been invited. There will be a reception in a few months or so though, so then the large numbers of people will attend.

In case you were wondering, this is why I cryptically needed to find some brown shoes—the dress I wore was brown and I had no shoes to match.

The ceremony was nice, although since there was no rehearsal or anything, I really had no clue what I was supposed to be doing. So mostly I just stood there and tried not to look at people like my mom, who was crying, so that I wouldn’t start doing so myself.

I took some pictures of the event, but haven’t really had time to edit them yet. Perhaps I will be able to post some later—if my sister approves.

Other than the wedding, we gambled a bit, and did a lot of family togetherness through meals together. I didn’t win any money, and even lost a little, but I suppose it was still fun to play.

It’s weird to think that she’s married now—especially since she’s the younger sister. At any rate, I hope the two of them have many years of happiness together.

Posted at 9:03 PM | (1)

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends. I just got home from dinner at my sister’s house. Time to try to warm back up—it was chilly outside!

Posted at 9:54 PM | (2)

Tonight is the eve of Christmas Eve! I am a bit sleepy at the moment. Yesterday I went over to Ben’s and we exchanged gifts. He then had to go work for a bit in the evening, but when he was done, we headed over to a party at the house of some of his friends. Since they are good friends of his (and since we arrived a bit later than most) we stayed until the very end, hanging out after the party was over. Ben and his friend also took the opportunity to have a long jam session, since they don’t normally get the chance to play music for long periods of time. Whaddya know, it seems he really does play drums after all! In all the time I’ve known him, I hadn’t gotten to hear him play, since he doesn’t have a drum set at his place. I did hear him play a bit at the party we went to Thursday night, but it was late and he had to drum kinda quietly. Last night he got to play as loud as he wanted.

We wound up leaving a little before 3 am—oh my goodness I was so tired. Surprisingly, I woke up this morning around 9am and didn’t feel that tired. I got some bagels and then headed over to his place to have some breakfast before we had to part our separate ways (he to a holiday gathering, and me to my parents’ house).

Now I am home thinking that it very much doesn’t seem like tomorrow there will be a lot of family and food and presents. Yesterday it was a bit chilly in SB, and today I was so hot, I was lamenting that I chose long sleeves. It definitely wasn’t any better down here—all sunny and warm. I know, complaining about warmth and sunshine, but it does suck when you’re not prepared for it. It also doesn’t help with the Christmasy mood—I mean, we’re not in the Southern Hemisphere, so what gives!

Anyway, time for bed soon, I think. I think the lack of lots of sleep last night is catching up to me.

Posted at 10:17 PM | (1)

Is it just me, or does it not really seem like Christmas Eve is 3 days away? Sure, it’s been a bit chilly at night—you should’ve seen me last night when I joined Ben at a friend’s house. (I had on a hat, fuzzy jacket, gloves, and socks and shoes! Of course, everyone else had warm jackets and hats too. You would’ve thought we live in the Arctic or something!) However, with no snow, and surrounded by palm trees, I guess it’s sometimes hard to realize that it is indeed the holiday season (maybe that’s why they feel the need to bombard us with Christmas songs in the beginning of November!).

At any rate, the holidays are definitely here! 3 more days…

Posted at 9:23 PM | (0)

The guy who moved in downstairs doesn’t make too much noise—he’s certainly a lot better than one of the guys who preceded him who used to watch his TV and listen to music really loud with the bass turned up.

There is one thing, however, that has me a bit perplexed. At least once a day I will hear a “beep beep beep, beep beep beep, etc.” sound. I don’t know if it’s a weird alarm or the smoke detector or what, but it happens pretty much daily. Sometimes it even happens maybe 30 seconds to a minute after I hear him exit his apartment and drive away. Is he constantly setting fire to things? Smoking when he’s not supposed to? If it’s an alarm, why doesn’t he turn it off immediately? If it’s the smoke detector, why doesn’t he figure out how to not trigger it, or else remove the battery?

It’s not a super loud sound, but like the yappy dog, I can hear it, since this building is not well insulated. Since it, like the dog, occurs daily, it’s just a temporary annoyance during the day. And here I thought I would never have as many random things to observe or complain about because I didn’t work in an office!

Posted at 8:24 PM | (2)

My weekend was pretty mellow, especially the actual weekend days. I did wind up going out with Claire on Thursday night, since I hadn’t hung out with her since like before Halloween or something.

On Friday, I met up with Ben at The Merc to check out a band that was playing. He was already there for about 15 or 20 minutes by the time I got there. We had a couple drinks and then got some food.

On Saturday I finally finished the hat I was making for Ben. I didn’t make it quite as tall as he indicated, but it turns out that was probably a good thing—that he didn’t actually want it so tall after all. I gave it to him last night and he said he likes it, so that’s good. He wore it on his way out of here, so wooo. I had wanted to finish it before Xmas, since he will be spending it in a nice and cold location. That double thickness should come in handy!

Here it is in all its double-knit glory:

Blue side

Grey side

Today there is water falling from the sky. Very strange, especially since I checked the weather report last night and there was no rain in the forecast. Can you believe there is only 1 week until Christmas? I still need to wrap presents, and possibly get more paper with which to do so. Time flies, so I guess I better get on that quick.

Posted at 4:36 PM | (1)

I’m not sure if I got new neighbors, or if my neighbors just got a new dog, but for the last couple weeks I’ve heard a little yappy dog doing his little yappy bark an awful lot. Like, I’m not sure what he barks at, but he barks a lot.

Barks in the morning. Barks in the afternoon. Barks in the evening.

Not 24/7, mind you, but enough to be annoying. What could possibly be going on to warrant that much barking? It’s a little distracting to listen to him while working from home. I’m sure I’m probably one of the few people around to even hear him, but still. I know there is another dog over there too, but that one doesn’t bark nearly as often, so what gives?

As much as I like dogs, I really hate tiny little yappy ones. I bet this one fits in someone’s purse—although, if it does, maybe the owner should consider carrying it around as a fashion accessory. That way, it would be barking somewhere else all day, and not next-door.

Settle down, dog!

Posted at 12:12 PM | (3)

Today I had some time to kill in the dentist’s office, so since I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave for at least an hour, I brought along a hat I’m knitting.

I haven’t ever really knit things in the presence of random people, mostly because I know it sort of draws attention to you, and next thing you know, an entire room is staring at you, wondering what you’re doing. Also, I’m not often out and about in a way where I’d have idle time to kill.

Today though, I decided I’d rather get closer to finishing the hat I’m making than worry about who is watching. I did notice a teenage girl there for an ortho appointment and her dad looking at what I was doing. Without even looking at them I knew they were paying attention to me, because all of a sudden, they started talking in whispers instead of regular quiet voice. I did make out when the girl whispered “I think it’s a beanie…” I guess they were trying to figure out what I was making.

Well, it’s good to know that the thing I’m making actually looks like the thing it is supposed to be!

Posted at 9:02 PM | (3)

On Saturday night Ben and I met up at James Joyce with a couple of his Ventura friends since they were staying in town for the weekend. They had just attended a company holiday party, and so a few of one of the friends’ coworkers were also in attendance. We had a fun time just hanging out and chatting, and when it was time to go for the night, Ben and I headed to the nearby Mexican restaurant that was still open in order to get some food before going home.

On Sunday afternoon I decided that I would run a few errands, such as going to the library. As I picked up my purse, I noticed it felt a little light and realized that my wallet was missing! I checked all over my apartment and in the car, but to no avail! I knew I had it at the bar, since I had given Ben some money, and that I had put it back in my purse. I called the bar and they hadn’t seen it. Oh no, had I dropped it on the street when getting my keys to drive back home? I called the Mexican restaurant and they had indeed found a wallet. I hurried over and retrieved it with all contents accounted for, thank goodness! I have no idea how or when it fell out, but it’s better that it happened at the end of the night when the cleaning crew probably found it rather than during a busy day. Even worse would’ve been if I had dropped it outside somewhere. I might never have found it in that case.

After returning home, I hung out around the apartment until around 9pm when I went with Ben to a holiday party for his work. There was a gift exchange, and some people got some interesting gifts, to say the least. Ben got a bottle of tequila, so either this person knows Ben pretty well or it was a lucky guess. He went around giving shots to people who wanted them. I didn’t drink too much since I was planning on driving us back, but some people who weren’t driving were probably hurting a little bit this morning.

Today it was back to work and a call from my sister about Christmas presents which acted as a reminder that the holiday is only two weeks away! Yikes!

Posted at 6:28 PM | (1)

Last night was the annual Christmas parade, and earlier and as of Thursday evening, I was worried it would be rained out. Despite the fact that it was pretty hot on Wednesday at the beach, Thursday turned way overcast and chilly. Thursday night it rained, although it never panned out to be the increasing downpour throughout the night that the meteorologists predicted. It also didn’t really rain on Friday, which they had also predicted. This meant that Friday night was pretty dry for the parade, although it was pretty windy and in the 40s last night.

Ben swung by my place and then we headed out to State Street to scope out a spot and meet up with some friends. I came prepared for the chilly night by wearing a hat, scarf, jacket, sweater, pants, and…SOCKS AND SHOES! Yes, you know it’s cold when my desire to avoid frostbitten toes outweighs my dislike of socks and shoes.

The parade was all right, although it had too many pauses—especially for the little kids, who would ask “NOW is it over??” every time there was a lull in the action. I’m not sure why it paused so much, but it would’ve been a lot better if they could’ve kept the parade going at a steady pace until the end. Oh well.

Today I joined Ben to go to a little get-together up the pass, where we stayed until it was time for him to head to work. I then took advantage of already being out and about to get some Christmas shopping done. I did get a bit done, and now I think I am in good shape to have everything done before I head home for the holiday.

Ok, it’s really chilly in my apartment, so I think I’m going to end this post and crawl under some blankets.

Posted at 8:55 PM | (0)

Surfers throughout California have been pretty excited, because a huge swell came through this week, peaking on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yesterday, on a beautifully sunny and warm afternoon, Ben met up with some old friends from down south at Sandspit—a location near the Harbor. There were tons of surfers out, and I wound up going out to join him to see the surf and try and take some pictures. The Santa Barbara area was actually one of the areas getting the most hype, and so lots of people traveled here from all over just to surf. Among the people who came from out of town to get in on the action was Kelly Slater! He apparently surfed Campus Point on Tuesday, and Sandspit on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, my action surfing shots could use a bit of work—although I am also a bit hindered by my lack of a super telephoto lens. My lens was woefully inadequate when compared to some of the lenses that were being used out there—some looked like giant telescopes! Still, I will present to you some of the shots that my sad lens and I captured during what will probably be the biggest surf of the season.

Most of my shots are of random people, as I was just trying to see if I could get good action shots. I was trying to look for Ben, but in a sea of guys with wet hair and black wetsuits, it’s often hard to tell who is who. I did manage to capture 2 of his waves, but a lot of the shots were blurry and stuff. I also captured a few of Slater’s rides, though not his most impressive of the session. What is below are those shots that have a combination of being the most visually interesting and least blurry. Enjoy.

Quite a few dogs came down to check out the action.

Shot taken by Ben.

A guy getting barreled (taken by Ben).

A shot to give perspective on just how many people you’d have to surf around if you caught a wave (taken by Ben).

A guy getting some air (taken by Ben).

Watching the waves break before paddling back in.

8-time world champion Kelly Slater out on the water.

Slater on his way to catch more waves.

Slater stopping to chat with a young fan and give an autograph.

Ben out on the water.

A beautiful orange sunset behind all the boats in the Harbor ends a great day.

Posted at 5:55 PM | (1)

Last night Ben came over and we headed down to Chase so we could see the tons of lights and decorations they put up for Christmas, as well as get some drinks and hang out with his friend.

After the restaurant closed, we all headed over to The Sportsman, because it seemed like it was the happening place to be for some reason, judging by the number of people. I had never been in there, and it’s not typically one of those places I’d probably think of going in…I mean, it’s called The Sportsman, so it doesn’t exactly sound like you find a ton of chicks there.

Turns out the reason it was so happening was because it was guest bartender night. Once a year they invite bartenders from all the other bars in town to tend their bar, and all the money earned during that time goes to a local charity to help kids. Among the guest real bartenders were some regular patrons who volunteered, as well as….THE PALM!!

For those of you not from Santa Barbara, I doubt you will appreciate the magnitude of the awesomness of meeting John Palminteri, a reporter for KEYT News. He’s the guy that does all the local interest stories, and the one they send to stand in the middle of a flooded street to tell you just how flooded it is. He’s a pretty recognizable guy.

Anyway, he apparently only knew how to serve beer, not mixed drinks, so that’s what he did for his shift. His lack of mixology knowledge didn’t stop people from stuffing dollar bills in his shirt though. When his turn was over, he came over and talked to our group for a bit. A photographer for the website Locals Night was there to capture this charitable event, and so I am pleased to inform you that I now have a picture with The Palm.

It’s kind of funny how unlike us we all look—must be the lighting. In case you are wondering, that’s not my hat. Someone put it on my head and it has the name of some sort of alcohol I’ve never heard of. It is also quite possibly the ugliest piece of headwear I’ve ever seen. Also note that it was a chilly night, as evidenced by my coat and scarf. All in all though, a fun and interesting night.

Posted at 10:15 AM | (4)

Today I ran a couple errands, which included stopping by Border’s for some possible Christmas gifts. I did wind up finding something to purchase, so I took it to the register.

I paid with a credit card, and after ringing the item up and swiping my card, the employee put my receipt and book in a bag and handed it to me. I didn’t have to sign anything, and they didn’t check for ID.

In holidays past I used to notice the opposite trend—more stores would make you show ID and compare the signatures. Sure these things could be faked, but it makes it more of a hassle for someone to get away with fraud in person. But, not having to sign or verify that the card is mine in any way just seems like a bad idea. How easy would it be for someone to just grab a random card and go on a huge shopping spree? Of course, if you had access to a card you could just shop online and get it shipped to you, but I’ve never experienced this “ease of payment” in-store before.

Have any of you? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Posted at 3:46 PM | (3)