A N N A J O H N ' S D I A R Y

one down, one to go...

this.
is.
exhausting. 

i just want to go to sleep. i was up late preparing for my first interview and i resumed  reviewing everything this morning, since my nerves woke me up extra early.

it was worth it, though; i feel like i did as well as i could. i'd be positively gleeful about this if i weren't still re-playing the final ten minutes of the interview, when they finally disclosed "compensation" details. i'm just a wee bit stunned.  two good interviews in a row with a company i'm excited about and THAT'S the five-digit catch?   :O

further ick: it's disgustingly windy and wet outside, though i'm trying not to whine, since me re-enacting "winnie the pooh and the blustery day" is still a picnic compared to what i'd be facing if i were in chicago.  still, the walk to the metro should be FANTASTIC. i just hope i look presentable for the next episode.

sigh.  onward and upward.

3-2-1 Context

I'll admit it, I allow certain seemingly random items, songs or events to assume great significance.  Today was full of such things; these are the most notable, since I'm still thinking about them.

1) I left my apartment briefly this evening and as I waited at a crosswalk near Connecticut Avenue, I was convinced that I was hearing things, as if someone was calling me or telling me to do something.  Startled, I kept turning around and looking everywhere but all I saw were 3 brown guys on the other side of the street. Then it occurred to me that what I was hearing was a man speaking Malayalam as he instructed his friends on when to cross. 

I've mentioned in the past that one of my favorite things about DC is how international it feels and to me, proof of this is available on every block I walk, as I hear no less than three different languages per street.  Now that I live near several embassies, I have even more fun with this.  In the nearly eight years I've lived in DC (on and off, with brief stops in CA and NYC), I have NEVER heard Malayalam spoken randomly by passersby. I think I was so shocked I did the Indian "stare" thing to these three vaguely confused and now-irritated Malayalee guys, who were surely wondering what the hell my problem was.

2) I love Nick Drake and I heard him twice today.  He was part of the soundtrack to two different movies I caught tiny snippets of, as I drank my high-protein breakfast at noon.  Nick Drake?  TWICE??

3) When I headed back to my apartment after hearing Malayalam, I thought I saw my car parked in front of my building.  What I had seen was a license plate frame which declared "UC Davis AGGIES" around the exact same California license plate "design" I have.  That stopped me in my tracks.  While there are tons of UC Alums in D.C., (including a Cal grad and a UCLA alumni who are among the handful of neighbors I have met in my building), I never meet Davis grads or see Davis paraphernalia.  We're just not that ubiquitous out here.

I shook my head and went inside, resisting the urge to touch the car.  In the elevator, I kept asking myself, "What does it all mean?", it felt too much like synchronicity to be written off. I was happy for all of it, enveloped in a sense of "home". I started to feel like my luck was about to change, but I stifled such sweetness, lest I jinx that shit.

Flickr > Fotolog

LIVEBLOGGING the SM Meetup! :D

Who's here:  Milli and MP

Milli's "handle" backstory?  Said MP, "Ads would've loved that".

Milli is from Chicago and she hates the weather in SF, much to everyone's astonishment.  She doesn't care-- she likes Chicago during the summer. :)

Some go-carts go by...I'm perplexed until they're explained-- they're for tourists.  "Computer-guided tours!"

Vinod AND Chai AND her little brother are here!  :D

b/c being religious means you won't bang trannies, ever
there are certain things you will do on meth, when...

Chai just got recognized by a person at a random table...what are the odds?

SJM IS HERE!!!

"Chicago has weather-- in SF, it's the SAME FUCKING DAY, every day!"

Uncle 3V with the wise compromise: "Every city has its good and bad."

Anna:  "I HATE Long Beach airport.  WORST AIRPORT IN THE COUNTRY."

Milli:  "One time, when I was drunk, they put me on the wrong flight".

SJM: "See...people from the midwest have great 'drunk' stories."

Milli:  No woman in my family has ever gotten married after 26--
SJM:   Do they kill you after that?

SJM:  I can't compete w/the half-white grandkid...I know mine is going to be hairy for its first 3 years
ANNA:  Just the first three?

Staying with Manish Vij-- "he's Punjabi and so hairy...later we thought there was a yeti sighting.  can you smile or something so we know if you're coming or going?"

just tell us what your suit size is, you want to...
42...but then...it doesn't fit here and...
Would you like me to publish your shoe size while I'm at it?
Yeeeah, my size 11s biatch
actually 13s
yeah...perpetuate THAT myth

not nor-folk, it's norFUCK

indian parents know emotional jujitsu...they have black belts

indian parents are experts at communicating w/o words...via grunts.
my father has a "change the channel"-grunt!

i had a gunrack for my 3-wheeler! i really was a redneck!

the worst thing to ever happen to porn-- HD.  they really should've thought that a little more carefully...or they need to start smearing lenses w/vaseline, or...

who's that macaca on the chandelier???

ANNA + MP: the mission meets the marina

it's only stalking if they're unattractive...it's true.

his discomfort is my pleasure!!

i'm sorry-- i wanted to give you this book on feng shui.
maybe if you had rearranged your furniture you wouldn't have cheated on me!

"mom, what if the consumer price index goes above 2--"
"you pray!"

"you know, ven i was doing my morning prayer--"

On Superstition:

"never open a medicine cabinet after midnight!"

"i can't cut my hair or clip my nails on tuesdays, thursdays or after midnight..."

"i'm NEVER bringing someone i'm interested in to a meetup."

You've GOT to be Kidding Me

There.
is.
a.
mouse.
under.
my.
desk.

AAAAACCCGGGGGHHHH!

What really matters is clear

I won't lie-- when I heard the news, an overpowering sort of fear seized me, sitting on my chest with the weight of a boulder, adrenaline making me twitch as my heart beat much faster than it should.  My purest emotions and thoughts emerged; you are even more precious to me than I had ever claimed, bragged or understood you to be.  Sometimes, only the possibility of real loss shows how foolish my reactions to "perceived" loss can be.  For that I am sorry: for your safety, I am forever grateful.  You are loved and you are safe and right now, deadlines, meetings, student loans, an extra 5 lbs, annoying coworkers, a messy living room, uneven highlights and everything else besides love seems hysterically inconsequential.

How Ever Will We Survive?

You know how your little sister asks you to pass the salt and though before that, you had no desire for any, you sprinkled some on your food before handing it to her?  That's kind of how I feel about SM going offline at midnight for the big bunker move.  Suddenly, I irrationally want my mutiny.

Dun-dun-DUN

BRON
CHI
TIS

:(

Never Tear Us Apart

Sometimes, you cry at work because you know that as of a few minutes ago, the most cherished part of your life is never going to be the same.

Sometimes, the people who break your heart aren't the ones whom you sleep with, go out with, share your genetic matter with.

Sometimes, someone becomes an important part of your life so subtly and seamlessly, that the only reason you know that they were, is because they no longer are.

Sometimes, accepting someone's decision while you attempt to respect it seems like the most hateful, impossible chore.

Sometimes, being so SensitiveSentimentalAttachedLoyal isn't a good thing at all.

Sometimes, imagining a life without someone hurts like a dilettante's wax job.

Sometimes, loss isn't as obvious as death, breaking up or moving.

Sometimes, you just wish that instead of feeling powerless, you could change someone's mind.

cream cheese city, here i come

amtrak?  booked!  i heart trains.  they are almost as exciting as planes.  wheeeee!  amtrak and airports, two places i adore.

i find it FANTASTIC that it takes over three hours to drive to illadelphia but less than two to get there via train.  if there's one thing i miss about the west coast on occasions like this, when my beloved, reliable, $25  hasidic/vamoose bus isn't a possibility because

a] it's the sabbath and
b] it only goes to nyc,

it's how easy it is to drive everywhere on the left coast.  por ejemplo, it's 146 miles from here to there.  in CA, that's NOT a three hour drive, unless there is traffic.  and we all know how i deal with traffic.  i'd rather be late than sit in it.   

i don't want to drive every day, mind you.  that's what subways are for, and that's why i adoooore the east coast.  but a day trip like this which is NOT to nyc?  driving is preferable to sketchy-assed chinatown buses* and tight schedules which would require missing trains if the night is especially stellar.  having typed that, i ain't driving on 295 to 395 to 495 to 595 to 637 to 841...shudder.  so amtrak is my knight in shining metal.  sigh.  freeways are just more LOGICAL in california. ;)  you may read that last declaration as, "the places i like to go are all on 80." :D 

now i just have to shower, pack, primp and hail a cab.  so blogging is probably not the best use of my time right now.  FINALLY, new pictures for you to avoid work with... ;)