Alive!

Well, I am alive this morning, which means that I didn't die, which means the spider from last night must not have crawled on my face. What a relief!

I still have no idea where it went though, and that is no less disturbing in the light of day than it was just before hitting the hay. (Ah, my poetic streak cannot be repressed!!)

Today is cold and gray (ha), and if my eyes don't deceive me, I believe there is a bit of misting going on...wait a sec. No, that's just the dirt on my windows making things look hazy and such. Hmmm. I really need to clean this place.

But it really is unseasonable weather for June in southern California. Usually about this time, I have forgotten that I own things like sweatshirts and sweaters (hoodies and jumpers for the New Zealanders/UKers/Aussies among us!); today I'm actually wearing them. Weird.

I guess I shouldn't complain though. By the time the dog days of August roll around, I'm sure I'll wish that I didn't own anything such as clothes.

Although I've always wondered why they call those the "dog days." Does anyone know? Dogs don't really seem all that happy when the weather is hot like that, so it seems weird that they would name hot days for them, but maybe that's just me.

I Hate Spiders and Bugs

The biggest spider I have ever seen, barring a tarantula in Thailand, is crawling up my curtains right in front of me as I type this.

It occurs to me that I probably need to kill it, or I won't be able to sleep tonight, knowing that it is in the same room. But I hate killing things. I always feel so guilty. (Although I think I could kill Leo and not give it a second thought, but he is more like a demon in bird form than anything else, and who cares about killing demons? Not me.)

So the spider is on the wall now, and he is waving one of his ENORMOUSLY long legs, and honestly, it's freaking me out. Gross, gross, gross.

I am suddenly very aware of all the cobwebs on my wall, up by the ceiling. My lack of domesticity is a little embarrassing.

So the big project tomorrow: clean the room!!!! After getting the eyebrows done, of course. First things first!

But if that spider crawls on my face tonight while I am asleep, I will die. I've lost sight of it, and that makes me quite nervous. If you don't hear any posts from me after a few days, you'll know what happened; i.e., that it crawled on my face and I died. What a way to go.

And then I won't get to celebrate my 30th! How sad.

That settles it. This room ain't big enough for the both of us. Hang on a second while I hunt it down...

[Sound of Jaws music playing. Or "Jeopardy" if you prefer something more cheerful.]

Um, I can't find the spider anymore. I am not happy about this.

I vividly remember an incident that happened at a friend's wedding reception in New Zealand, wherein a horrible bug that bore a striking resemblance to a cockroach, except it could fly, actually was flying around in the room I was in, hit the chandelier above me so that it dropped, stunned, onto my upturned face (which was upturned because I didn't want to let a bug like that out of my sight while I was still in the room with it). I can still remember the feeling of its icky, stick-like legs gripping tightly onto my lower lip--ALMOST INSIDE MY MOUTH! What happened next will not be described, to save my dignity in front of my readers; suffice to say that it provided a great deal of amusement for my friends who were present at the time.

I can't take another experience like that, that's all I can say. Especially now that I'm getting older. I'm sure it's very bad for the heart.

Quote for the Day

I do not know how long this road may be, but do not fear the obstacles in your path...for fate has vouchsafed your reward.
--the blind prophet, O Brother Where Art Thou

Ah, Vanity, Speak Thou A Little Softer...

Ok, so at the risk of sounding terribly vain and stuck on myself, I have to make the following statement:

I got my hair done today, and I look, well, freaking HOT.

I know how it sounds. But it's no use denying the truth, is it? And it's not often that I feel like I am dazzling, so I have to milk it when I do.

I went to a salon where everyone (customers and staff) was Chinese, except for yours truly. My friends, Hannah and Grace, who go there regularly and were the ones who recommended it, went with me and discussed my desired cut and color with the stylists in Chinese, while I nodded and smiled and hoped that they hadn't asked her to dye my hair black and give me bold green streaks or something, as a practical joke.

Thankfully, they did nothing of the kind. The process was long and arduous (four and a half hours, and included a full color, then shampoo, then highlight, then shampoo, then cut and style), but it was worth it. My hair looks awesome.

In fact, when I was at dinner with Hannah and Grace, and went to the restroom, I actually did a double take at the woman in the mirror, because it took me a second to realize that it was me.

Eyebrows will be done on Friday, and then I will be all ready for June 12! Yay!

Cheating

Ooooooh, I am so bad. I really really planned to stay away from the frogg files a bit longer, but I can't seem to do it! The temptation to write nonsense is just too much, apparently.

By the way, I am getting my hair done tomorrow, in preparation for embarking on the new decade! And I will probably get my eyebrows done too, because they are starting to look a little Amazonian, which simply won't do.

I'll be honest: I'm excited about turning 30. Don't try and make me feel depressed about it, because I won't listen! I think it's going to be wonderful.

My 20s were so strange, so disjointed and directionless. I hardly knew what I was doing most of the time. To top it all off, at the age of 27, I surprised myself by quitting my job at a magazine publisher's, packing up my things, and heading to New Zealand for six months, which eventually turned into nine months. I came back to the US for six months after that, and lived with friends in the Bay Area, where I worked part-time at a school, and then went back to New Zealand for another nine months.

My life was very hectic and unsettled, to say the least.

So this past year has been all about transitioning back to "normal life" (is there such a thing?) and let's just say it hasn't been the most comfortable process at times. I am pretty much ready to move ahead into this next phase of my life and see what adventures await! And believe me, I am off to a good start, having just watched Spiderman, "House of Clues," and "Fake Out" all in a row. Nothing like spending a whole evening in front of the tube! Talk about adventure!

Haha. Just kidding...er, sort of. Anyway, here's looking forward to the next 10 years...who knows what they'll bring?

(Hopefully among other things, such as travel and a Pulitzer prize for my Great American Novel, they'll bring along a good man who will see what an amazing, fun, talented, and beautiful woman I am, and who won't let me get away if he knows what's good for him. If not, no loss...I'll just have more funny stories to write about singleness and the lameness of men who don't know what's good for them. Hey, it's a tradeoff, what can I say.)

Teaser

Never fear, the frogg is almost here! Again.

Great things are afoot, I can feel it.

Keep checking in, I'll be back soon...in the meantime, if you stop by I'd love to hear more suggestions for a fun 30th birthday, because I still haven't thought of anything! And my birthday is on Sunday!!!!

(Ok, it's not true that I haven't thought of anything. I am just too lazy to try and make any of the things I've thought of happen. So it would be cool to live vicariously through your imaginative ideas, since I probably won't get my act together to pull anything off. Let me know what you think!)

PS: Apologies for the site being down yesterday, I was trying to move my DNS to another host and it didn't work, and I forgot to change back the servers, and well, look, I'm not a web site genius, ok? Sorry.

Birthday Countdown and Birthday Remembered

Well, the countdown has begun! On June 12, I shall embark on a whole new decade. How exciting!

Still don't know what I'll be doing for the Big Day. Probably nothing, at this rate. I can never be bothered to plan anything. I was thinking that perhaps a bonfire at the beach would be a good option, but that involves inviting people, and setting a time and place to meet, and all sorts of other organizational necessities, and really, do I need that kind of stress when I am already turning 30?

But a bonfire would be fun. Hmmm.

I've never been one for big birthday parties. My 21st was cool, although it was a month after my birthday, and quite a surprise for that reason, among others. Other than that one, the only other birthday I recall with any sort of clarity (good grief, am I losing my memory already??) was a few years ago, I think it was my 27th. Er, 26th? Dang. Well, anyway. We had gone sailing the day before, my roommates and I, and I had gotten very sunburned. I hadn't put any sunscreen on, because "I don't burn...I tan."

Ha. After three hours under the blistering sun, sailing on the San Francisco Bay where not a lot of shade is in evidence, unless you want to hang out under the Golden Gate or Oakland Bay Bridge all day, I was burned. Badly. I put on sunscreen when I started to feel it, but of course by then it was too late. The next day I woke up with a raging headache, and feeling very ill. I also had trouble putting clothes on, specifically (can I say this on a family-friendly blog? I'm going to) my bra. Oh the pain of it! I wanted to die!

I called in sick to work, and lay on the couch all day, feeling utterly miserable. Here it was, my 26th (or 27th) birthday, and I wasn't going to have a good time, all because I couldn't be bothered to put on a little sunscreen. It was tragic.

My sister came home and she offered to cook a nice BBQ dinner out on the deck, so I went out there with her, and that was fine, but I still felt sad. Then my friend Steve called to wish me happy birthday, and that was good, but I felt bummed that we wouldn't all be hanging out to celebrate, which is what we would normally do. We were chatting on the phone when suddenly who should come out onto the deck but...Steve! And my other friend Mark! My sister had invited them without telling me, and seeing them was such a surprise! I was very pleased, and very touched. (Although I mean the latter in a metaphorical sense; I don't know that they actually touched me, because if they had I would have screamed first and disintegrated second, I'm sure of it. Just because I was happier didn't mean my sunburn had miraculously healed!)

I remember that birthday with the most fondness, I think. Because it started out so horrible, and turned out so very good.