Congrats, Goodbye & Good Luck!

A big congratulations to Laura & Ryan, who've survived their very last semester at CSULB and have finally earned their BS in Marine Biology, YAY! And for the rest of my Hawaii buddies-- JoAnn, Jen, and Chase--congrats on finishing up your finals and hang in there, you guys will finish soon enough! (Trust me, you don't want to rush into the real world too soon, lol) I'm excited for Laura that she's done and gets to move on with her life, but I'm also really bummed to be losing my happy hour & weekend buddy! Gone, are the days where I ride my pink cruiser over to her house to convince her to go to happy hour with me. Gone, are the nights I have to drag her off the club's stage on the Thursday 80s nights. Oh, they were fun times. I will definitely have to try to visit her in Australia when she's there for Grad School (BTW, Haley--Laura's planning on going to JCU for grad school. If I visit her, it will be so weird being on the campus again! And, I can't believe we were leaving this time 3 years ago!) So again, to Laura & Ryan, congrats and good luck in all that you do! And goodbye to Laura, who will be moving home Monday, I'll miss you!

Holiday Celebrations

I had the pleasure of enjoying the Holidays several times this past weekend. First was the Education Department's annual X-mas boat cruise (aka booze cruise) around the Long Beach Harbor. Next was the 4th day of Hanukkah party, thrown by my two self-proclaimed pseudo-jewish coworkers Nemesia and Alie (I couldn't bring myself to try the build-a-fish, oops, I mean Gifelte fish, but the latkes were excellent.) Then came the yummy X-mas dinner party at Micah and Wendy's place (which was followed by a fun game of cranium!) Check out some pics on my photos page--"My Photoblog" under the Links section, in the column on the right, for those of you who haven't noticed yet.

Hope everyone is doing well! For those of you finishing up finals, good luck! For those of you finishing up your Christmas shopping, good luck! Happy Holidays! Love, me.

Shark Deaths

One night a few weeks ago, three thirteen and fourteen-year-old boys snuck into the Aqurium I work at and killed a bamboo shark, a nurse shark, and a cownose ray, and injured a number of other sharks. It was very sad for everyone who works there, and for the guests that love our animals. Fortunately, the boys were caught and arrested and charged. I just wanted to share a moving essay written by a student the same age as the boys who committed the crime. Click on "Shark Essay" under my Links section to read it. This was just one of a few hundred essays that was submitted to the Aquarium.

Embrace Change

It’s interesting how each day, every moment that occurs, adds a new dimension to our lives. We never remain the same from moment to moment--we are ever changing—and become a slightly different person with each new feeling, new thought, new idea…we grow, and learn…

So, part of the beauty of life is to be able to savor each of these moments, when we discover we have become someone new. To be able to capture it, and gaze upon it, admire it, and then let it go, for another moment will follow shortly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving meals--stuffing and green bean casserole and pumpkin pie--mmm! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend eating, relaxing, and enjoying four days off! I will unfortunately be working today, tomorrow and the day after, so I better watch that turkey eating and avoid any tryptophan comas at work =P

Things I'm thankful for: family & friends, being a college graduate, having a semi-job while searching for a full-time position, my parents not making me move back home and them supporting me while I'm job searching, living by the beach in Southern California, new snow on the mountains...

How to be an Old Lady

So one of my friends calls me the other day and asks what I'm doing. "Knitting and watching Oprah," I say. He then laughs and makes fun of me. I later tell this story to another friend, and he laughs and tells me I've become "an old lady". This is disturbing. I took up knitting this past weekend because I wanted to learn how to do something new, and because I thought it would be cool if I made myself a scarf (the only things I like about Winter are going snowboarding and being able to wear my scarves. Otherwise, I'm a Spring & Summer girl, and have no use for cold, gloomy Winters.) And yes, I do watch Oprah every once in a while, if I'm bored and at home when it's on. By putting those two together, knitting and watching Oprah, I've apparantly just learned how to be "an old lady". How sad...Once again--I need a REAL job! =P

Simple Guidelines

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.
-mary anne radmacher

Travel Envy

My big sis, Kat, is currently spending the week surfing in Puerto Rico. Although I gave up on the whole surfing thing, I'm still jealous because it's her SECOND time going there this year alone. Who gets to go to Puerto Rico TWICE in one year? Plus, she spent a week snowboarding in Tahoe at the begining of the year, and even managed to squeeze in a trip to California for my graduation back in May. Not that I'm counting or anything, but it seems like she's been a traveling fool lately. I was sitting here, a bit envious, and complaining about how I want to travel also. Then, I actually thought about my travels this year--10 days in Hawaii, 6 weeks in Europe, a week in Texas--and realized I have nothing to complain about. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side, and although you don't realize sometimes, it really isn't! Haha--hope you're having fun Kat!

Sunny Day on a Snowy Mountain

After voting yesterday morning, I skipped out on a second interview I was supposed to go on at an environmental laboratory (I know, you're wondering why in the world I would do such a thing), and spent the day snowboarding with my friend, Meghan, at our local ski resort. The snow wasn't that great, but it's wonderful there's actually snow in Southern California so early in the season, and it was nice that no one was around, being a weekday and all. This was my first time back in a couple of years, and I'm still not that good, but it was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful sunny day up there, and after forgetting our sunscreen, Meghan and I now have nice racoon eyes. Since I've been complaining about being bored, I think I might try to go boarding more often this winter (although my money stituation is a bit of an issue, but we'll ignore that fact). Hey, if I do keep it up though, I might actually get better! (LOL, I can hear Nick and Eric laughing at me right now--well, you guys just wait and see, I'll prove myself...) So, if any of you want to go boarding, call me up!

P.S. You must think that my second interview at the lab was a great opportunity, and that I'm crazy for skipping out on it, especially since I've been complaining nonstop about how I need a job. BUT, 1. Who wouldn't rather go snowboarding than to an interview? and, 2. I didn't like the Lab Director when I met him the first time around, and my conversation with him about the second interview didn't go any better. I just got an overall creepy vibe from him and he seemed very unprofessional, so that's the real reason why I made the decision not to pursue the opportunity.

Election Day 2004

Hope you're all voting today!

King's Pride

Sailing Trip
Originally uploaded by ressac.

Just testing this photoblogging thing. Here's a group photo of a sailing trip with my friends on Jen & Family's boat, King's Pride, last Saturday. Happy Birthday Jen!

An Explanation

I'm bored. Yes, friends, it's true--this *being semi-unemployed* and *no-more-studying-or-school* thing isn't so fun after a while. Sure, I was relieved and overjoyed that I graduated. I also had an amazing time on my graduation trip, traveling through Europe for six weeks. And at first, it was kind of fun being back home and having nothing to do but search for a job, while all my other friends were working 40-hour weeks or cramming for those three exams they had coming up. But now, (gasp!) I'm bored. One can only job-search, go out, volunteer, read, watch tv, go to happy hour, drink, and hang out so much. After a while, one just needs something MORE. This is why I desperately need a job! (Aside from the fact that my bank account is severely suffering...)
In the mean time, while still waiting for that wonderful job to come along, I will just have to amuse myself in other ways. So this site is a manifestation of my boredom. Enjoy =P