The Gurly Life

The Second Amendment -- a Pictorial Representation

Um ... wait ...

Like, TWELVE THINGS!

I FINALLY am out from under my big case. Well, the worst is more or less over, the result was what we wanted, we're still not home free yet, but things look good. That's all you get. Sorry. No work stuff.

So, here are a bunch of news items that have piled up, more or less in reverse chronological order.

I have bronchitis. Well, not full-blown bronchitis, but the beginning stages. After a week of coughing I decided to go see the doctor, who initially was going to tell me to just go home and stop whining (bless him, I kinda dig him). So, antibiotics. I know, I know, not the best thing for me overall, but I am travelling this Saturday, and I don't want to land in London with bronchitis. Besides, I want to enjoy my business class ticket across the pond (miles! hello!), not cough helplessly the entire time and arrive a total wreck.

These grew in one of my plants. I don't know if they're edible, but we didn't try them. I figured I don't need to be sick and have mushroom poisoning, too. On the other hand, maybe they are a different kinda shroom, if you catch my drift. Bolbous, no?

I have lost 6lbs. It's been confirmed. I went shopping with Ivy a couple of weeks ago and had very obviously dropped a pant size. Apparently the weight reflects it. I would blame the coughing (it takes a lot of energy) but the weight was gone before the cold, so that can't be it. I still weigh a rather astonishing 139lbs at 5'4", which seems a bit rude, almost. And no, I didn't diet or really do much. Before you get all jealous, remember that the more weight I lose, the saggier my boobs get. Because the universe cannot abide a thin, perky Elena - with all my other amazing attributes, this would be too much. Tears in the space-time continuum and all that.

I got my hair shorn for summer. The pic is truly hideous, but whatever, it's a self-portrait with my crappy cell phone camera, taken between crazy coughing fits, I'm just happy I don't have snot running down my face.

I didn't intend for it to be this short, but the hair stylist and I got into an animated (and outraged) discussion about politics and I think we both just got a little overexcited. No matter, it grows back. Anyway, I like it, it's cute and sasseh!

I caught this in a diner parking lot. It had English plates.

We went to the La Brea Tar Pits. For Kirke's birthday we had lunch and went to the Tar Pits. We didn't fall in, so it was a good day. Here we are with the fat head bear or some such extinct animal that fell into the tar pits.

It was not easy to stay up on there, it was very slippery, so I had to hang on.

Dangers of working from home.

There. Now you're all caught up.

Don't bother me. I'm shopping.

[Ivy's version of events is threaded through this post in italics]

SHOPPING! SHOPPING! SHOPPING! / OH, ELENA!

Every now and again, I need new clothes. This past year I have not bought too many, especially suits, because I have spent a good chunk of my discretionary income on photo stuff. But, since I can't wear my camera, fig-leaf style, to court -- trust me; I asked -- I decided it was time for a shop. As usual, and to avoid sizing mistakes (i.e., buying clothes 2 sizes too big), I consulted with my shopping consultant friend, Ivy the Monkey Goddess.

The thing is, I am not a shopper. By that I mean that I don't like to browse, not much at all. I like to know what I'm looking for, where to go to get it, and then get it. I don't mind spending some time checking out the various options, like trying on clothes, but an aimless, timeless shopping affair is not my thing. I get a little crazy and claustrophobic at the mere thought.

Ivy, on the other hand, loves to shop. She likes to browse, find good deals, check out sales, and so on. And now that we've been shopping together for years -- or rather, she has helped me shop for years; I don't return the favor, because I'm a bad friend -- she also knows what works for me (NO RUFFLES! I just look like a gay pirate, not that there's anything wrong with that) and can help me sort through the racks and racks of clothes that just confuse and frustrate me.

Specifically, when we arrive at the chosen store, she makes a beeline for the sales rack and whatever other rack is relevant to our purposes with me in tow in a zombie-like state of submission, and pulls stuff out and hands it to me. She remembers my sizes, for heaven's sake! When we have a sufficient number of items for me to try on, we retire to the fitting rooms, where I try everything on, and she pretends not to have to stare at my butt under those awful changing room lights.

Friday was the day for it. The office closed early, so we took off and first had a late lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I had some kind of steak, Ivy had Shepard's pie. The remains of the pie came home with me.

With full stomachs and high spirits, off we went across the parking lot to the mall. On this trip we were again successful in findind me clothes, which made Ivy quite happy and me not suicidal from shopping stress. I got some excellent work clothes at Ann Taylor, and a prezy for my friend Dee (squeak!). A good time was had by all. I am also pleased to report that my pant size has gone down. The sizing used to be 6P for the jackets, and 8 for the pants. Now it's 6P for the jacket, and 6 for the pants. Yay. Oh and everything at Ann Taylor was 40% off, so DOUBLE SCORE!

Elena and I make a funny pair of friends because we're so different.  I LOVE SHOPPING.  ELENA HATES SHOPPING.  So, I've happily become her shopping guide when, every once in a great while, when she absolutely can't help it anymore, she tells me she needs clothes.  About a month and a half later (after more stalling), we head to the mall.  Today was one of those days, and it worked out great because we got out of work early and ate before shopping, so Elena was less tired/frazzled/hungry/fearful.

What I do is lead her around the mall, heap clothes upon her to try on, and provide critical-yet-supportive commentary.  What Elena does is try to make it as loud and embarrassing as possible.  That's another difference between us.  She laughs her way through life being unabashedly in your face.  I laugh through life too, through various stages of mortification.

The shopping started off with a little rough patch, because Elena's sizes were largely sold out, causing a silent, growing CRANKINESS within.  However, a wiser voice within told me DON'T STRESS OUT ELENA.  MAKE THIS FUN.  REMEMBER TO SMILE! Then, a pair of really nice suiting pants fit Elena like a dream, and the shopping sun came out, basking us in the glow of great fitting style and 40% off!  We were on a roll after that.

But that's not all.

Once the main shopping was done, we were now free to be weird. It all began with Ivy's feet. We had been walking around a bit, or at least standing around, and she noticed that her feet looked particularly red on the bottom. To wit:

This, and the following pics, are all cell phone photos. Remember, we're not going for quality here. The picture above was taken in the dressing room at Talbot's, where I tried on a bold red blazer that will look faboo with my new grey pants, and which was on sale for 50% off. I had on a top that did not work with the blazer at all, so I just whipped it off to try the blazer on over my bra (ooh, I said 'bra'!). This cracked up Ivy and the sales lady, who was either very amused or very embarrassed. The top was a very casual cotton top from GAP, and I didn't feel it was necessary to turn it the right way to put it back on, so backwards it went. Just to prove it:

Yes, I'm a savage. What!?

I point out that the sign to my right says "More Sales More Profits" and it is next to an empty kiosk. Yes, Captain Obvious, if I was selling things at this kiosk, I would be making more profits. Pfft.

Of course, the shopping excursion did not end without taking photos of cracked out window displays and wimpy shopping feet (mine; they just have to suck it up), and Elena completely taking off her top to try on a blazer in front of the sales lady (I specifically told her to remove ONE layer) and then putting it back on inside out and wearing it like that the rest of the time.  I smiled and sighed.  Elena proudly proclaimed that she was redefining sexy.

We walked around to a few other stores, and passed by some creepy window displays. For example, the headless mannequins. It was the hat that turned my head, as it were.

Some might not agree, and perhaps even call me a fashion nazi, but I find that when headless, a hat just draws attention to that defect. It's as if you painted your large nose orange - why draw the eye to the appendage unnecessarily, when you can accentuate other, more flattering assets?

On the opposite spectrum of creepiness are the bodiless yet surprisingly mirthful heads.

Speaking of creepy window displays, this one from Ivy from an earlier shopping trip:

Apparently, this is an English clothing store. The "child" babushka thingy on the end rotates, and, I must point out, is naked. At first, I thought this was a man, a woman, and a child -- a family. On closer inspection, it appears they are a large man, a medium man, and a happy naked adolescent. Either that or the woman has a wicked mustache. The middle guy looks he's plotting an evil plot. I withhold further comment, except to suggest that window display designers not be high while doing their work.

At last, we got tired and it was time to go home. We had to walk through Sears to get to the parking lot. We started through, when a couple of Land's End easy chairs beckoned enticingly, and we decided we needed a breather.

Here's Ivy, splendid and languid. In the foreground, you can just see some shoes and a striped bag, which we took down from some display areas to play with. No one sent us away, which was lovely of them.

I have no shoes on because I took them off to try on the Land's End shoes while I sat there. Plus it would have been rude to put my shoes on the chair. Did I mention that the Sears people were lovely for not shooing us off?

At last we rested enough to make it the additional 50 yards (if that) to the car, where I made Ivy sniff this delicious bear's butt:

It's a little bear, about 4" high, gifty by Dee, and it's a floral smelling bear that usually hangs in the car and whose butt I stick into every passenger's nose and say, "Smell this bear's butt!" It smells great, I promise.

Thus ended our shopping spree. There was food, clothes, mirth, creepiness, silliness, a sweet/tart lemonade that gave us a stomach ache, and best of all, time hanging out with my friend Ivy.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the squeaky gift for Dee, here's a very quick video. [Linky here if the video does not play for you.]

Don't you wish we had gotten you a present?

Sunday in Seattle

[See two previous posts for Saturday and Firday] Go to the Seattle 2010 Flickr set for all the photos.

On Sunday, we rested. Well, not exactly rested, but we certainly did not walk for eight hours straight. Before anything else, we had breakfast. Thankfully, Deirdre and John and I are of one mind here. None of this, oh let’s hang out for 3 or 4 hours before we eat bullshit. I mean, that’s just asking for trouble. I could probably stand not to eat all day, but not if I don’t have breakfast. My blood sugar drops and then the shit hits the fan. No, the shit buries the fan and then spills out into the hallway and swallows up your children and the older folk. Like that.

In my defense, I do warn people about this, even though generally they don’t really take me too seriously because of my tendency to overdramatize a bit, so when I tell them that it’s their choice, I either eat breakfast or I eat them (and not in a good way), people don’t always fully hear it. And then pretty soon I’m screaming and being a total bitch and gnawing at them and in my head I’m all, that’s it, we are no longer friends, asshole. The point here being that this was not an issue with Deirdre and John because we literally got up, got ready and sprinted out the door to get food. Bless their hearts.

Sunday morning breakfast was in the Queen Anne districtneighborhoodarea. It’s one of the older parts of town, and there are lots of lovely houses with incredible views of the Sound, none of which are in my (or probably your) price range. It’s a little far away from things, they tell me, but you have to understand that “far away from things” in Seattle is a little like saying Beverly Hills is a little far away from things in Santa Monica. For LA people, San Bernardino is a little far away from things. I guess it’s all a matter or perspective.

Full of eggs and hash browns, we returned home. John again went off to do his own thing, and Deirdre and I took the Ice Cream Sunday boat tour of Union Lake, which is just down the street from where they live. The Ice Cream boat basically takes you up and down the lake so you can see all the floating houses, which to this day float on logs that were stolen in the 1800’s. I am not familiar with Washington laws, but I think the statute of limitations may have run on that one. It was a cloudy chilly morning, so we were the only passengers on the boat. Pretty soon the captain gave up on the whole PA thing and just told us the history and pointed out watermarks (you know, landmarks but on the water) such as Warren Buffett’s yacht (allegedly) and the house from Sleepless in Seattle. You get a pretty good view of downtown Seattle from the lake.

And since I know you are dying to see the Sleepless in Seattle house, here it is.

If you want to see Buffett’s yacht, you’ll just have to visit my photo set on Flickr. If the yacht is indeed Mr. Buffett’s, I give him props for not being as ostentatious as he could be. I mean, yes, it’s an enormous fucking yacht (sorry, Mr. Buffett, sir, but it is!), and allegedly, he spent FOUR MILLION DOLLARS redecorating the interior, but let’s face it the man has so much money that he could own a cruise liner and still have enough left over to buy the country. Of course, it’s very possible that he owns a much bigger yacht that he uses for ocean cruising, and this is just his lake boat, but I prefer to think he is an understated rich guy.

In case you were wondering, we did not have ice cream on the boat, although it was offered, along with tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. The interior of the boat is decorated with fun little tables and stools, including this one. Bear had no idea …

After the boat cruise, we hopped on the SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley – I kid you not) and went downtown. If I may take a moment here, my theory is that whoever put the trolley together knew perfectly well that the acronym would be SLUT and just went ahead with it thinking that at some point someone would stop him/her (probably him), and no one ever did. Either other people thought it was funny and just didn’t say anything, or they didn’t notice, or didn’t give a damn either way, but the fact remains that you can buy a “I rode the SLUT” t-shirts all over town. Yes, sometimes I have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy. As does the City of Seattle. Deirdre tells me “they” have started calling it the Seattle Streetcar instead, but good luck with that. Incidentally, the SLUT is funded by local businesses rather than the city.

Meanwhile, back at the Pike Place Market, I had an errand to run: pick up a couple of belts for Francesca. There is a stall at the Market that sells leather belts. You choose the belt, they size it for you, punch holes in it and either add a simple buckle or a fancy buckle, or they will add a buckle you bring. While I was there, I got 3 belts for myself, too. I like simple leather belts and they are not as easy to find as you might imagine. I also picked up a small leather backpack that will be very useful on my travels – I can fit my camera, wallet, phone and sunglasses in there. Not that I travel a whole bunch, but you know what I mean.

Speaking of shopping! On Saturday, Deirdre and I swung through Nordstrom’s and I discovered Butter London. They make nail products, including some awesome nail lacquers. I bought two and gave one to Deirdre as a gifty. I have fabulous red finger and toe nails as I type this.

Since we had done so little by 3pm we decided to take the bull by the horns and call it a day. We went home, and soon it was time to watch the Redskins vs Cowboys game on tv, and the Redskins won. This was a good thing. Apparently they have a new coach and a new quarterback so this season they are a wild card. And that’s about as much as I know about it.

Speaking of football, I have a theory: hot guys go to football games. It’s a made-up theory based on very little empirical evidence, but on the way to Seattle I was surrounded by hot guys going to a game, and on my way back – also surrounded by hot guys who went to the game. Now, I’m talking over a dozen hunks scattered all around me, and they’re the ones I can see from my seat. A group of them behind me was doing a crossword puzzle – how cute is that? Hunky guys doing the crossword puzzle. Mmmh. Me likey. Though it is possible that the guys on the plane on the way back were a team of some sort themselves. Anywayyy… the football game on tv was a good opportunity to relax, eat dinner at home, and do our nails (me and Deirdre, not John). And of course, to take one last picture.

G'NITE SEATTLE! WE LOVE YOU!

Saturday in Seattle

Will probably be what kicks my hip over the edge, not in a good way, but there's always Advil and there's always tomorrow.

I'm going to come right out and say it: I love taking pictures of flowers. Ok, ok, so I love taking pictures of anything and anyone at any time, but flowers just fascinate me. The colors, the textures, the symmetry (or lack thereof), the perfection that so quickly turns to delicate seediness. What's not to love?

If you have ever been to the Pike Place Market in Seattle, and if you've ever taken a photograph of anything in your life, you can see where this is going.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Saturday started off cool and cloudy and progressed to a beautiful warm day. Deirdre, John and I began the day with a hearty breakfast at the Coastal Kitchen in Capitol Hill. The notable thing about this place is its potty humor (check out the link). It's recorded humorous tapes that run continuously in the bathroom. When I went for a pee, I was treated to a Greek lesson. A recorded voice would say something in Greek, and then the translation would go something like this: "Apollo was the Greek god of light, but he, like, got kicked out of a grunge band in Seattle, so now it's like totally dark here all the time." That was like totally great because I found myself cackling loudly while peeing, which was a first for me.

After that, John went off to do important manly things leaving us to our girlie devices. Deirdre and I meandered through the neighborhood and then into another neighborhood where we stopped for a cupcake (Deirdre) and tea (me, and Deirdre had some) at Cupcake Royale. We decided that the name of the shop is a reference to the movie Pulp Fiction because they did have a Royale With Cheese cupcake. They also had some cool art on the wall.

Refreshed, we moseyed down the hill through the downtown area where we finally saw some people - the city was so deserted before then that I thought perhaps the rapture had happened during the night and all that was left was, well, us. While to some this might seem a tragic turn of events, I'm a glass half full kinda gal: less trafic, more cupcakes.

Then it was time for downtown and finally the market. As I mentioned, there were FLOWERS at the market, and I think it took maybe a half hour or so for us to get past them because I had to photograph them all. Every single one.

We left when we got to the fish throwing area, I am not very interested in photographing dead fish, no matter how fresh, and the fact that it was being thrown about did not make it more appealing.

We stopped at a fountain to take a breather,

where some sparrows decided to take a little bath.

After a pit stop at a shoe store, we rejoined John and went to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Some of the art was cool, some was just weird, and some was indistinguishable from not art - I had to figure out if I could sit on a stone bench or not: the plastic chair next to it was apparently art and there are signs asking people not to touch the art as it might ruin it. Which is funny because most of it is giant rocks or big steel structures. I guess by "touch" they mean "take to the art with a sledgehammer."

There were all kinds of sculptures, though I think my favorite by far is this, even though I don't think it's technically part of the exhibits:

I mean, COME ON! How cool is that? Comic book fans? Anyone?

What was even cooler was an ugly industrialized buidling just beyond the park that was actually in the third Twilight film. Note to self: see movie again.

The weather really cleared, and this was our view as we walked back towards our car.

 

By the time we were done with the park, my poor hip was screaming at me. I am satisfied however, since really we had walked all day. On our way to dinner, we stopped briefly to say hello to the troll that lives under the freeway.

And then we had a delicious raw food dinner. Apparently at the restaurant where we went were a bunch of raw food celebs. I didn't know them from Adam, but Deirdre recognized them. ... So this is the kind of celebrity sighting one gets in Seattle. Eh-hem.

Thankfully, I can control the weather, so the day ended quite beautiful.

If you'd like to see all the pictures, including lots of amazing flower photos, please visit the Seattle 2010 set on Flickr.

A weekend up north

You might have asked yourselves, where in the world is Elena? Or maybe you had not a clue that I was out of town and didn’t blog for a couple of days. Either way, I was out of town this weekend.

I spent the weekend in Kensington, which is next to Berkeley, in No Cal. Yes, Berkeley, where extreme leftwing liberals go to die. This brings to mind this priceless report by Rob Riggle:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Marines in Berkeley
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Anyway. I went up to visit my friends Mari and Jeff. Mari is a law school trenches buddy. After we graduated and took the bar, Mari and Jeff moved to NYC for his MBA, and then they moved back to No Cal (they both went to Berkeley undergrad).

On Friday we started out by going to 4th Street in Berkeley. There are lots of cool little shops, including some evil food shops that sell delicious things like Camambert de Nancy (Liza will remember our hostel adventures in Nancy, which included copious quantities of Malibu rum, but perhaps not so much cheese). This particular Camambert, besides being delicious because it’s Camambert, also happens to have a kick to it. Spicy is not the word. Kick is the word.

Mari came to the airport to pick me up with her youngest, Emmett. Emmett is 5 months old and is the Zen Master. You have never seen a happier, quieter kid. Well, he’s not totally quiet, he vocalizes a lot, but he’s just cool. And ALL CHEEKS.

 

Some folks carry their weight in their butts and thighs, some in their gut, and some in their cheeks.

The other kid, Theo, who’s about a year and a half old, is a blond chimpanzee. He’s lots of fun but he never stops. I think that if he makes it to 25 Mari and Jeff can say they have performed a miracle. Apparently his first word was No. There you have it.

 

Here’s the whole family together.

 

Although we must not forget the best dog in the world, Chiqui.

 

Chiqui was a puppy in Costa Rica when Mari found her. She took her in, and tried to find her a local home, without success, so she returned to the US with puppy in tow. She was my good morning these couple of days: as soon as she saw me stir in the morning, she came over to give my face a good licking. She also licked my camera and my computer, for good measure.

Friday we mostly hung out and got caught up, between baby feedings and actively ensuring Theo’s continued survival. Once Jeff came home, we went to the dog/kid park, but otherwise it was a chill day. I took a nap with the dog at one point in the afternoon.

At this point I want to take a moment to pat myself on the back. At several times during the weekend, I was entrusted with watching one or the other of the kids, and neither of them suffered injuries, near death experiences, choking, vomiting, eating poisonous or sharp things, I didn’t drop them, not even once, and they didn’t once end up in my arms and then start crying at the top of their lungs – that’s always a soul-affirming experience, isn’t it, when the innocent take one look at you and then burst into sobs and screams?

On Saturday morning, we went to see the ducks and then walked around the Berkeley campus a little. In truth, Mari and I have been looking for a particular set of wooden alphabet blocks for a certain baby whose birthday party is this coming weekend. We had no luck, but I am now in charge of finding the things.

Here’s one of the ducks. There were geese, too, and one white dooce: the thing looks like a little bit of duck, a little bit of goose, and white. Way to keep a low profile, dude!

 

Berkeley is a beautiful campus, as I’m sure anyone who’s been there will agree. I have to say though, things sure are different from when I went to college. I stopped off at a coffee shop to get something to drink, and they did not have regular coffee, they only had espresso. In light of the fact that no one in the US actually makes decent espresso, I would say that it is kinda pretentious to not even offer regular coffee. But whatever. I think when I asked about regular coffee, the barista thought I must be some white trash out-of-towner.

We stopped off at the Berkeley Museum, and I took this photo before being told I couldn’t take photos.

I also got a bunch of photos of the wildlife (plants) on the Berkeley campus, including shots of trees for my mom, who loves trees. But what y’all want to see, I think, is Bear on the Cal campus. I will keep you waiting no longer.

 

Here are a couple of plant life shots.

And here’s Theo practicing his stairs.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Golden Gate Bridge. I have been to the Bay Area a couple of times in the past, but only in passing and I did not get a chance to see the bridge. I’m really glad we got a chance to go because it is spectacular. We had amazing weather this weekend, with temperatures reaching 90F – this means little or no fog, which is a constant in the SF area. Here are a few shots of the bridge.

 

 

Then Mari and I had dinner at Cheesecake Factory, a favorite of ours, where our sever, Dash, apologized for the delay and for making us wait. I hadn't really noticed the delay, but I certainly was entertained by someone named Dash making anyone wait.

And that was it. This morning I came back to LA, but not before stopping by Nabolom Bakery in Berkeley for a gluten free brownie. But if you want more, here's the Flick photo stream.

Welcome to Oahu!

As most of you know, I'm in Hawaii. I left today. This post is not going to make much sense, by the way, because I had to get up at 4:30 and I couldn't get to sleep last night because my back hurt, yadda yadda yadda. In short, I'm zonked.

Something odd happened this morning, too, I had a mini-anxiety attack about being gone for almost 2 weeks - I was all, oh my god I'll come back and my job will be gone. And then I got all angtsy about going on vacation alone: I'm really excited to be here, and so ready to relax and enjoy the sun, I can't even tell you. But I'm also deeply saddened that I don't have anyone with me, and I'm not talking about a guy, I mean friends or family.  I think I made it mean something about my future. Oh well.

I made it through the security checkpoint at the airport with only one weird incident: the TSA guy asked me if I had shades in my bag. I was all, well duh of course I have shades what kind of a weird question is that. All the while I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out what security threat cheap Target sunglasses can possibly pose: do people melt them down to shivs, and then use those as weapons to hijack planes?? That seems quite extreme. But who am I to question the TSA guy? The last thing I want is to get into an argument about my sunglasses. Missing my vacation is not worth the sunglasses, I can buy another cheap pair when I get there, I'm thinking.

The TSA guy loudly yells "Bag check!", allegedly because of my shades. Finally someone comes by, looks at the bag under the machine, confers with machine guy, and then walks over to me and asks, "So you have cheese in your bag?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

All was revealed. I had with me a loaf of rice bread, which I stuffed in my handluggage. We all had a very good laugh over that one.

I made it to the place where I'm staying without further incident, though Enterprise had a special on convertibles, where for an extra $6 I could upgrade to one. And by an extra $6 I don't mean per day, I mean, an extra $6. So I went for it. I guess it makes sense to have a convertible in Hawaii. There's a road through the tropical rain forest here that they recommend driving with the top down, so I'll do that. I was offered the option to have a GPS doodah in the car, but given that the last time I tried it, it gave me an anxiety attack, I decided to be adventurous and go without. For heaven's sake it's an island, and not a very big one at that.

Here's Bear, checking out the view:

I really didn't do much today other than get some lunch and then saunter over the the Mai Tai Bar and have a giant strawberry daiquiri. I'm debating whether to go out for something to eat for dinner, or order in. While I was having lunch, I played around with my camera. Here's the picture I took: it took me about 2 dozen tries to get just enough movement to show that the fan was moving, but not so much that some the detail was lost.

Tomorrow: Kailua Beach, the road through the jungle, and then I don't know what else. I've started a photo album on Flickr, which you can see here. But there's really not much going on there so far.

Tiny Bears in a tiny jar

Tiny Bears in a tiny jar, originally uploaded by The Gerli Life.

You remember the tiny bears, right? Well, they've been hibernating for the winter, apparently, but spring has almost sprung, and it's time for them to return to the limelight.

What better way to make a comeback than inside a jar with a diameter of about an inch? Check out the entire Bear set here.