Who needs a Semper Augustus?

Tulips have always been my favorite flower, but lately I've been really into finding beautiful photos of them. I think the photo below is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could find even a nice fake bouquet for my desk but there seems to be a lack of popularity of the flower here in the desert... must be that whole "lack of water" thing... details, details...


I'll add more as I find them. Some of the colors are stunning!

Leave It Be...

"The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet."
-Cyril Connolly

"Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title."
-Virginia Woolf

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future."
-Paul Boese

"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."
-Napoleon

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."
-Buddha

"Their time past, pulled down cracked and flung to the fire go up in a roar All recognition lost, burnt clean clean in the flame, the green dispersed, a living red, flame red, red as blood wakes on the ash-- William Carlos Williams, Burning the Christmas Greens, lines 1-6

"And, oh, how blessed is it thus to meet! To feel that vanished years have not estranged us, distance has not diminished love, that we are to each other even as we parted; to feel again the fond kiss, to hear once more the accents of a voice which to us has been for years so still,--a voice that brings with it the gush of memory! Past days flit before us; feelings, thoughts, hopes, we deemed were dead, all rise again, summoned by that secret witchery, the well-remembered though long silent voice. Let years, long, lingering, saddening years drag on their chain, let youth have given place to manhood, manhood to age, still will it be the same--the voice we once have loved, and deemed to us for ever still--oh, time, and grief, and blighted hope will be forgotten, and youth, in its undimmed and joyous beauty, its glow of generous feelings, its bright anticipations, all, all again be ours."
-Grace Aguilar, 1859

Amanda's Bridal Shower

The pretty (and quite tasty) cake


The bride with her bridesmaids


So cute!


Me and Mandalyn aka Bridezilla (jk Manda love you!)


Hey if the groom gets to do it at the wedding, the best friend gets to do it at the bridal shower!


Guess which bridesmaid bought her the cuffs?


I think Amanda needs a bigger glass of wine...

Fail Harder

Wieden + Kennedy 12, an experimental advertising school run by Portland ad agency W+K, is responsible for buying out all available clear push pins on the west coast of the US. Over 100,000 thumbtacks were used over 351 hours to create a wall mural that spells out Fail Harder, a message that underlines the importance of failure during the creative process. Is it art? Not necessarily, but the message is a valuable one. Plus, the mural is modern, contemporary and shows off a great medium.

Can't wait til July 21!

Pirates

Sooo good... but I must warn you... sooo LONG...

Casey's Lion Cut

She just looks thrilled, doesn't she? She actually doesn't mind it and I know she's much cooler in these 100+ degree temperatures!
See, Mom? She wasn't fat -- she was fluffy!

Jay Leno

Taking my aunt and uncle to see him tonight!

Wedding Season

Ok, no one else is allowed to get married this year! Let me back up though, before I begin...

This week has been about reunions. I've gotten back in touch with one of my best friends from high school, Kari, who was spending the week an hour away in Laughlin and is coming to stay with me tonight. I have not seen her in almost 5 years so I can't wait.

Kari and I got to talking about our old friends, and revealed to me that Tim and Erin are getting married in November in Hawaii! Odd that Kari does not talk to either of them and she knows this, yet I am very good friends with Tim and had no clue! So of course I called him on it -- he sputtered his disbelief and swore he had mentioned it on my birthday (something I think I would remember!) before apologizing that he hadn't told me. I'm very happy for them and wish them the best. I might take them to dinner next weekend when I come home.

So for just this year that makes -- Amanda, Erin, Tim, Josh, and Christy! I think we've reached our quota for the year, people.

Progress!

I have funally unpacked my last box of clothes! This is a good thing, except one of my favorite pieces of clothing and a pair of my favorite shoes are still missing. I hope I didn't send a wrong box with my mom to goodwill...

Our sofa and armoire got delivered yesterday, that's the last of the furniture until we buy a table to replace the old one.

Things I love about this house:

1. When pulling into the garage, I do not have to decide whether it's me or my passenger who, when getting out, gets to hold their breath and squeeze between the door and the wall.

2. I do not have to spend all my time in my room -- there are other places in the house for me to keep tv's and computers!

3. My shoes and purses have their own closet. I am not proud of this.

4. Two words: water pressure.

5. There is enough counter space in the bathroom for me to get ready on one side, and for my cat to... well, see below..

Then again, I guess she liked the bathrooms in the old house too...

She's a unique one, I know.

Not a good race at Daytona this weekend -- both Jeff and Jimmie crasehd during the closing laps!

Now that it's July, the craziness really starts... Kara's birthday/family reunion is next weekend, then I'm driving to California for Amanda's bridal shower, and then two weeks later I'm flying out there again for her bachelorette party in San Diego... this month is going to fly by! I can't believe it's only 4 months til her wedding!

JDM

Under The Iron Sea

So very good. And what a gorgeous album cover!

Aaron Chang

I...

Left the gym about an hour ago. Got about halfway down Pebble Road when I realized I was headed to the wrong house.

Hadn't been to the gym in a while with the move going on, so it felt really good this time.

Am in love with the new house. Never thought I'd love it this much. The old house closes on Friday, and it's nearly empty except for a few pieces I'm selling.

Didn't get the promotion I'd hoped for. From what my boss says I was the top candidate until her last interview. The guy that was hired held the exact same job at a former MGM MIRAGE property. That's a little hard to compete with.

Rented Pride & Prejudice tonight... how did it take me so long to see this Jane Austen adaptation? She's my favorite!

JDM

Timeout

I've moved in, but there's still a lot of unpacking and arranging to do. Not a lot of time for my blog, I will be posting pictures soon, but please enjoy these in the meantime... (click on a comic to enlarge it)

Dumbass.

Busch knows he must keep emotions in check
Another tantrum like the one at Lowe's could result in suspension
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
June 2, 2006
06:00 PM EDT (22:00 GMT)

DOVER, Del. -- Kyle Busch is a changed man.

NASCAR made sure of it.

Busch said the threat of suspension the next time he loses his temper as he did after crashing out of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 makes it necessary for him to change the way he handles adversity.

The 21-year-old Busch was fined $50,000, docked 25 driver points and placed on probation for the rest of the season after tossing his HANS device at Casey Mears' car, which spun out in front of him to cause the accident.

"There won't be a next time, because I know what the consequences are going to be,'' Busch said before Friday's qualifying at Dover International Speedway. "You just have to basically go the Carl Edwards route: 'Oh, gosh darn. We wrecked. We're just going to have come back and get 'em next week.'

"You're going to lose a fiery side, but basically that's what this sport has to endure right now.''

That doesn't mean Busch will sacrifice his aggressive attitude on the track.

"The probation has to do with the off-the-track stuff,'' he said. "It doesn't have anything to do with on-track.''

Busch admitted his reaction at LMS had more to do with his history with Mears, who has been critical of Busch's aggressive driving since the opener at Daytona, than the accident.

"There's been some areas there where he's had words but he hasn't had words with me,'' Busch said.

The two also were involved in a crash at Phoenix that Mears said was Busch's fault. Afterward, Busch drove his car into Mears' under a red-flag situation to earn a five-lap penalty and trip to the NASCAR hauler.

Busch acknowledged he let his temper get the better of him at LMS, that the situation could have been avoided had he been able to drive the car to the garage, gone to his hauler and "probably torn up the lounge.''

"I was so worked up driving on my way home about the incident and what I had done, and then the day after you start worrying about what's going to happen,'' he said.

"At the time I'm thinking this isn't a very good idea, but I'll react later. I need to start switching my mind back and say the reaction is not going to be very good, so let's do something a little different.''

Busch has fallen from fifth and only 101 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson after six races to 10th and 449 points behind Johnson after 12. He is only 38 points ahead of 11th-place Mears, which has gotten his attention as much as NASCAR.

"I'm more concerned with missing the Chase by 25 points right now,'' Busch said. "We've got some ground to make up.''

10 Days...

T-minus 10 days til the move. I sign my set of title papers tomorrow morning! I went by the house on Sunday afternoon -- the fence was down, the sidewalk was gone, and all of the furniture had been removed. It was the first time I had ever seen the house empty.

J.J.

Another Saturday Night

There was a time, not long ago, that I felt such immense pressure to find something to do on Friday and especially Saturday nights. It was a wasted evening if I wasn't at dinner or a movie or a bar or (God forbid it came to this) a club with my friends. And if I didn't have anything planned for the weekend, I drove home to California and found something to do there!

Now, Friday and Saturday nights have quite the opposite effect on me. I don't want to do ANYTHING. Tonight, for example, I was invited to MIX with a friend of mine. I've never been there, it's supposed to be nice, and yet, it had no appeal to me at all. I fondly wished my friend a fabulous time without me. And the last time I saw Cherry Hill, all I could think of was how I missed Murphy's Pub because you could pull up a table and chat with friends while watching the band instead of being crammed like sardines into a standing-room only bar.

I thought it might be my age -- but no, there are plenty of 27 yr olds who still love the nightlife scene, especially here in Vegas. Then again, it never had the same fun element to me because I don't drink. I couldn't just turn on the insta-party with a few shots; I was usually the designated driver and always the babysitter. Which I didn't mind, don't get me wrong -- if I'm not going to drink then at least I could make sure my friends were safe. But maybe because of it, the novelty of nights out like that just wore off faster.

I don't miss getting in at 4 a.m., or the smoke in my hair and on my pillow, or walking a mile from the parking garage to the far side of the MGM Grand in high heels and a mini-skirt in December. I do miss dancing with Amanda, and going to see the band with all of my ticket office people, and deciding to drive home for Easter from the bar at 3:30 a.m., and having to take drunk Amanda to the Del Taco drive-thru at 3 a.m. for her standard order of tacos & french fries. But do I want to re-live it all? No.

It's Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas. And there is no place like home. JDM

Goings-on...

My moving date has just been moved up nearly three weeks. Just when we thought the house wouldn't be ready by June 30, they call and tell us they're ready to be paid June 12! The jackass doesn't want to close early because "he already offered that and we refused" -- true, on the grounds that we didn't want to rent our own home back from him at $100 dollars a day (idiot!) -- so he's not interested. I knew this guy was a jackass. But it's ok, we've found a solution that doesn't require the jackass or his money.

I won't hear anything about the promotion until June. Interviewing is apparently going slowly, and my poor boss has way too much to do already! So while I really don't blame her, I can't help but be a little anxious.

I went home for my birthday. Got to spend Saturday with Amanda, shopping and just generally being silly girls. Bonfire on the beach Saturday night -- note to self: any more bonfire ideas require being at beach approximately 7 hours before sunset -- it was crowded!

My boy Jimmie won the all-star race! He's going for four in a row this Sunday...

JDM

May 22nd, 2006 12:06 a.m.

I can't sleep because the birds are too loud outside my window. Why there are birds singing at midnight, I couldn't tell you.

Wow, I'm 27.

JDM

Current mood: anxious to get the hell outta Vegas.

I'm flying home tonight! It's practically tradition now that I don't work on my birthday. Amanda and I have a weekend planned together (or unplanned, rather, as we plan on doing nothing and enjoying it). The only thing keeping it from a perfect weekend is the weather:

Sat 75° 56°
Sun 73° 55°
Mon 70° 53°

Pretty enough, yes, but not exactly beach weather. We'll be doing the next best thing -- going to the beach at night for a bonfire.

Is it 4:30 yet???

JDM

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's not officially until Monday, but I got my birthday present from my parents today...


Yup, I'm a convert! A PC person for so long but c'mon, isn't it gorgeous? And so easy to use! Ok, now I sound like a commercial but really, I love it. And I guess this version just came out today -- the Apple guy told me I was the 3rd person in Las Vegas to have one!

Leaving for Chino Hills on Friday, I cannot wait! A whole weekend with my best friend, and no responsibilities til Tuesday. Can't think of any better way to turn... (sigh)... 27.

JDM

Happy Birthday, Amy!

What I did on my summer vacation...

So today, July exploded.

Here's a peek into my summer: June 17 is the final inspection for my new house. I move in the weekend of June 30. The weekend after that (July 8), my dad's entire side of the family is coming to Vegas for my cousin's 21st birthday, which is turning into a mini-reunion. It's also Amanda's birthday (July 6). The next weekend (July 15) is Amanda's bridal shower. Two weeks after that (July 29) is Josh's wedding -- I really want to make it to Chicago for that! The next weekend (Aug 5) is Amanda's bachelorette party. And somewhere in there I'm supposed to throw a housewarming.

I had my interview today for the assistant manager position of my department. I hope I get it, I'll need the raise just for gas money...

JDM

89074

It finally hit me last night that I'm not going home anytime soon. Don't get me wrong, it had aways been there, lurking in the back of my mind through the whole house-buying process. But it never really smacked me upside the head until last night. And with it, a lot of things surfaced that I didn't even know were upsetting me.

I cannot complain about my life. I have it good, there's no doubt about that. I do not believe that I am spoiled because I am both hard-working and grateful. But lately I've felt less and less like myself and more like who everyone else "thinks" I should be.

I wasn't opposed to moving to Vegas, but it wasn't quite my idea. If it weren't for my mother, I could still be taking useless classes at Fullerton College. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do (though I remember being quite fond of Criminal Justice; we all see where that manifested itself) when she suggested UNLV and their hotel program. It sounded right since I was working in hotels, but I never remember being passionate about it. I'm actually glad that I followed her advice because it finally pointed me in a direction towards graduation. And without my mom, there would have been no college! Once I was enrolled, well, of course I had to finish. I didn't enjoy college, I tried, I really did, but I just didn't have that whole experience. I am, however, fiercely proud of my degree.

I made a mistake last year, and I regret it. I left a good job where people respected me for an opportunity that looked great but wasn't. I couldn't correct the situation but I could sure as hell get out of it, and I did. And I paid for it with a very rough 2005.

Now I'm in a job where I can once again excel, but I also feel like I've taken a few steps backward. In taking this position to gain some stability, I took a step down, which I didn't think I would mind because the pay was nearly the same. But I had no idea the autonomy and responsibility to which I had become accustomed. Thrust into a world where I needed to be clocked in and out and had to check with people before making the smallest decisions, I definitely had second thoughts.

I've settled in now and enjoy my office and truly respect the people I work with. But if there's one ugly truth that has come to light, it's that I don't want my career to be in events. Considering the concentration of my degree (Entertainment & Events Management), I'd say that's not good. The trouble is, I'm not sure what it is I do want to do.

My plan was always to go home after college and try and get back into Disney. 300 miles away, that doesn't seem likely. Maybe I'll be one of those people whose career finds them. But why do I feel like mine is stuck looking for me in Anaheim?

JDM

Taking Care

Went to my first Pilates class at the gym last night. I really enjoyed it and I'll definitely go again. It didn't even feel like you were working out for an hour, and I even managed to get in some of my leg workout before the class. As somone who's never been able to touch their toes, however, I need to work on stretching.

We took a field trip to MGM this morning to check out Corporate Benefits' 10,000 Steps program. We'll be hosting the same thing at The Mirage on Tuesday. Looks like it'll be fun -- I already turned on the nifty little pedometer they gave me and have taken 1,829 steps. Guess I have some work to do!

My parents are coming to visit next week. It'll be the first time my dad sees the new house! I'm thinking of having my housewarming in August, now. Only because July is going to be so packed (no pun intended) with moving and visitors that I might still be living out of boxes for the entire month!

There's so much going on with everyone right now. My dad just came home from Hawaii last night, where he got his scuba diving certification. How cool is that?

Liz had her first spine chemo on Wednesday, which she said didn't go too bad. She has her second regular chemo treatment next week, so she'll be in my thoughts. Oddly enough, she sounds wonderful. I had no idea that she was that strong, I am constantly amazed by her. She is 100% my hero. JDM