the arrival

My return to the Midwest after a long stint on the west coast was welcome. I enjoyed my time over there, learned a lot about publishing and experienced a different way to do life. Really, San Francisco has a lot to offer, especially when it comes to people. I find that it's people that almost always make my travel experience special. I'll forget the memorable sites and the delicious dinners eaten out; I'll forget the trips to the grocer and rides on the BART. But what I won't forget are the ones I did life with. And now I know if I ever find myself out there again I'll have friends, and I won't be the least bit frightened to do the same thing in another unknown city with unknown people and an unknown public transit system.

San Francisco: nearly closing remarks

This week has been a good week. Recaps.

Sunday-Vetoed Sickness, got my operation Christmas Child box, saw Role Models with Brandon. Quality time, well spent.

Monday- Tired, but last week, so on my game, naturally. Have been charming and clever ever since. Caught up on Brothers and Sisters.

Tuesday- Celebrated a friend's birthday, attempted a human birthday present, failed. Somehow got home by 2:30 a.m. Pas Bueno.

Wednesday- Climbed! Up, Up and Up at Mission Cliff. Twas marvelous. Then got delicious quasadillas. Yum. Also got booted from my desk at Ode to make room for the new intern. It was all fine until I then got booted from my other desk to sit in the corner. Seriously. Therefore crept about the office in hopes of scaring people in just the right way, so they'll never forget me. So far it's going well.

Thursday- Office glory days. We all ate lunch together outside and had goodbye cupcakes. It's nice to feel like I actually count at the office. I got a Mostess cupcake, as in, the most delicious cupcake that resembles a Hostess cupcake, yet is somehow masterful in comparison. Yeah, that's right. That cupcake.

And the week's still continuing. Tomorrow, Friday, I will be in the office for a few hours then am headed to the city for San Francisco's Green Fest. That's the only way to clinch my time in this liberal fairy land. The pun was not intended, though is hilarious, so therefore works. My mom will be flying in, so she's going to meet me at the fest and enjoy herself as she basks in all the recycling, sustainable, energy efficient wonders of this great city. Then we'll eat steaks like real midwesterners. I'm looking forward to it.

it all counts. down.

Top Ten Favorite Things About San Francisco:

1. People here. They're all pretty fun.

2. Pub Crawls in the Mission District with pretty much strangers.

3. Museums and sites.

4. Union Square on crisp Sundays.

5. Sunsets here are brilliant.

6. Recycling Bins on streets. What a concept.

7. Mexican food.

8. Office dance parties slash sass.

9. Mountains in the backdrop.

10. Boats sailing away through Golden Gate.

I didn't take this picture. But it's accurate. I vouch.

Return of the Sick Kid

Sophomore year I used to get sick a lot. So much so that I was always armed with a bottle of Dayquil and Nyquil caps all the time. I'm afraid those days are back. I have no voice. I'm wearing my gray sweat suit any chance I get, and I think I lost a lung somewhere along the way. I've been feeling foggy all week, perhaps why I've posted so much, haven't been able to concentrate on work or life or whatever. I somehow managed a phone job interview the other day. I hope I was coherent. As for me, I really can't say. I am so tired, and it's terrible because it's the kind of tired where you absolutely need to sleep, but can't because you're so congested, you're coughing and you can't get used to the light outside peering through the blinds.

I made some tea. It's that herbal kind that's called something like sleepy time or whatever. It's chamomile and lavender. I like both of those. But I just popped a Zicam, so all's lost, I have to wait 15 minutes to drink anything. Sort of a drag when I really need some fluids right now. Anyone got any "get better" tips?

Also, I'm sorry if I spell things wrong or my grammar is off. It's due to the cold and my inability to notice anything not glaring me in the face. k, bye.

San Francisco: Roommates in Costume

I suppose I haven't much talked about my living arrangements here in San Francisco. It's sort of hilarious. To give you a glimpse of my day to day, and a little bit of Halloween's special occasion glimmer:

Last week I got a call while working from Nancy, my 40 something housemate. She's a high school teacher, has a 6-year-old daughter, and is a pleasure to be around. Often she will call me while I am working. It's no big deal, I just turn off my ringer and forward her to voicemail with the intent of checking her detailed messages later. They're actually not detailed at all. She's the sort of person that leaves messages that sound like: "Hey, I've got something I need to ask you...Call me back, bye!"*

*Note: These messages are 100 percent unhelpful, and you should stop leaving them. That's "you" plural. I hate that the English language has that you/you business.

Anyway, this particular day Nancy called me twice in a row. Naturally I assumed there was a problem, like she was ill or Drina got caught shop lifting while drunk. What have you. However, that was not the case. Nancy wanted to tell me she had bought me an Ugly Betty costume to wear on Halloween, complete with glasses, fake teeth with braces and an ugly wig. This was clearly very important, and while on the phone sitting at my desk in the office, I did in fact repeat all parts of the costume aloud so my coworkers could hear. I feel like living with Nancy and Drina is like a television show sometimes. They're so comical. I'm the random girl that lives with them, becomes like the family, only to move out and on to other things. Like Cody from Step-by-Step.

But back to Nancy and Halloween. Nancy got herself a child-sized "fairy" costume for $10 from what she calls the "party store," because apparently it has no real name. She is my size, i.e. 5 feet-ish and petite. Tonight she was trying on her outfit, trying to make it school appropriate. She put on another skirt underneath the sheer fairy one, and tried on no less than six shirts to go beneath the belly-styled fairy top. The costume comes with these wings that look like camouflage fairy wings. No, seriously. They're the exact fabric and pattern found on Army gear everywhere—and probably the reason the costume was only a tenner. Anyway, they flop too much. That's the problem with wings. I should know, I was a butterfly, ladybug and a fairy throughout college and had intentions of being Tinkerbelle last year, but ended up alone in London in a hostel (another story for another time). So, I pinned her wings together in two spots. Nancy was practically ready to wear the thing to bed, but I told her she couldn't. Sometimes I feel like I might function as her mother as she mothers Drina.

Anyway, usually our days end with me helping Nancy pick out what to where to school the next day, in order to of course, impress her high school classes. Sometimes she's fine by herself, but often I'm glad she asked. She's like my mom in that way. But Halloween will be a nice time to check out how the San Franciscans do it. If forced, I had some options for Halloween costumes myself. 1. Madeleine 2. Pippy Longstocking 3. Strawberry Shortcake and obviously, the old classic 4. Roman/Greek woman. Simple and Cheap: white sheet and lots of eyeliner. Maybe a wreath of some sort of leaf. We'll see.

lacking caffeine and that life zeal business

Hi. I've been a bit lackadaisical about updating this bad-boy right here. Sorry. I can't believe it's been about two weeks since. Much has happened. Here's the bulleted list.

a. Kerstin, my friend since 3rd grade, visited San Francisco over this past weekend. [went to Alcatraz, shopped, dined, bar-hopped, and had a party for my housemate, Nancy.]

b. The weekend prior I was in Chicago visiting my family and friends and going to my cousin Maureen's wedding. It was beautiful. I also managed to pick some apples, grab dinner with my girls and boy and bonded in Rebecca's living room.

c. I've got about a month left of my internship here at Ode. It feels good to know how this place ticks, adding in my own two cents in the possibilities section. Really, I'll miss it when I'm gone.

d. I'm going to Vegas this weekend. Brian is meeting me at the Las Vegas airport, and Meagan and Dan Walsh (our married friends, weird) are going to pick us up for a fun weekend. Planning on a little skydiving, some Black Jack, sassy dresses and a show!

e. Already I am being harassed by my mother about not having a full-time job lined up post internship. It's stressful enough as it is. Damn all my smart friends who went back to graduate school.

f. I think that's it. Whew. Oh, and I'm planning a trip to LA post Ode in November before heading back home. Should be a fun time.

And, of course, a story: Monday I waited for Marco for 45 minutes only to find out that he was at the chiropractor. I called my other possible ride about 6 times before getting a hold of her. All I had to do was walk/bus to this way far corner. I think I lost a pound before 9 am Monday. I probably sped walked 3 miles in a 1/2 hour. I might as well have been running. I did manage to hop a bus and didn't even have to pay because I got off before I could make it to the front of the bus to drop my change. There's nothing quite like beating the system. That buck-fifty was mine!

My Life in Bullet Points

- I woke up this morning a few minutes before the magazine's conference call with our Rotterdam office and executive editor. That went fine, just informative for me at this point.

-Ate Special K red berries while listening, then had a bagel and cream cheese. Productive.

-Super tired from watching Freaks and Geeks. I don't know what it is, but once I'm on a roll watching some new show, I can't stop. Alias, Sex and the City, Lost, Undeclared, 30 Rock, Growing Pains, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and now Freaks and Geeks. I'm a little insane when it comes to box set television. I can't exercise restraint in any way. It's unfortunate.

-After eating cereal I decided to heat up some water for tea. Totally waited to drink it so it wouldn't burn my tongue. However, because of this fact I spilled in the center of my jeans right at the crotch. I was already in Marco's car so we couldn't turn around for me to change. I never want to be a burden, so I just sat in it. I felt like a baby in a wet, dirty diaper. I used my Eddie Bauer scarf to soak up most of the mess, but still. I'm soggy. So much for to-go mugs and their fail-safe caps.

-Oh, and the White Sox lost yesterday. Sad. I mean, granted, they weren't the best team this year, but they're still my team. On to Blackhawks season. Woo!

-I'm going to Chicago Thursday for my cousin Maureen's wedding! Hooray. Thursday night's the rehearsal dinner, and Saturday is the wedding. So, if I'm not at wedding festivities I'll be picking apples at the Apple Holler orchard in Wisconsin or chilling with friends and family.

-I can't believe how soggy I am. I'm like a waffle that's been soaking in syrup, no longer does it taste good and the quicker it actually gets moldy and gross. I think I'm going to bring my hot beverages in spaghetti cans again. At least it stayed closed.

Not so light reading.

Each week I leave work a little early to head downtown San Francisco in order to get my allergy shots. It's also the time that I catch up on celebrity gossip and the like while in the waiting room. This Tuesday I went to Dr. Davidson's for the usual: cat/dog, dust, trees/grass. While waiting I picked up a copy of The New Yorker to catch up on the Going's On About Town, but instead read this article.

RIGHT HERE!

I think it's really well-written and important information. It's quite long, but I recommend reading the whole thing if you have time. Really, I do.

I've only been awake for seven and a half hours.

1. I finally found my to-go mug, and now I can't find the cap. So, since I had already poured my tea in my New York Times embossed cup I decided to take my chances at spilling. Mistake. I was in a rush, as per usual, and had to carry not only my cup without cap, but also my bowl of oatmeal and spoon, eight blocks. In attempts at having less a chance of spillage I thought, sure drink a huge sip of tea once you get to the stop sign. Piping hot. Mistake. I spit it out all over the sidewalk in front of a nice old Asian lady out for her morning walk. Once I got to Marco's car he thoughtfully opened the door seeing my hands were full and wet thanks to the tea. I ate my oatmeal quickly.

2. Today I called Brazil. I had to reach Stephane at his bookstore Galerie 1618. Brazilians speak Portuguese, Brigid Marshall's speak English with highlights of French. Handy. No, for real. I spoke to one of the employees in French because he didn't know English, and I am unfortunately not blessed with knowing Portuguese. Stephane was out, but now I have his cell phone. Alright. I get off the phone and am greeted to the wonderful sounds of affirmation. Whoa. Nice. Wow. Feels good.

3. Lunch around here runs like clockwork. It's 12:55 p.m. someone is going to Whole Foods, Safeway or somewhere else magical. Marco asks if anyone wants to join him, I say yes, hold on, as does Katie. But I look up a few minutes later. I had to finish printing a fax. They're gone. All gone. I went to Safeway instead. Got a baguette, some spinach, four plumes (I hope I like them), Special K Red Berries and a roast beef sandwich. Should be good.

Daily Grind

Sometimes, well, actually most of the time while I'm on gchat I'm invisible. I like being able to decide who I want to talk to and when. Feel lucky if I talk to you when the Red Light is out. I don't want to sound conceited, but it seems I get bombarded by people when I'm talking on gchat, hence invisibility. It's like having a super power without actually being able to tell anyone about it, because then I'll have to talk to them on chat. It's funny though, I've told a friend of mine from home about my invisibility technique, and now she either messages me when I'm actually not on thinking I'm ignoring her, or, she'll be invisible and neither of us will be none the wiser. Tricky.

I get a ride to work with my boss every day. Sometimes I get one with the Art Director and other times I catch one with one of Ode's main salesgirl. But usually, I'm cruising to the North Bay with Marco. It's a good deal. I leave with about 7 minutes to go, walk about 7 blocks and then wait at the corner of 22nd and South Van Ness. 8:15 am rolls around and Marco's wheels roll up. He's usually speaking in Dutch to someone—Ode's publisher, family member, other miscellaneous people. Sometimes I can pick up what he's saying, like words here and there. Last month, and I think still, there's been a mouse living in Marco's car. I haven't seen the little bugger, but I know it's there. One time Marco was talking to his father (I picked up) about the mouse (also picked up, the word is mouse, but more german sounding). When I asked Marco after he was done chatting how his father was, he was kind of taken off guard. For some reason because I could pick up the subject line and the person he was speaking with he assumed I had just begun taking Dutch. Oh, I might have forgotten to mention: Marco is Dutch. Actually, Ode was originally a Dutch magazine, and we still have offices in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In any case, I think Marco's been trying to speak Dutch faster so I can't pick up, or maybe I just am not as language savvy as I had hoped. We've begun listening to books on CD using his portable disc player connecting it to his hilarious cassette set in the car. This thing is a piece of work, let me tell you. If you open the dashboard of the car you'll find a collection of tapes from the 90s and before including Dutch bands that have the sound of Pearl Jam's Eddy Vedder, Elvis and some Sigur Ros. We have a fun time rocking on the drives home when he's not speaking in Dutch to someone using his tiny earpiece. But perhaps the best part of Marco's Toyota Camry is the fact that it's eensie. At least for him, as he's over 6 feet tall and can hit his head on the top.

Well, today I caught a ride with the Art Director, and now I'm riding smooth in his Dodge, kind of reminds me of a hearse—but it's not.

Today

Notes on Today.

-I took my coffee to work in a washed-out tomato jar. Explanation: My roommate nabbed my to-go mug, thus causing me to search the kitchen for a re-sealable container. Tomato jar was the only option.

-I reviewed the job applications I sent last night: One to U.S. News & World Report. (I accidentally wrote "form" instead of "from." That's a bummer. I can never decide if I should email them letting them know I found the error, or not email them and hope they didn't notice. If I emailed them and they didn't notice, then I'd just be drawing attention to this error. OR. They noticed and they wanted me to email them saying I found the error, thus showing my wonderful skillz as a journalist. It is toward the end, so if they got that far in the cover letter, perhaps they decided they wanted me, but then changed their minds once seeing "form." Damn. If only it wasn't 11:23 p.m. when I shot it off last night.

-I can no longer do multiplication. I tried to figure out how much a year $12/hour at 40 hours a week would get me. Somehow I came out with $13,040. I was about 10 grand off. Good thing I'm not studying to be a mathematician. (Note: the word "mathematician" looks not unlike martian. Concordance? Anyone?)

Real World San Francisco

In reading Kiki Abba's hilarious blog [note, please read mine before hitting up hilarity], I realize mine are 100 percent lackluster. Sorry about that. I suppose I reserve funny stories for emails rather than blogs. I'm not sure. Either way, it was really nice to read Kiki's blog because she's basically in the same boat as me except hers seems way more fun. I mean grant it, she's in Seattle and I'm in San Francisco, both on the West Coast, both pretty hopping places, but man, she's got people her age at work and a steady crop of friends. That said, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who is scraping the bottom of my cash barrel, refusing to turn on lights in the dark and regularly make my lunch and bring it to work. It's also nice to know that other people go to the movies alone and hang out in coffee shops all day on the off chance that somehow I'll meet my new bestfriend while I turn pages of the latest David Sedaris book. "What's that? Oh, you love David Sedaris. Me too." And then a friendship was born. Too bad life isn't actually like that. I sat at the Sugar Lump on 24th street and Florida for three hours yesterday, reading, drinking my latte and getting Lemon Poppy seed muffin all over my black shirt. I was a sight to behold, and let me tell you, the only people that did look at me seemed to be concerned over my slob style eating technique. Needless to say, but I will anyway, I wouldn't have befriend me either.

In other news, I'm going to take myself to see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants this week, probably go to a Yoga class, or just say I'll go and then not, have my first lesson on the banjo, which my housemate plays (woo Nancy), and maybe go to a 20-somethings dinner with this church I've started attending. Every weekend I have these big plans in my head of what I want to do, but somehow they get cast aside. I'm going to go to the San Francisco Zoo, see the Full House house, walk on the beach by the Golden Gate Bridge and see the DeYoung Museum.

Oh, and I'm also planning trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and going home to Chicago for a weekend in October. Yay!

indian summer

san francisco may not do summer very well. and fall doesnt happen either. or so i feel. 80 degrees and rising in the bay area today. lovely city scapes are everywhere right now.

in case you thought you could get away...

o, everyone knows i love natalie dee doodles. she's funny. what can i say?

this one speaks loads about summer.

see.

i hate bugs. i understand they're necessary, whatever. i get it. im just as sad as the next person that the bees are disappearing. what?—you didn't hear? yeah, they're dying out mysteriously. something to do with wireless phones. anyway. my traditional summer catch phrase is: "Get outta here, Bug!"















Because, yes, bugs ruins everything. that's why they say when there's something wrong with something, oh like, say, a computer, they say there's bugs in it.

san francisco has bugs. gnats to be specific. my housemate composts. which is all well and good. but she doesn't know how to do it right because our house is full of gnats. to do composting right you need to have a little pile of dirt to throw over the uneaten food scraps. we don't have a little pile of dirt. just a gnat infestation. and my room's next to the kitchen. ick.

well, you can't win 'em all. at least i'm not a bug.

ABC's to Stress

ABC's popular television show, Lost, has been occupying most of my time as of late. I don't have cable at my house in San Francisco, I didn't have cable at my house in Iowa City, and my brothers were watching cable at home so I never was able to in Lake Forest. So, I don't really watch television. I'm not against people who do. I don't think it does bad things to a person. It might be an escape from reality for many viewers, but honestly, it's not that big of a deal. My housemate in San Francisco thinks television should be just one of those things you do when you're sick or there's a special like the Olympics or Living Life Organically. What have you. So, as I have few friends in this city it's been easy to slip into sort of a groove where I work all day during the week, periodically hang out with a friend or two, and then settle down in the confines of my bed, flip open my Mac Book, type in www.abc.com and let it lead me to Lost.

I know, I know. I should go to a coffee house. Meet some random people, become best friends, la-dee-da. But I'm too tired during the week, so Lost it is. While I'm clearly a fan, as I've gotten through 2-and-a-half seasons already, I think it's the main reason why I wake up with a headache. See, I clench my teeth when I'm stressed out or feeling anxious. I do it without noticing, and I usually do it while I sleep all night. It causes me to have really sore teeth and tender cheeks and temples. And headaches. Oh, the headaches. The doctor says it's TMJ, Temporomandibular Joint disorder. Lame. Since I have this quite regularly I sometimes sleep with a sort of mouth guard in, but I left it in Chicago, because I hadn't needed it in a few months. I thought I was over it. No dice. Lost apparently makes me all tense. I think it also my be this new job. I've been here for about a month and still feel a bit tense, and now that my main overseer isn't in the office daily, I think it might be better. I don't feel as much stress to get everything done super quickly without mistakes. I work better when I'm just all by myself. But, I guess with any new job one has to adapt. I just hope these headaches go away. It's not healthy to pop Ibuprofen daily, but it does make the pain subside.

For now, I'll simply have to cut back on Lost and instead get calm before I rest for the day.

ODE MAGAZINE

So, most of you are aware I'm working at Ode Magazine. It's an international, alt-monthly. We focus on positive news, but it's not that we're unaware of bad things happening to good people. We're intelligent about it, I guess you could say. We're getting set to launch our next issue in a few weeks. I got to see the sneak preview of it yesterday. Kind of exciting! I've got two mini pieces in it of about 300 words each. Still, it's cool. Plus, I did some layout for the web page we have in the magazine and wrote small minor things that don't get bylines. No biggie. Check it out if you want, just by clicking here.


You can also check out my special profile page. I mention my new favorite thing: vietnamese coffee.

That's all for now. If you see Ode's Silence issue from last month, it's still in stores at Whole Foods, Borders, Barnes & Noble and I think just recently we opened up an account with CVS. It's sweet to be part of something that is growing.

It doesn't do it in San Fran

[courtesy of nataliedee.com]

I miss rain. There's nothing quite like falling asleep to a cracking thunderstorm as water catches onto the window glass. I love the quiet sounds of nature knocking onto my house as I lull myself to sleep. Only to be woken up by a snap and flash of lightning.

I miss it. Because it doesn't rain much in the golden state. Golden because the grass becomes so parched that the land turns a dull hue of yellow, brown, orange.

One Down. 15 to Go.

After quite a busy week at Ode Magazine, I think I can finally say I'm getting acclimated. We're getting set for the September issue, which I will have a few things in, so it's been an interesting week to begin work. I received an internship at Ode Magazine. There I get to write, edit, research, and copyfit various stories. It's pretty neat to be part of an international magazine: it's based in the Netherlands and California, with writers scattered about the globe and an executive editor who lives abroad in London.

Each day I begin my morning bright and early, grab a bite in the kitchen, then head down eight blocks to 22nd and Van Ness. I hop into the car of my managing editor and head North, to Mill Valley, as the magazine's headquarters are there, rather than in downtown San Francisco. Though it's not the most convenient place to live, the Mission district, is really fun, eclectic and always, always bustling with activity. It's about two stops away of downtown when using the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and about 35 minutes from Mill Valley by car—2 hrs, roughly by using three types of public transportation. Speaking of which, last week my ride and I were out of luck when his car had to be taken to the shop. We had intended to get a ride from a coworker, but she had to leave early, leaving us with her suggested route home: by boat.

Yes, we were to take the ferry from the North Bay to downtown, then hop from there onto the BART, head to the Mission, walk eight blocks, and then, and only then, arrive home to my cozy, green Victorian flat. Well, we missed the boat. Quite literally, and ended up waiting for a taxi in the tourist town of Saulsalito to take us back to our abodes.

My first week on the job was good. I was busy, with real work, which is what I wanted. I didn't want to be fetching coffee and filling up ink cartridges. In short, I'm glad I'm not Andy in The Devil Wears Prada. Yikes.

Speaking of which, in honor of starting my job, I had intended to watch it all week. I've been watching bits and pieces for a week now, as each night I am so tired from my 8-10 hour day, plus about 1.5 hrs in transit. Now, after a fun weekend visiting with a friend from my study abroad in France, I will finish it. I will. No if's, and's, or but's. It's getting done, alright. Now, I just have to figure out what to watch over the course of seven days this week.

Bridge-Bits of Information:

-For more on Ode Magazine, just click this LINK.

-For more on traveling from San Francisco to outside San Francisco without a vehicle: Don't do it. No seriously.