friends – Page 2 – Behind the Smile

July 1, 2009June 24, 2010

CHS 1998 11 Year Reunion

CHS 1998 11 Year Reunion, originally uploaded by Pynnski.

So, last Saturday was my school’s 11 year reunion. Why not 10 year? I have no idea. We’re procrastinators, I guess. (our reunion website is late4class.com)

I have to admit, I was ultimately underwhelmed with the whole thing. I’m not someone who looks back and wishes they were still in high school – I was a hormonal wreck, completely out of my mind, didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself and was a complete and total dork.

So, I have pretty much blocked most of high school from my head. And college, too. What came out of my school experiences were ultimately wonderful and lasting friendships. In the picture above, I have known all those girls a minimum of 15 years, and Jen I’ve known for almost 20 (OMG). (I’m sitting next to Jen on the right; she’s the one with the fab pink hair.)

Sure, there’s a certain amount of curiosity I retained about people I went to school with, but alas, the people I was most curious about didn’t come. And now, I definitely feel like I’ve come full circle and have closed that chapter of my life.

Anyway, the shindig was at the Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek, and it was loud and the air conditioning was broken. Now, I still retain my Texas heat shields, but this was way too effing hot with way too many people in the same room. At one point I went to use the restroom and it was a blissful 68 degrees. I caught the photographer in there and she admitted that she had gone in there on purpose just to get cool.

The food was hor d’eourves, various stuff, pretty tasty, and there was an open beer/wine bar. I had an apple cider beer that was pretty good. Also: cold. And there was a really good chocolate cake thing for dessert.

I wonder if because it was an alehouse they kept the temp down so you would enjoy (and order more) ice cold beers? If so, fail.

Anyway, the other thing that happened was that one of the people who had been quite popular back in the day was *I SWEAR* on something because he was a little too fidgety a little too early on the day; i.e., dude was totally tweaking.

But yeah, I did talk to a few people I was pleased to catch up with (Steve the Pirate King, his wife, Mark, Kirsten) though ultimately it was the most expensive “hang out with my friends” I’ve ever accomplished. THOUGH: props to the coordinators of the event. While I was kinda bored with the scene, it had nothing to do with their efforts and I think they did a great job considering the time constraints and our lackadaisical class.

SO: Here’s to us, Concord High Class of 1998! Now I never have to look at most of you ever again!

Maybe.

May 10, 2009June 24, 2010

Superbizzy

Yow, this year is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, huh?

Last week my friend Julie came to visit from Biloxi, MS and it rained pretty much the whole time she was here, so we weren’t able to do everything that I was planning. But we did make it up to Sacramento and the Jelly Belly Factory and saw Wolverine which we liked. It was a little strange – Julie met Malvina and Sam, and none of my Texas friends have met any of my California friends until now. But they seemed to get along, so that was nice!

For Mother’s Day I took my mom to see the new Star Trek and it was soooo good!

We really liked it, and I think everyone should see it on the big screen if they have a chance. Though I do think it’s funny that in all the articles I’ve read about it, people are talking about the cast being a cast of “unknowns” which I wouldn’t agree with – I mean, Karl Urban! (Eomer on Lord of the Rings) Zachary Quinto! (Sylar on Heroes) SIMON PEGG!! (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)… Anyway, I’d heard of everybody in the cast, and even spotted some JJ Abrams regulars popping up here and there.

I finished a couple of pairs of socks:

Pattern: Lacunae Socks by Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Yarn: Valley Franklin Yarn /dyed by the Kangaroo Dyer from Webs
Mods: Not a single one!

Pattern: Kai-Mei from Sock Innovation (Cookie A)
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Sock 2/6 in Pixie
Mods: None!

I like both pairs. The green ones were made for Abby, but the purple ones are for me. I really liked working with the Fleece Artist yarn, and I apparently have another skein in my stash, so that’s pretty cool.

My current problem is what to knit next because I don’t know what to do, or what to knit it out of. Phooey! I think it will probably be another Anne Hanson pattern – I really liked knitting the Lacunae socks, and I have a couple other patterns by her in my pattern collection.

I do have a couple other projects planned – some more Hearts Afire socks for Malvina, finish Abby’s rainbow Monkey socks, etc. But I want to start something else, too, and that’s where I’m coming up empty. Wah.

I’ve been so busy lately, but I hope to start updating a little more. *hopes*

June 7, 2008June 24, 2010

All Good Things

Well, I am back in California after a really awesome trip to Texas. I am beat!

Yesterday Tara, Cindy, Julie and I headed up I-35 to Austin, the state capitol.

We just drove by the actual capitol – we had better things to do, such as stopping at Hill Country Weavers, where I totally gorged on sock yarn:

Here’s what I bought:

Nature’s Palette, Jitterbug, Araucania Ranco Multy, Araucania Ranco Multy, Jitterbug, and Malabrigo Worsted.

I love Hill Country Weavers. If you are ever in Austin, you must stop there!

The girls were pretty cool about me dragging them to a yarn store, since none of them knit. I think part of it had to do with the intriguing Airstream right across the street:

Did we totally partake of cupcakes following the yarning? Yes, yes we did.

After that, we stopped at the huge Half Price Books on North Lamar, then headed back to San Antonio.

And took a lot of pictures. As you can see, I am now a redhead, courtesy of Garnier Fructisse.

I had a GREAT TIME on vacation. I miss Texas a lot. But it was good to get home, especially when I knew this was waiting for me:

(Note the chapstick for scale!) It’s my new tiny laptop, an Eee PC. I was hoping it would arrive prior to the trip, but it didn’t. It’s Linux, which I was expecting to be difficult to get used to, but it’s easy and I love it.

Now I am broke, but it was SO WORTH IT – the trip, the computer (though that was courtesy of the U.S. Government and their ESP [hahaha esp]), and seeing my best girlfriends. I am mentally recharged and ready to write – and finally finish a novel or too.

Also: damn, June already? Yikes.