My mom's yard in November

Our Yard Nov 2005
Originally uploaded by tj's mom.

She says the temperature hit 60 the next day. It's weird like that in the CO. (And yes, my mother is now on Flickr. Go look.)

Did you know? I've been on a leave of absence since Oct. 27. The time has been invaluable and has allowed me to take care of lots of stuff. But just one week remains until I'm back in the 9-to-5 (well, 7:30-to-4:30), in a more senior position. My excitement/depression ratio is 50/50.

Schoolhouse

Schoolhouse
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Merry Christmas from the schoolhouse.

Smirk

Smirk
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

This was an old splash page image. The picture, taken when I was eight, sums up my childhood.

Yes, I did forget to remove the plastic before putting an aluminum cake pan in the oven. Yes, it did take about 10 minutes before my mother realized something was burning. Yes, the entire house filled with smoke and an atrocious odor. Yes, said odor remains half an hour later. Yes, despite our quick work to scrape off as much hot plastic as possible, there is a rather large thin circle of residue on the bottom of the oven. Yes, Christmas dinner is to be cooked in 36 hours.

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

Date Time Location Event Details
Dec 23, 2005 02:40:00 AM ENGLEWOOD CO US Out for delivery
Dec 22, 2005 10:50:00 PM ENGLEWOOD CO US Arrival Scan
Dec 22, 2005 10:16:00 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Departure Scan
Dec 22, 2005 07:28:40 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Arrival Scan
Dec 22, 2005 07:05:40 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Arrival Scan
Dec 22, 2005 07:00:00 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Arrival Scan
Dec 22, 2005 04:54:00 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Departure Scan
Dec 22, 2005 04:13:00 PM COMMERCE CITY CO US Arrival Scan
Dec 22, 2005 03:16:00 PM DES MOINES IA US Departure Scan
Dec 22, 2005 07:47:22 AM DES MOINES IA US Arrival Scan
Dec 21, 2005 12:59:58 PM US Carrier notified to pick up package

Really? Three arrivals in a row? And don't even get me started on "Commerce City." It's just truly annoying that no matter when I ordered my Christmas booty, everything is arriving on the 23rd.

Declan

Declan
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

The first time I met Declan, my third cousin to be born within about a year, he was asleep the entire time. Didn't get to see the kid's real personality until this trip. He is super cute and chatty. And those eyes!

Seriously, seriously?! I might have lost my ipod. Flying. It was in the same demon bag that somehow spit Ben's car keys into the limbo that holds all lost socks.

But, in better news, SFO to Denver is a much nicer flight than JFK to Oakland, which I've done countless times during the past five years.

Also lovely is coming home to find chicken parmasian (!) and a newly installed wireless network (!!).

Say it with me: Loves it!

Now, if only I could get this farkatke Dish Network to work...

San Francisco is SO FREAKING GAY!

I met a friend at the Embarcadero Center to see Brokeback Mountain and the next three showings were sold out. The entire day had been sold out, and it was playing on three screens (this is the only place in SF it's playing right now, during its limited release). We wound up buying tickets for tomorrow night. I gots to see me some cowboy lovin' before I leave for Colorado.

A last-minute dinner party at my place last night. On the menu, which I, obviously, did not create, was: a smoked salmon and olive appetizer, a salad with a lot of onion, shrimp (scrimps), regular salmon and brussel sprouts. I ate a ... decent amount of everything except the shrimp, which I was not going to mess with. Memories of the kale/chard soup of 2002 came flooding back.

Being an adult sucks. It's OK to only like pizza and french fries when you're in college. But 25?

It's true: I love me the Dollar Tree! Went to the one in El Cerrito today and it was huge; a Dollar Tree super center. I hope everyone likes their 7-cent Christmas cards!

Anyone who would need this, reads this page, so: Amazon wishlist. I love me the Christ holiday.

HOLY CRAP. I guess our seemingly bizarre nickname, Carl, makes a bit more sense now. But he'll always be Princess Roberta Sanchez to me.

Perhaps Sue Logris is right about the gods not wanting me to head west. I somehow lost my house keys and Ben's car keys between security at JFK and my front door. That made my seemingly fantastic plan to store a huge bag at the airport and pick it up (in Ben's car) the next day fall apart. And my first day here (during which I had to drag said bag from BART to my house) can best be described by a guy chatting on his cell at the North berkeley station: "Dude, it's like Noah's Arc out here."

Jesus Christ.

Everything was going too well, it seems. This move has been relatively painless ... until today. Lauren and I got across Staten Island OK, but as soon as we took the exit for the Belt Parkway, her car started smoking/steaming a bit. We pulled over at one of the bayview parking lots and noticed that antifreeze was leaking like a mother. But after a few phone calls, we decided to keep going. We got about a half mile before we realized we could not go any further. NO! So I had to call for a cab to pick me up on the Belt. I had no idea which company to call, so I dialed 411 and chose a random company in Brooklyn, which, fortunately, referred me to a car service closer to me. The driver was at the car within five minutes, which was good because we wound up stuck in traffic -- that no-reason traffic that seriously pisses me off. And thank God I had just enough money to cover the expensive-ass unexpected ride.

Now I'm at JFK with about 25 minutes to spare and, like a good nerd, I'm online. WiFi will cure what ails ya.

I haven't spent more than a year in a home since high school. There was a year in the dorms, a year off-campus in New Brunswick, another off-campus apartment the following year. Then I was off to the Bay Area, where I spent the summer in Rockridge, the fall in Ocean Beach, a year in Potrero Hill and nearly a year across from Dolores Park. Back to New Jersey I was, spending six months with my mom in Bergen County, six months in Highland Park and a year in Rahway. Tomorrow, I'm flying to Oakland to settle into another new home, this time in Berkeley. What are the odds that I'll still be there a year from now?

This year I'm thankful for: Bay Area temperatures, long-lasting friendships, the WB, a rapidly expanding family and one more white Thanksgiving.

And Jesus.

Fandango! Got my ticket to see Rent. Five years ago, I definitely would have been one of the folks lined up at midnight, but Lauren, Alli and I are being very adult and catching a Wednesday matinee at Lincoln Square after a nice brunch near Columbia.

I really hope this thing doesn't blow.

Princess Roberta Sanchez

Princess Roberta Sanchez
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

So, Lauren took in a stray, after massive miscommunication among her, me and some neighbors. The cat is very cute and super social -- not skittish around people at all. That leads us to believe its owners are nearby, so we're making posters. And trapping her in Lauren's bedroom in the meantime cause I ain't having no cat hair up in my space. Love you, Princess Roberta Sanchez!

Just watched the season finale of Run's House on MTV. One of the sons said he was excited to start at his new school "You're really excited about Northern Highlands?" Rev. Run asked. Northern Highlands is my high school! I guess that means they live in Saddle River, just like Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee. (I grew up a town away in Allendale and my mom's family is from Upper Saddle River.)

Northern Highlands has another MTV connection: An episode of Made (season 4, "Formal Date") was filmed there. It was super creepy to watch and sources say a lot of the interaction between the geek who wanted to be made and Highlands students was super fake.

Dear Felicity,

You just spread your legs and jump on.

Love,
T.J.

(Introducing the blog that's soon to be on everyone's must-read list: MichiganBoseekoSally. We won't be roommates after Nov. 30, but we'll always be able to discuss the WB.)

A few days late, but: Oh. My. Gilmore. Seriously, the best episode of the season. "You didn't lose me either."

Man, if I had to choose one among Gilmore Girls, Related and Grey's Anatomy, I'd be seriously lost.

Sitting on the plane (jetBlue, naturally), the woman next to me is snacking on almonds while perusing the latest issue of The New Yorker. Cut to me, reading the captions for the stalkerazzi photos in In Touch and destroying a chocolate chip muffin.

It also was really fun watching the one-hour National Geographic special on the Golden Gate Bridge retrofitting project, which made very clear that THE BIG ONE IS COMING. "Maybe tomorrow, maybe 10 years from, but it's definitely coming."

All praise the powerful Airborne, which I odediently took yesterday after beginning to sneeze (I'm such a believer I keep the stuff in my bag at all times). As always happens after I catch a cold in time and call upon this magical effervescent tablet, I went to bed with a stuffy nose but woke up able to breathe. Muy importante since I'm about to head to Oakland Airport for my 5.5-hour flight to JFK. See ya on the east side.

Code Pink Truck

Code Pink Truck
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

So, the Code Pink truck made its way across the red states without being fire bombed! My Stickley Bros. dining room table, couch, futon and toasterwave, among other things, are here. And get this: My incredible timing means that this stuff already has been moved into my new digs. So no need to make a second move and no need to ever deal with those biatches at U-haul.

Last night, I went to the Laughing Squid 10th Anniversary Party, where I heard "what's your blog?" far too many times and where I must have been one of about five people not employed by Yahoo! or Google. It was good times, though -- especially when the singing started. Anyone who will bust out the old-school BSB and N Sync is OK in my book (alright!).

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Welcome to Berkeley.

I saw Robin Williams walking down 4th St. toward the Metreon last night. Cool.

Also saw several apartments. Two are contenders and, surprisingly, both are in East Bay. Looking at a place in San Francisco (Inner Richmond) tomorrow night.

Ella Gets Close

Ella Gets Close
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Cute, right?

Someone on the train (leg 3 of 4) is listening (and singing along) to the musical stylings of Ms. Deborah Gibson -- Electric Youth.

When my mom moved to Colorado and I had to figure out what I wanted to keep with me and what could go with them, I threw out three tubs of stuff -- papers, books, freaking stuffed animals. Then, when Lauren and I moved out of our apartment in Highland Park, we literally filled up the dumpster behind our building. This weekend, I'm moving most of my stuff to California and I'm about to dump my second tub of stuff into this dumpster. What is all this crap I've been holding on to? I mean, I'm still keeping old report cards (to beat myself up about how lazy I was in college), my college acceptance letters (and even my one rejection letter -- damn you, Northwestern!) and myriad mementos. I really can't believe that after one year and two previous downsizings, I still have so much ... crap.

I'm a pro when it comes to denial. That helps me rush through transitional periods without too much stress. Even so, today was kind of a sad one.

Moving sucks. Hard.

Saturday Hike

Saturday Hike
Originally uploaded by treebjen.

Right?

Autumn in New (Jersey)

Autumn in New (Jersey)
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Sigh.

One Corona in Manhattan: $6
Dinner for 13 at Waikiki Wally's: $566
Watching drunk friend fall onto a table and then the floor at a busy East Village bar: That's right, ya'll. It's priceless.

In other news, does everybody know I'm moving back to San Francisco? Well, I am. And I'm using the codepink truck.

A pattern? This weekend: Just Like Heaven, which takes place in SF. Two of the 17,000 commercials before the move take place in SF. A sign as Starbucks that reads "San Francisco." A Lot Like Love, in which the main character lives in SF for a bit. Even the song at the end of The Simpsons: "California."

The thing about stereotypes is ... they're often true.

Overheard while walking past a construction site:

"You hit like a girl! C'mon, hit the fuckin' thing! Should I call you Mary or Steve?"

Sloth love Chunk.

50 Cent, during the MTV pre-show, when asked what he was going to perform on the show:

"We're gonna do a melody."

Similarly, I know someone -- a college graduate who writes for a living -- who says "ideal" instead of "idea" all the time.

A Dar Williams song on TV. On MTV. On "Laguna Beach."

How bizarre.

Man, I've tried to resist "Laguna" but I got sucked into a marathon this afternoon. Still not going to set up a season pass, but I did sit through four episodes. Those kids are fucked.

When did I become such a lesbo?

I fast-forward through practically all the Michelle and Linds scenes in "Queer As Folk," yet "The L Word" is my new favorite show. I'm totally depressed that I'm done with the season 1 DVDs...

And the baby boom continues...

My grandparents, Bill and Jane Leonard, had five children. Their oldest, Ann, my mother, had two right out of high school (and then, having come to her senses, had those tubes snipped and tied). It would take 23 years for another grandchild to come, but since that time, the loan has been repaid with interest, ya'll.

Each of those five children now has or is expecting a baby.

John started things off with a bang when his wife had twins last summer. Just as his wife was about to pop, the baby of the family, Laura, announced that she was preggers. Then came Frieda. And finally, Liz made her own announcement this weekend.

Insanity.

Five grandchildren within two years, when all is said and done.

But let's not forget: I was the first.

OMG WTF

OMG WTF
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Found in Chelsea.

Jealous?

Jealous?
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

First McGreevey sighting: Getting off the train today. Semi-stalked the gov by going out of my way to follow him for a bit. Semi-dreamy.

File this under "too fucked up to be made up."

From (female) friend:

i've been in the hospital the past few days. was feeling sick a few days ago, went to the grocery store for ice cream (Ed note: naturally, ice cream will cure what ails ya), blacked out, broke my jaw and was taken to emergency room.

during the ambulance ride they also discovered my blood pressure was 56 (normal is 120) and my red blood cell or hemoglobin was 5 (normail is 12).

got a blood transfusion that night of 3 pints, but my bp was still only around 91. they been doing tests to find out where the internal bleeding is coming from, but still haven't discovered it yet.

the most outrageous experience thru all this is that this one italian doctor referred to me as "mr. johnson"** and then another older doctor kept calling me "son". i shit you not. i had a baseball cap on, but still...

love,
mr. johnson
ps. also got four black stiches on my chin, so it looks like i have a goatee now.

**name changed to protect the ridiculous.

The newest of the Brunswicks

I love/hate New Brunswick. The people truly are disgusting/beautiful.

Today, as I was strutting down George St. toward Starbucks, where all the Health-Care City's power brokers dine on fruit salad and iced coffee, I saw an older lady with a straight-up beard. We're talking hair it would take me two weeks to grow.

Then, at the aforementioned dining establishment, another older woman with no teeth and a less-than-sunny disposition sat down on the armchair next to mine and started reading Jesus Christ Is Coming Back! She was asleep five minutes later. Not sure what that means.

Ben is a drunkard.

Ben
Originally uploaded by fraying.

But at least he did not puke on me ... this time.

Another gem from one of my new favorite blogs, Pink Is The New Blog. Check out this photo and tell me which of these two people is scarier.

From my "Shit Happens" calendar:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -Philo of Alexandria

A public service

Truth.org
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

On my way back from Philly (where I was covering an event), I encountered not only construction and a two-lane car accident, but the highway was actually closed as well. Forty-five minutes of stop-and-go traffic and I find myself moving to some unknown exit and onto a random road along the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border. What should have taken an hour and 15 minutes took two and a half hours.

There was one entertaining part of my long-ass drive: graffiti that read, "Tampons contain fiberglass."

Picture TK.

How Do You Spell Loser?

From AP:

Bursting into tears, eighth-grader Anurag Kashyap of California became the U.S. spelling champ Thursday, beating 272 other spellers in a tough two days of competition. He said he felt "just pure happiness."

It's endearing and frightening at the same time.

Rockridge, Elmwood, Embarcadero, Russian Hill, Pac Heights, Marina.

File under: "One Day."

What else could go wrong?

First, I come in at 7:30 (for news duty) and the Internet is busted. The server is kaput. That's a major annoyance, preventing me from doing, well, anything. Three hours later, things are up and running, so I'm able to get my morning work done. About five minutes after sending my copy, though, all the power goes out. Things start beeping and after a little while, the back-up lights fade. After an unexpectedly long lunch, I'm back at my desk, glad the power had come back on, but someone tells me internal email still doesn't work. That's lame, but what's worse is my crazy computer, which refuses to let me log on. Restart. Restart. Restart. After a long-ass disk-error check, I finally can access my files.

Now what?

Chillin' with the Muppets

Chillin' with the Muppets
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

I've become obsessed with style -- but not the fashion kind of style. I'm talking about commas and em dashes and hyphens (oh my!). The copy editor at work turned me on to Bill Walsh's blog. He doesn't update very regularly, but when he does it's to rant about something interesting (to style geeks, that is).

I'd always avoided Macy's, assuming it was out of my price range or too old for me. But at my mother's prompting, I checked out the men's department a few weeks ago, and, seriously, you can find things as cheap as at Old Navy but of exponentially superior quality. Yesterday's find: gorgeous dress shirts at 65 percent off. And I came this close ( ) to buying a black leather jacket. Fifty percent off, but still a bit too expensive for this corporate slave.

Spam ... it's pink and it's oval

Getting spam from random addresses @ vignette.org? It's not me!

That is all.

Joy is:

A layer of sugar-free chocolate pudding. A layer of fat-free cool whip (shut it). A layer of graham crackers. A second layer of pudding. A layer of cool whip. Thinly sliced bananas. All topped with pulverized graham crackers.

Dolores Park

Dolores Park
Originally uploaded by treebjen.

This was the view from my Muni stop for a year. Le sigh.

Tit

At work, when you go into the "edit" menu to check out the stories
that have been posted on the Web site, the headline often is cut off
because the field can only handle a certain number of characters.
Today, the copy editor noticed that one headline was cut at a very
unfortunate point. It read (only in the "edit" menu, mind you):

Dethroned 'Ms. Wheelchair' Given New Tit.

Joyce hearts Jesus. She "gets all excited" when you talk about his love.

Sarah Jessica Parker talked to WNYC's Leonard Lopate last month (that's right, you enter quarterlife and begin listening to pulic radio). One of the best -- and most relevant right now -- moments: "Can you do it? Oh, if you can't do it you should definitely say yes. If it seems daunting or terrifying, then you should most certainly say yes."

Me and Ella

TJ and Ella
Originally uploaded by treebjen.

Cousin. What a cutie.

This is what my mother (everyone's mother, no?) looked like in the mid-80s. I just love Joyce!

For further album-cover insanity, check out the Very Special Artists section. I dare you not to laugh. (And yes, I'll see you in hell.)

So, I'm thinking lots of photos (with commentary), some links and very few personal anecdotes. Irregular updates? Disappearances? Mais oui! Would you expect anything else?

Email test

Enough said, no?

IMG_0001

IMG_0001
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Test

Shall we?

Let's shall.