Really. Maybe if this blog is still up in five years, I’ll do this again.

Also I am procrastinating.

Crazy 8s

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Sleepy Hollow
3. Downton Abbey
4. New Girl
5. Mindy Project
6. Secret Princes (am 100 percent behind this even though I’ve only seen one episode)
7. LOST
8. Gilmore Girls

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Gold & Silver (always)
2. Hill Country
3. San Phan
4. Belga Cafe
5. Momoyama
6. China Garden (mmmm dim sum)
7. Scion
8. can I just say any place that has poke?

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Read an entire volume of Sandman (No. 7)
2. Volunteered at the Museum of Unnatural History
3. Bought only one thing at Target (quite an accomplishment)
4. Sat in Barnes and Noble and listened to the group next to me speak Tagalog
5. Went to the ballet with Amy
6. Went to dinner and did not enjoy it
7. Chatted with the taxi driver about taxis vs. town cars
8. Fell asleep before midnight

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To:

1. Sleeping
2. Thanksgiving
3. Vacation home for Christmas/seeing my family
4. Pay day
5. Reading the next book in the Sandman series
6. Buying a new winter coat
7. Making chicken adobo if my mom ever sends me the recipe
8. Visiting Becky in Memphis

8 Things I Love About Fall:

1. Colors
2. Cooler weather
3. New TV show seasons
4. Post-season baseball
5. Pumpkin everything
6. Jackets and scarves and tights and sweaters
7. School supplies
8. Halloween candy

8 Things on my Wishlist:

1. Boots
2. Winter coat
3. Unlimited funds for all of my plane tickets
4. The rest of the Sandman series
5. Happiness?
6. True love?
7. Yeah, that’s basically it. I’m pretty set.
8. And maybe a bottle of bourbon.

Roommate Kaitie and I both fangirled when ‘N Sync reunited for the briefest of moments at the VMAs last night. It inspired the following (edited) gchat conversation. Note: Kaitie has a cold and just got back from vacation.

Jess: Am I rewatching ‘N Sync from last night? Absolutely.
Kaitie: Haha, as you should be
J: Too short. Need more.
K: It really was just a blip.
OMG, one week away, my RSS reader has spun out of control.
J: Is it tearing up your heart?
K: Oh no.
You’re binging on N Sync, aren’t you?
J: Of course, I want them back.
K: Oh great… one of my ears just plugged up on me.
J: You should make them pop.
K: I think this is an ear wax issue.
J: Hope the situation is gone soon.
K: Me too.
Ah, I think I got it to pop enough.
J: You tell that plugging bye! (bye bye)
K: [rolls eyes]
J: If anyone was going to spend this entire conversation responding with only variations of N Sync song titles, it was gonna be me.
K: You just got an audible groan with that one.
J: I can’t help it it — it’s the music of my heart.
K: :-|
J:

Months ago, while on a Whitney Houston kick, a song that I’ve loved for as long as I remember came on. But after the first few strains of music, the lyrics caught my attention.

A few stolen moments is all that we shared/You’ve got your family and they need you there.

And that’s when I realized that “Saving All My Love For You” was about adultery.

Continue reading →

While sitting on the airplane yesterday, it struck me as sad that there would be no one waiting to pick me up from the airport. I had no one to depend on, but it’s not like I needed someone. I was perfectly capable of getting to my apartment by myself (and I did).

That’s not the case when I go home. In Vegas, my dad’s and my routine is solid. I text when I land. I call when I finally have my checked bag. I walk to passenger pickup. He pulls up, my suitcase and I get in. Then we usually go to In ‘N Out next to UNLV, because he’s well aware that I think no burger on this coast can compare.

It’s not as predictable when I fly into Reno. Different people pick me up in different cars. I stay in different apartments and eat in different restaurants. But last Thursday, when I wasn’t sure if Dana was awake yet, I called up Adam. Thirty minutes later, he pulled up in his new car that feels so old and we spent the next few hours wandering around parts of the city that changed while I was away.

Had he not come to get me, someone else would have eventually. That’s just a fact. Perhaps that won’t always be the case as we get older and more people move away, but for now, it’s true.

I know D.C. is different. This isn’t the West, where a vehicle is a necessity to life. For every friend who has a car out here, I have many more who don’t.

But despite knowing that, when I was on that plane yesterday, I felt like a place won’t ever be home unless there’s someone waiting to pick me up from the airport.

Three years ago, friend Amy and I dressed up as Dr. Horrible and Penny (no one got it, by the way. We lived in sad, unnerdy times). Saw “Macbeth.” Traipsed through downtown bars. Danced with friend David. Ran into boss at the Red Martini.

Fast forward three years. Friend Amy is in graduate school to get her master’s in library science. I’ve been living and working in D.C. for two and a half years. Friend David is married and living somewhere in Oregon. Old boss has a baby. And last time I checked, the Red Martini was a bar called Würk, and I don’t think it’s even that anymore.

Had you told me any of this on that Halloween night in 2009, I probably would have thought you were insane.

And yet, here we are.

I absolutely failed at that daily blogging thing. Three W’s could accurately summarize what the last six months have consisted of: work, weddings and wine.

I really only wanted to blog for one reason — a college friend of mine died this past weekend. We worked at the school paper together. As the news of his death has spread, I keep seeing new updates on Facebook: statuses about memories with him, profile photo changes to feature him, etc.

It just made me wonder about why we save this outpouring of friendship and love for the end. We can only tell each other what we remember about him. We can’t tell him, and isn’t that the saddest part of all?

I guess the point of this is, I don’t want to save all of my fond memories and fun photos for when people are gone. I want to tell them, right here, right now.

So, you. Yeah, you. I appreciate you. I appreciate whatever it is you’ve brought to my life. Thanks. Really. Truly. Thanks.