[berkeley]

>>We listen to the radio to hear what's cookin’, but the music ain't got no soul<< Dixie Chicks' Long Time Gone

Let the Good Times Roll
preferably on the back of a Ducati Monster.

So the day once again became a fantastic voyage. I know it's Sunday morning. But believe that I came home at 3:36am. What did i do? Another of Victor and Co.'s adventures for real.

It started with a beautiful day in Berkeley. The kind of weather that reminds me of the suburbs :: sunny and please wear a tank top, slippers, and shades weather. The kind of weather that makes you restless because the sun is pouring its heart out and expects something in return. So believe that we all took the hint.

I wanted a hot dog and so Victor and i walked to Top Dog. On the way, we saw a seven/eight year old girl walking down Durant Ave. all alone carrying an issue of the latest SF Bay Guardian. The things our children know. I wouldn't be surprised.

Then we met up with Andre and his beautiful Ducati Monster. *sigh* Lemme say that again right quick :: his beautiful Ducati Monster. Victor's friend Shelby, a fantastic singer/songwriter, was visiting from Pittsburgh, PA so he was intent on showing her a magical day in the Bay Area. The four of us walked to Yogurt Park and then found a house stoop in the shade. After some ice cream on a spring day, we headed to the Albany Landfill. We balanced rocks, caught crabs, threw big rocks into the mud, found some sunken ships, and played a broken piano. I found a marble.





We wanted to show the sunset to Shelby in true Bay Area style. We rode up into the Berkeley hills and revealed the sunset over a beautiful landscape. which happened to match my marble.



And then...we rode to SF. I'd never been on the back of a motorcycle over the Bay Bridge. What an amazing experience that was. Cars just don't know what they're missing.

We stopped by a house party of one of Victor's friends. Talk about a beautiful house. A historic building for sure. We saw a framed certificate on the history of the building. But anyways, what's been up? Most everyone was just standing and talking, but Victor, Andre, Dan, Mercedes and I started dancing. There was some good hip hop playing, for real. Andre showed us some good moves, Victor whipped out his Rock Climbing style, and i brought back the Shopping Cart and the Lawn Mower. It was tons of fun dancing.

Dan and Mercedes headed home. The remaining four tore up the city streets on 2 motorcycles. We showed Shelby the sights. Pacific Heights, North Beach (what a circus), and the Coit tower. We were somewhat beat, but ready for more. We left SF at 1:30am and were ready for some scavenging. I now have my own tent and two rain jackets.

It's 4:31am now. I think i've had a full day.

[berkeley]

>>There is freedom within
there is freedom without<< Crowded House's "Don't Dream it's Over" sung by Sixpence None the Richer

What was that you were saying?
I have a terrible habit. I'm one of those horrible conversationalists who listens to people the same way I read my Anthropology text. Oh that's right, i'm a skimmer. I try to filter out all the extra words in your sentences. I don't hear "the, on, if, so, pacemaker, you need to look for a job, but, when, and".

I won't blame it on our fast-paced, adrenaline rich, caffeinated culture. nope. Listening is a Life Skill. And so is Patience. That's what Isabella is learning in Mrs. Cox's 1st grade class. I guess I was skim-listening when Ms. Phrase (my 1st grade teacher) told us about Life Skills.

I'm a multi-tasker. I have winamp, iMesh, AIM, and typically two internet explorer browser windows running when i'm on the computer. If Vishali is in our room, i'm talking to her too. I'm an information junkie of sorts. And if you'd like to use the word 'overload' anytime soon, you may use it ... now.

[berkeley]

the little engine
that could. That's the story that came to mind numerous times during my 2.5 hour bike ride with four members of the team. Why oh why did i get into this sport? cuz it's fun. Even on flat ground they were pulling away from me. I've got a long way to go.

We went up one of the main hills on Wildcat in Tilden Park. They launched up the long winding gradual climb and I fell back and panted my way up to them. When I finally reached the top, they had been sitting for what seemed like 5 minutes or so (an eternity in biking), just engaging in light conversation. I'm in shape, really... just not in "2-3 hours of intense activity" shape. I'm in 45 minutes of exercise shape. That's what normal people do, that's what Shape magazine says I should do. Oh well, no excuses, cycling is a whole different animal.

[berkeley]

>>Don't be so quick to ... walk away<< Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body"

Prepare yourself
as this is going to be the customary admission that I too have been 'Timberlaked'. I was a JC girl back when *NSYNC burst out onto the scene. But JC, homeboy, what are you thinking? Please do us all a favor and get a new stylist. Get some friends who will tell you that you need to get a Jenny Jones makeover.

But I was talking about Justin.
Yes that's him. And thank you Herb Ritts for being a visionary and taking this picture. Thank you very much.

Okay, granted, homeboy doesn't have the best nose. But if you're semi-decent looking and you can dance? Well, you're the bomb explosive beautiful in my book. Yes, he can dance. You can't tell me he can't, because he can. Here's the proof.

Go on Justin, go on wit yo bad self.

[berkeley]

>>Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?<< Dixie Chicks/Stevie Nicks' (that rhymes) "Landslide"

adventure days
Lemme just recap this right quick:
10am - 2:30pm Bike ride to Richmond, sitting on rocks near the bay, and lunch at Thai Temple with Victor.

2:30pm - 3:30pm Dropped off some borrowed knee warmers at cycling team member's house.

4:00pm - 10:30pm Dinner with Likha people and Oscars with Bern and Nico.


Fantastic day.

So I never thought
that I would start listening to Country. But that day has come. I wouldn't say I'm a die hard country fan, far from it. I'm a crossover fan, i.e. Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and the Dixie Chicks. Those Chicks don't seem to have any bad songs.

Now listen, i'm not giving up music I can dance to. I'm not giving up my Roots, No Doubt, Kylie Minogue, Marley, Marvin Gaye, Madonna, Janet, Michael, etc. I'm just saying I like the Chicks' change of pace. Beautiful harmonies and simple songs.

In breaking the tradition
of only posting links of people I know, i must add Melissa (from MTV's Real World New Orleans) to the list. Her writing style is "the bomb explosive". She's half pinay too. peep it




kill your tv?
Thank you Nico for helping me to iron this out. Don't kill your tv. Get off your ass if TV is all you ever do. You know who you are.

So, i'm not a hypocrite for watching the Oscars with BernDiesel and Nico Funny La-la-la. Congratulations Nicole Kidman, go 'head with that statuette.

Thank goodness Renee Zellwegger didn't win, what's up with the squinty eyes? They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, so it's just as well that she didn't win. You know the part where they show all of the nominees in their own little Brady Bunch squares before they announce the winner? Renee all acting like she didn't expect to win, and I say bull-ish to that. Yes, girlfriend is talented, but humility and poise win my vote.

Go 'head Nicole, go 'head and wear that Oscar round your neck, while you brush your teeth, while you walk your dog, while you walk by Tom's house. work it girl.

[berkeley]

plan c
I made an attempt at Hawaii and it fell through. My housemates and I were flying standby and we didn't get onto the flight to Honolulu at SFO. Audra and Trissie are going to try again by flying out of San Jose to Salt Lake City to SFO to Honolulu (better chance of getting on the flight). It turns out that getting onto a flight to and from Hawaii is harder than we'd expected, and I decided i'd rather not take the risk of getting stranded in Hawaii longer than i'd want to be there.

There's so much to do in the bay area and I know that although i'm not leaving town as i'd originally planned, I know i'm going to have a blast. i've got a number of bike rides to go on and a number of fantastic experiences waiting in SF.

Look out world.

[berkeley]
special thanks to Nico for hosting my pics on openthelight.com

I talked about balancing rocks
a couple of weeks ago. And here are some pieces of proof:
joan, victor, and gill

joan, victor, and gill 2.0

joan in a jungle

solitary

[berkeley]

>>I don't know, but i'm thinking 'bout really leaving wit' you<< Justin Timberlake's Senorita

But I'm having so much fun
My crazy days, I can't believe my 8th semester is flying by so quickly. I've got to study tonight, Wednesday night and Thursday night for a midterm on Friday. Buy another bathing suit for Hawaii, pack, and then fly out on Friday night to start Spring Break. I'd like to get a few bike rides in before I leave, but I don't know if I can if I want to. I definitely need to at least hit up the RSF. Tomorrow morning fo sho.

When I come back from Hawaii next Wednesday (early morning), I'll need to head back into the darkroom to finish printing the exhibit (that seems to have no end) before the end of Spring Break. And after that I still need to keep training, shooting, and staying on top of schoolwork. Oh, and not to mention the bonding time I need to get in with my housemates, the friends that I want to grow closer to, and the friendships I need to maintain (3 Musketeers + Nico, holla back).

Boy do i love my life, but man, i gotta figure out what to do with myself after graduation. for real though.

[berkeley]

So I
finished last at the road race on Saturday. Not in the least bit discouraged as I've never had to ride hard for two solid hours before. It wouldn't be fair for me to expect to finish in good standing since all of my cardio workouts for the last 3 years have been 45 minutes. But in any case, no excuses, I've got a lot of training to do.

besides
This is probably the first activity i've ever engaged in where i'm completely horrible at it. And i'm happy to say that despite my ungreatness, i still really enjoy the sport. I never thought I'd enjoy an activity that I wasn't good at.

shift_priority
If I want to build a strong foundation for becoming a decent good cyclist, I'll need to sacrifice photo time :: and I don't want to do that. Still thinking.

[berkeley]

>>Now my only consolation is that this could not last forever<< Incubus' "Just a Phase"

I'll be
letting you all know when my photo exhibit is finally up and ready. There was a minor setback, but it'll only make the presentation better. I'll be posting an announcement here on the blog and out to your personal emails. It'll be another week or so.

vroom
The "Super Bike" (as my housemates call it) is finally here, assembled, and ready. I went on a ride on Tuesday and again this morning with Tony at 6 am. I'll be on another ride tomorrow afternoon with the team and then my first road bike race on Saturday and Sunday. I hope i can finish the race, it's going to be 35 miles.

[berkeley]

>>Don't be so quick to ... walk away<< Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body"

Not so def
And these are the guys who wear the pants in our country? Freedom fries my ass.

[berkeley]

My Amazing Saturday
began at 5:11am. I drove to Berkeley listening to my MD and got to Victor's house. We listened to Harry Potter while driving to San Jose, stopped by La Victoria for a breakfast burrito and headed to Gill's (former member of the US Marine Corps, and just got honorably discharged 11 days before his unit was sent to Kuwait).

Straight to Sta. Cruz to go spelunking. Believe it. I went crawling around under the earth, i fell on my ass, got muddy, and no one can take that away from me. Then hiking, washing hands in a beautiful stream. All this before 11:00am.

And then we chilled at a skate park. Talked to Damian, a 10-year-old sponsored by Counter Culture. He was off the hook. So was his Samoan friend who was a girl. She was amazing. She had the place handled.

We wanted to hang at the beach, but needed to avoid the roaring crowds. Capitola was our target. While there, we stopped by a book sale/yard sale and found amazing books. I filled a banana box with books :: The Little Prince, 1001 Arabian Nights (yes all 1001), The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy), Hindsights (Guy Kawasaki), an audio book of Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris), and much much more :: and all for $5. Oh right, that also includes a Donna Summer Live and My Fair Lady LP.

Then to the beach, where we balanced rocks on their tips for a few hours. Balancing rocks? We were inspired by this guy. And we even drew a crowd. We should have put a hat out for money, but we were doing it for fun.

My photographer radar turned on. I sensed good things from a guy with a digital camera who was shooting our stuff. I asked him to email me a few pics, and he offered to send me a disk of our pics in the mail. Awesome.

Victor taught me a little eskrima. He showed me some of the moves that Filipinos used to turn Irish style boxing hands around. (Think the Fighting Irish leprechaun. That's how people used to box before Pinoys came and set them straight. We broke their hands.)

[berkeley]

Lola speaks
One of my Lolas (grandmas) is especially awesome. We know that all of our matriarchs have a certain power all their own, but today i speak of Lola Rosky.

She is the Dean of a women's college in Davao. She's also a lawyer. She's now into her late 70's and yet she's still so sharp. She can throw down political issues and ideas like nobody's business. I sometimes forget that she was still around before TV.

It's your ideas that keep you young.

[berkeley]

before i talk about lent
I do believe i celebrated a little bit of a mini-Mardi Gras last night. My housemates and I went to Henry's "Two for Tuesdays". Two drinks for $5. I was driving, so I didn't have much to drink.

The night was full of good bonding moments, none of which can really be described here and fully understood. Suffice it to say that it was good times walking up and down Durant, deciding we weren't about to compete with those ho's people cutting in line at Kip's, driving to two different Jack in the Crack's at 2 am listening to California Love, and then all crooning to "More than Words" at the Drive Thru--where i ended my order with "That about it" in true Jay-Z style. ya feel me?

mass at 12pm
Heading over to Newman to celebrate Ash Wednesday. I'm taking Trissie's suggestion for my lenten sacrifice :: choose something that somehow benefits others. So i think maybe if i volunteer 3 times during lent, i'll be happy. Community service has never been my thing, so this seems to be the best way to go.

in other news
Tonight i'm picking up my bike parts. The whole shebang should be built by Sunday. woo-woo.

That is all.

[berkeley]

>>I got some skeletons in my closet and I don't know if no one knows it, so before they throw me inside my coffin and close it, i'm a expose it<< Eminem's Cleaning Out My Closet

that time of the year
It's Fat Tuesday, which means it's time to choose something to give up for 40 days. And, as usual, I can't think of something meaningful enough to give up. I've got some thinking to do.

[berkeley]

hip hop for the masses
A few days ago a flier caught my eye. It said "Free Hip Hop Workshop every Sunday 5-7pm". I imagined learning Janet Jackson's "If" and Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" and Britney's "I'm a Slave 4U".

So when i got there, i felt nervous and wasn't sure if everyone was going to be better than me...and then the class began when Bryant arrived.

Bryant is an asian guy who's part of The Movement. He's definitely a good dancer. I was looking forward to learning from him. I was a little surprised when he said the name of the workshop was "Hip Hop for Dummies" and that we'd be learning "The Roger Rabbit" and "The Running Man" for the next 2 hours.

Wow.

What was even more shocking was that almost everyone in that room except for maybe 5 of us actually knew how to do the two moves. Imagine a room 70% full of whites, latinos, and non-filipino asians (ya'll know filipinos can do the Roger Rabbit in their sleep, even my lola knows it) struggling to bring it back to the old school.

It was really interesting. I was shocked. Didn't everyone and they mama know this?

But it was beautiful, the spread of hip hop begins here.

I could
write about my weekend, but I already wrote about it in a different blog. So i'll just share the exciting stuff that i hope doesn't get jinxed::

mini-show
10 black and whites will be hanging in the ASUC art studio after Sunday March 9.

finally
The missing piece to my road bike should be here on Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed, joanie needs to ride!