"I don't need a wallet, I have a husband"
-Cheryl
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
My days are numbered
72 some-odd hours away, till the big day/party of the century.
Man, I really need a vacation.
Man, I really need a vacation.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Less than 2 weeks til the Big Day!
If there is anything that you can never escape, its Time. Its closing in on me non-stop. Its like one of those 'boobie-traped' rooms where the walls continually close in on you (Don't tell Cheryl I said that). There's only 11 days left to the Big Day , from today. I keep forgeting that too.
So little time, and so much to do.
So little time, and so much to do.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
1 month and counting!
Hello Friends. 1 Month till Jim's Big Day. My bags are [semi] packed, and I'm [almost] ready to go. The past few months have been pretty intense.
We found a cute little Palace over on Pelham. Its a 1 bedroom dream-shack, in a 10 unit building. The rest of our neighbors are Asian students, so its going to be nice and quiet around the Palace. Cheryl's all moved in, as she ditched her old place, and I'm beginning my Eastborne Exodus and trying to integrate My treasures where she'll let me:) We even went furniture shopping last weekend to round out the place, and to bring it up to a minimum cuteness level.
I put my design skills to use by designing the invitations 'packages'. It was just like being back in school for a few hours (which was enough). Our pictures are spectacular. My brother Joe and Tiffany came down last month to take our engagement pictures. It took a week to narrow the list down, then I sent our final 37 pics off for Post-production; again, thanks to my other brother Dave for that.
The Food has been taken care of. The Photos have been arranged. Now all we need to do is arrange the setting up and taking down.
This last week I've been suffering from a cold, which I so generously shared with Ms. Cheryl. (oops, sorry about that. )
We found a cute little Palace over on Pelham. Its a 1 bedroom dream-shack, in a 10 unit building. The rest of our neighbors are Asian students, so its going to be nice and quiet around the Palace. Cheryl's all moved in, as she ditched her old place, and I'm beginning my Eastborne Exodus and trying to integrate My treasures where she'll let me:) We even went furniture shopping last weekend to round out the place, and to bring it up to a minimum cuteness level.
I put my design skills to use by designing the invitations 'packages'. It was just like being back in school for a few hours (which was enough). Our pictures are spectacular. My brother Joe and Tiffany came down last month to take our engagement pictures. It took a week to narrow the list down, then I sent our final 37 pics off for Post-production; again, thanks to my other brother Dave for that.
The Food has been taken care of. The Photos have been arranged. Now all we need to do is arrange the setting up and taking down.
This last week I've been suffering from a cold, which I so generously shared with Ms. Cheryl. (oops, sorry about that. )
Friday, July 25, 2008
Jim's Big Day!
So, here is how it happened:
Many weeks ago I started wondering if it was time to talk to 'That Cheryl Girl' about 'The M-Word'. It wasn't a matter if I thought it was right, It was only a matter if She would agree with me. Seriously how bad would that suck if I tried to surprise her and the answer was 'uh... I don't know'!
Then a week or two after that (and only a few weeks back from now) we were hanging out at her place; I think it was July 4th now that I think about it. But there were many things leading up to this of course, but while watching TV together in the last two weeks in particular there were many references to Marriage, Rings, Engagements, Honeymoons and things of that nature. I didn't mind hearing those words at that time so I didn't think anything about it, BUT right after I heard those words on the television I swear that I could hear the gears turning in her head (and the room got even more silent and tense). So that made me think, "well if she hears those words and then the gears turn in her head, maybe my gears should be turning in my head when I hear those words too". So I started to think about it more, until eventually I started telling myself that I needed to work up the courage to talk about those sorts of 'things' with her. And eventually by... July 4th I believe, I finally was giddy enough to bring it up. But only after she kept prying with questions as to why I was giggling so much. I think I started with something like this: "So Cheryl, how's it going". "Oh, thats good". "So in general, what do you think about...Marriage?". "Do you like weddings, n' stuff like that?". Each question was separated by at least 1 full minute of giggling at least. But the hard part for me was how she refused to answer me directly! No, I'm not kidding at all. Its like she was trying to get me to speak in complete sentences or something! And because I was flustered, I would giggle more, cause it was kind of funny. So I finally came out and asked if she liked me enough to think about marring me. So she's like; "Sure, sounds good". So then I in a super nervous way am like, "uh, thats a Yes, right?" And she responded in the affirmative, then shook hands on it.
Of course we decided not to tell all of you until I made it official with a ring. (Sorry, I'm just secretive like that). So on Saturday July 12th we arranged to go to Downtown LA to the Jewelry District and go Ring shopping. It was pretty overwhelming. So many stores, and so many options, and every vendor is convinced that I'd only be able to find the best designs, and best deals in their shop. After shop-hopping all day we had only found three possible options. So we sat in the shade, discussed the options, then I think I slowly convinced her that there was only One option available (I only fell in love with one of them [but was still open to her ideas]). So we decided and went with ring that we both had liked.
[On July 15th Cheryl reminded me that I still needed to talk to her Dad. I apparently completly forgot about that sort of thing, so I told her that I would prepare my speach for the next night, Wednesday the 16th. So on Wednesday night Cheryl called and got her dad on the phone, then told him that 'there's someone here that wants to talk to you'. And that someone was ME. So I formally asked his permission, and he agreed to it. ]
Ten days later, Wednesday July 23rd, the ring was ready to be picked up. But not really. First off we chose which cut of Diamond we wanted (because we couldn't decided at the store, they offered to show us two different cuts, then we could choose) then after realizing that it was very difficult to take the ring off her finger, we had them resize the ring to fit her finger without choking it. But that just meant we had to wait another day to actually get the ring. Luckily I called the Jeweler and asked of its status, so I was warned of this delay so I stopped by the store and purchased a few Ring-Pop's to take the real one's place.
But in anticipating the ring being finished on that Wednesday, I had made arrangements at the restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure hotel, at their New York Steakhouse called 'L.A. Prime'. Its super fancy, and it's on the 35th floor. Its a circular building with the elevators on the outside of the building! (Which means I almost fainted when I glanced out the windows. Going up wasn't that bad with a bunch of people, but oh the way down, when the doors opened, and you looked out and saw that we were 35 floors up, It was hard to get on the elevator and I wanted to ask where the stairs were. But I decided that I needed to brave my fears, so I got on, and just stuck my nose into the doors, and held as tight to the handrail as I could.) But anyway, it was a really cool place to go. They put us in a booth that had a great view up toward the north and the hills and Dodger Stadium. I was impressed with the amount of people they had working there too. There was at least 2-3 servers for every guest! My water was never more than half empty, and the managers kept stopping by to make sure we liked it there too. Mark, the waiter, was very nice. He brought us weird 'fancy' snacks of Eggplant topped with raw tuna flown in from Mexico that morning, again topped with succulent chunks of non-salmonella tomatoes, and crisp green Watercress sprinkled over the top, all baked together lightly with a radiant Parmesan cheese. Cheryl made me try part of one, and it wasn't that bad (cause I couldn't taste the fish).
After we ordered I found the time to talk with her, and eventually 'Popped the Question'. And YES, it was very 'romantic'.
When the food came we were even more in awe. The Menu was clipped into a metal binder to tell you the seriousness of the food there. They rolled it out on a wheeled-waiter, and as it pulled up to our table it was like the Harry Potter train pulling into Hogwarts. I got the Endangered Australian Lobster which was flown in that morning. It was amazing. I don't have lobster that often, but this was very enjoyable to eat. They also gave me a gravy-boat full of butter sauce to douse it in. We also got side dishes of Potato au graten, and Sweet Creamed corn. They were also very delectable. So much so that I had four helpings. Cheryl got the Fillet Mignon. I had never actually seen it before, only mis-pronounced the name of it, but it was tremendously good too. I sampled a small very pink slice if it, with her permission of course, and it was almost like a meat flavored bread. If all steak was like that I might like steak. The only sad part of the evening was the fact that we didn't have room for dessert.
Then we went home and started calling people. I think I called my whole family and three other people in the same amount of time that she called two. I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying that if you want more 'details' you'll want to talk to her, cause I'm not always into that I guess.
In calling family and friends, it was funny cause most people I told didn't believe me. Its just how I act when I ate a 14 pound lobster, and have barley survived an ultra hot day in a Tie no less. Jessica did scream the loudest. Jeff was the most skeptical, and Kami was the most nonchalant (not in a bad way). Tiffany's response was the most formal, and Joe showed the most 'concern'. But I must say that I thought Kristen's response was the most enjoyable to me, cause as soon as I told her she dropped the box and backpack in her hands, donned her new cowboy hat, and started dancing around in the street, then said 'its about damn time'.
So there you have it, in a nutshell, the True story.
Many weeks ago I started wondering if it was time to talk to 'That Cheryl Girl' about 'The M-Word'. It wasn't a matter if I thought it was right, It was only a matter if She would agree with me. Seriously how bad would that suck if I tried to surprise her and the answer was 'uh... I don't know'!
Then a week or two after that (and only a few weeks back from now) we were hanging out at her place; I think it was July 4th now that I think about it. But there were many things leading up to this of course, but while watching TV together in the last two weeks in particular there were many references to Marriage, Rings, Engagements, Honeymoons and things of that nature. I didn't mind hearing those words at that time so I didn't think anything about it, BUT right after I heard those words on the television I swear that I could hear the gears turning in her head (and the room got even more silent and tense). So that made me think, "well if she hears those words and then the gears turn in her head, maybe my gears should be turning in my head when I hear those words too". So I started to think about it more, until eventually I started telling myself that I needed to work up the courage to talk about those sorts of 'things' with her. And eventually by... July 4th I believe, I finally was giddy enough to bring it up. But only after she kept prying with questions as to why I was giggling so much. I think I started with something like this: "So Cheryl, how's it going". "Oh, thats good". "So in general, what do you think about...Marriage?". "Do you like weddings, n' stuff like that?". Each question was separated by at least 1 full minute of giggling at least. But the hard part for me was how she refused to answer me directly! No, I'm not kidding at all. Its like she was trying to get me to speak in complete sentences or something! And because I was flustered, I would giggle more, cause it was kind of funny. So I finally came out and asked if she liked me enough to think about marring me. So she's like; "Sure, sounds good". So then I in a super nervous way am like, "uh, thats a Yes, right?" And she responded in the affirmative, then shook hands on it.
Of course we decided not to tell all of you until I made it official with a ring. (Sorry, I'm just secretive like that). So on Saturday July 12th we arranged to go to Downtown LA to the Jewelry District and go Ring shopping. It was pretty overwhelming. So many stores, and so many options, and every vendor is convinced that I'd only be able to find the best designs, and best deals in their shop. After shop-hopping all day we had only found three possible options. So we sat in the shade, discussed the options, then I think I slowly convinced her that there was only One option available (I only fell in love with one of them [but was still open to her ideas]). So we decided and went with ring that we both had liked.
[On July 15th Cheryl reminded me that I still needed to talk to her Dad. I apparently completly forgot about that sort of thing, so I told her that I would prepare my speach for the next night, Wednesday the 16th. So on Wednesday night Cheryl called and got her dad on the phone, then told him that 'there's someone here that wants to talk to you'. And that someone was ME. So I formally asked his permission, and he agreed to it. ]
Ten days later, Wednesday July 23rd, the ring was ready to be picked up. But not really. First off we chose which cut of Diamond we wanted (because we couldn't decided at the store, they offered to show us two different cuts, then we could choose) then after realizing that it was very difficult to take the ring off her finger, we had them resize the ring to fit her finger without choking it. But that just meant we had to wait another day to actually get the ring. Luckily I called the Jeweler and asked of its status, so I was warned of this delay so I stopped by the store and purchased a few Ring-Pop's to take the real one's place.
But in anticipating the ring being finished on that Wednesday, I had made arrangements at the restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure hotel, at their New York Steakhouse called 'L.A. Prime'. Its super fancy, and it's on the 35th floor. Its a circular building with the elevators on the outside of the building! (Which means I almost fainted when I glanced out the windows. Going up wasn't that bad with a bunch of people, but oh the way down, when the doors opened, and you looked out and saw that we were 35 floors up, It was hard to get on the elevator and I wanted to ask where the stairs were. But I decided that I needed to brave my fears, so I got on, and just stuck my nose into the doors, and held as tight to the handrail as I could.) But anyway, it was a really cool place to go. They put us in a booth that had a great view up toward the north and the hills and Dodger Stadium. I was impressed with the amount of people they had working there too. There was at least 2-3 servers for every guest! My water was never more than half empty, and the managers kept stopping by to make sure we liked it there too. Mark, the waiter, was very nice. He brought us weird 'fancy' snacks of Eggplant topped with raw tuna flown in from Mexico that morning, again topped with succulent chunks of non-salmonella tomatoes, and crisp green Watercress sprinkled over the top, all baked together lightly with a radiant Parmesan cheese. Cheryl made me try part of one, and it wasn't that bad (cause I couldn't taste the fish).
After we ordered I found the time to talk with her, and eventually 'Popped the Question'. And YES, it was very 'romantic'.
When the food came we were even more in awe. The Menu was clipped into a metal binder to tell you the seriousness of the food there. They rolled it out on a wheeled-waiter, and as it pulled up to our table it was like the Harry Potter train pulling into Hogwarts. I got the Endangered Australian Lobster which was flown in that morning. It was amazing. I don't have lobster that often, but this was very enjoyable to eat. They also gave me a gravy-boat full of butter sauce to douse it in. We also got side dishes of Potato au graten, and Sweet Creamed corn. They were also very delectable. So much so that I had four helpings. Cheryl got the Fillet Mignon. I had never actually seen it before, only mis-pronounced the name of it, but it was tremendously good too. I sampled a small very pink slice if it, with her permission of course, and it was almost like a meat flavored bread. If all steak was like that I might like steak. The only sad part of the evening was the fact that we didn't have room for dessert.
Then we went home and started calling people. I think I called my whole family and three other people in the same amount of time that she called two. I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying that if you want more 'details' you'll want to talk to her, cause I'm not always into that I guess.
In calling family and friends, it was funny cause most people I told didn't believe me. Its just how I act when I ate a 14 pound lobster, and have barley survived an ultra hot day in a Tie no less. Jessica did scream the loudest. Jeff was the most skeptical, and Kami was the most nonchalant (not in a bad way). Tiffany's response was the most formal, and Joe showed the most 'concern'. But I must say that I thought Kristen's response was the most enjoyable to me, cause as soon as I told her she dropped the box and backpack in her hands, donned her new cowboy hat, and started dancing around in the street, then said 'its about damn time'.
So there you have it, in a nutshell, the True story.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Viva Las Vegas
A few of us went on a road trip to Las Vegas this last weekend. We went for Matt and Gliedy's Vegas Reception, and cause it would be fun. We stayed at the Monte Carlo Casino-Resort. We walked around, took pictures, hung out at the pool, and ate at buffets. It was fabulous.
The Buffet's:
The Journey:
The Buffet's:
The Journey:
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
YES on Eminent Domain!
Just a little Political Rant:
Some of the 'uninformed' people on 'wardstuff' were trying to tell me who to vote for. They were trying to argue about 'Eminent Domain'. Oh how foolish they were. Do you know what Eminent Domain is? In a nutshell, its the power the government has to take land Under Drastic Circumstances. This is a benefit to the city, because a lovely/desirable neighborhood raises value. A higher value means higher sale prices (taxes), and higher sales taxes (and more taxes). Taxes, in case you were wondering, is Income to the City. Why do you think so many people want to live in Beverly Hills? Its because the city has strict guidelines as to what can be built, where, and every city council has a Design Review Board to approve or dismiss the look of EVERY building that goes up in their city.
The Supreme Court case of 'Kelo vs. New London' was the last major case to highlight the use of Eminent Domain. The city of New London condemned a bunch of land, studied possible outcomes for 5 years, per city rules. Then when the city told the people to finally move out, they threw a fit. The whole court case WASN'T about the Gov. simply taking land from owners, it was about the Supreme Court upholding the guidelines/rules/laws that the city put in place to protect itself, and it followed through with! Why can't the media say that? Its should be so simple.
Let me start this argument by saying that I worked for the city of LA, in the Community Redevelopment Agency for a summer. The government needs such a tool to protect itself from retards who don't keep up their land/business/house, etc! The case which made this popular was in London, RI. The city did a 5 year study proving that 1 neighborhood was causing problems. Then at the end of the 5th year they paid the people to leave. 1 old lady and some Korean dude didn't want to leave after all, and must not have noticed any of the research, or letters, or notices, over those 5 years, cause then they didn't want to leave.
How many of you want crappy neighbors? Do you want to live next to Crack-houses? Or how about people who don't do anything to take care of their yards or buildings? Do you want to live next to the mysterious haunted house? He has the right to do that, right? WRONG! Cities are allowed to enforce their codes FOR MY PROTECTION too! I have a right according to the constitution to 'Life, Liberty, and Property'. So why are people voting to reject the city, (who we all pay taxes to, so they can make my city a more livable place), from keeping my city a nice livable place?! Cities have fewer and fewer tools these days to combat vagrant home/business owners.
This eminent domain is indeed extreme, but its a valid option. They don't simply take it away. They have 3 or 4 different appraisers look at the property, and the city pays the average fair value price! Then they pay for moving expenses, and if you're friendly, they even give you other moving bonuses.
Do you know how hard it is to evict a Deadbeat tenant? It usually takes a landlord no shorter than 90 days to evict someone. And thats already after they've missed at least 2-3 months rent. (for my landlord, in my apartment, that would be at least $10,800!) But who is going to 'evict' the property owner? Thats right, the city. They have strict rules and guidelines, just like we do. So as long as they follow their rules, it all works out fine.
Do you want to live in the slums? Slums don't bring the city any money. The nicer a neighborhood is, the more people want to live there. Cities want nice neighborhoods. When people want to live there, land value goes up. As that happens, the amount of taxes increases. Cities need tax money to pay for newer nicer stuff. The city wants nicer/newer stuff so more people live and shop there. Its a chicken/egg situation, and its just how cities work.
So don't try to tell me how to vote you foolish Wardstuffers! You should inform yourselves to the REAL issues, not the ones the Media tells you to hear!
(feel free to comment on this but please realize (evan and/or danny) no matter how much you try to argue against me, you won't change my mind. Thanks.)
Some of the 'uninformed' people on 'wardstuff' were trying to tell me who to vote for. They were trying to argue about 'Eminent Domain'. Oh how foolish they were. Do you know what Eminent Domain is? In a nutshell, its the power the government has to take land Under Drastic Circumstances. This is a benefit to the city, because a lovely/desirable neighborhood raises value. A higher value means higher sale prices (taxes), and higher sales taxes (and more taxes). Taxes, in case you were wondering, is Income to the City. Why do you think so many people want to live in Beverly Hills? Its because the city has strict guidelines as to what can be built, where, and every city council has a Design Review Board to approve or dismiss the look of EVERY building that goes up in their city.
The Supreme Court case of 'Kelo vs. New London' was the last major case to highlight the use of Eminent Domain. The city of New London condemned a bunch of land, studied possible outcomes for 5 years, per city rules. Then when the city told the people to finally move out, they threw a fit. The whole court case WASN'T about the Gov. simply taking land from owners, it was about the Supreme Court upholding the guidelines/rules/laws that the city put in place to protect itself, and it followed through with! Why can't the media say that? Its should be so simple.
Let me start this argument by saying that I worked for the city of LA, in the Community Redevelopment Agency for a summer. The government needs such a tool to protect itself from retards who don't keep up their land/business/house, etc! The case which made this popular was in London, RI. The city did a 5 year study proving that 1 neighborhood was causing problems. Then at the end of the 5th year they paid the people to leave. 1 old lady and some Korean dude didn't want to leave after all, and must not have noticed any of the research, or letters, or notices, over those 5 years, cause then they didn't want to leave.
How many of you want crappy neighbors? Do you want to live next to Crack-houses? Or how about people who don't do anything to take care of their yards or buildings? Do you want to live next to the mysterious haunted house? He has the right to do that, right? WRONG! Cities are allowed to enforce their codes FOR MY PROTECTION too! I have a right according to the constitution to 'Life, Liberty, and Property'. So why are people voting to reject the city, (who we all pay taxes to, so they can make my city a more livable place), from keeping my city a nice livable place?! Cities have fewer and fewer tools these days to combat vagrant home/business owners.
This eminent domain is indeed extreme, but its a valid option. They don't simply take it away. They have 3 or 4 different appraisers look at the property, and the city pays the average fair value price! Then they pay for moving expenses, and if you're friendly, they even give you other moving bonuses.
Do you know how hard it is to evict a Deadbeat tenant? It usually takes a landlord no shorter than 90 days to evict someone. And thats already after they've missed at least 2-3 months rent. (for my landlord, in my apartment, that would be at least $10,800!) But who is going to 'evict' the property owner? Thats right, the city. They have strict rules and guidelines, just like we do. So as long as they follow their rules, it all works out fine.
Do you want to live in the slums? Slums don't bring the city any money. The nicer a neighborhood is, the more people want to live there. Cities want nice neighborhoods. When people want to live there, land value goes up. As that happens, the amount of taxes increases. Cities need tax money to pay for newer nicer stuff. The city wants nicer/newer stuff so more people live and shop there. Its a chicken/egg situation, and its just how cities work.
So don't try to tell me how to vote you foolish Wardstuffers! You should inform yourselves to the REAL issues, not the ones the Media tells you to hear!
(feel free to comment on this but please realize (evan and/or danny) no matter how much you try to argue against me, you won't change my mind. Thanks.)
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