After being mad at Dan, again, we celebrated our friendship the usual way: Jumbo burritos at Taqueria Vallarta and a night of drinking at the Red and Blue Lagoon. Athena came, too!! We really wanted to remember to take pictures, but that's all we did all night. We took pictures of ourselves, laughed at them, and then took some more. Between the three of us, we took 156 pictures, spent about $170 and drank 21 drinks, 12 of which were shots (that number is a guesstamite from what I can remember).
Dan's picture of Pacific Ave:


Athena and my first drinks.. Midori Sours.. Yea, Star Sapphire rings! =)


The first of MANY pictures like this...


One of the NUMEROUS pictures that Dan took of himself...


Athena and Dan...


Athena and Me...


Dan and Me...


A cute one of the three of us..


Ok, you get the picture. Just imagine 156 simlar pictures sitting in a folder on my computer.. Except in half of them, I'm trying to be funny and making some weird face. It was a fun night. Walking back to my place, we met this guy who was a Girl Scout Camp Counselor (he even had the sweatshirt on!).. He was apparently supposed to meet up with some people from the camp who were going to pick him up, but he was so drunk that he couldn't even remember what bar he called them from (Dakota from the stamp on his hand). I'm pretty sure he got fired.

Dan's Birthday Party!

The Big 2-2!!!
Pictured: Sarah, Tony, Mitch, and Dan! (I think Dan's already had 2 jaggerbombs in this picture)


One more, this time with Chris...


Chris and I...


I like to call this one: Mitch, Sarah, and the 3rd Wheel. Poor Tony.


Athena, Tyra, Kelly, and Julian...


Mitch feels sick...


I have no idea what this is about, but Dan felt like a God at his party...


Oh yea, Trying to be modest now, Dan...


That's better...


Classic Dan and I:


Great pic of Dan and Athena!


The DD!! Thank you Chris. (He always does a thumbs up in pictures about driving. Funny)


The beautiful hostesses!! Athena and Kelly.. Thank you for some good food, and a great time.

Chris and I were supposed to go to LA this weekend, flying out Friday, but his sister's office had box seats to the Kings opening game, so we made a last minute change and flew out Thursday.. I had to convince Chris, 'cuz he didn't want to miss class.. (Get your priorities straight!) Here's Staples Center:

Our suite was just that - SWEET... Free food, comfy chairs, and an excellent view of the ice:

Here's Chris's sister, Sharyl (right) and her friend Becca (left):

Here's Chris and I, and about half of the suite:

Then, on Saturday night, we went to see our friend's band, 5606, at the Roxy:

You Me Iowa was really good. They had the mellow pop rockish sound that is getting popular recently. The Tom Jones cover band was awful, but provided for some interesting entertainment with their costumes:

5606 played incredibly well, possibly the best of the night. They're the most downloaded unsigned band people! www.myspace.com/5606 Here's a bunch of pictures of the band (Eric, Dave, and Kevin on drums):

Then came Jonny Was

aka Shane West... (You know, that guy from that cheesy movie A Walk to Remember and The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen? Yea, that's ok. He's not THAT big)

Anyway, Shane was pretty chill. Just a normal guy with a mediocre band. These crackheads came early (like 4pm) when we were setting up. We thought they were tourists who just needed to stop for a bathroom break, but then ended up staying til the show started and freaked out when they saw Shane. One 11 year old got up enough nerve to go up to him, he gave her a little side-hug and the rest of the van started screaming! It was funny. They were a family that looked like they'd abused drugs for a while, and they had a 2 year old kid. They stayed all the way through the show (Even with the baby!!!!! What bad parenting!) Oh well.

Before the show, I noticed a tear in my shirt, which started to spread all the way across, so I had to walk down Sunset Blvd to Hustler Hollywood and buy a shirt for the night! =(

Drinks at the Roxy were $9 for a little 5 oz glass with lots of ice. Rediculous! Eric smuggled beer from their back room for us. Then we went down the street to Frankie & Johnnie's NY style Pizza place which had some good pizza and GIANT calzones:

Then we went upstairs to the club On the Rox (above the Roxy) for a little bit. It wasn't as great as we'd hoped.

On Sunday, Eric and the band left Chris's house and Chris, his sister, Becca, and Jon all went to the Kings game, again. No box seats this time, but instead we were in the 11th row, so pretty damn close to the ice! It was awesome (thanks Jon) 'cuz we could see their facial expressions and when they were talking shit to the other players, etc.

Before the game started, I went to get food and when I walked to the stair aisle, I looked up and was face to face with Keifer Sutherland!! Keifer Frickin Sutherland!!! I froze and blacked out. He continued to walk to his seat, probably didn't even see me.. WHERE'S MY CAMERA FOR THIS?!?!?! His seat was like 10 seats down the row from us and I stared at him for most of the game. He caught me staring at him twice! Whoops. But it's Keifer Sutherland for christ's sake! He looked really good in real life (not like some actors who need lots of make-up to look good). He's such a bad ass.

Anyway, Kings won, again! Whooo! After the game, we went straight to the airport where our 50 min flight was delayed an hour.. =( Oh well. Back in Santa Cruz, back to school again. =(

Alright, So you are always wondering what I'm writing in that diary of mine... Well, here is a piece I wrote yesterday. Admittedly, most of my entries are not this contemplative or dark. Hard to believe it's been 14 years...

Friday, August 12, 2005 2:39 PM

I guess money doesn't buy happiness, but I'm trying to think how life would've been different if the insurance company hadn't screwed us after the fire. Or if we had sued. If we had sued, it would've taken years probably to do so, but wouldn't we have made out big time in the end? Sure, it wouldn't ease the pain then or make up for the loss of my grandma, but maybe my parents wouldn't have been struggling so much today. Maybe they wouldn't have this huge complex that they do about money, always trying to catch up, never being enough, working for the rest of their lives. It's never good enough. I just want them to stop worrying. Stop worrying about money and not being able to retire. Wouldn't suing the insurance company have helped that? Or would life still be the same? Would it still not be enough? They live at such a high lifestyle that maybe it wouldn't have made much of a difference. And maybe they were right. Maybe suing was not the answer and would've caused us years of unhappiness. Ultimately, I think they chose not to because they just wanted to move on, get back to normal as quickly as possible. But maybe, could it be, that it was too soon? We moved back into our similar house, on the same hill. But the scar was still there. We were alone in a neighborhood full of charred ruins, almost still hot from the smoldering remains. And life got back to normal, I guess. As normal as it could be. But there has always been this unending sense of urgency to return to "normal"... Normality I guess meant distraction filled with busyness, a constant movement from one thing to the next, and that movement hasn't stopped. Perhaps because if, when it finally does stop, when we must finally look at where and how the dust has settled, we will still feel the scars. Is that what they are afraid of? My mom once told me to write down everything I could remember about our car accident, so that I wouldn't forget it later. It was 10 years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. But there are some memories you don't want to remember. Maybe my mom wrote her book about the fire so that she wouldn't forget about it. Maybe they have forgotten some of it in the everyday lives they hide behind and they don't want to remember the scars.

I forgot to post the 4th of July PV Golf Tournament!


Team Witte was composed of Jim, Terry, Chris, and they recruited Blair and Jon to play, which got them a 0 handicap, even though Blair was hurt! =( They played a Five-person Team Scramble, which means you play from the best ball, but you have to take at least 3 drives from each player... There's Blair and Jon:


Here is Chris, his mom, and dad.... I took more pictures on Mrs. Witte's camera than I did on mine, so they could see their swings and how perfect Blair's was...


Here's my favorite picture from the bunch.. Jim, concentrating hard on someone elses putt.


The ducks and Terry at the end of hole 7...


Afterwards, they had an awesome BBQ and cute mini golf course set up on the putting green... It makes this kid look like a giant!


They also had a "water slide".. Blair and Jon said they would go down it if they won! Well, Team Witte did win despite the no handicap!! Blair won the longest drive challenge on Hole 1 and Jon almost won the closest to the pin challenge on Hole 5(?), but they didn't actually go down the slide. Oh well! =)

If you remember my Candy Store post (March 18) about the difference between my sister and I, I mentioned a similar Snow Day story about my mom and her sisters.

My mom is the 2nd of four daughters. Debi is the eldest. My mom, Teresa trails her by 18 months, then there is an 8 year gap before Marie, and then another 18 months apart is the youngest, Sandie. So here is my mom's Snow Day story to describe the four of them:

On a winter day, while trying to decide what to do,
Marie would say, "Let's go knock down the neighbor's snowman!"
Debi would say, "I don't think that's such a good idea..."
Teresa would say, "Yea! I'll go get our coats and boots!"
And Sandie wouldn't say anything at all...

So, after they finish knocking down the snowman, and get caught, their mom asks, "Did you knock down that snowman?!"
Teresa would say, "We didn't do it!"
Marie would say, "Yea, we did it! So what?!"
Debi would say, "Yea, we did it, and it was wrong of us. We feel terrible."
And Sandie wouldn't say anything at all...

Again, I'm sure you have to know these people to know how accurate it really is. But I needed to record it for my own recollection. I guess the whole point of it all is that Marie is the idea person, my mom is the organizer, Debi is the conscience, etc... And for the Candy Store analogy, my sister gets frustrated because she feels the pressure of having to choose ONE thing, whereas I assume, incorrectly, that getting one of everything is an option...

Walking along the grassy area between the Social Science Buildings, I saw something glinting in the sun. I stooped down to pick it up. It was a set of keys and rosary beads, a fairly nice set, too. I picked it up and asked people close by, who looked on, with curiosity. I was stricken with a dilemma. Should I leave them or turn them into a Lost & Found nearby. I am among the endangered people who still have faith in humanity, such that I will always expect someone to turn in a wallet, instead of stealing it. By picking up the items, my decision had already been made – turn it in. So, I took it to the Social Sciences Lost and Found Office. They closed at 5 and it was then just after 5pm. I knocked, and they answered, so I handed over the responsibility to the woman at the door. The whole way back, I looked at every person, trying to match them to my mental image of who this rosary carrying person might be. No one looked seemingly distraught or matched the picture in my mind. I felt like asking each person, “Excuse me, have you lost your rosary beads?” What a strange question to ask! As I walked back over the spot that I found them, I looked down. There, among the blades of grass was yet another rosary! I scooped it up and looked around, in question. What is going on? Is this a sign? Who’s putting these here for me to find? I judged whether I should go back to the lost and found… This set was a very cheap, plastic one, like you could buy for 5 cents, so I decided it wasn’t worth it to me, and probably for them. Then I thought about taking them, as a souvenir from this whole experience, but decided against stealing rosary beads due to some moral/religious obligation. So, I threw the black ones back into the grass and left, feeling worse and worse about the person who would come rushing up to the lawn scouring the grass for their keys, and then finding themselves stuck on campus because the lost and found had locked their car keys inside the office until the next day. And then the person would find the black pair and think that someone had stolen theirs for sure, because both were not missing. If I hadn't been on my way to somewhere else with limited time, I would’ve stayed and waited for the person, to reassure them of the safety of their keys and rosary. Good luck to whoever you are. =(

Note: When recapping this story to a friend, I spoke of a séance. She doubted that anyone with Rosary Beads would be partaking in a gathering to raise the dead. Whoops. Goes to show how much I know about religion. Prayer meeting, séance, same difference!

Went to a concert at Konocti Harbor, up by Clear Lake... It was pretty cool. Nice weather, good music, etc.. My dad's old racing buddy is the drummer for a band called II Big. They were surprisingly great and they opened the concert. The headliner was CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revisited, since I guess they can't be Revival anymore or something). The lead guitarist and drummer are the only 2 left of the original band.. =( They met when they were 13, going into 7th grade and wanted to form a band. How crazy is that?!










The kid sitting next to me was about 13, a future programmer, who made little programs on his calculator the whole time. He was with his parents, and was very unhappy. He sat there looking down the whole time, plugging his ears!!! How can you plug your ears to CCR?!?! My mom said it must've taken an immense amount of self control not to move your
body!! Poor kid.. I asked what kind of music he liked and his dad said he can play a mean Beethoven and Lord of the Rings! Haha!
On my other side, was my mom slowly falling back into her hippy days (scary!). She said CCR was one of her favorite bands when she was my age. She waved peace signs and tried to dance to the rhythm (embarrassing). Halfway through, she said to me, "I smell a skunk." She was referring to the couple behind us who were the stealthiest pot-smokers I've ever seen! I was staring straight at them and could barely even tell they were smoking "dope" as my mom likes to call it. Haha!
The funniest thing there was a guy about 10 seats down the row, who danced and sang the whole time. He was just SOOO into it. It's one of the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life! And I got it on video! If you know me, have me send it to you, but I had to take the downloadable version off because I was running out of room.. Here's an action picture of him, if you don't check out the funny video:





I also took a picture of one of the security gaurds who looks like that guy in Office Space! (ignore the tattoo) Too bad he's not face-on, 'cuz he really looked like him! haha

Celebrated Father's Day early today.... We went up to Sears Point (now Infineon Raceway) to race his kart. My sister was supposed to come, too, but in a confusing and typical (for my family) turn of events, she bailed. If she had been there, I'm sure you'd get to see pictures me, looking dorky as hell in a racing suit! =(

Here is my dad's kart. As you can see, you sit about an inch off the ground. It's just you and the road! =( Also, scary thing to notice, is the gas tank sits right between your legs!

Here's my dad, getting ready to go out...

Here are some people on the track... It's a very small, very tight track with lots of tight hair-pin turns...

Here's my dad, crossing the start/finish line and going into a turn.

It was pretty fun. I took the turns as fast as I could and still just looked like I was cruzing gently along compared to the other karts. The whole things vibrates intensely, so you only go out for several laps, until you can't stand the shaking anymore. The kart doesn't have rearview mirrors and it runs so loud that you have NO idea when someone is behind you, so suddenly they just zoom by you and it scares the hell out of you!! Oh well, it's a lot different and funner than those little things at Scandia/Camelot type places, because it goes sooo much faster and hugs the turns better.

I guess my cat is happy that I'm back. He brought me a "present", as some cats do, and left it on the front porch for me.... I can't tell what it is, but it's HUGE. Probably a big rat or baby possum. I don't know how he catches these things! He's 11 years old (over the kitty hill), but he's still the best hunter in the neighborhood. Also, he's skinny, so I don't know where he puts it when he eats half of it... Here it is, with my cat, to show the scale.

And here's my Winston, looking as proud as a lion....

While we're on the note of disgusting things at my house today.. When I was getting a midnight snack last night, I almost stepped on this, the biggest spider I've ever seen!!!!

Women want their men to: listen, treat them like a princess, make them feel like they are the ONLY woman in the room, make them feel beautiful, keep the faith when they lose it, chase after them, wait for them, kiss them passionately, tell them they love them, cuddle, protect them, make them feel safe...