Today while driving home I was checkin' out a couple o' dudes in their Honda S2000 (I was being discreet ... I think). And I think they were staring back! It's probably because they're mad jealous of my mad teeny-bop pop-song lip-sync skillz. Holla!

It rained HARD today, with scary thunder and lightning to boot. Eddy and I got thoroughly soaked after making a mad 4-second dash to the car after brunch, having to brave bad traffic and make my car swim through rivers made my commute to work 3 times longer than usual, 2 patients either cancelled or just didn't show up ...

Just kind of a gloomy, Eeyore-ish day.

It's nice to know that I can call my brother at 1am (2am his time) to ask about my dad's dress shirt size. It's also nice to know that he's always up for chatting with me even if it takes 'til 2am (3am his time). He says he's getting a new and improved picture posted up sometime - 'bout time, yo!

I'm a bad fishsitter. Today I came home and couldn't tell if one of them was just hovering at the surface or dead (frantic knocking on the glass proved it was alive - phew!), and there's one that's starting to swim lopsided cuz he's getting all bloated. I wish they could talk (or in this case, scream) and tell me what I'm doing wrong. On the bright side, the houseplants are still [mostly] alive.

Finally, pics are up from my epic 28-mi (45-km) bicycle ride with Mahesh, Ivonne, and Cynthia. The event was aptly named the Tour De Doughnut, as Krispy Kreme was one of the sponsors, and for every doughnut eaten, 5 minutes was credited towards your race time.

I finished the race, and wasn't last place! Just 7th from last! 16th from last if you count my doughnut credits! Yay!! ~does the Caroline dance~ [ results ]

This was definitely a big personal accomplishment for me, and it reminded me how much I loved just pedalling around. It inspired me to ride my bike to work ... once ... but then it got cold and it's scary to ride home at night, so I haven't done it since.

OK. What's so fun about spending hours making great-tasting but ugly-looking cookies? Oh wait, I know - it's when after countless hours of trial and error, you finally figure out how to make great-tasting AND pretty cookies. (Sorry, no pics, cookies were too ugly for the web.)

I also managed to burn coconut today. It was simply supposed to be "toasted". Instead, I apparently set the toaster oven to "smokin'" and ruined the batch. Yargh!!!

This had better get fun like real soon. At least I get to groove along to Frank Sinatra while being a public menace to cookies and coconut flakes.

I had a conversation with friend the other day about the kissing-when-the-clock-strikes-twelve tradition at New Year's.

I thought about this, and it amazes me to say that I don't think I've ever actually kissed anyone - on the lips - at New Year's. I haven't been avoiding it, but circumstances just haven't been quite right. Last year while living at home, my parents had me on 11pm-curfew-lockdown, so there was no way I was at any parties, and of course wasn't around the bf ... the year before I was in China, probably just drinkin' and partyin', and may have kissed some people on the cheek? ... The year before that I was either in Japan or China ... years before that, either in CA or TX, and I don't remember ever being around the bf when the ball dropped ... and before that, I probably thought boys were either big brother material or just plain gross ...

Yeah, I think most of my New Year's with family have been spent sitting in front of the tube watching the ball drop in NYC, then in Houston, and then we're all tired and go to bed. Yah, really exciting.

Not that I'm complaining about not having someone to kiss at New Year's! Kissing the one you love should be an everyday special event. OK, everyone can go vomit now.

Hmm. Must be nice to be tall.

Random events of the day: after work (and after asking for a pic with the friendly neighborhood repair guy on stilts) , I decided to drag my mildly depressed butt out to do some holiday preparations. I wanted to bake some cookies, but couldn't find a mixer in the house anywhere. I knew exactly where to gank one though -

Chef Hugh's place.

I've been housesitting for my homeboy Hugh (Mr. Stirfry himself), and since he's a chef, I figured he ought to have one. I raided his kitchen, looking high and low. "Darn you Hugh, hundreds of kitchen gadgets but NO MIXER?!" I cursed under my breath.

After about half an hour though I struck gold and found the monster. I didn't even know how to turn the thing on at first - this ain't no regular household mixer. This is some industrial-strength shit, yo.

And today I busted up my 2nd dozen eggs. I'm such a klutz. The first dozen were dropped a few months ago while unloading from car to kitchen. Today I went from 50mph to 0mph in 1sec and the eggs sitting in the backseat didn't like that.

Anyhoo ... time to try mixin' up my first batch o' cookie dough. Here goes!

A few days ago, Violeta came over to shoot some footage for a short film on acupuncture she was doing as an extra credit assignment for a class. Viet and Eddy came along as needle fodder and as ghetto lighting assistants. I was offered a raincheck on more of Viet's specialty martinis as remuneration. Hey, will do acupuncture for free drinks! (Drinking and acupuncture not done simultaneously, of course!) [ taking close-up pics with special lighting ] [ goofing around ]

Oh yes, and I just got a new haircut. Most people think it's absolutely fab, but I think it's just so-so. Hmm. I'll get used to it in time, I'm sure.

I pretty much hate watching TV, but while I'm eating my late dinner, I sometimes turn on ye ol' cathode ray tube to see what's on. I watched some Disney sitcoms for a bit, which were surprisingly amusing. (But then again, I do have the appearance and intellect sometimes of a seven-year-old, so perhaps this shouldn't have been a surprise.) Flipped channels some more, figuring I should try to watch some "grown-up" TV, and among other things, happened upon Howard Stern. He was interviewing these 2 Penthouse playmates and asking in-depth questions to one of them about her multiple rape experiences from her past. And they were making fun of her and trying to be funny about it all.

That pretty much made me wanna vomit, so off went the TV, and here I am.  

Had the privilege of watching the St. Lawrence String Quartet with Todd Palmer perform at Rice University's Stude Concert Hall.

I snickered before the 3rd piece about something in the program:
"Huh huh, Carol, look, it says 'Todd Palmer, Clarinets'. That's gotta be a typo, right? I mean, what's he gonna do, play TWO clarinets?"

I was so wrong. It wasn't a typo. And he played FIVE clarinets! It was amazing. Wish I had a picture ...

We did get to go backstage and mingle briefly with the members of SLSQ and Todd Palmer. I knew I could count on Geoff to help me out with a good goofy pic. (L-R in both pics: Lesley Roberston, viola; me; Chris Costanza, cello; Geoff Nutall, violin; Todd Palmer, clarinetS [front]; Barry Shiffman, violin; Carol, violin )

Big shoutout to Eric for the classical music hookup - yet again!

Had dinner with a friend whom I hadn't seen in awhile and caught up on life.

Before we parted ways, she said that I wasn't myself anymore, that I wasn't laughing as much as before, that it was as if I was growing up.

Trust me, if this is what growing up is about, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't.

Today's a day where I finally feel like crying.

Damn my melodramatic journal posts.