still kind of stunned that michael jackson is actually gone...i'd say he's the first major celebrity that i grew up admiring as a kid who's died. maybe a couple other actors...but no one as big or that i really loved. and no, i wasn't a huge fan, but he was definitely one of the first singers i remember as being a favorite, especially when the thriller album came out. and regardless of what i thought of him as i got older and he got...weirder...there's no doubt he was immensely talented, and i still feel good when i hear some of his older music. with all the hoopla surrounding him as a person, it's easy to forget how good that music was. i just hope that that's what he'll be remembered for. i was a little saddened when i went to cnn and saw they had a video of him dangling the baby right there along with all the nicer videos of him singing or people saying nice things about him...

anyway, it's a strange thing whenever someone passes so suddenly. i wish he had gotten the chance to perform his last concerts. posted at 6:56 PM | 0 comments

so i am going to new york after all...and i am happy about getting away now - it'll be good. i just hope i don't get completely worn out while i'm over there.

anyway...i was wondering, is there a polite way to tell someone that their makeup looks horrible? when i was at my cousin's bridal shower, her makeup kinda made me go "yikes!" - but i thought it was just because i'm not used to seeing her in makeup. she's usually very natural, but it was quite heavy that day. but i was looking at her pictures from the shower today and...well, "yikes!" - she looks terrible. i don't know if someone did that to her or if that was her creation...i just hope someone else does her makeup on her wedding day. if my makeup looked terrible, i think i would want someone close to me to tell me. i just don't know how to tell her - or if she would even want to know. posted at 11:34 PM | 0 comments

feeling kinda bummed out right now...i had planned to take a week off from work because a cousin was coming into town and i thought we could just hang out and do stuff around here. but now i find out that she's not coming here after all - she's going to NY instead. and she arrives in less than 2 weeks, so i don't even know if i'll find a cheap ticket to fly out there. i know i normally do that (she comes for a week every summer), but i was so looking forward to her coming here instead this time. maybe if she had decided a few weeks ago, i would have kept an eye out for ticket sales...*sigh*...i don't even feel in the mood to go there really. i had planned all the stuff we could do here! and it's so much more relaxing here! i do need a break from work though, desperately. do i still take that week off and just hang out at home alone??? i really don't know...i'm just so disappointed because i've been practically counting down the days. and now everything's just up in the air...it sucks. posted at 10:28 PM | 0 comments

the saga continues....so those people who were visiting left town sunday, and the younger psycho cousin called my mom today and started talking shit about them as though she had done nothing wrong. she said they banged her car into a pole and didn't tell her - and that she has to pay $2000 to get it fixed. (never mind the fact that she willingly let them borrow her car, even though they are from india and not familiar with the area. and she's the one who told them to take her car all the way to monterey.) then she said something about them being bad parents and how people like that don't deserve to have kids (but people like her do?). oh, and she said that her sister had made lunch for 10 people on saturday and intended to invite my mom over as well so that's why she didn't want them to leave (uh-huh...that sure explains calling my mom a whore). my mom just kept quiet and pretended they hadn't said anything to her...

now, we don't know the visitors too well, but they had no reason at all to lie to my mom or make all that stuff up...so i'm inclined to believe them. and yes, maybe they did put a dent in her car - shit happens. i doubt they even realized how big a deal it was and how much it costs to get cars fixed here. anyway...whatever. i just think it's funny how she called and tried to act like she was the good guy and they were the bad guys... posted at 7:12 PM | 0 comments

i don't understand why middle-aged indian women wear fancy saris to bridal showers held in the afternoon. i also don't understand why younger indian women wear 4-inch heels and slutty dresses and heavy (night time) makeup to those bridal showers - i mean, really. it's not like anyone there is going to be interested in seeing their stuff. i wore jeans and hardly any makeup - fuck it. anyway, it was short and relatively painless, though kind of boring. i really don't like going to these things...i'm just happy my cousin liked my gift. and no, it was not the type of gift that would cause any embarrassment. she had enough of those types of gifts from other people.

anyway, in news on the other side of my family, the crazy cousins are at it again (see here and here for some backstory). some family members were visiting from india and decided to stay with the younger of the two cousins. and she ended up basically ruining the few days they were here. they wanted to visit my mom on saturday, and she flipped out and literally tried to block them from exiting her house. she refused to give them any information on where she lived (even the closest freeway exit) because she didn't want my mom "anywhere in the vicinity" of her house. she started to use foul language (called my mom a whore, which is fucking ridiculous considering 1) my mom has only had sex with one man and 2) it is common knowledge that her mom slept around with younger men while married). she hit her husband when he told her she had crossed the line and offered to give them a ride so that they could leave. luckily, he is significantly larger than she is and was able to get them out of there. they even left some of their luggage behind and didn't want to go back in that house to try to find it. i feel so sorry for them...might have expected this type of behavior from the older of the two sisters, but i guess the younger one also has the psycho bitch gene... posted at 11:33 PM | 1 comments

i am getting less channels today (after re-scanning) than i was yesterday. good job on the transition, america! posted at 10:58 AM | 0 comments

i didn't get much accomplished today. (do i ever?) i did finally hook up my new bedroom tv though - mostly because i didn't want to be stuck without tv in my bedroom after midnight tonight. the thing that annoys me about digitial is that either you get the channel or you don't. it's not like before when some channels would be a little fuzzy but still watchable. oh, and i also hate having to put in the ".1" after the channel. i'm hoping i won't have to do that after midnight? or is that .1 an HD thing? i have no idea...but shouldn't there be a way to have it automatically go to the HD thing if you have HDTV?

anyway, on the bright side, the channels that do come through are much clearer than they were on my old tv. and this tv's bigger, which is nice. posted at 5:38 PM | 0 comments

taking tomorrow off...needed a break. 2-day weekends just aren't enough.

my cousin's bridal shower is on saturday. i'm kind of annoyed because apparently it is mostly her mother's friends and family that are coming. poor thing - not only does she pretty much have to give up control of her wedding (when and where it is held, who is invited, the music, etc.), she doesn't even get to have her own bridal shower done her way? i guess it's just the way she is - doesn't want to cause any friction. but whenever i talk to her, she makes little remarks like "it's not my wedding" - she says that because her parents are paying for it, she has to let them do what they want to do. i really don't get it...i blame her mom - i feel like she's making everything all about herself. there's a part of me that feels like she is gloating that her daughter is the first (of the three of us who grew up together) to get married. she's the competitive type - always like to one-up other family members.

anyway, someone was asking her mom about the bridal shower and she said "everyone needs to bring their own gift, you can't just give one gift from each family" - what kind of made-up bullshit is that??? i am sure that if she's ever gone to a bridal shower with her daughter, she would have only given one gift between from the two of them. she's one of the cheapest people i know!! she's just trying to get more gifts for her daughter. and anyway, it's not unheard of for 2 or 3 people to chip in and buy a nice gift together if they can't afford it on their own. i am wondering why i spent as much as i did - have to remind myself that it's for my cousin, not for her mom.

now that i'm thinking about it, i'm all stressed about what to wear. i have that problem often. i'm sure most people there will be wearing nice dresses/skirts. indians are so damn formal. i want to wear jeans. can i just play dumb and go "oh, i thought this was going to be a casual bridal shower?" posted at 10:22 PM | 0 comments