Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
F#@%! Another ticket in CA!!!
Back on the Road Again
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Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round...aaaaaahhhhhh
Because the wind is high it blows my mind
Because the wind is high......aaaaaaaahhhh
Love is old, love is new
Love is all, love is you
Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue.......aaaaaaaahhhh
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Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Williams, CA
I stepped outside of my room this morning and I could smell the trees and roses in the cool air. We are not in Vegas anymore! Williams is a small town off of highway 5 and historical highway 99. There are no traffic lights here and although everyone keeps saying that gas is going to surpass $4 per gallon this summer, the tiny town of
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Leaving Las Vegas
I left around 10:30 this morning. Leaving is something I have not perfected even though I’ve been doing it since I was a baby, going from city to city, family to family. I hated Vegas yet some how I still managed to find things to miss. It is true that often times we find the most precious things when and where we’re least expecting.
I’m glad to be on the road again feeling the pulse of possibilities. Driving alone across the country is a therapeutic pursuit I’ve been looking forward to do since my four-month stay in BA without a car. It gives me a sense of solitude, like a long walk in the woods. I can indulge my obsessive compulsive side by listening to the same song or CD for a 20-hour road trip and not feel bad for whoever else is in the car. There is no obligation to make conversations and I am free to think anything I want without worrying about answering such questions as “what are you thinking about?” The scenery stayed pretty much the same for the first 250 miles of the trip: desert and hills full Joshua trees. By mile 550 I was getting close to
Here comes the sun, doot in doo doo, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, doot in doo doo, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Little darling, the smile's returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun,doot in doo doo, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right
Here comes the sun, doot in doo doo, here comes the sun,
It's all right
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Mocha Brownies
2 counces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee (dry)
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Coffee Frosting
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 tablespoon very hot water
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoon milk
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar, bananas, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown and almost no indentation remains when touched in the center. Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Is it really that bad?
I can fool a couple of people here and there but I can’t fool myself. At end of the day I’m still miserable and unhappy. I still hate being here.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Motivational Speech
I got my semi-annual motivational speech today from John, the CEO of Dinning Alliance, a food distribution company that caters to independent restaurants. I’ve known John since the last election. Although we rarely see each other nowadays he manages to get me all fired up about job hunting every time we talk. I remember meeting him at the Bay Front Dinner for lunch after my first trip to
When I saw John in
After talking to him today I, once again, caught onto some of the can-do spirit. I went to companies to market my bagel delivery service and actually got few people interested. But the big business John had in mind was to come up with a competitor for Edible Arrangement, a fruit franchise that opened 819 stores in four years, with a more exotic name and competitive pricing. He was convinced that there is a big market for the product and he had the numbers to back it up. Recently his company signed a contract with the growing franchise to provide them with fresh produce at 10-15% saving. And here comes the ultimate talk to get anyone off the couch: “Go checkout their website right now and request a franchise package to find out everything you can about their company. I can show you their invoice so you know exactly what they’re buying and how much. Go to the store and buy one of the arrangements. Take it apart at home and figure out how to do it. I don’t care if you have to work for them for three weeks to learn or to hire a guy right out of the store. Take the fruits to the casinos and give away bunch of them for free and tell them to call you if they’re interested.”
So I got online, looked up Edible Arrangement’s website, got in my car, drove to the nearest one, picked up a brochure and that’s pretty as far as I went. I also went to Barns & Nobles to pick up the latest edition of Entrepreneur and Start Up magazine.
Maybe when John finally retires from his successful business he should travel around to college campuses to give motivational speeches.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Joy of Baking: Snickerdoodle Cookies
My third batch of cookies. This time I made almost four dozens Snickerdoodle cookies for the guys at Access. They need to have something to look forward to for putting in the extra hours on Saturday.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
No Longer a Baking Virgin
Monday, April 7, 2008
Bagel Girls
I made dinner for Robert and Kyle tonight: salmon, pasta in tomato vodka cream sauce. The guys work for a company called Access, which builds custom display sets for trade shows and conventions. The shops open at 6am and ten-hour working days with no weekends are typical during the busy seasons. I half jokingly volunteered to make and bringing cookies for the guys on the weekend. They were thrilled. Then I remembered the story about the Bagel Man from one of my favorite books: Freakonomics.
If all great ideas have been thought already then it must be a good idea to follow them. The bagel man story initially started with a researcher in the defense department in
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Mt. Charleston
The idea of traveling somewhere, even if it’s only half hour away, makes me feel a little better inside. That’s how I know I’ve got a bad case of road fever. Besides, I miss trees and crispy cool air.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Personal Crisis
People always say that time goes by fast when you’re having fun. Well, time seems to have slipped by pretty quickly even though I’m miserable out here. I know my last blog sounded pretty bleak but I’m getting by ok. Nothing bad happened and come to think of it I really don’t have much worth complaining about. Even though I don’t have my life figured out just yet I realized something important in the last 24 hours: I have friends. I might not have money, career, or even a home but I have friends and that makes all the difference in the world.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Breaking Point
What would you do if you wake up one morning and know that life isn’t exactly where you want to be? You’re in the wrong place doing the wrong things even with the wrong people. Would you get up and leave or would you stay and try to figure things out? I can’t afford to go but I can’t afford to stay either. Most Las Vegans live here because they make a living here. I know as long as I’m in this negative feedback loop I’ll never make any money here. Even if I did, no amount of money should be able to justify the way it makes me feel. Everyone has their limit, I’m about to reach mine. Never in my life have I felt more depressed and hopeless. If I’m the kind of person who would never put up with an abusive relationship why should I let the city jerk me around like this?