I’m not dead….just sick as a dog. Won’t be back into blogging action until my temperature goes back under 100. Silly me for thinking all this action wouldn’t take a toll on the ol’ immunity system. And playing with all the little kids in the park *in all their snotting and sneezing glory* wasn’t the smartest. No worries though, after all I’ve taken on, I can surely handle a little fibre!
*pops two tylonol and crashes*.
I baby-sat my two year old niece today. For ten minutes I shook bushes covered in little white flowers over her face as she jumped up and down and giggled in glee as the sprinkles of water hit her face. I followed her around a small maze of buildings for an hour. I think that life in general for her must be somewhat comparable to what traveling is to me. Everything for her is totally new, totally foreign, totally fresh, and totally overwhelming. Is it any wonder she’s jumping up and down and giggling with glee? *I’m not sure about that word…”glee”*…In any case, THERE is a real appreciation of life.
The little yuppy town that I live in is all hills. I’m still running every day, and the uphill has become a fantastic challenge that I totally love…but the downhill is WRECKING my knees. If anyone has any tips on how to run downhill, please share!
Oregon really is beautiful. In all my infatuation with Cali, I think I have forgotten to give it the credit it deserves. In any case, I ordered my new digicam yesterday (CC took my old one back…*waves goodbye to her company perks*) and as soon as I get it I’ll try to put to use that photography class I took in college and put together a gallery for show and tell.
Buenos noches amigos…I started J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of The Rings” today (voted the book of the millennium by Border’s online customers), and I’ve only got 1,069 pages to finish before I leave for my trip….
11 Days and Counting…..
*tick, tick, tick*
This Saturday, I went out in San Fran with about ten of my college roommates to a club called 1015 Folsum (Paul Oakenfold was spinning). I think I must have been asked at least twenty times where I was from. I honestly had no idea how to answer the question and usually just shrugged and smiled with a “nowhere” or “I’m not really sure.” Of course, this was most often interpreted as a snide blowoff and more than once I caught a mumbled “bitch” under the breath of the questioning individual and he turned and walked away.
Where is my “home”? Anchorage, Alaska, where I was born? Portland, Oregon, where I was raised? Santa Clara, California where I went to school (pictured above)? Or San Diego, where I’ve been making my life for the last year and a half? I’m not really sure. When I travel, I claim Cali. It’s the best match to my personality…the beaches, the sun, the slower pace of life…and the people who love to stroll boardwalks and appreciate those things. Yup. I’m a California girl. So if I don’t get lost on some Brazilian island *and that is highly likely*, you’ll know where to find me. Just look on the beach around sunset time for the girl scribblin’ away in her journal with a pile of books on metaphysical studies and a digicam. Oh…and she’ll be smiling.
(Hey! I’m back in blog-effect! Please be patient as I dig through my inboxes and get back to questions!)
The last picture of Sol in her cubicle…compliments of RoguePinoy and Sherwin.
*shakes head in disbelief* I have only two more days in the CC office. That’s a countdown I can’t deny any longer. And while I have no issues kissin’ my cube goodbye, sayin’ so long to my team will be a whole other teary-eyed matter. God I hate goodbyes! I usually avoid them at all costs, opting to quietly slip away via the backdoor and make my excuses later. But there’s no runnin’ away from this one, not after the crazy adventure of a year and half that I’ve shared with these people. *thinks about it* Man…how lucky am I?! How did I land a job working with such talented, intelligent, creative and wonderful people? How many people have the opportunity to work with colleagues who they can get drunk with, tell to “fuck off”, dump food on, confide in or go to a strip club with? …oh yeah…and WORK *well* with also? *smiles and sighs* Since my first day at CC, I’ve been able to proudly declare without hesitation, “I love my job” — thanks to these people.
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” — Tim Cahill
*be still my heart!*
“My name is Sol…and I’m …a digitoy addict.”
Yes… Fry’s, Computer City, BestBuy…those tech stores are like Disneyland for me. And that pretty little silver thing pictured above? That’s the Creative Lab Nomad Jukebox. What is it? Only 6 gigabytes of storage built into a CD-player-size portable device that can hold over 100 HOURS (or 150 albums worth) of digital music. *heart flutters*
She’s been on my Amazon.com wish list for over six months now…since the day she hit the market. And I’ve brought the plastic out of my wallet on more than one occasion. What stopped me? One, that fatty little price tag. And two, the fact that I couldn’t find a single review on the Web about her performance. I refused to fall off the wagon for those smooth, silver curves before she’d proved her good standings.
So yesterday, I spent a few hours at BestBuy admiring her from behind her little protective glass case. “There aren’t any coupons or discounts you know of?” I pleaded with the sales kid. “Nope. Sorry…you’re S.O.L.” (sorry…that was terrible, but I just had to put it in for *really* cheap laughs) My heart sank.
So as I did my morning surfing, I wandered over to my bookmark on her Amazon reviews…and lo and behold, she’s pulling an average of 4-plus stars (out of five) on over 100 customer reviews! Not only that, but Best Buy is selling it online for almost $100 cheaper and I don’t even have to pay *or wait* for shipping, because I can just go pick it up at the store! Okay…so…solid positive reviews, 20% discount, no shipping, same-day pick-up… and it passes the sol-purchase rule (I never invest more than 50 bucks in ANYTHING that won’t fit in my car. (That way, I’m always ready to jump on my next adventure with only 24 hr. notice. ) The price is still steep, but if I sacrifice my CD collection to the local music trader for additional funds towards my purchase, it will give me that push I’m looking for to cross me over the “justification” finish line!
*slaps down the card*
My entire CD collection *and then some* is coming to Guatemala with me!!! Now I just have to wait for my e-mail confirmation telling me it’s ready to be picked up…
*bites lip and starts to drum fingers*
To be continued…
So what do you think? Should I crack down on this site and claim royalties or what? Someone also sent me an e-mail yesterday telling me that they liked all the pictures I had posted on RankMe.com…especially the bikini shots. *gasp* Just what I need, a score on a scale of 1-10 to add to my resume. Now really though…how bored do you have to be?!
*shrugs* Whatever…it’s all worth the laughs, eh? And I just simultaneously added and crossed off “Become Clip Art” to my list of things to do before I’m 25. And speaking of, someone asked me what I do with that list after my 25th birthday. Well of course, I just change the 25 to a 26! You know how some people set their clocks fifteen minutes early in order to show up everywhere on time, but they still always show up late because they just calculate back the difference every time they look at the clock? Well I’m one of those early-clock-setter people, only difference is…that trick WORKS for me. Point being, the “Before-25-List” trick works for me also. Go figure
Two encounters with mean people this week.
First, one of my New Year’s pics got kipped, photo-shopped and circulated ’round the WWW. Click on the image above to view the “solporn”. Someone in the office saw it and said, “Wow! They have digital imagery programs that remove clothes now?”. Compliments to sucky person #1 on a sweet photoshop job. We’re hiring graphic designers if you’re interested. 
Sucky person #2 jacked my car door, pulled the entire lock compartment out and then, still unable to get in, smashed my window to pieces. Okay, you suck…but I can only pity someone stupid enough to break into a car without taking a glance inside to note that there is NO stereo or, for that matter, anything of value besides my bamboo shoot necklace that I got in Costa Rica (thanks for leaving it!). *thinks about it* I’d probably be better off just leaving my doors unlocked in the future, eh?
So cheers to the sucky mean people! *laughs* I actually found the “solporn” quite humorous, and passed it along to all my friends. It’ll be a little hard explaining the capabilities of Photoshop to the padres, but they were due for a shocker anyway. And as the car damage, well that just sucks a little bit because it cuts into my travel savings, but the joke is really on you since you went through all that hard work for nothing. Next time, look inside first, or if it’s my car again…try the handle.
(image lost)
*Someone needs a PhotoShop class!*
My most sincere apologies if you came to this site by way of the hundreds of fake e-mails sent out in my name. If you check the mail headers on these e-mails, you will see that they were not actually sent from solbeam@collegeclub.com, but though fetchmail.com. It’s a very old and weak type of “hacking”. The same person has been making regular attacks on me for over a year now. I know who it is, but chose to simply ignore this person. They obviously have enough emotional and psychological problems in their life. Besides! You guys all know the difference b/t a fake and real sol-mail! Here are some member responses to the mass-fake-emails sent out:
“This is SOOO very trashy. Someone is REALLY stupid enough to think that we all believe this really came from “solbeam?” Leave her alone, and GET A LIFE!” — baylor313@collegeclub.com
“Oh hell, dude, you aren’t even doing a good job faking this anymore! Does nobody test-send themselves spoofed emails anymore? Where’s the attention to detail we demand in 14 year old boys who think they’re hackers because a friend corrected their pronunciation of “Linoox”?” –whitethunder0@collegeclub.com
“Ok, the way I see it is that you have a crush on Sol, but you’re afraid of letting her know, so you do these childish acts to get her attention, when you should really just let her know.” — CandJBF@collegeclub.com
*LOL*…Thank you ALL for your support when it comes to matters like this. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it or how good it makes me feel to know that you guys are always standing behind me when I’m under such attacks. Again, I apologize if you’ve been offended by any of the lewd content in the fake e-mails, and please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions!
Thank you all again!
sol
So I signed up to be a Yahoo! Travel Expert a couple months ago…which has been, at the very least….amusing. You wouldn’t believe how many “how do I set up my folders in e-mail” types of questions I get…but the following tops them all:
“Dear SOL! I’d like to know how is my wife.She works on Traveling ship “PARADISE” on Carneval cruise company and she didn’t call me or write me a few weeks ago. Hers crew number is:253674; Food&Beverage Department; P.O.Box#025317 Help me please,because I’m very nervous. “PARADISE” have Internet-cafe,but I don’t know theirs E-mail. Also you can try to conected with her by telephone.The numder is:1-877-225-7447 Please help me.Sincerely: GORAN “
(Goran posted this message publicly on Yahoo!, so I shouldn’t feel guilty about re-posting it here right?) In any case, should you have a travel question that does not involve contacting your spouse on a cruise ship, please hit me up! I love nothing more that to talk travel.
Pictures from our New Year’s Celebration are up! I’ve REALLY gotta run….more than anything, I want to catch the sunset on my Birthday!