Author: sychela

Categories
Dollars Nonfiction Work

Let’s get some (diversified) shoes

One of the grown-up things I’ve done this year is set up a 403b account (basically a 401k for a nonprofit). I’ve been paying into it for about 6 weeks now (I know right?) so I wanted to check it out online and see what kind of massive numbers I’ve racked up. So I called up my financial representative so she could help me set up my online sign-in.

Done and done.

She decided to walk me through some of the account. I felt pretty adult and was comprehending everything, but then she decided to explain the diversifying of funds by saying, “It’s like you’re buying several different pairs of shoes, and you want to collect as many different kinds of shoes as possible. You want a whole closet full of shoes!”

I kind of wanted to tell her she could give the shoes metaphor a rest – I mean I do admire shoes, but I don’t buy them the way other girls do (if I’m to believe other girls shop like Carrie Bradshaw).

But then she moved on to talking about the mid cap index and foreign value and other stuff, and she totally lost me, and I sort of wished she’d go back to the shopping metaphor.

Soon after that we got off the phone and I was just grateful that someone has taken the reins of my money and set me up with what will hopefully turn out to be best for me.

Here’s to a long and profitable relationship with my 403b! And to retiring at a reasonable age!

Categories
"Other people" Awesome Dreams Friends Memoir

Dinusoars

One amazing thing about the internet is that you can put yourself out there for all to see. Then they all can look at you and pass you on to their friends. Their friends can also like you and pass you on. This is all free. The internet provides great opportunities for marketing and promoting yourself. However, when it comes time to get paid for things…not so easy.

For instance, I have started submitting these “guest commentary” pieces to the Lake County Record-Bee. Fun for me, fun for my family to see those words in print, and convenient to submit online. Hopefully some people – even strangers maybe! – will read that, enjoy it, and smile. Then maybe they’ll stop by here to see what else is up. But I’m not making any money off of this, and I’m also not really concerned about tracking where this stuff ends up.

The people who post the giant, bolded “copyright” text at the bottom of all of their blog columns…it just makes me roll my eyes. If someone wants to steal something from here and post it elsewhere, well, then I’ll deal with that when it happens. Until then, I can only dream of my biggest problem being that too many people are interested in what I’m saying.

The now-infamous Jonathan Amores is, in fact, dealing with too many people liking his work. When Jonathan took his hipstamatic photo at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, he never dreamed that one day, hipsters and yuppies all over the internet would be enjoying it…teal wash and all.

Jonathan’s photo somehow made it onto Reddit, Sad and Useless, and also The Daily What. All without his knowledge or effort. Also, unfortunately, without his name attached to any of it. The glories and the pitfalls of the internet.

But I’m here to set the record straight.

PS. This is a really great photo, I totally see how it spread all over the internet. Props, jamores!

Categories
Awesome Beauty Drew Exercise Nature

Waterfall Loop, San Pedro Point

I had a busy, cool weekend.
 
First, I went and cut off a bunch of my hair. Yeah, I’ve had those “It’s REALLY short” second thoughts, but overall, I think I’m happy with it.
carnage

Last night I made stuffed bell peppers for dinner. Yum.

Today Drew and I went hiking at San Pedro Point. He assured me it wasn’t “hard,” “terrible,” or anything like that. Then halfway through he apparently recanted. The words “I think I might be dying” may or may not have been uttered.

But it was a beautiful day and a great hike. Totally worth it. Maybe next time, if it’s that warm, I won’t wear jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

At the top of the trail is a bench where you can sit and look at Pacifica and the ocean. There were three young, fit kids sitting on that bench. They noted our arrival, and then ignored us and kept passing around a pair of binoculars, while we panted behind them. Teenagers…psshh.

Then, without even having had a rest, we set off back down the other side of the mountain.

Going downhill is MUCH easier, and I talked most of the time down, about anything and everything that crossed my mind. Sometimes I think that’s why Drew takes me on these hikes – on the way up, I conserve my breath for getting oxygen to my muscles, so I can’t talk. But when the going gets easier…I don’t shut up.

Apparently this is a 2.2 mile loop, with an elevation of 200-840 feet. I think it took us a little less than an hour and a half. A totally fun and joyful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Categories
Nonfiction Writing

Treasured Whatever

If I had 15 minutes to break into a stranger’s house and ransack it, looking for valuables, I’m not sure I’d know where to start.
 
I’ve been thinking about a place to hide a large amount of money – not that I have any, but it’s part of a story I was reading, and it got my mind wandering.
 
It’s not the same thing to try to figure out the good hiding places in your own home. Because I think: sure, I could hide this treasured whatever in the box of old Babysitters Club books which is under my laundry basket. Or I could cut a hole in the bottom of the couch and stuff it up there. What about in the towel closet, on the bottom shelf, inside the Disney Monopoly box?
 
I guess I have to get a better handle on what exactly it is that I’m hiding.
 
If I had to find something hidden in my own apartment – Christmas presents, perhaps – I could probably find them, given a little time to search, and no moral compass to tell me “don’t do that.”
 
But I wonder how long it would take for me to find, say, a big stack of cash, if I had to ransack a strange apartment for it. Could I do it in 15 minutes? A half hour, even? I imagine I would start by pulling open drawers and cupboards and just sweeping things out. But how time consuming would it be to have to search through every piece of luggage? Or open every box and start pulling out old papers to check underneath them? And what about secret drawers, or false bottoms to things? Forget it; I’m never going to find that money.
 
I think I’ve stumbled on a great concept for a new reality game show! An extreme, vaguely corrupt game of Hide & Seek. We’ve hidden a duffel bag full of money somewhere in this 2-bedroom townhouse, and you’ve got 30 minutes to find it. Some people would be alarmingly skilled at this – slitting open box springs and tapping the walls for hidden compartments. But what about when the townhouse just has too much stuff? And the duffel bag is hidden somewhere between the box of childhood drawings, and the suitcase of heavy jackets that have never been unpacked because this is California and they’re not necessary here?
 
There’s a movement I’ve been hearing about: people jettison all the “things” they’ve collected in their lives, and get down to owning only 100 things. You count every single thing. One toothbrush. One laptop. One car. One pair of socks equals two things. It adds up quickly. I haven’t even tried to make a list of the 100 things I would own, because the idea of me doing this is so farfetched. I could probably limit the number of items on my desk to 100. (I said ON, not IN – let’s be clear about that.)
 
I’m not advocating breaking into and searching random homes for hidden caches of goodies. I’m also not advocating getting rid of nearly all of your worldly belongings. I’m just a 20-something girl, with a relatively small apartment that is rapidly filling up with superfluous stuff. I’m looking at two more boxes of childhood stuff from my parents house, wondering how there could possibly be any more boxes there that I’m not aware of. I mean, if I didn’t realize I didn’t have it until now, how important could it be?
 
But I’m an optimistic person so I take a deep breath. Tonight I will crack open those boxes and, surely, discover treasure.

To view this column online, click here.

Categories
Awesome Endings

April’s End

Accomplishments from this week (based on the goals I set myself):

1. Go to the gym 4 times   I’ve gone 3 times this week. I’ll go tomorrow.

2. Finish Script Frenzy  Yay!

3. I want to start tracking on Weight Watchers online again.  Well…I tracked things. But I left plenty of room for improvement next week. On purpose.

4. Finish and submit a second guest commentary thing. Topic: How hard I think it would be to actually find a hidden duffel bag full of money in a strange house. Stay tuned.

So glad that April is basically done! Tomorrow will be a nice little normal domestic day, grocery shopping and watching Weeds Season 6. Can’t wait.

Categories
"Other people" Celebrities

SPAM = Some “Person” Adores Me?

I found something even better than search terms: spam comments!

WordPress is awesome in that it filters out spam comments. And lucky it does, or I might be tempted to think some of these are real. They’re just so flattering! How can I resist? What if this comment really is from a person, they just have a weird email? And they really do like me?

Well, I think I have to get over that.

I guess you know it’s spam when it’s a generic, complimentary statement, attached to a random person’s name, and then an overly complicated web address. For example, Thalia:

Thanks Thalia. But your URL and email suggest you don’t exist. Also, I think calling my blog “exiguous” (“excessively scanty”) is not a compliment.

Or take Michael, Pamelia, and Janessa’s comments:

A better product than what exactly, Michael? And Pamelia, I’m glad you are beginning to much like my post. Janessa, I appreciate you checking with me here. But I’m sorry to say, I think all three of you might be bots.

That one might have fooled me, if it wasn’t from someone named “Subscriptions.”

This one is suspiciously like what Michael had to say:

There’s P90X Home Fitness:

And then there’s…Christian Louboutin.

Jeez, relax, Christian.

So I accept that these are not real comments, and are tools (but to do what, exactly? I’m not sure I understand the point of any of this. Am I supposed to click on the addresses, and then they can advertise to me or something?) – but I might just save this one, because it’s nice and not too generic, and there aren’t any egregious misspellings so I can pretend it’s from a human being:

Thanks, Forex Investment!

Categories
Exercise Family Memoir Religion Sentiment

Post-Easter Resolutions

I was home this weekend for Easter. The last thing I had to accomplish in April (not counting Script Frenzy, which is almost over, and anyway I can do it from my couch in pajamas).

A great weekend home, including a 6 am sunrise church service: although I balked at it last week as it became imminent, I figured I owed it to my-3-years-ago-self, who was, in another dimension of time, stuck in New York, doing 2 shows on Easter Sunday, and wishing she could be at her family’s church.

So, there was church, there was playing with cats, there was dinner with family, there was much driving.

But now life is “back to normal” and it feels so good. We went to bed at 10:15 last night.

In honor of being back to normal, I have set myself these goals for this week. (And if I make it public then I will have to follow through on them.)

1. Go to the gym 4 times – I’m trying out this Couch to 5K thing, and today I finished my first week (which is actually the third week of the program). So I would like to complete another week, this week.

2. Finish Script Frenzy – I have 26 pages (and one major plot twist) to go.

3. I want to start tracking on Weight Watchers online again. I’ve been half-heartedly tracking things, and then giving up mid-afternoon. So this week, I will track every single thing that happens. I mean, I pay the $18/month for the thing, I should use it, right?

4. Finish and submit a second guest commentary thing. Topic: ?

Totes do-able.

Categories
Being a girl Dollars Drew Friends Nonfiction

Cute shoes; good husband

Recently my BFF Megan was visiting California from her now-hometown of Washington, DC. Megan and I have a complicated history (not bad, just detailed): we were dorm roommates our first year at UC Davis, the only two English majors in a building filled with 70 computer science, physics, math, biology, and engineering students.

We lost touch after that, and while I was doing theatre stuff and moving to New York, she was going to law school and spending time in Africa. In the winter of 08/09 she wrote a Facebook note about Prop 8 and I read it, and realized that the Megan I remembered had changed a lot. She talked about being on the “No on 8” side of a protest and looking across at the people on the “Yes on 8” side. It was a very personal, fascinating note. And very long. I emailed her a response regarding the religious implications of Prop 8 – and then didn’t hear anything for a couple months.

When she wrote back, we started talking again, and shortly after that Drew and I got engaged. Then Megan said she’d be coming to New York (from Sacramento) for a visit and we should get together. I was nervous (maybe she was too) but it ended up being the greatest idea ever. We started out at Vynl on 9th Avenue for dinner and drinks, and ended up at Juniors for cosmos and cheesecake.

She moved to New York and we spent the summer of 09 walking around Manhattan, presumably for exercise, but it often included lots of gossip, girltalk, and ended with shopping, either for groceries at a chic store (no ghetto Key Foods here) or for clothes…more often for clothes.

So when Megan came out for a visit this month, we had to shop. And shop we did. The week before she came, I told Drew I didn’t have extra money this month for things like lunches out and buying shoes. He said (and I quote), “Please promise me you’ll use credit cards so you can have a good time with her. Just use them responsibly.”

It turns out we may have different definitions of “responsible” credit card use – this became apparent when I came through the door on Friday loaded down with shopping bags. “They’re not all mine!” I said before he could say anything.

But I needed everything I bought. The work clothes – for work! – I mean, I only had so much stuff I could wear to work without feeling shamed. And with summer coming on I definitely needed some warm weather clothes. And the Bare Escentuals stuff – I mean, come on, I had been saying for weeks that I wanted to buy moisturizer and eye shadow. So that’s all fair. And the shoes? Well, the flat sandals are obvious, I’ll wear them all the time when it’s warm enough. The platform heels? I love them! Where will I wear them? I’ll figure it out.

At some point during the day, when I was throwing down my credit card yet again, I did stop to think that maybe this wasn’t what he had in mind by “use them responsibly.” Maybe he meant to say “sparingly.” Oh well.

That he didn’t even give me a hard time about any of this is a testament to how nice he is. I mean, ultimately I was still medium-responsible. And the weekend was so fun that it was totally worth it. But I am grateful that he didn’t grill me about my purchase choices or the final cost of the weekend…he’s a nice guy. So here’s to Drew! And to his understanding nature, and his strong sense of the importance of friendship.

And seriously, these shoes are so cute.

Categories
Nonfiction

Letting my Id out

On Friday morning I stopped to get gas on the way to work, and while I was waiting I trimmed my nails. It was earlier than usual so I didn’t have time to do it at home, but they were getting grossly long so I wanted to take care of them immediately. I was standing outside my car so I just let all the clippings fall on the ground. It felt very free, very primal. That’s how life should be – not collecting them in a paper towel, or trying to get them all into the sink. I think later I’ll go outside and clip my toenails too.

Categories
Memoir Sentiment

Search term showdown

I’ve been keeping an eye lately on my WordPress “search terms” – one of my favorite things about WordPress is the stats page, and I love that they tell you what people Googled (or Yahooed or Binged or whatever) to get to you.  I actually really dig the fact that a lot of my search terms are “cameraphone diaries.”  But some of the others are perplexing, or just plain amusing.

go to church – Well, I did at one point talk about wanting to go back to church. So okay.

gerchanovsky motorola – One of my proudest ones! I knew that if I was confused why “Gerchanovsky” showed up in my predictive texts, other people would be too. And I figured that if I Googled it, other people would too. So I just took advantage of that.

what the easiest temple to draw – I did crayon drawings of the sets of Aida after I saw it at the SF Opera…

miss america 2011 michael jackson ballet – Ditto writing a post on the Miss America competition this year

miss america 2011 irish dancing talent – See above

establishing windows and walls in a relationship – I am also so proud of this one! This was actually a post about the concept (and sagacity) of establishing windows and walls in a relationship. I love the idea that someone was actually searching for info about this, and I was able to provide said info.

what do you give a male actor on opening night of a show – I might have been helpful here, I might not have. Maybe they stole my whole pencil/pen/highlighter idea (which I also stole from someone).

“dead seagull prop” – I understand why they would find me; I just am curious why they were Googling this.

list of all justin beiber songs including the ones from when he was younger – Taking advantage of all the tweens Googling “justin beiber” and clicking on every link possible. As I recall I just mentioned offhandedly how, when I was subbing, I heard a lot of Justin Beiber songs.

why could i be be bruising – No idea

charlie sheen winning – I just wanted someone to Google this and find me. #jumpingonthebandwagon

i call the police due to aggressive nature of my handicapped client – This made me laugh out loud. Then I realized how many of my search terms include the word “aggressive,” thanks to my “be aggressive” post.

girl family undeveloped xhamster – No idea

i go to the bathroom frequently how will this work for jury duty – Also made me LOL. I don’t think I helped them out at all, but I wish them luck. And also one of those bags you wear at sporting events so you don’t have to get up to the bathroom.