i hate this town

This weekend, I was going to move into my aunt's apartment in Pasadena while she's out traveling. She told me I was going to need a parking permit to park my car on the street, since her car will stay in her spot at the complex. I said, OK, not a problem. So I look up on how to get a parking permit, and this is what I come across:

1. I can't get an annual permit because my car is not registered to my aunt's apartment, and I'm not going to change the address on it since I'd only be there for a few months.

2. In order to get a monthly permit, I have to not only bring in my car registration, but also my aunt's and her roomate's.

3. I have to take time off work to put in the application because their office doesn't open on weekends.

4. Because my car is registered to my father and not to me, I have to get a letter from him saying that his daughter is authorized to drive his car.

5. After I bring in my application with all the paperwork, the Department of Transportation will investigate me to make sure there's no paid parking available in my complex or within 600 feet of the apartment, or that I'm not using my garage for storage or some shit like that.

6. And then I have to go to their office again the next month to renew the temporary permit.

This is enough to make my hair fall out. I think I'll try and move my aunt's car to my grandma's house so I can use her space.

my napkin collection

I was cleaning out my closet and found a binder full of theme park/logo'd napkins I used to collect. There were piles of this stuff with a lot of duplicates. I was throwing them out and decided to take a picture out of nostalgia. They're now stuffed in the side pockets of my car, to be used at my leisure.

too close to home

My brother, of all people, turned me on to the awesomeness of Avenue Q's soundtrack. This song in particular hits far too close to home.

What do you do with a B.A. in English?
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge
Have earned me this useless degree.

I can't pay the bills yet,
'Cause I have no skills yet.
The world is a big scary place.

But somehow I can't shake
The feeling I might make
A difference to the human race.

- Avenue Q - "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?"

I'm not (that) bitter though. Knowing me, I would never have believed it during college.

P.S. I just found out Avenue Q is on tour in LA right now. I am so there.

san diego vacation pictures

These are some highlights from my family reunion in August in San Diego. We rented an oceanfront house in Coronado, with a view of downtown San Diego.

Gorgeous, ain't it?

It has a cute yard that goes down to the water. This photo shows part of the house, the grayish 1-story building in the front. The white Spanish-looking house is the next door neighbor's. Our house is the oldest on the block and looks like it hasn't changed since it was built in the 40's (the inside too).

We left some dog poop in the bushes.

I took this one from the owner's picasa album. It shows the full yard better.

I love this half indoor, half outdoor fountain/aquarium (also owner's photo). When I have my own house, I am totally installing one of these (but with a better design). It was sadly empty when we were there, and we didn't want to fill it up and make someone clean it since we were only there a few days.

This one below is a picture (owner's) of the living room. It's spacious and we spent a lot of time sitting around here and just chatting.

My immediate family, with our 11-year-old Bichon named Jolly and my brother's new kitten named Tassadar (after a character from StarCraft).

My brother and I are standing on opposite sides because the kitty and the dog don't get along.

And here we have the whole family portrait.

downtown san diego at night

A preview from our family reunion in August. More later.