Archives for posts with tag: Shayna

My Day Off

March 16, 10 //
0

It’s late in the afternoon and I’m waiting for Shayna to arrive. She’s been having trouble with her car today: it keeps over-heating because the coolant is low. Her latest tweet tells me that she’s still re-filling the coolant at a Wal-Mart in South San Jose. I may have to pick her up. I may not. She’s pretty stubborn sometimes and won’t accept my help or advice until all other possibilities are exhausted. I’m hoping she resolves the coolant issue soon.

[Omitted: work stuff]

Yesterday was a great day [omitted: minor details]. The weather was clear & warm. The internet told me that temperatures would be in the seventies. I decided to go for a ride and ended up biking to the light rail station and taking it downtown. From there I went to the Santa Clara courthouse to find out about my ticket, as I have yet to receive a courtesy notice in the mail. The courthouse guy wasn’t that helpful, but that’s okay. I blame the system, not him. From the courthouse I went to the Falafel Drive-In on Stevens Creek for a delicious falafel-pita-and-banana-shake combo. Re-fueled, it was back to downtown to catch the lightrail to Shayna’s place. Once there, she and I lounged around in the sun like it was July. I love that her grandmother lives in a housing complex that has a pool. Shayna had to leave for work, so we said our goodbyes. On the way to the

[Note: I really have no idea why I stopped writing mid-sentence. I may have been distracted at the time.]

Valentine’s Day

February 16, 10 //
0

Even though Saturday wasn’t that great, Sunday made up for it. Shayna and I went to t spend the day in Berkeley. It’s beautiful. She showed me around campus and we got to see a bit of the city too. Though we drove up from San Jose, most of our actual exploring was by bus or foot. Despite the hills it is a very walkable city.

Berkeley has a very different feel from that of the South Bay. I can’t quite pin down what in particular, though. San Jose has its share of colleges, hippies, swanky yuppie places, etc., but Berkeley just seemed more… vibrant. The surrounding landscape is a bit different too, which may contribute to the sense of otherness I get from it. The air is more fresh there because it is closer to the water. This proximity to the Bay also translates to more foliage.

A complete list of all the places and things that Shayna brought me to would be too long for this entry. Some highlights include the dinosaurs at the VLSB, a really cool bench by the belltower, her old apartment building, the Jitensha Bicycle Studio, and the Free Speech Cafe on campus.

The things we ate that day were also worth mentioning. For lunch we went to Barney’s on Solano Ave. There I had the best turkey burger of my life, and also got to try a very solid BLT. Shayna approved of both. Later on Shayna took me to Smart Alec’s where we split their roasted turkey sandwich with fries and a bowl of chowder. The sandwich was good, but the bread on which it was made stole the show. It’s very chewy and filling. The soup was thick and flavorful, and I was surprised to find out it was completely vegan. And those fries! I don’t know what air-baking is, but it makes the fries delicious.

At the end of the day Shayna and I retired to a nice hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express in Fremont. It was nice to have a place to ourselves without regard to nosy neighbors, grandparents, etc. We got to relax and unwind a bit before going to sleep. I’m really glad she took me to Berkeley. It was easliy the best V-Day I’ve had.

It was a good day

February 15, 10 //
0




It was a good day

Originally uploaded by keynell4


Solitary Saturday

February 6, 10 //
0

Today was one of my best solitary Saturdays that I’ve had in a good long while. Shayna was with her friends at Lake Tahoe today, leaving me to fend for myself. I didn’t mind too much. It would have been nice to join her in the snow, but I had something to keep me here: class! After a week of striking out at each COMM 20 class I was finally able to join a section that wasn’t full. The fact that this session meets for three hours each Saturday morning probably has a lot do with my ability to enroll. When I showed up this morning there were only five students attending!

The class itself seemed to go well enough. The professor is very actie and engaging, and appears passionate about the subject (or at least as passionate as one can bee on a Saturday morning). The students, on the other hand, were all very quiet. Granted, two of them don’t speak English natively, so that’s understandable, but the other two don’t share that circumstance. I feel as if I was the most outspoken person in the group, a first for me. Normally I’m content to sit there and absorb the lecture.

One of the students, Jim, does seem to me more energetic [addition: moreso than the others], just not used to being as interactive. In our exercise today he revealed that he’s in the ROTC program for the Air Force and looking to work in “Air Battle Management.” He comes off as a nice enough guy, but I’m reading right-ish political vibes from him.

Another guy, Jeff, is also interesting. He’s an engineer, but is disillusioned with his profession. He’s also a cyclist, which i thought was cool, but he rides for one-hundred miles at a time, which means he’s probably a spandex person. He also seems to be very straightforward and serious. I’m concerned that we won’t get along and that he thinks I’m some kind of wannabe hippie (which isn’t untrue).

After class I biked down to Shayna’s grandmother’s house to pick up the fram pump that I had forgotten to bring back the other night. Her grandmother saw me on the porch and invited me in. We had tea together and pleasant conversation. I like that Shayna’s family and I get along. I’m not used to being even remotely lose to a family that isn’t my own.

When Shayna’s grandmother left I headed back downtown to a bike shop [specifically: Bicycle Express] to have my bar tape replaced. The work was to take a while, so I bummed around downtown an ended up meeting a nice guy by the name of Milton. He was waiting for his date, Mark, who was running a little bit late, so Milton and I hung out for a bit before Mark arrivd. What I remember about Milton: He lives in Palo Alto, is frustrated with the “underground, subcultural” natre of the gay dating scene in the South Bay. He was pursuing an academic career in literature and likes to ride around in his ‘84 Miyata road bike. He also hates overly commercial places that conflict with local traditional aesthetics [note: I think I've got a picture of the place on my phone]. His date, Mark, is originally from Ottowa. I didn’t get to speak with him much, but Milton seemed fond of him. They met on Craigslist and neither of them are sketchy. Perhaps this will be some kind of internet dating success story.

There was some kind of civil rights thing going on at the library that I caught the tail end of. Before they all left to march I got a few pictures in.

The ride home was beautiful. The hills were green and splashed with just enough sunlight from the patchy sky. Everything was so pretty that I had to stop a few times just to take it all in. I tried to take a few pictures with my phone, but they never turn out well. Next time I’ll bring my nice camera along.

Job Prospects

January 23, 10 //
0

The time that I don’t spend writing is the time when a ton of things happen in my life. I guess that it’s hard to sit down and document everything when you’re busy. The last few days have been ehctice. I went back to work on Wednesday. Even though I’d been gone for three workdays it was like nothing had changed. My desk was mostly untouched; piles of neglected paperwork still stood tall next to the overstuffed bin full of even more paperwork. I hate paperwork. Brigitte was still her frantic and take-charge self. Betty was still chatty, and the rest of the team was still ridiculous.

I called [omitted: a non-profit organization] about their Craigslist ad and they called me back the next day. I went to an interview on Thursday and apparently it went well because they want me to come & canvas for them. I’m really quite tempted. I’d be able to work better hours, commute to San Jose on my bike, and work for something that I care about. On the other hand I’d make less money, have no health insurance for three months, and have very little job security. But I’d be doing something good, something right. Do I do what’s best or do I hunker down & continue working for the Man? Lame. I feel like such a yuppie. Well, a yuppie who lives in the suburbs with slight hippieish tendencies. I dunno.

On Thursday I got to ride my bike for the first time in a week. I took it to work that morning and brought it with me on the VTA for the interview downtown. Even though it was still raining a bit I enjoyed being outside. People weren’t meant to be in buildings all day.

Shayna spent the night last night. We had a couple of beers together. Hadn’t really done that since before she got sick in September. I’d forgotten what it is like to have a nice buzz.

[A sizeable chunk has been omitted here, as it pertains to unpublishable things.]

Right now Serita and her friends are out in San Francisco dancing their hearts out at Temple. I had the opportunity to go but passed it over. I don’t think that my body would’ve been up to it at that point. Part of me is regretting the decision to stay, but it’s best. I miss hanging out with Serita & Company, though.