bah!

i want to blog so bad, but i'm running out time at this cafe!!! one thing... french people seem to know i'm korean.

An observation and an update

Why is it that Koreans put all the hot stuff in metal containers, and then give you metal chopsticks... ?  On the flip side, you can reuse metal chopsticks and they're easier to handle than those giant plastic ones. 

...

A week or so ago I was invited to join my friend Noah for a night of Jericho in the city.  Jericho is an urban street game where you run around shooting dart guns at each other and is sort of like capture the flag...but then it's not really anything like capture the flag...  Sooo fun though!!  I highly recommend it.

In between Jericho and my vacation, I've gotten to spend some nice time with Michael, go to an outdoor theatre production in Lodi with the lovely Kara, celebrate the high school graduation of my friend Jennifer, enjoy a great hike with Sky, and share a perfect Irish coffee with Gabriella.  Josh and I have also spent some time together since his return from Taiwan (yes, we're friends). 

...and then there's the webisodes... so, I thought I was cast as a comedy/action star in what would be an attempt at a youtube series modeled after some of the work by Freddie Wong.  It sounded like it'd be really fun stuff, but when we got "on set", it seemed more like a simple take on a cop series, and quickly evolved into something similar to "The Office".  But with cops.  And really low production quality.  And no action.  We did manage to pull off some alright comedy though because, as things evolved, the cast abandoned the script which turned out to be the best decision ever.  I did direct a push that I think is funny, but I'm not really proud to know that these videos are out there for the world to view.  I met some great people working on the project though.

... and off to Europe i go ... :)

I can't sleep.

Work has been extremely stressful the last couple weeks and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by my upcoming trip.  I've also been working on some amateur webisodes that have been time consuming and also stressful... not to mention attempting to maintain my crazy social life that seems to be growing exponentially these days.  Life has definitely been exciting, but ... I just want to sleep. 

Some highlights in the last couple weeks that weren't stressful include the Soul House party, Seussical the Musical (FANTASTIC SHOW!!), Stern Grove, soccer :), Nik's burlesque show, and I got to catch up with Maureen and Dave and meet their beautiful daughter Lily.  :)  Yay! 

...it's weird because (weird?) part of me feels like I can't sleep right now due to feelings of anxiety about not being able to sleep in Europe... (is that ridiculous?) 

Okay, off to count more sheep...

The story of Lewis

*photo of Matt, taken by me in West Oakland.

I pulled into the gate as the spotlight from the ghetto bird (helicopter) went right through our yard... "They must be close," I thought and went inside to find a young black man standing in our living room seeming frantic.  "Just listen to me!  Just listen to me for like 5 minutes...!!!" he was saying to someone in the room.  I thought we were being robbed; and, I tend to think I'm much bigger than I am so I was about to tell him to get the f*** out of my house when I heard Matt say, "...okay."   

"Oh, he's with Matt," I thought, which meant he's okay; so, I went upstairs to put my stuff away.

A few minutes later, I came downstairs with a bunch of key chains from my temp job.  I walked into the living room and Matt introduced me to Lewis.

"Kristen, this is Lewis." he said. 

Matt was eating spaghetti and he and Lewis were both sitting on the couch.  I said, "Hello," to Lewis and offered him a key chain. He took one and so did Matt, and then Matt started telling me about his day.  Matt said something like, "I was riding down California Street, and... oh, (to Lewis) I'm a bike messenger... and then, you know how in Colorado... oh, (to Lewis) we're from Colorado... ". It became clear pretty fast that Lewis didn't know much about Matt. 

A few minutes later our roommate, Aaron, came home.  Matt introduced Aaron to Lewis, and Aaron offered Lewis a beer.  Lewis said he was good, so Aaron grabbed himself a beer and sat down with us. 

Calvin (the Chinese guy who was always working on our house) was somewhere repeatedly yelling for Andy.  (Andy was a Brazilian guy who lived with us and who also did a lot of work on the house.) "[heavy Chinese accent] Andy! Andyyyy!" "Does Calvin know that Andy isn't home...?" I asked.  "Heh, apparently not." Matt said, and went into the kitchen. 

"So, how do you know Matt?" I asked Lewis.  "Oh, my brother lives in this neighborhood," he said, "and I was hanging out outside waiting for him to get home when Matt pulled up on his bike.  We were talking for a while...and then Matt said I could come in and hang out until my brother gets home." 

Matt would totally do that.  

Lewis said he was from Sacramento and was just down visiting for a couple of days. He seemed like a nice guy. 

Finally, Calvin stopped yelling and came inside.  "Andy not here.  We have no power.  I call for Andy, but Andy not here..."  I liked Calvin.  He spoke broken English on repeat and brought snacks for us that his wife would make.  I was told he'd always say, "make sure the girl gets some".  I walked Calvin to the door and waited to click him and his van out of the gate. 

Lewis came to the door and said he needed to leave too.  So soon?  He walked into the yard toward the door in the gate and wanted me to lock it behind him.  I told him I thought it would be okay, but Lewis seemed to disagree and grabbed Calvin and asked him to lock the gate behind him.  Calvin locked the gate behind Lewis and then got into his van.  I clicked Calvin out of the gate and went back inside.

When I sat down, Matt looked at me and said, "So, Lewis came running in through the backdoor..."

*blink*

Apparently, Lewis had robbed a store nearby, and then ran into our neighborhood and was jumping fences to get away from the police.  Calvin left the backdoor open while working on the house, so Lewis just ran right in.  When he saw Matt sitting on the couch eating spaghetti, he said, "Do you want to make $50?"  Matt said, "What...?"  Lewis said, "Just listen to me!  Just listen to me for like 5 minutes...!!"  Matt said, "...okay."  That's when I came in and went upstairs.  Lewis said, "What's with the girl, is she cool?"  Matt said, "Yeah, she's cool...".  Lewis told Matt that he had robbed a store and the cops were after him.  There were police all over our neighborhood and the spotlight had just gone over our house.  He had a bag of money he had thrown into a yard nearby, but the yard had a dog in it, so he couldn't get to it...but if Matt would let him hang out for like 20 minutes, he would bring him $50 when he could get to his money.  Matt said Lewis didn't pull a gun, and seemed desperate but not threatening, so he told him it was okay... and offered him some spaghetti. 

It took me a minute to register what I had just heard and then I was like, "Whaaaat-the-hell-are-you-serious!?! !!! We-were-harboring-a-criminal-and-need-to-lock-all-of-the-doors-RIIIIGHT-NOWWW !!!!" 

!!!!!!

We locked the doors. 

Matt went upstairs to take a shower and Aaron went up to his room... I was sitting in the living room trying to soak it all in when someone started beating on the side of the house.

Most of the houses in our neighborhood had giant fences around them, with the exception of the house next door.  Since there's no space between houses in the ghetto, you could reach the side of our house from our neighbor's driveway.   

I went to the door to see who it was, and Lewis came around to the front of the gate.  "Come to the gate," he said, "but don't open it.". 

I went to the gate and Lewis hoisted up a case of Coronas.  "Let's just say this is for generosity." he said.  I took the Coronas and Lewis disappeared. 

...

I was still freaking out about this an hour later, when Matt said, " Okay, let's think about this from Lewis's perspective..."

Dude robs a store and runs into the ghetto looking for a place to hide.  He happens to run into the only non-black house in the neighborhood (three white guys, a Brazilian named Andy, and a little Asian girl).  Matt offers him spaghetti, I give him a key chain, and Aaron offers him a beer, while a Chinese man yells, "ANDY!!" every couple minutes, and by the time he leaves we are all best friends...   

Yeah, that is pretty cool... 

And, no, we never got the $50. 

A little while later, the locked backdoor opened. 

"Jon, is that you?". 

Jon said, "Yeah...it's ME!" 

:D  ...white guy number three. 

I've decided to go to Europe.  Finally.  For 10 days.  By myself.  (...well, so far anyway.  Wanna come?) 

I decided this on Tuesday, and bought my tickets today.  I'll be flying into France, out of Edinburgh, and I will stop through New York for a of couple days on my way home.  I really really want to go to Italy, but I don't think it will make sense for this trip... but, I'll likely head through England on my way to Scotland. 

I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing... but, I feel like this is something that I have to do right now.  Wish me luck!

The 4th

On a holiday weekend with little to no plans, I found myself:

Laughing and crying at brunch with an old friend...reconnecting in the most wonderful ways.

At the jazz festival with a bunch of new friends, filling me with laughter and music.

Enjoying the company of one of my favorite couples. Meeting their friends and having an amazing all-day adventure with stops at the grove, the beach, and a cozy apartment in the city.

Walking my flower-filled neighborhood, skipping BBQs for a completely indulgent nap, and at dinner with another one of my favorite people.

Perfect... :)