June 30, 2002-- Wow, what a day! I got up at 3 a.m. and rode my bicycle over to a Brazilian party in Pacific Heights for the World Cup Final ... Germany vs. Brazil ... I knew Luciana would have everything decorated in blue, yellow, green, and white, so in the spirit of Brazil, I brought color-coordinated FOOD! Can you imagine that? Blueberries, bananas, honeydew, and sugar cookies ... oh yeah! Man, was I proud when all that came together at Safeway at 3:30 a.m. At the party, it was so cool to be surrounded by euphoric Brazilians chanting PENTA! PENTA! when their team won the world championship for the fifth time. And the team players showed so much joy and gratitude, thanking God for their impressive win. Awesome!!! I slept some at Luciana's and then rode my bike home, changed, and took MUNI back over to Civic Center for the Gay PRIDE Parade. I climbed up on a lamp post so that even my feet were above the heads of the other spectators, and I had a great view of the parade ... I caught the last hour and a half ... it was so festive and fun! Then I went to listen to the free music concerts at City Hall ... they had some very *interesting* gay bands, and concluded with DEAD OR ALIVE--it was a spectacular day, warm enough for me to wear my yellow bikini while I danced ... meanwhile I met Petri, a really cool guy with Finnish parents--he even speaks like Finnish and Swedish and stuff. Pretty cool, huh?! Petri and I walked over to Suppenkuche in Hayes Valley, and the sky filled with pink and gold as the sun sank behind City Hall. After dinner, Petri took BART back to Oakland, and I took Muni home--exhausted, but so thankful and happy to have experienced such colorful celebrations today!!! :)

June 10, 2002-- Hey, I got to see the partial solar eclipse today! It wasn't the creepy odd-shaped sun hanging just over the horizon that I was hoping to see, because the sun was still too high in the sky. I'd heard about that poke-a-hole-in-the-cardboard-thing to watch eclipses, so I tried it out in front of the Caltrans building around 6:30 p.m. ... and you know what, it worked! I could see a crescent-shaped spot of light, and as I watched for half an hour, I could see the crescent filling out as the moon moved out of the path of the sunlight. SWEET! Actually, it was very peaceful and humbling somehow to watch that.

June 9, 2002-- Well, after 10 years of waiting and a near-encounter 2.5 years ago, I finally got to see the PET SHOP BOYS, live in concert! I checked out their show last night at the Warfield. I was on the dance floor and was no more than 20 feet away from Neil Tenant for the whole evening (just 6 feet away when I finally nudged my way to the very front)! It was a great show, but way too short ... only about an hour and 40 minutes, and it felt like just half an hour or so to me!

June 4, 2002-- This past weekend I went on a last-minute trip to the East Coast. It was rushed, but great. Thursday I spent the day in Central Park (the zoo, the 1st floor of the Met, Shakespeare's garden, Turtle Pond, the little castle tower, etc.) and went out to dinner and salsa dancing with my friend Srikanth of Queens. Friday I hung out with Srikanth and then took the NY subway to Penn Station, NJ transit to Trenton, and SEPTA to downtown Philadelphia. The lady next to me on the NJ transit train found I was from San Francisco, and then she just started talking about the WTC attacks, and she told me her whole story (she and her sister lived and worked downtown at the time)--it's horrific, the things people experienced in NYC on that day. In Philly, my friend Jennifer, her mom Rita, and Jenn's fiancee Skip were there to pick me up. Saturday was Jenn's wedding shower, organized by her totally cool friend Robin. And Sunday we all enjoyed a beautifully warm sunny day along the boardwalk at Ocean Beach in New Jersey. We even went inside LUCY the wooden elephant house in Marsden, NJ (wahoo!). Monday I met up with my friend Mimi in downtown Philly--went on an awesome a bike ride in Fairmount Park past the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where Rocky ran up the steps ... I HAD to dismount the bike and follow in his footsteps!) and along the river ... it was a gorgeous sunny morning--I loved the sunshine shimmering on the river and illuminating the many historic bridges. After lunch with Mimi, I took the reverse transit trip back to Penn station in NYC. Then I went up in the Empire State Building for the first time ... it was so beautiful, peaceful, and quiet up there. A lovely sunny evening--to the north-ish the sun glinted off the Chrylser buiding's shiny top, and Central Park looked so green and lush. To the south-ish, I could see the Brooklyn Bridge, and the statue of liberty standing tall, far at the end of the island, just beyond a large flag displayed at Ground Zero. I was so happy to be in New York--it's such a wonderful place, and the people are so friendly--but I felt sad, too, knowing that so many people around me had directly experienced the terrorist attack, not on TV, but in their real lives. Monday evening I took a cab to JFK, and early Tuesday morning, I was back at work in Oakland, business as usual!

May 30, 2002-- Last weekend I went to L.A. to visit my buddy Rip. He's in a band right now, led by Melissa Chester, an original singer-songwriter in Simi Valley. I got to see them perform at LUSH, a Disco bar in Santa Monica--Melissa has a lot of talent, and of course Rip is rockin' with his unique lead guitar style. Friday we went hiking at Rocky Peak, Saturday to Venice Beach, Sunday to San Onofre Beach, and Monday ... THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!! We had ordered tickets for the Monday taping months earlier--and a group of 5 of us arrived at 7 a.m., ready to rumble! But as it turns out, the 600 or so people they needed for the audience were already lined up at 4 a.m. (camping outside the CBS studio parking lot), so we were too late! So if you ever want to try to be in the Price is Right audience, be sure to get there well before sunrise in summer! Instead of being on the Price is Right, I met up with my friend Dirk at Sunset Strip and Rodeo Drive. Monday night Rip, Melissa, and I went to the drummer's house, and I had the privilege of listening to one of the Melissa Chester band's rehearsals. A pretty cool weekend get-away, all-in-all!

May 11, 2002-- I gave Bay to Breakers a second try ... and I had lots of fun! I dressed up in some glittery colorful tights, a bright blue bra, silver glitter all over my body, stick-on "gems" on my face, huge pink false eyelashes, and a pink Gerber daisy in my hair. (and tennis shoes so I could be active!) It started raining just as I crossed the start line, and the rain continued all morning and into the early afternoon--my glitter washed off immediately, and my pink eyelashes fell off about an hour and a half later ... regardless, I was apparently quite a sight ... lots of people took pictures of me ... I spent the whole time running around cheering people on, stopping off to dance to live music, participating in moving keg stands and whatever fun thing was happening along the way. Even though I was constantly in motion, I think it took 3 or 4 hours to go the 8-plus miles! For the last half of the race, my hands were frozen, but I kept running around ... when we got to Ocean Beach, the wind picked up and I started shaking and feeling hypothermic! So I just made my way over to Footstock, picked up my T-shirt, and stumbled, shivering and freezing, to the nearest MUNI bus stop, around noon. Smashmouth was supposed to give a free concert around 1 p.m., but I had to miss that, due to my frozen condition. Anyhow, Footstock was pretty deserted, so I wonder if they still played after all, in the rain? Anyway, Bay to Breakers this year was a very unique experience for me!

April 30, 2002-- I just got back from an AWESOME trip to Joshua Tree and the Coachella Music Festival. I did my first Trad climbs, and I had so much fun! Joshua Tree National Park was beautiful, very peaceful and free--breath-taking sunsets and sunrises, clouds making rain far in the distance. And I got to see Bjork, Paul Oakenfeld, Cake, The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, and many more at the music festival, which was scenic in itself ... the venue consisted of huge fields surrounded by palm trees and mountains rising all around. BTW, I took the Professional Engineer's Licensing exam April 19-20; after lots of studying and even more worrying, it turns out it wasn't SO BAD. I'll get my results back in August, and then I'll know whether I need to re-take the exams in October.

January 21, 2002-- Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King! Since I couldn't go skiing last weekend, I ended up in an Argentine tango marathon of sorts ... I went to the Monte Cristo and witnessed/tried Argentine for the first time Friday, then I went to tango classes at the Metronome Saturday morning and evening, and a special Argentine tango workshop at Studio 204 Sunday afternoon! I think dancing is OK for me while I'm waiting for my tailbone to heal.

January 16, 2002-- Well, I had Day 4 of snowboarding last Sunday ... I started off on the regular green runs, and I was doing OK at first, tenaciously working on carving nice turns, but the slopes were pure ice!!! The weather was sunny and warm, but the ice was brutal. I had a number of hard falls, causing bruises on my arms and legs, and several times I fell on my butt so hard it made me cry. Even then I kept going because I thought I just had a huge bruise growing on my butt. When I got back home, I found bruises on my knees and elbows, but nothing on my butt, even though that's what hurt the most. Today (Wednesday) I realized my bruises all feel better, but my butt is hurting as much as ever. So I consulted a doctor and found out I have a fractured tailbone! Can you believe that? So I have to sit on soft pillows and stay away from the ski slopes for now. Doc says I'll know it's healed when it doesn't hurt anymore, which could take anywhere from 5 days to 10 weeks! I'm hoping for sooner rather than later!

January 5, 2002-- Day 3 of snowboarding yesterday ... I kept improving on my turning skills, and at the end of the day got off the bunny slope so I could take the green "sugar and spice" slope all the way down. I'm getting better, but I'm still not very comfortable on the board ... I don't consistently turn the way I want. Sometimes I even revert back to the falling leaf (traverse, fall down, turn the board the other way, get up, traverse the other way, fall down, turn the board back, get up and go the other way again ...) But I am making progress, so I think I'll keep trying! BTW, rock climbing is going really well ... this Friday I did 2 balancey 5.10's (a 5.10b and 5.10-?), and all the 5.9's I did felt pretty easy for me.

December 28, 2001-- I went snowboarding again last Saturday (thanks to a ride from my buddy Elbo), this time at Sierra-at-Tahoe, and learned a few more skills--like turning instead of falling down to slow my speed ... that's what I call progress! Hopefully no more falling leaf syndrome for me. I think I'll be ready to get off the bunny slope next time I go boarding. And thanks to my pal Dirk and his dad, I got to go back to Sierra for skiing on Sunday ... it was fabulous! By the end of the day I was able to navigate the blue slopes quite well, even zig-zagging down the moguls, swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh, when I felt brave enough. And I definitely accomplished skiing with my skis parallel, no more wedge today. I'm so excited!!! It was beautiful! I can't wait to go again!

December 12, 2001-- For my birthday (Dec. 7) last weekend, I turned THREE to the power of THREE! THREE CUBED!!! So for this special occasion, I decided to treat myself to something new ... and the something I chose was to learn to ski and/or snowboard at Lake Tahoe. So, when my birthday arrived, off I went! I took an Amtrak train from Emeryville to Truckee--as I looked out the windows, I was enthralled by the stunning transformations in the landscape, from the golden hills next to the San Francisco Bay, the Carquinez and Benicia-Martinez Bridges, to the Sacramento valley, to the foothills near Auburn, ablaze in fall colors and accented by idyllic farmhouses and towns, to the Sierra Nevadas, covered in early snows, as our train traveled into, over, under, and through them, passing through wooden snowsheds and making its way past Donner Lake and other beautiful sights. It was a bright sunshiny day with a few wispy cirrus clouds, which made for a killer sunset as we descended into Truckee. I stayed in an adorable little mountain chalet in Squaw Valley, and the hosts personally drove me to and from the train station, grocery store, and ski slopes as needed! I had a fabulous time learning to ski on Saturday ... by the end of the day I was zig-zagging down all the green slopes, no problem--I just started slow, and gradually worked my way up to turning at higher and higher speeds .... it was great!!! Snowboarding on Sunday was a lot harder, but I made a lot of progress. I can't wait to go back and try it again!!!

November 30, 2001-- Well, my mom and I had a great time during her visit, Nov. 19-26! We did everything on the original list, except SF MOMA, the Paramount Theater, and the Oakland museum. Instead of those, we drove up north and visited my friend Brian, took a tour of his house, went to the Sonoma Museum of Visual Art (SMOVA) (where Brian and I treated (?) Mom to an amateur tango performance), Jack London's historic ranch in the Valley of the Moon, and a Cajun/Zydeco concert/dance lesson in Santa Rosa! And that was just one day of my mom's whirlwind trip to California. She's safely tucked away back in Texas now, getting caught up on her sleep, I'm sure!

November 18, 2001-- My mom is scheduled to arrive TOMORROW! I'm looking forward to her visit. We have tons of things planned for our vacation together, including a City tour, SF MOMA, Big Basin Redwoods, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey, Alcatraz, the cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf, the Paramount Theater, the Oakland Museum of California, the Cliff House, the Japanese Tea Gardens, and Beach Blanket Babylon. Hopefully pictures will be available afterward!

November 11, 2001-- I've been thinking a lot about terrorism, etc., like everyone else in America, I'm sure. What I have come to realize is that we cannot base our happiness on material things; in fact, we cannot base our happiness on anything that is "of this world." I know it's maddening when people and treasured things are lost when they didn't have to be (i.e., not by accident or natural causes), but we must find a way for our spirits and souls to endure, no matter what happens, and for no matter what reason that it happened. Anything in this world is quite capable of being destroyed at any time, and the only thing we can be sure of is our very own spirit. So we must learn to seek and find peace from within ourselves, a kind of peace that is not based on any material thing. At least I'm going to STRIVE to attain this state of mind.

October 24, 2001-- Chris has moved away! He found a wonderful job in Longview, Texas, and things seem to be going great for him. Meanwhile I'm doing fine here in the City. I'm so happy to be here.

October 10, 2001-- My sister Colleen came to visit for a few days. It was so nice to see her and really spend some quality time together, just the two of us. We rode bicycles across the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful crystal clear day, and we saw the Broadway production "STOMP" at the War Memorial Theater. Now I need to figure out a time when I can go visit her and the kids in Texas ... my cute little nephews will be all grown up before I know it!!!

September 13, 2001-- I still can't believe the things that happened this week. I hope that all the people who were hurt in this tragedy know that everyone around the world is thinking of them and hoping they will survive and persevere, and become stronger, despite and even, because of, all that has happened.

September 2, 2001-- AAACK! Today I just found my first gray hair! The little rascal was only about eight inches long (these days my hair reaches lengths of 30-plus inches)--the half furthest away from my scalp was my normal hair color, and halfway along, the color suddenly changed to solid silver. I plucked that bad boy out, but the question remains ... will it grow back silver or brown? And was it fluke, or will there be more??? AAAAAAAAAACK!

August 17, 2001-- Well, I finally moved into the new crib here in San Francisco. If this is the first you're hearing of it, I'm sorry you have to hear it this way, but Chris and I decided to end our engagement, as we each have different things we need to be doing in our lives right now. Chris is still in Fremont, but he is looking for a job somewhere else, like in a small town where he will be happier.

February 25, 2001-- I just felt my FIRST earthquake! (about 10 minutes ago, that is, at 3:18 p.m. today!) I was just sitting here at the computer when all of a sudden it felt like something really big was bouncing on the floor and shaking up the apartment. Really, at first I thought it was someone jumping. Then I realized the whole building was swaying. It only lasted a few seconds. The USGS Quake web site says it was about a 4.4, with the epicenter near downtown San Jose. "And that's about all I have to say about that." (big smile)

February 11, 2001-- WOW! I am finally updating my web page! (cries of joy and thunderous applause!) Recent news for me is that I successfully defended my Master of Science in Civil Engineering on June 28, 2000 at Texas A&M University. By the grace of GOD, I cleared all the hoops and officially completed all degree requirements on September 1, 2000! OH HAPPY DAY! But I had to wait until the next scheduled ceremony (December 16, 2000) to actually get my hands on that diploma. Great googly moogly, what a long process that was! When I finished my very last graduate-school class (in May 1999), I thought I was basically done ... I never imagined that such a long and sinuous road remained to be traveled, just to complete a dog-gone thesis! Anybody who has a non-thesis option for graduate school, go for it! (Save yourself!!!) :-) You can find pictures of the long-awaited GRADUATION DAY here. BTW, although this is very old news, some may not know that I started working as a civil engineer (E.I.T.) with the State of California in October 1999.