That Reena Girl

I wrote this for my cousin, who was going to see Eclipse, without having seen the first two movies:

Twilight:

Bella, a sad grumpy clumsy girl moves to Forks, WA. Continues to be awkward, meets some people, sees The Cullens. Oooooo… dreamy.

She smells good or something so when Edward is assigned her lab partner, he freaks out. Blah blah “why do you hate me?” Edward says no it isn’t that blah blah OMG he is a vampire but whatevs, Bella is down.

Bella gets hassled by some homies and Edward saves her with his reckless driving. Love love love. Welcome to the family. Oh no, something is eating people. Enter trio of other vampires. One wants to snack on Bella at a baseball game.

Long story short, other vampire tries to eat Bella but the super Cullens break him into pieces. Something about venom being sucked out, Bella lives. Dead vampire’s lady girlfriend vampire buddy is pissed.

New Moon:

Blah blah “I love you Edward but I’m clumsy and I bleed in front of you and cause fights in your house of vampires.” Edward leaves. Bella takes a nap in the woods. Then she gets all depressed for months. Jacob gets hot and they become friends. but OMG he’s a wolf! Whatevs, Bella’s into it….

Somewhere in here, lady vampire from the previous movie wants to eat Bella….

Bella sees Edward when she does stupid shit that will get her killed so she does it all the time. Edward things she’s actually dead one of these times so she has to go Italy… where old vamps eat tourist… before he kills himself. Jacob is mad. More reckless driving. Old vamps are cool with Bella and do not try to eat her. Bella saves the day. Edward doesn’t die. They come back and he asks her to marry him. Jacob is mad and OMG he’s a wolf. End.

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So I had this idea to get Olive tattooed on me in Kawaii style. Kawaii is what you’d call the super cute Japanese style of illustration. Think Hello Kitty. I was reading Must Have Cute (http://www.musthavecute.com) and came across the Flickr profile for Jerrod Maruyama. His work is AWESOME! Absolutely adorable. Also nice to see someone who seems to like Disney, Lost and Star Wars as much as I do.

I decided to ask him to do an Olive image for me. And he totally did! I can’t wait to get this tattooed on me!! Check it out:

How perfect is that?!?! Check out his work at http://www.creativeshake.com/jmaruyama (Portfolio) and http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmaruyama.

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I never thought it would be so hard to find a small, dog friendly apartment. But it is. And it is a HUGE rip-off.

I understand how pets can damage a property, but property owners have used this to exploit and take advantage of pet owners. Especially dog owners. Pet rent? Pet references? My dog is does not have a job, thus should not have additional rent tacked on. And as for references, I understand this is for safety and insurance, but who would you even call? My vet? The San Diego Police? I can assure you, my dog doesn’t have a criminal record.

DEPOSITS

Pet deposits are out of control. I thought they whole point of a security deposit was to cover all damage, why single out pet owners and make them pay more? You don’t make people with children pay more and they can do even more damage. You don’t charge extra for people who drink and I’ve known several people who love to punch holes in walls while intoxicated. I refuse to pay a deposit that is more or equal to what I paid for my dog in the first place. There is no way she can do $500+ in damage. She hasn’t even cost me that much in damage personally and she’s eaten A LOT of my things.

If you own a house made of socks, then I understand.

BREED

I have a hard enough time with my 30lbs French Bulldog mix; I can’t imagine what people go through with larger dogs.

Also with larger dogs come the breed restrictions. I know that insurance companies often set up these rules, identifying certain breeds that are known for biting. But that doesn’t mean EVERY Pitbull or German Shepherd or Rottweiler is going to attack anything that moves. It should be on a case-by-case basis. If the dog has completed training such as AKC Good Citizen, the restriction should be waived.

Oh and fun fact, little dogs like Chihuahuas are responsible for more bites but because they seem less threatening/are less likely to seriously injure a person, they don’t get reported. But they can still send you to get stitches like any other dog.

CATS

I don’t understand why property owners think cats do less damage. Cats go the bathroom INSIDE the house. Given, in a litter box, but that is not always the case. Have you been to a cat shelter? Cat pee is so much worse than dog pee. It literally stings your nose. Not to mention they puke hairballs all over the place and they shed just as much. They can tear up carpet with their claws even more than a dog can. Yes, dogs can chew things, but to charge upwards of $200 more for them or not even allow them at all is ridiculous.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

There are simple ways I believe property owners can make sure a pet is not going to destroy their place they are renting to you.

1) Have the owner provide a training certificate if they have one. Basic dog training not only covers sit and stay, but housebreaking and obedience. I have one for Olive. This shows that your new tenant has made the investment in training their dog and you’re most likely going to end up with a well-behaved animal.

2) Meet the dog. If a pet is going to live in your property, you should at least come in contact with it. Is it friendly? Does your tenant take care of their animal? All good things to know when entering into an agreement on pets. My last landlord allowed us to have 2 dogs, but upon meeting them, loved them so much he only charged us for one of them.

3) Set a reasonable deposit based on the property. Look into how much it would be to replace the carpet, how much it would be to clean the floors if need be etc and make your decision based on fact, not just an arbitrary amount. Then you can justify why you need an additional deposit.

4) Ask the right questions. Is your pet indoor or outdoor? Are they on flea medication? Are they housebroken?  How long do you leave them alone for? These will set your mind at ease and you can get a better sense of how it is going to work out with a pet owner.

5) Don’t be so quick to judge! Just because someone has a dog does not mean they are going to destroy things. There are plenty of responsible pet owners out there that will keep their living space immaculate. Again, treat every case individually like you would for tenants without pets. You could have an easier time finding good, responsible people to occupy your property.

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Today is 4/20. I already tweeted this is one of the most annoying days of the year for me. This is because I am straightedge.

Now, I’m not militant. I do not have any X’s tattooed on me. I take Advil when I have a bad headache. I drink lattes in the morning. I’m also not vegan or vegetarian. I’m not a Minor Threat fan. I’m not Christian. So what is straightedge to me? I do not drink, smoke, or do any sort of recreational drug. I also don’t sleep around. If we have learned anything from the media lately, it is that sex is addictive as well.

I also don’t care (for the most part) what my friends do. As long as it is nothing dangerous, I do not lecture or push my personal lifestyle choice on anyone else. If you’re going to drive home drunk or shoot up, yeah you better believe I’m not OK with that. But other than the obviously bad, I believe it is a personal choice. Rather than be a pain in the ass, I’m supportive. I respect other people’s choices, as I would like them to respect mine.

Yes, people who are annoying drunks annoy me. But that is true of most people right? Most have that one friend who really doesn’t know their limits and makes an ass out of himself or herself. I just have less tolerance for people who can’t hold their liquor. People who obsess over drinking or smoking weed also annoy me, like it is the ONLY thing they have going on in their lives or they NEED it to have a good time.

That being said, I’m always there to give someone a ride home if they need one.

I often get asked the following questions: Why are you straightedge? Why haven’t you tried anything? Don’t you feel like you are missing out? Many people cannot wrap their heads around it. Even more confusing is that I have never not been straightedge. Never tried anything. I feel like a unicorn.

Many people don’t believe me due to my involvement in the music scene and the fact that I go to bars and parties. What else am I going to do?! I’m almost 27 years old; I don’t really have many other options for socializing outside of that.  Is it easy? No, it is not easy. Out of everything, I think not drinking is the hardest. There are many people who don’t smoke or do drugs, not very many that don’t drink at least socially. Do I feel like I’m missing out? No, I don’t. But it will always be something that keeps me on the outside.

So why do it? Why not just be normal like most people and indulge every once in a while? No harm in a casual drink with friends right? Well, no. But it is not for me. I get asked pretty much every time I go out why I have made this life choice. I decided to post my top 5 reasons:

I have no desire to alter my reality- I really have no interest in it at all. I’m fine with my perception of things. I don’t need to take the edge off of life. I don’t need a way to let loose. Thus, I have no interest in it.

I have no idea how it would effect me and I’m not all right with that- I do not react well to mind-altering substances. How do I know this? Well the last time I had surgery they gave me Valium before to calm me down and it didn’t work. Just made my limbs heavy. Then right before I went under, the sedative they gave me only kind of worked. Again, I couldn’t move, but I was well aware of what was going on. It was like being trapped in my own body, which is pretty terrifying. I also have problems with things like cough medicine, Nyquil, and painkillers. All of them, which should be downers, make me feel like I’m going to have a heart attack. Again, scary. So who knows what would happen if I tried anything else?

My stomach hates me for much less- This really only applies to drinking, but my stomach is not always the best due to ulcers in the past so I’m 98% sure it wouldn’t like alcohol. I couldn’t even drink coffee for years. Even now, I can only have so much before I don’t feel too well. If I got drunk, I would probably puke, which I have no done since the 5^th grade (knock on wood).

I’m almost positive it would be a bad idea- If you know me, you know I don’t need anything to have fun. I’m convinced I’d either be am emotional wreck, try to fight someone, or be so obnoxious I would get left wherever I was. I’m capable of all these things sober, but at least I can control it.

I take pride in being edge- It is a hard thing to do and I’m proud of myself for never giving in. I like that it makes my mom proud of me. I like that it is part of the reason I have never been in any real trouble. It might seem lame that it is a point of pride for me, but I don’t really care. It has become a part of who I am.

I am totally open to any other questions about. Please feel free to ask. And for those celebrating 4/20, be safe.

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Many of you who actually comment have talked about how you miss The Receiving End of Sirens. Well, as I’m sure you know, they are reuniting for one show (so far) and that show is Skatefest 2010.

When I heard the news, I texted Andrew Cook, TREOS drummer and now drummer for A Rocket To The Moon. He said that they are starting out with this one show and seeing where it goes from there. He also mentioned before there was a DVD being put together.

Not only is TREOS playing, but so is The Dear Hunter. This leaves me with high hopes for Between the Heart and the Synapse from start to finish. It seems to be THE thing to do lately anyway. As if that wasn’t enough, I get to see my buddies in Vanna. Oh and Versa Emerge, Moving Mountains, Our Last Night and Recover are also playing. I can barely contain my excitement!

I am flying back to Boston for this. I’m literally going home for this show. There are too many people I need to see.  I will live blogging/tweeting from Skatefest for those of you who will not be there. I will make sure to post pictures and video.

Let the countdown begin!

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First, I will apologize for never updating this. All my blogging energy goes to my company’s blog. However, I’m going to shoot for at least one new entry a week. I think that is doable.

I never read. I haven’t read a whole book in…I don’t even know how long. I swear the only time I read is on planes so I pick up a book maybe 4 times a year. And yet, I still continue to buy them. It’s sad, I know. My friends Marcel and James are reading 50 books this year. It got me thinking I should set goals like that for myself.

Since 50 probably is out of the question, I’m going to shoot for 20 by December 31st. That’s about 2 per month. I own lots of books I haven’t read yet either, which is helpful in this case.

So far I have 12 books  on my list Thanks to my friends and Amazon.com, I have my 20:

1. Are You There Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
2. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
3. IV by Chuck Klosterman (gotta finish this one)
4. Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
5. Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad
6. Nothing Feels Good by Andy Greenwald
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
9. World War Z by Max Brooks
10. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
12. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
13. The Scar by China Mieville
14. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
15. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
16. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
17. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
18. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
19. Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield
20. Dying to Live: A Novel of Life Among the Undead by Kim Paffenroth

So, any other recommendations? I like books about pop culture, music, social commentary, biographies, zombies, interesting interpretations of history, books I should have read in High School, anything on social media and new media studies,  and collections of funny, short stories.

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I’m not even mad, it is just plain funny.

Now I know it was Olive who did it, but Betty, my other dog, will gladly take the fall for her. Observe:

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On February 23rd, 2008, my best friend and I created an unofficial holiday for one of the best albums of the decade; Third Eye Blind’s Self Titled album. Why this day in particular, I don’t know.  The actual album was released April 8, 1997. I think the weather put us in the mood for it.

To celebrate, we drove all over San Diego county listening to it on repeat. I remember that day there were scattered clouds and it seemed like the sun would poke through at the appropriate times, like when “Graduate” or “Semi-Charmed Life” came on. It would then seep back behind the clouds for “Background”, “How’s It Gonna Be?” and “Jumper”.

I’d have to say my favorite tracks are “Losing a Whole Year” and “Motorcycle Drive By”, but do yourself a favor and listen to it from start to finish. And enjoy. Happy 3EB s/t Day to you all.

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Well, I, unlike most people, do not dread Valentine’s Day. Yes it is a Hallmark holiday, but really its the point of it that I like; telling people in your life you love them. This does not have to be your girlfriend or boyfriend, but you friends, family, even you pets.

Mine was not the most wonderful due to me coming down with some sort of cold/flu. But I made the most of it. My valentine this year was Olive, which should come as no surprise. She took care of me all day and when I mustered up the strength to move, we went to enjoy the park.

I also went out to dinner with my roommate and a couple of her relatives at the wonderful El Camino. Sopa de Fideo when you’re sick? BEST EVER. I then went home and baked Pink Lemonade Cupcakes…which was really lemon cupcakes I put food coloring in to make them pink They were delicious.

While baking, my dearest friend Marcel brought me a card he made:

So in conclusion, I hope you all had either a great day…or at least not a depressing one. <3

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