21

So, I turned 21 yesterday. I have been waiting for the day when I could legally purchase alcohol for approximately 7 years now. The celebrations began with visiting a few bars in downtown LA with Kara and Bryan, and tonight I went to the Grammy Nomination Concert at Nokia Theatre and treated myself to some deliciously overpriced sushi at Katsuya. And it's only Wednesday. More drinking and celebration to come this weekend, culminating in the beach league tourney and party in beautiful Santa Monica, before cracking down on finals time.

Sports updates since last post: USC romped UCLA 50-0 last weekend. Amazing, and one hell of a way to end my undergrad football-watching career.

We're #1. But we're not the champions. Oh, right.

Neuheisel got fired. Boo.
USC loves Rick!
0-4 vs. USC in his tenure.

Glory. Love the Knights.

 Homework update: look at this cool protein! Wooooo. Kindof a cool visualization of the secondary strucure.

Crystal Structure of Bovine Low Molecular Weight
Phosphotyrosyl Phosphatase complexed with a HEPES molecule.

And now, my Grammy update! It was really cool being at a live show of this caliber. No, it's not the actual Grammys, but this was still pretty badass, and seeing the whole operation and sharing oxygen with famous people who shit like the rest of us.
Live performers: Gaga, Band Perry, Jason Aldean+Ludacris, Common+Lupe Fiasco+...Uh-I-really-don't-know-who-the-other-2-were, Gaga+Sugarland
Present to present nominees: Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry
Hosted by: LL Cool J

The setup.

Opening act: Gaga, Marry the Night. 

Nicki Minaj presenting the Song of the Year nominees
+ the view from my seat!

The Band Perry. A brother and sister band, been touring
for 13 years, had a radio hit this year (If I Die Young),
and nominated for Best New Artist. Thanks, music industry lag.

The cascading, illuminated wings framed the stage
that set the stage for the Grammy's.

Usher, Valerie Simpson, Mike Stoller in a tribute to recently
deceased, legendary songwriters Nick Ashford and Jerry Leiber.
Usher's voice is like buttah. Mmm.

Really creepster photo but Bruno Mars is directly to the left
of the red hat, and Nicki Minaj was directly on the right.

This was one of my favorite moments of the night.
Gaga and Sugarland were prepping to perform the set closer
while Katy Perry was (poorly) announcing nominees for
Album of the Year. Born This Way was announced
and Gaga jumped up and hugged Jennifer and was so excited.
Amazing for someone who's already won five.

Gaga+Sugarland in Without You was incredible.
Also, if you haven't seen Gaga+Elton John in the Grammy
opener a few years back, look it up. Mindblowing performance.

Lights!

My salmon sashimi. Nom. 

Some form of flash tempura fried soft-shelled crab.

Now for the critical, opinionated part-- who you should vote for (Sparknotes version)!
Record of the Year
-Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Her voice is absolutely incredible and to me, she is the image of beauty in real people who eat things. There is so much soul in her music.
-The Cave, Mumford & Sons
I LOVE THEM. I'm secretly sad that they got multiple nominations because that means then they'll be well known. I just hope they'll make a few more incredible albums before selling their souls into a less-musically-intriguing-but-more-likely-to-make-money album like The Decemberists and Death Cab.

Album of the Year
-21, Adele
-Born this Way, Gaga

Song of the Year
-Rolling in the Deep, Adele
-The Cave, Mumford & Sons
-Sorry, but Kanye and Bruno can suck it.

Best New Artist
Nicki Minaj is going to run away with this one. And Bon Iver is not new. Neither is the Band Perry. C'mon guys.

On the docket for this weekend:
-Oregon beating UCLA in the 'Pac-12 Championship'-- (Neither contending team held a lead against us this season. Lol.)
-USC women's volleyball hosting the first 2 rounds of the tournament at Galen, starting vs. Yale on Friday night. (NCAA hates us here too, we finished the season ranked #1, yet we got seeded 7th in the tourney... oh well, here's hoping for an easier road to the championship!)
-Beach tourney+party at Santa Monica!
-Then to the study cave. RAH FINALS. Then only one more semester. What.

Being Thankful

So, I failed at posting more often and it's now been what, 5 weeks, since my last post? I'm finding myself back in the bay area, in Oakland with my grandma for Thanksgiving. She's awesome. Here's just a taster of why:

Homemade wontons with baby bok choy and poached egg.
Customary first-night dinner.

Homemade chive dumplings. Like, from dough. and chives. amazing.

Homemade oxtail soup. Likely my favorite soup of all time.

Before this the last 2 weeks were consumed by ultimate. Sean Ryan in beautiful Santa Cruz and Socal warmup in San Diego. So excited for spring season!

Gorgeous Santa Cruz.

Less gorgeous me backhand. (Photo cred to the
adorable Sparrow, who will likely never read this.)

We also went on a badass ropes course as a
team bonding event. Shit was 3 stories tall
and ended in a zipline.

And as always, a football update:

1. We beat Oregon. (Stolen from Arrogant Nation)

2. Kiff's face. He doesn't take shit. That means you, NCAA.

3. We 'play' fUCLA tomorrow.

They've already clinched the Pac-12 South (in pathetic fashion) and will most likely play Oregon for the Pac-11 championship (not a bowl game). bRuin murder 2 weeks in a row. Furthermore, these next 2 weeks will push fUCLA into losing record territory, requiring the Pac-11 to apply for a waiver for them to be allowed to play in a bowl game. Way to represent the Pac-11 as a respectable football conference, Larry Scott. Shafting the one good thing about the Pac-11. Except for legalized physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon. That's good too.

By the way, USC will have beaten both of the teams playing in the Pac-11 champ game next week. Nothing like knowing you deserve to be below us. Right, Neuheisel? Enjoy the closing gap... of your job security.

The Arrogant Nation game recap from last week's duck feast and 'game' preview for the coming bRuin-assault tomorrow are both gems:
http://lostangelesblog.wordpress.com/

What am I going to do when college football season ends?


Meanwhile I've also been job searching. No fun pictures there. Or promises of success and prosperity.

The coming weeks entail 1 last week of school, 1 week of study days, and 2 days of 3 finals. Then I'm home for 2.5 weeks, then SNOWBOARDING IN COLORADO WITH KARA OMG.

Also, I will legally be able to buy alcohol soon. Awesome.

Back to LA in the morning for the 'rivalry game.' The last home game of my undergraduate career. Welp.

Fuzzy picture to make me feel better
about bittersweet tomorrow.

Weekender

Last weekend was one of the best of my college career. Drove up to San Francisco with some friends to watch the USC vs. Cal game, then explored the city, and got to hang out with my grandma! Skipped 2 days of class and gallivanted around the city like I had no responsibilities or obligations, and like it was summertime again and all I had to worry about was where I wanted to go next.

Now I'm back at school and things suck. More than usual because of the relative wonders of the weekend. Those who are close to me are probably sick of always hearing me complain about how I suck at school and I suck at life and I hate everything and I'm going to drop out and become a trophy wife.

So first, a thank you to all who hear me out and let me complain without gouging out my eyes with a toothpick. You mean the world to me and I really don't know where I would be without you.
Second, I'm not trying to be dramatic. I really do feel this shitty about myself. I know it's not healthy and I know I need to make an effort to lighten up and stop being so hard on myself, but really nothing is so disheartening as feeling like I've tried my best and never getting the results to reflect my efforts. Then trying again and trying to keep improving myself and seeing everything remain stagnant.
Then I'm left in a puddle of misery wondering what more I can do. And I splash around in it and make sure everyone around me feels a droplet or two. Awesome.

So. In an effort to feel better, here are some things that don't suck about my life:
1. I'm (hopefully) going to get a degree in biochemistry from USC.
2. Trader Joe's Mac n Cheese. Aka I never go hungry.
3. Ultimate is fun. And my body functions sufficiently for me to play.
4. Oreo is the cutest puppy in the world (even 3000 miles away).
5. I have a loving and supportive family.
6. I have the cutest grandma.
7. I have amazing friends both here in LA and in ATL.
8. School isn't real life anyway.
9. (I don't think) I'm too ugly to be a trophy wife.
10. If I do become homeless at least it's warm here!

That was therapeutic. I really should find more things that I enjoy and do them more. This school thing has to be overrated.

Photos!

Sea lions. Which one am I??

Overlooking San Francisco.

It was a beautiful, warm, unfoggy day at the Golden Gate Bridge.

With Charlie!

Sky colors are amazing!

Grandma's shrimp dumplings! With a whole thing of cilantro :)

Grandma's pork and cilantro buns!!

Life

Really, I don't deserve any of it if I can't manage to find some purpose.

6/15=2/5.

It's currently week 6 of the fall semester of my senior year. It's 4:11 am. I have an exam in 6 hours and I can't sleep. I'm managing my overcommitments pretty well, I've taken a mini-road trip to Arizona, gotten my mind blown by Midori, spent time with friends, not failed every exam, done an ok job with healthy sleep, food, and exercise habits (only to improve!), and there are only more good things to come...

Assuming I get some sleep and pass this exam.

Trader Joe's Carne Asada with green bell peppers!

My adorably shaved puppy who I miss so much.

How I feel about the imminent p chem exam.

I love these dry mountains.

Bothering Charlie on the way to Arizona.

Apple tart yum.

ASU Sun Devil Stadium, where Barkley sucked Sparky's cock.

With my diversity girlfriend, breakfast date.

Panther and Beef-- adorabs!

Sake Bombing with the Knights.

NEW CLEATS!

Ok hopefully I'll go to sleep now. And it won't take me another 2 months (WTF where did it go??) to post again. Hakuna Matata.

Dirrrty South

So it's been awhile. I've been back in Marietta with my family, just hanging out, reading, working out, and seeing a few old friends here and there.

LA recap:
Santa Monica with Charlie who eats heads of broccoli at a time.
Santa Monica/Venice with Kara
Beverly Hills with Gavin
Downtown with Jas. A HUGE CONGRATS to him-- starting at UCLA Geffen Med School tomorrow! Eek exciting!

Oh, and a job interview. We'll see how that one goes. Income would be nice this semester, as would 30 hours/day so I can do all the shit I'd like.

Didn't take any pictures. Fail. And only had 3 days so everything was pretty rushed. Excited to go back for the semester and spend plenty of time hanging out with everyone and exploring LA and having lots of fun since really, school is what it is and I'm not sure it can really be helped at this point. Might as well enjoy my last year as an undergrad at USC.

ATL:
Picking up with a summer league team (ultimate). Awesome. Also trying to get my ass back into shape since at this point it's kindof embarrassing how slow I am and how quickly I get tired. Also trying to learn to play tennis but that's not exactly something to master in a few weeks. Oh well, have to start somewhere!

Been mainly hanging out with family but next week will be more friend time since the week after I'll be in Birmingham at the amazing Andrews Orthopedic Center. Yes, the Dr. James Andrews that EVERY pro athlete goes to.

Dr. Andrews. Basically my idol.

 Saw Donny today, one of my favorite people ever, who is starting at Emory med tomorrow! Eek more excitement! After that I've decided that I'd really like to keep my blog going into the semester because it'll force me to be realistic about whether I'm having enough fun.

Adventures --> reflection --> things to write about --> NOT entierly lame blog --> happy, hopefully.

Found by Kara.

Might go up to Lake Arrowhead for a day or so this week, will definitely be back to play summer league at night, summer league end of season tourney in 2 weekends, then back to school!

Other fun things:
Sports news. Always great. NFL is back on. Trades EVERYWHERE I can barely keep up. Ochocinco and Haynesworth to the Pats. Weird. Reggie Bush taking his talents to South Beach. It seems sports powers are colliding. Love it.

Djokovic and Wozniacki. via Djoke's Twitter.

Ochocinco and Rajon Rondo. Boston will be ballin this year.

September 3-- USC home opener vs. Minnesota. So excited.
Per Arrogant Nation's Mission statement-- NCAA SUCKS.
http://lostangelesblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/3027/

Keeping Austin Weird

I've been in Austin, TX since Thursday night visiting Alex, my best friend from home. Since middle school. Yeah we've been through some shit. Austin's great, casually hipster and likely hotter than hell itself. Hanging out with Alex for an extended period for the first time... basically since I left for college= SO GREAT!

Friday-- waited in line for 2.5 hours for what's supposedly the best BBQ in Austin and arguably, Texas. It opens at 11 and closes when it sells out so people start lining up at around 9 am.

Line at Franklin's BBQ when we arrived at 10:30. Really.

Adorably simple menu which I value so much.

I may have gotten 2 full meals' worth. Brisket plate and Tipsy
Texan sandwich featuring chopped beef, sausage, and slaw.
I did not finish it.

Texas Capitol. It's brown.

Giant Lone Star in front of the State History Museum. They had a
perfectly Austin-esque free outdoor concert series going on. With
free tacos and Honest Tea.

Saturday-- went to the downtown Austin farmer's market. Ate a pork tomatillo tamale, migas taco, and some fresh peaches. Then headed to Barton Spring Pool. It was freezing. But the sun was burning outside, quite possibly the most intensely blazing sun I've ever encountered. Alex and I decided that at the process goes: Freeze, Thaw, Burn, Repeat.

Walked by Double Wide practice, Austin's elite club men's team.
Can't even imagine running in his heat. This is at Zilker Park,
where Austin City Limits and SXSW take place.

Barton Spring Pool. Wiki says, "The pool exists in the channel of
Barton Creek and is filled by water from Main Barton Spring,
the fourth largest spring in Texas."

Tree for Kara, though it may be too live.

Peaches from the farmer's mkt. They basically roasted in my
bag while at the pool so I cleaned and cut them up.

At night we went to see Ben Sollee who might win the award for being my favorite musician to see live. His music and his performance have both grown immensely from the first time I heard him open for Bela Fleck with the Sparrow Quartet 3 years ago. Basically fell in love with his music at that first song, "It's Not Impossible."

His voice is ENORMOUS-- where did it come from?? I can't ever do justice to the way it fills a room and absolutely captivates me. Then he starts playing his cello and I fall to pieces. The way his fingers flutter over the strings and his bow lures the cello's soul from its body, the richness and depth and life he so effortlessly brings from it melts my heart and questions my being and how I've strayed so far from music when it used to be such a significant part of my life. All the while he is clearly having the best time of his life, so happy to be on stage and sharing his music with everyone and anyone who will listen, making it seem totally silly to lead any other kind of life (more on this later).

Pre-concert Chipotle. Soso good after extensive sun time. I've also
decided that meat takes up too much space and a veg bowl, which
comes with guac, is the way to go.

Feeling like a social outcast at the concert venue--
and very upset about it-- for not being 21.

Ben on the left, and incredible new drummer/percussionist,
Jordan Ellis. He added so much to the live set and hearing him
and Ben faux-jam left me in awe.

Oh hey, I'm fangirl. AND he wore the
collaredshirt-jacket-jeans look that I love.

Solo album #2. CD signed by Ben #2. Best.

So yes. I've moved from international vagabonding to domestic. There's just as much to see and do and learn here in the states and even during normal life. I've made it a goal to spend more time enjoying life and exploring LA in this coming semester. That's one thing that's started to settle in from the overseas portion of this summer-- taking time to savor life and not be so stressed out and stupid-busy and trying to control everything all the time. Or at least not allowing excessive sources of stress especially regarding the things I know I have to do anyway. And maybe, possibly, even allowing myself to be happy with what I do instead of constantly looking forward and trying to achieve more which apparently will lead me toward a life of lots of accomplishment but little satisfaction I don't quite know how he already understands so much about the things that I struggle with at such a fundamental level. Obviously there are many more facets to this thought but that's the only bit I can currently verbalize.

Other domestic adventures in the plans:
Marietta, GA- new home of my immediate family.
Charlotte, NC- site of one of my brother's tennis tourneys.
Birmingham, AL- orthopedic capital of America.


I sprint towards freedom, how else would you move that way?
But I ain't as fast as I used to be and the dogs are catching up
But I'm gonna die either way so I might as well die trying.
--Captivity, Ben Sollee

**Just realized that I totally left out my few days in LA. That's completely unfair-- those people are important too-- even if I've only blogged from unfamiliar territory, so I will recap those days in the next post, likely when I'm back in the dirrrty south. Sentence construction=miserable. Bed time.