BitterSweet/NervousExcited

Let me start off by saying I got a package in the mail this morning and it had me SUPER EXCITED! (One of the reasons 'excited' is in the title) My camera broke a couple weeks back and I was SUPER BUMMED. Especially 'cuz the holidays were going to be coming up and I'm always taking pictures. So I had mailed it out for some fixin and IT CAME TODAY! Right away I checked the address on it and I knew it was my camera and I was muy excited! So yay! It's working!!! This is me taking test photos. Lol

It's all good! =)

So yesterday, me and my friend Alma, whom I'm going to be going to school with, took a drive to San Jose to get some last minute stuff done before school starts on ... MONDAY! HELLO! Omgoodness! Time flew by. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm excited to start a new adventure. Hopefully the first stepping stones of my career. (well maybe not first, I've been going to school for what seems like forever now. lol) I'm feeling older and I need to get on track. Imma late bloomer. Most people would probably say that's fitting for me 'cuz I'm always late. ;) (Always late but worth the wait! Isn't that how the saying goes? haha) So this is a picture of my school that I took with my phone.

It's in the center of downtown San Jose. Very cool.
I'm excited to get to learn the area more.

So Christmas has come and gone. And I had a lovely mellow one at that. Kept tradition. Xmas eve was spent with my Mom's side of the family. Indulged myself in family made tamales. Which we barely finished off yesterday. We make dozens! We give many plates away. As much as I love and look forward to them, I cannot tear 'em all up myself. Haha. And just the same, Xmas day was spent with my Dad's side of family. More food. Them people like to make spreads! And coming in just two days, 2010. The new year. And I'm starting it with a fully packed school schedule. I'm so used to lawdy-dawdying it, I hope I don't get too overwhelmed. I don't have any plans for New Years. One, I don't have money to celebrate. And two, I'm not in the mood. Unfortunately a few days ago I got some sad news. A passing of someone dear to someone dear to me. I don't put any blame on anyone for changing my mood. Life happens. And it got me thinking of the ones I have lost as well. Another reason I like to look at the sky. I wonder where they are. I wonder if they can see me. I wonder if my Mom follows me on the clouds. Watches over me. Most often tho... I wonder if she misses me...

~V

Day Late and a Dollar Short...

So I haven't blogged since last month. And last month I was saying that I hadn't blogged in a long time. Here I am again. With the same ol' song. I think of things to blog about and then when it comes down to it, it slips on by. Then by the time I get to blogger and think "I should blog about that", it's too late. I.E.: my last Tuesday Tune. Lol Seems I'm always a day late (or a month lol) and a dollar short. But either way.. I apologize. I want to share some photos and I'm gonna blog now. =)

It's mid December and you know what that brings; winter weather, shopping (not that I get to do much of that tho lol) and Christmas cheer! Three things I love about Christmas. I love winter weather. It's my favorite season. It's cold out and warm inside. Few weeks ago I was driving in the rain, another one of my favorite things to do (safely of course), and I took some shots. I'll admit, taking pictures while driving, in the rain no less, is not super safe, but I promise I was driving super slow for this 1st shot. Excuse the rain drops from my windshield. I kinda like them there tho.

And for 2nd shot, honestly I can't remember where I was. BUT! I can make another promise, I was NOT driving. For the sole purpose I was trying to photograph the full moon. And if anyone has ever tried to take a picture of the moon, and knows a little about the art of photography, you need the camera as still as can be! And driving would DEFINITELY not helped this shot out.


Almost everywhere you look you can witness the Christmas cheer. Stores are packed with crazed shoppers while listening to holiday music. Lights start going up on people's houses. Christmas tree lots start mounting. And this week, I did just that. I mounted our tree! Well more slipped into placed rather than mount. We have an artificial tree. But it still does that job. What do ya think?


It's a lil' bare towards the bottom at the moment, but come Christmas Eve, there won't be much room left. Let alone to walk! lol This house tends to get pretty packed. Especially since my Grandma makes her famous tamales. There was talk that there wasn't going to be any this year. She's elderly and it's a lot of work for her. But everyone is pitching in, yes including myself, as I do every year, and we're going to get them done!


Ok I'll leave this blog for now. So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! =)


~V

Tuesday Tune Return

So I know I haven't post in a long minute. I've thought of things to post, but then I'd forget or I'd get lazy or I wouldn't be motivated. Bad Vane! It's been almost a month and I had been wanting to share something since the Halloween holiday. I figure a Tuesday Tune would be a good chance to showcase that. So lemme back track a lil'... Back in October, people at hundreds of locations across the world were attempting to break a world record for the largest simultaneous performance of the Michael Jackson music video "Thriller". And my home town of Salinas was participating. Women, men, boys and girls, young and aged, all dressed up as zombies and rehearsed the dance routine in our 'Old Town' area. No auditions necessary. Whoever wanted to join, were more than welcomed. Some people went all out with their costumes. I only learned of the event from a friend. She said I should go out there and try to be on TV since I like to dance. But I didn't. Lol BUT, I did want to check it out. I went and I took a few video clips and pictures. Here they are...



The dance rehearsal to THRILLER. (I apologize for the shakiness. Couldn't always get a clear shot and there were many people and many people who were taller than me. lol I had to just point my camera above the crowd and hope I was getting a clear shot.)

Some photos...

Big crowd.



Like I said, there were all sorts of zombies.
Twin goth zombies...


Coming up from the ground zombies.


Triplet young Michael Jackson zombies.
I think these boys were best dressed.


Bride zombies.


Buff zombies? lol


Happy to be shot in the face zombies. Ouch!


And young cute adorable zombies.

The little boy above with the gray sweats and black shirt, his name is Justin. He is 4 years old. I think those are his older brothers in the background. Justin turned out to be quite the talented little zombie and soon became the center of attention when he started displaying his awesome MJ moves. Even though he is very young and I'm sure he doesn't completely understand what he's becoming a part of, he can still understand he enjoys dancing and pleasing the crowd. And he sure did!

Watch...



Here, that same taller fellow has a fun battle with a young girl.




All in all it was fun to watch and to see everyone have such a good time.


~V

Therapy

Driving is my therapy. And photos. Whenever I have an off day, I drive. And almost always, 99% of the time, I have my camera with me. When I drive, I take photos. (I've actually gotten some pretty cool shots off while driving- and NOT looking! At the shot that is. I'm still looking at the road.) I stop and take photos. I reverse and take photos. I get lost, on purpose, and take photos. To clear my mind. To focus on something else. Usually they're nothing. Sometimes they're something. Something that catches my eye. I might delete them. I might not. Some I like. Some I keep. Some make me proud. Some I work for. Today I needed a drive. So I took photos. These are the ones that made the cut. =) Hope you enjoy.

One of the first ones I took was of this car. It caught my eye cuz of what was tied to that back. Are those hula hoops? In various sizes? I haven't a clue, but like i said, sometimes my photos are nothing. lol

Passed thru a tunnel.

I'm lucky enough to live in very close driving
distance to the beach. Usually my drives lead me there.

Found a neighborhood. Nice garden.

Near that neighborhood, there was a park. Eh sort of a park. Didn't have alot of steady land for visiting. No where to sit but rocks and tree trunks. No play area. But it did have a bridge. Which was the reason for my stop. I liked it. It had tall trees. Leaves everywhere. Creek towards the bottom. (Actually it was just from a sewer.) And I found a friend. Ok he found me. I could hear him tho. haha

Found some color among the green.















Speaking of color. In that neighborhood, I found this house. Talk about color! Magenta walls. Sherbert orange chimeny. Teal window seals. And purple trimming. Oh my!

Said bridge.

My reflection in 'creek'.

Upon arriving to beach... or coast rather...

Kinda cool right. Think about it... Alone. At the edge of the earth.

Driving shot. Not bad. Darn bush was in the way tho.

Ok I think I should be heading home. I'm going to be losing the sunlight in a matter of minutes. Literally. Until next adventure. For the road... my goodbye photos.

Home.

~V

Misfits Coming To An End...

Yesterday was my last official game of the season. :( Sad I am. I had sooo much fun this year. I can't believe how much I missed playing. It was so exciting. I looked forwarded to every game. Fortunately I got to play every game. I was sick for a while and was scared I wasn't going to be able to. But I got well enough in time and I'm a trooper! Also we never had to forfeit a game. Which is always a good thing. And we won games! Which is way exciting. Unfortunately during my high school years we didn't win many games, so this was super fun for me. Don't get me wrong. I loooooved the girls I played with and the times we had. But it sucked losing more often than winning. Lol I mean who likes that right? Haha. But it was never about winning. Honestly. Just about playing. True love for the sport. Just last night, while I was warming up for our game with one of our older, er advanced players on our team, Raul. He was talking about how he was aching all over and still playing. He asked me, "What am I still doing out here at my age, Vanessa?" We both agreed, we just love to play. Injured or not. Win or lose. Young or Aged. We love to play. No game is the same. But each game is exciting. He was already thinking of what our uniforms should look like for next season! Lol He said he asked his wife for a sewing machine for christmas. Lol That guy is a character. He's a cool dude.

Anyway, it turns out we have ONE MORE GAME. Monday we have a 'make-up' game. One of games got rained out. Which was lucky for me cuz that was during the time I was really sick. So ONE more game. POSSIBLY. HOPEFULLY. MAAAAAYBE... if we win that game, we miiiiiiiight have a chance at the championship. We don't know yet. That would be, omg, SO COOL. Never did we think we were going to do this good this year. Lol. We had some tough competition. But our little misfit team did good. We're kind of like the underdogs. Haha. Who doesn't love a good underdog team? Right? Everyone likes to root for the underdogs. =) So we'll see. I'm gonna be taking my camera to my last game. I need to get some last photos of everyone. I'm gonna miss our pizza rendez-vous after the games. The the beer pong games. Lol Good times.

Some photos and clips of past games. More to come.


Nice form. Beautiful swing. Right? =)

Hit to the infield. Fielder bobbled. Over throw to 1st base.
I get 2 bases. Ah woo woo! =)

~V

Weekend Pics

Even tho I stayed in this weekend because I was sick :( , I was entertained by the weather. I mentioned when the rain comes, cool clouds follow. Saturday about 6pm, I saw one of the most coolest sunsets in our neighborhood. It happened so fast. My camera is always available and I grabbed it, but was unsatisfied with the shot I knew I was going to get. So I grabbed my keys, grabbed my purse, and I drove off. No word to no one. I chased the sunset! Didn't work. :( It set before I was able to get a shot off. I was so disappointed. It was beautiful. So I made it a point, when Sunday came around, I was going to be ready. Sure enough, 6pm, when the sun starts to set, I was ready. Camera in hand. Digital and 35mm. It wasn't as fierce as the day before. I was bummed about that. But the colors were still awesome. I don't know what it is about clouds. They intrigue me. Blended with the sky and colors. It's like a canvas. Different every time. Took a few shots.

This is from my front yard. Neighbors house is
too big gosh darn it. Haha

Then I went for a quick drive. Just to try to get a clear shot.
No obstructions. Not too different.


Back yard. Straight up. B&W.

~V

Tuesday Tune

I love me some Whitney! Opens with those same notes that only she seems she can hit. It's a pretty cool jam. Not that I have a man that makes me feel like a million dollar bill, or even that a million dollar bill exists but... it's still a feel good jam. =) I think.

~V

First big rain

So we had our first big rain yesterday. Did some damage. Our neighbors tree broked! That big palm almost falled on us! (jk) It was dancing!

But I still love the rain. It can be pretty too. =)



~V

Tuesday Tune

This video is lame. Makes no sense. It woulda been better if it was a black screen w laser lights. Sorry. But I still like the song. She coulda done so much better. But I'm not even upset about that. I'm upset because I could be listening to this song in my car, with my new speakers have you, but my flippin ipod dock broke!!! Grrrr. Now that my bday past, great, can't ask for a new ipod dock.

"Slow" by Kylie Minogue.





~V

~Clouds~

One of my favorite things to photograph is clouds. I love clouds. They're beautiful. Especially after rain. I love rain. Part of the reason why I love the rain I suppose. Can't have one without the other right? Haha. The weather is changing. The rain is coming. You know what that means? COOL CLOUDS!

Photo I took while driving actually. Don't worry I wasn't looking. I just like to point and shoot. I love this shot.

~V

Libro de Lunes

So I finished CITY OF THIEVES a couple of weeks ago. A story bout 2 young fellows in Russia on a hunt for a dozen eggs for a colonel, during the coldest of the winter months and hardest of economic and WWII times. I really enjoyed it. Anyone who wants a quick read should try it out. (It took me a couple months to read cuz I spread it out. I'm not a non-stop reader. I read in phases. lol But one could easily finish this in a few days.) Great for high schoolers. It's got some sarcasm. It's got humor. It's even got a little romance in it. I enjoy the way the author writes. I don't like books with alot of elaboration. I like dialogue. I want to check out his other book. I heard it's just as good. Imma put it on my list.

So I started a new book. Currently working on THE LOVELY BONES. A couple years ago, a friend recommended it. Said it was a really good book. Good read. Draws you in. And I always wanted to read it. But never got around to buying it or borrowing it. Since my new reading kick, it's been at the top of my list to read but still hadn't picked it up yet. Luckily, I finally got it as a birthday gift. 65 pages in and I'm hooked. Bout a young girl who is murdered and tells her tale from how she sees it in heaven. I like it already. I'm interested in heaven. What it's all about. I want to see how other people might envision it. I read another book not that long called THE 5 PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. Different perspective. Look it up.

They're turning LOVELY BONES into a movie. I think I'm going to want to watch it. =)




~V

2wenty 7even

So I just turned 27. Wow. 27 is a large number. It's a large number for me. Everyone who's older than me says "Omg ur still so young still." Blah blah blah. But I'm not young anymore for me. When I was 21, 22, 23...it was perfect. I felt young. That was a perfect age. But I'm already over that peak. I may be young to some, but I'm old to me. I feel young at heart. I don't feel like I'm 27. I don't feel like I've lived 27 years of life. Maybe half that. I'm old and I feel behind. All my friends are all around the same age. I see things they have and things that they've accomplished and I'm no where near that. Kinda makes me sad. And a lil' envious. ::sigh:: BUT! I can't complain tho. I had a great birthday weekend.

Started Thursday October 1st. A very special wonderful terrific fabulous spectacular (wink wink shoutout lol) great friend took me to my first musical. Usually not a typical birthday present one asks for. But I mentioned I had been wanting to see one and I finally got the opportunity. And for my first, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! We went to go see the the musical Wicked up in San Francisco.

Outside the Orpheum Theater

So fun! I loved the theater! (Which I was very sad to it because no photos were allowed! ::sad face::) I loved the stage. I loved the costumes. I loved the story. I loved the humor. I loved the singers. And I loved the music!! Favorite song from the night, "Popular". Kendra Kassebaum was one of the leading roles. She played Glinda, the good witch, was not only a good actress, she was a great singer. She was able to deliver those funny lines like a ditsy blonde and carry those notes like u wouldn't believe.

This is kind of a long scene, but the song is in there. Starts about 3 minutes in. But she's just goofy and silly and I love it! Not how you pictured Glinda, from the Wizard of Oz, how she started huh? lol




The Friday, my cousin told me he started this new DJ gig and he wanted me to go check him out. So me and a friend went to this wee lil' bar, in this wee' lil town, where wee live (hehe)by and we went to go check him out. Definitely not a packed house, but it was still something to do and he played some good music. At midnight he announced over the mic it was my bday (along with the bar tender. How rude! I had to share my night. haha jk) and dedicated the next song to me. So that was kinda special. =) I got my dance on. I got my drink on. What more could I ask for right? ;)

So on Saturday, my actual birthday, I had numerous text messages and calls (at different times. even the early birds like at 745am! omgoodness! lol) from friends and family. My birthday is never proper without familia and food so they wanted to take me and my cousin out for lunch for our bdays. We're only 2 days apart and we grew up celebrating our bdays together. We all stuffed our faces at Chilis. Delicious! Cute presents. =) Then Saturday evening I spent the night in Monterey. Sunday spent the day with my dad watching FOOTBALL! WOOT WOOT GO NINERS! Shut the Rams out. Niiiiiiice.

All You Can Say Is 'WOW'

Good weekend. Good times. Good birthday.
Thanks to all who helped me share it and made it special.

Still wish u were here mom. I miss u. I love you.

~V

Tuesday Tune

This is my new favorite song for the moment. I just can't get it outta my head and I wanna bump it every time I'm in the car! Usually women are subjected to lotsa names in male artists songs, but in this one in particular, it's SO not offensive. How can it be right? lol Tight beat.

~V

Tuesday Tune ft P!nk III

I thought I'd post the rest of the my videos from the concert from a week and a half ago. I'm still on a P!nk kick I suppose.

First video is an acoustic version of her song 'TROUBLE' from her 'Try This' album. (I like this video at the end cuz she makes a funny face. I cut it off at the right time. lol)




Next video is called 'SOBER'. Really cool song. P!nk told us she recently had shoulder surgery and was almost going to have to cancel our show. But she said "FUCK NO!" lol BUT... she wasn't able to do the acrobatic act she usually is able to. In either case, it was superrr cool to see. =) I think I cut if off RIGHT before something, that I'm sure wasn't planned, was that the guy, the 'catcher', missed the girl!!! Luckily she's has a harness on. But I'm wondering if that's how P!nk got hurt. Prolly a mishap. Eeeek!




Here she performs her single, and titled tour show, 'FUNHOUSE'. I musta really been into this song cuz i recorded the whole bit of it. I was trying to reserve as much space on my memory card to get a lil pieces of at least everything. That's why alot of my clips are short and cut off. But I'm cracking up to myself cuz at the very end she says something that I don't think I caught at the show. After she says thank you she points to someone and says "You're on nipple patrol, okay?" LMAO. It was due to her outfit. View Exhibit A: from her 2009 VMA performance. Same outfit.






Fun video. She covered Gnarls Barkley's "CRAZY". Unexpected but cool to hear someone else sing it.




And last but not least.. personally I think this should have been an opening song, not a closing song, but the last video i was able to capture before I ran outta memory was 'GET THE PARTY STARTED'.

P.S. noooo that's not ME singing in the background. Ok ok ok ok, it's not ONLY me. lol ;)




I had so much fun! Wonder who I'll see next. :D

~V

Tuesday Tune ft. P!nk

This past Thursday, me and one of my best friends went to go see P!nk in concert in San Jose. We had such an AWESOME time! P!nk is such a bad ass. We danced. We grooved. We sang. We screamed. We nearly lost our voices. She had a 22 song setlist covering new music like "Bad Influence", "Please Don't Leave Me" and "So What", and old music like "Just Like A Pill", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Trouble" and "Get The Party Started". That wasn't all. She also did covers of other artist's hits. Such as The Divinyls "I Touch Myself", Gnarls Barkley "Crazy", and some good ol' Led Zeppelin "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", AC/DC "Highway To Hell" as an intro, and Queen's "Bohemian Rhasphody". The costumes were cool. The stage was cool. The music kept you moving. We had so much fun! Good times!

For my Tuesday Tune I share a few of my photos and my videos from the concert.

ENJOY!

~V