the weather outside is NASTY. it's bonkers! pourin' down rain, thunder, lightning, how the fuck do you spell lightning? is that right? or it lightining? that looks wrong too... well whatever.

i wish there were more hours in the day. by the time i get off work i feel like i dont have much time to do anything. do i have too many hobbies? is the wii taking my time away from the internet, and is the internet taking my time away from the tv, and is the tv taking my time away from my dvds, and are my dvds taking away my time from my fashion designing/sewing projects, and is that really even going to happen?

tangent.

what i came here to say is that i went to the One Campaign training up in San Francisco on Saturday and it was awesome. (have you noticed i choose correct capitalization at random times? again, tangent). so the one campaign. another psuedo-celebrity charity campaign? i had my suspicions, but i walked away from the training feeling empowered that all my advocacy through One was not for naught. it was cool too that we had breakout sessions by region so we were able to network with other folks from the south bay who are into these same things, which is rare. not to mention an 11-year old who was there with his mom (by him wanting to be there), after he learned about One through Warped Tour. this kid was pretty awesome.

the one blog has a good rundown of what happened at the event, as well as their materials (powerpoints, sheets, etc) available for download.

Labels: the one campaign

i'm streaming the new arcade fire record, neon bible on the nme website. you can stream it here, you just have to register for the nme website. i'm through track 8 (of 11).. so far it's okay. havent had enough time to really review it, but first impression is that it wont top the last one.

in other arcade fire news, win butler's been running his mouth off. to some extent he has a point about the U.K. music scene (not to mention it's uber incestual). but about the marketing... while it does annoy me to a point, it's still a business.

and speaking of new music, after a couple of listens, i'm really diggin' the new bloc party.

alright, i best be getting to work. more later...

peace, love & understanding!

nic

mood: blah (i feel like i'm coming down w/ somethin')
music: arcade fire- neon bible

Labels: arcade fire, nme

i'm completely smitten over the winter weather today here in northern california. it's cold (california cold) and rainy and it just gives off the warm and cozy vibe.

Labels: popscene, ted leo

so it's weekly weigh-in thursday. not so good this week.

week 4: 99
week 3: 98
week 2: 101
week 1: 100 (baseline)

(refer to previous posts: week 3, 2, 1).

could have a bunch of excuses, but i'll just say, it's time to step it up. :) i'm not seeing any difference after three weeks of wii-ercize.

i did reach pro boxing status today. woo. i figured out a new move too. i should probably double up my wii boxing time from 20 minutes or so to 40. although after a couple of games the wii usually encourages you to take a break. hahaha.

this weekend i played the rayman raving rabbits game & it's fucking awesome. it might be the best one i've played yet. wario ware is growing on me, but the multi-player mode isn't all that to me. maybe once we can get another wand and do 2+ players it'll get more fun. me & nathan tried out the rampage game that nathan's sister got him. that game was pretty fun. it'll probably be good on multi-player as well.

i gotta get ready for work, promise to update more later on.

- nic.

Labels: nintendo, weight loss, wii

this is kinda neat: http://www.myspace.com/fairtradewoman.

shes a worker w/ the oxfam, make trade fair compaign and is raising awareness around fair trade policies, poverty, etc.

speaking of that, a post is due by me on the Farm Bill reform action that is happening. i promise to post something in the next day or two. (it's been a long day today.)

and also speaking of that, there is a one campaign training happening in san francisco at ucsf on saturday. i'm crossing my fingers that i end up going (i did register), but if you are interested check it out & sign up.

other than that, i'm supporting another bill wilson event/fundraiser (in collaboration with CATT), which is a fashion show fundraiser. check out the myspace profile for more info, and add it! the youth are workin' hella hard to make this successful and it's totally going to rule. be there & support the cause. talk to me if you are interested in buyin' tickets to the event, its on MARCH 9 @ the City Hall Rotunda!

time for my daily Wii exercise.

lots of love,
miss nicole.

Labels: fundraiser fashion show, make trade fair, oxfam

he's got my vote.

http://www.barackobama.com/

also check out: http://my.barackobama.com/ it's a myspace type site that is for networking with other obama supporters and local & national organizing groups--and of course, fundraising (which obama will need because he's only taking private funds, and not any public funds.)

alright. that's all for now. oh and btw, i might be auntie to another child today! my sister is going into labor as i type this... i just wish she didn't live so far away.

love, nicole.

Labels: barack obama

week 3. not much time to write (i'm trying to get out of my apartment by 8--i'm drivin' down to santa maria), so here's the results:

week 3: 98
week 2: 101
week 1: 100* (baseline, *not actual weight, obviously.)
(refer to previous posts: week 2, week 1.)

not bad, a loss of 3 lbs this week. sweet. i'm still chuggin' away at the wii play. got the new wario ware: smooth moves game. i finally beat the game and unlocked the mult-player mode yesterday (it took about 3 different occasions to finally pull it off). i'm off to visit my sister in santa maria for a day & a half, so i'm loading my mii on the wand and i'm gonna bring wario w/ me so we can test out the multi-player mode. the game itself isnt exactly what i thought (i thought i'd be jumping around more like boxing), but it's pretty fuckin' cool. the graphics are a really cool combo of black & white film noir-esque drawings & hella cute japanese anime.
---------------
valentines day was good. i took the day off and hung out with nate on his break from work. then i cooked us a nice dinner. it was a cute lil' valentines day, satisfying. we also made cookies. check it out:

Labels: nintendo, valentines day, wii

So this season of Veronica Mars has been good, but definitely different. In an attempt to get more viewers, the creator (and ultimately the network) decided instead of doing one season long mystery/case, with additional weekly cases for V-Mars, they would just do a couple of bigger mysterys, and then basically do weekly cases. It's worked so far, and the show is always good. (Thank goodness for STRONG writing & likeable characters).

But... what the fuck happened to Wallace? V-Mars sidekick and grounding character to hers (ala Xander via Buffy). Are they pulling a Family Matters, Torkelsons, and getting rid of a character? (I realize he's not a sibling, but he feels like one.) I know I probably missed the one-line when Wallace was off studying abroad, or was accepted into a special program, etc. etc. (I vaguely remember something along those lines.) Although, until I see his baby-fro & hear his sacastic-yet-grounding comments, I will be skeptical that my loveable Wallace is no more.

Screuuuuuuw you Veronica Mars.... scruuuuuuuuuuuuw you.

Labels: veronica mars

To convert or not to convert, that is my dilemma. No, I'm not talking about religion. I'm talking about converting my perfectly simple blog layout that I worked hard to edit and get just the way I want it (basically searching online for simple templates and altering the code to my liking). Blogger is starting to offer some cool features that link up with Google's cool features, and I'm slowly being enticed by them. The google reader shared blog links is what's really got me drooling now. In order to use the feature I have to upgrade to their layouts version of blogger, which means having them upgrade my current layout that I like, and loosing much of my saved data. I suppose I could upgrade and always save the code from my current blog in case I want to revert back. Although, what if I do that and come to find out it's not reversible? Despite blogger noting that I could revert back to my old template if I "need to". I'm still skeptical.

Advice? To switch or not to switch....... Maybe I can convert an older, not-in-use blog & see how I like it.

Sound like a plan?

Labels: blogger, google

this is pretty rad: http://www.airguitarusa.com/home.html

air guitar championship. haha.

mood: sleepy.
music: npr- news hour (w/ jim lehrer)

Labels: air guitar

i had a very nice surprise from a very nice boy (nathan--duh) waiting for me at work last night.

a cute duck-fruit arrangement from edible arrangements! there was also a box with chocolate-dipped strawberries (dark & white chocolate!). yummy!

i was so excited and happy because i've never gotten anything sent to me at work, like flowers, etc. this was my first romantic bouquet delivery at work! and best of all... it was a "just because", not an obligated "i'm sorry" or "it's valentines day" or "happy birthday", it was a "something to make you happy" reason.

i'm gushing like the girly-girl i am. oh well. i'm allowed.

isn't the ducky cute? there are daises made of pineapple & cantaloupe melon, and pineapple shaped stars.
soooo awesome!

well, that's all for now.

Labels: edible arrangements, romance

today's thursday, which means... weight check time. not much difference after a week longs wii-workout.

week 2: 101
week 1: 100 (baseline)
(remember i'm not putting my ACTUAL weight, maybe once i lose some, but for now, baseline weight is at a 100 lb lie).

so i gained 1 lb, which hopefully means that i'm building muscle and loosing fat. my arms have been sore all week from boxing, so that's a good thing. i'm gonna try to go jogging twice a week (once the rain lets up).

i also signed up for the self magazine challenge (online). i signed up last year too but didnt do much with it. because they have some good low-cal/low-fat recipes i'm gonna check out, and they send you little work-out routines, etc. we'll see how i do with that.

i bought the new wii game: wario ware: smooth moves & so far i'm a little disappointed because i thought i would be moving around more than i am. though i've only used single-player mode & i'm assuming the 2+ player mode will be a little more active, plus i'm still in the process of unlocking a lot of the games. it's pretty cool japanese anime style graphics though. the look of the game is definitely cool.

ok. time for work.

Labels: exercise, nintendo, wario ware, weight loss, wii

headaches are horrible. horrible. i've been getting really bad headaches over the last three days that pretty much equates to me not being able to do anything except hold my head and rub my temples in extreme pain. i take advil & drink lots of water and it will only go away for an hour or two.

any way... so basically haven't been up to too much the last few days. i've seen a bunch of movies: pan's labrynth (amazing!!! really really good fantasy story), music & lyrics (pretty cute--and loads better than any of the romantic comedies i've seen recently), and volver (also really good. strong female characters, but not a chick-flick--don't get the two confused. men should really go & see movies like this).

obviously i lost on my super bowl bets, so that was totally lame. now i just gotta hope that the sharks win the stanley cup, & i'll win my 50 bucks.

so i've been keeping up with the wii playing. the last couple of days i haven't played as much because of my brain tumor, better known as mind-numbing headaches. i'm completely obsessed with the boxing training games, my arms are so sore.

Labels: headaches, movies, super bowl, wii

so i have this photo posted on my flickr account:

and i have it labeled "masturbation."

and normally my pictures have a cross between 0 to 10/15 views.

but this one... has 57 views! 57 people.

and i didnt even explain why it's called that. the story goes that me & my family used to stay at this condo in palm springs when we would visit my grandparents. the condo was decorated with the cheeziest shit imaginable, including a bunch of sammy hagar shit, 90210 earrings, and the hanging picture of the girl to the left.

basically me & my sister thought it looked like the chick was masturbating to the ocean. this picture totally rules & i think it's hilarious. i also think it's hilarious that people will view an image 57 times just for the title of masturbation (which isn't event tagged with the word masturbation).

and there's also a picture of my friend berenice that shows off her legs w/ fishnets and that one was viewed 125 times... just because when you first look at it (the smaller version), it looks like you can see under her skirt, but really it's a napkin on her lap.

damn perverts. =D

Labels: flickr, masturbation

that's the plan at least. i want to lose weight. i want to get more in shape. i feel blobby. so my plan as of yesterday is to start by playing that wii at least an hour a day. tyler inspired me because he told me that some guy dropped 2 pants sizes playing the wii an hour a day (so he reports on his website). so what the hell. i will give it a shot.

i've been playing a couple of games of boxing, some tennis and some wii fitness practice games. the boxing definitely gets the heart rate goin' and it works my arms (which really need to be worked). i've also been riding my exercise bike and doing some yoga/weight lifts.

i will gradually build up my exercise routine when it needs to be more challenging. for instance--i may play 5-6 games in the next day or two, instead of the three i played this morning. i also might try to venture outside, maybe play actual tennis, basketball or go hiking/jogging once in awhile.

without giving away my actual weight (because that would just be too damaging to my self-esteem) lets just say my baseline starting weight is 100 lbs. (obviously untrue--but it's an easy number to measure gain/loss.)

i will weigh myself one a week, because otherwise you just get obsessed and complain... why isn't anything happening!!!!! damnit! since i weighed myself yesterday, i will keep it to every thursday. that way i dont have to feel bad about vegging out on the weekend and feelin' blobby come monday (cuz damn that super bowl sunday weekend!).

thursday baseline (week 1) = 100 lbs.

we'll see how this goes. i'm also going to try and work on little things about my eating patterns (though i think i've been doin' alright, not eating out as much, hardly drinkin', etc).

mood: awake
music: jimmy eat world- clarity.

Labels: exercise, nintendo, wii

i think this is the funniest shit that has happened in a long time, and i cant stop myself from posting about it. maybe it's the fact that i've been watching the show since day 1 & visit sites like the mooninites random quote generator... but this is seriously fucking genius.

please click the socks for another hilarious account of the mooninites bomb scare, courtesy of the boston-ist. my favorite quote from the article is that the Boston Globe called the mooninites: "little square-shaped men frowning and making an obscene gesture." priceless.

am i the only one finding this much pleasure out of this? oh how the simple things amuse me...

Labels: aqua teen hunger force, comic-con, mooninites, youtube

via boing.boing. via some other person's website.

Labels: aqua teen hunger force, mooninites

Labels: aqua teen hunger force, mooninites, youtube

just laugh at yourselves for being the bumbling bomb squad that you are and go about your day.

(i also enjoy the fact that "the finger" is censored out of the news reports.)

i don't think i'll ever grow tired of this story... i'll make sure to update more as the story unfolds.

mood: incredibly AMUSED.

Labels: aqua teen hunger force, mooninites, sfist

this is AMAZING!!! anyone wanna scout out SF for ignignot & irr (sp??)???
what a GENIUS marketing strategy.

Labels: aqua teen hunger force, mooninites