on a plane

Ahoy,

For mother's day weekend this year we flew up to Oakland to see A's folks. I thoroughly enjoy flying there moreso than driving. I'm also pretty sure the flight is cheaper than gas for his car. Another one of the many inconveniences his manual car affords. Many of you know that I don't do well sitting still, especially during a long car ride. It is the worst. I believe this is a byproduct of my upbringing. We rarely had to be in a car longer that 20-30 minutes.

As Touchstone members, I like to get on the ropes at the NorCal gyms whenever we go up. This time we just bouldered at Ironworks because we wanted to hang out with a friend. It made me realize how incredibly spoiled I am to climb at Lab. The older bouldering setups are much more cramped and smaller. It is difficult to stop anywhere because there are people falling from all directions onto you if you do. Lab is incredibly spacious so you could potentially park yourself in the same spot all night without being in a fall zone. I didn't realize what a luxury that was until Ironworks. Which makes me so very excited for when the Culver City location will open. It's going to be huge!

For dinner we went out with his family to a thai place near Cal. I believe I've frequented the college campus eateries more after graduating than while I was a student there. It's always an interesting feeling to be surrounded by college students now that I'm not one of them, although I could easily blend in. It's so strange to be an outsider to what could have been your own positions years ago. I'm reminded of a time in my life that had so much going on, but yet I'm glad to be on the outside of.

The following morning I started prepping and cooking at 10am. And I'm pretty sure we didn't start eating until 2pm. I have no idea what all happened in that chunk of time between 10 and 2. It is sort of nuts to me how much time it takes to prepare a meal for a dozen people. I have no idea.

We were glad to go back to LA. Always that sigh of 'home sweet home' whenever we return. I really like that about our home. I really like that we have created a little sense of "home" for ourselves here.

pleasantly dramatic,
jt

inaugural camping trip

Ahoy,

We finally made the effort to collect some camping goods this year. After my trip with H, I came back with a new sense of excitement for camping and I embarked on a mission to collect supplies for us to go camping without having to make the runaround to borrow from our friends. I think prior to that we had decided that we're not the camping types and we didn't have the equipment. I like to shower daily and A is too fancy and afraid of bugs. Not showering for a week certainly changed my mind.

After collecting the tent and sleeping bags, we made our first trip to use these items at Yosemite with some climber buddies. It was a sort of last minute decision. I was reluctant initially because climbing are not the most exhilarating for me. If I'm going to be outside, why would I sit for hours on end in front of a rock when there is all the rest of outside to see? This is especially true, in my opinion, for Yosemite. But alas, he wouldn't let me go explore lest I get eaten by a bear or lost. It was still nice to be outside. I don't think it was too hot or cold. I did come home with more than a dozen mosquito bites.

I brought my hammock and set it up by the climbs. It was delightful. Definitely makes these trips more fun. I had a great time sleeping under the stars and trees. There is a window in our tent so we could look out at the moon as we were going to sleep and watch the sun light up the site in the morning. The great thing about climbing trips with other girls is that we are all busting to the boys to finish up. Usually it is only me. All in all a great trip with lovely people.

unusually detained,
jt

booksbooksbooks

Ahoy,

I went to the bookfest with the RRS and H. I had him wear my red sack so I could fill it with books and have him carry them. But he ended up buying lots of books and I didn't buy any! He says he felt like he was bait and switched. I found this great compendium of space books, and he just couldn't resist. Because he's a nerd. Steal of the day!

possessively read,
jt

old friend

Ahoy,

My friend A came to visit and now I will go into detail regarding our whereabouts while she was here. She is probably one of the only people that reads this blog, so it's somewhat redundant to tell her about what we did, because she was there too. Doy. I can justify this by stating that I like to use this platform to recall what I did because sometimes I have trouble remembering and I want somewhere to remember.

She arrived late afternoon/ early evening on a Wednesday. She had to get a rental because this place is a sea of cars. Although, I do believe a Los Angeles vacation can be done without a car. She called me to let me know she was downstairs and it was the first time in a long time I had heard her voice and it was delightful. A belongs in the category of friends in which we don't have to talk for a while and once we do it's as if no time has passed. I believe friends like these have always been acquainted with my soul and will always be with my soul.

We jumped online to say hi to our other cohorts (I mean cohort in the most intimate form). The four of us date back to kindergarten and I love telling people that. We narrowly made it in time for dinner at this indian place and just went home to tuck in and catch up. I remember A taking me to this indian place in NY where they specialize in the cafeteria tray type of sampling stuff. It was the first time I had had indian food in that manner.

The following day we went to both the Gettys because A likes art, and I thought the gardens and architecture and views would also be appropriate to show her. Art is pretty low on my museum ranking, but I've been to the Gettys a lot this year. It's not like it's going to kill me. I showed her Sawtelle and we got lemonade at the new location. It's not my favorite location. It's smaller and more crowded than the others. We wandered around Santa Monica for some omusubis and window shopping. Also, no daisos on the east coast, so apparently her suitcase is full of daiso merchandise. Lazy dinner of burritos from across the street. The RRS loved it, he always does. He believes they are the best in LA.

On the last day we made our way downtown to explore and I think downtown is totally doable without a car. Grand Central Market was first for breakfast, of course. Looked around Little Tokyo in all the little shops, and daiso. Made our way back to GCM for horchata before the bookstore, happy hour and finally dinner. Last stop was at the LACMA for the streetlights display. It really looks much better at night.

I look forward to when we can meet again! I can't express in words the value of this friendship. It's just too much.

eternally friended,
jt

spring break

Ahoy,

My brother was torn about what to do for spring break. He considered visiting LA, and somewhere else, or staying close to home. Ah, indecision. I think he is a lot like my mom in that they like to stay at home and do nothing. I think I am a lot like my dad in that I always want to do stuff and explore and adventure. It's interesting to me now that I think about it because my dad was not around for a lot of my childhood. He had a minimal hand at raising us. Like most traditional Chinese family structures, my dad was very much the provider and my mom the caretaker. He never really parented us. But I feel like I am more like my dad - in personality traits and hobbies - even though I have not spent enough time with him.


Anyway, back to the spring break my brother could have spent with me, but didn't. We would have spent the first weekend getting my passport application ready to mail, climbing at the Lab and trying and failing to make it to a botanic garden before closing time because we decided to eat instead. The following day we would have gone to WonderCon in Anaheim. He might have dressed as the Flash, Megaman, black Spider-man, or his BotCon costume, or something new. I would have been Supergirl and A would have been our posse/photographer. It would have been awesome. He would have bought a lot of comics and toys.

We would both have gotten sick on Monday and spent the day at home binge watching tv, probably the same on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we would have gone to watch Last Comic Standing semi-finals. It would have been rip-roaringly funny, and we would have gone home with sore cheeks. The following weekend we would have gone to the Corgi Beach Party in Huntington Beach, again. Because he came last year for it too. It would have been really tempting to make off with a dog, but we would have brought doggie treats this time to lure them in.

It could have been a great spring break despite being sick. But alas, I now have to share my brother. My brother who now stays out past midnight and pays attention to his phone messages. The changes having a gf will bring about. My brother, kind of grown up.

genially related,
jt

so early

Ahoy,

Some friends and I decided to get up at an ungodly hour to go on a hike. First off, we could beat the heat projected for later that day, and secondly, we had a schedule to work around. The morning air was still chilly and delightful. The sea fog was still ashore so I loved that it wasn't sunny. There is a certain stillness and quietness in the morning mist that is totally worth being awake at that time. There was a deer running around as we were starting our hike up in the street. Parking is down the hill, so you have to walk up past the mcmansions to get to the trail.

The trail is pretty flat and covered most of the way, so heat exhaustion was not my main concern. First you'll come up to the lower falls and a swing. The fall is a trickle and not very impressive, which is typical for most waterfall hikes in SoCal right now. Some of us continued the "trail" to the upper falls, which involved a lot of scrambling and sliding. My friend M braved it for part of the way and stopped at a viewpoint to let us continue. What a trooper. I made a wrong turn following some people to a wire fence and slid my way back down. The upper falls weren't too far away, and were an even less impressive drip of water, but the rock scramble is a fun way to get places, so I'm glad I did it.

We were finished pretty early in the day and I spent the rest of the day waiting for A to do car stuff. It was magical. Cars. Car maintenance.

captivatingly driven,
jt

finally some ropes

Ahoy,

A's sister L visited in March, sort of as a continuation of her birthday festivities. We spent a day going from place to place eating with her and her friends. It was sort of delightful, and sort of strange. I like eating food as much as the next person, but it was strange to me because I really didn't feel like I was doing anything in between. This is how obesity creeps in, folks. The feeling that you've eaten a lot and not really done anything to be hungry and will not really do anything that that food will serve as fuel for. It's strange to me.

I think L finally voiced that A regards her as much more inclined for exercise than she actually is. Which is a win for me, because I suspected that the whole time. I had always thought that she was too nice to say to her brother that no, she does not want to go on a 5 mile hike and add miles to it by getting lost, coming across bees, jumping across water, and in general getting dirty. Granted, it is all well within her physical capability, but is it something she wants to do? Maybe not totally. A likes to spout endlessly about how rough and tumble his sisters are. Although I'm not so sure they need to prove that anymore.

The following day I convinced A to go out to Malibu Creek for some rope climbing with a group of my friends. I had a lot of fun, certainly more fun than bouldering climbing trips. We had learned sport a while ago indoors, and I had never tried it outside. I thought M was a good friend to go with because he is very knowledgable and safety-conscious, unlike some of A's friends that didn't make sure he was double backed his first time outdoors. I got some time on the walls and learned how to clean, and A got to try some trad. My clipping is so sloppy. I really look forward to being able to practice more when the new Touchstone gym opens in Culver. We left in the afternoon with enough time for dinner with friends downtown. Great day to be outside.

dangerously belayed,
jt