plugged up & plugged in…

mental note: bring earplugs when working at a cafe.

I went to the doc’s this afternoon, and the diagnosis: Snotitus. hahaa.. no.. she said one of my ears looks like it’s planning an Infection Party (so she prescribed some antibiotics), and that she could clearly see all the pressure goin on in my face. And today STILL, my upper teeth are aching – which I cannot express enough how frickin painful it is! I am doing the ‘I’ll do whatever it takes from here on out for the rest of my life to avoid this pain again!’ pleading to the SnotGods above. And lastly, my lymph nodes are chock full and working hard, and consiquently very tender (because they apparently take on the brunt of the drain). Oh ya… being sick is HOTT!

I asked her if there are lymph nodes taking on stress in my upper back :) and when she asked if I was stressed tears came to my eyes. Jesus, Willo – pull it together! So anyway – she said that I may have used the Sinex stuff too much – which she can see how easily that could happen. Or she said it could just be that due to all the circumstances involved, that I had some sensitivity to it. Another thing is that I feel like because of our lush gardens out back and all the rains, that I’m exposed to more mold than usual in this new place – and that could be why I find myself so sick every January, as I could have some kind of allergy to that. Who knows. Anyway – I’m on the road to recovery – it simply can’t get worse than this.

This is officially the worst sinus thing I think I’ve ever had and I feel for all of you who have written in commenting about your allergies, and religious steam/flushing methods. I am *so* doing that as soon as I get home. But for now, I’m sitting at Canvas Cafe, and then after this I head out to the Sunset for BAM.

I’m cranky though.. I was formulating complaint notes about the girl who rang me up for my drink here. You know when you feel like yelling, “HEY! Aren’t customer’s #1 here!?!?”. hahaaa. and then I thought, “Wow, I’m cranky.”

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the things we learn…

Today I learned that you shouldn’t take Echinacea for more than a few days or it starts to not work/have a reverse effect. So basically it’s best to take right when you feel a cold coming on, but to switch gears if the cold comes on full force and start taking herbs more related to the symptoms. Today in Real Foods I was recommended Yin Chiao Chieh Tu Pien to help strengthen my immune system right now. I actually thought I was getting better, but turns out a couple of the cold remedies I was using backfired on me, which you get to read aaall about below. woohoo!

Oh, also, once you start diving into the herbal/homeopathy side of things you start to learn that certain herbal combinations “activate” eachother, etc. Like Goldenseal/Cayenne, which my Mom swears by. I also picked up a new 1 a day women’s multi-vitamin (I was out) and another bottle of herbs that are for when you’re starting to feel a cold coming on.

Anyway -I’m obviously in full blown cold, so I picked up the Yin Chiao stuff to hopefully help balance/boost my immune system – but what I realized when I got home and did a quick search is that I basically have symptoms of sinusitus. :( Ya, you might think it sounds bad, but it’s not just bad, it *sucks*. It is sooo frickin painful, I can’t believe it.

Sinusitus basically happens because you’re stuffed up for too long and it’s not “draining” properly. Which is real sexy I know, but I’m happy to teach you the error of my ways so you can avoid this pain! And basically I know I have it, because my jaw and teeth are ACHING. And your sinus’ actually are all throughout your face, so if they get infected or inflamed, then you start feeling it in your jaw… and oh my god it SUCKS!!! I have seriously felt like crying several times today because of the pain. :*(

So, here’s what happened, and I’ll start from the beginning (for my own documentation if anything, cuz I’m a big geek like that):

Last Wed night/Thursday: Sore throat – which for me is the onset of a cold every time. I also know that this was specifically triggered by staying up waaaay too late on a couple previous nights combined with it being ‘that time of the month’ (which in case you didn’t know, women’s immune systems are much more fragile during this time) AND some other emotional stuff and probably some stress, etc. All of that wrapped up into one and my fragile immune system collapsed under the pressure.

Friday: Thankfully the horrible sore throat went away, but (typical next phase of the cold) I was immediately a snot factory (Sell ya’ a jar for $1!). So, in order to breath and function and try to kick this thing as fast as possible… I got on my trusty routine of DayQuil/NyQuil/Vitamins/Lots of Water/Lots of Sleep/Fresh Foods/No Drinking/No Sugar/No working out (my “workouts” are standing at a show, drinking water – which I feel is actually good because it’s at least *some* exercise, if you can even call it that, considering otherwise I sit here all day!).

However I was out of DayQuil, so I ran to the pharmacy and since the head cold was feeling so major (and I sounded horribly stuffed up on the phone with my clients) I thought I’d look into some kind of nose spray type of thing to help clear up my sinus’ better… like Vicks VaporRub or something. So I looked around and found this spray they have called Vicks Sinex “for sinus relief/decongestion”, so I bought it & thought I’d try it. Friday I start on that & some DayQuil, then at night NyQuil. (btw – both Wed. & Friday I’d left the shows early and came home to get in bed)

The Vicks Sinex worked great (but there is a BUT/WARNING coming up, so don’t stop reading there) and I was actually sooo surprised that this spray actually was working better at decongesting me than my DayQuil was!

Saturday: So, I started using the Sinex more, instead of DayQuil. And Saturday night I was actually feeling so good I decided to not take my NyQuil before bed, because I thought I could just use the Sinex, and if I woke up not being able to breath through my nose – the Sinex would take care of it & I could go back to sleep! Great plan!

Sunday: I was still stuffy – but Sinex to the rescue – and that night, same thing, I decided to hold off on my NyQuil again. Wild because here I thought I was getting better! I felt good – but I have to admit, I was a tad weary as to why I was still blowing my nose so much and if I was getting better, why my cold hadn’t gone through it’s usual course of into my chest. hmmmmm…. Then again, technically I was only in the 4th day of the common cold, so blowing my nose is no big deal, right?

Monday: Big client meeting downtown – so Sinex + DayQuil! busy, busy, busy day downtown – didn’t get home till late… but for some reason my jaw was starting to hurt! hmmm… Have I been so stressed I’m grinding my teeth or clenching my jaw during the daylight hours and not even noticing it? Also at this point, I know the Sinex bottle says to not use it more than 3 days.. so I vow to stop using it the next day (today) or ask someone about it.

Tuesday: I happened to have a Doctor’s appt this morning anyway – and asked her about it, and it turns out that products like this are not only addictive, but WORSE is they have a backlash effect (which is totally what’s happening!) that can happen where you get stuffier than you were before! So, it’s kinda like treating the symptoms (and boy did it work great! I was addicted to how awesome it worked!), but underlying it all it’s practically “breaking” your body’s natural function to drain it out and therefore can cause an infection. waaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!

So ya… I’m in serious pain. I have done vapor steams today and I think in the last 8 hours I’ve drank about 15 glasses of water to try to liquidate it all. And I have a call into my doctor, because they say that there’s a point that Sinusitus can just become this low-grade bacterial infection that can only be taken care of w/ Antibiotics. I know, LOVELY. But I don’t care. I’m HUMAN! And I have a goddamn human cold! hmph. And I’m sharing my horrible experience with my fellow humanoids so you can spare yourselves the PAIN AND ANGUISH! I’m doing this for you, people! (insert donate link here)

Ya, so that’s what MY day has been all about. My jaw ACHES and literally my whole mouth and teeth ACHE. I feel like I want to tear them out with pliers! I just want them to stop hurting!! :(

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ambulance ltd + autolux

Lastnight I had a great time! My “new friend” & I went out for some *deeeeeelicious* Godzilla sushi, that I was craving and it was amazing! My cold wasn’t too bad at all, which was good. (aka, didn’t get snot everywhere cuz we all know how attractive THAT is! hahaa…)

Then we walked from ‘GodziRa’ down to the Independent. It was a really nice night out! We got there super early, so we saw the openers from Philly: Dr. Dog. What a retarded name! It’s waaay too much like a cross between Dr. Dre & Snoop Dog. And here they’re like this crazy jam band. Granted, they sounded pretty good, if you’re into that… and one of the lead guitarist/vox guys was pretty entertaining with his knees held high, marching around with these old silly sunglasses on. Anyway – we were glad when they were over, because up next…… AUTOLUX!!!! (and Jem arrived just in time, yay!)

Autolux f*in SLAYED. ME. I absolutely LOVED their set soooooo much!!! I love them! (I bought a shirt). I have been listening to them for a little over a month, thanks to DJ Ted, and on CD their drums are so powerful, so I was so stoked to see what that was all about in person. And, I am so delighted to report that it’s a chic drummer!! aawww yaaaa!!!

Her name is Carla Azar (formerly of Ednaswap) and she’s incredible (she does some vocals, too, and she has a beautiful voice). Their whole stage presence and chemistry is excellent… very dreamy and yet full of energy. I almost can’t put it into words, but it was really, really great. :) I even chatted breifly with the lead vox/bass player, Eugene Goreshter, afterwards and told him how I felt about their drummer… but now I feel bad now I didn’t also express to him how much I also *loved* his bass. It is really deep, dirty and powerful as well, and so between the drums & his bass (and yes the guitar, too), along with the dreamy lyrics and flow of the songs cultivates a really great sound. They’re all really talented and put on a great show.

Ambulance, Ltd. were wonderful again! They’re all such cutie boys, that I just feel like are all so sweet and humble, and yet incredibly talented and come off as really dedicated to making great music. They sang a few new songs, and they’re just as amazing as their current album… I’m stoked to get a new release from them. They’re from NY, and I told Jem maybe we could arrange to hang with them when we go out there. haha… they just seem like awesome guys, and their show was wonderful lastnight. We were right up front & enjoying every minute of it. And unlike Friday night when I left early, lastnight I *so* stayed through the encore, and they could have done another one & I would have been there for that. I love those guys!

Photos from the show! (I actually have them up at the same time as my post! huzzah!)

:::

It’s been a really fun weekend so far.. and today I’m home to tackle my taxes! woohoo! Let’s hear it for taxes! I have a TON to catch up on… My Quicken program has been on my PC, and therefore everythings gone into a “file me” pile and hasn’t been organized for months since I payed quarterly taxes last Sept. oy! So I have my work cut out for me today. :) But, I’ve got the tunes on, an Airborne in my water and I’m ready to crank it out.

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oh ya, it’s easter!

I think I realized it was Easter about 4 days ago… funny how when you don’t have some big family or dinner gathering around a holiday, it can easily sneak up on ya! But about a week ago I had planned to have brunch w/ Eric and his sister Natalie who just moved up to the city.

I invited my darling Lyney-loo (cuz I knew her & Eric would have lots to talk about with all their yogi-meditation shtuff), and Eric invited Ali, who invited her pal Leslie – and next thing you know we had a fun little Easter morning brunch crew! yay!

Upon Eric’s request, we hit Cafe Gratitude. An incredibly *new agey* place that the 19-year-old soul-seeking-me would have LOVED, but this morning I was like “damn, no egg’s bennie, huh?” :/ I’m not sure I’ll go back.. but I suppose it’s ‘neat’ they got their whole deal goin on… all positive & stuff :). I do love the whole “you create your reality” mindset… and really their food is incredibly fresh… uh, considering that’s what they’re all about. It’s all ORGANIC, RAW food. And when you order, the meals are in I AM statements. So this morning, “I AM GREAT” and my peeps were everything from PASSIONATE to MIRACULOUS. Ya, no fatty omelets there with a side order of home fries. :)

It was great to see Ali again… and finally meet her friend Leslie who is just moving to the city, too. Ali writes music reviews for TinyMixTapes, and is (apparently, although she has yet to be making enough money to support her habit) a frequent show goer and music lover as well. Eric knew we’d hit it off, and so we went to the Scissor Sisters show awhile back, but hadn’t seen eachother since.

It was fun to see everyone and meet Leslie & Natalie. Happy Easter, everyone!


Eric, Natalie, Ali, Leslie, me & Lyne @ Cafe Gratitude

UPDATE: There’s a few more photos starting here. :)

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photos, photos and more photos


Kazoobie sitting on Jeff’s bag, and assumedly claiming his brand new Sony PSP. :)
View more of Kazoobie in my "Random March Photos" album.
This one is particularly adorable :)

More photo album updates:

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I got my new SD500!!!!!

I’m soooo stoked!! Jeff brought it over for me yesterday, since he needed to send back the SD300 (which I was soooo incredibly stoked to have for a few weeks to try out & use while I was camera-less!! thank you jeff!!).

Jeff has been a TOTAL sweetheart in this whole deal. If you’re just ‘tuning in’, Jeff has been a client of mine (I redesigned DCResource.com for him – check it out! Prime example of the great work I’ve done over the last year and 1/2 *gasp* that’s not in my portfolio YET!), and over the last year we’ve also developed a cool friendship over mac and camera nerdery. :) He comes over & shows me his latest toys (digital cameras, video cameras, and yesterday the brand new Sony PSP!), and I have learned a lot about taking photos, and the cool features on these new cameras!

And get this: He got me a ‘happy new camera’ present: a fatty 1GB card!! WOOHOOO!!! So we’re talking I can take 7 megapixel photos at 3072 x 2304 resolution – I can get ~320 photos on this card! WHOA! And (Lucia) at that 1600×1200 size – which is completely *fine* for anyone just printing 4×6’s – I can get a whoppin ~920 photos on here! Plus, it’s the Ultra, so it records the photos/movies faster! HOT DAMN! Ya, and speaking of vids… I can take really long vids w/ a 1GB card! No more “oh no, there’s only 20 seconds left!”. Well, then again, I will probably get there, knowing me. :)

I know I don’t need to be taking such high res photos, considering I mostly shoot shows & party peeps – oh, and Kazoo, of course :) And I wonder if I shouldn’t be, considering the files come out to be like 2MB each and that’s a serious HD hog after a bit. However, I can’t help but feel like as hard drives get bigger & bigger that I’ll be glad I shot at such a high res. Case in point, the photos I took of Kazoobie when he was a baby, I now want to print a few out to make a calendar, but some of the shots are at such a low res, I’m afraid they’ll be grainy or pixely when I do.

Anyway- either way I’m uuuuuuber stoked on this new puppy. The longer flash range ALONE is suuuuuuuweeeeet. And I can’t wait to go up to the top of Bernal & take a panoramic (now that Jeff showed me that sweet feature!). I even got to pass on some tips to Lucia recently – and eventually will post a few here for you all, since I’ve had a few comments about people not knowing what they can do with their cameras. I didn’t really know as much as I do now even a short 3 months ago, and they’re really simple things you can do!

At some point, Jeff & I will go up to Twin Peaks for a little photo taking adventure, too. (Can you believe I have only been up to the top of Twin Peaks ONCE in my whole 9 years living here?!?! JEESHK!) And I want to do a little walking trip around the city snapping photos.. which again is something I’m soo amazed I haven’t taken the time to do (and probably should have while I had my fisheye, but with this new camera I’m really looking forward to it!). And my show shots will improve, too! I already shot the Futureheads show w/ this SD500 & loved how they came out. YAY!

Ok – I’m going to run a few errands and then come back to work some more. Happy Friday everyone! xo

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cold sweat

Have you ever heard someone say they “woke up in a cold sweat”? Or maybe you’ve experienced this? Well, I never had until lastnight.. and I can officially say it is MISERABLE.

Several times lastnight I woke up with literally my entire shirt wet from sweat… but I was shivering! My god! What’s the matter w/ me!?

Well, simply put: My burning the candle at both ends (aka rockstar lifestyle) has left me under the weather, again! But it boggles my mind, really, as I’ve been fairly low key, lately and getting myself good sleep! But with me all it seems to take is one night w/ a lack of sleep and it can hit me. It also may be a cold passed to me from a friend I hung out w/ in the week, who works with kids… or maybe it was even from Elana’s kiddos on Sunday night? (kids are germy!) I don’t know what it was.. but it’s a total bummer.

So, in addition to the bad night of sleep I had lastnight, I have a horrible sore throat and the good ol’ fashioned stuffy head. :( hmph.

:::

Tuesday I had felt pretty bad, but yesterday was feeling a tad better and so keeping with my plans (aka still probably trying to do too much), I made a tuna cassarole and went over to sweet Lucia‘s Bday Potluck in Oakland. It was great! There were a number of her friends there I’d never met, some that I had, and then all us girls: Jee, Jane, Kristin, Ashley & Hillary! And the last two girls I hadn’t seen in forever, so it was great to give them hugs & (sorta) catch up.

A couple people even said they loved my cassarole! yay! (Thanks Kristin!) That totally made my night, because I was sure it hadn’t lasted the trip over there. Between rushing out of here, running the small errand I had to make before getting there, and then the 1/2 hour or so before everyone dove into eating. It’s small rewards like that, that make me want to cook more. Now I want to go buy a new cassarole dish!

Lucia loved my prezzie, which I was so thrilled about. She’s a sweetheart and even phoned me today to say thank you & express her sentiments about how happy she is we’ve become friends and have been spending more time together lately (which is exactly how I feel!). She’s a peach, and now just another year wiser. ;) Happy Birthday, Lucia!!!! xooxoxox

:::

After Lucia blew out the candles (and I passed on dessert, since no cold is helped by sugar!), I headed over to meet Jem at the Independent for a show we’ve had tix to for about a month: The Kills!

They just had their new album come out, so I was looking forward to seeing them a second time and playing at this larger venue, playing their new material, etc. I was pretty close to giving up on parking (it’s horrible over there!) and going home, since I knew I was starting to feel bad, but I found a spot so I went in for a bit. Jem & I caught up a bit and then the Kills went on. They were fantastic and I got some GREAT shots, but it didn’t take me long to feel so bad, that I think I left around 11:20 to come home & sleep!

Today I had a deadline all day long, which was tough since I’m not feeling that great. :/ But it’s done & ready for review. phew!

Too bad life didn’t have a ‘pause’ button. Cuz I have 3 more shows in the next 4 days. oy!

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Rise and Shine

Did you know that iPod has a sleep timer that lets you fall asleep to music? It’s true. And if you like to wake up to music or to the sound of an Alarm Clock, iPod is just as accommodating. You’ll find settings for the Alarm Clock and Sleep Timer in the Extras menu. Both features work very well, by the way, when you connect iPod to a pair of portable speakers.

I took this text off an ad… but thought I’d share. I’m so using this with my Altec Lansing Speakers! Recently I’ve been using them as a stereo in the bathroom while I shower. Only problem is if I have it on shuffle, all of a sudden some crazy dance noise rock beat comes on and ruins 5 minutes of my relaxing shower. :)

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