The Thrill is Gone…

But seriously, the thrill has been gone. I mourned Michael Jackson around the same time the court hearings started, his release of History and the lease of the Beatles catalog back to Sony. I mean, I know that as an artist, you can’t continue to create masterpieces, but MJ did a nice 20 year stint of doing just that.

I’m not much for one of admiring an artist for their personality…I am a fan of the art. And so, in my mind, the day that MJ started putting out bullshit, I mourned the loss of a great artist. What will always remain though, even during his not-so-great work, are the memories of great times, amazing visuals, and fantastic music. And for that, I do thank you Michael Jackson.

I remember watching the Jackson 5 cartoon on saturday morning with my aunt Angelica and Adela and trying to get first ‘dibs’ on which 5 was our boyfriend. We didn’t always want Michael..we liked the ‘older guys’.

I still remember doing the moonwalk with my brothers, aunts and cousins on Mom Marianna’s wood ring shalacked table. The feel of my Off The Wall album cover, the smell of the fresh ink and the feel of the smooth vinyl. I remember waiting in line for hours in the hot ass Anaheim heat to see Captain Eo, not realizing that it wasn’t really a ‘ride’ but a moving ’show’ hence the line crawling worse than the 405 freeway during rush hour. But we waited, and we saw.

I remember my BFF Cecily and I being SO excited because her parents bought her Thriller and we argued over who’s boyfriend MJ was. I think that by posession, we agreed that since it was her album, MJ would be her boyfriend.

I remember selling lemonade outside in Oxnard and drawing pictures, selling toys at garage sales and backyard so that we could raise money to by the 12″ mix. I don’t think we ever raised the money.

I remember lying to my parents so that I could go to a general admission MJ concert, totally getting caught, being put on severe punishment, and losing my radio/record player and posters as part of the 3 month long sentencing/punishment. I remember my soft cotton concert t-shirts that I kept in between my mattresses because if I wore them, my parents would know I went, and then I might get my album taken too.

When Bad came out, I was just starting to go through my ‘badboy’ phase and kind of never left that part of my musical preference. BAD was officially my last Michael Jackson purchase.influx into my life. I had grown musically, and begun to appreciate the artistic intensity of the live instrument and it’s fusion with other instruments. I’m still there, actually.

so yea. I do hope MJ rests in peace, but he was resting in my peace long, long ago. And on that note, please enjoy my favorite & life changing MJ contribution to my world

SylviaG Is A Pretty Young Thing

Filed under: Dear Diary , michael jackson

The Ankle and the 5 Thousand Tweets.

I just noticed that my twitter account is at 4790 updates. That’s alot of stuff on my mind…but more than that, its alot of words on my keyboard.

I joined twitter.com when I had rolled my ankle out of sheer necessity to do something that would take my mind off the total bummer of being immobile. Whenever I would start to feel frustrated over my inability to do what I really wanted to do, I would tweet about something that was immediately on my mind, even if it was second to being sad.mad.frustrated at my physical condition.

It’s been around 6 weeks now, my ankle is still folded, still swollen, my mobility still limited – and although I can do alot of excercise, I can’t really do everything I love doing – i.e. hiking, bellydance, step, salsa…I get depressed just thinking about it.

anyway, this particular post doesn’t really have any relevance whatsoever besides the hope that perhaps I will read it and get my ass into the doctor’s office to see what the heck could be wrong with the ankle. After 2 surgeries since January on this leg, I really am sad that I still have a prolonged rehabilitation. I’m SO READY to move forward. progress. live. etc. I never thought that I would hit more than 500 updates, Dr. Marks had told me that I would be back to normal in 2 weeks. I’m really hoping that the 5kth post doesn’t make me mad and sad.

it seems like 2009 has devoted itself to providing obstacles to my left leg…I really need to figure out a way to win the war, even after feeling like I’ve lost some of the battles. Word up.

Filed under: Dear Diary

The No Bird Zone

I have a real love-hate relationship of birds. Well, actually, I don’t. Because I don’t like birds. But what is really strange, is that I love the sound of birds chirping outside at the first sign of nice weather on the horizon, and I love the sound of birds in the morning when it’s warm enough to sleep with my window open. Right now, there are birds chirping outside, and it makes me smile…but I do cognitively know that I really don’t like the sound of birds in other situations.

Actually, I can’t stand the sound of birds in other instances. I will write one of my infamous lists. Then I can be like my sister-in-law Staci who has an extensive No-Food list, but mine can be my No Birds list.

Instances of where bird sounds should never be:

Inside a house.
I think that this kind of traces back to my grandmother taking us to some lady’s house in La Colonia where there was tourquoise carpeting, plastic runners and the smell of fried liver and pork. It was after church service at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I remember feeling like I had been abandoned in a tourquoise-carpeted house with plastic runners and the sound of birds chirping driving me to the brink of insanity on a hot sunday morning in La Colonia. And we went on numerous occassions. Yuck. I don’t like the sound of birds indoors.

On music tracks.
On occassion, I listen to the New Age Spa channel on Sirius. When a song comes on that is supposed to trigger relaxation, and I hear birds chirping, I instantly freeze up thinking that perhaps there is a bird in my car. Now, I realize that the chance of a bird being in my car is rather slim, but I’m talking about that “OMFG THERE IS A FUCKING BIRD IN MY CAR WTF DO I DO” feeling that comes and is gone instantly within a moment, but still, I really hate that feeling and don’t wish to ever experience it. Bird sounds should not be on music tracks.

On TV
Ok, now if the show actually has a bird in it, and the bird is making noise, then I suppose the bird can make noise. Recently I was watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in Sri Lanka. Have you seen it?? There really was no need to have the excessive amount of graphic enhanced crows during the transitions to commercial break. I really don’t appreciate it. Bird graphics with excessive bird sounds should not be on tv.

In a Spa
I recently went and got a facial at a local spa. The esthetician wrapped me up, and when it was time for the mask, she left me alone for a few minutes to let the mask work. Coincidentally, at that moment, the timer had one of those spa-sound things that has either crickets, water sounds or…bird sounds. Yes. Digital bird sound. I wanted to cry. You can guess that she had by default selected the bird sounds. Digital bird sounds should not be in a spa.

Birds are the devil’s shitty little messengers.

Filed under: Dear Diary , birds are evil, blackbirds, crows, no crows

The Peacock and the Universe

So last year, I was wearing my peacock earrings on a day shopping trip with my BGFF. Now mind you, I had on peacock feather earrings, a black Diane Von Furstenburg dress with wooden embellishments on the straps and wooden embellished flip flops. Totally bohemian chic…but Brianette (My BGFF) is the type of person who has to see things MATCH, unlike me, who prefers things to “GO” because I enjoy each item to have it’s own unique identity.

She, however, is the type to match her shoes, socks, capris, shirt, earrings, lipstick, eyeshow, earrings, purse and wallet. And even her sunglasses. True story. So anyway…my peacock earrings were bothering her, so she asked me to take them off, and offered to buy me a pair of wooden earrings to match the embellishments on my dress. Yes, I do adore my OCD friends, and being that I rarely get to hang out with her anymore, I said ok I put my peacock earrings somewhere, and I never found them again. It could be very possible that Brianette threw them away, but I have no recollection or proof if that is what went down. I really, REALLY missed my peacock earrings, especially because they were humanely and handmade, and that kind of stuff is important to me. With the summertime right around the corner, I am feeling the feather adornments, so I put out a microprayer to the Universe via Twitter (LOL!) asking for the earrings to make their way back into my life, and wouldn’t you know that a vendor was selling them at the UCLA Reggae festival that I went to that day. Woot!! Salud por Twitter, vendors & the peacock and the Universe!

Filed under: Dear Diary, The Wardrobe, fashionista

Whatever Works, President…I Got Your Back.

P042309PS-0831, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

I just added this photo (if you click on it, it will take you to the White House photo stream on Flckr) and the whole White House as a contact to my Flckr account. I love how we can get a glimpse of regular activities of President Obama, as a real person and a real leader.

*swoon*

Filed under: Dear Diary

Be My Valentina

IMG_9722.jpg, originally uploaded by sylviaguillen818.

This is a photo of my great grandmother’s burial spot in Mascota, Mexico.

Her name was Valentina. Actually, most of the markers are somehow familial. Anyway, I’m hella tired from my pilates class tonight, but I just wanted to share the dopeness of this photo since I found it buried somewhere deep inside my Flickr account. Peace out.

Filed under: Dear Diary, Memories & Musings

Gone, baby…gone.

IMG00211-20090212-1212.jpg, originally uploaded by sylviaguillen818.

How sad. My glasses are officially gone. I’ve managed to loose them in somewhere in the universe unbenownst to me. They were my most recent rx with a full eye exam and the non-glare computer screen friendly ones. The ones that cost an arm and a leg because I wanted to invest in something nice that I would be wearing on a daily basis.

Sigh….blah.

Filed under: Dear Diary

Fruity Funds

IMG00208-20090114-1529.jpg, originally uploaded by sylviaguillen818.

Why did this batch of grapes and cherries cost just a bit over $12.00? That’s kind of pricey don’t you think??

Filed under: Dear Diary

Oops.

Personal Note to Self:

Without mistakes, where would we value success? I can’t tell you how many ‘golden ideas” I have had throughout my life. And I’m probably going to have a whole bunch more. But out of all those ideas, all those executions, and all those broken dreams come a life of golden satisfaction and personal success. You’ve come a long way baby!

Filed under: Dear Diary , just for me, making mistakes

How to Save Your Money

Dude. Why did I just get an email from Ebay saying that since I did not update my credit card info for automatic billing and my $4.32 balance I had for selling fees is past it’s billing cycle are they billing me for a $25 late fee?? I’ve started thinking about how many times I’ve had to pay more money because of situations like these, and it gets me in the WORST mood ever! With all these identity theft issues and changing and re-instituting new cards and security codes, it’s really hard to keep up with updating all your accounts all over the place, and a purse that I sold last year that I didn’t realize was going to cost me $34.32 in ebay selling fees because I never updated the new information is just plain annoying. Whenever I’m mad at something that could have been prevented, I start writing lists of more examples that I could have avoided to figure out if I should really be mad at them or myself for the loss of money, because it all adds up. And being that I’m such a super bargain shopper all the time, it almost makes me feel as if I’ve lost the round when I end up having to cough up the money to pay. Ok so here’s my list thusfar, which probably isn’t going to be interesting or helpful to anyone other than myself at some later point in my life.

1. Bank of America. – I get SO annoyed with all of their fees for everything. Talk to a banker? There’s a fee. Order checks? Ya, there’s a fee. No the commercials who make fun of these situations are not exaggerating. The fact that BofA is buying everything up makes me annoyed, because I really have made severe and conscious attempts at eliminating their influence in my life.

2. Best Buy free magazine samples. Yes, they tell you that you have been selected to get 3 free magazines and then have a very simple opt out plan that you can cancel before the end of the sample so that you don’t have to pay…but they DON’T tell you that they don’t send you that in simple terms, they send you a BILL at the 4th installment and say that you can’t cancel because you were supposed to notify them before the shipping of the 3rd magazine. BUT there is no way to contact or state your desire to cancel between the 2nd and 3rd delivery, no address, no form, nothing. Before you know it, you’ve got a full year subscription to some wack magazine that just adds to the clutter in your inbox.

3. Stamps.com – I signed up for a free trial for stamps.com but soon realized that it only runs on windows vista and not MAC computers. I was billed for $38.00 for the supply of stamps that come free with the free trial, but penalized for cancelling the free trial. WTF? Now they are threatening to send me to collections because I haven’t paid it. When I called customer service, I reached a call center in India where the service rep kept repeating a script that he was told to read every time I asked a question. Seriously. I

would ask “Why am I responsible for paying for something that was free, and didn’t work? I don’t understand??“

Reply: “yes, ma’am, on line 45 of the conditions and terms of service that was approved ….“

Me: “I don’t think that we are understanding each other, is there someone that I can speak to about this?”

Reply: “yes, ma’am, on line 45 of the conditions and terms of service that was approved ….“
you get the picture. Stamps.com…you SUCK ASS.

4. Michael Kors Outlet, Camarillo California
I really like Michael Kors stuff, but I bought a pair of jeans and a shirt from the outlet in Camarillo in the spring. I didn’t wear it until mid-summer, at which point both items fell apart. Now, I am quite a fashionista, and it is truly plausible that I will purchase something and not wear it for months, until the right event, weather, etc. comes along. Being that I spent a good $200 on the outfit, I decided that I’m going to return it because as Michael Kors says on Project Runway, “that’s insane”. Upon returning the item, the manager and salesperson make me feel rather low, and in a very juvenile way explain to me that “since you returned this item, that they can tell I wore multiple times since the receipt’s purchase date 3 months ago, I will NOT be able to return what I have exchanged it for…do you understand that? You will NOT be able to exchange the exchanged item” For which I said, “well yes, I do understand that, and hopefully I won’t have to want to exchange anything because the items that I exchange them for shouldn’t fall apart…right?” But guess what? The shirt that I exchanged it for broke out in a hole the first day I washed it. No lie. Michael Kors product is whack. That’s $60 that I might as well thrown down the garbage.

5. DMV – dud. no need explaining that one, because if I even do, I will go into a full on rage.

6. 24Hour Fitness. This needs an entire blog in and of itself. For real.

So essentially, in a time of economic recession, I have learned and would like to share with any and all who read my blog that you too, can save money if you watch your p’s & q’s in your business with Michael Kors, Bank of America, Ebay, Stamps.com, the DMV, and Best Buy’s free magazine promotion. Oh yea and 24Hour Fitness.

Filed under: Dear Diary , 24hour fitness, bank of america, dmv, ebay, michael kors, project runway, stamps.com