i pledged at charactersunite ... your turn?

characters unite ... this is a USA network campaign of sorts - as stated about their mission (over here) -

"... Characters Unite, a multi-platform campaign designed to help form a more perfect union by combating intolerance, prejudice, discrimination and hate, and promoting greater acceptance and mutual respect of all people ..."

just another place (among a sea of others) to express my evolving thoughts about ignorance as shared over here. pledge to do so. it's simple (over here).

f|break: (bonus) sunday morning

flashback to jack (of will & grace fame) so soon?! ... yes! because this is how i felt getting up this morning - boundless energy (although without coffee)! sean hayes (aka jack) is fabu. just love this scene. (now off to the farmers market this morn.)

(repost from 11/18/10)

just jack! ... or jack 2000. regardless of how i remember jack mcfarland - LOVE JACK. LOVE. JACK! recently reminded of will & grace on one of my recent visits to david dust's blog.

enjoy your midweek fiber break of less than a minute
with jack of will & grace over here

Jack: Hey, friends, lovers, mothers, and other strangers. You’re never going to believe what happened to me. Oh, my gosh! Did you see that? I almost did the half nelson. I almost bruised my delicates, my delicates, my domo arigato Mr. Tomatoes. Huge news! I have met— Are you ready for this? Mr. Right. Well, Mr. Right-Now, anyway. Ba-da-bum! Good night, folks, I’m here all week. Jack 2000! He works over at the Jumpin’ Java. You know that coffee shop on 72nd? And his name is Paul. He is cute with a capital “Q”! And the busier it gets, the hotter he gets. And the hotter he gets, the sweatier he gets. And the sweatier he gets— I forgot where I’m going with this, but the point is… Me likey he, and he likey me. And the best part is— Shazam— he gives me free iced coffee every time I go in, which is every hour on the hour. Thank you very much! And occasionally on the half hour! Bah-da-da-da-da! Blblblbt!

ella's for new year's brunch

chicken hash, potato scramble, crab omelette, sticky bun, coffee (runneth over), and refilled waters ... yum-yum in my tum-tum at ella's (on ella's site, on yelp, and on a table for two - its list of the best of brunch) in laurel heights (in SF), on the corner of california and presidio, diagonal from the jewish community center (jcc).

new year's brunch ... breakfast buds gadgetman, piragua, and i spent our new year's brunch at ella's counter-seating over-looking the kitchen (as we played our napkin frivolity). wonderful service, friendly people, no elbow-room-smack-downs at the counter, and no rushing. and although no grits (given my hankering for grits), there was the requisite hash for gadgetman, vegan healthy for piragua, and conversation over food for me. (i could eat peanuts dipped in those pre-packaged, non-compostable jelly containers and be happy if the chatter is afoot.) with the menu to the right - let's be clearer about our dishes ...

• chicken hash ~ served with eggs and toast + wheat bread (doesn't quite do this dish justice given the nom nom nom noises from gadgetman who sat between piragua and me)
• open faced omelette with dungeness crab, meyer lemon ricotta, grilled asparagus, toasted onion and tarragon + wheat bread
  
• potato scramble with curried cauliflower, shitakes, grilled red onion, cilantro and gouda (no photo. tear.)
• and ... fresh baked sticky bun shared between gadgetman and me because it was the size of a baby's head
  

to sticky bun or not? ... after one of the servers heard gadgetman and me debating over getting a sticky bun, he said, "... let's turn this talk into action. and new year's resolutions do not start until the business day." SOLD. actually, i'm thinking we eventually would have gotten the sticky bun because piragua might have gotten tired of hearing us debate the matter.

hash him, veggie her, sticky me ...
take us to ella's again!

f|break: sunday morning

comedy ... perhaps it is too soon to throw zack galifianakis (here and here) in the mix - or not. and perhaps this fiber break is too long - or not. and maybe over-dosing on his funny or die clips of between two ferns is driving the point into the ground that i enjoy quirky zack. well, i think he's funny.

enjoy your mongo fiber break with zack galifiankis
of ~ 7:20 min (over here)

"just give me ..."
"now i'm going to go to the piano ..."
"i went to my high school reunion not too long ago ..."
"we have a great show for you tonight ..."

breakfast buds & fmk new year's napkin frivolity

last year ... breakfast buds had our 2010 napkin frivolity as shared over here while we sipped bloody marys and/or mimosas, munched on over-priced tater tots, and brunched on tasty nova bar offerings.
(apologies, no explanation of last year's napkin frivolity will be disclosed; we have resolved to put that behind us.)

this year's napkin frivolity ... the original idea was new-words-mash-ups with the intent of adding new definitions to urbandictionary. i started us off with 3 words, HOWEVER, (warning that the rest of this read may be considered rated R for some - or mean-spirited or offensive ... although not intended to be so), the alternative frivolity won over - identifying three people for several rounds of FMK - f**k, marry, kill. the rule is that given three people, choose one to marry, one to kill, and one to ... you get the point. (you can only choose one, and you must choose.)

napkin evidence ... as we sat at the counter over at ella's, the goal was for each of us to take turns choosing three people for each other such that the decision for fmk would not be obvious. usually, the easy approach is to choose the "bookends" - three people a person really likes or three people a person could do without. two examples as follows: (1) george bush, dick cheney, karl rove. (2) angelina joli, selma hayek, jennifer aniston. in the first example, cheney is often dispensed quickly; in the second example, it is a mixed bag.

trifecta combo ... eventually, it comes down to finding that one person (or two) that ends up on the kill end. it may sound ridiculous, and perhaps it is, yet this morning, fmk brought quite a bit of laughter, especially with the right (or very wrong) combination of three people while we verbalized the decision-making process.

more than the napkin fmk ... we continued fmk after brunch - undocumented - while we drove around SF and took a little break near the legion of honor and then later decided to head to nova bar for bloody marys (as we had last year). let's just say that fmk later devolved to combinations such as strawberry shortcake, care bears, and teletubbies, as well as disney's snow white, pocahontas, cinderella.

happy new year, breakfast buds!

nutshell: december 2010

(i will first say - "happy new year! and thanks for dropping by." AND secondly, to the breakfast buds ... i'm on my way - hash, grits, and vegan fixes needs to be met! - destination? ella's. first time try!)

recapping the month of december ... because of the random order of topics, for ease of reminiscing-ish, nutshell is my recaps at the end of each month.

(november's nutshell over here)

highlight ... i have had quite a bit of cubeopolis work occupying days and evenings here and there, and reverb10 (a daily writing dose of reflecting and manifesting) consumed most of my time blogging AND visiting other reverb10'ers to support the effort. here are my reverb10 posts. the 31 topics as follows, in order of each day's author's prompt, and in its only little nutshell/highlight:

1. one word - reconnect for 2010, enthusiasm for 2011
2. writing - shiny penny moments
3. moment - adolfo at los altos art show
4. wonder - reconnecting and asking why not?
   
5. letting go - bye to a gentleman's agreement, hello to creating more space
   
6. make - my somewhat perennial cow costume
   
7. community - my rave about kit's clean your closet, change your life (or CYCCYL) and looking for 2011 community interested in apprentern, ignorance and knowledge, and environmental professional development
   
8. beautifully different - odd bird in
   
9. party - breakfast buds
   
10. wisdom - write from the heart. my story about a cover transmittal i wrote from stream of consciousness for a position for which i applied
    
11. 11 (eleven) things - my list of 11 things to eliminate and how it may change my life
    
12. body integration - my experience at my dad's gravesite
    
13. action - thoughts about launching environmental professional development
    
14. appreciate - my friendship with shiny penny andy
    
15. 5 minutes - capturing those 2010 moments to remember
    
16. friendship - silver lining friendships preferred. my take on the friendship spectrum (zip-it, bring it on, zip & bring & zip & bring (rinse, repeat) and on my click-it, pause button, check-in approach
    
17. lesson learned - saying step aside to mischief-speak and hello to forthright-speak
    
18. try - my declaration to have a healthier lifestyle where i stop paying pharmaceuticals for my bad eating and inactivity habits
19. healing - becoming more involved in things i really enjoy
    
20. beyond avoidance - getting my personal and business finances together
    
21. future self - a note from me to the me of 5 years from now and to the me of 10 years ago
    
22. travel - how and where i have and want to travel
    
23. new name - silvia (with a "y") ramirez story
    
24. everything's o.k. - story about connectedness via an email exchange with a woman in whose words from a film brought me to tears
    
25. photo - story behind the pic of piragua and me jumping as part of our flat emma jaunt around the SF bay with joel (the photog)
    
26. soul food - baked egg en cazeuela
    
27. ordinary joy - my friend sci-fi guy on the phone call and lunch
    
28. achieve - be speechless. this post includes a list of 10 things for 2011 to bring on a "speechless" moment ... tv appearances (funny host talk show, dr. who, reality tv show judge), philanthropist ponies up pennies for me to promote my passion, engagement, president obama moment with my epiphany, old friend random run-in, hear an angel(s) speak to me, billboard moment, vermont leaf-peeping adventure.
    
29. defining moment - talk-to-the-hand february 2011 moment that has shaped me
    
30. gift - glee gum
    
31. core story - i value family & friends . i make lists and mindmap . i reflect, am introspective, and expressive in writing. also a few lessons learned - think twice, be thankful everyday, don't make assumptions - be kind, reach out - there's a hug fest out there)
    

on transforming ... i read blogs and pass my time in a variety of ways.

• security blogkets ... my go-to-blog reads that are like my security-blanket blogs. i continue to enjoy tyler's articles; this month i commented on his article about be unreasonably reasonable and also got a copy of his book, guerilla influence formula. and then there is lessons of love from a laptop dancer and altared spaces for inspiration.
  
  
• SHEDn and CYCCYLn ... took a little hiatus on this months posts, however, i have enjoyed the two teleconferences with kit.
  
  
• transitioning into the year ... as mentioned in late november, i started a couple of activities - healthmonth and reverb10. our healthmonth team pic and name - team CDWL@edi, aka caloric dolls who link @ eco dork inn (think anagrams). and
  

on pop culture and nostalgika ... stuff pops in my head and often it is pop culture, nostalgika, or some viral whatever-thingy forwarded to me (and many others).

• fiber breaks ... just a few here and there - cookie monster wanting to host SNL, one of diddy's ciroc commercials (smile) because it reminds me of my brother (who doesn't smile in pics), a new fave of asylum's emily - a woman's perspective on birth control and manscaping and on her reader mailbag edition, clever SNL julian assange and mark zuckerberg skits, a t.v. funhouse SNL blue santa state blast from the past skit, andy dick's harlan mccraney pres. bush speechalist bit, comedian chuckle from classic lewis black rant & rave moments, moveon.org's bush in 30 seconds bush sucks clip i loved back in the day,
  
  
• fiber break whirlwind ... rather than a traditional fiber break (e.g., clip, comedy), i recapped my whirlwind week.
  
  
• pop culture me ... many fiber breaks also involve pop culture, however, for this month, i did not get much pop culture. between reverb10 and starting healthmonth, although i am caught up on my reality tv show love affair with wednesday night's top chef all stars and tuesday night's the fashion show ultimate collection, i see recaps of poached blogs' posts the first week of january.
  

cubeopolis life ... cubeopolis (aka where i work) has been a mix of reminiscing and current activity. this month was a bit light on cubeopolis life activities, however, there were several blog posts with cubeopolis references -

• on cubeopolis proper ... the reverb 10 defining moment post includes a closing paragraph of a list of compiled other reverb10 cubeopolistic topics and my whirlwind week recap includes whirlwind # 6 of cubeopolis of training.
  
  
• on r|cubicle ... the beginning of (re)cubicle started in november. however, december was light on this topic.
  

going to happy places ... just because

• inspiring words ... although i did not post stories or poetry this month, reverb10 questions alone were filled with inspiration. among the 31 days were stories i shared with people's words that have inspired me - with one most affecting me, a discussion with my chiropractor about mischief expressed in reverb10 lesson learned. and because of how yvette's post moved me, this is her reverb10 everything's o.k. finally, my friend l.a.g. shared with me a while a back about the greater good science center (GGSC).
  
  
• for the heck of it, random posts ... this month included continued a poach from an email exchange with a breakfast bud about why job fairs are like match.com.
  
  
• i love people ... friends (and acquaintances) then and now - i did a group hug post for just sayin' thanks (a tidy list of previous posts), my virtual hug to jen, my soul sistah, holiday hanging out with piragua and my college buddy, a dash about my 12-year-old-prepube-twin-boy buddy, l.a.g., and a cute short funny-essay from weldon. also i started what i hope will be at least a quarterly thing - ssp|potb - aka shameless self-promotion | pat on the back with my first one about author (and now virtual buddy) yvette francino (and her boomerang post on her site over here).
  
  
• reposts from flashbacks ... i did not do a formal flashback, but i did include links to my a few 2007 vermont trip posts in my jen, soul sistah post. (note to jen: see #10 on this reverb10 achieve list)
  

food stuff ... i socialize over food, and again, didn't post so much on my blog this month. (note to self: roll-over pics posted to facebook and posterous.) of course, i did get my mr. & mrs. miscellaneous ice cream fix and my nibbler's eatery and wine bar fix.

visit with me ... this month i have decided to add a nutshell section some of the sites i have visited - mainly for ease of revisiting and remembering why i even bothered to share something about a site - kind of my accountability web visits, as if someone from cubeopolis were to ask "why did you check out ...?" (and some do - so here is the answer key)

• learning about myself - each reverb10 post has links to the author's website or go straight to the site over here - with a "life plan - vision board" activity/practice from gwen bell - how to create your personal manifesto; that how i use healthmonth has completely transformed my attitude to a healthier lifestyle dovetailing witha little wager through fatbet, inspirational words of the chronicles of a fierce female fathelete, my striving to rejoin kickboxing at a local mma studio, and support at go red's betterU program; that i used to do the artist's way back in the late '90s so am doing 750words ; that i enjoy bloggers's messages such as zen habits leo babatua; that those things about happiness as researched, studied and shared by the greater good science center are important to me;
  
• laugh out loud (or quietly) - though indifferent to diddy (aka sean combs, aka formerly puff daddy), i totally enjoy the ciroc commercials. my mom and me love watching joan rivers's fashion police, glee, chelsea lately, and craig ferguson. asylum's emily mccombs is once again a staple for girl-speak about dating and relationships. pete, the unemployed hedgehog may be employed by now. and with a mix of laughter, shock, and pleasant horror, thu's food party on IFC is from my friend sci-fi guy (reverb10 ordinary joy). i enjoy comedians with lewis black as an acquired taste through the years (here and here).
• swirling r|cubicle thoughts - will be looking to learn about psychographics (vs. demographics) a bit more to see how it relates to the ignorance/knowledge stuff in my head.
• i learned something new - learned an environmental tidbit that hops helps reduce ammonia emissions from cows. (re)learned about the 7 habits from peggy leyden. i have a total brain-crush on edward tufte because of his data and design dogma. as part of going to bazaar bizarre, i enjoyed meeting the artists behind ash & ember and monkey + seal, as well as jaime zollars. i mentioned psychographics as part of r|cubicle. enjoy mashable for social media + web info. and though the event was last month, movember is an international year round opportunity. glee gum is all natural. and i (re)learned about me in 25 blah-blah things.
• pop culture fix - not so much in december - just a little recollection of flat stanley in reverb10 photo post this will change. obama in 30 seconds because of the nostalgika of bush in 30 seconds via moveon.org.
• i read - not so much in december, although i have been chugging through chris guillebeau's the art of nonconformity and i picked up tyler's guerilla influence formula and yvette's laptop dancer diaries (soon to arrive!) for which that link is a visit-with-me-fest!
  

it's january!

happy new year breakfast buds!

breakfast buds, you know who you are! and others learned about you through reverb10's day 9 party.

2010 breakfast buds was fun ... and last new year's breakfast yippity-yap was documented (so to speak), sans the tater tots. (out of context, the scribbles look kinda not cool, but we know what this all means. i know. i can't believe it, either.)

it's time for 2011 breakfast buds ... a new year of breakfast buds moments memories to make

... and a new napkin.

happy 2011 new year!