take me to your alien unicorn leader

halloween was 'take your visiting friend to work' day, at least for kiyomi. so i spent the afternoon supervising kids coloring on trick or treat bags and serving as the volunteer p.r. photographer for her organization. it's always great seeing your friends in action at work--such a big part of their lives that you usually only hear about. so it was i found myself surrounded by 200+ kids at a park in san francisco's chinatown, all hopped up on sugar and the 'ghostbusters' theme, which played every fourth song. the above photo is my absolute favorite. i can't tell you why. i just laugh every time i look at it.

not pictured: the unruly bunch of displaced elder chinese gamblers who trickled back into the area when they heard about the free dim-sum. sorry kids! have some carrot sticks.

seeing kiyomi wrangle all 200 kids simultaneously gave me total faith that she is ready to be a mom. of course, i knew that already when she was 8 years old, dealing with a little sister and triplet brothers.

it is decidedly so (best halloween costume ever)

hopefully you're all too busy voting to bother looking at my blog.
but just in case, i have to share kiyomi's ingenious halloween costume.
kiyomi is 7 months pregnant. not only did she brilliantly use her round tummy to perfect effect as a magic 8 ball, but cleverly, she used it to broadcast her feelings at this timely pre-election halloween, as a magic 'no on prop 8' ball.

for those of you who live in california, you know what i'm talking about. others who don't: it's a frightening proposition which aims to write discrimination into the california constitution by making gay marriage unconstitutional. illegal. it's a giant step backwards in civil rights and wants to tell you what 'traditional marriage' should be. back up a few decades and replace the word 'gay' with 'interracial' and let's all take a lesson from history.

unfortunately, kiyomi's costume was a bit undervalued, as the 200+ kids she led in halloween activities at work aren't too familiar with the propositions. and no, it didn't get the chance to end up front page of the sf gate as kim had expected, as the 8 ball was feeling a bit exhausted, and we opted to lounge on the kiyomi-sized pink sofa and watch the ancient black and white version of 'little shop of horrors' instead of going out. my jet lag didn't complain.
vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote
oh, and by the way--i voted at 7:30am this morning. expected scary lines but instead waited for two minutes. don't delay! go vote.

is it my imagination, or has hallmark hacked into my brain?

it was a late night rite aid run. you know when you just have to have new qtips and mascara TONIGHT. this skinny little card stopped me in my tracking through the seasonal aisle. i may have been known to indulge a clothing fetish or two that most normal people reserve for halloween. or prostitution. like really tall boots, animal prints and fishnets. it's why halloween is my kinda holiday. oh, and the excessive compulsory candy eating doesn't hurt either.

charmed by this card i opened it up to find this message:
are you kidding me? or 'are you kitty-ing me?' as emre would say. okay, so the 'so do i part' makes it a little schizophrenic, but who am i to discriminate or pretend that i'm not?
as if it couldn't get any better, the price (have you noticed that they want your first born child these days for a greeting card? if it's stylish, also fork over the school tuition):

99 cents.

i said NINETY-NINE CENTS. for the cutest card that was custom designed for me.

the graveyard shift check-out girl did not share my enthusiasm. but i know that you will.

the resurrection (ooh--so dramatic!)

pop quiz:

a) the rumors are true: i've died. here is photographic proof.

b) my stylist and life coach messed up (britney--i feel you)

c) i'm impersonating the beloved and mysteriously dead laura palmer. twin peaks. google it. stop looking at me with that blank stare, you make me feel so old!

if you chose c, you win! sorry, no prize.
i threw a costume ball/turkish dinner party for emre's thirtieth birthday. in case he snowed you into thinking i'm the social one around here, it's a lie. 40 people showed up to our "little" dinner. thankfully, i had prepared food for 120. i should say 'we' as it was truly a collaborative effort, dish for dish. it's surprising we got such great feedback on the food considering most of it was prepared in the wee hours of the mornings leading up to the party. thank goodness for cold turkish appetizers that actually demand being made in advance!
other than the full time working, full time schoolgoing (that's right, i've deciding to stop saying i'm only in school part time, as i take an additional class at the education alliance and am the teacher's assistant to a fourth class), unpacking of our entire apartment from boxes, applying for jobs i didn't get, hunting high and low for a shoulder gun holster so emre could be the agent cooper to my laura palmer, and filing back taxes for three years, i'd been totally idle all week. what's new.

supposedly it's national blog-a-day month. how do we ever keep up with the grueling list of monthly themes, overlooked people and issues to honor? i know, i know, i'm late. but hey, i just heard! i figure i owe it to my adoring and heartbroken public to return and blog every day. like jesus christ on resurrection day (can i say that?!) i will roll the rock from my cave of slumber and hit you full force with the fun details of my life. um. maybe tomorrow.

by the way, eddie and maria as axl rose and slash--amazing. but we'll discuss that later in another 'national blog month' post (c'mon! i gotta save some material--i'm rusty!)

photo courtesy of haley balik