[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

In August 2008, I wrote an entry titled “Why My Day Sucks Today,” and I must say, it has been one of the more frequently visited posts through random searches. Why are people doing searches on “my day sucks” and similar phrases?

I was extremely hungover that day.

Anyway, let me set the record straight. It DID suck that day, but the evening before where all the debauchery ensued was also the first time that RV and I met. It was a party at Butterfly Restaurant with free-flowing wine from Reverie Winery and Vineyard and cocktails made with EFFEN Black Cherry Vodka [SO delicious!]. I took a photo of him some time during the night, but we didn’t interact much more than that. Subsequently, we re-met at another event. Through chatting, texts, and attending the same events/parties, we became friends rather quickly, and well, we have been joined at the hip since.

So really, it didn’t suck all that much.

As a hilarious side note, I was upset on Thursday night for what seemed like hours, and finally to prove a point, he proceeded to rip the shirt he was wearing right off himself – a perfectly good, white undershirt, torn down the middle. I laughed hysterically. It can no longer function as a shirt, perhaps a rag, but definitely a reminder.

*sigh* I’m still giggling to myself when I think about the expression on his face as he was doing that.

Me: I can’t believe you ripped your shirt off last night. LOL.

RV: This is how I’m going to dispose of all my old undergarments from now on.

Me: This event is going down in history in my blog, btw. Just not today. :)

In July 2008, I wrote the following:

True love is an idea. A dynamic idea that changes over time and as one’s perception is influenced by those one encounters.

And I think that once one’s accepted this, falling in love or meeting someone doesn’t seem as impossible or as distant. I meet a person. I don’t seek perfection. It’s more of finding someone I can trust, want to trust, and want to be trusted by. It’s someone I want loyal to me and I want to be loyal to. It’s a mutual understanding that hey, we’re not perfect, but we get along, and we want to live and grow old together. Mutual tolerance of flaws and differences, while at the same time, learning and growing together, one not allowing the other to remain stagnant.

I still believe it to be true.

And while we did not specifically celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantically planned evening [we did "house stuff" and had Chinese New Year dinner with my family], I think my sentiment on the day is the same that I have for Thanksgiving: It doesn’t matter what the designated day is; you should express love and good thoughts to family, friends, and lovers as often as you’re comfortable with.

Here are two sets of photos that make me smile when I’ve been staring at the computer screen for way too long at work. They were taken at a friend’s birthday party. There was a photo booth with a remote set up, so you could take as many pictures as you wanted. We opted for a few shots before the party got crowded and a few shots as we were on our way out.

I even went so far as to print these on the newly purchased printer. The quality was acceptable, but I’ll have to figure out how to make use of photo paper that’s 8.5″ x 11″. Most frames max out at 8″ x 10″! We’ll probably end up buying some 4″ x 6″ photo paper to reduce the cutting necessary.

An update on the 101 in 1001- #2 Go on a week long camping trip.

“RV” in the title of this entry does not refer to the boyfriend nor does it refer to the vehicle in which we traveled for the past week. “RV” in the title refers to the boyfriend’s father who happens to also have the same initials! Apparently, if I can get through a trip with RV, I’m certain I can get through most anything with the boy.

Being woken up at the crack of dawn on a few hours of sleep by a whistle similar to the one he used to call his cat, then ordered around to do this and that, I was already in tears on day one of the trip. All actions taken by the boy or I would require approval by the Board. We were not allowed to hold onto the keys without a thorough explanation because he wanted to know what we were up to or thought we would lose them. Thankfully, we were able to get away from the campsite to do our own thing. Otherwise, I might have called it quits early on.

I jokingly told the boyfriend that he owed me big time for tricking me into coming along for the ride. The boyfriend said to me, “Now you know what I dealt with growing up with the guy.” The man is a character, and it’s no surprise that his sons are creating an animated parody about the man, exaggerating his many quirks. He likes to travel with his entire house, which is why he has an RV. That thing has everything, and he keeps trying to add more.

In summary, despite the initial frustration and upsets, I had a good time. Once we had the DirecTV [Yes, there was satellite television in the RV!] hooked up for RV, he was out of our hair for the rest of the trip because he was busy following the Yankees. I’m still not sure if this counts as camping for a week, but I did stay in an RV for the week at a campground. How and when in the world did an RV/RV campsite get all fancy on us?!

An update to the 101 in 1001 : 003 – Go on a crabbing/fishing trip.

This was on both my list and RV’s list of things to do. So rather than just grab some bait and a line and bring it down to the local pier, I decided to make it part of his birthday surprise.

After exploring Fort Bragg and Glass Beach the first day, most of the second day was spent on a boat out in the ocean. Armed with Ugly Stiks [haha!], we tried out fishing for the bottom feeders [mostly cods of all kinds] for the first time. It wasn’t so easy, and I [along with most people] was surprised by how well we did!

I had trouble figuring out when the line hit bottom, and so on many occasions, my line would get stuck. :/ Very frustrating, but finally we were able to get the hang of it. Unfortunately I never took photos of the larger fish we caught, but I did take one of the very FIRST fish that I caught. It was smaller than my hand. RV’s first fish was a little bit smaller than that.

It was encouraging enough for me to keep trying, and by the time we left Fort Bragg, we had thirteen fish [various cods ranging from 2 to 5 pounds] in our ice chests and some crab too! Totally worth the money, time, and experience. The crabbing portion of the trip was really taken care of by the crew of the boat. It was made a little interactive by them telling us to help measure the crabs or to help reel the lines in.

Anyway, a good time! My car smelled of fish for a little while since I had to transport the goodies back to SF. I wrote a fairly useful review of Telstar Charters – check it out on Yelp!

The weekend after RV’s birthday celebrations, I took him up to Fort Bragg to show him what all the fuss was about. We were originally supposed to attend a music festival from 9pm to 3am and then make the drive up, but there was a mishap with the free tickets, and we ended up not doing that and getting up to Fort Bragg at 1am, instead of at 5am. So rather than a nap, we ended up having to sleep in the car Friday night. Boy was it uncomfortable, and we were so glad to finally check in to the bed and breakfast when Saturday afternoon rolled around!

To kill time between the uncomfortable sleep and check-in, we explored Glass Beach. It was his first time, and while it was my third, we still managed to find some new stuff to look at. On the suggestion of a man in a kayak who had spearfished a ling cod, a black cod, and some other random fish, we wandered over to the southern side of the beach where the glass was at least a foot deep. Where Keane and I had wandered before was just a thin layer of glass!

Of course, took a lot of photos. Here’s a set of a furry friend we came across while at Glass Beach:

I started out pretty far away.

Then got closer.

And closer.

Until I was up in its face.

Will update on the rest of the trip with more photos!

RV has started a blog. He’s always wanted to about this particular subject, but he never got to doing it until he realized just how easy it would be. In terms of the tools used, everything’s easy with WordPress. There are plugins for just about anything, and if not, you can make your own. I’m not so skilled, but the option is there.

http://www.thegermaphobe.net

It’s called “The Germaphobe Blog.” It’s pretty hilarious, but also informational! If you’re a germaphobe or even have experiences where you’re just grossed out by the thought of germs, well it’s quite the read. He only started it up in the last week or two. So far, there’s survival tips on public restrooms and handling money. There will be survival tips, product reviews, stories about personal experiences with being a germaphobe too! There are plans for having guest bloggers as well, so if you’re against the germs, feel free to get in contact to contribute.

If I haven’t already blasted you enough with tweets about it, please check it out. I am biased. I help edit the blog, but that’s just so everyone else out there doesn’t know how poorly his sentences are structured. I kid! :) He’s awesome. The blog is awesome.

Please leave comments. It will encourage him to write more. Thanks!

It’s RV’s birthday today! We’ve already begun celebrating, and there are lots of other festivities to be had.

I planned a surprise [aka "sheer terror"] party for him a few days ago, which ended up working out. I had to sneak my set of the keys over to a friend first, so that he could let everyone in. I went out to dinner with RV, while the handful got into place. His apartment is small, so I had to limit the number of surprisers. Everyone was so quiet when we got to the apartment that I wasn’t sure if they were actually there! It was awesome. There was ice cream cake and wine, and we all had a good time. I was able to invite one of RV’s older friends, which was a nice surprise for him.

On the actual birthday [today], a casual wine happy hour with friends. We were able to reserve a wine bar nearby, so I am looking forward to that. And in a week, I’m taking him up to Fort Bragg for fishing/crabbing. When Keane and I were up there a few weeks back, the bartender we talked to gave me a card of a local charter that went out. RV’s been wanting to go crabbing for awhile, and the fishing/crabbing is on my 101 in 1001 list, so there’s no better time than now.

RV’s been such a significant part of my life in the last year; I really wanted to make his 25th memorable. Hopefully the wine happy hour and fishing/crabbing trip will be fun!

So RV’s mom just emailed him a photo of his great great grandmother with her cat. Look familiar?

Weird coincidence that the cat looks exactly like Serg, RV’s cat now? He hadn’t seen the photo till now. Crazy! Would that explain why Sergio is possibly the nicest cat ever?

“I still need a little bit of alone time. I’m trying to satisfy what you need too most other times. Am I not doing well enough, honestly?”

“Well, you are too, so I don’t mind giving you what you want.”

I never thought of myself as the needy type, but I suppose when given the opportunity, I’ll take it. This is especially true for the rough times in the month when everything seems to crumble out of place. RV has been nothing less than accommodating and wonderful. He spoils me with the amount of time and attention he gives. I reciprocate. It’s a weird feeling, going from a long distance relationship of three years, to nothing, and then to seeing someone almost daily.

I kinda like it.