Dick and I don't have any specific date that we celebrate as our "anniversary". Would it be the first day we met (which was a blind date), or our first "date" (which was 1 1/2 weeks later)?
The date I remember most easily is the day we met. We met on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 1998.
How did we meet?
My friend Alice had sent this email to me earlier that month:
From: Alice
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 23:14:20 -0800 (PST)
To: trina@sirius.com
Subject: dick wants...
to meet you :-) you want me to give him your number? you want his?
Alice had met Dick through their mutual friend, Mitch. They had met on a few occasions, and he struck Alice as a fun, smart, & all-around-good-guy. After attending one of Dick & Pete's Halloween parties, she asked Dick if he was interested in meeting a friend of hers. She told him a little bit about me (I was 28 at the time, web-designer, working at an art gallery) and he said "sure!". (or something like that anyway - I can only assume, since I wasn't actually there)
That brings us back to the email Alice sent me, asking if it was okay if she gave him my number. My initial reaction was, "oh no, I couldn't do that" (go on a blind date, with some guy I didn't know). After Alice assured me that I had nothing to lose, I also remembered that I had recently made a promise to myself to be "more open to meeting new people". Really - i had just moved in to my new condo, and had a newfound gung-ho attitude towards improving my social life.
So Alice gave Dick my phone number, and he called me the morning of the Sunday before Thanksgiving. (which looks like November 22, 1998, now that I'm taking the time to look it up)
Dick and I arranged to meet each other at 4:00pm at Tulley's on Castro Street. He said, "I'll be the only straight guy in the Castro". Seemed like a good sign to me....
We hit it off pretty well, and went across the street to "The Patio" to grab a bite. I think we hung out for a couple of hours before walking home. I distinctly remember Dick saying that he wanted to get home before "The Simpsons" and "The X-Files". :) (ah, yes. the days before TIVO)
So there you go, and here we are 5 years later...wow.
I'm still amazed at how happy we are together, and how lucky I am. :)
Best-Boyfriend-Ever
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Friday, November 14, 2003
Klutzy day
Oy - I should probably just stay inside all day, and not go anywhere else.
I just got back from my pilates session with Blane. I was in the middle of doing a new excercise (hands behind my head/sitting/leaning flatback at a 45 degree angle)when I suddenly "lost it". Yep, almost tumbled into the reformer...
As I was leaving his house, I tripped on his stairs.
While I was driving away in my car, I scratched myself on my nose while waving goodbye to him.
I think I should sit here, in front of my computer, for the rest of the day.
I just got back from my pilates session with Blane. I was in the middle of doing a new excercise (hands behind my head/sitting/leaning flatback at a 45 degree angle)when I suddenly "lost it". Yep, almost tumbled into the reformer...
As I was leaving his house, I tripped on his stairs.
While I was driving away in my car, I scratched myself on my nose while waving goodbye to him.
I think I should sit here, in front of my computer, for the rest of the day.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Still catching up from the weekend
Busy, busy, busy lately.
We had a fun-filled, jam-packed weekend. I'm still trying to catch up from it.
The weekend started on Friday afternoon. Dick worked from home that day, and he needed some help to prepare for Shan's James Bond party that evening. Shan is the drummer in their band, Gafas de Soul. He has also worked with Dick for a few years. Anyway, the band was playing at Shan's party, so they needed some help getting all of the equipment over there and set up.
The party started at 8:00 that night. Shan's evite stated: "Come as you are, or dressed as a character from any James Bond or Austin Powers film". I rummaged through my closest, and decided to wear a dark blue Chinese dress that I bought in Chinatown earlier in the year. It's kind of perfect for the occassion: long dress, fairly form-fitting, with a fairly long slit up the leg. I also pulled my hair back in a tight, low ponytail. Even though I haven't seen many of the bond films, I figured that there's a good chance that in at least one of them, there's the token Asian girl. So, that's who I came as....
The party was a lot of fun. I mostly sat at the table, eating potato chips, and talking with Omar and Lora. The band played for about 2 1/2 hours. The were great! I haven't had a chance to just sit, and watch them perform in a while. Check them out!
Saturday, I tried to catch up with some work from the previous week. Dick spent the day playing his new Xbox game, "Crimson Skies". I tried it for a bit - it seems pretty great. Kind of like the Halo of flying games. Saturday night, we went out to dinner to celebrate Lora's birthday. I made a neat connection with one of our friends that night. Paula, the wife of one of the guys who used to work in the same group as Dick, found out that I used to be in color guard. (long story) Long story short, she told me that she was in color guard in High School in Colorado in the early 90s. She also mentioned that her instructor was an Asian girl who had been in the Santa Clara Vanguard. I put 2 and 2 together, and figured out that her former instructor was an acquaintance of mine, Stacey, who I had met through our mutual friend, Jolie. Stacey had stayed at my parents house several times during her time in Santa Clara. Wild. Small world.
Sunday was another band performance day for Dick. Several of our friends are in Company Chaddick dance company. Company Chaddick had it's annual benefit on Sunday at The Marsh. After hearing the band at our Halloween party, they asked Gafas de Soul to play during the benefit. It was a great afternoon, although it meant another trip of transporting the equipment. Tom, the guitar player, informed me that I had gone from being the "band groupie" to the "band roadie". Funny.
Sunday night I went to the Warfield with my sister, Tiffini. We went to see a performance of "A Mighty Wind"! Yep, it was a concert given by all of the actors of the movie, performing in character. Make sense? Okay, here's the really lame part: I had the movie (thanks to Netflix) at our house for the past 1 1/2 weeks, but I had not made the time to actually watch it before attending the concert. (I still haven't watched it) Regardless, I really enjoyed the concert. It was really amazing, especially when you consider what these people are doing. They are all incredible actors, and it was really a treat to have the opportunity to see them all perform live.
Here's a little description of the concert that I just found. Probably explains the whole thing better than I can:
'A Mighty Wind' cast takes its show out West
by Rob Evans
liveDaily Editor
October 28, 2003 02:38 PM - With a short fall tour of East Coast venues now in the books, the cast of the Christopher Guest mockumentary film "A Mighty Wind" is scheduled to tackle the West Coast.
The film followed three imaginary folk acts through the planning and performance of a memorial concert for a great (also fictional) folk-music promoter. Each of the upcoming concerts will feature The Folksmen (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who also portrayed the mock-metal band Spinal Tap), Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and The New Main Street Singers (John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch and Parker Posey).
The four-city November tour visits Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Seattle; dates and venues are listed in the itinerary below.
Does that make more sense now? It was really cool.
My weekend was extended through yesterday. I went to Milpitas to spend the day with my grandparents. My grandparents live in Stockton (all four of them, actually), but my mom's parents came to Milpitas for a few days to house-sit, and cat-sit while my parents are out of town. We had a lot of fun - had a nice dim sum lunch, then drove around Milpitas, window shopping.
Guess that's it. I'm still catching up on sleep, and getting some work done. Thought I'd take a quick break from work and jot down my activities from the weekend, before I forget!
We had a fun-filled, jam-packed weekend. I'm still trying to catch up from it.
The weekend started on Friday afternoon. Dick worked from home that day, and he needed some help to prepare for Shan's James Bond party that evening. Shan is the drummer in their band, Gafas de Soul. He has also worked with Dick for a few years. Anyway, the band was playing at Shan's party, so they needed some help getting all of the equipment over there and set up.
The party started at 8:00 that night. Shan's evite stated: "Come as you are, or dressed as a character from any James Bond or Austin Powers film". I rummaged through my closest, and decided to wear a dark blue Chinese dress that I bought in Chinatown earlier in the year. It's kind of perfect for the occassion: long dress, fairly form-fitting, with a fairly long slit up the leg. I also pulled my hair back in a tight, low ponytail. Even though I haven't seen many of the bond films, I figured that there's a good chance that in at least one of them, there's the token Asian girl. So, that's who I came as....
The party was a lot of fun. I mostly sat at the table, eating potato chips, and talking with Omar and Lora. The band played for about 2 1/2 hours. The were great! I haven't had a chance to just sit, and watch them perform in a while. Check them out!
Saturday, I tried to catch up with some work from the previous week. Dick spent the day playing his new Xbox game, "Crimson Skies". I tried it for a bit - it seems pretty great. Kind of like the Halo of flying games. Saturday night, we went out to dinner to celebrate Lora's birthday. I made a neat connection with one of our friends that night. Paula, the wife of one of the guys who used to work in the same group as Dick, found out that I used to be in color guard. (long story) Long story short, she told me that she was in color guard in High School in Colorado in the early 90s. She also mentioned that her instructor was an Asian girl who had been in the Santa Clara Vanguard. I put 2 and 2 together, and figured out that her former instructor was an acquaintance of mine, Stacey, who I had met through our mutual friend, Jolie. Stacey had stayed at my parents house several times during her time in Santa Clara. Wild. Small world.
Sunday was another band performance day for Dick. Several of our friends are in Company Chaddick dance company. Company Chaddick had it's annual benefit on Sunday at The Marsh. After hearing the band at our Halloween party, they asked Gafas de Soul to play during the benefit. It was a great afternoon, although it meant another trip of transporting the equipment. Tom, the guitar player, informed me that I had gone from being the "band groupie" to the "band roadie". Funny.
Sunday night I went to the Warfield with my sister, Tiffini. We went to see a performance of "A Mighty Wind"! Yep, it was a concert given by all of the actors of the movie, performing in character. Make sense? Okay, here's the really lame part: I had the movie (thanks to Netflix) at our house for the past 1 1/2 weeks, but I had not made the time to actually watch it before attending the concert. (I still haven't watched it) Regardless, I really enjoyed the concert. It was really amazing, especially when you consider what these people are doing. They are all incredible actors, and it was really a treat to have the opportunity to see them all perform live.
Here's a little description of the concert that I just found. Probably explains the whole thing better than I can:
'A Mighty Wind' cast takes its show out West
by Rob Evans
liveDaily Editor
October 28, 2003 02:38 PM - With a short fall tour of East Coast venues now in the books, the cast of the Christopher Guest mockumentary film "A Mighty Wind" is scheduled to tackle the West Coast.
The film followed three imaginary folk acts through the planning and performance of a memorial concert for a great (also fictional) folk-music promoter. Each of the upcoming concerts will feature The Folksmen (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who also portrayed the mock-metal band Spinal Tap), Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and The New Main Street Singers (John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch and Parker Posey).
The four-city November tour visits Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Seattle; dates and venues are listed in the itinerary below.
Does that make more sense now? It was really cool.
My weekend was extended through yesterday. I went to Milpitas to spend the day with my grandparents. My grandparents live in Stockton (all four of them, actually), but my mom's parents came to Milpitas for a few days to house-sit, and cat-sit while my parents are out of town. We had a lot of fun - had a nice dim sum lunch, then drove around Milpitas, window shopping.
Guess that's it. I'm still catching up on sleep, and getting some work done. Thought I'd take a quick break from work and jot down my activities from the weekend, before I forget!
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
New Software Day
I just finished installing 2 new pieces of software: OS X (10.3) and Flash MX 2004.
I have to say, the installation process went really well. OS X took a really long time (Dick says, "welcome to the world of UNIX"). There were 3 installation CDs! I haven't seen multiple installation CDs/disks since I had to install programs using little 3.5" floppy disks! Aside from that (and a roughly 45 minute process) all went well.
So far, I'm enjoying Panther. That's Apple-ese for this newest version of OS X. I'm calling it OS X code name: Claude. That's because I always joke that my kitty, Claude, is part Russian Blue, and part Panther. (he's very tall, and has very long legs)
Anyway, back to the new software. Dick's friends in the Mac Group have been telling me for months that the new upgrade is really great - they're working on new software, so they've been testing it on Panther for the past several months. So far, it definitely seems faster (very nice!). I also like the configuration of the Finder more so far. A little more intuitive. There are several new features that I know I won't use: I don't use Apple's Calendar or Mail program - I use Microsoft's Entourage instead for all of that. What kind of Microsoft girlfriend would I be if I didn't use all of these things? Anyway, it seems like there are several other changes/additions in here to play with. Guess I'll have to use it for a few more days to figure out how much a difference it will all make. So far, I've figured out how to use a little Raggedy Ann picture as my profile picture on AIM - that's exciting.
FYI:
MSN Messenger: trina_chow@hotmail.com
AIM: trinachow1
I'm on MSN at all times. I only log onto AIM every once in a while. It seems to be more popular with people in my family, and people in Dick's family.
Flash MX 2004. No news for you yet. I'll check it out within the next few days. The last version of Flash I have is about 3 years old - Flash 4. Unfortunately, it was too old of a version to get the full upgrade. Instead, I (luckily) was able to find someone who was able to get the educational version for me at a very reasonable price.
Anyway, I haven't used Flash too often yet - I used it for the opening screen on the Always Dream Foundation site, and for some small, personal projects. My new plan is to learn Flash MX by doing a bunch of personal projects (those I had previously done, or wanted to do with Director years ago) then utilizing my new skills to offer it to clients if they want.
Hopefully, I'll get something started within the next few days. I'll check out the tutorial first. My friend, Willo, is a bonafied "Flash Goddess" (really). She and I may exchange some lessons on Flash for Photoshop and Quickbook lessons. good deal, eh?
I have to say, the installation process went really well. OS X took a really long time (Dick says, "welcome to the world of UNIX"). There were 3 installation CDs! I haven't seen multiple installation CDs/disks since I had to install programs using little 3.5" floppy disks! Aside from that (and a roughly 45 minute process) all went well.
So far, I'm enjoying Panther. That's Apple-ese for this newest version of OS X. I'm calling it OS X code name: Claude. That's because I always joke that my kitty, Claude, is part Russian Blue, and part Panther. (he's very tall, and has very long legs)
Anyway, back to the new software. Dick's friends in the Mac Group have been telling me for months that the new upgrade is really great - they're working on new software, so they've been testing it on Panther for the past several months. So far, it definitely seems faster (very nice!). I also like the configuration of the Finder more so far. A little more intuitive. There are several new features that I know I won't use: I don't use Apple's Calendar or Mail program - I use Microsoft's Entourage instead for all of that. What kind of Microsoft girlfriend would I be if I didn't use all of these things? Anyway, it seems like there are several other changes/additions in here to play with. Guess I'll have to use it for a few more days to figure out how much a difference it will all make. So far, I've figured out how to use a little Raggedy Ann picture as my profile picture on AIM - that's exciting.
FYI:
MSN Messenger: trina_chow@hotmail.com
AIM: trinachow1
I'm on MSN at all times. I only log onto AIM every once in a while. It seems to be more popular with people in my family, and people in Dick's family.
Flash MX 2004. No news for you yet. I'll check it out within the next few days. The last version of Flash I have is about 3 years old - Flash 4. Unfortunately, it was too old of a version to get the full upgrade. Instead, I (luckily) was able to find someone who was able to get the educational version for me at a very reasonable price.
Anyway, I haven't used Flash too often yet - I used it for the opening screen on the Always Dream Foundation site, and for some small, personal projects. My new plan is to learn Flash MX by doing a bunch of personal projects (those I had previously done, or wanted to do with Director years ago) then utilizing my new skills to offer it to clients if they want.
Hopefully, I'll get something started within the next few days. I'll check out the tutorial first. My friend, Willo, is a bonafied "Flash Goddess" (really). She and I may exchange some lessons on Flash for Photoshop and Quickbook lessons. good deal, eh?
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Halloween Party
The Halloween Party last night was great fun! There were some really terrific costumes! To name a few, we had Charlie Brown, Where's Waldo, a flasher, and a Chick Magnet! I've posted some pictures.
We had a lot of fun dressed as Superman & Wonder Woman. I'd like to thank Mykail for doing my hair :) We had a party music mix playing throughout the night - Dick arranged it so that every few songs played was the theme some from Superman or Wonder Woman. Very funny.
We probably had about 50 people in and out during the evening. The last guests left around 2:30am!
Dick's band, Gafas de Soul, played for a couple of hours. Most people had not had an opportunity to hear them before, so it was a real "treat"!
Thanks to all who came! We had a great time!