Where's my desert island?

I am 10 minutes away from giving up.

new doggie

I have a new dog :)

She's just a precious little girl and I love her with all my heart. And she's helping me lose weight.

Anyway, I'm writing a short note since recently everything has been disappearing. Go to my website and click on her link, since she has her own blog.

New Dog!

I've got a new doggie :)

She has her own blog at http://www.dogster.com/dogs/479591 and she's quite a little lady. Very refined.

When I can, I'll post a picture of her.

Diamonds revisited

Okay, Oprah told me the real scoop.

Apparently even in Sierra Leone, Conflict free diamonds have become the norm and less than one percent of diamonds sold on the market are blood diamonds.

There's a bill call the Kimberly act that is international in scope and is a self-regulated agreement by jewelers to not use conflict diamonds.

If you're in the market to buy a new diamond, you don't have to go to Canada or Arkansas, (as I previously had thought) but you can insist on a Conflict free diamond. (apparently there are certificates or something like that)

Peace out.

My birthday

Dec 17th was my birthday!
Not sure if it’s blog worthy or not.. but hey… it’s my birthday, I can be a princess! (I am suffering a terrific lack of traditional Angie wit today — might be due to the mimosa)

Someone was saying to me that turning 35 wasn’t a milestone. I say any birthday is a milestone. It means I’ve been here another year and I’m still alive. (for those keeping track, I do have a number of chronic illnesses so this is more signficant than it sounds)

So let’s see, any news? I got a new car. The VW is no more… it was a long time coming. I hit a point where I was not going to pay one more dime (or ask Peter to pay one more dime for it) on a car that obviously wished to leave this life. The final straw? Towing the stupid thing 13 miles over my AAA limit. I might need to join AA to recuperate. (for the universe impaired, AAA is Triple A and AA is alcoholics anonymous)

The tow truck driver was amusing. It was late in the evening, after my girlfriend Sarah and I had spent the day early Christmas/Hanukkah shopping, she had left. I swerved to see one more store but apparently Y-h-v-h thought I didn’t need to buy any leather jackets even if they were 80% off. (Y-h-v-h is another name for God) The car didn’t start, AAA sent a guy to help and he couldn’t do anything so he called a tow truck. The tow truck guy said he could take it to a locksmith (it was an ignition issue and apparently in Fairy Land there are magical locksmiths who can fix this). Given that we were still on Melrose, the 24 hour locksmith wasn’t there. (let’s not pause and reflect on the meaning of 24 hour)

While he called the locksmith (this will get funny or at least odd soon, it is, after all, my life) I was trying to do some Zen meditation and take a few deep breaths. We were right next to a 7-11 so naive me thought, hmm, let’s get a hotdog. I get the hotdog. I put all the junk available in the 7-11 (including the crappy plastic cheese) on the hotdog including the tomatoes mixed with jalapeno peppers (unbeknownst to me, the peppers had left the scene, all that was left were the damn tomatoes). In an attempt to remain frugal, I did not buy a drink.

I return to the tow truck and start to eat my junk dog. (it was Kosher so at least no animals were unholily (that’s not a word ( that’s too many parenthesis (but that’s what parenthesis are for, adding side notes))) slaughtered in the making of my hotdog). The tomatoes decided to wreak havoc on my throat and I started to turn a bit red. (just a bit — and not by choice even if I did have extra rouge on) I think maybe I should go back and get a soda. I get a soda while TTD (Tow Truck Driver) uses my cell phone to argue with the not present locksmith.

I return to the truck, with a soda. I am trying to be a healthy person (because Peter is healthier than I am) and not drinking too many sodas, but the situation just called for a Pepsi. I then realize I need to take my insulin and I do a little Zen mediation first to calm down. Out comes the syringe — then TTD yells “Are you all right?” over and over again. I say “yes I’m all right”. (Thank God for Zen meditation) He yells “Is that HEROIN?”. I look at him like he’s a Martian. (Or maybe a Beetlegeuze Fivian, who can tell, they all look alike) I say “I’m a diabetic”. No reply. Apparently he’s one of the few hispanics not affected by the disease. (is that racist? Maybe… but blacks and hispanics have a disproportionately large number of Type 2 diabetics and so looking at him, what was I to think). Oh, I’m type 1.

The locksmith explains that he means 24 hours a week and we tow my evil car (from this point on known as the Beast) (there’s some legal language that’s more amusing, like heretofore or something like that… but being that tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY, I’ve had too much champagne to remember) to my regular mechanics. A couple of cute Jewish guys (wahoo) (all Jewish guys are cute, it’s part of the religion) who are sick to death of seeing my car in their lot. I leave them a note saying “here it is, it’s not starting, good luck, oh by the way the key is wrapped in the napkin” stuffed into their mailbox.

David calls the next day (A nice Jewish name) saying “Why is the Beast in my lot again?” I say use the duct tape and spit, I’m only interested in selling the damn thing. He did the $45 fix (versus the $350 fix that it really required) with the caveat — “Sell it quickly”. I trade it in for a new car (new to me anyway) a 2004 corolla. The VW is no more.

It was a long, fun ride. Hopefully I’ll get another windfall and pay this one off early as well.

Hmm,
any more news? Probably some… but I must write more of that on a different day.

By the by…. I bought my car through www.wescom.org and I fully recommend them or any other credit union for both good customer service AND reasonable interest rates.

Snow Peas out.

Angie
http://www.angieluci.com/
http://www.massagebyangie.com/

damn spammers

Well apparently blogging isn't perfect. I am trying to migrate all my old posts onto Blogger.com and I'm not doing it well. Darn -- drat -- crap -- etc etc.

in theory I can publish by sending an email. How cool would that be? But it's only worked twice. I think my brain is broken but maybe it will be working tomorrow.

test

this is a test blog :)

 

Angie
www.angieluci.com
www.massagebyangie.com

Diamonds

 

 

Well, as can probably be determined by reading my blogs, I’m a liberal sort who is conscious of things like diamond mines in South Africa.

Now my little puddin’ head is sitting here thinking — what if I want a diamond and I don’t want something mined by a child or a slave or both?

Canada.

Bingo.

The northwest territories have diamond mines. I don’t think the prices are substantially more expensive and they come with a conflict free label.

If you’re shopping for rings, earrings, tennis bracelets etc, PLEASE buy Canadian.

Google it — Canada diamonds, you’ll find a ton.

Thanks.

Peace.

Angie
www.angieluci.com
www.massagebyangie.com

WalMart Sucks

Ok, I have to start off by saying I'm a Liberal. That's right -- the L word. I think universal healthcare, gay marriages, women's rights and separation of church and state are all good ideas. I think putting Jesus in my face, censorship and teaching creationism in science class are BAD ideas. I have nothing against Jesus.. but He's the only one in the bunch that's okay and He'd be embarrassed by what's going on down here.
Enter Wal-Mart.I live in LA... big ol' city full of Liberals (that's right -- with a capital L -- come on Rummy, let's go!) who enjoy shopping at Target. What's the difference you who live in Kansas ask? Target is cool, Target has neat stuff and Target carries music for bad girls and boys :D. They feel the little Parental Warning thingy is good enough. They also carry badass videogames. AND they don't make too much effort to be nice to me. (see Jesus reference -- addendum, Crazy Followers)
When I walk into a store, a simple nod more than suffices... don't hand me a friggin' cart, don't tell me to have a nice day and then glare at me when I walk by because I'm smiling back at you and I have better teeth.
Why is it that every WalMart ad features Southerners? I love Lyle Lovett, I love Bill Clinton, I love Texas (in general and Matthew McCoughanahey in particular). The ones who don't have the Dixie flag in their yard are all way cool. But WalMart makes no effort to appeal to me.. a person with disposal income living in a county that is NUMBER SEVEN IN THE WORLD'S ECONOMIES.
I walk into my local neighborhood WalMart (which is much farther than my second home Target, I might add) because I am looking for some appliques to put on a blanket I am knitting for my sister's new baby. (Yes, Liberal Los Angelenos who LOVE Target can also know how to knit). I found something cute if the baby were a girl, but I turn to the clerk to ask in my best voice, do you have anything like this poodle, but in the form of a truck or turtle or something else for a baby boy?
Enter the IQ free zone.
"No"
I think... hmmm, here I am in the craft section (note to self -- write to Target headquarters and beg for craft section so I don't have to go through this again)(for those of you who would like to learn to knit... Target does have some wicked cool how-to-knit packs that come with yarn, knitting needles and a very simple DVD, even an orangutan could learn!)
I decide well WalMart is supposed to be the low price king, maybe I should peruse the aisles and comparison shop my favorite brands while being in this horrible neon light that makes my rum raisin Clinique lipstick look like a bruise... what did I find? Well let me put it this way... if there's a fork in the road and you're sitting there with only a few dollars in your pocket and you need some cute casual clothes, toilet paper, lightbulbs and Diet Coke -- go to Target, young man, go to Target.

Now I must admit... long about 10 years ago.. when WalMart was first busting out of small town America and all their products were made in the USA, I was completely on the Walmart tip. I told everyone about them, read about them on the Stock Exchange (alas I was a poor student so couldn't buy stock). But now that they sell shit from China just like everyone else, I don't need to be supporting the Walton family.Sam and Jesus are turning over in their graves.

Go visit my page ... Angie Luci's Art

My art is drawn in America.(oh, and yes, Liberals love the USA too!)