Monthly Archives: March 2010

Anniversary photo post.

Written by serene. Posted on March 30, 2010. Filed under I am a sap, Photography. No comments.

Where: Alexis Hotel, downtown Seattle
When: Last Week
Why: To celebrate a one year wedding anniversary. Well that, and I’m a sucker for a nice hotel.


Mi familia

Written by serene. Posted on March 28, 2010. Filed under I am a sap. 3 Comments.

My beloved, lifesaving, hero of a Grandpa turned 78 yesterday. He beat his oncologists diagnosis of terminal lung cancer taking his life within the year. He still has the spunk and sharpness that I expect from him. Though he has no hair and lost considerable weight, his stubborn Careaga ways have beaten all the odds, with the panache and swagger that I have come to expect.

(Technical side note: He is not in remission, but his tumors haven’t grown. That’s all I care about.)

To celebrate, I wanted to do something big. Like, BIG. A 78 year old man has next to no material desires, but I knew I could offer something big and wonderful to him: my brother. Ever since I walked into his house on Manzano Street in Albuquerque as a virtual stranger back in 1993, my Grandpa insisted that my brother would come back into my life. He somehow mustered a strong enough optimism to counter my perpetual forlorn attitude after all my attempts to reach out to him failed. And what do you know, he was right.

I must admit this reunion is hardly mine to claim. Big, huge props must be given to my brother for being willing to entertain the idea that he had an unknown Grandfather and that he would be worth meeting. I’d like to think that all my stories about how amazing and wonderful and powerful my experience was with Grandpa and Lee warmed him up to the idea. Yesterday all of the efforts came into fruition.

The reunion was an experience too beautiful for words or pictures or a synopsis. Let’s just say that those years of being apart quickly dissipated. I watched them search each others faces across the table, and nearly burst into tears when I saw Justin’s hand reach across the table to him. We sat at a table in a suburban strip mall burger joint that resembles hundreds of thousand bland suburban strip mall burger joints, but there was serious healing happening amongst the tacky wall decorations and cacophonous sounds of NCAA tournament cheering.

Inevitably, the missing link – our father – came up in conversation. Grandpa hadn’t heard from him in a year. The last I talked to him was on an uncomfortable Skype call while I was in Denmark. Justin had a passing interest in seeing him, if only to punch him in the shoulder. I blew off the lack of news like I always have: he can pick up a phone, I could care less, he knows where I am, etc.

But, as always, my facade was a lie. I do care. To find my father, I turned to the most reliable of sites for him: New Mexico Corrections Department website. A quick inmate search lead me to him.

To be in my family is to ride a wilde rollercoaster. We are all flawed people. And I’m sure that most people can relate, as the image or idea of a perfect family is but a myth. But regardless of where we live or how we fail or hurt each other, I’d like to think that there will always be someone in my family that cares. I guess tonight I get to be that person for my father.

Busy bee

Written by serene. Posted on March 16, 2010. Filed under Culture Club, I am a sap. No comments.

I’ve been too busy with finals to properly thank you all for lifting my spirits about my hair-tastrophe. (Oh, sleepless nights make me think I’m soooo witty!)

Anyway, this is not a proper gift, but I figured I’d share a song with you all that should inspire the fiercest of booty-shakin’.

File under: Vanity is overrated

Written by serene. Posted on March 7, 2010. Filed under I am a sap, Whining. 5 Comments.

I am not vain, I swear. I really don’t care much about my appearance, just as long as I am comfortable. But I have had a lingering feeling that my long hair was boring. I decided to get it dyed. Being a poor college kid, I thought I’d get it done on the cheap at the Gary Manuel Aveda training salon.

My tale of woe begins yesterday, as I walked in for my appointment. I was immediately told that my hair was too dark to be done within the alloted 2 hour appointment. I was then told my wish of getting teal was also out of the question, as apparently there is some boring rule that one shouldn’t venture two shades outside of their normal color? All I knew was getting dark brown streaks was not exactly what I had in mind.

But whatever, I decide while I was in a chair and had two hours to kill, I’d let her play with my hair. Apparently this student was utterly clueless and uncreative. I kept saying “..but I look so plain…” and “this is not at all what I want” without any success. She was apologetic, saying that she just wasn’t sure what to do. Two hours later, I walked out looking like a Stepford Wife.

I woke up this morning with the resolve to get it fixed. There was no way I could give a presentation in my class tomorrow looking like a Martha Stewart Living subscriber. (No offense if that’s your bag, but I find that brand of normalcy utterly repulsive)

Living in Capitol Hill paid off, because I found a place open on Sundays that appeared to be up for the challenge. I would go get it fixed at a quirky little joint up on 15th. I would come home prancing with renewed confidence, even if I am finishing this weekend with a lot of hair chopped off. Sadly for her there wasn’t a lot to work with, so I ended up with even less hair and a bruised ego.

Vanity is so lame. I mean, honestly, who cares if I look bad. I will still give my presentation tomorrow, I’m pretty sure my husband will still find me attractive enough, and I have plenty of hats and scarves to disguise the errors in my judgement. If nothing else, at least it is Girl Scouts cookie time. I swear to you – Thin Mints can cure the most wicked of broken spirits.