Rare Photo Evidence

Hmmm, isn't someone looking like the cat who swallowed the canary? I should've known he was up to something ...

"Aha! I've got him in my web now!"

Quite possibly the best day of my life.



The photos above are from a great hike I went on recently :D

SO, I have been carrying my tiny little spy camera around with me everywhere, in the event I see something happening that I can record and blog about. I've always wanted a purpose to chronicle these little highlights of the day. Of course, the incessant feel-good/guilt trip anecdotes, urgings and resolutions to journal weren't enough. Thank goodness Half-Breed Outlaw: Online burst on the scene to save the day!

TODAY, I stopped by a comic book store near my house to check out all the hype. My beloved grew up reading comics, which I can't really relate to. My only experience with comics was when I was about 11 and my parents' friends came over with their 11-year-old son, who, while the folks were visiting, proceeded to tell me the storyline to every comic ever written. Nerd alert. Cruel & unusual punishment. Etc. But I'm willing to try to understand the appeal. After all, the X-Men movies are awesome and Wolverine is HOT!!

Segue to the shopping center this afternoon where I pulled up, thinking cosmic comic thoughts, and LO and BEHOLD, right in front of me was a hair salon with the most perfect view of a stylist giving a haircut. And no, no, no, not just ANY haircut!!!! The style to top all styles -- the anti-style -- the MULLET! I couldn't believe my eyes or my luck that I had my tiny little spy camera tucked in my bag.

Here is Rare Photo Evidence that people actually ASK for mullets (and get them!!!) at real, professional salons. I wish I could be all Photoshop-creative-Glamour Don'ts-style-like and put black bars over their eyes, but the crappy zoom should suffice:

RIGHTEOUS MULLET, MAN!
Now, before you think I am being a Mean Girl (btw, is this totally violating any sort of privacy law or anything?) I will say that I, MYSELF, have a (modified) mullet. I actually asked my professional stylist friend to do it, and she wouldn't. But since she moved to Taiwan, I have asked subsequent stylists to just "keep it short on top" and "ooh, I like some length in the back" heh heh heh. I need to come to terms with the fact I don't have Japanese hair that is conducive to the "fashion mullet;" in fact, my hair disregards my intentions and does a mullet/'fro combo. I think my most recent stylist decided to get back at me for tricking her into a mullet by cutting me some unruly bangs; which I deflect with a swift sweep of a bobby pin. POW!!

I'm going to hit you, baby, one more time and give you a Rare Photo Evidence trifecta:
One night last week, my tiny little spy camera came in handy as I placed my order, rounded the corner of my local Taco Bell and pulled up to the drive-through window. The light pouring out seemed especially bright, and that's when I noticed Jesus. No, the Latin drive-through worker was not named Hey-SEUSS; there was this familiar, pass-along image of our Savior, hand extended like my Taco Bell friend extending that cheese quesadilla to me. I think it's really great they post that image.

Is This Heaven? No, it's New York

If you've seen Field of Dreams, or lived in Iowa, you know what I'm talking about.

I went to New York City last weekend! This was the second time in my entire life going there, and it was great. High school friend and college roommate, Amanda, and two of her friends who, along with me, were bridesmaids in her wedding last year, decided to trek from Omaha and Phoenix to NYC for an all-girl get-together. Since I have free flight bennies thanks to my U.S. Airways-employed main squeeze, I hopped up there Friday night to hang out for the weekend. Amazing.

Here we are, l-r: Lady Liberty, (I hate taking pictures with her, she makes me look huge); Angie; Amanda aka high school friend & college roomie; Half-Breed Outlaw aka modestmuse; Lori. Check out the super-sweet FANNY PACK I'm sporting!!! It's my new favorite thing. I've wanted one like this ever since 2004. I don't care if it's passe. I've tried traditional fanny packs between 2004 and last weekend, and they are just too bulky. This thing is slim, almost flat and has a stylish belt and buckle closure. Plus it's "GUCCI," with the logo emblazoned all over it, in case you forget.

The whole thing is so tongue-in-cheek, I love it. I got it out of this crazy back room above a shop on Canal St. It was a hilarious experience. The other girls were all about getting knockoff purses, and I was so over it, but I decided to join in the surreptitious bag-shopping experience. So, behind the curtain, through the hidden door and up the stairs we went. It wasn't until I had helped talk everyone through justifying buying their heart's desire in handbag form that, on my way out, I spied the Holy Grail of fanny packs!!! And in moments, it was mine.

I tend to misplace and subsequently lose things quite often (see PDA phone left on seat of bus in Mexico), so this will solve all my problems. I will wear it everywhere and put everything I need in it.

Once, I lived on the main drag in Waikiki for 24 hrs. and I decided the 3 things you need to survive indefinitely in any city are: a debit card, a bottle of water and a cell phone. The photo to the right was from that adventure (circa 2005). I love old folks and I thought this guy was so cute and sad. His Japanese tourist family parked him outside while they tore Chanel up. Nice!! BUT, upon closer inspection, I JUST NOW noticed that his uber-trendy (as we know all Japanese are) granddaughter in the background is WEARING aforementioned style of fanny pack!!!!! Now I love this photo even more!

New York really was amazing. I got caught up in the whole shopping experience and bought way too many Pashminas, but at $5 a pop, who wouldn't? I think I need to take a trip there sometime just to eat. There are 20,000 or 32,000 restaurants in NYC, depending on which tour guide you have; nonetheless, it is apparent there is a LOT of food to be eaten there, and I think I'm up for the challenge.

It's Aloha Friday!

OK my portrait is scary. Let's clear the air with the limited photos I have at my disposal:

My sister has a pet hedgehog! I haven't yet met him, but he apparently likes office work. My mom sent this to my cell phone a while ago, but I don't get pictures on my cell so I retrieved it from the VZW Web site.

Same thing happened here:

I still don't know who this was from, because VZW's Web site doesn't include the number of who sent it, but it had a message along the lines of "Saw this poster at the outlet mall and it made me think of you and the rock at Waimea." Thanks, mystery friend! Makes me think of my former life, too. Which is OK to think about once in a while. Like on Fridays.

Case in point

I'm going to have to illustrate this blog with photos of people and things other than myself. As you can see, I wasn't lying when I said I'm not photogenic. I wouldn't lie to you. There's a cliche that bugs me: "I'm not going to lie to you, --" followed by an obvious statement that is clearly not a lie. Like, "I went to Antarctica, and I''m not going to lie to you -- it was cold!" Blogs aren't supposed to be pet peeve-inspired rants, are they? Maybe once in a while? I'm not going to lie to you, this statement bugs me. It seems like I hear the "I'm not going to lie to you, --" disclaimer flying way too freely over the pulpit at church, and when I hear it I think to myself, "THANK you for not lying to me; moreover, why would you lie about whatever it is you just said, and why would you lie over the pulpit?! You'll incinerate on the spot and go straight to hell!! I'm serious, I saw it happen to a guy in the New Carrollton Branch when I was 9, and I'm not going to lie to you -- it scared the crap out of me!" Oh, wait ...

In other news, I received an e-newsletter this morning from the Richmond Marathon people, and the most newsworthy part of it is this:
"There will be plenty of food for all runners, and marathoners can look forward to Papa John’s pizza at the finish line."
!!!! If there's one time I probably won't feel like eating Papa John's pizza it will be after running 26+ miles, but I'll probably do it anyway because Papa John's pizza is incredible! HOWEVER ... Pizza Hut has a new pizza that won in taste tests (how would you like to be in that sample group) against Papa John's. If you're jonesin' for pizza, I have to recommend it.

Now, usually I don't do this, but uh ...

So I've started a blog. This thing looks like a mess because I can hardly figure it out. Sad. I have no pictures to post: 1) I don't have any good ones (despite my half-bred good looks, I am quite possibly THE most unphotogenic person on the planet) and 2) I tried to post one and it was HUGE. I'll have to figure the formatting thing out.

I am a fairly private person and I have never been inclined to post myself to the WWW. Mostly because I am paranoid. Also, I think this thing is weird and not an authentic version of me at all. Plus I have nothing clever to say. So the Half-Breed Outlaw online version was born mostly out of boredom. Or was it conceived? I don't like the reproductive analogies, so let's just say I decided to start a blog for something else to do. Plus I like to look at your blogs, so it's only fair.

What I've been thinking about a lot today is this: In The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (watched it last night) how come Nila, or whatever the girl's name is, has an Australian accent? She said her mum, who died when Nila was 10, was from Australia -- but Nila was born and grew up in Japan. Also, how come the serene dude who was always eating shrimp chips was apparently from Japan but had hardly any accent, but escaped to "his Mexico" -- Japan -- apparently from the U.S.? And how come DK's nickname was DK (Drift King), and not some Japanese acronym? These things just do not add up. Then again, maybe it's me. I don't think I "get" movies a lot of the time because I am so visually overwhelmed I don't listen to the dialog. I discovered this a few months ago while watching Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley version) for the fourth time; it took on a WHOLE nother meaning when I put the subtitles on and read what they were actually saying.

hmmm why did I do this?