KoalaStar Rising:

Last Saturday I went to Hermosa Beach with some awesome people. It was so strange because on the way to the beach it started pouring rain for about three minutes and then it stopped. Then it would start up again for about three minutes and stop. This made me a little worried that we’d be rained out, but upon our arrival to Hermosa Beach, the sun was shinning and the temperature was perfect for sun bathing. I have no idea what was going on with the weather. It was super bizarre.

We grabbed brunch at this neat little Mexican place right on the beach. Their margaritas were to die for! (We had raspberry…Mmmm…).

Here is Arabia with a bacon tongue! I think she is pretending to be Sir Carlton, but I’m not entirely sure.

That bacon was so good that I ended up stealing two pieces from her!

Beach Babies #1

Front to Back: Me, Liz, Arabia (I love how Arabia is flashing the peace sign in the background).

Beach Babies #2

Front to Back: Lil’ Ebwie, Me, Liz, Arabia (Lil’ Ebwie looks mighty comfortable, doesn’t she?).

On Saturday night we joined some friends at this neat dance club in Silverlake.

Here I am with Lil’ Ebwie and Liz (I love how Lil’ Ebwie is almost completely cut out of the picture because she’s so tiny! ).

And here I am with Terra and Debs (I swear it’s a coincidence that Debs and I are both wearing white…).

I love this last picture that I’m posting. It was taken at our local pub, The Daily Pint a couple of days ago. There was a DJ playing songs from the 80s, so of course I had to request the best song of all time: Guns N’ Roses, Sweet Child of Mine. Marc and I were the only ones on the dance floor while it was playing, and we had a blast!

Thanks to Pricia, I’m now obsessed with Twitter. What is Twitter, you ask? Well, it’s this online community where you can update your friends (and even strangers) about what you are doing in your day to day life. Here’s a quote from the FAQ:

Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives. Friends near or far can use Twitter to remain somewhat close while far away. Curious people can make friends. Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Developers can use the API to make Twitter tools of their own. Possibilities are endless!

If any of you are on Twitter, you should add me! I’m koalastar (go figure ).

Look what my friend Vinny made!

It’s me in cartoon form! Isn’t it wonderful? I love it so much!

Vinny is an extremely talented artist and you should check out his deviantArt page HERE to see more of his incredible work!

My good friend of many years, Corinne Edelin, emailed me the other day to tell me about her father’s new book entitled Broken Justice - A True Story of Race, Sex and Revenge in a Boston Courtroom. I’ll quote what she wrote so you can get a good sense as to what this important book is about.

I would like to tell you all about a new book written by my Father, Dr. Kenneth C. Edelin, M.D.; Broken Justice - A True Story of Race, Sex and Revenge in a Boston Courtroom. This memoire is a documentation of the trial brought forth against my father in the mid 1970’s surrounding the LEGAL abortion of an unborn fetus. This book not only discusses the events that led up to the trial, but ultimately what Roe V. Wade has meant for Women, and the disturbing fact that we could lose that right, if left up to our current Supreme Court and President. This book is not just meant for those interested in the law or the medical field, but for everyone, ESPECIALLY Women, who are interested in human rights, and a Woman’s right to choose. The book hits shelves September 7, 2007, and is available on Amazon.com. We have already had three pre-book sale signings in Boston, and all the books available for purchase at those events have been sold out! Please visit the Broken Justice Website at www.BrokenJustice.com to learn more about the book, my father, and how to purchase. And please send the link to the website to your friends and family, it really is a great historical piece of literature. Below and attached is a picture of the cover of the book. Thank you!

I urge you all to go take a look at the website of this extremely important book and order yourself a copy. Believe me, it’s worth it.

Here are some pictures from my recent trip to El Dorado Hills and Sacramento. I always love going up there because it’s so peaceful and calming.

Here I am with Sir Carlton in Marc’s parents pool. I can’t believe we got him to swim! (He usually hates the water, but he seemed to be enjoying floating around with me).

Here is Marc with his dad, Sir Carlton and Amber (Marc’s parents adorable Brittany Spaniel).

Little Sushi Kun loved his raft so much, it was very difficult to get him to come out of the pool!

Marc, my sister and I went into Sacramento to hang out with David and Eddie (two of Marc’s good friends). We met up with them at a really cool skate park where Marc filmed them skating. Here I am with Lil’ Ebwie waiting for the filming to be done.

We also went to the American River and Nevada City with Marc’s parents. I love going up there because it’s so different from the usual hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.

Marc and I decided to dip our feet in in the American River (it was soooo cold!)

I love how it looks like I’m a lot taller than Marc (I was standing on a big rock, muahaha!)

And last, but not least, here I am with Lil’ Ebwie in the heart of Nevada City. Nevada City is such a beautiful town. It reminds me of Western MA quite a bit.

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I had a fabulous time in El Dorado Hills and Sacramento. I have some great pictures to post (especially the ones where the fat-heads are swimming in Marc’s parents pool! :-O ).

Sorry this is so rushed, but I have a meeting I have to get to. I hope everyone is well! I’ll post pictures from my mini-vacation soon, I promise!

Here is a video clip of Mandy Moore doing a cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella”. I must say that I’m really fond of this remake. I think Mandy Moore is an incredible artist with a fantastic voice to boot. She definitely puts a neat twist on one of the most popular songs of this year. Check it out and tell me what you think!

I’m still recovering from my sickness (thankfully my voice is almost back to normal) and I leave tomorrow for a mini-vacation in El Dorado Hills and Sacramento with my sis and Marc, so I probably won’t be updating until I get back Sunday night/Monday morning. I hope everyone is having a great week so far and has an awesome weekend! Bye for now!

I had a ton of fun hanging out in San Diego with Debs, Mark and Tommy (and my sister and my Marc) this weekend. However, now I am all sickly-like. My voice is completely lost and I have this annoying cough that won’t go away. Don’t worry, I’m making sure to drink plenty of fluids and Marc made me the most delicious homemade chicken noodle soup last night. There is still a lot left over so I can have it for lunch and dinner today which is nice. I have no idea how I got this cold, but I find it pretty fun that I’m sniffling and sneezing and blowing my nose while it’s 80-90 degrees outside.

What are some things you do to keep yourself occupied when you are sick in bed? Too bad I already finished the last installment of Harry Potter or I’d have some great reading to do. Any suggestions of books I should be checking out?

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I’ll try to and do a more proper update when I’m not feeling so icky.

At about one this morning, I felt my second earthquake (can you believe that I’ve been living in the LA area for about six years and I’ve only felt two earthquakes?!). The fat-heads started barking like crazy and everything began to shake for about 15 seconds. I wasn’t sure if I was actually experiencing an earthquake, but then my sister came in and said all the lamps in the living room were shaking like crazy as well. Neat, huh? Apparently, the earthquake was only a 4.5 and was centered in Chatsworth (about 30 miles from LA), but I still think the whole experience was pretty cool.

The last earthquake I experienced was back when I was in college. I literally felt the ground shift under my feet (I don’t think anything shook though). I remember turning to my friend (we were all hanging out in my dorm room) and asking, “Did you just feel that?!” and she replied, “Feel what? That little tremor? Oh, that was nothing!”. I, of course, didn’t think it was “nothing” seeing as I had never felt an earthquake before. Everyone started talking about some of the more intense quakes they had experienced (like the quake in SF back in ‘89 which was a 7.1). I remember thinking, “I hope I never experience anything like that”. Luckily, I haven’t yet.

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? If you have, what was it like? How strong of a quake was it?

I go away for the weekend and I return to find I have some new critters living in my condo…ANTS!!!!! Last summer when we first moved to our new place, we had a bit of an ant problem, but with the help of some handy ant traps they were gone within a matter of days. This new batch of ants seem even smarter than the last. I put out ant traps again, but it doesn’t look like they are going into them. Do any of you have suggestions in how I should go about dealing with these pesky little guys? I can’t spray anything because of my dogs, but is there anything else I can do? These ants are so annoying!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!