Diary of Dan Frank

Last night I went out on my very first Californian GTKY (Getting to Know You)! It was pretty cool.

The guy's name is Byron, he is 21 and a student at Chapman Univeristy which is not too far from where I am staying. I met Byron online...myspace actually which truley makes me a myspace hussy. Anyway, we met over at TGIFriaday's by this little mall area where we were going to go see a movie.

I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, just because I really am not wild about meeting people online, but as I am new to the area and am in need of friends I decided that I should meet him. At Fridays we had drinks and some appetizers while we talked about the stupid superficial stuff you talk about when you're first getting to know someone. (college, highschool, movies, music, alcohol, work, etc)

After the apps and drinks we headed over the theatre. We originally were going to see Date Movie (the Allison Hannigan praody) But we ended up seeing Fun With Dick and Jane. I thought the movie was alright, but I was expecting something a little more funny. During the movie I thought I felt his pinky kind of touch my hand, but I assumed that it was an accident and moved my hand away; a little while later it occured to me that he might have done it on purpose.

At the end of the night since my car was closer to the theatre I offered to drive him back to his car, which was closer to the restaurant. Of course the end of a GTKY is always a bit wierd. You don't want to shake the persons hand, because even if you like them in a stricly plutonic form, it's a little too impresonal. At the same time you don't want to hug the person because that is really personal, and if you didn't like the person, you risk sending the wrong message. The only other option is the verbal goodbye, which involves no touching of anykind, but may send the message that you are completely not interested; this is the option I chose, and I am sure that I sent the wrong message.

I thought Byron was cute, I thought that if anything we could be friends, however at the same time I was wondering how much we actually had in common besides families that like to drink a lot. I definatley want to hang out with him again and see what could develope, but now because of the way I chose to end the night, I am afraid I may not get that opportunity.

Posted by Daniel Frank at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The other night I was online looking and applying for jobs in San Francisco. I was having one of those moments when I wonder what I was thinking moving to Southern California. Yeah sure I got a sweet deal living in my Uncle's house for free while he has been away, but I really feel like I should have moved to San Francisco in the first place; as I had originally planned because if I was living there I would have family close by AND friends...here all I have is my family.

Suddenly my phone rang; it was my friend Lauren who is living in Pleasanton, Ca which is somewhat close to the bay and San Fran. She was calling me to let me know that things have apparently not been going that well with her roommate, and that she was going to break her lease and move back to the Midwest. Perfect timing huh? As I am applying for jobs so I can be closer to her, she calls me to tell me she is moving further away...again.

I still have not found that full time job that I am so desperate to find, and I am loosing my patience with waiting tables, so I have been frantically applying for jobs as I contemplate quiting at the restaurant. However, the same thing that happens every time I look for work is happening. I find myself not finding anything I like or that I am qualified for and I get depressed as I con myself, once again, into believe that I am going to be bringing people drinks and extra BBQ sauce for the rest of my life.

This thought as well as the well documented fact that I made way more money in Minnesota causes me to miss my old home, all my friends, and every little thing that I once took for granted about Minnesota. This causes me to think that I should move back home, and this time I was closer than ever to making that idea a reality as I scan the Target corporate page for career opportunities.

The move to California has been just like everything else is everyone's life...not what I thought it would be. I thought I would have found a full time job by now, or at least would have made enough money to not be so freaking scared about the fact that I don't have one.

I kind of believe that when we are all born that some aspects of our lives are all laid out for us. The people we love, the jobs we are meant to have, and basically the type of life we were all meant to live. However because of free will many of us end up not living the lives we were meant to simply because of a few bad choices that we made. Fate's cruel joke is that they don't clue us into the plan that was made for each of us, and most of the time we sit around and wonder what could have happened; if only...

Posted by Daniel Frank at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yeah I actually do!!! I miss all my friends and I miss my shitty little job and I miss the snow. (but not the cold) If I would have known that I would be moving to California to basically the same thing I was doing in MN I would have never moved, however I did, I am here, and I am going to stick it out. Who knows what this place has in store for me.

Posted by Daniel Frank at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Even though this is only Wednesday, this week has turned out to be quite interesting.

On Sunday night I was sitting in the living room watching the news; they were talking about a wildfire that had started earlier in the day. I thought oh great here we go, but I thought it was a long long way away from me.

Monday morning my cousin Gary calls me outside and says, "Hey look at the fire." I had no clue that it was close enough that I would be able to not only see the smoke, but also smell it. Thinking nothing of it I went to work and started my usual routine over there. A few hours later I get a call from my cousin Anne, saying that they elementary school near the house had been evacuated and she was wondering if the house had been too.

At this point I knew I needed to go home to check if the house had been evacuated and just to pick up a few things incase they did, at some point evacuate our house. I got home and started packing up a few things and sure enough about five minuets later a police officer comes to the door and tells me they are manditory evacuating the neighborhood. So I make a few calls to let Gary and Robin (the renter) know that the house is being evacuated and that I could take some of thier things if they needed me to. I could not get ahold of anyone.

When I called back my cousin Anne, I told her the house was being evacuated and she started freaking out crying on the phone. Understandably so; so I went to her school to pick up her and her sister so they could go home and pack up a few of their things in case they too were evacuated.

I can't help but wonder if mhy family is cursed when it comes to moving. When my mom and I moved into our apartment in Eagan, there was a fire two aparments away from us. When my mom to AZ, there was a fire in an apartment close to hers, when my sister moved to SF her apartment started on fire. Now when I moved to CA there was a huge wildfire in Oklahoma, and now a large one pretty close to us that burned 3,500 acres.

Anyway I finally made it back into work for about two hours before I had to leave and go to Wood Ranch, thank god I packed my uniform so I could go to my first real day of work. That was also interesting.

At work I had a shitty section and only made $30, but I was not really expecting a lot anyway so that was ok. I had one table a little upset with the restaurant and myself because of how things were going, and they were really upset when they bite into their salad and found a stick in it! (only on my first day would this happen!) Anyway we obviously took care of their meal and the manager came over to talk to them for me. They ended up being really nice to me after that, they obviously realized that it was not my fault.

A little later in the night I noticed some of the servers acting a little differently and they were all kind of huddled into one area, so I asked what was going on, but everyone was caught up in excitement and did not tell me. After a few minuets they asked for a runner to a table in the back area of the restaurant for an appetizer so I brought it over. When I got to the table I realized why everyone was so excited and acting strangely...There at the front of the table sat Willie Nelson! Now I am not a huge fan of his, but it was still exciting to see him up close like that.

It was nice to see that Willie is not one of those celebrities who get easily upset as well. He was sitting there signing autographs for younger customers and he also signed some things for the restaurant and took pictures with a few of the servers.

Posted by Daniel Frank at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night my uncle, cousin and I partied like rock stars. It all started when we came home from the water polo tournament to find our neighborhood completley dark. At first we did not put one and two together (which makes three by the way), but eventually we figured out that the power was out for the whole neighborhood.

So we all went inside the house and started to look for candles and flashlights. After all that was taken care of we tried to start making dinner; thank god for gas stoves and grills. Of course while making dinner in this household it is imperative that you be drinking while cooking. This usually means we go through one bottle of wine while cooking, but since my cousin was there we went through two.

Once dinner was ready we opned another bottle of wine and sat down to enjoy what we made, at this poing my cousins girlfriend had showed up. Because we added another drinker to the mix we went through two bottles at dinner.

Of course after dinner we had entered party mode, and somewhere along the night the total number of bottles consumed climbed up to 9!!!! Needless to say we all passed out. Wine is a tricky substance, it totally sneaks up on you because the whole time I did not feel as drunk as I obviously was. At the end of the night I was sitting outside in a chair drinking my last glass and smoking one of my uncles smokes.

Finally I pulled myself out the chair realizing that I was probably drunk, and dragged myself into my room; thank god I was on the first floor because I don't think I would have made it upstairs. I got my bed all ready for me to sleep in and then I took of my shirt. I guess that as far as I got because the next thing I knew I woke up in the same position, with my jeans still on and one shoe.

I woke up this morning at 11:30 made some breakfast and drank a bit of water, the whole time feeling like total shit. Good thing I woke up when I did because it was perfect timing to go online and buy tickets for the Coachella Music Festival, which is a sweet two day outdoor concert.

After the tickets were purchased I went back to sleep atr around 1:00 because I had to work at 4:30. I woke up at 3:30 and called work letting them know that I was not feeling well but was still planning on coming in, and they told me to forget about it and that I could finish my training in the morning if I was feeling better. I thought this was a great idea and went right back to sleep. I woke up an hour and a half ago...what a weekend!

Posted by Daniel Frank at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was watching this show on tv today called Eye for An Eye. It is one of those daytime court drama shows; like Judge Judy or the People's Court. In this particular case I was watching this afternoon a woman brought her husband to court because she believed he was having an affair with the Nanny.

The Woman had, what some in the audiance, and possibly even the Judge thought to be good evidence against her husband. A shirt with lipstick on the collar that did not match the type of lipstick she wore, and a nanny cam video of her husband giving the nanny one of his shirts for her to wear.

In my opinion this is not sufficient evidence. The lipstick on the collar did not match the lipstick that the nanny wore, in the video all you see is him giving the nanny a shirt to wear and then talking off camera in the direction that the nanny went to put on the shirt. The way that the husband and the nanny refuted this was that she was changing in the bathroom and he was simply talking to her. For all we know based off the video that is exactly what happened.

The woman said that she wanted to saver her marriage, but get ride of the nanny and have her husband pay for a new one, which would most likely be more expensive. This woman is a fool because she brought her husband on national television and accused him of being unfaithful, but she wants to save the marriage? I'm sorry, but after that embarassement I would not be willing to work on the marriage with her. The wife even had the balls to bring a women on the show that her husband did in fact have an affair with (while they were seperated). The only thing this woman could say was that he was a player...

I think the best part of this though was when the wife mentioned that she was showing her friend the shirt that the nanny was allowed to borrow and a pair of thong underwear fell out of the pocket. The reaction of the crowd was priceless. They were all completley shocked about the thong underwear... OH NO NOT A THONG!!!Afterwards all the women were saying, "Well it's not mine." Who the fuck cares! It's thong freaking underwear!!! It's not like that is the most shocking thing in the world.

This television show is totally geared to a generation older than my own; in fact I'm sure my grandmother would love this show.

Another thing I enjoyed about the show was the host. Who would have ever thought to make Kato (Yes the same Kato from the O.J. trial) the host of a court room television show??? priceless.

Posted by Daniel Frank at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)