Of dream jobs and housewifery.

My dream is to be an animator for Pixar.  I've always wanted to do something digital art-oriented, be it freelance work like Marta Dahlig, or animating.  But working at Pixar has been my dream since 2009, when they fulfilled a dying child's dream of seeing "Up" before she died.

That link's going to make you cry.  A lot.

Go ahead, get some tissues.  A lot of them.  Then click on the link and read it all.

It's oaky to cry.  Take some time.  I'll wait.

So that's why I --- oh, you're still sniffling?  I'm sorry.  Let me know when you're done.

Ready?

Oaky.  I know, I know, I bawled my eyes out, too.  I still start crying when I tell people the story.

Deep breath.  We'll get through this together.

One amazing weekend.

Blogging in the halaqa, lol ...

It's been one amazing weekend.  I went to the Windows to Islam class, grinning ear to ear because Brother Ibrahim (from this post) was teaching it, and it's the first time since 2008 that I've seen him.  He had us all introduce ourselves, and I knew he didn't recognise me.  So it got to me, and I introduced myself and told him that he knew me, that we'd met in 2008 and I'd gone to one of his classes here at SALAM, and that I was the Jamba Juice girl.

Oh my God.  I thought he was going to wet himself.  His eyes got huuuuuuge, and he jumped back, his jaw dropped, and he kept repeating "You're the Jamba Juice girl!  You're the Jamba Juice girl!  Allahu Akbar, you're the Jamba Juice girl!"  It was hilarious, and despite being in a hit, stuffy classroom for 7 hours, Saturday was amazing.  Ibrahim's an awesome speaker and a wonderful teacher, and I'm not just saying this because he has my blog address.  :P  We learned a lot, Alhumdullilah, and the next time he's in town, I'm definitely going to his class.

Then last night a total crazy guy came in and decided we were kicking him out because he was black, not because he was loud, belligerent, and rude as all get-out.  Oh, did I mentioned soot-licking crazy?  That was fun.

And now I'm in a halaqa (essentially a Muslim Bible study), learning more about my faith and blogging here.  :D

Changing perceptions.

I have a special thing to post about!

I have a regular customer, Bill.  He's been coming in for a few weeks, and he's really cool to talk to.  So, like everyone, he was curious about my hijab and why I wear it, and why I'm Muslim.  I've been explaining things to him, slowly, and he's been wonderful in realising that his misconceptions were just that, and changing his way of thinking.

I've explained to him about hijab: it's about respect for God's command for me to be modest, first and foremost, and if a woman is wearing hijab as a religious garment (some hijabi's aren't Muslim, or even religious) for any other primary reason, then she's wearing it for the wrong reason.  Wearing hijab has to be for God first, then yourself, then other people.  I've explained that I wear it because I choose to wear it, and that no man can force me to, that no matter how unIslamic my actions might be, no one can force me to not do them; it's between me and God.

Some things.

Being off on Saturdays is kinda cool.  Leaving my phone at Dimple Records?  Not so cool.  At all.

Nothing interesting happened this week.  I made some new friends.  We chatted about religion, and philosophy, and the fact that dolphins are evil and we should eat them.  :P  It was postulated (some say by me ... some may or may not be lying) that Hitler was also evil, and so we should also eat Hitler.  And lions are assholes.

Really, the entire animal kingdom is a horrible, horrible place.  And should be eaten.

Hey, it was funny in the wee hours of Friday morning.  Or Saturday morning.  I don't remember; my days tend to blur together.

I tried to get my friend Nick to elope with me on Saturday.  Didn't work.  We played the Old West Munchkin until 4am, instead.  :D

I saw the new Freddy Krueger movie on Friday!  It was much in the way of awesomeness.  My CD/DVD drive stopped working, also, so I got really mad and bought a Mac.  Should be here between Wednesday and next Tuesday.  Please, God, have it be Wednesday.

It's 7:30am.  Dimple opens at 10am.  Class starts at 10am.  I'm going to see a movie at 7:30pm, then work from 10pm-6am.

Sleep.  It's for the sane weak.

I'm back!

Not that it was obvious I was gone, but my computer cord finally died completely on me.  But, I have a new one, yay!

So ... They took me off Saturdays and switched me to Mondays; two extra hours, and I'll be alone, so way more tips.

Dude!  This crazy-ass lady came in the week before last, all hopped up on meth or something.  She was happy, for the most part, but screaming and hollering really loudly.  Kept yelling "ASSALAMU ALAIKUM!" at me, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance at me (pro-tip: "the Flag" and "under God" were never part of the original Pledge.  And it was written by a fascist - and a commie wrote "This Land is Your Land."  Trufax) and saying I needed to find Jesus.  After trying to calm her down, we finally called the cops, and she got PISSED and started screaming "ASSALAMU ALAIKUM, BITCH!" at me as some customers pushed her out of the restaurant.  I told the customers later that I had Jesus.  And Abraham.  And Noah.  And Moses.  And Muhammed.  They were like Pokemon; you had to catch 'em all!  That brought laughs.

Then she came BACK, and asked for the belt she'd left, and when I'd handed it to her, told the customers still there that she really wished they hadn't let me touch her belt.  Then she went outside and told on me to the cops who were coming in to eat.

Yeah.  Interesting.

And last Sunday, rather than working the 5-9 I was scheduled, I volunteered to stay 'til 10 for Mondo.  So, yeah, as I was leaving at midnight ... No, really.  The late-night cook apparently told one manager that he wouldn't be in 'til 12, but didn't tell the on-duty manager, and didn't get anyone to cover the two hours we wouldn't have a cook.  Kulwinder stayed 'til 10:30, but Jeff was PISSED, especially when Loc rolled up and sat in his car until midnight, despite me being Ms. Messenger between them, trying to get Loc to come in.  I don't know what happened with all that, but I'm sure I'll hear about it.

By the way, Iron Man 2 was FREAKING AWESOME.  :P

Oh, ugh, this guy I was semi-involved with before I converted came in on Sunday, too.  He would disappear for at least a month, if not more, then pop back into my life --- never answering texts, or voice-mails; just nothin'.  Then, the ONE TIME my phone was off when HE called ME, suddenly HE "felt abandoned."  Right.  Who treated whom like a one-night stand, asshole?  And YOU feel abandoned?  Right.  So rather than tell him, "You know, after the way you treated me in December, I don't think it's a good idea to give you my number again," I gave him my number.  But that's what I'll say if he ever calls or texts me.  I erased his number from my phone, anyway.

Jerk.

The first rule of Restaurant of Awesome: STOP FIGHTING.

Here's another update, then I'm going to write a bit about my new drivers license.

Thursday I noticed that I'd been put on Sundays from 5-9 pm for some reason, this week and next.  Huh.  Totally screws with my role-playing schedule, but oh, well.  I can't remember anything of note happening.

Friday, on my way to Family Night at the masjid, Gina-Bean calls me.  She says she's got food poisoning or something and wants me to cover her shift, but Ricardo said I'd called off that night.  I was like, "Lolwut, heck no, I didn't call off."  So I called Ricardo and told him so, and that I was taking Gina-Bean's shift.  Ricardo went of on me writing a note asking for the 23rd & 24th off, and I was all, "Uhm, Ricardo?  It's the 29th."  It was actually the 30th, but my point still stands.  Called Gina back, and it turns out that when I'd written a note saying, "May I please have the 23rd & 24th off, blahblahblah," earlier this month, my extremely intelligent managers, as well as Gina, had confused "May" as is "polite request" with "May" as in "The month between April and June."  Which explains why I didn't get that weekend off, but I'd forgotten I have a Saturday class, so it was good I didn't go to the retreat I wanted to go to.  It also turns out that I've honestly been doing an awesome job, not just bragging about doing an awesome job, and my extra Sunday shift is the tangible reward for that.

The most amazing thing, EVER.

I'm making a web kiosk in Flash class.  It is beyond amazing, I tell you.  I'll post it somewhere when I'm done.

Anyway, what happened last week at work?  I know you want to know.  So I'll tell you!

Tuesday I went to get my paycheck, showed up, and Jeff and Ricardo ask if I'd gotten their message.  I was like, "Lolwut?  Message?  Haha, nice one."  And then I worked from 6-10.  Now, I'm not saying I'm a shift-whore.  No, that would involve me seeking out shifts.  I prefer the term shift-pimp, as that implies that I let the shifts come to me.  I also never say no.  This metaphor's rapidly falling apart.

Wednesday I went with two friends to the dollar moves (I remember when they were a dollar, darn it!  ONE FREAKING DOLLAR!) and saw Tooth Fairy.  Dwayne Johnson, I love you.  He is hilarious, I say.  Hilarious.  ^_^

Thursday I worked.  Nothing really happened.  At least, not that I can remember.  ARGH!  I remember!  I got pulled over for my tags being expired!  And I got a TICKET!  The officer told me it wasn't a fix-it ticket, either.  Moooooore on that below.

Waitress McAwesomesauce, at your service!

We were dead for most of last night.  I was scheduled off at 4 this morning.  Then Ricardo said I was going home at 1 or 2.  Then it was 3.  Then we got slammed.  It was actually a pretty decent night; I had a four-top of ladies who told Elise that it had been the best Restaurant of Awesome experience they'd ever had, and that they were definitely coming back.  :D

That despite these allergies.  I.  Am.  Waitress McAwesomesauce.  I also got tipped $14 on a $32 tab.  Heeeeeck, yeah!  They were a good table, despite one guy's tendency to answer my questions of "How are you tonight?" and "Is everything tasting okay?" with such reasonable, on-topic replies as, "I want smothered cheese fries" and "Unstoppable" --- which is only part of the name of a particular meal we serve.  Despite that, he was the one paying, and thus tipping.

God, I'm making this sound like all I care about are tips.  I don't.  I really do enjoy my job, and I'd work at my RoA even if I didn't get tipped.  Tips are just a very, very, very pleasant bonus, and my bank account and I really appreciate them.  Quite often they keep me from overdrawing my account.

A nice police officer asked about my hijab.  First he asked what it was, then if I'd been Muslim all my life, then if I converted because of a Muslim boyfriend.  Lol, Muslim boyfriend.  That's an oxymoron if there ever was one.  Well, if you define "dating" by society's current standard.  Muslims "date," of a sort ... it's more like courtship, really.  You're never allowed to be alone together, and you're talking with each other with an eye toward possibly getting married.

Oh, God, my friend's cat was apparently taken from her mama way too early, so when she kneads, she drools.  I didn't realise this until she was drooling as I left a voice-mail for another friend, so I was all, "Oh, dear God, why?!  Why God, why?!" on the voice-mail, wailing about the cat drooling on me.  It was funny.  Then we all took a nap.

Next time I'm breaking your fucking window, assholes.

To whoever owns the blue/navy blue 4-door car with the California license plate number 6BPV407, I hate you and may you burn in Hell for having the audacity to not only run out on a $73 tab, but to not even stop your fucking car when I'm banging on your God-damned window.  Seriously?  Fuck you.  Fuck all four of you, you stupid assholes.  I.  Hate.  You.

The police have your license number and your car's description.  One of you even recognised Gina-Bean and fucking told her so.  When you come back in, because you assholes are always stupid enough to come back in, then we're calling the fucking cops and I hope you get dragged off to jail.  If I lose my job over this, I'm going to go seriously ballistic.

I.  Hate.  WALK-OUTS.

Communicate with your servers, please!

What happened last night?  I'm trying to remember.  Argh, I hate it when I want to update and then forget why I'm updating.

I worked for Gina-Bean last night, 'cause she called me yesterday morning sounding very dead.  It was fairly uneventful, except for the man who wouldn't even look at me when I was trying to take his order and check up on him, and mumbled everything.  I asked my manager to check up on him, and Jeff said he did the same thing, so the guy was just rude and it wasn't me in particular.

Oh, and the girl who refused to actually say what she wanted.  It was all "I want this," with pointing.  So I did what I always do.  I asked which one, and told her that I couldn't see what she wanted because my contacts were fuzzy.  Her friend ended up saying what exactly she wanted.  It wasn't even like she couldn't speak English (you non-English speakers get a break in that department, so long as you, you know, actually try to communicate with me).  She just wouldn't say the name of the meal she wanted.  When customers try that thing with me, I play dumb.  It may be rude of me, but there's no need for me to play Twenty Questions when you can freaking SAY you want the Smoked Chicken Quesadilla, rather than pointing at the tiny print that I have to lean over the table, and nearly across the lap of the guy you're sitting by, just to read.

Oh, also, please don't mumble, and use clear gestures.  If I'm not sure what you're saying or gesturing, I'm going to repeat myself.  If I keep repeating myself, it means that I can't understand you and you need to be more clear.  Don't give me a dirty look because you aren't communicating clearly with me.

In other news, a guy said he had a question for me and it was kind of personal, so I immediately fired back with, "Yes, I'm Muslim, yes, I was born in America.  I converted a month ago."

Yesterday was my one-month anniversary of converting, by the way.  Send Twinkies.

Anyway, then I asked, "Is that what you were wondering?"  It was.  ^_^  Another guy asked pretty much the same thing, so I said the same thing, but it turns out he remembered me from the last time I worked at the RoA (Restaurant of Awesome, if you don't recall from previous posts), and wanted to know if it was me or not.

The night was going good until my coworker Judy came in at 6, when I was supposed to be off.  Turns out Jeff put the wrong person in the cash register, so I had to stick around until the manager came in at 7, but hey, it's more money for me.  And .02 hours of overtime, lol.

So I skipped class today and slept instead.  Then I went and got my check-up at the optometrist for my contacts and then paid my storage unit.  The guy said he accepts payments of Chipotle, lol, so next time I need to pay I'll bring him some.  ^_^

A week of updates!

So, it's been a while.  Sometimes life takes over and does things I don't want it to.

Anyway!  Where was I?  What was my last post?  Wow, it's been a week?  Well, let's see what happened this past week.

Monday I hung out with my friend Muzhda; Victoria came, too, and we went to the Roseville Galleria, then back to Muzhda's for an Afghani dinner.  It was too spicy for me, but yummy.  ^_^  It's always awesome to hang around Muslims; I don't get to do it often enough, because it's generally a bit of a drive to get to the masjid, and after Jummah prayers, I tend to go back home to sleep because I work at 10pm on Friday nights.

Tuesday I got new contacts and ordered glasses, thanks be to God!  Very awesome.  Pictures to come soon!  I also had dinner with Victoria.

Thursday I went rollerskating with Victoria and her boy, and brought my baby brother.  Wow, rollerskating is SUCH great exercise!  Work was, as I recall, uneventful.  I've been really tired all this week, so I just kinda chilled.

Multi-porpoise posting.

Lol, do you see what I did, there?  :D

I was supposed to take Gina-Bean's shift tonight, 'cause her car isn't fixed/registered yet.  She texted me earlier to confirm, I said yeah, and then I go a text just now saying she was working anyway.  Turns out her phone's not taking texts right now ... But I'm taking her shift tomorrow, and, God willing, she'll have her new car soon.

In other news, our convert support group's meeting next Sunday!  Yay!  I'm also hosting a ladies' tea party next Sunday, so it'll be after the meeting.  Gotta e-mail the two brothers I met and say, "Yo, my brothas, come kick it!"  :P

Also, my Easter hijab:

I got the idea from this hijab tutorial on YouTube, by HijabTrendz.  Should have used the yellow scarf as the underscarf, rather than my not-quite-matching bandana, lo..  ^_^  Then I just experimented.  It got a little uncomfortable around the neck, but eh, it was liveable.  If you want to do what I did, layering two of them, then you need to wrap both scarves simultaneously.  Layer one on top of the other and adjust how much of the lower one you want showing, then wrap the bottom, then the top, adjust, and repeat.  ^_^  You can fiddle with the gathers around the neck, and which parts are over your shoulders, which is nice.

Anyway, your Hijabi Waitress is enjoying her night off and right now, wishes she had a husband to rub her feet for her.

Random things on extra shifts.

I picked up an extra shift ... not yesterday ... Tuesday! Yeah, it was supposed to be a 6-10, but I went home around, what, 1am? Lol, that rhymed.

Anyway, other than not being used to working before 10pm when the menu switches over and therefore not remembering that kids eat free on certain days (yeah, way to be subtle there, uh-huh), I was bussing a table as one group was leaving, and I overheard a man talking about "Five Percenters." He didn't say anything to me, but I do know that the Five Percenters are some form of Islam, and I wasn't sure if I'd sparked the remark or not.

Oh, Google, you're such a stud of a search engine. Come here and give me info on the Five Percenters. (spamusegooglespam)

... Uh. Wikipedia says they're crazy people who don't like crackers like me. See the pasty skin? That seems to be a no-go for the 5%'ers. Hmmm. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with me, after all, and I just happened to be the only Muslim around whilst he was discussing crazy quasi-Muslims (hint: if your leader is calling themselves God or claiming to be divine, they're not preaching Islam). But still. It was kinda odd.

EDIT: Oaky, I actually read the entire article, and most 5%'ers don't claim to be Muslim, and most are actually quite awesome, pillar-of-the-community type people, so I take back most of my declarations of craziness. (They make more sense than Scientologists, at any rate ...)

And last night I went to work for some food after Isha and had to fight with my manager J to get a sampler. I got a banana split, first, and he said that I could have the split, then split. :P Then he said that if I stayed, he'd put me to work. And then he put me to work. :D So I ended up picking up another 1.5 hours. Yaaaaaay, my next paycheck is gonna be HUGE! And I got my gummint munneh already, so as soon as Bel-Air opens (they have Bank of America in them! I hate BoA) I can go get my $50 rent money, and then tonight I'm going roller-skating with friends from the masjid. Ooooh, hopefully with this next paycheck, I can finally get an eye exam and new glasses & contacts.

Also, my baby rat's cage has a hole in the top for a link to a different cage, and since I don't have a different cage, she climbs up out of the hole and sits on top, then climbs down onto my dresser and chills. She's so adorable. Aqua the cat is still stupid, but lovey and adorable as well.

*sings* It's my blog, and I'll blog what I want to, blooog what I want to ...

Ooooh, also, please remember that if you and your group need to use the restroom, either pay your bill first or don't all go at once, kthx. I had a group of girls do just that and I thought they'd walked out. I was ready to kill someone, and then I saw them paying. Aaaaargh!

... didn't even tip me ...