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Total entries in this category: Published On: Mar 16, 2008 08:49 PM |
Wed - December 19, 2007Where did the last few months go?You could never tell by my increasingly
infrequent posts, but 2007 was probably was one of the best years in recent
memory. Briefly:
October: Having the family back together, since my brother got married and moved back June: Visiting another country again -- Canada counts, right? Later June: Being one of the first on the island to own an iPhone November: Getting the most beautiful Christmas tree (at a discount!!) that Rocky Raccoon and I have ever had December: Surviving and having the best time at the My Chemical Romance concert All year: Owning Apple stock has been verrrry rewarding 
Posted at 07:47 PM | Mon - September 3, 2007End of summer stuffToday I viewed some of my cousin's pics she put
on PhotoShow, so I figured since I had to create an account to view 'em, I might
as well throw up some of my own from this summer. *sigh* Never got around to
formally putting them on Flickr or on a webpage. The most tedious part is going
thru hundreds (if not more!), watermarking, and editing them..so here's a
snippet:
  Posted at 02:55 PM | Wed - July 25, 2007Just another day..in HawaiiIsn't this what we're known for --
traffic and rainbows?
Hawaii has too many cars on too few roadways, so gridlock isn't unusual. But it gives drivers time to take pictures, which I saw others do as we crawled along -- but didn't see any others snapping them on iPhones! Posted at 09:02 PM | Wed - July 11, 2007More ways to squander the summerOther than fiddling w/my
iPhone
Summer vacation ends (and school starts for
teachers) in exactly two weeks. So you'd think I'd be making the most of it,
soaking up the sun, gettin' things done -- but
nope.
Here's what I made today out of recycled floppy disks and the back side of calendar pages. I mean, do you know ANYONE who uses either of those? I guess I could count it toward my little effort of going green. Want to try your hand at it? Here are more ways to recycle floppy disks. 
I took a look at my stash of never-to-be-used-again floppy disks and figure I might be set for Christmas gifts this year! PS: To friends who actually bother to read my blog -- you know I'm kidding... Posted at 09:47 PM | Tue - June 5, 2007Today's bank freebie
Not quite as cool as getting a free iPod Nano and cashing it in for over $150
at the Apple Store, but this latest toy is pretty nifty. Non-battery-operated
crank LED emergency flashlight w/radio, cell phone charger, and siren. For
free, well, for opening a cheapie basic checking acct that I will never use and
will close as soon as I'm able (increased from 90 days to 180 days, but I don't
care).
Ooh, Christmas gifts ;) Wonder how many cheapie checking accounts they'll let me open! Posted at 10:17 PM | Sun - April 29, 2007I've been AWOLAside from the occasional postings about my cat,
clothes, and concerts, I guess it's taken me this long to realize I really don't
have all that much to say. A focus would've helped, but
ohwell.
Life and work kind of get in the way. There've been changes, and I've realized I need to roll and grow with them. Going analog might not be a bad thing. Bought a moleskine notebook recently and modded it a bit: 
Posted at 09:26 PM | Thu - April 19, 2007Frugal domain name renewalA few of my domain names were up for renewal, but
I couldn't see paying full price. I crave discounts, and I refuse to participate
in the slight-of-hand mumble-jumble that entails buying super-cheap names from
one company and purchasing DNS services from another; I'd rather have it all
under one roof.
So tonight I went to the site that my domains are registered under and removed the private registration option that I had paid for when I first registered them. When I refreshed the page, the price for new private registration (as opposed to renewals) was on sale for $2 less, so I re-purchased them. Then I searched the web for promo codes, and was surprised how easily I found some. I decided to use one that would reduce my domain name renewals themselves a couple of bucks less each, and renewed each for a couple of years, saving a decent amount of cash in a single transaction! Posted by HissyFitz at 7:20 PM Posted at 07:44 PM | Fri - April 13, 2007Triskaidekaphobia - notHappy Friday the
13th
I'm definitely not superstitious, but today was
another opportunity to wear yet another one of my off-beat t-shirts. Most
people didn't get it :(
Posted at 09:22 PM | Sat - March 24, 2007And then I blew itSo much for trying to save my pennies. I saw
this Custo t-shirt yesterday and while it cost more than any other item of
clothing I own, I had to have it =^.^=
Posted at 09:01 PM | Thu - March 22, 2007Movin' my pennies aroundI wanted to look for a new deal, somewhere I
could park some money and get a freebie in return (like I did w/the iPod nano in
Oct.), with a very decent interest rate, of course. Not one to rest on my lowly
teacher-income laurels when it comes to penny-pinching, I hopped on the task
today.
I gave up on the freebie search, but discovered that HSBC Direct has a 6% promotion through the end of April. To take full advantage and throw enough $ in it, I'd have to move some of my other pennies around, dust off some idle financial resources..and take a deep breath. While I was at it, I took actions to get my free online bill paying (can't live w/o that) through another one of my accts, and moved maturing CDs (no, not the musical kind) around to take advantage of higher rates. Other changes are in the works. Also filled up my tank using a 5ยข-off-per-gallon coupon while I was in the penny-saving mode. My unsolicited advice: Take advantage of the HSBC offer while you can! 
Posted at 10:29 PM | Tue - January 2, 2007Sun - September 17, 2006Brief trip, briefer synopsisI've lamented before how the hardest part about
returning from a trip is going through all the pictures and deciding which ones
to use. I took the easy way out this time:
Posted at 03:22 PM | Sat - September 16, 2006Last Flight Outyeah, that's the title of a Butch
Walker song
I saw Butch Walker and his new band in SF and Anaheim
last week, and took four planes going there and back. My suitcase barely made
it under the limit, and my contact solution was confiscated (even though saline
solution is permitted, according to the TSA site). I missed being able to carry
on bottled water, but was able to get enough to drink on the first three
flights. For some reason, the leg from LA to Hawaii was a dehydration flight,
but at least Hawaiian Airlines still feeds its
passengers.
Some delightful and not-so-delightful insights about airports, especially when traveling alone: Good: Discovering the airport carries Starbucks' new Pumpkin Spice Posted at 01:08 PM | Thu - July 6, 2006Half overNot that I'm complaining (what other profession
gets weeks off each summer), but this summer break is the shortest yet, and half
of it has flown by already. But the best is yet to come: Butch's new CD comes out next week, and as Rock Star:
Supernova's album producer,
he'll be making more guest appearances on the show. I'll have to miss some
episodes and will catch up later, but that's OK, because I'll soon be having a
great time on vacation from my vacation. So no more blogging for a while, like
I do much of that anymore, anyway :)
Posted at 11:29 PM | Mon - June 19, 2006The Best Things in Life are....redeemable with Rewards
Points!
Nuthin' like closing a rarely-used credit card
account and discovering there were enough rewards points on it to get five $25
Macy's gift cards -- and receiving them in the mail just before heading out for
a combo birthday celebration/Macy's shopping night. Cute stuff from that
night:
A close second: finding out the person you'll be traveling with to SF has more than enough rewards points for a free car rental! Posted at 11:51 AM | Sat - June 10, 2006Yes, I survivedI've just been
lazy
Don posted a comment in the previous post
wondering if the diet did me in. Nothing of the sort, I just haven't had much
to say the past four weeks, but now that school's out I'll probably start
talkintomyself
again. A quick update of the past few weeks:
Posted at 09:39 PM | Sun - May 14, 2006Day 1Purification
diet
I'm not one for dieting, but I could stand to
lose a few pounds and this new diet will not only do that, it'll detox me, as
well. If I can follow it.
It's actually a 21-day purification diet that involves taking a bunch of supplements w/essential vitamins and minerals, drinking their shakes, and eating organic veggies/fruits. Doesn't sound so hard, but I was kind of hungry today and my (non-organic) veggies and fruits didn't really satisfy me. But clearing out toxins is a good thing, and I weigh a little less tonight than when I woke up this morning. Not sure yet if the hardest part will be swallowing 10 capsules three times a day or not drinking wine in the evenings. Posted at 06:07 PM | Fri - April 14, 2006Geezer needed assistanceI like words and don't like them to change
meanings on me without warning. Lately I've been reading and hearing "random"
used more and more often (hey, I don't hang with the cool kids, and I work at an
elementary school on a military base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where
slang usually arrives on our shores late), so when I tried to explain its "new"
meaning to another person last night, I needed some help. Turns out the
definition is pretty random itself, according to UrbanDictionary.com,
ranging from "irrelevant", "unrelated", and "unexpected", to something said
"out of the blue by mindless teenagers". Several posts reflected these
opinions:
"For the love of God, stop using this word. It's not clever, it's not funny and it's not original. You sound just the same as all the other clone-like teenagers who think they're oh so unique for saying it. Give it a fucking rest." and "Trouble is, being 'random' is predictable, boring, moronic and extremely sad indeed." OK. So you'll never catch me trying to be hip at the risk of sounding clone-like, not to mention moronic and sad. Not that it ever occurred to me to even try out the word. I can't even speak pidgin properly, and I live in Hawaii where it's pretty much the State Language. Where DO these things start, anyway?? A lot of new stuff originates from gamers, and those are actually interesting, but what lame-o came up with "random"?? My visit to UrbanDictionary.com was enlightening. In fact, I might add its Word of the Day to my blog. Today's is below, which reminds me, I have to revisit my state return because TurboTax took liberties and shortcuts with my information, and I think I could do better manually. April 14, 2006 Posted at 06:01 PM | Sat - April 8, 2006After the stormsThe weather's been gorgeous all
week*.
Tourists are back in the relatively sewage-free waters of Waiklki, potholes are
being filled, cars are being dug out of landslides, yards and homes are drying
out. Mazes of yellow tape are a little less labyrinthian.
Huh? A little background info: the mall near my house was flooded last Friday as water overflowed the street, crashed through walls in the theaters, and swept through the different wings of the mall. It was closed for several days, and while most of the stores have since re-opened, some still are boarded up or shrouded in plastic. GNC had reopened earlier in the week, but just as I was about to make my purchase, there was a power outage so had to return today to buy my bars. Yellow tape mazes still wind throughout the mall, but as the floors are repaired, they're being removed, so there's a little less zigging and zagging to get from point A to point B. 
* Would've been a great night for a U2 concert :( Posted at 09:50 PM | Mon - March 27, 2006Public transportation ain't so badin spite of the
rain
I took my poor, keyed Scion to the body shop this morning. The street was ponding as I got out of the car. Stepped in a submerged pothole, so by the time I got to the office, I looked pretty pathetic. They took pity on me, gave me a bunch of paper towels and a ride to the mall where I was to catch the bus. Who knows, I might've drowned, otherwise. Nothing was really open at the time except Starbucks (of course), a couple of eateries, and the supermarket. I was bummed that the new Borders, with their yummy Cinnamon Dolce Latte, wouldn't open until 9:00 am, so I just wandered around..and took pictures. Kind of wanted to, but didn't, take pics of the homeless hanging around the market. Actually, I tried to avoid them, especially the ones talking loudly and gesturing to who knows what. Tried to clean up and dry out in the bathroom. Several others came in looking pretty soggy, but no one but me took pictures of herself looking like that :) The last time I took TheBus was probably decades ago. The actual ride was pleasant, but I almost wasn't on it. It appeared on time, but passed right on by! If it weren't for a stop sign a little ways down that gave us a chance to run after it, we would've had to wait another hour for the next one. The driver claimed that wasn't his stop, even tho it was clearly marked and I had spoken to a supervisor earlier to confirm the time and location. (Yeah, I submitted a complaint online a few minutes ago. So there.) The bus was pretty empty because most people going in that direction hopped on the more-frequent Waikiki buses. Ahh, Waikiki. Instead of the usual sunburned tourists, there were umbrellas, sandbags, puddles and more rain. At least Diamond Head was greener than usual, but no one would want to hike it today. Won't get my car back until Friday, but will borrow one of my dad's cars 'til then so I won't be doing any more bus-riding for a while. Posted at 05:55 PM | Sun - March 26, 2006Between the rainstormsan excuse to take
pictures
The end of April will mark a year since I started
blogging. It feels longer than that, and I've yet to find my groove. I can
yammer on only so much about Rocky Raccoon, Apple computers, the bands I like,
and the occasional personal/topical/news-related comment, before I run dry for
weeks at a time. I wouldn't think about dissing work, and always keep in mind
that my parents, some colleagues, and even my brother if I ask often enough,
actually check in (tho rarely comment!!) once in a
while.
I don't have a killer sense of humor, a controversial slant on politics, or even kids to write about. I don't live an exciting life filled with crazy highs and despairing lows..hmm, maybe there's the problem. I don't really have much of a life. Yet I will muddle on, but, as someone commented recently, I've been in an unusual posting frenzy. (But he also called me a sporadic blogger, which is closer to the truth.) Digital cameras are so nifty. Photoshop is even cooler. And when you have nothing to say, hopefully a half-decent picture or two will fill the bill. Here's the latest from today, in between rainstorms: 
Posted at 07:50 PM | Sat - March 25, 2006This is Hawaii??Five weeks is
enough
EDIT: Both QuickTime
and Windows Media Player versions of the 29-second video are now included as
links, for those who couldn't view the original QT version. Thanks, Joey, for
letting me know.
I wasn't feeling well, so stayed home from work today. I never use video cameras, but we ordered a couple for school and I wanted to try it out. It actually started to let up as I filmed, but later at night the island was rocked by thunder and lightning. 
[Select QuickTime (.mov) or Windows Media Player (.avi) The QuickTime version is nicer. Install QT! Posted at 10:02 PM | Sun - March 19, 2006It's aliveBut what is it?
I thought I had killed it, or at least, put it in a state of suspended animation. It hadn't bloomed in probably a year, then one day I noticed its spines turning pinkish, and soon long, dark purple flower-like protrusions emerged! About a week later the flowers wilted and the spines returned to green, but soon the same amazing thing happened on the other side of the plant. Posted at 04:27 PM | Fri - March 10, 200621 shotsof Grand Marnier
Do you recognize these? They're little sidekicks from Chili's, you know, the little chili-shaped plastic shot "glasses" that dangle precariously from the rims of Chili's margarita mugs. My shot of choice is always Grand Marnier. I savor its sweet, velvety goodness by sticking the end of the straw in it, pressing my finger on the top, and sucking the mmmyummy (40% alcohol!) nectar, which is barely enough to coat my tongue. This way I usually manage to make it last longer than the margarita itself (on the rocks, never blended), which, to me, is incidental. No way would I unceremoniously toss the shot in as suggested. Unfortunately, because I take so damn long to finish them, at least a few sidekicks have been knocked off by people wielding menus or carelessly reaching for something. So sad. I've also forgotten to take a few home with me when I was done, but, as you can tell, I've frequented Chili's enough to round up a pretty good collection. Brought home the 21st tonight. I don't go there often, and don't go there for the food. Never got around to doing what I said I'd do: take 'em out of my kitchen drawer where they've lived for probably a couple of years, fill them with red and green water, and hang 'em up at Christmas. I'd like to put them to some fun, tacky use. Any suggestions? Posted at 10:03 PM | Wed - March 8, 2006When times get toughThe tough
go.. you know
Recent cute purchases. Too lazy to retrieve the shoes downstairs for a photo session. 
Posted at 07:31 PM | Sat - December 24, 2005It's that time of year.. to paint the toenails and fingernails
red-green-red-green (with white Christmas trees on the big toes!)
..
.. to buy stuff and have others pay for it (like this too-orange, but oh-so-cute sushicat t-shirt) .. 
.. to receive goodies in time for the holidays (new Butch Walker DVD, free camera phone) .. 
.. for good times and good friends! 
Posted at 09:18 AM | Sat - November 12, 2005I've lost that blogging feelingWow, it's been two weeks since I last posted an
entry. Haven't even felt like stopping in on other people's blogs. If I make
it through next weekend, I'll probably check in here more consistently. Next
weekend will be the real test.
Don't really wanna bitch about things that haven't been going right, so scraps of silver linings are:
With the exception of the last item, the others should be appended with "but..." since there's way more crap behind them than meets the eye. And I guess last month's splurges were bad timing. Four $250 Eagles tickets (plus crappy Ticketmaster fees), $80 Motley Crue ticket (plus crappy Ticketmaster fees), computer, projector, printer, digital camera, and my usual clothes, shoes, whatever actually added up to more than my recently-reduced account can handle. Darn, and I thought transferring the "extra" money out of it wouldn't make a difference. Hah. Forgot I live on a teacher's salary. Ooh, Rocky Raccoon reminded me he's got a secret and he's not..you know..letting the cat out of the bag! =^.^= 
Posted at 08:02 PM | Sat - October 15, 2005Looks like I'll liveBlood work came back
normal
So why do I feel so crappy?! Tonight my back is
worse than ever before, so I'm self-medicating.
*clink*.
You don't suppose my recent talk about needing to celebrate a mid-life crisis
got my body figuring I was overdue for mid-life ache & pain session as
well??
No clue yet what's wrong with me, but there's plenty of time before my concerts for me to be fixed. Three Eagles concerts, and, as of today, a Motley Crue concert (also terrific floor seats) a couple of weeks after them. I definitely have to be in tip-top shape for that one. Posted at 09:59 PM | Thu - October 13, 2005Good thing I like needlesMost poking I've had in a
while
OK, so on Monday I had a free flu shot that was
offered to teachers. Stood in a loooong line with a friend at our Teachers
Institute (not quite what you might think) to take advantage of the freebie.
I've had flu shots before without any ill effect, and actually like getting
stuck by needles.
[Wanted to stand in the blood donation line, but until they instate a new half-pint policy, I'll never meet the required weight minimum. No matter how much I'd love to donate blood (I think that'd be the coolest), I refuse to get that fat for them. Hope I can say that a decade from now as I get heavier and heavier...] Tuesday morning rolls around, I take a shower and realize as I'm getting ready for work that I'm surprisingly uncomfortable. This was after the shower and a few sips of coffee; I should be feeling pretty decent by now. But no..my lower back aches really bad and my stomach..is f*cken messed up. Wednesday goes by. Same, uh, sh*t. Thursday beckons and I tell myself that enough's enough. I called in sick today (Thursday) and made an appointment with my doctor to see what the heck is wrong with me. At my insistence the test for kidney infection was taken (I swore was the culprit), and results given while I waited. I was so bummed when they came in negative because that meant I'd have to go home without antibiotics which I *knew* would make me feel better. If I had a kidney infection like two years ago when I went kayaking for the first time and had to wade around it less-than-clean water, I'd be cured! Had a couple of vials of blood taken (ohyeah, for some reason I've always liked that part) to see of other parts of me are malfunctioning. My doctor will be on leave in a couple of days, so if I remember to call tomorrow, I'll find out my results earlier than normal. So here I sit, uncomfortable and bummed, and a little bit scared to find out what the bloodwork will show. I have my own suspicions what might be the problem, and if it turns out to be that, then I've been my own worse enemy. Or it could be, as ladies my age are telling me (from experience), that it's hormonal. Hah. I refuse to believe that crap..for now. In my mind, "hormonal" is a catch-all phrase for normal sh*t that's hard to diagnose. Or something. As I've said before, I intend to flit through that stage without noticing it much. No, I don't think the flu shot on Monday was the cause of all this. But wouldn't it be nice to blame it on something?? Posted at 08:23 PM | Sat - October 1, 2005Overdue for a mid-life crisisI really don't intend to live twice my present
age, so I figured I'd better hurry and have a mid-life crisis soon, skip the
self-reflection part, and spend way too much money on something that would fool
myself into believing I was youthful again.
A couple of years ago when I almost bought a Mazda RX-8, I thought that would be it, but since I couldn't see out of sides of the darn thing, it didn't count. Buying my purty little Scion TC coupe last year (no, not the ugly Kleenex box model) doesn't quite qualify, because even though it's from Toyota's "youth-marketed division", it didn't cost an arm and a leg as mid-life crisis objects are supposed to cost. In fact, that's why I bought it. I've never had to put up w/car payments and wanted to find a car I could pay in full. Couldn't do that w/the Mazda MX-8, even if I was able to see out of it. Darnit. Maybe spending almost $800 on three upcoming Eagles concerts counts? Nah, those guys are even older than I am, and I've spent much more to see them before, so that doesn't qualify. A sudden, major change would do it. I did get my hair colored professionally for the first time today (woohoo!) -- but that was because I had tried to use a medium brown on my dark brown hair two weeks ago and ended up with an interesting mix of medium brown/dark brown/red highlights and I wanted her to even it out. In this day and age when everyone seems to be going blondish, the most daring I can be is going a teensy bit less dark brown. Here's a picture taken earlier this week at a friend's birthday dinner, in all my waiting-for-mid-life-crisis glory. Can't even tell I tried to lighten my hair on my own. And, yeah, I realize I'm putting my pic up here for something like the fourth time, but I don't worry about it, even though my parents might. (See two posts below.) 
There was no significant difference after getting it professionally colored/balanced today. Should I have gotten a mohawk while I was there? Going light brown and getting blond highlights is so common, too many Asians are doing that nowadays (yeah, like that looks natural), and I don't want to be one of the crowd. Same reason I bought my car; it was different at the time. Hardly anyone had one back then because it was too new. Everyone was telling me to get a Camry, but that is so a teacher car and is over-represented here. I wanted to be unique, if just for a little while. So what can I do to celebrate my overdue mid-year crisis? Get a 20-something boy toy? (No thanks.) Go sky diving? (Don't want to be strapped to a stranger.) Buy shoes? (Do that all the time. In fact, bought a pair of cute, pointed-toe boots today that I may never wear.) Suggestions? Posted at 09:41 AM | Sat - September 24, 2005My parents have read my blogShould I be embarrassed?
Actually, my dad did went to the site and
mentioned it to my mom (who never goes online herself). And, when I say "read",
I mean skimmed..or rather,
dismissed.
My main blog's link was in my email's sig when I sent my father an image of us at his birthday lunch that his AOL account couldn't view, but that's beside the point. I was at their house today to update his computer when he mentioned my blog. He didn't really read much of it, but did have a few things to say about it..mainly that he didn't think it was a good idea that I had one. You know, weird internet stalkers and freaks and all. I told him that I didn't post anything I thought would be too revealing..or too embarrassing for others (like my parents!) to read. So what would strange stalker-like people learn about me through my blog?
That I have an overly-furry, would-have-been-dead Maine Coon stray kitty-boy whose fuzzy little life I saved? That I wear mostly jeans and am grateful that the BOE hasn't implemented a dress code? That dinosaurs have overtaken the yard? ooh. Dunno what useful information stranger-like stalker-types would have gleaned from what I've rambled about these past months. So I ask, those of you who are NOT stranger-like/stalker-types, have I missed anything? (Yeah, I realize some of you wouldn't comment here, so pls email me to tell me if I'm revealing too much.) Posted at 11:47 PM | Mon - September 5, 2005I can't even begin to imagine how it must be..to lose everything
Instead of complaining about
I should be thankful for my
There are so many now who have none of the above. Again, if you haven't yet, consider making a donation. Posted at 11:19 AM | Sat - September 3, 2005in the darkit's not a lot of
money
or a lot of time but why do they keep asking only me i might need something, too yet they never think to ask i sit here alone with my wine and my cat in candlelight and wonder what it might be  Posted at 10:07 PM | Wed - August 31, 2005Hurricane Katrina tragedyf*cken looters are just making it
worse
I only know one person living in Louisiana, and,
thankfully, he and his wife and doggie are safe. They're in Shreveport, which
wasn't affected, but, ohmygosh, New Orleans may not recover for
years.
The stories coming out of Mississippi and New Orleans are just terrible. And all the thousands of poor people who lost their homes and took shelter in the broken-down Superdome who will have to move (or have moved already) to the Astrodome in Texas...nearly 25,000, ohmy. They're saying they could be there for weeks..! Yeah, I just said in the entry below that human tragedies don't affect me as much as sad animal tales, but I guess I lied. The story of the woman whose common-law husband died while she was out trying to get help and the difficulty she had getting assistance with taking his body to the morgue; the suffering and loss; and just about every article I read in the papers is almost too heartbreaking to take. (I rarely watch TV so haven't seen much in the way of disaster footage, thank goodness.) But the looters breaking into stores and even hospitals, and crazies who are robbing and attacking people as needy as they are, should be shot by those in authority who also seem to be losing control as well as their grasp of what's right and wrong. Oh, never mind, it seems that they're already been shooting it out. People need to fr*cken BEHAVE and HELP each other, dammit! Tragedies can bring out the worst in human nature. But, as in the case of 9/11, it can also bring out the best. Maybe the media is focusing on mostly the worst, for some reason, but I feel like people are truly taking advantage of the situation. I mean, what the hell are they going to do with so many TVs, shoes, iPods, whatever?? Want to help ? I was hoping there'd be a nifty little PayPal link like there was for 9/11 donations, but I didn't see one yet. But there is this (NetworkForGood.org). Posted at 07:46 PM | Fri - August 19, 2005Back to the grindor How I Spent the Last Week of my Summer
Vacation
School will start for students on Tuesday, but
you wouldn't think so by the state of some of the classrooms undergoing
renovation. Most of the boxes and computers are stacked up in the lab (where I
live), but the furniture is still out in the hall, interior painting isn't done
(and might not ever be since the painters walked off the job a few days ago),
and everything is covered with a layer of paint dust and other debris. At least
we got our lights hooked up
yesterday.
*Sigh* I'm not enjoying the craziness at work, but it's good to be back home to my own old house and my own mellow fat cat. Freakazoid Frankie kitty is the most aggressive, chomp-crazy feline I've ever met. I've got the bite marks and scratches to prove it. Lucky thing for him that he's cute and tiny. Seeing Butch live was pretty much everything I expected it to be, and it was great to be able to sneak down to the floor section and sit with a fellow fan the second night. I'll definitely need to go to one of his headlining tours when the timing is right. It's not aways easy to just fly off to the mainland during the work week. While I didn't go shopping much, I did stop by some places I've always thought Hawaii could use: Ikea, Olive Garden, and of course, Trader Joe's. On Sunday we met up with my brother at The Grove, which is a cool collection of stores, restaurants, and a theater (similar to Universal City Walk, but a little more upscale). Right next to The Grove is the historic Farmer's Market; a maze of vendors, various ethnic restaurants, and little shops. Krispy Kreme gives out entire doughnuts as samples when their Hot Doughnuts Now sign is lit. Movie ticket prices are $10 in LA. Gas is even more expensive than here, but varies widely, even within gas stations across the street from each other. LA drivers have got to be the worst. Well, maybe not as bad as the crazies in big cities on the East Coast. I've gained a new-found appreciation for our safe-but-slow Hawaii drivers. Smog sucks. 
Posted at 07:03 PM | Sun - August 7, 2005Bringing the important stuffAmazingly, it's not clothes and
shoes
Wish I could bring Rocky Raccoon. I'm going to miss my kitty-boy. Posted at 11:52 PM | Thu - August 4, 2005Summer vacation coming to an endThank goodness
I know I'm an ingrate, but this was the first
time I felt that my summer vacation was too long. It'll be my last of the long
summer breaks, since all public schools will be on the same modified schedule
next year. In fact, next year's transition will make the summer break of 2006
the shortest one ever (June 8 - July 27). Yeah, I know that's still long for
anyone who doesn't get school-related time off.
Sorry.
So you'd have thunk I'd take advantage of it. But no, I squandered it away. I didn't work out, wasn't too productive, didn't solve any world problems. Just took care of the usual appointments and chores that are easier to do during time off, but pretty much let most of the summer slip through my fingers. I'm actually feeling guilty because I usually work during the summer and take classes, but the couple of classes and work I did from home this summer didn't amount to all that much. Gonna end it on a high note, though. My girlfriend and I will replace our Starbucks Saturday with a "happy hour" at a nearby beach, then I'll fly off for my two Butch Walker concerts in LA. New development tonight: Just found out I might have to find my own way to the concerts. Very sad since I wanted to share the experience, but I'm being pressured to do something I can't do. Someone's bound to regret this... Posted at 09:47 PM | Wed - July 27, 2005Stuff you come across when you clean upPrevious lives
Trips I hardly recall having gone on. People and
places I barely remember. Some I'd rather
forget.
Musty-dusty photo albums dug up while going through my old closet in my parents' house. Threw out nearly all the photos, but did spend more than a few seconds on some for one last time. All were taken during college and after. All represented "significant" people, er, periods in my life. It occurred to me as I started my Butch Walker obsession early this year, that one of those "significants" over 20 years ago had a remarkable resemblance to him, and one photo in particular nearly freaked me out. It's in the trash now, along with the others. Posted at 09:55 PM | Wed - July 13, 2005I need a hobbyfor a few weeks, at
least
School's been out for a month, and I'm bored.
Helped to clear out the computer lab, took a couple of classes, mended/altered
clothes, purged a lot of clutter from this old house, and now, other than
driving myself and others to appointments several times a week, I have no real
schedule to speak of.
I usually go on trips, take more classes, or work at school, but not this summer. I'll try to resume a sorta-kinda workout regimen starting tomorrow, but can't guarantee that I'll stick to it. I have quite a bit of work to do from home, but that's not fun. There are about 3.5 slow weeks 'til things get interesting again (Butch Walker concerts), then school resumes. Any suggestions? PS: I'm very lazy. Posted at 11:02 PM | Thu - July 7, 2005And the day before was such a good day for EnglandLondon bombing kills at least 37, wounds
700
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Coincidence? Much sympathy to those who witnessed the carnage and mourn the loss of loved ones; admiration to those embodying the "Great" in Great Britain and are displaying their strength, resilience, and spirit. Posted at 09:05 PM | Mon - July 4, 2005Celebrate the 4thand remember the sacrifices made so we
can do so
As we celebrate or relax this 4th of July, 2005,
let's take some time to reflect on what the holiday means..and what it meant to
those who made it possible for us. From our founding fathers who made incredible
sacrifices for their beliefs, to those today paying the ultimate price for not
only our freedom, but others', we thank you.
 www.starbulletin.com Posted at 08:12 PM | Thu - June 30, 2005Depends on how you look at itSometimes I get bummed because:
Posted at 11:03 PM | Sun - June 26, 2005I'm conducting a taste testOK. I've been doing this bloggin' thing for
about three months now, yet can't seem to get friends to visit regularly, much
less leave comments so I know they were here. They might do so once out of
obligation, but might not pass through again.
How does one build a semi-loyal readership base that will actually leave comments? Granted, this blog is on my own web space, so hardly anyone stops by accidentally. And, oh yeah, I've been told (by sidster) that my material just isn't that interesting. But do you see him blogging?! That's why I've decided to conduct a taste test. I've had a Blogger blog that I let languish for a few months and tonight refreshed it with posts I have here. While I was doing so I received two comments. It was as if it was invisible 'til I started working on it again today. Perhaps if I leave comments on some of the blogs there that I read regularly, they might return the favor. Gotta admit, despite the title of this blog, "talkin' to myself" can get pretty old and I wouldn't mind hearing from others every once in a while. Let's see how the other site does. Posted at 09:31 PM | Tue - June 21, 2005Travel light and carry an empty suitcasejust for Trader Joe's
goodies
I paid extra to have a box of Trader Joe's
snacks sent back with my luggage, but at today's higher rates, there's no way
I'd do that again. I'll be traveling relatively light when I go to LA in
August, so should have ample space to pack goodies to bring home. One item will
definitely be TJ's new mixed nuts that a teacher shared with us
today.
BTW, my sandwich wasn't stinky, as I feared (see below); at least those I asked sitting near me didn't think so. One even sampled a bit of it and was surprised how tasty it was. Try it: Bale's tofu sandwich, hold the mayo, of course. Posted at 06:58 PM | Mon - June 20, 2005My sandwich is gonna smellDaikon will do that
Pickled radish strips, while healthy and crunchy,
smell to high heaven. I forgot this when I picked up a tofu sandwich (sans
seasoned mayo, of course!), filled w/veggies and lots of
daikon
from a popular Vietnamese/French eatery tonight. I needed something I could
take to my class tomorrow, but hadn't had it in quite some time. I now recall
that when I used to get it before field-trip days, I would remove most of the
radish strips and replace them with lettuce or anything else that was less
pungent.
Because it sure stinks. I'll have to remember to do that tomorrow morning, but just taking it out of the bag to store in the refrigerator tonight almost knocked me over. Hey, the sandwich really does taste good, despite what it might sound like here. I love it; it's a treat for me, but I gotta get around the smell first. Posted at 10:34 PM | People can be quite pleasantDon't know why that should surprise me I could've left and found another cashier with a
shorter line, but I was in no rush. She was a trainee, and it was just kind of,
well, nice, that the man in front of me was making a return and commented that
she would get good practice from it. It did take more than several minutes, and
just about any other time I would've gone to another cashier since the store was
pretty empty and there was no one behind me, but I didn't mind waiting
tonight.
Everyone was in a good mood, and the guy looked at my items laid out on the converter belt and said, "Maybe I should join you tonight" because I had several bottles of wine lying there. (Not at all in a flirtatious way, mind you.) He apologized for the delay and asked if it was making me tired because I was yawning, but I told him that it was allowing me to catch up on my sleep, and honestly, I didn't feel like moving. The trainee was learning what she needed to learn, no one was impatient, and it was all good. When his transaction was finally completed he thanked her, then turned to thank me and tell me good night. But the best part was when he had said earlier, "Sorry to to keep the young lady waiting" --meaning me. Hah. Posted at 08:52 PM | Tue - June 14, 2005International Weblogger's DayI'd be remiss if I didn't
participate
While the rest of the world has moved on to the
day-after International Blogger's Day, here in Hawaii I still have couple of
hours. [Thanks to Willy for alerting me to this
event!]
June 14th is the day webloggers around the world "celebrate a year's worth of changing the way the Internet sees personal journalism." Participants were asked to tell why they started blogging, whether they thought bloggers had a lot of power (and how it could be harnessed), and why they thought weblogging has become so popular. Some blogs have changed the way news is disseminated, and others have made huge impacts regarding political agendas. Then there are blogs like mine that just kind of ramble on about stuff that pop into my non-political, non-news-impacted head, but hey, it's fun. If I can talk to myself online, anyone can. The question is: why would anyone choose to? Depending on your circle of readers, I believe serious bloggers with the right (and most popular) followings can make some sort of difference...and have. There's definitely power in numbers. But why do the rest of us do it? Because we CAN. The playing field has been leveled. It feeds egos and immortalizes our words. Ahh, more satisfactory than scribbling into the litttle diary kept hidden under the bed. Posted at 09:47 PM | Sat - June 11, 2005Spell-check, for God's Sake!Guess I'm a Grammar Police
wannabe
Yeah, I've been known to make helpful corrections
on signs that are incorrectly written in grocery and other stores. Spelling,
grammar, and other errors on publicly-viewed documents and signage just irks me,
sorry. (One of my favorite books is the hilarious #1 British bestseller
entitled Eats,
Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to
Punctuation!)
The internet is as publicly-viewed you can get, so why the heck don't people put in a little more effort into reviewing what they're posting before clicking on the submit button? Take those online friends and dating sites, for example. Do some people even know (or care) that the pages they created to advertise themselves are riddled with errors? I mean, what kind of impression does that give others? Yeah, you're probably thinking that the guys who go to those pages don't bother to read so don't ever see the errors, which is very true, and leads me to a related annoyance: Guys just reply to pages if they like the pictures. It's so obvious that they don't read, since even I get messages from guys even though I say all over my page that I won't be replying to anyone. (I'm just there for Butch pics and news.) But the another thing that bothers me (ok, I'm easily annoyed) is people who don't post recent pictures on those sites. I personally know people who try to pass off photos that are 20+ years old. ohmygawd. Like the 80s look won't be noticeable. Be honest, dammit. It'll catch up with you, anyway. You know what I think those people oughtta do: blog. Interesting phenomenon, but the more you blog, the more honest and open you get. Just gotta be careful not to say anything you might regret tomorrow. ====================== EDIT 6/13: And I did regret putting this entry up, so changed it to protect the innocent (and spelling/grammar impaired). Posted at 09:42 PM | Wed - June 8, 2005Doesn't anyone say "there're" anymore???Biggest pet peeve
Forgive the expletives, but this annoys me to no
end.
WTF is up with "there's" (as in "there is") when it should be "there're" (as in "there are")?? Forget I'm a school teacher, I just wonder when the rules changed! "Is" is the singular form of "be", and "are" is the plural, but that doesn't seem to matter anymore. Maybe it's because the contraction for "there are" is awkward to pronounce. Would that be enough reason for a wide-spread grammatical infraction? I see "there's" used improperly in the newspaper, hear it ALL over, and wonder sometimes if I'm the only person who would say "There're a lot of idiots" instead of "There's a lot of idiots". I mean, those who would say the latter wouldn't really mean to say "There is a lot of idiots", would they? Unless they're, uh, idiots... It's so widely misused, I bet I'll be seeing it in a dictionary soon, dammit. Posted at 11:17 PM | Stress Relieverduh
It's been nuts at school, what with the impending
renovations, one of our servers going on the blink, and general end-of-school
insanity. So what to do to relieve
stress?
Go shoe shopping!! I was running late for an appointment after school this afternoon so put five (I think) pairs on hold, but will go back tomorrow with my Nordstrom gift certificate and buy probably all of them. Today was the first day of their big sale, but only two of those on hold are discounted. The others are more what I've been looking for, and even tho they're more than I ever pay for shoes, hey, I think I deserve them. Plus, what else do I spend my money on?? The occasional concert? I rarely travel anymore now that I have Rocky Raccoon; and now that's he's healthy, he's low-maintenance, so what the heck. My (purty as hell) car was paid for in cash, so what's a few hundred for a buncha shoes? Do I sound like I'm fishin' for some sort of justification? Posted at 09:46 PM | |
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