Hmm...well, today was a totally draining day at work. I am totally sleepy. But then again, I'm sleepy all the time! Sam gave me this ancient Thai secret energy elixir, but it only lasted for a couple minutes. The urge to sleep is just way to strong! Well, I DID face my demons head on, and we'll see what the outcome of meeting those demons are tomorrow!

Book I'm reading: Endymion - by Dan Simmons: A pretty good book. The only reason I'm reading it is because it's the 3rd book in a 4 book series. The first 2 books were pretty kick ass - Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. I highly suggest readong those too. I haven't really gotten into this one, but I'll keep you all updated. Basically the series is based in the far future, after the earth has been destroyed and humankind had colonized other planets. Lotsa stuff happens. I'm not good with paraphrasing, but the story is good.

horoscope:
Dear Christine,
Expect to be in a provocative mood today, Christine. For the past few days, you may have been searching for an outlet for the overflow of energy you're so lucky to have. You'll have an opportunity today, as innovative projects are likely to come your way. If you face your demons head-on, you'll find a unique opportunity to rid yourself of the taboos or fears you've been carrying around for so long.

Provocative, eh? Hmmm...if you call the overflow of energy falling asleep at work, well, I've got tons of it! But this IS an interesting horoscope. I'll keep you updated as to opportunities might be coming my way!

Dan is cruel. He took away my Apolo picture from my desk because he deemed me not worthy of his presence, and gave it Sammy. Bless Sam's heart, he returned it to me.

Re: Friday, April 26 2002

Interview went okay, could've been better, but not too shabby considering it was my first one. And the questions you helped create answers for weren't asked, so really it was all me. So no, if I get in, you still didn't get in.

Re: Monday, April 29 2002

That's what you get for staying up all night.

Wow, "Love and Affection" by Nelson? I love that song as much as the next gal, but I wouldn't consider it top 10 material.

In honor of the 'Monsters of Rock' CD that I listened to during my hellish one hour commute to work (traffic was AWFUL!) I present to you this week's list:
Top Ten Heavy Metal Songs

Made some changes to my site. Added new pictures from the last month, and moved my blog to the new page and took out the 'musings' page.

Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
There's no point trying to make sense of today, Christine. Much of what happens occurs on an unconscious level, and defies any rational explanation. You may have had a dream last night that is worthy of professional interpretation. If you can bear turning off your intellect, this could be a very profitable day for you.

Here's my recount of my Apolo Anton Ohno experience from yesterday.

I came, I saw, I wimped out.

So I had to pick up my friend, and we were running a little late, so we got to the shopping center about 1/2 an hour later than I wanted to. The line was ENORMOUS! Dang! The security was telling us at my end of the line that chances were, we wouldn't be getting an autograph or picture, but it was up to us if we wanted to stay. So then we stayed. When he came (we couldn't see him from our vantage point) all the girls started screaming. I went out of line (my friend held our place) and went up to where he was signing autographs to take some pictures. There were tons of people up there trying to take pictures, too. I got a couple pretty good ones. But I really didn't like the shirt he was wearing!

Finally, we got up to where Apolo was going to be and they announced that Apolo would just be handing out pictures of himself. So I thought 'Well, i'll just take a pic of him when I get up there'. But when I actually got up there, the guy was like, sorry, no pictures, and I got all flustered and walked up to him, watched his hand pick up his picture and hand it to me, and I turned around and walked away. I don't even think I made eye contact! Dammit! Didn't even say thank you! I was really out of my element. I'm supposed to be good at this! I'm supposed to say something smart and witty! But I just blanked out. I hardly remember anything. I'm such a loser! But my friends insist that he totally did a double take and watched me walk away. But I'm thinking he was thinking 'What's up with the zombie?'

And when he was leaving, my friend Tina actually intercepted him, grabbed his arm, and said to him 'MissYano says HI'. Yeah, like he knows...what sort of cryptic message is that? The funniest thing is she said that his security guys were totally all over her, saying 'Don't touch him!' She's crazy.

So that's my anticlimactic Apolo experience. I'm a loser.

But really, as I watched him (I took some breaks from the line) I could tell that he was really shy. He was giggling, laughing and blushing the whole time he was up there. They guy is as cute as a button and he was a lot of fun to watch.

So I would definitely love to meet him again and maybe actually say more than two words!

No worries, Dave, you're still my number 1. =P

Dear Christine,
Things may happen right beneath the tip of your nose today, Christine, and you may not even be aware of it. The thing that will be quite obvious, however, is your reaction to the situation when this hidden event is suddenly disclosed to yourself as well as everyone around. A passionate explosion is likely, due to people's heightened emotional state. Try to work with this energy instead of against it.
Ohh...waiting for that to happen...Emotions running high? Well, we'll see...Hmm, it might have happened already, but we'll see how I handle the situation. Of course, I will always work with energy instead of against it.

Just want to give a GOOD LUCK to Claudine who has an interview for medical school today. I quizzed her on her interview questions, and all her answers were created by me, so if she makes it in, that means I made it into med school. Because it's all about me, baby!

Yesterday was my 5 year anniversary with Dave, can you believe that? Almost a fifth of my life! But it sucked because I was on a plane all day, and he's in New Jersey. Long distance sucks!

Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
Are you feeling somewhat annoyed today, dear Gemini? This is hardly surprising, since the day inspires you to take a long hard look at what is happening with your life right now. It's as though you suddenly realize that any decisions you make may have impact that reaches far and wide. But don't let that stop you from committing yourself to a course of action, Christine. Be adventurous for once.

Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
The possibility of taking a trip by air could present itself to you today. The trip might be one made in the company of friends, or with a group with whom you've been affiliated. If you've been working on projects connected with education or publishing, Christine, this is definitely the day to advance them forward. Books, TV and the Internet could bring interesting and valuable information your way. This promises to be a busy and stimulating day
Weird. Coming home from Portland today. 7 hours in a plane. Lotsa time.

i like this time zone. i can stay up and play, and i don't have to work until 8am, which is 10am CST. AWESOME!

Oh, the bitterness shows sister! It shows!

I'm in Portland right now, in my downtown hotel room along the river. It's pretty nice here and there are people canoeing along the river. Not bad, Portland, not bad!

Alrighty then... allow me to defend myself. I was just letting her know that she'd misspelled a few things. How was I to know if she was going to go over it? Not like I took over the keyboard or anything. Sheesh.

And about that spelling bee, let's not forget that Christine had that word sitting in front of her in her vocabulary book the whole time, never mentioning it to me once. I could only have gone on to the city spelling bee, maybe state, maybe nationals, won some money, but nooooo. My spelling career ended right there. But I'm not bitter. =P

Ohh...I've given the power to blog to Claudine and Fatima...my sisters. Things should start to get pretty interesting. That's ok, though, because I have the power to EDIT anything that's too mean or embarrassing!

I'm at work. On a Sunday. How's that for dedication!
Well, I'll be going to the exciting city of Portland tomorrow, and I need to take of stuff before I'm out of the office for 3 days. Sucks to be me sometimes!

the hell is blogger? you're too funny sisterfriend...laters!

And special thanks to Claudine, for being just as anal as Dan her man. A perfect match these anal people are. Perfect.

Just cuz she was in the regional spelling bee in 8th grade, Miss Thing thinks that I can't go over what I'm typing AFTER I'm done typing. Next time you see her, ask her how to spell 'piquancy'.

Love you sister!

How come no one told me that my guestbook isn't working? Well, no matter, it's working now.

Anyway, thanks to the folks at Rusty-Smith.com for posting up my web site address because I'm getting tons of people from there. A great skater, a great site. That's my little ad. Oh, and let's throw in a little picture of that Rusty guy. Oh yeah!

Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
Perhaps you should suspend your inhibitions for the day, Christine, and allow your dreams to guide you. For instance, you might imagine that the need to make any kind of choices has vanished. Or you might grant yourself a vacation from daily chores. It would certainly be a relief. And who knows? You might magically conjure up some reality from the stuff of your dreams...
Ask Claudine, EVERY day is a vacation from daily chores for me! =P

What am I doing up so late? I dunno! Damn my weird sleeping patter!

drinking bad. drinking veeeeeeeeerrrrryyyyyyy bad.

Chipotle has finally come up with the wrapless burrito. Burrito in a bowl, I like to call it. Damn tasty that carnitas is! My belly rejoices! It's so happy, it would like to create a haiku for you:
Burrito in bowl
Guacamole on the side
Hand me a fork please!

Dear Christine,
A little romantic time with your special someone may be in order today, Christine. With the day to day chaos of working and living it can be tough to get some quality time alone. If you don't make specific plans, it can be months before this happens. Take the situation into hand and make those plans. If you're single, consider making arrangements for a date or for spending time with a friend.
Hmm...well, with Dave in NJ, that would be a pretty tough order. We'll see what happens...Going to Cafe Iberico tonight for some tapas and sangria. Lots of sangria. And dammit, I need it!

A little late, but here's today's horoscope:
Dear Christine,
Expect an added boost in your popularity today, Christine. One active way to put this to use is to utilize your position to bring about good change. For example, perhaps you and many of your coworkers feel that the workplace needs to put a new program in place such as benefits or a social club. You would be a good choice to present this to the executive decision-makers. Even if this has been started before, use your popularity to get a petition going or to find creative ways to make an organized group more effective.
Well, a little late for that, eh? Well, they're really cracking down on internet use in the office, so I don't know if I'll be able to blog during the day. I'll find a way!
Ohh...Enrique Iglesias is on TV. He's good looking, but I don't think he does that well live. He's lucky his song is a catchy tune. I like to jump up and down to it. Hop. Hop. Hop. What's up with his hair?

Since I was in Orlando last weekend, I thought of a Disney-themed list this week:
Top Ten Disney Animated Movies

Today's Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
Today you might find yourself toying with the idea of publishing, exhibiting or otherwise making public whatever creative innovations you may have been working on, Christine. Spiritual information could come your way from far away, perhaps through friends, or a group with which you're affiliated. Inspiration of all kinds could be popping in and out of your head all day today, so it might be best to write down your thoughts to not forget them.
Back at work today. Already bogged down with things to do. Yay fun!

Well, I'm back in Chicago now. I went about 3 hours today standing. Didn't feel as bad because when you no longer have feeling in your feet it doesn't hurt anymore. =P Anyway, I guess the show was pretty successful, and we got a lot of leads, so hopefully we sell a lot of HelpDesk and make lots of money and I get a $200,000 raise. Uh, yeah, right. But I guess the next show is in Sand Diego, which should be pretty fun...I'll train every day so I can stand a full 24 hours without feeling pain.

I have not sat down yet. My feet are no longer functioning. Ouch. And now my keepboard function key is stuck. I think I may have dropped some food in there. Ouch. And I'm hungry!

It's 3 o'clock, and I may be losing my voice. There is lull right now, but I can't leave my booth. And I can't sit down. My feet hurt!

My mouth is really, really dry right now. I've talked for an hour straight. Cottonmouth!

I'm still in Orlando, I'll be here until Tuesday. So if you're sending me emails and I'm not writing back, you know why. Luckily, my best friend lives here, so I'll be able to spend a little time with her. We went to see La Nouba, Cirque du Soleil's show in Orlando (or, as my waiter at the Gaylord Palms said 'Circus do Solayl). It was a great time, but then again, I highly suggest that you go out and see a Cirque du Soleil show...it's an awesome blend of theatre, artistry, music and athleticism. Now, it's all about the standing around and selling the product today. And standing some more. And smiling. And talking talking talking!

I'm in Orlando today, at the HDI Conference & Expo. I have to do a presentation for our product, and I'm a little nervous, but hopefully I'll be OK. We went out to Epcot and did an 'around the world' yesterday. I'm hurtin'! But it was a fun time! OK...gotta go...

Thanks to Dan from REDPAC.COM for pointing out that yes, the title of Dee-Lite's album is not Groove is in the Heart, but it's actually World Clique. It nas been noted, and I thank you for being ANAL. Check out his site. He's a perv. And vote to hate pledge Jones. He likes beating the elderly.

Today's Horoscope:
Dear Christine,
The last few weeks have a little too serious for your taste. But, Christine, this is good for you every once and while. You may have a tendency to want to play, which sometimes prevents you from getting your work done. Take today to try and get your daily life organized so that you can have time to take care of your responsibilities and have a little fun.

Hmmm...I'm heading out to Orlando this weekend, so I don't know if I'll be able to post while I'm out there...and as for my horoscope, HELL YEAH I'M GONNA HAVE FUN TODAY! I'm going to Disneyworld! =P Today it's all about the 'around the world' at Epcot center, if you don't know what it is, well, just imagine sampling the finest offerings at each of the coutries at Epcot until you drop. Yeah, that's the plan!

today's horoscope:
Dear Christine,
You'll have to expect a few disturbances in the harmony which has reigned in the past few days, Christine. For example, your needs may not match those of your mate or your close friends, or, you may feel restless. Minor worries about the future may intrude on people's good moods. In short, this will not be a good day to look to emotional harmony as a source of satisfaction.
hmm...don't feel any disharmony except for customers whining at me to fix their stuff...and i had ice cream today, too! :)

Today's horoscope:
Dear Christine,
The mood may be somewhat oppressive today, dear Christine. After having met the challenges of the past several days, today you find yourself in need of some well-deserved peace and quiet! Alas, the authorities are unwilling to give it to you. You can expect to be flushed from that quiet corner of yours and unceremoniously deposited at your desk. Work, it seems, will not wait until you've had a nap. You may feel like running away. Instead, why not start planning an exotic vacation?
Maybe a trip to the wonderfully exotic Vancouver? What is there to do in vancouver anyway? This seems pretty true sitting here at my desk at 3pm. It's been not stop work and I just want to nap! Luckily, I've eaten half a pound of nerds, so I'm getting a sugar rush....WHEEEE!!!

No bubbletea yesterday. Ate too much food beforehand. Belly too full. Anyway, found a cool site. If you like the Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey news team on SNL, FallonFey.com is for you!

I'm sitting here wasting time waiting to go to Chinatown for bubble tea. Yummy bubble tea. Yum.

Top 10 Albums I Can Listen to Over and Over Without Getting Sick Of It

Wow! There's a link to my page at www.Rusty-Smith.com. Rusty is a short track speed skater, who won a bronze medal at the 2002 Olympic games (and who is also VERY cute). For those of you that don't know what short track skating is, it's a much more energetic little brother of long track speedskating, made popular by Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair. There was a lot publicity for the sport surrounding the controversial (yet also very cute) Apolo Anton Ohno. Think of it as the X-Games version of long track speed skating. 4 or 5 people skating at 35mph on one millimeter blades. There's falls. People hit the boards really hard. Sometimes there's blood. First one to the finish line wins. Unless you're disqualified. It's a lot of fast paced action. Really great to watch. It'll be on ABC on the 13th, check it out!

Made some more changes to the page. Didn't realize that I lost my Geocities account that I've been using for Alien Hippo Design, so I'll have to find another home for the Hippo. Right now you'll just go to an ambiguous 'under contruction' link. I've also added more pictures, and fixed some links in the main menu. Tonight's project, clean up the art page.

Had a pretty good weekend. Had my fill of Filipino-American culture. Friday, I saw this kick ass Filipino comedian, Rex Navarette. I've seen him a couple times, and he just gets funnier and funnier. Saturday went to a couple birthday parties and ate so much food I went into a food coma for a couple hours. Food is good! On Friday, me and my sister took our parents out to see The Debut, which is a great movie. It had a lot of pretty typical Filipino-American issues, like relations between the generations, Filipino food ('this chocolate meat is great!) but it managed to be very entertaining in the process.

Yay! It's Friday! Work has been really tough this week, but I'm hanging in there! So far there's been some pretty positive response from the 3 people I've talked to. I've changed the Pictures page to be a little more user friendly, because y'all know that I'm a friendly gal.

Just when I called you all bastards for not signing my book, Princess Lea comes along and signs it. Thanks so much! I am loved!

Fixed up some links on the pages and added pretty purple boxes here and there. The art page has some good comic book listings in there. You can now sign the guestbook, I hope, but it's not like anyone's signing it anyway. You slimey bastards. I know you're out there. Just kidding. Work sucked today. Must go home to watch Survivor. And Friends. At the same time.

Went to a Chicago Wolves hockey game yesterday. I was SO close to catching a T-Shirt. To make it worse, we lost in overtime. Oh well. The hot dogs were good.

i had my first hamburger since giving up red meat for Lent. Mmm Mmm, red meat, so good. Mmm Mmm.

Here's my first top 10 list entry, for the week of 03.31.02:

My Top Ten Websites

Queue 2001: A Space Odyssey music here...
Welcome to my new musings page, where I get to babble on and on about anything and everything I want. (and I will) Still getting rid of a couple kinks here and there, but everything should be stable for now. I'll try to post here as much as I can (because I know you all care what I think) because in my last musings page I only posted about twice a year.
Anyway, I've started the makeover of my homepage, and I'm really liking it. It's looking good, and hopefully it's a little easier to maneuver around. Not that I got any complaints last time. But here is my new page. Here is my new blog. Welcome to my world!