Conversation in the car today, as Britney Spears' "Toxic" came on the radio.

Me: I hate to say it, but this song is catchy.
Dave: Yeah.
Me: But I'm so sick of Britney.
Dave: You have to admit, she's hot!
Me: Yeah, but too bad she's dumb.
Dave: If I met her, and she wanted to sleep with me, and I did, would you be upset?
Me: Um, DUH! Yeah I'd be upset! She's so dirty!
Dave: Oh. Well, what if I hooked up with Jessica Alba? Would you be upset?
Me: Yeah, if you didn't call me to share!
Dave: Whoo hoo! Good answer! Good answer!

I was talking to Noelle yesterday, who was concerned that I was leaving today for Hawaii and would miss the Oscars. I assured her that no, I'm leaving tomorrow, and that I have already scheduled TV time with Dave to watch the Oscars. The phrase 'Charlize Theron will probably be wearing something sexy.' won him over.

So I was thinking of having a chat during the Oscars, where we could all get together and talk about the show, the nominess, the winners and losers, all while it happens on TV. Sure, it's kinda geeky to do, but yanoyouwannadoit. *wink* We can even do fashion police during the red carpet action.

So tonight I'll be in an AIM chat room, called 'Yano Oscar Party'. If you don't know how to get in an AIM chat room, just IM me at missyano during the show and I'll send you an invite.

Hope to see you all there!

In honor of my honeymoon in Maui, I've changed my layout for my vacation. I know, I know, your heads must be spinning from all of the website changes. But change is good! Don't be scared of it!

Thought this layout would be fun and a nice change of pace. Nice, bright, and just a little racy. I probably won't update this while I'm gone, but, you know me, it just could happen. One thing I do know is that I'll be taking TONS of pictures.

There's a lot of packing to do, and a lot of work things to take care of before I go. I don't want to get any phone calls while I'm away!!!

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Hollywood:: Star
2. Censor:: Prohibit
3. Nascar:: Racer
4. Lube:: Job
5. Mortgage::Payment
6. Freedom:: Fighter
7. Champion:: Ice
8. Reality TV:: Survivor
9. New York:: City
10. Tease:: Seduce

Went snowboarding with Dave today. I'm getting tons better and I'm actually starting to carve pretty good. Only had a couple bad falls, most of my other ones were to avoid people. And there were a LOT of people there. I guess everyone else got excited about all the rainfall in SoCal - that means snow in the mountains. It was so busy there, we had to park way down the street - all the parking lots were full.

In the shuttle to the mountain, I was sitting with this family. The kids were so cute, because they were looking out the window and they were so excited. I was talking to their aunt, and she told me that they had never seen snow before. The kids started asking if they could have a snowball fight, if they could build a snowman or make snow angels. I could see years of repressed Christmas movies going through their minds. It was the cutest thing ever!

Got this from Noelle who got it from Joanna...

You're One Hundred Years of Solitude!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely and struggling, you've been around for a very long time. Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Never read the book, but I'm going to pick it up since I need books to read on the beach!

Just wanted to share one of my favorite pictures from Napa with you:

As you may know, it's been raining cats and dogs here in Northern California. Yesterday, the rain was sporadic, and as we were driving around, I saw the very end part of a rainbow, right before it faded away. But it started raining again, and the rainbow came back. But then blue skies came back, and the rainbow would disappear. This little sky dance would happen on and off during our drive, and I got this great picture of the rainbow over one of the vineyards we passed.

Had dinner yesterday with the VP and our client. We went to Yountville, which is a really quaint and cool town. Our waiter was the funniest guy ever. He had a line and comeback for everything. We were laughing the whole time. And that bottle of wine that I drank definitely had something to do with that, too!

Got back to my room, watched some Friends and Survivor (Colby has become a liar!) then zonked out and didn't wake til 4am. Oh that Napa wine!!!

Going home tonight!!! Yay!

My fellow short track hussies are on their way (if not there already) to Cleveland to watch the US Championships. Just wanted to wish them lots of fun and a safe journey.

So who's not going?

I could be sad about it, but when you have a snowboarding trip coming up (Saturday) and a honeymoon in Maui next week, well, I can't really complain.

That, and those star skinsuits are pretty ugly. Echh.

Only Cubs fans can think up of something like this:

'Cursed' Foul Ball to Be Blown Up on TV

""That ball's gotta go," said DePorter, managing partner of the restaurant group, which organized the event as part of its annual tribute to Caray, the beloved Cubs broadcaster who died six years ago Thursday. "It's like the ring from 'The Lord of the Rings' and we're kind of like Frodo, trying to get it over with.""

I would watch if I could. Can someone tape it for me?

As it blows up, I shall make the sign of the cross, turn around 3 times and spit on the ground, just for good measure.

Theme Thursday: Unfinished

A Few More Snips Left - Seattle, WA: May 2003

FotoFeelings: Busy

Mace Windu Gets Busy: Chicago Comic Convention, August 2003

I know it's a day late, but here's this week's

Phototime Tuesday: Green

South Michigan Ave in Green: Chicago, IL - March 2003

I guess today is just one of those days...

One of those days when you just need a comforting word or just a little piece of home, because it feels like so long since you've been gone, and it never comes. One of those days when you just feel the weight of the world on your shoulders and you don't know if you can carry it anymore. When old ghosts come to haunt you no matter how much you try to rise above them, to forget them, you can't get away. You try to turn your life around, but you realize that you can never get away from the past. When you feel so alone...

Sometimes I feel like I work so hard to give my life some sort of normalcy, to be true to myself, yet become the person that I want to be. But for every step forward, there's always that chance of falling back again.

I just want to be happy. Isn't that what everyone wants? And I am happy, for the most part, I've got a great husband, live in a nice area, do fun things, but there's a part of me that's off. I don't know any other way to describe it.

Sometimes I just don't know how to be happy. I try so hard to build up a world around me, to feel safe, to be the way I want it to be. But it's all glass, and it's so fragile. I'm afraid of it all falling down.

I guess I'm just really tired today. And maybe just homesick. I just feel sad, so so sad.

I'm tired of traveling. I'm tired of being sleepless at night. I'm tired of feeling like I'm swimming upstream.

Most of all, I'm tired of missing my mom. Life is so hard knowing that she's not around. Even though I'm surrounded by people, sometimes I feel so alone. I love my life now, but I miss the way my life used to be. I'm just not the same anymore. I feel like I'm destroying everything around me...

Sorry for the rant.

It can't be happy in Christineland all the time.

Can't write for long. Gotta finish before the big VP comes back in.

Tonight, I feast on steak and wine, celebrating Mardi Gras to the fullest.

Tomorrow, no more red meat or pop for 40 days and 40 nights. Wish me luck!

Since I'm traveling...I thought this would be a good one for this week...

Ten Places You Want to Visit

1. Maui
2. Athens
3. Rome
4. Fatima, Portugal
5. Colorado Springs :-P
6. Alaska
7. Brazil, preferably by Irio and Trully's
8. Sydney
9. The Great Wall of China
10. Tokyo

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Well, the VP didn't bring enough socks, so it gave us a good excuse to hit the local outlet mall after a hard day at work. I had fully intended to buy some clothes for Maui, but ended up just buying a lot of cute t-shirts and a sweatshirt. And some imported food. But since it's outlet prices, I only spent half as much as I would have regular price! I feel like I haven't gone shopping in the longest time!

I also met up with Stephani who doesn't live too far away. After driving around aimlessly for a while, stopping by a Starbucks that closes way too early, we settled down at a late night Denny's type place whose name I can't recall. We hung out for a while, I checked out her pics from SLC and Marquette, which brought back a lot of memories, and we gossiped as only ST fans can. But we also talked about politics, Academy Award prospects and life in general. It was pretty cool. It's always nice to know someone in an unfamiliar place.

So now I'm starting my second shift. I'll work for a couple hours, but I'm kinda pooped, so maybe I'll turn in early today...

Got this from Mike's site:

Hmm...this is pretty true, I guess. I'm always teetering between being outgoing and being really shy, which is why the extrovert/introvert is so close. And yeah, I'm a slob, which accounts for my disorderly score. I'm an emotional marshmallow, so yeah, I'm not surprised with the high emotional score, either. Anyone else wanna take this?

To think, last week I was in a Comfort Inn in O'Fallon, Missouri, and this week I'm in a snazzy Hotel and Spa in Napa, California.

What's the difference?

This week I'm with the VP of the company. So she gets to stay at the nice places, and where she stays, I stay, too. I even get to be on the concierge level.

I haven't seen her in a while, and we've had a very up and down relationship over the past several years. Sometimes I'm on her good list, sometimes I'm on her bad. Looks like this week I'm on her good list. We were in the car driving to Napa for about an hour, and we had a pretty interesting talk, about work, people at work, the industry, etc. She also asked me about how my family was doing, and how I was doing, which was really nice. I know when she hired Fatima, she had a long talk with her about our mom, too. My VP had also lost her mother to cancer, she knows what I'm going through. It was nice to talk to someone who has been through what I've been through, and she was pretty frank with the range of emotions that she went through, and she told me that even though her mother had passed long ago, not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her, and to this day she still get angry that her mother is gone. I kinda figured that that's the way it's going to be from now on....but it's good to know that I'm not the only one.

Yesterday I helped a friend film a movie. It's been a while since I've done anything with acting, and I was pretty out of it. But it could also be because I was a little frustrated because I was told to be at the location at 10, so I woke up early because the drive was about an hour. Then after waking up and getting ready, I got a message that the time was pushed to 11. Those of you who know how much I love sleeping in on the weekends will know that this didn't make me happy. Then I got to the location, and no one was there yet. The owner of the house just let me watch TV while I waited. At around 11:30 my friend came with another person in his group, but we couldn't get any filming done til one of the other group members came, which ended up being around 12:30-1:00.

I don't mind helping out my friend. But I think I was just upset that I came on time, and we didn't get work started til hours later. Because of this, I stayed there til about 9pm. True, part of it was my fault because I couldn't get my lines right, but considering that I got the script the day of, I did what I could. I've never been one to have a good short term memory especially when it's a long chunk of speech. My weekends are really precious to me, especially weekends where Dave isn't on call. He may as well have been on call because by the time I got home he was tired, and today I had to leave to go to Oakland.

But I did have fun, which made up for it. I'm a little apprehensive as to how I'm going to look and sound, because seeing myself on film always makes me cringe. I'm really excited to see what the finished product is going to look like since we did a lot of green screen stuff. We'll see how that goes!

So tomorrow, I actually have no idea what I'm going to be doing, which is typical on trips with the VP. I think I could be teaching a class tomorrow. Or maybe installing the product. We talked about it in the car, but she wasn't clear and I didn't want to sound like I had no idea what's going on.

I'll just let myself be surprised tomorrow...

Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Angel:: Dust
2. Birth:: Day
3. Logic:: Reason
4. Stars:: Circus
5. Nursery:: Rhyme
6. View:: Top
7. Hart:: Rabbit
8. Creation:: Story
9. End:: The
10. Fortune:: Wheel

There's nothing like watching a movie filmed in your home town to bring back memories of people, places and things.

Tonight, we're watching 'Saved the Last Dance', which Dave has never seen before. It was filmed in Chicago, and the club scenes were filmed at Crobar, a place that we went to many a time. Coincidentally, we were going to go there one night but discovered it was closed, and later found out they were filming the movie there.

Anyway, it's the club scene, and I reminded Dave that the movie was filmed in Crobar. We're doing a lot of comparisons, like how Crobar is usually way more packed, and that it's awfully bright for a club. There's one part where Faith Evans' 'Love Like This' comes on, and it just makes me want to dance. And the reaction that the song gets on screen is the same reaction it would get in a club. But not Crobar - I don't think they'd ever play it in Crobar! But it reminds me a lot of when we used to be club kids. Then they follow the main characters around the bar area. Dave exclaims, 'Hey! I threw up there! That's where I threw up!'

Oh yes, sweet memories indeed.

Heard in a conference call today:

Pres: So next week we need to work on this [this project we've been working on] and get it done. We need to test it and make sure the data works, and you need to work on the script of what I'm supposed to do in the demo.

Me: Well, you know I'm not going to be here next week, right?

Pres: What?

Me: I'm out next week.

Pres: (joking) What, did you get married or something?

Me: Well, yeah, I did, but the honeymoon is the WEEK after next week. Next week F---- scheduled me to be in San Francisco.

Pres: All week?

Me: Yup.

Pres: But you have nights free to work on this stuff, right?

Me: Uh...yeah, I guess so.

Pres: Yeah, this is stuff that you can just do when you get back to your room.

Co-Worker: Yeah, Christine, the 6pm to 2am time frame is open!

Me: I guess I'll take the second shift.

Pres: Good. We'll work on it next week.

Hmpf!!!

Back from St. Louis. Or O'Fallon, if you will.

LA/LB is really starting to feel like home to me. Nothing feels better than getting in your car from a long trip, driving on the highway and heading home. Seeing familiar landmarks, billboards, and finally your exit. It's the nicest feeling of contentedness and relief.

It's the greatest feeling when I'm home home - that is, my house in Chicago. Coming into the house, having Ewok run up to me and run around in circles and smelling my dad's cooking, throwing my stuff down and just chilling in my room. I think I'm getting a little homesick!

But nothing beats the happiness I felt when I would return back to Urbana for college after summer or winter break. Driving down I-57, finally getting to 74 and taking the Lincoln St. exit. Just a mile down, and it was Green St. Turn to the left, and it's Urbana, turn to the right, and you're on your way to the quad. I would always be overjoyed to be at the place where I belonged, where my friends were my family away from home. I think that's why I went back so many times, just to get that feeling again, though the more I went back, the more I felt like an old lady.

I miss it a lot, but it's a time I can only visit in memories now...there's really nothing left there for me... :( Well....maybe I'll go back again...I'm sure Dave wants to drive there for some football games and basketball games next season!

Denise has noticed (and so have a lot of people) that when scrolling through the page, sometimes the text disappears, but when you highlight it, it comes back. I know what is causing the problem and I can fix it easily, but I don't like the fix.

Basically, the CSS for the div tag for this box has specified a line-height of 120%. Once I take out that line-height, everything is ok, but the paragraph lines are spaced too far apart.

How can I get around this? Anyone know?

Also, please tell me if this is happening to you right now. :)

Man, so I talked about something that's going my way, then BAM! I jinx myself.

I said the traffic in St. Louis wasn't bad. Then this morning, it takes me twice as long to drive to my client site. What starts roadwork construction on a Wednesday?

Then I said that they weren't hanging over my shoulder while I worked, and today, they were over all the time, asking questions, watching, offering me food...But they're still a nice bunch, and they were really excited to have someone in the office who has some idea of what's going on and who can answer their questions, I guess they just got excited.

But today wasn't a bad day. It definitely had potential for it, but it was OK.

I worked pretty hard today, because I got distracted a lot when the clients came over to ask questions or for help. Since this whole trip was made last minute, I didn't have a written statement of work of the things I was contracted to do out there. It was more assumed what work I was giong to do there, which I HATE doing, because there's always a discrepancy.

Anyway, I was a bit behind all day, since I was also doing little extra things for the client. I'm a sucker that way. If I like a client, I do little things to make things a little easier for them, but then I get behind.

I was talking to my client and he asked me if I was going to set up online evaluations for them, and I said it wasn't in the scope of what I was supposed to do there, but I'd try to fit it in at the end (knowing full well that I was behind already). He also wanted another customization done, and I said that I would talk to our developers about it. I did, and the developer had talked to our pres and he said it couldn't be done in the near future. So I relayed that to our customer in nicer words. He said he'd call his main contact at the office to see if he could expedite it, and I said sure.

So then our salesperson calls me, and she tells me she talked to the pres and he's really upset with me because I told the client I wasn't going to do the evaluations. He wanted me to call him ASAP. So I call him, and he's grumpy and he says, 'Why can't you do the evals? Didn't we discuss this?' I have no idea...I've been so busy with work things that maybe we had, but I didn't think I had to do them during this trip. So he tells me I have to manage my time. He tells me I have to do the evals and he can't believe that I forgot about them. Then he starts drilling me with questions about the evals. I told them that I KNOW I was contracted to do one project, and I didn't want to start the evals til the other project was done. He asked what was so hard about it...I'd done them many other times. Then I explained to him that I'd have to do a lot more work since this client was so customized. The more questions he asked, the better my answers were, til he finally said, 'You know what? Now that we're talking about this, I realize that I never talked it over with you. I guess you WEREN'T supposed to do the evals. That's my fault.'

Wow.

I wish I had a tape recorder to get that one. An apology? From the pres? Amazing!!!

Maybe my day wasn't so jinxed after all...

(just watch, tomorrow I get chewed out by the pres for real!)

Theme Thursday: Orange

Lift-off Sunset - Buffalo, NY: Feb 2003

You know, you'd think someone who coached for Northwestern would have more brains than to say such a stupid comment as this, after Katie Hnida, the first woman to play for the University of Colorado's football team came forward to say that she was raped by a fellow team member:

You know, I really liked him when he coached Northwestern. Now, eh, well, JERK. Sure, maybe that's what he's thinking, but think before you make a statement like that to the press. What, since she wasn't respected she was raped?

First Kobe now this...Is there someone out there in the Colorado water?

There seems to be some sort of X-Files marathon on TV, or O'Fallon is a magical place where X-Files is on TNT all the time. No matter, I'm in heaven and it doesn't look like I'll be sleeping.

Just saw the episode where Mulder and Scully save the world right before the millenium. At the very end, Mulder and Scully kiss for the very first time (of their own free will, that is).

Mulder - "The world didn't end, did it?"

Scully - "No, it didn't"

No...it didn't. The world ended when they cancelled your show!!! Man, that kiss still makes me all gooey and happy. I'm a shipper all the way.

God, I loved that show.

Phototime Tuesday: What's Up?

Big Fat Leaf, February 2004

That's something that my company president always is nagging me about. Which is good, because I'm always making the stupidest mistakes because I'm not dotting my i's and crossing my t's. Today I spent more than an hour on a problem, which in the end, turned up to be on little thing that I missed. I wouldn't have felt as stupid as I did if I hadn't gotten one of our developers involved. Fortunately for me, he couldn't figure out was wrong, either. But when I did eventually see what I missed, I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out.

But I'll know better next time. I hope!

As for my O'Fallon blues, I've decided just to suck it up, because the drive in this morning wasn't too bad, only about an hour, which is less than half the time it takes me to drive to thousand oaks.

When I told my client of my mishap, he apologized profusely, but we had a good laugh over it. This is a pretty cool place to work, and they're pretty laid back and aren't over my shoulder all the time, but they're friendly enough to stop by every once in a while to say 'hi' and chat. One of the other guys that I had talked to didn't even know there was an O'Fallon, MO til a couple days ago.

Went to the local mall to buy some shorts for Hawaii, but instead ended up buying 3 t-shirts, a beanie and a dress. What can I say, they were on sale!

I'm extremely annoyed today, so I'm going to beat on other people this week. *evil grin*

Ten Celebrities That Annoy You

1. Carrot Top - though he does have nice biceps
2. Charlotte Church - great voice, annoying personality
3. Britany Murphy - too chipper and giggly
4. Michael Jackson - do I even have to say?
5. Robin - Real World San Diego - drama queen, though listening to her cry makes me laugh
6. Blond Jenna - Survivor - She just rubs me the wrong way
7. Anna Kournikova - Just because people think she's hot, and SHE'S NOT
8. Nicole Richie - Argh, I want to beat her with a stick sometimes
9. Aaron Carter - that's a Behind the Music disaster waiting to happen
10. Britney Spears - I love to hate her. Damn her catchy music that gets stuck in my head!

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Thanks for playing everyone, I love reading your entries!

Here I am, sitting in my luxurious hotel - the Comfort Inn. *sigh*

I didn't really think about it this morning when I left for the airport that it was a holiday. But nonetheless, I left early so I'd get there 2 hours before my flight. There wasn't much traffic at 5:30am, so I made some really good time. Parked my car in the lot and took a shuttle to the airport. Then I saw the lines for check-in, which were out the door. And I realized, not only was it a holiday weekend (not for me!) but the All-Star game was that weekend as well, and a LOT of people flew in for it!

Didn't see any recognizable basketball stars there (though there was an increase of tall people there), but I don't think I've seen so much NBA paraphenalia in all my life. People had jackets, jerseys, bags...all sorts of teams. And the bling! Some of these guys had chains bigger than me! Have fun going through security with that! Saw a couple people who obviously worked for the NBA, since they had NBA business cards for their luggage tags. This one woman who was in the WNBA had this sweet matching set of Louis Vuitton luggage. Nice life!

The line took FOREVER, and that was just the e-ticket line. By the time I was done with my e-ticket stuff, it was only an hour before my flight. While I was waiting in line, I watched the security line, which wrapped around the top floor. It was a madhouse in there! I looked at my watch, and hoped that I would get through security in time. As I was stepping to the line, an airline attendant came up to me and asked what time my flight was. She then directed me to a shuttle bus outside.

I got in, and there were other passengers in there that were as bewildered as I was. We didn't know why were were directed to this shuttle. Then a man came in and said that the line for security was more than an hour long, and that about 15 people an hour were missing their flights because of the security line. They were going to send us off to the international terminal to do security then shuttle us straight to our gates.

So we zoomed to the gate in our pretty shuttle, then went straight through security since there were only a couple international flights leaving, then hopped back on the shuttle. Then they brought us right to the gates, and we showed them our ticket and ID and went right into the gate area. Total time: 15 minutes. How lucky am I?

Well, not that lucky. My connecting flight in San Francisco, which was set for 2 1/2 hours after I landed was delayed because of rain, so I sat in the airport for about 3 1/2 hours picking my nose.

But finally I landed in St. Louis, got my rental car (which was upgraded to a Blazer because I came so late because they had nothing else) and drove to my hotel in O'Fallon, MO. When I asked the guy at the counter for directions to O'Fallon, he said, 'Missouri or Illinois'? What an odd question. Missouri, of course. Because my client is right outside of St. Louis, MO.

I look on the map, and see that O'Fallon, IL isn't too far from St. Louis, about 25 miles. O'Fallon, MO the same distance, but in the opposite direction. Hmm. Interesting.

I drive over to my hotel, check in, and ask the front desk how far my client is from the site (my client is the one who suggested the hotel, because it's close) and she was embarrassed to say she didn't know. Must be new.

I get in, switch on the TV, and start working on stuff for tomorrow. Then I remember that I need to check the email that my client wrote with the directions to the site. I'm looking at them, and they just don't make sense.

Then I realize.

I'm in the wrong O'Fallon.

How was I supposed to know I was supposed to be in Illinois? No one told me that!!! And who knew that O'Fallon, Illinois also has a Comfort Inn?

So I scramble to change my reservation, and the girl at the front desk says it's not a problem, I can check out. But I remember that I made my reservation through Travelocity, and sometimes they pre-charge it. I call Travelocity, and there's nothing they can do. I've checked in already. She says I need to call the manager of the hotel.

So I call the front desk, and of course, there's no manager on duty. But this is a different guy, and he says he'll check into it. It's been an hour. Haven't heard from him yet.

So right now, I don't know what to do. Keep on trying to fix this mess and get my ass to the Comfort Inn in Illinois, or just suck it up and drive more than an hour to my client's site. The St. Louis morning rush hour is a big unknown to me.

I think I'll keep on trying.

Argh!

I hate traveling for work!!!

I'm trying to get all of my work done before traveling this week, but it looks like I'll have to finish it all tomorrow on the plane. I've got a two hour stopover in San Francisco tomorrow before I'm off to St. Louis, so hopefully there's some outlets I could use there, because battery power is a very important thing for me.

I've got a crazy ass schedule for the next month or so:

Week of Feb 15 - St. Louis
Week of Feb 22 - Napa Valley (all you San Fran peeps are free to hang out - but FYI, I have no car while I'm there!)
Week of Feb 29 - Honeymoon in Maui! Here we come, paradise!
Week of March 7 - Return from Maui, Melanie and Fatima come and visit
March 12-14 - Wizard World LA Comic Convention. Whoo hoo!

I'm a busy busy bee!

Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Dragon:: Singer
2. Molecule:: Circle
3. Tire:: Wheel
4. Mighty:: Wind
5. Octane:: Gas
6. Troll:: Ugly
7. Atmosphere:: Gas
8. Guide:: Travel
9. Leash:: Dog
10. Dustmite:: Itchy

Whew! I'm so happy that my whole 'Valentines Day' format is over. I was getting so sick of it! Pink is just not my color, sorry!

So now I'm back to purple purple purple! And it's my little homage to the blaxploitation movies of the 70's. The drawing is by this awesome artist named 'Shag' Check out his website, he's got some really cool stuff there. I'll be using his pics for a while here.

So yeah, it's loud, it's bright, it's funka-a-delic, and I think I like it.

What do you think? Comments/Criticisms/Words of Praise are greatly appreciated!

Happy Valentines Day! Me and Dave area just having a low key day, just hanging out at home and dinner and a movie tonight...

One of my favorite Valentine's day had nothing to do with a boyfriend or anything. It was when I was young, and my dad woke me and my sisters up to help him in the yard. There was a heavy snow the night before, and we had thought that he wanted us to help him shovel.

Yes, he wanted helping shoveling, but not for the reason we thought. We went into the backyard and my dad started shoveling on the lawn, and me and my sisters stood on the porch, directing him. He got out a big can, used for insecticide and filled it with red food coloring and water, and started spraying the snow with it.

After it was all done, we woke up my mom and brought her out into the backyard.

How awesome would it be to wake up on Valentines day and have this in your backyard?

A little part of me is with my dad today, who's without his soul mate and best friend for the first time...

Every once in a while, you realize that you take so many things in your life for granted. I've got my health, a wonderful husband that puts up with all of my eccentric shit, and a place to live.

So the guide in my cable is broken and I have no idea what's on TV. That's ok.

So I've got a Monday deadline for 3 projects that I got this week, and stayed up til 3 am yesterday to work on it. I'll definitely have to work during the weekend.

I'm going to Hawaii in 2 weeks, and I am NOT swimsuit ready. Blame it on the hamburger helper.

I was 'watching' live CSB this morning to see the short track world cup in Bormio, and it cut out on us just as Rusty was heading to the finals. Me and my fellow short track freaks didn't know what was going on.

It must be Friday the 13th.

But it's all good. Life goes on...and life is good.

And Rusty got the silver in the 500 meters. It's been a long time coming, and I'm really happy for him.

And tomorrow, we might do some Valentine snowboarding.

And I have some wonderful friends that think of me when they're far away to give me updates, pictures, and just to say 'Hi'. Makes a girl who feels a little special to feel a little more special.

I'm so inspired, I'm going to fold the 5 loads of laundry I did!

Photo Friday: Abstract

Windmill, Portland Airport: Portland, OR - March 2003

1. Are you superstitious?
Extremely. To the point of being almost obsessive.

2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?
Some athletes superstitions are pretty interesting and extreme. Like never changing your underwear while you're on a winning streak.

3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?
Of mine? Hmm....I dunno. There are some that are just automatic to me right now, like crossing my fingers when I pass a cemetary or holding my breath and making a wish when crossing a bridge.

4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?
Yes. I believe in luck and that you can change your luck but doing something else. I've got a lucky number and I used to have a lucky necklace (a piece of serpentine found in an underground cave in Kentucky), but I lost it.

5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?
Yeah, because I think my sign (Gemini) really represents me.

First the Fat Boys break up, now this!

After 43 years of blissful dating/marrying, Barbie and Ken finally break up.

"After 43 years as one of the world's prettiest pairs, the perfect plastic couple is breaking up. The couple's "business manager," Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel, said that Barbie and Ken "feel it's time to spend some quality time -- apart." "

I never thought they were going to do it, I thought their love was forever, but I guess not. At least all those times I found my Ken doll naked with G.I. Joe in the closet mean something now. Good for Barbie. She can do better - I'm sure Ken wasn't satisfying her. I mean, have you SEEN him naked?

So now I wonder who the rebound boyfriend will be.

Theme Thursday: Fences

No Nachos for You! - San Diego, CA, November 2003

So I've been playing Yahoo! Pool a lot lately. There's hundreds of people that play at once. Usually I start up my own table and wait for someone to come in.

I use my yahoo id to play, and since I made it way back in 96 or something, it has the word 'Cyber' in it because back then, it didn't really mean anything bad or anything having to do with sex. But since I've been using it, I get all sorts of propositions and questions about it.

And the one thing that drives me batty is that as soon as I start playing with someone, they do the 'A/S/L?' thing. For the longest time, I had no idea what that was. I started chatting on the 'net way back in '93, but then stopped in '97, and didn't get back into it until '02 or so. So I missed that whole chat revolution that took place. But for those of you who don't know, 'A/S/L' is 'Age/Sex/Location'. EVERYONE seems to ask that.

I'm not there to find out about you or make friends. I'm there to play pool. I don't feel like chatting and I don't want to tell you if I'm married or not. But when I don't respond, people get angry or offended.

As I've said before, I'm not good at small talk. That's in real life and on the 'net as well. So this whole Yahoo! pool chat thing just isn't my style. But it IS interesting the people you'll meet on there. I've talked to people from Ireland, India, England and Australia. I've played with 40 year olds and 12 year olds. I was 'lucky' enough to see a picture of a man's privates when he said I could see a picture of him. When I said 'I'm sure you're mama is proud to know that you're showing pictures of your weewee on the internet' he said, 'Who do you think took the picture?'

Gotta love the 'net!

Every once in a while, you run across a song that you just sit and listen to the lyrics to. That's what happened to this Train song. I was just up early one Saturday morning when Dave was working, and I was watching VH-1's top 20 countdown. (OT-Britney's "Toxic" in the top 20? Is this VH-1 I'm watching?) And then this song came on. For some reason, I listened to all the words, which I rarely have the attention span to do to any song. I don't know if this was their intention for the song, because I couldn't really discern for sure from the video. But in listening to the words, I thought of my mom, how sometimes I feel like she's up there watching over me, making sure I'm ok. And that sometimes I may regret things I didn't say, or things we didn't do, it doesn't matter because all the moments we DID have together made our time together special.

Phototime Tuesday: Patriotic Colors

I decided to do something a little different...represent the Filipino side of me...

The Philippine Flag on Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL - June 2003

I love to eat, and I travel quite a bit so I'm always looking for someplace new. So this week's Ten on Tuesday is all about food!

Ten Favorite Restaurants (and Locations)

1. Cafe Iberico - Chicago, IL
2. Akai Hana - Northbrook, IL
3. Todai - Chain
4. Merry Ann's - Champaign, IL
5. R&G Lounge - San Francisco, CA
6. White Castle - Chain
7. Bob Chinn's - Wheeling, IL
8. Fogo de Chão - Chain
9. Ruby Foo's - New York
10. Heaven on Seven - Chicago

Use this to link:
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/001098.html

Add a comment when you have yours up, or if you don't have a blog, feel free to just post your answers here! If you have any suggestions for future Ten on Tuesdays, just email me.

Since I've been home, I've been watching lots of movies on the Oxygen channel and on Bravo. It's kind of funny when you watch old movies, because you get to see the stars of today in the bit parts of yesterday.

For instance, I was watching 'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' and the badguy metrosexual who was in league with the mean advertising lady was none other than David Duchovny. Back then, I remembered thinking, 'That guy's hot, too bad he's a mean guy!'

And in 'Adventures in Babysitting', the guy that played the blond haired Thor in the garage was none other than VIncent D'Onofrio, from 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and 'The Cell'. It makes me laugh because he does not look that at ALL - he's a brunette, he's balding, and he's put on a bit of weight. I would venture to say that in 'Adventures...' he was kinda hot!

'To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything - Julie Newmar' not only had John Leguizamo, Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes as drag queens, it also had a very young Michael Vartan (from 'Alias') playing Tommy, the small town bully.

Its really nice to see these guys in these old roles, so young and fresh faced. Who knew that they would be the stars that they are (or aren't) today.

So me and Dave went snowboarding yesterday. Still had a LOT of falls, but this time they weren't as bad, because I've got a lot more control, so the times I fell wasn't because I was flailing around, it was more to avoid hitting other people who fell. And there were a LOT of people! It was packed yesterday. There were a lot of people out of control on the beginner hills. I got hit from behind about 7 times, and I ran into about 3 people.

But the main thing is that I'm mastering the toe turn. I'm a slow learner. But After many falls on my face, I figured out how to distribute my weight and balance myself without falling over when turning. I even started linking the turns by they end.

Here's some highlights:

- I love snowboarding. I just don't like getting off the lift. I get so much anxiety when I see the end of the lift coming. It's not that I don't know how to come down. Ok, I don't. But still, with so many beginners, I don't think I ever came off the lift without the people in front of me falling. So it's hard when you're trying to avoid the people in front of you. And then when I tried to avoid the fallen bodies in front of me, I would fall, then I wuold have to scramble away so others didn't fall over me. Argh!

- One of my more comical falls happened at the end of the run. I was slowing down to go to back to the lift, and this girl came up next to me, and our boards got tangled. She was saying 'Sorry' and I was saying 'Sorry' and then we both lost our balance then caught onto each other to stop from falling. We then noticed in our two person pretzel that we were gaining speed and there was a guy in front of us. We both shouted, 'Watch out!' but too late, we caught him in our showboarding human pretzel of doom. Finally, we all fell and laughed.

- As I was putting on my bindings at the top of the hill, I saw this guy a little farther down fall over, then lie facedown on the mountain. I got up and started boarding down, curious to see if he was hurt. But then I could see that he was doing pushups. On top of the mountain. In the snow. With a snowboard on. 'What the?!?!?!' I thought. So I came up to him and said, 'I noticed that you were doing pushups. I'm just curious, why?' This guy was dressed up in fatigue-looking snow gear, and was pretty built (and not too shabby looking). He said, 'Well, snowboarding is a really big workout for my legs, but I just wanted to work out my upper body, too. I want the whole body workout.' Um...yeah. OK dude.

- I could totally tell the difference between Kitty and the boards I have been renting. Kitty is a fast little chica! When I started down the hill for the first time, I really needed to get used to her speed. But once I got used to her, she was awesome. I felt really in control. We made a good team.

- Kitty was the prettiest board out there. No lie. But there were a lot of other great looking boards out there. Never noticed that until I got my own board.

- Once, I fell so hard that my hat flew off. Another time, I landed on my hand and knocked the wind out of me.

- I wore a sweatshirt under my jacket, but it was long enough to show. Since a lot of time was spent on my ass, I got a lot of snow at the bottom of my sweatshirt. And as the day wore on, it got colder and colder. So the snow on my ass gathered together and made one big sheet of ice on my ass. It was pretty cold. But pretty funny.

and delayed...since I'm in California...

So don't give anything away!

8:08pm - The awards start of with....PRINCE! How awesome! We heard 'Raspberry Beret' on the radio today, and I told Dave this was one of my favorite songs growing up. Then I said, 'I wonder what Prince has been up to?' Well, now I know! It was nice to see him, and the duet with Beyonce was pretty nice. Kinda laughed when she handed him the mike to sing in and he had to move it...

8:09pm - Quentin! What the hell is Quentin Tarantino doing here? And why is he saying 'That was da bomb!'? I love him anyway.....he rocks. Get Kill Bill II out there, NOW! Him and Gwen Stefani are up for Best R&B Contemporary album or something like that...Though I wouldn't leave him with my 16 year old cousin, R. Kelly better win this mutha!

And Beyonce wins. Ahhh...OK. Fine.

8:14pm - Dave Matthews, Sting and uh, some country guy, doing the Beatles! Pharell doing the drums! This rocks! I don't care if it's cheesey.

8:21pm - Did I miss an award in here somewhere? Because Christina Aguilera is performing. Or are they just going to give us a list of the winners later and have an all performance show? Not that I mind. I love this song by Christina....she'll kick ass singing 'Beautiful!'

8:24pm - Dave says 'Why are the lights off? Why can't we see Christina? Is she fat again?' Thanks Dave. But then he mentions, 'She's the best of them all...that voice is amazing!' Christina did well...not great, but well. I kind of expected more.

8:28pm - No Doubt wins. Love those guys. Tony Cabal is really short. Gwen looks great. Who's that little girl sitting next to her in the audience? She wouldn't let go of Gwen's hand... Claudine just called and said that I HAVE to watch Outkast later....interesting. (She's in Iowa and is just finishing up the show.)

8:30pm - White Stripes perform 'Seven Nation Army'. Play that bass! Whoo hoo!

8:38pm - Best Rap Album....Go Missy! Go Outkast! Go Missy! I can't decide!

Outkast wins...and where IS Outkast? Someone tell me please, and someone please tell the camera man, because he can't find him either.

Ahh..there he is. And he probably has the shortest speech ever...'Thank You'. And thank you, Andre 3000 or whatever your name is. Pony boy.

8:48pm - Jacob Dillon presents an award. Can he please use a little more emotion? He's presenting Best Male Pop Vocal, and with George Harrison, Warren Zevon, Michael McDonald and Sting in there, it's a pretty old bunch. Except for Justin. Is pop dying away, something only old men sing? Wait, Justin wins. No...it's still alive.

'I know it's been a rough week on everybody". Heh heh...THAT'S an understatement, J. Please. Let's not talk about it anymore. I'm tired of it.

8:56pm - Patti LaBelle....damn, girlfriend looks like she's 20 years old. Wow! Luthor Vandross tribute. Hang in there buddy. Everyone's singing for you. Alicia Keys performs, and wow, can she look any more beautiful than she does tonight? Man, even when you throw a hairnet on her, she still looks good. Too bad her microphone is static-y. Or maybe it's my TV.

Celine's on. Switched to another channel to see if my TV sound is freaky. No, it's only CBS. Man, I love that 'Dance with my Father' song. It kinda makes me teary...Show more of the stuff on the monitors! I don't need to see Celine!

Awww..Luthor! Luthor's on! Don't say goodbye, Luthor, don't!

9:10pm - 'Who is that?' Dave asks. 'Madonna', I said. 'Damn, she looks good, she looks like Britney!'. Haha. But yeah, she looks great. And I'm happy, she's not doing the English accent.

And she announces Sting....and Sean Paul.

I'm about to throw up. I hate Sean Paul. I love Sting. I don't know how to feel. OK, I don't hate Sean Paul, but if I hear 'Baby Boy' one more time, I'm going to go postal on him.

Ahh...'Roxanne'. Love those knee highs, Sting. Sean Paul on stage with Sting just doesn't look right with Sting in his little kilt.

9:16pm - Christina wins. Dave's comments, 'She's bustin out!'. Yeah, she is, but she looks good. Linda Perry wrote 'Beautiful...sound familiar? Thing four non blondes...

9:23pm - Justin's up with Arturo Sandoval. He's singing 'Senorita', which I've grown to love. It reminds me of the whole wedding court on my wedding day, singing in the Cadillac Escalade limo, drinking champagne and beer. Justin does a great live version of this song...I think I liked it on SNL better. Arturo was en fuego, baby!

9:30pm - *spaces out during Beatles presentation*

9:39pm - Hot damn! The Black Eyed Peas performing at the Grammys! Man, in college listening to 'Joints and Jam' I would never had guessed that would EVER happen. Their new female singer really reminds me of an amazingly fit Taylor Dane. Even her voice. Or maybe it is. What's her name? Flo? I don't remember. Justin's there? Justin's EVERYWHERE! Man, these guys are awesome. It's great to see them here. They definitely deserve it!

9:53pm - Beyonce looks gorgeous, beautiful! Too bad I'm tuning her out because I've been in Beyonce overload this last month. Take a break, girl!

OK. Couldn't space out that well, her voice is just too kick ass.

9:54pm - My girl Norah! Don't be nervous up there! Evanescence wins best new artist. Hope we hear from you again. Really though, they're great, definitely different, and she has one of the most beautiful voices! I've got time delay - what did 50 cent do?

10:07pm - Samuel L. Jackson is just the KING of cool and funk. I wish I was his friend.

Ohh...Earth Wind and Fire! Sing 'Saturday', please! Please!

Outkast! And Earth Wind and Fire! Sam Jackson! My head is going to explode!

I love the man-clydesdale pants of the Outkast's male background dancers. And look at EW&F in the back dancing....they're so cute. But where's Andre 2000?

Robert Randolph who? I don't care, they've got funk, baby! I like 'em!

George Clinton performs!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiit! This could be one of the best Grammy performances ever. He's so old, but daddy's still got the funk!

But I ask again, where's Andre 5000?

My brain is in overload. To many things at once. We gotta turn this mutha out! This is the jam session to end all jam sessions! Even Samuel Jackson's getting into it! Yes, I want that funk!

Wow. What a performance. Good thing there's a commercial break, I couldn't take anymore. And the friendly announcer just said that Outkast's performance is coming up next. You mean, this wasn't it? I will get my fill of Andre 4000? Yes!

10:26pm - Snoop's up to announce Foo Fighters. Or at least I think that's what he's trying to announce. Fo' hizzy mah shizzy? Snoop, learn to read the cue cards!

10:33pm - Coldplay's 'Clocks' beats out the most overused song of the year, 'Hey Ya!' Sorry Outkast, but yeah, 'Clocks' is great. 'This is to John Kerry, I hope he'll be your president one day.' Nice political statement from someone who isn't even from the US. Is Gwyneth speaking through you?

10:42pm - Sarah McLachlan performs. God, I love her. She's classic.

10:59pm - Awww...the tribute to Warren Zevon was really touching. *wipes tear*

11:07pm - Song of the year. 'Lose Yourself'? Why does that song seem so long ago? I would have loved for it to win, but I'm also so happy that Luthor won his first grammy. And Richard Marx is lookin' good! Glad he cut that hair!

11:21pm - Oh yeah, this is what I'm waiting for. Jack Black doing the 'In the Year 2000' look. Nice...

Interesting getup there, Andre 8000. Rather than the typical Jockey outfit, he's dressed up only what could be some sort of furturistic American Indian outfit. OK, it's looking pretty typical right now....though Andre's convulsive dances look so much better in this American Indian-esque garb. I need to be a backup dancer. Those girls are workin' it back there.

Hot damn! Drummers! Drummers! I A marching band! I'm having a band geekasm! Come on backup dancers, give those band boys some play, they need it! This is awesome. Yes Claudine, it's good. Go band nerds!

11:29pm - Outkast wins Album of the Year. Of course. It's nice to see them make a speech this time. Stank you, Andre, stank you very much.

Whoo!

OK. I'm out.

[Added 11:31am] Check out E! Online's blow-by-blow coverage. I read it every year, which is where I got the idea for this....

Me and Dave were in the car listening to 80's night on one of the radio stations here. The song 'Forever Young' by Alphaville came on, and it brought on a whole bunch of memories.

That was one of the songs that I heard all the times during college, and everytime I hear it I always think of my friend Manny. He loved to sing this song. For some reason images of Manny singing this song and me and him crying come to mind. I tell Dave this, and he has no recollection of it. Then I remember that it must have been my senior year...during one of our drunken parties. We got really nostalgic that last year. There was a lot of songs played, a lot of tears shed, and a lot of drinking. It was one of the best times of my life.

Man...what a great song!

Hmm...maybe I'll scan some pics tomorrow....

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Identity:: Crisis
2. Reveal:: Expose
3. Live:: and Learn
4. Attitude:: Adjustment
5. Night:: Light
6. Nevada:: Vegas
7. Weekend:: Minutes
8. Write:: Compose
9. Friend:: in Need
10. Seventeen:: going on Eighteen

Still restless.

Dave has a pretty tough schedule, working 12+ hours a day, having to get to work at 5am. He gets home, and he's exhausted and eats dinner, then sleeps early, because he has to get up at 4am.

I've been having bouts of insomnia. I'm tired during the day, but at night can't sleep earlier than 1am. Since I've been working at home, and not going out for lunch, I've been alone a lot this week. It's good and bad. I've had a lot of time to think, which is bad, but I've also had a lot of time to work on the things that I've wanted to work on - stuff around the house, things on this site, etc. I'm getting tired of this layout already. I'll probably change it by the end of the week then bring it back for Valentines.

I've been cooking all week. I know, Claudine and Fata, I know...what's happened to me? Nothing fancy, don't worry. On Thursday I made a meal for Dave so it was ready when he came home from work, and he came home about an hour and a half late. Before I could stop myself I gave him the 'I cooked this meal for you so it would be warm when you come home, and now it's all cold. The least you could do is call!' speech. He was too tired to complain or answer back, and I felt bad.

Someone shoot me, please! I'm turning into an annoying wife!

Tomorrow: Kitty hits the slopes for the first time! Wish me luck...I hope I don't hurt her!

Well, I've accomplished one thing on my 'things to do' list that I posted a couple weeks ago - I've added my convention sketches to the 'Art' page. The page is still screwy, but at least the sketches are there.

I love to go to comic conventions, and I love to get sketches from the artists. Not only do I get a beautiful sketch, but it also is a great time to talk to the artist, to hear their story and how they got to where they are. I'm on a mini mission to collect sketches of Psylocke, my favorite character. Most artists know who she is, but some have to look through my other sketches for a reference. The only thing that sucks is that you have to wait in line for a while to get a sketch, because of course, everyone else is getting one in front of you. But it's always worth the wait!

My goal for the LA Wizard World Comic Convention (which is in March) is to get a sketch of Psylocke from Jim Lee. I got a picture with him when he was at a shop in Chicago, but I never got a chance to get a sketch. That would be the crown jewel of my sketch collection, as small as it is!

But so far, my most treasured sketch is the quick profile sketch that Michael Turner did for me. My favorites of the collection are the Professor X done in crayon by Art Baltazar, Talent Caldwell's Psylocke sketch, Karl Moline's Psylocke and Luke Lizalde's Psylocke. But they're all great!

Posted by Yano at 01:51 AM | Comments (8)

I don't know why, but lately I've been pretty melancholy. Not as much depressed as just blah and unmotivated. But underneath that lies a restlessness that I need to be doing something.

Maybe it has to do with working at home all week...even though I'm at home, I haven't really gone out. I stay inside the apartment all day. I know I should go out and take a break, but I just don't feel like it. I just sit all day at my laptop with my cordless phone, working and talking to clients. And watching TV. I've got my whole 'background noise' TV schedule down.

9am: Xena
10am: Xena
11am: Different World
11:30: Different World
12pm: Roseanne
12:30: Roseanne
1pm: Afternoon movie on the Oxygen channel
3pm: Xena (rerun from the day before)
4pm: VH-1/MTV

How sad!

I think it could also be a mixture of homesickness and being really tired. Don't know why, though!

OK, OK, I know...it's playing Yahoo! Pool with Redpac in the day and Texas Hold'em with Jones at night that could be having something to do with it.

Well, tomorrow is another day, and it's the weekend!

For some reason, we get a lot of wrong numbers and telemarketers on our home phone line. I don't remember if we asked to be unlisted or not...But I had an interesting wrong number today...

Me: Hello?
Caller: Hello, is John there?
Me: sorry, wrong number
Caller: really? is this 562-xxx-xxxx? (my number)
Me: yeah...
Caller: But there's no John there?
Me: Nope, sorry.
Caller: oh, well, this is a courtesy call for my company...are you interested in getting some deals on steak and seafood?
Me: uh, no thanks...
Caller: Are you sure?
Me: Yeah, that's ok
Caller: Well, howabout a date, then...you sound pretty cute!
Me: *giggles* Uh...no...that's ok.

Bizarre, isn't it? I don't think I have the type of voice that people would ask someone out on a date over...but it still was pretty flattering! Dave got a big laugh over it and told me to stop flirting on the phone with strangers.

Photo Friday: Glamour

Inside My Makeup Bag - Feb 2004

This week's Friday Five:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Geez. I have no idea. I'm not really one known for being daring. Anyone I know out there know of any daring things I've done? Maybe trying out for an improv group in college with no acting experience.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
Hmm...I dunno....I'd really love to try skydiving, but I think Dave would love to do that with me.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
5. I'm an average risk person. My idea of risk is changing the design of my blog. Now THAT'S risk, my friend!

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
Well, I took a couple risks to date Dave, and it was a lot of stress at the time. But luckily I got a husband out of it.

5. ... and what's the worst?
I'm the queen of taking risks and having them backfire on me. Maybe that's why I don't take too many.

Google has finally made the Filipino version...

Google: Philippines

However, they spelled Philippines wrong in the English translation. Hmph! Who's paying these people!?!?!?

Sarah is going skiing for the first time and she asked me for a couple tips. Being someone who hasn't really skiied before, and during those skiing adventured scratched up my face on ice and dislocated a shoulder, I may not be the best person to give advice. It's like the blind leading the blind. But I'll try...

Skiing

- The main tip I can give you is to learn how to slow down. When they're teaching little kids, they call it making a pizza. You make a V with your skis in front of you, much like a pizza. This will slow you down.

- Play around with your center of gravity, that's the key to maintaining control and learning how to maneuver around objects. This will be helpful when you try to go around fallen skiers.

- Keep your knees bent and let your body absorb the mountain's terrain.

- Stay on the bunny hill as long as you have to. This is where all the other beginners are, people who are at the same level as you. If you aren't sure of your skills and you go to another area, then you might hurt someone.

Snowboarding

- Same as above, play with your center of gravity. It's different than skiing.

- Use your head and shoulders to lead you. Wherever your shoulder goes, usually the rest of your body will follow, so will your board.

- Learn how to stop and maneuver. I think the best way to learn to stop is to have your board perpendicular to the mountain. Remember to dig your heels in and lift your toes. And watch out for clumps of snow, they'll flip you over.

- On the first day, be ready to spend most of it on your ass.

- Know if you're regular footed or goofy footed - this determines which your lead foot is when you're going down the mountain. How do you know? If you skateboard, it's the foot you have in the lead. If not, then when you slide on a slippery floor, which foot is first? Regular is the left foot first. Goofy is the right. I'm goofy. Well, goofy in general, but goofy footed, too.

- If you feel like your falling, try to stay upright...it'll help you learn to balance. But if you do fall, try as hard as you can not to land with your hands down. It's really easy to hurt your wrists.

- When you're coming off the lift, keep your board facing forward, stand up and just glide down the ramp. Try not to flail around too much. And if you fall, get out of the way, people will fall over you as they're coming down.

General Tips:

- Wear layers. You can always take them off and put them in a locker. During the early part of the day it may be warm, but if you're in the shadow of the mountain, it'll be cold.

- Wear a jacket with zippers. That way you can keep things with you and not worry about them falling out of your pockets.

- Wear sunglasses. The glare can be pretty tough on the white snow.

- Sunblock. It's sunny, and you can get sunburned because you're higher up.

- Chapstick. You lips will definitely get chapped. Keep them moist!

- Don't wear jeans or jogging pants. If you fall, they'll get wet, and then you'll get cold. If you don't have ski pants, then just buy some cheap shiny warm ups from Target. They'll last a little better in the snow. Wear another layer underneath so you keep warm.

- Wear warm socks that are up to your calf. If they're any lower, they might irritate you with your boots on.

- Wear a warm hat. Rather than bringing a scarf, have a jacket that zips up or wear a turtleneck.

- Bring extra clothes. Just in case.

Hmm...I think that's all....any one else have suggestions?

This week's Theme Thursday: Connected

The Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver BC - May 2002

I had a dream yesterday that my father died. I guess it would have been a freaky or depressing thing, but I guess what was more disturbing than that was my actual dream.

In the dream, my father had died and we were getting ready for the funeral. I was trying to collect myself and put on my makeup, trying to hide my puffy eyes. I had the door locked because I didn't want to be disturbed. Then a relative of mine (who shall be nameless) was knocking on the door, telling me that she wanted to come in. I told her I wasn't ready yet. She knocks again, and I start to get annoyed. She starts yelling that I'm being selfish and that I should let her in my room, that I'm only thinking of myself and no one else. I'm not being there for her and I should be.

Then the phone rings and I wake up.

I was pretty out of it when I woke up, though I knew the dream wasn't real. There's really no need to analyze it, because I already know what it's about. Something that's been bothering me is some criticism that some members of my family have gotten. It's not that they've been criticized on how they're grieving, but what they're doing for other people. I'm sorry, but everyone has their own way of grieving, their own way of communicating their grief. Some people just shut others out, some get depressed, some feel the need to talk to other people, some pretend like nothing's happened. But I don't think you should criticize someone who is grieving for not being there for YOU. You can't expect someone who was never a talker before, or who has never communicated feelings with you before just to open up and suddenly talk to you and express their feelings and open up their soul to you. It takes time. And to criticize someone for being selfish and not thinking of you is selfish. I'm not talking about criticism that was made onto me...I'm far enough from home where I'm not caught up in the drama that is there, though if I was, you know I would have done something about it if I had known.

It breaks my heart and angers me to no end that someone could be wreaking havoc onto my family like this, as well intentioned as they think it might be. We need support, we need understanding, we don't need criticism. It's hard enough moving on in life without our mom, and my dad without his wife, than to deal with petty things like people who's feelings are hurt because we aren't calling them to talk about our feelings.

And there has also been criticism on the cousins, that some were selfish and irresponsible around the time of the funeral, and that they are unreliable. True, there were some stupid and irresponsible things that were done, which at the time I felt like choking someone (and you cousins reading know EXACTLY what I'm talking about), but that moment was a short lived one, I knew it wasn't intentional. The cousins were there for us, every step of the way, all the time before my mother died, and every single day for nine days after. They cried with us, they hugged us to take some of the pain, they helped us to laugh. If that is being selfish and irresponsible, I'd like to see what selflessness is.

But in the end, I realize that this criticism hides someone who is grieving as well...As I said before, everyone has their own way of grieving. It's just someone who doesn't know how to handle their grief, and needs someone to be there for them. Someone who lost a friend, a sister, a confidant, who is looking for someone to take her place. But what they don't realize is that no one is ever going to take her place. We just have to move on and keep her in our hearts.

Sorry for the rant....

And another thing is that the thought of having my father dead in a dream wasn't really disturbing to me, as it would have been if it was a dream of my mother still alive. Because when I wake up, I know my dad is still there. But if I dreamed my mom was still alive, when I wake up, I'll know that she's still gone....

Reading Pleasures

Wizard Magazine

That's the only thing I really have the time to read. Without a commute and traveling, I really have no opportunity to read. Sad.

song stuck in my head

'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' - The Darkness

80's glam hairband rock is back! I don't know if these guys are serious or not, but it reminds me of my younger head bangin' days. And the video rocks!

at the movies

Shiri

A friend of mine pointed out this movie to me a while ago, and I finally picked it up at Blockbuster (since we bought the snowboards, no movie theaters for us!) Anyway, this is a Korean movie that kicked Titanic's but way back when. It's about Ryu, a cop that is chasing a beautiful assassin named Hee. It's a great action movie, but the gals will love it for the romantic aspect (Ryu is trying to protect his girlfriend). It's non-stop action (and some pretty graphic violence and a high body count) with a great, though predictable plot. It also gives some insight into relations between North and South Korea, something I wasn't aware of before.

Of course, this is a kick ass movie just for the fact that the lead is a female assassin. And the ending will have you in tears.

comic you should be reading

Elektra

Elektra has a fever, and it's throwing her off her game. She relies on being 100% to do her jobs, and since she came back from her last mission, she seems to have brought back a sickness with her. She's off balance, she can't see straight. What's happening? Will she be able to get over it and return to her old self? Will her fever spread to others? I'll have to wait til next month to find out!

yummy for my tummy

Coffee Ice Cream

My favorite grocery ice cream was on sale the other day - Breyers coffee ice cream. Ohh...it's so good, and natural, too!

addiction

Yahoo! Pool

Yeah...since I've discovered the magic that is online pool. It's incredible and super addicting. I can't stop. I want to beat these cocky little 14 year old bastards from ireland. Just kidding. I've met so many interesting people playing pool...but that's for another post entirely! It's amazing that I could be playing with someone halfway around the world. And even more amazing that I suck so badly right now. Maybe I need to have a couple drinks before playing....

I also updated the blogs on the left to include Jennie and Cybertoad. Bernadette has a new addy so I updated her link, and as they've already discovered, Dan and Shannon have been moved up to 'Family'. And Marilyn should have always been in 'Family' but I don't know why I accidently put her with the common folk *wink* so I moved her to birthright as well.

But I can read lips!

So I was doing some errands during lunch and I headed over to the strip mall to go to the post office. It's always busy in this area, and close parking is hard to come by.

But as I was driving around, I saw a spot right near the post office. I was going to grab it, but then I saw another car right across from it that was even close pulling out of its spot. I contemplated taking this one, but the way I was angled, it was easier to take the original spot. So I waited for the car to pull out so I could get in my spot. As the car pulled out and passed me, I saw a car behind it waiting to pull in. There were two people in the car, and I could see him saying to his passenger, "That bitch better not take my spot!" I looked right at him, smiled, and mouthed, "Don't worry, I won't" as I pointed to the spot across from his covered spot. He looked at me and sheepishly smiled and waved, and then turned to his companion and said, "She saw what I said!"

Oh yes I did.

Here's this week's Phototime Tuesday: Patterns.

Monkey Puzzle Tree, Vancouver B.C. - May, 2002

I think I'll change the name of this 'meme' to Ten on Tuesday...because the things on the list may not necessarily be your 'Top Ten', right?

Here's the topic:

Ten Things You Wish You Knew How to Do

Use this to link:
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/001074.html

Add a comment when you have yours up, or if you don't have a blog, feel free to just post your answers here! If you have any suggestions for future Ten on Tuesdays, just email me.

Here's my answers:

Ten Things You Wish You Knew How to Do
1. Sing
2. Play the guitar/drums
3. Ice Skate
4. Make small talk
5. Sign Language
6. Swim
7. Save Money
8. Manage my time
9. Read minds
10. Cook

I don't know what's come over me...it could be that there really hasn't been much going on in the internet, or that there hasn't been any good stuff on TV, or that I need a change of pace, or maybe, just maybe, I'm actually growing up, but as of late, I've been really domestic.

I woke up on Sunday at 9am. Because I felt like cleaning. Those of you know know me know that I never get up that early unless I have to. Especially on the weekends. Unfortunately, I don't have a thermometer, because I would have certainly checked my temperature to make sure I was feeling ok.

So I cleaned up all my papers, vacuumed all over the apartment, including sucking up the millions of cobwebs that have magically appeared, and made three batches of weiner rolls (cocktail sausages wrapped in croissant dough). And I've been cooking dinners for the last week. And washing dishes. Bought cereal bowls because we only have one good bowl to eat cereal in. I fixed my snowboard bindings after Dave couldn't screw them in. There was no way I was going to return Kitty! I went grocery shopping on my own and saved $56 because I bought everything on sale. I also went out and washed Dave's car and ran errands while he was at work.

I am married. I am SO married!

I was just watching 'Legends of the Fall' the other day. What a great movie. I can watch it over and over again.

Many men I know love this movie. Maybe because it's a man's movie, a drama that a man can cry during, but it's cool, because they're not crying because of some stupid romance stuff. They're crying because these are manly men having manly problems. Which is OK to cry during. Kind of like it's ok to touch another man's ass ONLY when you're playing a sport and it's a quick slap.

Just babbling.....

I went to Dave's uncle's friend's place to watch the Superbowl today. I made my extra special weiner rolls, and people liked them - I even got asked for the recipe.

Unfortunately, we were late to the party since Dave came home late from work, so I didn't really see too much of the first quarter and part of the second half. Which means I also missed some of the best commercials, if there WERE any good commercials. Because during the second half, the commercials sucked ass. They just weren't entertaining to me. A couple of the beer commercials were good, and the football players singing 'Tomorrow' was really funny, but other than that, nothing stuck out to me. And what's up with so many commericals having to do with ways to solve erectile dysfunction?

The game itself made me yawn for the first part. To tell the truth, at the beginning of the third quarter I was thinking to myself, 'Man, I'm going to put in my blog that this is probably one of the most blah superbowls ever. Nothing exciting or outstanding is happening at all.' Carolina wasn't producing at all. But was I wrong! Carolina stepped it up in the third quarter and gave New England something to sweat about. Jake Delhomme, the QB who had an awful first half, suddenly found his groove and started throwing some BEAUTIFUL long passes. The lead switched back and forth, Carolina was breathing down the Patriot's necks.

And the ending was something from the movies. A field goal, to be kicked by the man who never misses, but who missed two field goals earlier that game. Not only that, but the ONLY time he has missed indoors was in that stadium. And this kick was 10 yards farther than the two field goals he missed. There were four seconds left in the game, and the score was tied. Two years ago, he saved the game by kicking the winning field goal. Can he do it again? How was that for pressure? But Adam Vinatieri didn't sweat, he kicked it down the middle. What a incredible game!

And the MVP goes to Tom Brady, who didn't sweat the whole time...well, maybe that one time when he threw that interception, but still, he was MONEY when he had the ball.

OK. That's all.
____________________

Just kidding. You think I could review the Superbowl without talking about the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake halftime spectacle?

First of all, although I love Janet Jackson and give her partial credit to helping me become the dancer that I am today, I have no idea why she was the headliner for the halftime show. Was has she done for me lately? Oooooh ooh yeah? Lately as in the last year. As much as I enjoyed seeing her perform again, (i just about died when they did Rhythm Nation, because I was joking around when she was on and said, 'What is she going to do? Rhythm Nation?') I just didn't think that she has the current momentum to carry the show. Boy was I wrong!

Note: I had to kick Dave when he started laughing when the marching band came out. Marching bands ROCK.

It was nice to see Nelly, P. Diddy and Kid Rock perform. And sing songs that were popular 2 years ago.

And then Mr. Timberlake. Oh Justin Justin. I was thinking to myself, "What would Cameron think, you chasing your ex-girlfriend up and down stage as she grabs your ass." That was a cute little flirty dance they had going on. Then at the end, right as he says, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song..." Justin rips off Janet's right corset cup and exposes her boob, a-la Li'l Kim. CBS cut away fast, but the damage was done. I turned to Dave and his cousins and we all had a dumbfounded look on our faces. "Was that her boob?" I asked? "nah...it was too white. I think it was a flesh colored top underneath". We all had different theories. I thought it was her boob with a pasty over the nipple (which when you look at the close up shots, is something much more interesting - don't click on the link if you don't want to know) and others speculated it was a fake boob (to which I said, 'Then where's her real boob?', 'Tucked in her armpit' was the answer I got) or that it was an outfit underneath.

But it turns out it was her real boob. And as much as Justin apologizes and says it was an accident, there is no valid explanation for what his action intended to do if not rip off her top like that.I'm pretty sure that they meant to do it, even if they didn't do it in rehearsal. Janet didn't look shocked or surprised at all, Justin didn't flinch nor was he apologetic.

"I'm sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."

Riiiiiiight, Justin. Do you even talk like that, dude? And how was that a malfunction? He tore it off!

But boy, are they apologizing now!

And something that CBS kept away from us was the streaker who was on the field right before the second half kickoff. Man! We saw Janet's boobie, give the gals some goods to see, too!

First gay couples are kissing on awards shows and now this. Who said that CBS was the station for old conservative people?

[Edit 12:03pm]I saw the Born to be a Clydesdale Donkey commercial, and it was one of the cutest commercials ever. I especially liked the hair extension part!

I always get a little bored of seeing the same page over and over again, and since Valentine's Day is coming soon, I thought I'd change the colors around a bit. I'm not normally a pink person, but it's something new. (If you refresh your page, you'll get the new header)

Though I have a feeling that I might get sick of it in a couple days and just revert to the old verson...who knows!

I dunno....what do you think?

Check out this link:
Papal blessing for break-dancers

"Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it," John Paul said.

I was just watching the clips of this on VH-1, and it was hilarious. Members from a group that helps marginalized Polish youths came to the Vatican for a performance. Who would have thought that there would be breakdancers at the Vatican, much less dancing for a papal blessing from the Pope? He really seemed to be enjoying it, too. Pope John Paul II was gettin' DOWN, yo! It was the most life I've seen from him in a while. ;)

Got this from Monica and Susan, and I'm sure I'll be getting it a couple more times...to save the trouble, I'll just post it here. Just pretend like I'm sending this to you on email and post your answers in the comments or in your blog, or send it to me in email...

------------------------------
The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about your
friends. It is fun and easy!!

Here we go!!!

1. What is your full name: Christine S. Feliciano Estacio...that's a mouthful! (but legally, it's just Christine F. Estacio)

2. What color pants are you wearing now: Red Old Navy pajama pants with white, blue and pink hearts

3. What are you listening to right now: "Blow" is on TV

4. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number: 18

5. What was the last thing you ate: Some sort of meat thing at Genghis Khan

6. If you were a crayon what color would you be: I was always a fan of Violet-Blue

7. How is the weather right now: Chilly, about 45 outside

8. Last person you talked to on the phone: Dave

9. Your favorite TV show(s): Smallville, Angel, Friends, all the Law and Orders, Monk

10. Do you like the person who sent this to you: Monica is a cool chica, though I haven't met her...Susan's got a pretty inspirational story...I only hope I stay that active as I get older...well, I hope I just get active period.

11. How are you today: I feel blah. Tired for some reason. I think I have the plague. Or maybe I'm just full.

12. Favorite drink: Iced white chocolate mochas with soy milk

13. Favorite alcoholic drink: Do I have to pick one? Jack and Coke, car bombs, kahlua and coke, guiness

14. Favorite sports to watch: Football, short track, billiards, hockey

15. Hair color: dark dark brown

16. Eye color: Dark brown

17. Do you wear contacts: Yes. Without them I'm almost legally blind.

18. Siblings: 2 younger siblings, Fatima and Claudine

19. Favorite month: May, because all the cool people were born then.

20. Favorite food: Sushi, tiramisu

21. Last movie you watched: DVD: View from the Top, Theaters: Big Fish

22. Favorite day of the year: Christmas Eve/Christmas

23. What time did you go to bed last night? 3am

24. Summer or winter: I'm a winter gal

25. Hugs or kisses: I'm a hugger.

26. Chocolate or vanilla ice cream: Chocolate

27. Do you want your friends to write back: If they know what's good for them.

28. Who is most likely to respond: Kathy, Mike, Mel, Marilyn

29. Who is least likely: I dunno...I have no idea who's reading this...but if I sent it, Claudine....because SHE SHOULD BE STUDYING.

30. What's under your bed: I dunno...we haven't lived here long so I haven't had time to mark my territory with mess, so right now, just a couple spiders and lost socks.

31. What books are you reading: Comic books right now - Fables, 1602, New X-Men, Elektra, Exiles, Batgirl

32. What's on your mouse pad: It's just black. I'm lame.

33. Favorite board game: Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Taboo, Guestures, Cranium, SIMS, Roller Coaster Tycoon...oh wait, not all of those are board games...

34. What did you do last night: Made dinner, watched TV, hung out with the hubbie...

35. Favorite thing to do to pass time: Surf the net, work on my page, chat, watch TV

36. Can you touch your nose with your tongue: No.

37. What (I'm changing this to who) inspires you: People who are selfless and give to others without expecting anything in return, or any recognition for it.

38. Red, plain or salted popcorn: Salted, with lotsa lotsa butter.

39. Favorite flower: Hibiscus and Irises

40. What I have to do to prepare for my day: Wake up. That's my biggest challenge for my day.

This week's Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Ignore:: Block
2. Death:: Decay
3. Missy:: Elliott
4. Ballet:: Slippers
5. Guest:: Christopher
6. Campus:: Quad
7. Lonely:: Heart
8. Company:: Three's
9. Helicopter:: Whirligig
10. Sterile:: Fertile