So I’m going down into the subway, and this guy passes by me. He was kind of in a hurry and brushed past me. I glance at him, and he’s wearing baggy pants, and big jacket, a bandana and baseball hat. First thing I think of is ‘thug’, just like a lot of guys that take my train. Nothing wrong with being one. I’m not surprised that he didn’t say ‘excuse me’. So I’m walking down the stairs, he passes by me, and ahead of me is this old blind man, taking his time going down the steps. ‘Poor old guy, he’s gonna get pushed over’ I think. So thug is rushing down the stairs and gets to the old guy. And then he pauses. ‘OK sir, I’m on your right side. You’re almost there, you’ve got um, 7 steps more to go.’ Thug then places his hand under the blind man’s elbow and helps him the rest of the way down. After they get to the bottom, Thug pats the old guy on the back and says ‘You have a nice day now’, and rushes to the train.

You know, sometimes I love being wrong about people.

Tags: Stories by Yano
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Well, Fred Rogers, the Mister Rogers of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, a PBS staple and loved by generations, passed away today. I remember growing up with him, I had a million and one fantastic adventures in his land of make believe. Goodbye my dear friend. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to tie my sneakers.

Two more goodbyes for me today, to Jim Miller and James “Big Cat” Williams, from the Chicago Bears. I’m really sad to see them go, but for Jim, I’m so happy that he had the career he did. Even though last year wasn’t the best for him, 2001 was a great year. When other quarterbacks would have given up being the third string, he hung in there and became the starting quarterback. And what can I say about Big Cat? No one has a bigger heart, worked harder, or had more love for the game. He gave his all for the game, even playing while injured - and he LOVED football, you could see it in his eyes. Sure, it was almost expected that they were going to let him go…he’s been in the league for 11 years, but you can tell that it’s going to be tough not having him around anymore. He’s probably one of the most respected people on the team, and most beloved. He knows what it means to be a Chicago Bear. He’s tough. Tough enough to play 144 consecutive regular season games, even while injured. *sigh* He will be missed.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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I was in a pretty crappy mood in the morning because I had brought my laptop home to work and went to take a nap at around 10, and didn’t wake up til 3am. Damn my alarm! So I had to get to work early to get the stuff done that I didn’t do the night before. And today was still a packed day for me. Fortunately, it was waffle day. A couple people brought in waffle irons and brought in syrup, milk, etc. My contribution was Cool Whip and milk.

Dan got some free Blublocker sunglasses from a Wolves’ game and brought them to work. Wearing them made me feel silly, and less stressed. So I wore them around for a while like the dork that I am. I was actually complimented when someone told me that I didn’t look like a complete loser in them, and that I ‘actually look kinda cool in them’. Yeah. I’m so cool, it passes on to my Blublockers.

And here’s a little piece of the Blublocker rap to put you in the mood…

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Wow. Smallville is such a fucking great show. MAN! They brought on Christopher Reeve today, the original Superman, and they could have had him in amazingly cheesey role, or part of a stupid plotline, but it was a great episode. And when they started playing the Superman theme song…WOWZA. Love this show!

And I admit, I got a little misty eyed during the Chloe/Lana part.

Tags: Reviews by Yano
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Work was MEGA stressful today. Probably the most stressful it’s been in months. Yesterday was stressful enough (which was why I had the tiny post) and I was on the phone for almost 4 hours straight. But today, I had to deal with some clients that were having some MAJOR problems, as well as get my consultant reports in, and my expense reports in, and work on several customizations. Not only that, but one of our sales people needed a demo database customized ASAP. To me, that was a low priority, but to a lot of other people, it needed to be done yesterday. So i had to juggle my day around, and a lot of things were left undone. I even took my laptop home to work on it. *sigh* I was so stressed and busy, that they even gave me my own office for the day. I had an awesome view, but couldn’t enjoy it because I was working. ACK! It’s been so busy, I was going to take Thursday and Friday off, but just decided to take half days so I can get my stuff done before leaving for Portland next week. YUK!

Well, at least I’m going to Vegas for St. Patty’s day! Yay! It’s for work, but it’s good to know that work has its perks every now and then.

Drove to work today, and I made this awesome CD that I was jammin’ to all the way home. Missy Elliott’s ‘Gossip Folks’, 112’s ‘Dance With Me’, Faith Evans’ ‘Love Like This’, 50 Cent’s ‘In da Club’ are but a couple tunes on my master mix. I was getting my groove on in the car, and forgot myself and a couple people caught me shaking my thang.

Stopped by the comic book store. I always laugh inside whenever people I don’t know are in the store (I’m a somewhat regular, I’d like to think) and are amazed that a GIRL comes into the store and reads comics. Either they’ll curiously glance at what books of mine are being rung up, or they’l just come out and say ‘I don’t know any girls that are into comics. What kind do you like?’ Well, let me tell ya, guy, I like a lot of ‘em. And that’s even AFTER I cut out 5 books from my list! Now the big challenge for me is to actually make some time to READ them. It’s been 3 months, and I’m still reading ‘The Corrections’! Sleep has taken over my free time during my commute to work. But I’m almost done, so I should be able to get to my comics by next month.

Wow. This is a long post.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Found a new daily thing, and I haven’t done one for a while…this is pretty interesting…Here’s the Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Soundtracks for me -

5) Saturday Night Fever - I was a girl brought up on disco. I loved this soundtrack so much, I had a BeeGee’s record player. The movie was ok, but it was the music that made it a hit!

4) When Harry Met Sally - The first time I heard the magic, the man, the sex symbol known as Harry Connick Jr. This soundtrack made big bands cool again.

3) Grease - Sure, you can listen to the ‘Grease Megamix’ and get the whole soundtrack in 6 minutes, but this one is definitely a classic. Hand Jive anyone?

2) Purple Rain - For as weird as Prince is, (though quite normal compared to Jacko) this soundtrack was awesome. Ask me about the movie, and my opinion will be different. But as for the music here, absolute genius.

1) Pulp Fiction - Great movie, great soundtrack. Perfect for a roadtrip or to play when you’re offing someone. I especially love the little soundbites from the movie. ‘Bring out the gimp!’

Tags: Weeklies by Yano
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Looks like my girl Norah Jones kicked some booty at the Grammys yesterday. That’s so awesome! She’s great! Dave doesn’t know her that well, so he thought that her ‘hogging up all the awards’ was unfair. Oh well, too bad, the girl’s da shit. Gotta get him a copy of the CD. He’s just upset that Christina Aguilera didn’t win anything.

Didn’t get to watch the whole show (missed Norah) but the performances to me were just mediocre. Nothing to exciting. I wasn’t even impressed too much with Eminem’s performance. Come on Grammys, let’s spice it up! Extra points to Ms. Jones for saying ‘SHIT’ in front of millions, and looking as sweet and shy as she is on her CD. A couple other points:

- Aretha Franklin - Who picked out the outfit? The Bride from Outer Space?
- Does Bruce Springsteen hurt when he sings? It hurts me to see the expression on his face. Did he always sing like that? That’s ok, he ROCKED!
- What’s up with JC’s hair?
- I still find Eminem strangely attractive
- Was it me, or was the Nelly/Kelly ending really, really weird?
- I had a BeeGees record player. I admit to getting a bit teary eyed during the tribute.

That’s all for now…gotta get home fast!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been driving really fast. And I drive even faster when someone passes me. This little voice in my head says ‘What, am I not going FAST enough for you?’ and I speed up and pass them. I need to stop this habit! It could get pretty dangerous. But going fast feels so good! It’s almost like a drug…

We rented ‘The Rookie’ today, and it was a great movie. I definitely recommend it. And it was great to watch it with Dave, because he used to be really good at pitching when he was young. I know there’s a little part of him that wonders what would have happened if he stuck with it. What’s great about this also is that it’s a true story! Deep down inside, Dave’s thinking ‘Yeah…I can do that!’ Sure, Dave, just as long as it’s AFTER the wedding!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Well, I’m back home from Buffalo. Came home yesterday. I was so pooped I fell asleep at 11, which for me, is pretty damn early. It was a good trip, because I really like my clients out there. Yesterday was pretty hectic on the job, because I had to get so many things done at the last minute. It’s hard to work at a site when everyone has different duties and people are in different locations. But I got my stuff done, and when I was saying goodbyes to my clients, I even got a hug and kiss on the cheak goodbye. Aww…how sweet!

So now I have a mission. Get all my crap done. After SLC and Buffalo there have been so many things that I have been putting off, and I really need to get my ass in gear. My room is in shambles, even for a messy packrat like me. I also need to find a florist for the wedding (are you happy Claudine?). And there are a million other things I have on my list of ‘things to do’. Whoo! My head is spinning. Well, Dave’s in town, so I’ll take the night off from my extra curricular stuff.

Here’s some pics I took on the airplane. There was a gorgeous sunset that I couldn’t help taking pics of…

Tags: Daily by Yano
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So I’ve finally finished my SLC review. It’s only taken me 10 days to write them. I guess I’m a bit, um, verbose, because the whole thing is 21 pages long. And I didn’t even write about EVERYTHING! But I’m done, finally. Thanks to all the proofreaders for going through it for me. I hope you all enjoy it! I’m not going to post it up here, because it’s WAY too long, but feel free to comment on it - I’ll put in the comment post at the bottom as a link. Also, if you don’t have the 5 hours to read the story, there’s a link to download a zipped version (about 600K zipped. YES, 600K). I’d really love to hear your opinions!

Here it is:
Memoirs of an Ex-Short Track Stalker

Tags: Short Track, Stories by Yano
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