Photos from Friday are up...
...from our little adventure on my birthday. This is the first batch of pictures I took with my new camera. Comments are welcome!
Promo has a new cell phone! *jealousy* Yeah, I'm a gadget girl, so what?
Time for this week's Monday Mission!
1. Who has authority over you?
Mostly myself. It really depends on what I'm doing, I suppose. Y'know, work, school, whatever. The only person I *let* have authority over me is Kev. ;)
You're not the boss of me!
2. Where do you go to get a feeling of community?
I get a feeling of community at school. Sounds corny, but it's true. Ever since I've been back in school, I've felt more of a part of a community. I'm liking it so far... it's not all about going to classes and getting an education, but being around a diverse group of people that are like-minded and have similar goals. pharmaoffshore.com
3. What do you do, or have you done, in your life that "goes against the tide?"
Hmm. It's all subjective, but I think that I've never really gone *with* the tide all that much. I'm sure a lot of people will say that. As the saying goes, "I want to be unique... just like everyone else!" ^_^;;
I've never really been a girl's girl, if you know what I mean. I've always been referred to as "the smart, quiet one". And you know... I don't mind one bit. I dunno if you can say that staying true to yourself is necessarily "going against the tide", but heck, not too many people really do so.
4. Guilt can be a powerful weapon. Those who have mastered its power can very good at getting what they want. Have you ever used guilt to get you what you want? Have you ever had it used on you? How did you react?
Oh, I can write novels on this one... but I won't. Many people that know me are aware what guilt does to me... I am a SUCKER. I take responsibility for a lot more than I should. This unfortunately leads to people taking advantage of me, but I think I've gotten a better handle on it recently. I often feel horrible for myself when people lay the guilt on me, and succeed.
5. I was walking through the mall Friday night and saw a lot of teenagers who dressed really wild and just acted like idiots - not caring who was looking or what others thought. And I remember being that way, having that kind of freedom. I must have looked like a fool then too. Did you ever do anything in public with your friends as a teenager that you would never do today? Tell me about that.
Y'know, I actually think that teenagers *do* care who's looking and what they think. That's why they act the way they do... they WANT the attention. When you're that age, you want everyone to look at you. You want to impress people and make them laugh. It's all about ME ME ME. I'm sure I was guilty of some of that kind of behavior, but as I said earlier, I was always the quiet one.
6. I don't watch the television show "Survivor," but I did notice they allow each contestant to bring one "luxury item" to the deserted island with them (make-up, a book, etc.). If you were to go to an island for three months, what five "luxury items" would you bring and why?
I would definitely bring a toothbrush, as silly as it sounds. I can't stand morning mouth. Bleh. Or a hairbrush, cos my hair gets really horrible at times... either that, or I'm just way too picky about it.
7. If you would have had a choice, in which time period would you have like to have lived? Why?
I would have loved to witness the decades of the 20's through the 40's. I know that's a broad range of time, but it's within a lifetime. :) There was so much going on during those times... innovations in almost every industry. The times of war, the times of political change... I would've loved to witness it all.
BONUS: Where do you dare me to draw the line?
If you take one step further... I'll moitalize ya!
I took this picture while waiting at a stop light in Sausalito the other day. Funny how our eyes play tricks on us.
Tonight was poker night, which also served double duty as a second llittle birthday party for yours truly. The best birthday gift of all was a surprise visit from Bri (who now lives in Washington state)!
We had the PokerCam on for a while, but switched to a videoconference with Bri's wife back in WA, for some fun real-time video chat. Sorry if you guys were hoping to watch some hot poker action. ;)
Some of my friends chipped in together and got me a Olympus VN-1800 digital voice recorder. It'll come in handy for school, as well as recording my many ideas that I have while on the road or on the go, including blog entries! I've learned that it's dangerous to try to scribble in your Palm while driving, heh. Wow... another gadget to add to my collection. Jeez, now I need a man purse for all these gadgets!
Now to bed. Mmm... sleep.
What a birthday it was! It started off with a good session of sleeping in. Mmm... sleep. Kev had the day off, so he got to sleep in with me! What a bonus, when you get to sleep in late and have someone to keep you warm on a windy autumn morning!
Kev had planned for us to drive up to Marin for some wandering and exploration. We used to live in Mill Valley many years ago, when we were first together. His ultimate goal was to get us up around Mt. Tam to watch the sunset. Aww!
I had forgotten to charge the battery on the digital camera (it's his, but we have been sharing it), so I immediately ran to plug it in before getting myself ready to go. When it came to be the time to leave, I was bummed to see that the battery was not fully charged, but I unplugged it anyways.
Hmm. "What to do?" I thought out loud.
"Use this one," Kev said, and handed me a battery. It was a retangular looking battery, and it wasn't at all like the one that we used in the G1. I stared at him, confused.
"When did you get this?" I asked.
"I did when I got THIS!" he said gleefully, and handed me a box containing a Canon Powershot S330. OMG... the one I was toiling over last month! I was blown away. I wasn't expecting a gift, really... all I wanted today was to spend some quality time with Kev. But, wow. I took some great pictures today with it.
We had lunch a a great Thai restaurant on Irving Street in SF, then headed to Mill Valley to see how much the place has changed since we left. A few new stores here and there, but it was pretty much the same... yuppie-ville. After grabbing a Freddo at Peet's (of course), we headed up towards Mt. Tam and froze our keesters off in the cold wind on Fairfax-Bolinas Road! What a lovely view, though... I've missed it! We then took a coast drive to see Stinson Beach, reconnect with some redwoods, and visited Muir Beach as well. A very lovely drive, indeed.
I'll post some photos in my photo gallery soon... I do so dig this camera. :)
This is darned specific. But an anime geek such as myself loves memes such as these!
what's your cowboy bebop theme song?
It's not my birthday
It's not today
It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
It's not just my birthday today (I'm 26!), it's the birthday of many others! Thanks to the Ageless Project, I've discovered some great bloggers out there that share this day with me.
When the word comes down never more will be around
Though I wish we were there
I was less that we could bear
And I'm not the only dust my mother raised...
- "It's not my Birthday" by TMBG
Why, Romano, WHY?
Damn. Did anyone else see ER? It's the only series I watch these days, since x-files is kaput.
But, DAMN. What a way to start of a season.
So the school semester starts this week. I thought I had classes Wednesdays and Thursdays, but turns out I was wrong.
So an alarm goes off in my Treo at 5:15pm saying that I had to be there in 15 minutes. Farkin' A. Something went wonky here.
The printout I got from school is dumb.
| Course | Title | Days |
| ARTS-063.-01 | TR | |
| CIS -018A-61 | INTRO TO UNIX | TR |
| JAPN-090A-62 | ||
| W | ||
| PHTG-002.-01 | INTERMEDIATE PHOTOGRAPH | W |
I assumed that "TR" meant "Thursday". Apparently, it means Tuesday AND Thursday. Gah. Don't most schools give you schedules that indicated "TTh" if it's those two days? Ah well.
So I showed up 20 minutes late for my UNIX class, but it wasn't a big deal. I did end up missing my first "Business Practices for Graphic Design" class, but hopefully I'm still cool for Thursday.
Back to school. Ainnit great?
I haven't seen a site for Bay Area Webloggers... maybe I'm just blind? Y'know, something like NYC Bloggers. Could someone kindly point me in the direction of such a site if it exists? Well, I mean besides the webring.
If such as site DOES NOT exist, I'm up for creating it. Spread the word!
It's taken a lot of time and possibly a lot of thought for me to type out the required (or so it seems) "100" meme. Here's some things you may or may not know about me...
1. I've never had formal graphic design training.
2. My middle name is Lea, pronounced like "Princess Leia".
3. My mom used to do my hair up in braid rings, which only further enforced the "Princess" teasing.
4. I have been in and out of college for 6 years, but have yet to earn a degree.
5. I live in a rented house with my fiancé and his two children.
6. I have been a Macintosh user since 1992.
7. ...Although I was an Apple user when I was a kid.
8. Then I was a DOS geek for the bulk of the preteen and teen years.
9. I have worked in the office of the black turtlenecked one, Steve Jobs.
10. I rarely eat red meat. When I do, it's in sparing amounts, cos it makes me feel sick.
11. ...But I used to eat a steak a week.
12. My toenails are often painted "Gunmetal". Many years ago, I used to live in a house with a bunch of friends who would paint their toes this color, including the men.
13. I've never been overseas.
14. I'm an amateur wine snot.
15. I have always had an affinity for spicy foods, since I was a kid. Apparently, I take after my father, since no one else in the family really does.
16. I smoked cigarettes for almost a week. That was the beginning and the end of my smoking career.
17. I am incredibly allergic to mosquito bites. They often swell to the size of a grapefruit.
18. I don't read women's magazines. I swore them off when I was in my late teens because I realized they were destructive.
19. I love to cook. I have considered a career in the culinary arts at times.
20. I don't like shellfish like clams and mussels. Well, fried clams and clam chowder aren't bad, but that's my limit.
21. I am the only one in my immediate family that does not wear corrective lenses. I guess it's only a matter of time.
22. I have dreams with recurring characters: kids from grade school.
23. I watch less than 3 hours of television a week.
24. Although I have made the exception when I discovered that we had the G4 network on our cable system.
25. I only listen to NPR and college radio stations.
26. I have never met my paternal grandparents.
27. I used to consider 27 my lucky number when I was a kid, only because it was my birthdate and it happened to be my assigned student number in grade school.
28. I've been told that I am "too emotional".
29. I had braces put on my teeth as an adult.
30. I often forget to wear my retainer these days.
31. I love to get personal mail. Hardly anyone sends snail mail anymore.
32. I had my first boyfriend when I was 15.
33. I broke up with my first boyfriend after five months because I didn't want to have sex yet, and he didn't respect that.
34. My brother is 10 years younger than me.
35. There are nine computers in my house.
36. Six of those computers are Macintoshes.
37. I love to play Pinball, and often gravitate towards pinball machines over arcade games.
38. I've only been drunk once.
39. I can hold my alcohol quite well "for someone my size".
40. The first album I owned was Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
41. I played an Italian girl in a school musical when I was ten years old.
42. I can't sing for beans.
43. My favorite band is They Might Be Giants.
44. I first discovered TMBG when I was eleven years old, and was a big fan of the song "She
Was a Hotel Detective".
45. My first term paper, in seventh grade, was on the history of animation.
46. My second term paper, in eigth grade, was about Andy Warhol.
47. The subjects of my writing in junior high pretty much set the tone for the my creative tastes for the rest of my life.
48. I still watch cartoons (who doesn't?).
49. I don't wear name brand clothing.
50. It's taken me twenty minutes to get this far.
51. My favorite cuisine is Thai.
52. I have one credit card, and have had it since I was 18.
53. My hair was once dyed over purple.
54. I make a kick-ass batch of Tiramisu.
55. My fiancé is over a decade older than I am.
56. ...and it has never bothered me a bit in our 6 years together.
57. I cannot speak another language fluently. What can I say, I'm an American.
58. I am a first generation American. My parents came to the states when they were kids.
59. I eat rice with almost everthing, and every meal.
60. I am writing this list in a text editing program called Alpha, and will copy it over to my blog later.
61. I've had to look at a couple of other people's "100" lists to get ideas for some of these questions.
62. I drink of a lot of iced tea.
63. I really have to pee.
64. I was a cheerleader two years of my high school career.
65. I really didn't like being a cheerleader.
66. I would've rather been home playing text based RPGs and mucking around on BBSes.
67. I have a massive student loan to pay off for only 2.5 years of art school that I didn't finish.
68. I was an uncredited Production Assistant (aren't they all) for A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.
69. I spent a lot of my allowance on comics when I was a kid.
70. I still spend a lot of money on comics.
71. I am a self-taught coding geek.
72. I use Adobe GoLive to lay out a lot of my pages these days for sheer instant gratification, but I still futz with the code.
73. I've only been sunburned once... after snorkeling a whole day, I got burned on my back.
74. I've developed respiratory allergies only within the last few years.
75. I am the only person in my family that doesn't have asthma. It's prolly only a matter of time, like the eyesight thing (see #21)
76. I love the smell and taste of coffee.
77. I love caffeine (I guess this is a geek requirement).
78. The laptop I'm writing this on is the only computer in the house with a wireless card in it. Nyah!
79. Working in a movie theater as a teenager led to my pursuit of a career in filmmaking.
80. Having a fiancé in the movie business (and seeing how dirty it can be) led to my dropping out of the industry.
81. I really like Gorgonzola cheese.
82. Even though I know I shouldn't, I almost always have dessert.
83. I hate being far from the ocean. I can't stand not seeing the ocean for more than a few days.
84. I'm a small percentage Spanish, although I am mostly Filipina.
85. I've been mistaken for Japanese, Hawaiian and Chinese.
86. I lived in Hawaii for two and a half years, after ditching film school, and don't regret it at all.
87. I'm shorter than both my older sister and my younger brother.
88. But I'm still taller than my mom.
89. I had a short stint as a "Perky Goth".
90. I'd rather be an anime girl now.
91. I wore a uniform for all of grade school and junior high.
92. I consider myself lucky now that I did wear uniforms.
93. I skipped kindegarten and went straight into first grade when I was six.
94. I spend way too much time in front of a computer.
95. I play poker almost every weekend with good friends.
96. I've never played the tables in Vegas.
97. I never played team sports as a kid.
98. I was on a springboard diving team for one season.
99. I still have to pee.
100. It's taken me just about an hour to finish this thing!
I was just outside watering the backyard plants (or lack of), and discovered that we have pumpkins!
They should grow to a good size by Halloween, yes?
The Great Pumpkin smiles upon us. ;)
I plum forgot to last weeks MM, but I'm still up for 'em... This Week's MM starts up a sleepy Monday with one of my favorite things... Caffeine!
1. Do you like to drink warm beverages in the morning or do you prefer yours cold?
I go both ways. It often depends on the environment and weather, of course. I currently make myself a Peet's Freddo every morning with this *wonderful* at home kit that I got recently. The sound of the blender wakes me up a little before the actual caffeine. In the winters, I do so love my espresso, though.
2. Have you ever been so upset with someone that you wanted to get revenge? What did you do? Or if you didn't, what would you like to have done?
The tempatation of revenge is always there. Human nature, I guess. Eye for and Eye and all that rot. Sure, I've wanted to see my adversaries get their just desserts, but sometimes it just ain't worth it... I would rather put my energy into something more productive. Take for example, everyone's various feelings about Osama bin Laden... so many people want to personally kick his ass and blow him to bits, but the more rational people want to work on bettering our future and thinking of what we can do to prevent this kind of situation later.
3. Looking back, are there any opportunities you missed out on that you can see now but didn't realize then?
Of course, the time I moved to Hawaii, I was over 2 years into my Bachelor's program in film at the Academy of Art in SF. I really loved what I was doing there, but I wasn't truly happy since I was away from my fiancé for a couple of years. I do wish I could have finished the program, although I do not regret it. I think I've changed my mind about my career path anyways. ^_^
4. Are there any clothes you refuse to throw away even though they don't (and never will) fit? Why do you keep them?
I won't say that they will never fit, because the possibility is always there. I've held onto this really nice pair of black pants that Kev gave me maybe 5 years ago, and it was one of the first gifts that he had given me. So it's not just the waist size that I'm holding onto, it's the sentimental value!
5. Do you have an accent? Are there any phrases or words you say that tip folks that "you aren't from around these parts?"
Nope, no accent. I think. I really dunno if I have any true Californian dialect that has followed me around... maybe someone else can point it out to me. Just a few years in Hawaii had sneaked a few local slang words into my conversations, plus a bit of pidgin english. I still catch myself using those words here in California.
6. Are there any words folks misspell or incorrect uses of words that simply drive you insane?
Besides my name?
If you know me, you'll know that my mom drives me (and the rest of the family) crazy with her misuse of words and cliches. Like "don't put all your chickens in one basket". Very entertaining, though.
7. Are there any pet names that you like to be called? Any you don't? Do you (or did you) have any pet names for your partner?
I guess I only like to be called "pet names" by Kev. Nicknames, are those the same? I have lots of those from my friends. Kev and I have variations of the word "bink" (a silly nonsense word, I guess) as our pet names for each other... Binki, Binkle, Binklet. Don't ask. You wouldn't understand. :-P
BONUS: Why you so fly?
Cos my chicken is finger lickin'.
WTF is up with Amazon's "Gold Box"?
They say that the offers within my Gold Box are based on stores I've browsed in the past... so why am I being offered an Indoor/Outdoor Generator, an Anne Geddes Baby Sunflower Doll, a Harry Potter talking room alarm, and a Wagner Model 305 Wide Shot Power Painter?
The world may never know.
I'm all excited and stuff. Spirited Away opens today in the US, and I'm itching to see it.
"Spirited Away" is the latest film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, best known as the director of great films such as "Princess Mononoke" and "My Neighbor Totoro". If you have never seen his films, I suggest you do so soon! He has been in the business a long time, and has a real knack for engaging storytelling and beautiful cinematography.
A lot of people seem to think that Anime is all cute cute creatures or giant robots or teenage girls in school uniforms. Give it a chance and open your mind! Don't judge Anime at all until you see a Miyazaki film.
I think it's funny that I posted my last two entries at 11:59pm. Not intentional, I swear.
It feels good to take a nice warm shower before going to bed. It makes your body feel all warm and eases you for nice fuzzy sleepy feelings. Kinda like a glass of warm milk.
I especially love it when I have just done the laundry, with fresh clean, *warm* sheets. Climbing into those fresh sheets, and feeling them on my clean skin is really great. One of those simple pleasures, I s'pose.
I think it's almost time for bed. ;)
Just got back from the weblogger meetup in Cupertino.
Two hosts, 6 people had RSVP'ed. And then there were four. Ealasaid, her father, Guy, Antwon and I were the lucky winners.
Good times, good coffee, good conversation. I think that Coffee Society is a really great place to meet people... they have a cool back room with sofas and internet taps and power outlets and local rags... a geek utopia when you add in the caffeine factor! My wireless net tap worked there, but it was a pay-as-you go ($7 a day or $20 a month) service. Bah.
I forgot the camera, but we'll always have the memories. Either that, or the blog entries. ^_^;;
Tomorrow night is International Blog MEETUP Day. South Bay bloggers are meeting at one of the coolest cafés in the area, Coffee Society in Cupertino. Please do sign up, and see ya there!
I remember in the old days of The Palace, there was a script within the chat software that would turn the text "palace" (when someone would type it in chat) to "This Thing that is Eating my Life".
Little did I know how close to home that statement is. I'm starting to personally feel this way about computing in general. Dammit, it's like crack. I know it's bad, but I keep going back to it. Gotta get outta the habit of hopping outta bed and directly to the computer desk. Gotta stop spending so much time on the 'net and wasting half my day. I keep telling myself, I'll get off my duff today and limit my computer time. Gotta frickin' *exercise*.
I need to do more geocaching, cos it was a perfect excuse to get out of the house. Taking walks is nice. Being outdoors is nice. Monitor tan is bad.
Then again, I also wanted to get outside to do a little wardriving or warchalking.
All right, that was just extremely sad.
Why do cats insist on getting into the most random, inappropriate and dangerous spots... and why must they always obstruct whatever you are doing?
I just had to pull Sparx out from inside the microwave cart, where there was a broken dessert dish wrapped in paper. She was clawing at the paper, getting dangerously close to the glass. That darned cat!
Buckle up kids, it's now time for...
Referring Search Strings! Yaaay!
The following search terms were used by random surfers to find this site.
1. been in a fist fight
2. evil frosty
3. cornfusion
4. css state farm stereo
5. Middle brother syndrome
5. catholic calendar palm os
6. dream courtney (awww...)
Join us in a month or two for another episode!
I promise these boring update posts will slow down, I swear.
I created a new blog, dedicated to links to share and discuss. Kinda like slashdot, kuro5hin and fark.
I tend to bookmark and email out a lotta links, so this was a natural direction of growth. I collect links of geeky stuff (duh), pop culture, weird stories, news, urban legends, etc... all pretty much pertaining my particular interests and tastes. Maybe you're interested and want to take a look, and participate in the discussion.
This is mostly for my own reference, to remember to keep an eye on development for this MT blog to iCal implementation.
This looks to be pretty cool, but I'm not ready to use it just yet. I'm curious to see how many Jaguar users will actually use and embrace the app.
Link to developer for this implementation is at disobey.com.
I am officially Jaguar-ed. So far, so good. I will recommend to you folks out there who have not installed it yet, to use the Archive and Install option... it's a new install option that archives everything from your previous system (assuming you are running OS 10.x already)... very handy.
Also, refer to this sidebar from the current MacWorld mag Migrate to Jaguar with a Clean Install. There's more info at this link than in the printed mag.
I've spent almost the whole afternoon tinkering with this OS. Me likey.
Now... to .Mac... or not to .Mac?
Wow, this Freddo-At-Home kit I got from Peets is outstanding. Quality frozen coffee goodness in my own home, and I am not in the Starbucks paradox anymore. Genius.
I highly recommend it. It's got a good beat, and I can dance to it.
*bounces off walls*
Shall I also mention how nice it is to wake up late on a Sunday morning and see fresh Noah's Bagels on the table? Ah, tis the good life.
This is the last weekend of the Lost Spacecraft exhibit at the Chabot Space & Science Center... featuring the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft that sunk to the bottom of the sea in 1961.
Looks to be really cool. Does anyone remember when the craft was recovered in 1999?
Anyone have any bad luck stories today?
...Or did you forget what today is?
click to view... (photo by Loren)
The boxing gloves that Wil used in the EFF benefit boxing match, and that Ben drew on, are now up for auction.
What I wanna know now is when Ben is going to put our napkin up for auction.
I found my copy of Jaguar at the door when I got home today. Glee!
I need a big chunk of time to spend with my computers to get this mutha installed... can't do it tonight, cos that's not enough time. Can't do it tomorrow, cos I'll be at Seybold. Oh, the agony.
Coupla quick updates... below are the major ones, ignore this entry if these kinds of things bore you... ^_^;;
*Added a page that lists the last 50 referring sites to the index page (there is also a link to it on the right sidebar). This'll be useful to me, and maybe interesting to you.
*Added a message form to the contact page. Now it's even easier to bug me.
*Added my ThinkGeek wishlist to the "interact" portion of the sidebar. For fun, really.
*Added a section on the sidebar called "on the night table" where you can take a peek at what reading material I'm browsing through at the moment.
If anyone out there is going to Seybold SF this week, lemme know. I'll be there for the Expo for a couple of days.
Or if you'll happen to be in the city this week, lemme know as well.
I am one to admit that I drink Starbucks drinks. I know, I know, it's a product of Dr. Evil ("Eight years ago we invested in a small Seattle coffee company called Starbucks...").
In my heart, I like Peets Coffee a lot better. There are just so many Starbucks around, you turn around, and BAM, there's on in your face. So I often will go in and order a frappuccino. That's mostly what I like there, anyways.
I think that once the colder weather comes, I'll be drinking more Peets. I think their coffee is the only kind of coffee that I've been willing to drink black. Heh. We need more Peets in the south bay... I only know of one near our house.
Today's Monday Mission is one of a more serious nature... I agree with Promo that it is appropriate for us to discuss our feelings about the events that took place a year ago, before we get deluged with the media's idea of how we should feel. This is a tough one, but I wanted to vent. Read on if you wanna know more...
1. Where were you and what was happening in your life the moment when you first became aware of what was happening at the World Trade Center in New York City last September 11th? What was the first thing you did when you heard the news?
I think I will not be alone when I say that I can remember that day like it was yesterday (although that sounds cliched). Since I was living in Hawaii at the time, it was already many hours (five or six) before I heard the first mention of what had happened. It was about ten minutes to eight. I had climbed into my car to go to work, like any other day. My radio was always set to the local NPR station, so immediately, I start to hear frantic reports and talk about airplanes crashing. I didn't know the whole story yet, so I kept listening as I drove. As I listened more, I slowly put the pieces together... two planes had crashed into each of the World Trade Center towers? I couldn't even fathom the idea. I started to shake.
My cell phone rang, and on the other end was Kevin.
"What is going on?" were the first words out of his mouth. No greetings, just fear and confusion were on our minds. He had just turned on the television, which he often did in the mornings as he got ready for work. Apparently, he had also received and email that had said something to the effect of "In the wake of today's events, the office is closed today", with no further information. I filled him in on the details, and he was crushed. Kevin had lived in New York many years ago, and it hit him hard to see this happen.
I continued to drive to work, and went immediately to the lunch room to watch the news for the rest of the day.
2. When those truly responsible for the attack are apprehended, what do you think would be the most fitting form of justice?
This is a tough one. I don't want the anger to speak, and say that they should be hurt just as much as we all did. But who is to gauge how much pain that really is? I think that revenge is not necessarily the key to fixing what was wronged. I think that education and understanding is. People that commit such horrible terrorist acts seem to be so grossly misinformed about the world around them. I want to see dissolution of these organizations, and to educate their children properly... not to hate, but celebrate peoples' differences. I can't really say what to do about the adults already set in their ways... some sort of surveillance is definitely in order.
3. How do you think the history books should present the 9-11 attacks? Should it be included for all future generations? How can we truly convey the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day to the children of our children?
I don't think you can truly convey the intensity of the feelings that resulted from these events. You can only try. As with most history books, the story will most likely be solely factual, and will try to be unbiased and straightforward. I think the feelings about what has happened will be passed down through their families, for the most part.
4. Did the events of 9-11 bring about a change in the way you live your life?
You know, for many months afterward, I was a changed person. I valued every moment, and cherished all the times I had with my loved ones. I called everyone I was close to and told them I cared about them. This was a time that everyone was shaken to the realization that this can be over at any time.
As time went on, I returned to normal, I guess you can say. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. I'll admit that I was tiring of brooding all the time. A sense of normalcy is definitely good. I was happy that I was close to the people I cared about, and that soothed my soul a bit.
Sometimes I forget, but every once in a while, it hits me. Hard. I'll be hit with waves of sadness about the people that have perished, and begin to think those somber thoughts again. But the good thing that does come out of these thoughts is how much I really value my life and the lives of the people close to me.
5. A year later, do you find yourself feeling more secure than back then? Or is it just a matter of time before something else happens?
I can't say for sure. I think the extra security precautions are fine, although they are a minor annoyance. I believe that everyone in the airline industry is taking the jobs a little more seriously. Same goes for law enforcement. But, you know, the possibility of terrorism and violence is *always* out there. We just do whatever we can to be prepared for it.
6. What, if anything, will you do to personally reflect on the tragedy?
I will most likely spend some time in silence, and light candles.
7. What image will you always have in your mind when you recall the events of 9-11?
The images of people holding up the posters, pleading for their loved ones, were incredibly saddening. The desperation and anguish in their faces as they clutched their pictures of their loved ones were just heart wrenching. I couldn't take it well. A more disturbing image that resounds in my mind is of people jumping the towers. It boggles my mind to think what was going through their minds at those moments... and we'll never really know, just speculate.
So, as promised, I spent most of today at the California Extreme Gaming Show... as a geek *should*. I wore my "wizard needs food badly" t-shirt, of course. The ratio of men to women was staggering, naturally... but I felt perfectly comfortable whooping their butts in Warlords, hee hee! ;)
They had live projections of Dragon's Lair and various vector games on the convention hall's wall. Too awesome.
I played a lot of Pinball. Where else are you going to get this much pinball in one place? I took full advantage of it, and played almost every one of 'em. I played a few good games of Revenge from Mars with Mish, and I got a decent score of about 91,000,000!
Loren was there too, and he bought a game cabinet to start on his MAME project. Wish I had enough money to buy a game... but then I'd hafta toil over *which* one, such a hard decision!
Unfortunately, I did not have a digital camera on hand, and chanced lugging around my Nikon SLR. I only took 10 pictures. Whoops. My hands were full playing games, anyways. What a good way to spend a Sunday.
If you're in the Bay Area, and a geek, you are required to attend the California Extreme classic arcarde games show this weekend. Anyone planning on doing so, be sure to let me know!
Where else can you find the largest selection of Free Plays? ;)
Maybe I can finally convice Kev that we "need" to buy an arcade or pinball game... *cough*
So I applied some of these new graphics to the rest of the pages on the site, for the most part.
Also note that I am slowy adding archive pages to the webcam section. Right now, I have images up from last week's poker night. You can watch the whole evening in animated GIFs. Weee!
UPDATE 22:09 PDT
Wow, it was easier than I thought to change over to PHP. Awesome. Added the spiffy new banner to all the archive pages too. Weeee!
Hey, new layout... w00t! Same color scheme, just with some images, and using tables for the actual layout (I was using floating boxes before).
It makes sense that a graphic designer would at least have some *graphics* on her weblog, huh? It only makes too much sense. So here ya go. The anime character is Lain from Serial Experiments Lain. If you haven't seen it, you should! I felt like her character was appropriate, as GeekyChicks go.
Oh, and a new splash screen to go with it.
And for my next trick, I will convert this weblog into PHP. But not tonight.
Of course, you know, I'll change things around *again* eventually... I can never leave well enough alone. ^_^;;
I'm stoked. I went to Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose today... we discovered that place a few weeks ago... and it has a Kinokuniya Bookstore inside!
I spent a good amount of time this afternoon browsing each section of the Marketplace. Their grocery section is bigger than any other asian market I've seen in the states... and I love it! I didn't have any "real" groceries to buy today, so I raided the snack sections.
I came away with some good stuff... including, but not limited to: Pocky, Tohato Maple Puffs, Carl Curry Puffs, Seasoned Nori, Mug Ramen, Shelley Senbei, and the dreaded C.C. Lemon we all know and love (hocked by the Simpsons!).
I need to go back when I have more time (and money) to burn. Lots of J-Pop CDs to buy... hee!
Your tongue will be torn your bowels my food
your body impaled of shit will be full
now foolish warrior hear my words
You are condemned and you will come
with us all beyond the gates of infinity
I'm the mighty warrior herd of the northern lands
Algalord is calling so your hell must wait
-Rhapsody's "Beyond the Gates of Infinity"
Are you scared too? Me, I can't stop giggling.
Today wasn't so bad. I've been feeling kinda stuck in a rut lately... being at home, not really doing much. Kinda my own fault, I guess. Allergies, hot weather, general tiredness... all kept me from really getting out there. So I promised myself that today I'd get out in the world, mostly because the weather was cooler today... ^_^
I got a late start, but I drove down to Uvas Canyon County Park in Morgan Hill, to try and find a couple of good geocaches. I ended up finding only one near the creek, and didn't go after the others because I was getting killed by the mosquitoes. One flew right into my eye, and one up my nose... bleh! I couldn't stand it.
It's a really nice drive up to Uvas Canyon. Quite relaxing, I'd recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a weekend drive.
On my way back, I stopped to look for a birthday gift... didn't quite find what I was looking for, but I ended up buying a coupla CD's at Rasputin's in Campbell. I had just heard some snippets of a band called Hot Hot Heat on today's All Things Considered, and wanted to find their album. Score, it was $7.99. Gotta love it. Also picked up the album "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" by Rhapsody... just cos it's so rock. It's dangerous to try and find a birthday gift at places where you can easily spend a lot of money on your own inklings.
Anyhoo, I happened upon a lone Del Taco franchise on my way back home... Mish had told me the other day of its existence. These places are never heard of 'round these parts. So I thought I'd feed my curiousity and pick up some dinner... complete with Del Scorcho sauce. My day was complete. I guess.
And I'm Jello, baby.
dammit, dammit, dammit.
WizKids has released the MechWarrior: Dark Age sets.
Just look at this thing... It's bad ass.
Dammit.
Can anyone open up and BIGGER hole to pour my money into?
I forgot to add a toy to my list from the entry of the other day...
A Canon ZR40 MiniDV Camera for $440?
Too many techno-toys... brain ready to explode...
It's Labor day... but I'm still hangin' around!
Boys and Girls, it's time for the Monday Mission!
1. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you on a date?
I dunno, I musta passed gas on one date or another... or is that too cliched of an answer? Nothing really too severe, just maybe spinach in my teeth, zipper down, or something silly like that.
2. Do you eat your veggies?
Of course I do. I always try to eat a balanced meal. I also do not eat a lot of red meat, not to be a vegetarian of any kind, but just because red meat makes me feel sluggish, heavy, and at times, sick.
3. Most people are comfortable going to the bathroom in front of at least one person. Has anyone ever used the restroom in front of you that you wish wouldn't have? What happened and how bad was it?
Err... my mom does that. Like I could be in the bathroom at her house, washing my hands, putting eyedrops in, whatevv... and she would come in and sit on the toilet, unannounced. It's actually kinda funny.
4. Have you ever had a bad online transaction? You know, the item wasn't what you thought it would be, you got totally ripped-off, no refunds, it just plain sucked? What's the story there?
I think all of us have an eBay experience like that at one point or another. I've bought some tea online (at Adagio, where I actually really like their teas) that I really didn't like at all, but I still have it just in case any guests may want it. Oh, yeah, and I had bought some Sencha Green Tea from Peet's online (while living in Hawaii, natch) which came to spilled all over the inside of the box... I complained to get a replacement, got it a few days later... and the tea was awful. It tasted like grass or ocean or something. I figured it wasn't worth the trouble to bitch about anymore.
5. Ever have a current love find any old love letters (or similar item) you kept that probably should have been thrown away? How did that turn out?
I don't think so. I usually toss (or BURN!) that stuff cos it never seems to have much significance to me after the feelings are gone.
6. Was there ever a time when you did something totally outrageous because you knew no one would know who you were, or maybe didn't care even if they did?
I guess I'm not that exciting... I've never really been in a situation that would give me that opportunity... I think.
7. Hey, what happened to you last night? I waited forever!
We were right here at the kitchen table, playing poker for the second night in a row. It kicked ass, you shoulda been there.
BONUS: I know I could break you down, but what good would it do?
Absolutely no good at all. You just want to feel good about yourself. How does it feel now? Huh? Huh?
