Meandering Missive

Wow! Has it been a year?

2007-03-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

Hi all! :) Just a quick post to keep my blog here active, in case Blogger/Google deletes inactive blogs after 12 months have passed. As you can obviously see, I don't blog here anymore. I've been over at Live Journal all this time, and LOVE it. :) Please visit me at scaryshari.livejournal.com

Snow in San Jose!!

2006-03-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

That's right, it actually snowed in certain parts of San Jose yesterday (Friday), including bustling downtown, of all places. Unfortunately, it didn't snow here, but we *did* get some hail (and lots of rain). And of course there's snow on the two highest peaks at opposite sides of the Santa Clara Valley: Mt. Hamilton (4,200+ feet) and Mt. Umunhum (3,400+ feet). Mt. Hamilton, in fact, was where I photographed my "Ansel Adams" oak tree back in December 2003. *blush*

It also snowed in the Santa Cruz Mountains, whose highest elevation is (I think?) around 2,700 feet but generally is lower. Whatever the case with the Santa Cruz Mountains, they're high enough, and the weird weather was cold enough, for Highway 17 between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz to temporarily CLOSE due to SNOW! The snow in the mountains and down here in the Valley made PAGE ONE headlines in the Mercury News, our local paper! *chuckle*

I really badly wanted to go to ANY of these snowy locations, but it didn't happen. :( I was too busy yesterday, and again today. At least they're good commitments, and I probably wouldn't have gone to the snow even without having them, since I'm still getting over the remainder of the extremely YUCKY cold I caught one week ago. I don't feel sick at all anymore, but my sinuses are still somewhat messed up. I almost thought I was developing a sinus infection; that's how long the darn cold affected me!

At any rate, I just wanted to record this "snow date" for posterity. :) It's not all that odd to have a few days of snow in the local mountains, but it's VERY uncommon to have snow down here in the Valley! Maybe it'll happen once more before Spring, and I'll be able to go and play in it!

P.S. For those following my ongoing squirrel escapades -- I had a nice visit with Peanut and Goober today, because it was finally sunny and relatively clear. (I also saw several squirrels who don't know me -- YET!) I hadn't noticed Peanut or Goober around for 2 or 3 days during the bad weather,so I was glad to see my friends again, and I suspect the feeling was mutual. ;)= I also think I need to buy another bag of unshelled peanuts soon!

Today I am feeling agog at the snow!

I LOVE TOYS!

2006-03-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I never heard of this show on the cable channel VH-1 before, but ever since last night, I've been in love! ;D :)

Anyone who was a kid in the 1960s, '70s or even the '80s will find something to reminisce about with "I Love Toys"! It's such a funny and fun trip down memory lane, I can't stand it!

Here's the webpage: I Love Toys on VH-1.

Today I am feeling reminiscent.

"Torch Song Sonnet" (a poem)

2006-03-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Is it "typically female" to remember the date I was dumped by a very significant boyfriend? *chuckle* That's the idea I seem to get, not that I mind. I am, after all, a woman -- and a sentimental one at that. Many men I know have a hard time even remembering birthdays and anniversaries, so I'd assume they for sure wouldn't bother remembering the date a girlfriend dumped them.

Anyway, back on March 8, 1996, I was unceremoniously dumped by R.H., who at that point in my life was my happiest and longest relationship. I was confused, heartbroken and depressed, and it took a good portion of 1996 to get over him. Yep, that's right, I carried a torch for him for a long time, considering him "my once and future boyfriend" and even referring to him that way to my friends and family. Eventually, I did get over him. (And I'll can never thank my best friend 'Milgwimper' enough for being there for me all those times I wanted to cry, rant or just talk. *hugs* I love you like a sister!)

On March 8, 1997, one year after the "dark date" on the calendar of my life, I wrote an upbeat, victorious sonnet in honour of myself and my ability to survive, heal and move optimistically onward. :)

Torch Song Sonnet (March 8, 1997)

One year ago, today, a torch of fire
Was knocked onto the ground by one I loved.
I could not let the flick'ring flame expire,
But picked it up and held it high above
My dream-filled head and bleeding, pining heart --
I couldn't let the embers fade and die!
And so for eight long months this torch was part
Of everything I did as life went by.
I let the torch go out some months ago,
But darkness did not come into my life --
Instead came magic, laughter and the glow
When hope springs from the ashes of past strife.
As tonight's pale Moon begins to wax anew,
So did my heart, when once that torch I threw.

sjk

Time for a MEME! This one rocks!

2006-03-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

And my Live Journal friend PhonographGirl rocks too! I was just thinking this afternoon that I haven't done a meme in quite some time. I didn't want to go browsing at random for one I liked at the usual suspects (BlogQuiz, Quizilla, BlogThings, QuizFarm, etc.) because the lame stuff usually outnumbers the good stuff at those websites. *chuckle* Plus, I was feeling lazy.

Then, as I was catching up with Phono's journal, what should I see in her most recent entry but a meme! And a very cool, fun and interesting one, at that. :D In fact, I don't remember when I enjoyed doing a survey-style meme as much as this one!!

5 stops along my timeline:
15 years ago I was: Almost done with my 1st year of college
10 years ago I was: Very depressed (after March 8, 1996) because I'd just been dumped
5 years ago I was: Still in love with my job at a community newspaper group
1 year ago I was: Just starting to organize what's now become an awesome gals-only bingo & friendship group, The Bingo Belles
Yesterday I was: Feeling sicker with my cold than I do today :)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Ice cream
2. Chocolate chip cookies
3. Chips & dip (or salsa)
4. Fresh fruit
5. Kettlecorn/popcorn

5 songs I know all the words to:
(I love songs/music & know the lyrics to so many, I don't know where to start! But these are a good sampling from different genres.)
1. "In a Big Country" - Big Country
2. "Desperado" - The Eagles
3. "You May Be Right" - Billy Joel
4. "Crash & Burn" - Savage Garden
5. "Goodbye, Earl" - Dixie Chicks

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars:
(I'm not counting the act of paying a huge amount of taxes!)
1. Invest wisely so I & all my family members would never have financial worries again
2. Buy a small home on a large lot in the Santa Cruz Mountains (so there's room for all the plants, trees, flowers, veggies, etc. that I want)
3. Donate substantially to my fave charities
4. Do a lot of volunteer work (since I'd never need to work at a job again)
5. Take all my family and friends on a celebratory cruise

5 places I would run away to:
1. Scotland
2. Ireland
3. Italy
4. Hawaii
5. Yosemite

5 things I would never wear:
1. A mini skirt
2. Lingerie in public
3. Stiletto heels
4. Fake eyelashes
5. Thong-like swimsuit bottoms

5 favorite movies:(in no particular order)
1. Braveheart
2. Forrest Gump
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. The Breakfast Club
5. The Princess Bride

5 bad habits:
1. I'm too disorganized, distracted & procrastinating (ADHD)
2. I take things personally more often than I should
3. I have an aversion to touching or looking at raw chicken or turkey
4. I like to bite off the split ends on my hair
5. I spend too much money buying gifts for family & friends (not actually a BAD habit, but sometimes I go overboard and don't leave myself with much $$ for necessary things.)

5 biggest joys:
1. Loving people
2. Being loved back
3. Interacting with animals (especially dogs, rodents, cats & dolphins -- but obviously not in the same room! LOL)
4. Getting a good night's sleep
5. The beauty & majesty of Nature & the natural world

5 favorite toys:
1. My digital camera
2. My computers (Mac desktop & PC laptop)
3. My cellphone
4. My stuffed animals
5. My board games

5 fictional characters I would date:
1. James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser -- a.k.a. Jamie Fraser, the male protagonist of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. #1 choice! I'd take him in a heartbeat! ;D
2. Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
3. Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean
(Yes, I have a weakness for swashbucklers and/or rogues, but these next two guys are going to break the pattern! *giggle*)
4. Earl Hickey, the main character from NBC's hilarious new sitcom My Name Is Earl
5. Noel Crane from Felicity, one of my all-time fave TV series. It ran 1998-2002 on the WB Network.

Today I am feeling pleased.

Rest in peace, Dana Reeve

2006-03-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

I was sorry to read, on an early morning Internet news snippet, that Christopher Reeve's widow Dana had passed away due to lung cancer. She was truly an example of a loving, patient, loyal, upbeat, persevering and classy wife and mother. (And she wasn't even a smoker!)

I was also surprised to read of her death, because just this past November, she went on the record to say her lung tumor was shrinking due to her treatment regimen, and she was feeling very well. She even performed publicly in January! I kept searching the Internet every few hours, to see if there were any updated stories that explained WHY, if she was doing so well, did she die? (I thought perhaps pneumonia had infected her already-weakened lungs).

I sort of found an answer (or probably as much of an answer as the general public will get), in this story by ABC News online. It's also a well-written, informative story overall, if you're interested in reading it.

I wish peace and healing to all of Dana's relatives, but especially to her and Christopher's son, Will, who is now parent-less at the difficult age of 13. :(

Today I am feeling sad.

Inane time wasting @ the Oscars

2006-03-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

Am I the only person who, year after year, wonders why we have to spend the first 15 minutes or so of the Academy Awards listening to the host do the equivalent of a very BAD stand-up comedy routine filled with time-wasting, inane, insipid drivel?! Why all the stalling? If you're going to waste our time, be truly funny! Don't be facetious, sarcastic, insulting or vapid. Or better yet, since the Oscars are a classy affair, why not have the host/emcee TREAT it classily? Why do we need to sit thru joke after joke anyway? This ain't a stand-up comedy club!

Also -- am I the only person who, year after year, wonders why the host has to interject one tasteless, dumb, sometimes mocking, and sometimes even NON-understandable joke after another between presentations and entertainment numbers? Isn't the initial 15-minute monologue at the start of the show enough?

Just for the record, I'm not some stoic grump! ;D :) As just about everyone who knows me is aware, I love to be silly, make jokes, make people laugh, be made to laugh, and even laugh at my own self. I'm often told I have a very good (and often contagious) sense of humour.

So, I've concluded that *I* am not the one with the problem when it comes to humour at the Academy Awards. *They* are the ones with the problem. I'm just hoping that one year, they'll do away with all the inane, superficial crap that makes me embarrassed-by-proxy for the host, and they'll start having something REAL! Whether the hosts are fed their lines or allowed to create some of them on their own, the majority of them are basically still like school on Saturday -- no class!

Today I am rolling my eyes in disdain!

Squirrel update! (Peanut & Goober)

2006-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

The panel above is from Gary Larson's now-defunct comic strip, The Far Side. This one was from the early 1980s; I just found it while cleaning out some drawers and HAD to share it! *giggle* It would be interesting to know what squirrels (or any animals) are thinking about us, wouldn't it?

Anyhoo, several folks have been curious what's new with my squirrel friends, so here is an update! :)= It includes photos as well, of Peanut AND Goober! Photos at the bottom -- you get to read the update first! ;D

On Monday of this past week, we had a terrible storm with large amounts of rain and wind. I always wonder (and worry!) about squirrels and birds in storms like this -- where do they go and what do they do? I know sometimes they lose their nests, but hopefully they don't lose their lives!

On Tuesday it was still rainy, but not so strong, and the gusty wind was gone. On Wednesday the weather was nice again, so I eagerly looked for any sign of squirrels outside, but I didn't see any. I did see hummingbirds at the nectar feeder, so at least I knew my feathered friends had weathered the storm.

It wasn't until Wednesday mid-afternoon that I saw a squirrel. We'd had some company over for lunch, and the last guest was just leaving when I saw a squirrel through the downstairs window whom I thought was Peanut or Goober. As soon as I opened the door and sat down on the step, the squirrel came over for a nut or two.

It was a little more shy than Peanut usually is, so I think maybe it was Goober. However, the squirrel also noticed my mom and our lunch guest were peeping through the window, so perhaps THAT was the reason for the reluctance, and it really was Peanut! (I'm still trying to learn to distinguish between Peanut and Goober physically, but it's VERY hard to notice any differences, since I can't exactly ask them to sit side by side and not move until I'm done comparing them! *grin*)

On Thursday, I got to see Peanut and Goober out together, but still not close enough to notice any differences. I'm sure I will soon! In the meantime, I tell them apart by their personalities. Goober will come to me for a treat, but takes longer to decide to do it, doesn't come as close, and runs further away to eat the treat. Peanut, on the other hand, is almost at the point of taking food from my hand, but not yet, and that's OK. :) I'd never do anything to be pushy or over-eager with any animal, wild or domestic. Heck, human beings don't enjoy pushiness either!

Peanut has already made me very happy and fulfilled as it is: she scampers over to me immediately when I call her or when she sees me (she even recognized me with a baseball cap!), she's comfortable coming within 1 or 2 feet of my hand, she doesn't get as startled when I toss her a nut, she eats the nut closer to me rather than taking it into the trees, and is even getting a little used to my camera!

She has NOT become friends with anyone else, however, and will dash frantically away if she sees someone coming -- even if she and I are visiting and snacking together (I enjoy cracking and eating unshelled peanuts too, you know! *giggle*). As I've said before, it's probably safer for her to remain fearful of everyone else, because if she became too trusting of ALL humans, she might one day have a run-in with a human who wasn't very nice. :(

And now for the photos! *cheer* The first one below is Peanut. She was trying to decide which side of the front porch step to jump up on, and kind of stalled at the point for a few moments. I was sitting on the step with my camera, so this gave me a perfect chance to take her picture! Thanks for posing, Pea! ;D

The second photo is Goober. He also kind of posed, although the photo is less clear because I had to use my camera's built-in zoom lens, which is very limited and I wouldn't even call it a telephoto.

Goober is "twinkying". Now before everyone thinks I've lost my mind, let me explain. (heehee) When I had pet rats, they frequently stood up on their hind legs and stretched up to greet me in the corner of their cage. For some reason, the shape and circumference of their bodies made me think of Twinkies. Who knows, perhaps I was eating a Twinkie the first time I saw this? *chuckle* Whatever the case, the name stuck, probably also because "Twinkie" has a cute and diminutive sound, and rats are cute and diminutive too. I have since also used the word to describe the way a squirrel sits up tall on its hind legs and takes a big look around -- kind of like what prairie dogs do. Squirrels also do such cute things with their front paws ("hands") while twinkying, and I love to see their white, fluffy tummies!

Today I am feeling squirrelly!

10-year-old Shari did creative writing!

2006-03-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

I was so amused at reading (and sharing) some entries from the journal I wrote as a 13-year-old middle school student that I decided to share something even older. All throughout elementary school, I loved creative writing and did it a lot. During the same room-cleaning process I mentioned in yesterday's entry, I found a folder of creative writing stories I did in 4th grade.

Here are two of my fave stories, which were from the end of that school year. I had something of an obsession with underlining back then; the more I wanted to emphasize a word, the more lines I placed under it! However, it's only possible to put one line under something on a webpage, so you're spared seeing all the lines. *smirk*

I sure was innocent, immature and carefree back in those days, as the stories will show! (As with my middle school journal excerpts, I'm adding a few comments in italics to clarify things. ENJOY! :)

How I've Grown Up This Semester (May 14, 1982)

I feel that the biggest thing that made me feel grown up was going to lunch with the upper grades (4, 5 and 6) and mostly being a 1st grade table monitor!! Also, I think my handwriting has improved. I do still get my name on the board but not nearly as much as in 3rd grade with Mrs. P. Plus, I can be happy to say that I've never even gotten a check! In Mrs. P.'s class I know I got checks at least twice. I could have done better! [I used to get my name on the board for fooling around with my seatmate and not paying attention, talking without raising my hand, or getting out of my seat without permission. I think I also got reprimanded for having a very messy desk. I was a good student and a good kid; I just had ADHD but no one knew it! *chuckle*]

A mature 4th grader would be able to live through school days when he/she was in hardship. For myself, well, I can say about 65 percent I've done that. My mommy thinks Mrs. S. is one of my better teachers for she is nicely strict and formal like calling Joe "Joseph" and Jay "Jason". She is a neat teacher.

My Summer Plans (June 10, 1982)

This summer I plan to do lots of fun things! I know that the best thing will be going swimming in our solar-heated pool. [The pool belonging to the townhouse complex.] I hope to take swimming lessons from the foxy lifeguard Craig!! I took lessons from him last year too. I’m so happy he’s hired back!

In about two weeks I'm off to Disneyland. When we arrive there at about 5 or 6 o’clock we'll want to do nothing but eat, possibly drive by Knott's Berry Farm and go straight to the motel. Then the whole next day at Disneyland. Then the day after that, we go down to the Valley and spend a day with some adult cousins. [As a kid, the idea of 'adult' cousins always seemed odd to me! Isn't that funny?]

Then, it’s back home and swimming! Oh, plus, we might go (in fact, I'm sure we'll go) to Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Exploratorium! Summer fun for everyone!
[Jeez! It's amazing how simple and carefree my life was like at age 10. Sometimes I wish I could be that way again!]

Today I am feeling amused.

13-year-old Shari had a journal too!

2006-03-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

While cleaning out (or rather, TRYING to clean out) my awful firetrap of a room, I came across the handwritten journal I started when I was 13. I was an 8th grader in middle school (or junior high school) at the time. I seem to remember I specifically called it my "journal," not my "diary," because the second word sounded too much like "diarrhea"! (*blush* LOL)

I wrote in my journal faithfully at first, and then sporadically. I sure wish I'd started it during my first year of middle school rather than my last, and I wish I'd maintained it all through high school, because it's such an intensely enjoyable and nostalgic thing to read as an adult! ;) :D I think everyone probably feels this way when they read journals they kept as a child or teenager.

Just for fun, I plan to occasionally share entries from that old journal. Here are three that display the typical teen angst many 13-year-old girls go through. Interestingly enough, it looks like February wasn't such a good month for me in 1986 either! *chuckle*

In my original journal, I obviously mentioned everyone's name. However, since I'm sharing this online, I decided to use only the initials of the people I dislike. When mentioning my friends, however, I'll use their first names, since it's not like I'm saying anything bad about them. I've also added some comments in italics to help clarify a few things that might not make as much sense otherwise.

Monday, Feb. 3, 1986

It actually thundered today! In science class (by the way, I have TV journalism 4th period and science 3rd as my new classes this semester) I heard a kind of rumbling and was ready to think it was an earthquake when it stopped. Tammie at our table said, "I hope that was the wind!" But as it turned out, it was thunder. Thao even said she saw lightning from Mr. Holmes' window.

So, I have a good feeling that these new classes will be pretty good, especially TV journalism. Too bad, though, there are quite a few people who are in it who I dislike: E., S., N., S., and T. Oh well. I shouldn't even waste my brain power on the !@#*!@!! likes of those kids! [I guess I didn't use swear words in those days!]

Before I close, I'll say this: my tooth kills from the rubber band. Not really kills, but it's pretty uncomfortable. It's 9:16 p.m. so I'll be done now! [I wore braces and sometimes my orthodontist hooked up various patterns of tiny rubber bands to help bring my teeth together.]

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1986

Well, today was just another ordinary day. It actually stayed clear all day! Wow! One kind of bad thing happened today, though. Well actually, it's more sad, because it's about a churlish bitch, and I feel sorry for her. It's M.H., and when we got put in our roll-call lines in P.E. today, she said: "Boy, look at this. I'm surrounded by rejects. Shari is a mental retard. You can't even tell if she's a guy or a girl. And then herpes B." Poor B.! Everyone hates him. I feel sorry for that skinny guy. So anyway, I DETEST M.H.! [I wore my hair short in middle school, and I don't think I always wore makeup, but I certainly didn't look like a guy! LOL! This girl was one of the most hateful people you could ever meet.]

On to happier news, in history today we went to the media center and me, Patty, Juliane, Nicole and Michelle discussed our project. It was fun and it's gonna be a great video camera production! Well, I think I'll stop now and read my book in bed.

Friday, Feb. 7, 1986

Well, it's 10:05 p.m., and after a very good MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. [Back in the days when MTV actually played lots of videos, and they were actually good!!]

Tomorrow I'm going over to Juliane's to work on our history project and maybe do some filming if Patty's there. Our group consists of me, Juliane, Patty, Nicole and Michelle.

Oh, there was something I was thinking about for a long time when I got home from school. And I feel I should put it in my journal. Around last week, we got this new boy in our English class named Scott. He's really cute and has that rad white-blond hair.

Anyway, of course the "in" group made it their business to get friendly with him, and (now comes the unbelieveable part) he is already going around with someone! The girl is J.H. Not that I'd wanted to go with him, but my gosh, they hardly even know each other!!! And they're already going together! Unbelieveable!

Today I am feeling nostalgic.

"It's not easy being green..."

2006-03-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been writing some looong entries, and they have included some serious things. But now for something completely different -- a short entry about an amusing thing!

This Muppety meme/quiz went around LiveJournal like the flu a few weeks ago. (I have a companion blog over there, where I'm more active too). I didn't post this quiz when it was first popular, partly because I don't usually like doing what everyone else is doing, and partly because I forgot. I commented in other people's journals about my quiz result, but I never posted it. So, now I am! And I have to say that I'm pleased with the result, and NOT surprised by it. ;D If Ernie had been one of the results, I'd have expected to get him OR Kermit, but Ernie wasn't one of 'em, so Kermit I am! (The quiz was about Muppet Show Muppets, not Sesame St. ones)

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Why February sucked!

2006-02-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

The other day, my friend David over at LiveJournal (LJ) wrote in his journal that he was in a very good mood and that he was giving out free hugs to whoever wanted them. :) I commented I'd take one, adding that February was a very stressful month and that I'd be glad when the month was over. He commented back (along with a hug, of course) to ask why it was so stressful. Well, now that it's the last day of the month, I'll blog about it.

Basically, just about everyone I know, including myself, had way more problems than normal. Some of the people in the list below are in-person friends, some are LJ friends, and some may be both. (As you might have guessed, I've become a real part of the LJ community). I'm obviously not naming names on the list; I'm not even revealing the gender of anybody, because I respect everyone's privacy.

In the list below, when I say "conflicts" or "problems", I don't mean the little day-to-day things that you forget about at the end of the day. Everyone has those. I mean the things that are more significant, upsetting, and/or more long-lasting than they should be. :( Following the list about other folks, I'll include my own list.

Several people were very sick with viruses.

Several people had conflicts with their spouses.

Several people had problems with their work.

Several people had conflicts with their child or children.

Several people had conflicts with parents-in-law or siblings-in-law.

Two people had pregnancy-related scares.

One person was plagued w/ ISP and cellular phone problems.

One person broke up with his/her significant other.

One person was crushed to learn his/her significant other was cheating.

One person began going through a bitter divorce.

One person had a flare-up of a chronic health condition.

As if all that weren't enough to be stressful and depressing for an empathic person like myself, I too had my share of not-happy stuff. It included the following:

My dad giving everyone a terrible scare by falling a few days after his 83rd birthday and cutting his head on the pavement. I thought we might have to call 911, since the way he feel, it looked like he may have broken several bones or gotten a concussion. But miraculously, NONE of that bad stuff happened!

A very longtime friend of my family who has three children and a grandchild discovering she has breast cancer, and being told a mastectomy isn't enough and that she also needs chemotherapy!

Another longtime family friend discovering her baby grandchild may have a metabolic or endocrine disease.

My applications to work part-time at three different stores/businesses I love but none have gotten back to me yet. I desperately need some work to supplement my freelancing, because my personal financial situation is about as grim as it could get (another source of unhappiness for me).

Learning that after 2 weeks, one of my eBay bidders never got the item I sent her (which wasn't cheap). She chose not to purchase postal insurance, which I offer as optional on ALL my listings! The loss was totally out of my hands since I had no tracking number. However, she wanted her money refunded anyway and I was afraid she'd leave negative feedback and ruin my feedback record. :( We finally agreed to a 50% refund, which would equal both of us taking half a loss. This is the first time in my 7+ years of eBaying that the Postal Service lost a package!

Getting a much smaller refund on my taxes than I expected. I had so many biz-related expenses in 2005 (a convention in Las Vegas, a new laptop, etc.) that I naively thought I'd get everything back at tax-time. WRONG!

The failure of my girls-only bingo group's February game to become the one co-ed game of the year because the majority of men wouldn't or couldn't commit (although it was still a great game hosted by a great friend, Becky and her mom).

The disappointment of the Winter Olympics having more examples of poor sportsmanship and/or unprofessionalism among athletes than I can remember in a long time.

Seeing so many examples of reckless, rude and sometimes downright maniacal driving that I can't believe it. I normally only see this in the 2 weeks before Christmas, so I don't know why it's been so bad in February. I was almost the witness to several accidents because of these awful people -- including accidents involving cars I was driving or riding in! YIKES!

A situation regarding the breakdown of good interpersonal communications with someone very important, which caused me much aggroness. It's finally on the road to resolution. I blogged about it at LiveJournal but put it in a Friends-only entry, because I don't always like the whole world being able to read about my life. But I can't do Friends-only entries here at Blogspot. Anyhoo, the situation is slowly getting better now; that's the important thing. :)

Today I am feeling drained but relieved!

"Tell Her About It"

2006-02-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

Billy Joel really knew what he was talking about, when he wrote the song Tell Her About It. The song came out in 1983, but the appeal of it is truly timeless. I think a lot of men in relationships (with women) would be wise to carefully read and thoughtfully think about these song lyrics....

"Tell Her About It"

Listen boy I don't want to see you
Let a good thing slip away
You know I don't like watching anybody
Make the same mistakes I made
She's a real nice girl and she's always there for you
But a nice girl wouldn't tell you what you should do.

Listen boy I'm sure that you think
You got it all under control
You don't want somebody telling you
The way to stay in someone's soul
You're a big boy now and you'll never let her go
But that's just the kind of thing she ought to know.

Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept that you're for real
Tell her about it, tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means!

Listen boy, it's not automatically a certain guarantee
To ensure yourself, you've got to provide
Communication constantly
When you love someone, you're always insecure
And there's only one good way to reassure...

Tell her about it, let her know how much you care
When she can't be with you, tell her you wish you were there
Tell her about it, every day before you leave
Pay her some attention, give her something to believe!

Cause now and then, she'll get to worrying
Just because you haven't spoken for so long
And though you may not have done anything
Will that be a consolation when she's gone?

Listen boy, it's good information
From a man who's made mistakes
Just a word or two that she gets from you
Could be the difference that it makes
She's a trusting soul, she's put her trust in you
But a girl like that won't tell you what you should do.

Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept that you're for real
Tell her about it, tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means!

What Winter Olympic sport best suits you? (my own quiz)

2006-02-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the Winter Olympics, I've been searching the Internet for some type of blog quiz or meme whose theme deals with matching a person's skills and personality to a particular sporting event. I couldn't find any quizzes except for one, and that one didn't work well, so I decided to make my own! :) I used QuizFarm, a very good quiz-making website!

I couldn't include ALL the Winter Olympic sports in the quiz results, because that would have made taking the quiz a very long and cumbersome experience. So I picked what I hope is a good cross-section of seven of the available sports. I also tried hard to write accurate questions. I love making and taking blog quizzes, so please take the quiz (it's short, don't worry), and let me know what you think. Thanks!

After I took my own quiz, I was NOT surprised with my #1 event. *grin* (I'm also not surprised at the event I scored lowest in, because it's one that would terrify me!) For those of you who know how poor I am at almost anything athletic, you won't be surprised with any of my results either! Here is my best chance at an Olympic medal...

You scored as Curling. Want to win a medal in the Winter Olympics? Curling might just be your best bet!

Curling

88%

Cross-Country Skiing

75%

Bob Sledding (Bobsleigh)

56%

Figure skating

56%

Snowboarding

44%

Ice Hockey

19%

Freestyle Aerial Skiing

What sport in the Winter Olympics suits you?
created with QuizFarm.com

A good, busy Presidents' Day

2006-02-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

Today was filled with many different things, and I feel good about how productive it was -- especially since I have such trouble with time management and time-wasting! (It also happened to be Presidents' Day.)

The most important thing is that today was my dad's birthday! Hence the festive userpic. He turned 83 today. Wow. Each year he's with is us a blessing; especially in light of his chronic health problems. Even though he doesn't read my journal, I still want to say: "Happy Birthday Daddy!" :) (his fave colour is blue)

I set my alarm a wee bit earlier than usual because I had an eagerly awaited chiropractor appointment today. And I didn't even feel horribly sleepy or sluggish upon awakening like I sometimes do. (Maybe my body knew it was waking early for a good reason, as I love going to the chiro!) It was a great appointment as usual; I really think he's the most sensitive, caring, and knowledgeable chiropractor in town -- not to mention the friendliest! My mom's been going to him for 5 or 6 years, and I've been going for 4 or 5. He and his son have a practice together, and the son is wonderful as well -- he learned from the best. :)

Afterwards, my mom and I visited a longtime family friend who had a mastectomy last week. Her surgeon thinks the cancer was localized and that the prognosis is good. She'll know more soon. She was in good spirits and looked good as well. We brought over some homemade spaghetti and (store-bought) garlic bread, because she doesn't really feel like cooking for a few more days. Her husband and daughter were there too, and it was nice to hang out for a while and chat with such nice people. :) Our friend is especially grateful to my mom, because my mom loaned her several excellent books on breast cancer and dealing with all the emotions that come with it. As some folks know, my mom recently passed her 5-year anniversary of being a breast cancer survivor! :) Hers was Stage I, thank goodness, and her prognosis was very good from the start. And now that she passed the 5-year mark, it's excellent!

My dad had decided, prior to today, that he wanted to go out to lunch, not dinner, for his birthday. And the place he chose was John's XLNT Foods, which despite the funny name is a restaurant where I can truly say: "I've never had a bad meal." :) It's a family-run establishment that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has been around since the 1970s. It has such a large and loyal patron base that it's never had to advertise. The owners are Greek, and as such have a variety of Greek foods (my faves are the avgolemono, or Greek lemon soup, and the moussaka.) They also serve Italian food (of which my faves are the minestrone soup and the spaghetti/ravioli combo plate). And of course, they also serve good old American food, which I also love.

My dad's chronic health problems, BTW, are mainly his lung disease. He started smoking around junior high school age and didn't quit until his late 20s (I think?). It was when he was married to his first wife, so I'm not sure of the timeline. At any rate, he has advanced COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The main component of it for him is emphysema, although he may also have some attributes of chronic bronchitis. He uses oxygen when he goes out of the house, because otherwise he gets too out-of-breath to safely go anywhere, as it's too hard on his heart otherwise. As it is, he has cor pulmonale, a condition in which the right side of the heart becomes enlarged and weakened, due to the strain of trying to circulate blood through the inefficient lungs.

In recent months, he was also diagnosed with a type of mild cognitive impairment that happens sometimes in COPD patients. This is due to the brain not getting as rich a supply of oxygen in its blood as it requires. The impairment is so gradual that it often goes unnoticed. Using oxygen more can help keep it from progressing, as can Ginkgo biloba supplements, which increase circulation, especially in the brain. He's even taking the drug Aricept, which is most often prescribed for Alzheimer's patients but is also used in people with other brain-related situations.

Gosh! That was a bit of a downer, eh? Sorry about the "too much information." Most folks here don't even know my dad. But it felt good to talk about him. Plus on his birthday it makes me think more about these things than on other days. *sigh*

ANYWAY... after lunch, we went on a wild goose chase to pick up his B-Day dessert. We first stopped at San Jose's famous Dick's Bakery for their famous Burnt Almond Cake (my dad requested the chocolate version). They're closed Mondays, however, so we next tried Bakers Square for a pecan pie, but they were sold out! :( My dad doesn't stand on ceremonies and said tomorrow would be just as good as today to get the pecan pie, so we'll try again!

As soon as I got home, I saw my two squirrel friends. Well, I'm trying to make friends with ALL the squirrels, but so far these two are the most responsive. I think they're a "couple", because I often see them playfully chasing each other around and around the big camphor tree. They also stay within eye-shot of each other when they're foraging on the ground for food. The more outgoing one I've nicknamed "Peanut". I'm not sure what to call Peanut's partner. "Goober" is a term for the peanut in the South, and although I'm not Southern, I think it's kind of a cute and funny name. In truth, I'm not sure which squirrel in this pair is the male and which is the female, but somehow I get the feeling that Peanut, the most friendly one, is the female. Not that it matters. :)

What matters is that BOTH of them now recognize me even when I'm quite a distance away. If they're in a tree, they climb down and scamper over. If they're already on the ground, they come even closer, sometimes even standing on their hind legs, as if to say "Okay, I'm here! Where's the treats?" SOOO CUTE! They also respond to my voice when I call to them, and they definitely also know the sound of the peanut bag! Each day they dib closer and closer to me, and are less and less nervous. One of these days I think I'll be able to hand them the peanuts, rather than throwing the peanuts at them. That would be nice, because they always get scared for a split second when they see the peanut coming at them, no matter how gently I toss it. (All animals, including humans, have an instinct to avoid being hit by a flying object! *chuckle*)

I haven't been able to snap a photo of them when they stand up, but hopefully I will soon (I love their white furry bellies!) In the meantime, here are two new photos of them on the ground. The first pic is the cutest, because the squirrel (either Peanut or Goober) was only 2 or 3 feet away. Look at that cute little mouth and those shiny eyes and fur! It was looking at me all quizzically -- probably wondering what the curious shiny metal thing was and if it was EDIBLE! (Sorry squirrel friend, it was only my camera!) What I like best about the second photo is the cuteness of the squirrel's little shadow. You can click either of the pix to view a larger version. After the pix, I'll finish describing my day.

In the afternoon, I took a refreshing shower and shampooed and conditioned my mane. My fave part was using the yummy Grapefruit & Wild Ginger conditioner by Nature's Gate Organics, whose products I love but can only find at Whole Foods Market. This particular conditioner smells like an orange creamsicle -- double yum!!

For dinner tonight, I'm proud to say I made another of my beef-and-veggie stir fry meals. It turned out delicious, too! I say I'm "proud" because I'm not a very good cook and am trying to build up my confidence in the kitchen. *blush* I prefer baking more than cooking, but one cannot live on baked goods alone! ;) is always encouraging me to "take baby steps" in the kitchen, and I'm really trying. Maybe one day I'll be as good a cook as she and her husband "DH" are!

Oh, but before dinner, I finally remembered to call up my old friend Freddy, who with her husband John own/run The Wild Bird Center of Los Gatos. I'd hoped she might hire me as part-time help as the Christmas season got underway, but she already had enough P-T employees and the season wasn't as great as she'd hoped anyway. Now that spring is coming, I thought I should check in with her again, but she still doesn't have any openings in her small group of employees, especially since she and her husband work a lot of shifts themselves. She said she'll definitely remember me if any of her part-timers leave and she needs a hole filled.

She and I have known each other for years, and she knows how much I love her merchandise and how good I am with people, so maybe it'll work out sooner than I think. :) The merchandise, BTW, concentrates on bird feeders, bird food, bird books, etc. but also includes general "nature-themed" things like field guides on flowers and mammals, garden accessories, plant- and animal-themed jewelry and gifts, etc. And yes, even squirrel stuff!! ;D In the meantime, tomorrow I'm going to give a follow-up phone call to SummerWinds Nursery, where I've already applied for part-time work and would be tickled pink to actually get it! I also have two additional job applications at two additional stores that I love and are extremely close to my home. One is Diddams Party Store; the other is Barnes & Noble. I hope to finish filling them out tonight and turn them in tomorrow. No time like the present!

Today I am feeling accomplished.

February's bingo game!

2006-02-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

Last night was another great gathering of my monthly gals-only bingo group, The Bingo Belles. <---You can click this link to learn more about the group. My friend Becky S. (distinguished from my other friend Becky R.) and her cool mom co-hosted at her mom's home this month. Becky -- I know I already thanked you both, but I'm saying thanks again! :)

It was nice for me to take a break from having all the games at my house, plus between Becky's mom's driveway and the cul-de-sac, there was room for more folks to park than in my townhouse complex. In total, there were 9 players, which ties with December for the most players since I started the group last spring! :D Aside from Becky, her adorable son Andrew, her mom and her mom's friend from work, there were 5 others (4 plus me). Several other gals wanted to come but couldn't make it. I wonder how we'd all have squozen in if they HAD come?!

The February game was originally supposed to be a "co-ed" bingo, but it didn't work out. This concept is a throwback to the old bingo group I used to play with until they showed their true (evil) colours and intolerantly kicked out the players who were not ultra-conservative religiously and politically. :[ Long story -- don't even ask or I'll start in on a long tangent! *chuckle*

Anyhoo, I always thought it was very funny and fun to have men play bingo one time each year. The guys are typically always the ones to make fun of us for loving bingo and who insist they'd never enjoy such an inane game. (heehee) But of course, when they actually get dragged to the game, they usually end up having excellent luck and often become as giddy as young girls. Hilarious!

BTW, we all play bingo for gifts that we bring and win/steal, not money. Well, except for the blackout round, in which everyone puts $2 in the pot and the winner takes all. I won't bore anyone with all the specifics on how we play, but feel free to ask if you're curious. Basically each time someone bingos, they get to unwrap a gift. Once all the gifts are unwrapped, THEN the stealing starts for the rest of the evening, each time someone bingos.

Unfortunately, we ended up NOT having co-ed bingo after all, because there would not have been enough men. Even tho most of the players did have husbands, boyfriends, male friends or male family members to invite, most of them are unable to attend, not sure they can attend, or didn't want to attend, for a variety of reasons. :( It would certainly be awkward if only 1 or 2 guys showed up! So, I told everyone not to worry about bringing a guy this time. Maybe next year it'll work out. Of course, Becky still brought Andrew, since she'd already planned it and he was going to spend the night at Grandma's. I was very glad he came! Andrew is a very funny, smart and cute boy, and also a very good sport -- both when he won and when he didn't win. I feel safe saying that everyone enjoyed his company. :D

I would have taken pictures last night, but I was very aggro when I left my house, and also running a bit late, especially since I was going to another friend's house to carpool. So, in the absense of posting a pic from last night, I'll instead (just for fun!) share a photo of the Bingo Belles from our December game, which also had a big turnout. Not all of February's players are in the December pic, but half are. :)

Today I am feeling pleased.

Johari's "Window" to my soul ;)

2006-02-16T22:26:00.000-08:00

It seems everyone's been doing the Johari Window lately. I'd call it a meme, but you don't answer quizzy questions or post anything in your blog. It's an insightful tool dealing with psychology and interpersonal communications, and I love it! I first tried it in college, in my Interpersonal Communications class. I enjoyed learning how other people (family and friends) saw me, and whether or not I saw myself that way. It was also a cool way for the family members and friends to learn more about me. (Of course, we did it on paper and were free to write any adjectives we wanted, unlike the website, where you choose from a pre-made list).

The website that hosts the Window has been overloaded lately, but it finally seems to be online more than it's OFF, so I'm doing my own now. I went to the site many times to participate in other peoples' Windows; now I hope you'll take a minute to help me with mine. :) Thanks! The instructions are here: Shari's Johari Window. After you've picked 6 adjectives that describe me, please enter either your Live Journal user name (if you're on LJ), or your real first name, before you click the "save" button. That way, I can see how many people picked which adjectives. (Note to Shari in L.V. -- if you do my Window, please enter your last initial or some other thing to differentiate us, so people don't see your name and think I rated myself a second time. *blush* Thanks!)

I had a hard time picking from the adjective chart, because I identified with so many of them! Also, quite a few were near-synonyms, which was confusing. For example, the chart had both "caring" and "kind", and to me those basically mean the same thing. Likewise "cheerful" and "happy", while not the same, are very close when it comes to personality traits. I may or may not have chosen any of these for myself; I'm just using them as examples. I think I would have made the Window with a wider range of adjectives, but hey -- I didn't design the site and wouldn't have a clue how to do it! *chuckle* And it really is well done and easy.

After you're done with that, if you want to try something completely different, I've also made one of the infamous Nohari Windows. Here's the link: Shari's Nohari Window. It's the opposite of Johari and consists of personality flaws and/or weaknesses. It may seem very negative and insulting, but it really isn't -- unless you take it personally. I promise I won't. :) I'm the first to admit that I have as many weaknesses as anybody else. I also feel it's never too late to try to improve myself, but it helps if I know what I need to improve on. I picked the 6 flaws that I think are most descriptive of me. I hope you all will do the same. As with the Johari Window, you don't have to pick 6; you can pick 4 or 5, but it won't let you pick more than 6.

Thanks again all!

Today I am feeling curious.

Candy hearts & squirrels!

2006-02-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

I'm sure no one will ever again hear THOSE two things mentioned in the same sentence! (heehee)

First things first -- the candy heart! I discovered Acme Labs' funny and fun Candy Heart Maker website a while ago, but was waiting until close to Valentine's Day to use it. You can design your own "conversation heart" candies in a variety of candy and text colours, and of course with your own words. Here's mine:

I think everyone knows my fave colour. However, since almost everyone also knows my background in writing and editing (and my obsessive-compulsive copy editing tendencies *grin*), I don't want anyone to think I suddenly lost my mind and misspelled the word hopeful! I didn't. I wrote the candy heart this way as a sort of play on words. If you're hopeful about something, you could also be considered as full of hope, or "hope full". And I think that's a suitable sentiment for many people on Valentine's Day. :)

Next up: the squirrel photos! My Live Journal friend Wilhelmina, who likes squirrels almost as much as I do (heehee) and I have been talking about these cute little critters for a while now. She also loves photography and has taken some great photos of the ekorren (squirrels) in Sweden, which have long, sticking-up ears covered in fur.

I've spent the past two or three weeks (or more) trying to make friends with the tree squirrels who live in my townhouse complex. They are Eastern Gray Squirrels <---click for a great link! My efforts were slow going, but ultimately successful, and improving every day! :)

Here are the photos, followed by a heart-warming squirrel story. Please click on the pix to view the larger/better version. I don't think this squirrel is my special friend (as explained in the story below), but it's one of the squirrels who recognizes me -- otherwise I don't think it would have allowed me to come so close. I used my camera's zoom lens, so I'm not quite as close at it looks. However, the zoom lens is very limited, so I still had to get closer than most squirrels would allow! *chuckle*

When I first started walking around with my zipper bag of roasted, un-shelled, un-salted peanuts, the squirrels would all run into the trees when they saw me. They did NOT shriek and chatter like they do when they see a cat, so obviously they knew I wasn't a threat or a predator. However, they didn't really trust me either. However, I patiently kept walking the area, talking in a friendly, quiet voice as they stared at me from up in the trees. I also shook the peanut bag, and I'm sure the noise got their attention. They watched as I placed peanuts in certain places, and whenever I came back to those places an hour or two later, the nuts were gone! ;D

Over time, some would still dash into the trees when I got too close, but others would only scamper to another part of the grass or landscaping, rather than running away. In the last few days, two squirrels have become trusting enough to stay on the ground and let me toss peanuts to them. I think they're actually a "couple", because I often see them playfully chasing each other around and around the trunk of their favourite tree, a very large camphor. So cute!! ;)

Today, I saw some squirrels and went out as usual. I knelt down, shook the bag and announced "Peanuts! I have peanuts!" One squirrel, who I'm sure was part of the friendly pair, actually came over to me! I was so happy!! Normally, squirrels run AWAY from people. This one ran TOWARD me! :D :) It kept boundering and scampering through the grass -- in a straight line, no less -- until it was only a few feet away! It then hopped up on a rock -- I think to get eye level with me -- then hopped off the rock. I almost thought if I held my arm out, it might take the nut from my hand. But I didn't want to seem pushy or over-eager. Neither squirrels nor humans appreciate pushiness! *chuckle* Good things come to those who wait. So I simply tossed the peanut to my friend, who took it in his/her mouth and then thought for a while about whether or not to eat it in front of me. However, I don't think he/she was quite ready for that, choosing instead to take the nut up into the big camphor tree.

I know some people might not understand how I feel, but I feel so happy about this that I can't put it into words. :) I love all animals, but I have a special love for rodents. I also feel very accomplished when I can gain the trust of an animal who normally does not interact closely with humans. Of course, there are lots of squirrels in parks, at beaches, etc. that are very familiar with humans and will practically sit on your lap and BEG for food. However, the squirrels in my townhouse complex are not like that. So it's even more special to me that we're becoming friends. I like to think that they can sense a "kindred spirit." :)

Today I am feeling hopeful.

It's beginning to look a lot like SPRING

2006-02-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Last week, along with going to Los Gatos to photograph the beautiful acacia trees in bloom, I also went to the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple on McLaughlin Avenue in San Jose, because there's always something in bloom there, especially late winter through mid-spring. I was not disappointed! :)

Of course, you don't have to be Vietnamese OR Buddhist to visit the temple. I've never been inside the building, since I'm not sure if I'm supposed to and I've never seen anyone to ask. However, I've walked around the grounds many times, and always enjoy how wonderfully well-kept the landscaping is.

One of my friends over at LiveJournal wanted to see my "Bee in Blossom" photo, which I'd told her about a few days ago, so I'm sharing that one first. (Actually I already shared it in my Live Journal version of this blog. I didn't plan on having a friendly BEE arrive in the picture; it just happened by accident -- definitely a happy accident! :) Click on the pic above for a really neat close-up.

I think this is a flowering almond tree, because the blossoms are pure white, and early-blooming. However, these days there are so many different cultivars and hybrids of stonefruit, I can't always tell what flower will become what fruit!! *blush* This tree hadn't sprouted any leaves yet either, which made identification even harder. BTW, when I say stonefruit, I mean fruits of the genus Prunus, which all have a hard pit in the center with "flesh" around it. Examples include peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, prunes, cherries and, yes, almonds.

The Buddhist temple also has a large number of flowering quince bushes in the landscaping, and they too are very early bloomers. Although fruiting quinces generally grow as trees (with the tangy, pear-like fruit used in jelly and preserves), flowering quinces tend to be grown as medium to tall shrubs or hedges. They're cultivated for their gorgeous, festive blossoms, which these days exist in just many different shades of pink, red or orange, along with white. Sometimes flowering quinces produce small, starchy yellow fruits as well. As you might guess, yes -- quinces are related to pears and apples. :) Below are two of my quince photos; you can click each of them to view a close-up, if you like.

Finally, we have the rare (at least in this area) and exquisite Purple Orchid Tree, known botanically as Bauhinia purpurea or Bauhinia variegata. I had NO idea what this was when I was at the temple, because even though every plant has a "nametag", they're all in Vietnamese. I discovered the tree's name totally by accident at home, when I was looking up something else. Talk about good luck!

The flowers look, at least to me, like a cross between a purple orchid and some type of tiger lily. *chuckle* They have a mild fruity/floral scent and are so pretty! According to my research, the tree has an interesting "schedule", blooming winter through spring, and dropping its leaves some time during the same period! The flowers turn into long messy seedpods, and the tree eventually refoliates with its unusual light-green, broad-lobed leaves. Interestingly enough, this tree is in the same family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) as peas and beans! That's also the family acacias, caesalpinias, royal poincianas, mimosas, locusts and carobs are in, but we won't get into all THAT! *grin*

Instead, I'll let you enjoy the photo below. Feel free to click it for a close-up shot!

Today I am feeling springy!

I'm a Pen Woman! (well, almost)

2006-02-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, I was one of nine "creative women" honored at this year's Achiever Luncheon of the Santa Clara County branch of the nonprofit National League of American Pen Women. (NLAPW)

I'm not yet completely over my surprise at being nominated in the first place (my dear friend Jeanne was behind that). I also was extremely humbled to be in the company of eight women who are much more successful than I am. I'm not just giving falsely modest platitudes either -- I really was surprised to be honoured! *blush* And thankful. It turned out to be a great event for me, both personally and professionally. If you want the rest of the story, read below. It's a long one, I warn you! ;D

Actually, I'm not a Pen Woman YET, but I definitely plan on joining the Santa Clara County branch. I meant to join last year, after Jeanne told me how much she likes the group and I discovered I already knew some of the ladies on its roster! :)

In a nutshell, the NLAPW is a nonprofit with more than 200 local branches in the U.S. and Panama. Members are creative, professional women of all ages who work in one or more of three "comprehensive membership classifications" -- letters, art or music. Among the benefits of joining NLAPW are the chance to learn from and network with other creative professionals at regularly held meetings; attend interesting workshops, lectures and discussions related to various creative fields; and enter one's written, visual or musical works in contests, competitions and exhibitions.

Each year, our local branch (and I assume most branches?) holds this luncheon to honour women who, as the event program puts it, "have achieved professionalism in the arts." At least one current branch member must nominate you and give info about you to the applicable committee. Apparently Jeanne did this without telling me, because I didn't know I was one of this year's nine women until I got a thick envelope in the mail this past December, asking me to write a brief bio, answer some questions, provide my resume and work samples, etc.

At first I almost politely declined. I couldn't believe that of all the more worthy nominees out there, they actually wanted ME! But I knew Jeanne would feel awful if I declined. She's such a sweet and thoughtful friend that I would never want to disappoint her. I also got to thinking this might be a way to network with all these connected, creative women, and get better known in their circles. I'm still struggling to find enough creative work and to keep my head above water financially, so anything that could help me in that area is a GOOD thing!

Fast forward to Saturday. The event, which this year was titled Hats Off to the Arts took place in the social hall of the First Congregational Church in San Jose. Everyone was encouraged to wear some type of hat, but I didn't because I look stupid in most hats, except my cowboy hats and my Renaissance Faire hat. However, I didn't think either of those would be appropriate. *grin*

The Achievers were supposed to get there by 10:30 a.m. to set up our work samples on the tables provided for us, as the event would begin at 11 a.m. with schmoozing until the noon buffet lunch. The artists brought paintings, art prints, notecards, postcards and other mediums; the writers brought books (fiction and nonfiction), magazines and newspapers; and the musicians did something but I didn't see what.

I brought along a bunch of different publications I've done writing, editing and/or photography for in the past or in the present. This includes Industry Magazine, Silicon Valley Home, a monthly magazine supplement in the San Jose Mercury News, Times Media, Inc. and Boulevards New Media. I even brought a copy of a May 2004 press release I wrote for Mother Earth Clay Art Center. I would have brought copies of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and Saratoga News as well, as I was features editor of those two papers (part of the larger SVCN group) for many years, but in my typically disorganized fashion, I couldn't scrounge them up in time. However, they were included on my resume, which I also brought copies of to hand out, along with my freelance business cards.

OH! And I also displayed notecards featuring my original nature photography of trees and flowers. You can see some of them at Flickr.com, where I keep my portfolios. To see my favourite set of images, please click here and enjoy. :) You can also find my animated Flickr image badge at the bottom of the sidebar to the right.

[Despite all this that I said about myself, I just want to make it clear that ALL of the other Achievers had MANY more years of experience in their fields than I, and had accomplished MANY more impressive things. It's not that I'm not proud of my work or think I'm a loser. The work that I do is good. However, I don't think I hold a candle to the other women I was with. They've done so much more than I! Hopefully their success will rub off on me, especially since I've been feeling somewhat disenchanted lately with aspects of writing and my career in general.]

Although the display tables were not specifically a "selling event", we were all told that it was perfectly fine to sell our items if people were interested. And it so happens that one lady bought 10 of my notecards! *cheer* This didn't even happen during the pre-lunch period, but rather after the lunch AND the program! I went back to my display table while the other folks took a last visit to the silent auction and raffle prize room, and one lady cruised by my table and bought 10 cards. Cool!

Another cool thing was that I ran into several creative souls (and nice people!) I got to know during my days with the Los Gatos and Saratoga papers, when I covered the arts scene. Nancy Jo Lopp and Marian Gault were two of the other Achievers: Nancy Jo for her photography and Marian for her paintings and calligraphy. Also attending the event were papercraft artist Jeanne Tillman (yep, another Jeanne!) and photographer Felicia Peters Pollock. (Marian's artistically inclined husband Ned was also there and remembered me!) It was so great to see all these awesome folks again! It brought back old times/memories, especially when Felicia told me she and many of the other artists at Saratoga's two co-op galleries missed me and wished I was back covering arts for the SVCN papers again! *blush* I miss the galleries and the artists too! In fact, since they all deserve more recognition than they usually get, here are their websites: Gallery Saratoga and Aegis Gallery.

YIKES! I'm sure getting off track here! Back to the Achievers event. After the 11 a.m. to noon schmooze fest, we all enjoyed a catered buffet lunch of a huge mixed green salad with lots of cheese and croutons, three choices of salad dressing, rolls and butter, chicken breast and penne pasta in a creamy tomato-y sauce, tender chunks of beef in a stroganoff sauce over herbed rice, and a cooked vegetable medley. And dessert, which came out later, was a rich chocolate mousse pie, accompanied by grapes and -- of all things -- fortune cookies!

After lunch was the program, which began with the mistress of ceremonies asking each Achiever, in turn, to stand up at their table while she introduced them for about 5 minutes. It so happened I was the 5th person out of nine to stand, so at least I didn't have to be anxious while listening to her speech about all of the others -- only about half of them! *chuckle* I actually would have preferred if we each got to take the microphone and speak about ourselves.

I know most folks hate public speaking but I don't. I used to be deathly afraid of it, but thanks to some great college classes in rhetoric and a super-encouraging professor, I lost my fear. Anyhoo, I wouldn't have been embarrassed to give a mini biography of myself, but standing there while someone ELSE talked about me... well... that was embarrassing for some reason. *blush* She also made one minor boo-boo and left out a few things I wish she would have mentioned, but that's okay. :)

After all nine of us were lauded and received our certificates, the entertainment portion of the program began. Everyone involved was a Pen Woman. There were flute and piano numbers, a ventriloquist, a song-and-dance medley of "doo-wop" music, a cool talk on the history of hats and a hat fashion show in which Pen Women were the models, donning chapeaus of many different decades and styles. Oh, and the program began and ended with an original song, "Hats Off to the Arts," written and sung by one Pen Woman and arranged (on piano) by another!

Afterwards the raffle winners and silent auction high bidders got their prizes. I didn't win ANYTHING in the raffle, despite buying 12 tickets. I'm such a loser at most raffles it isn't even funny. :( And you wouldn't believe the lavish gift baskets of all kinds that were being raffled! There were also half a dozen or so door prizes, but I didn't win those either. Just call me Charlie Brown. (heehee) I did get one thing in the silent auction, however! *cheer* Among other things was a $20 gift certificate to Mountain Mike's Pizza. The opening bid was $5 with $2 increments. No one wrote down anything after my $9 bid, so I basically got the certificate for half-off! Not bad! :) I really like their pizza, although my fave is still Round Table. The silent auction AND the raffle were fundraisers for the local Pen Women's scholarship fund, so it was definitely a worthwhile cause.

Wow, what a meandering missive THIS was! I'd be surprised if anyone actually made it to the end. I don't expect anyone to. :) I mainly wrote this long narrative for myself, because I want to remember this event, and there's no better way to do that than to put it in writing. Photos are good too, and in fact Nancy Jo and Jeanne are both going to email me some digital photos they took of me at the event. Hopefully I'll get them soon, so I can post them here. In the meantime, I'm going to start filling out the paperwork to join the Santa Clara County branch of the National League of American Pen Women, because I definitely think this is the start of great things to come!

Good thing I didn't let my embarrassment and surprise get the better of me, and cause me to decline the Achiever honour! Thanks again, Jeanne! :) Sometimes it takes a friend to believe in us, when we're not sure if we believe in ourselves.

Today I am feeling thankful & embarrassed.

All about acacias!

2006-02-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

The photo below is a Bailey acacia (Acacia baileyana), also called Cootamundra Wattle or Golden Mimosa Tree. They're blooming everywhere right now! (Click the pic for a close-up)

As some of you know, I have 2 blogs at LiveJournal.com. One is called Meandering Missive and, as you'd expect, is a nearly exact "clone" of this one. The other one is called Earthly Delights. It's a way for me to "publish" my gardening column, Earthly Delights, which used to actually run in some local newspapers (and I actually got paid for it, but no more!)

To learn the good, the bad and the ugly about the often misunderstood but beautiful and (yes, even useful!) acacia tree, please read "All about acacias" at Earthly Delights. Thanks! I promise it will be interesting, and not too long! After you read the column, please feel free to post any comments there, if you wish. :)

Today I am feeling accomplished.

MEME: "Five Unique Things"

2006-02-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

I found this the other day at Live Journal (LJ), where my friend Marjorie blogs. She didn't mention the meme's name, so I'll take the liberty of calling it the "Five Unique Things" meme. Please correct me if it already has a name. :) Thanks! (BTW: a "friends list" is a place on LJ where you, and others, can see the user names and blogs of your friends.)

Name a CD you own that you think no one else on your friends list does:
The CD soundtrack from Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance extravaganza! (Ronan Hardiman is the excellent composer)

Name a book you own that you think no one else on your friends list does:
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves any type of animal/s! It's full of fascinating and amazing stories, and all are true! Many move me to laughter and/or tears. Awesome book!!

Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that you think no one else on your friends list does:
The Water Babies. I don't have the actual tape or DVD, but rather a home-taped version from TV when I was a kid. I ought to buy a "fresh" copy from Amazon! *chuckle* I'll be very surprised if anyone has this! It's a 1970s British adaptation (not too close, apparently) of a novel by the same name. The film is part live action and part animated. I was enchanted with this film as a kid!

Name a place that you have visited that you think no one else on your friends list has:
Antigua, an island in the eastern Caribbean

Name a piece of technology or any sort of tool you own that you think no one else on your friends list has:
An iMac G3 computer running OS 9.2 -- I'd almost bet money that no one else has one of these dinosaurs! *smirk*

Today I am feeling curious.

Shameless self-promotion ;)

2006-01-31T17:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually the type to engage in "shameless self-promotion", but I figure if you can't do it in your own blog, where CAN you do it? ;) I'm excited because I now have more than two dozen items on the auction block at my favourite auction site, eBay! My eBay I.D. is "acorn58", and here's a direct link to my item list. (I meant to post this here earlier, but kept forgetting. The auctions run thru Feb. 4).

My general rule is to use eBay 2/3 of the time for SELLING and 1/3 of the time for BUYING. That way, hopefully I end up making more $$ than I spend. However, it doesn't always work that way! I remember once I went on a buying spree (I love that word) on melt-and-pour soapmaking supplies and spent way more than I thought I would (or should!) But the fragrance oils and essential oils sounded sooo delicious! And the dyes and colourants were sooo beautiful! (My fellow soapsters Shari of Las Vegas and Becky both know what I'm talking about! heehee)

Speaking of such things, if you like the merchandise of Bath & Body Works and/or The Body Shop, I hope you'll take a peek at my auctions, which run through the night of Feb. 4. I'm selling a bunch of indulgent and tempting lotions, body sprays, shower gels, bubble baths, home fragrance oils and lip glosses/balms at mega-bargain prices! (I bought them during the post-holiday mega-sale! *grin*)

Most have either been discontinued, or will only be back again during the June half-yearly sales or during the holidays. Some items are so yummy, I almost hope they don't sell, so I can keep them for myself and give some as gifts to female friends/family members whom I know will love them. But first we'll see how my current auctions go, since I could reeeealy use the profit margin! I've had good luck selling this stuff on eBay in the past, so I hope it continues. :)

* * * * * * * *
Since I'm doing shameless self-promotion, I might as well go all the way and mention something else! As some of you know, I belong to the Amazon Affiliates program (now called Associates, but I like the other name better). It's very simple and totally safe. :)

Each time someone shops at Amazon.com, I earn a 4-10% commission on the sale IF the person "clicked through" using one of my customized Amazon banners located on the following page: Shari's Amazon Affiliate links You can also use the mini Amazon banner at the top right of my blog sidebar.

If you click a banner on my link page, or the banner here on my sidebar, you'll be brought to Amazon's website as usual; nothing looks different. You don't even have to buy anything; you can simply browse for fun. However, if you do buy things, then I benefit. Once I earn enough commissions, Amazon sends me a gift certificate! I earned one a long time ago, and am hoping to earn another soon. :) So if you ever use Amazon, and don't already use someone else's Affiliate link (I don't want to scam on another person), I hope you might use me. *blush*

Thanks so much! Every bit counts, especially when you're as poor as a churchmouse like I am! *squeek squeek* For what it's worth, the majority of stuff I've bought lately on Amazon hasn't even been for me, but rather for friends and relatives. I LOVE giving gifts! :)

Today I am feeling giddy!

Earwax: the genetic shocker!

2006-01-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

What type of earwax do you have? And does it matter?

I know this is probably the most inane question you'll hear all week (LOL) but I'm not just being my usual silly self. I actually just read an online news article about this very topic!

Apparently there are 2 types of earwax among humans ("wet/sticky", or "dry") and the type you have says something about your genes and what part of the world your ancestors came from. This sure isn't the type of thing I normally think about, and it's not exactly dinner table conversation or a way to strike up a conversation with strangers!! ;D But it really is kind of interesting, in a "news of the weird" sort of way.

Here is a link to the article. I'd be interested to know what people think.

And now I have just two additional quick "sponsors" to plug/link to in my blog. I did most of my recent batch the other day in a longish post, so I promise this'll be short. FightingForYou.com is a very comprehensive source for info on class-action lawsuits and other legal actions against consumer products, medications, businesses, etc. Accutane side effects are apparently one of the biggies these days, since many folks used to use the drug for severe acne. I'm not sure how to make a clever segue about Boston office space because I don't live there and don't know anyone who does. So I'll just say that Techspace.com looks like a helpful website for anyone looking for a place to hang their high-tech hat. And that's that! :)

Today I am feeling amused (at the earwax thing!)

Shari's strange dreams

2006-01-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

Wow! :D A second blog entry in the same day! I'm mainly writing again because I remembered that I don't want to forget about the strange dreams I had last night! I was foolish not to have written about them, or at least made notes, this morning, when the memories were more fresh. Now it's almost bedtime again! However, due to the fact that I thought about these dreams all day today, I still remember enough to be worth writing.

If you don't know what a chinchilla looks like, you may want to click here before reading the story. :)

The first part I remember about this dream is that I was staying in a rather large, well-appointed hotel room with two beds. The nightstand between the two beds was also quite large; you see in a moment why this came in handy. I don't know why I was staying in a hotel room, or who I may have been staying with. I do remember that I had just received something that for lack of a better word, I will now call a "grow your own chinchilla kit". (Angela, are you laughing or cringing?)

It consisted of a wire cage (too small for chinchillas in real life) and two wadded up balls of what looked like newspaper pieces or wood shavings or fabric strips. I don't really recall. Inside each of them was a baby chinchilla, and I was supposed to wait for each to "hatch". (Now I know who's laughing!)

Somehow I knew they weren't "due" for a few days, so I was surprised when I felt movement inside one of the balls and thought I spied a tiny baby chinchilla through the cracks, peeking at me. I picked up the ball and took it to another cage (where did that come from?) on the hotel room's writing desk near the TV.

All of a sudden, the baby chin burst out of the ball and started bouncing in my hands. Actually more like boinging! LOL I thought the hyper little thing would get away, but it never tried to escape. Its fur was a beautiful gray, BTW. I managed to get it into the second cage without either of us getting hurt, and all was well.

Next thing I know, the other ball starts to hatch! The chinnie in that one wasn't nearly as bouncy as the first (its sibling?) The most unusual thing about it was that its fur had the colouring of a black-and-white hooded rat. I know this colour pattern doesn't exist in chinnies, but it does in rats. In fact, I used to have pet rats like that, so I'm sure that's where it came from in my dream. I've commented to many folks that if rats didn't have such a heartbreakingly short lifespan (2-3 years average), I'd probably still keep them as pets, because I love them so much. :)

Actually, I love all rodents, which is why I now want to get chinchillas, as their lifespan is a remarkable 10-15 years in captivity, or longer! They're larger than rats but not that much heavier; their extremely lush fur makes them seem "hefty", but they're surprisingly light and easy to hold. They're also very social, curious and intelligent, not to mention CUTE with a capital C! I've heard they're not quite as intelligent as rats, but close. Anyway, that's fine with me. The most important thing to me is a friendly temperament. :)

Back to my dream -- I don't remember much else about the two chins, or whether I ever left the hotel room, but I do remember another snippet of the dream in which time must have passed, because suddenly both chins were about 8 to 12 inches long and lounging around on me, one chin on each shoulder! I kept stroking their rich fur and all three of us were very happy and content.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The next dream also involved two beautiful animals, interestingly enough. This time two dogs (another of my favourite animals). I think one was a black lab or chocolate lab, and the other was a golden lab or a golden retriever. I brought them with me to a part-time job I'd recently taken, which makes no sense because the job was at a Subway sandwich shop, where I used to work back when I was a senior in high school and during my first two or so years in college.

I don't recall much else about the doggies, except they may have gotten into a little mischief in the shop. But the main thing about the dream is that the Subway shop was about as big as the kitchen in an apartment! And rather than being an actual storefront, it was enclosed on all sides by glass windows, through which people could come up and order their food. Very odd! There were several of us in there at a time, and I don't know how we all moved about!

I also remember the "shop" was located at the intersection of Pearl and Chynoweth Avenues (for those readers who live in San Jose). Except I don't think there was affordable housing or a Light Rail station there, but rather the more rural look it had in the 1970s. I also remember one of the employees was a senior citizen, and I wondered why he wanted to work there. He was very nice and we had some long chats about our lives as we worked. Oh, and he wore a baseball cap and glasses, but I don't know if the rest of us wore caps as part of our uniforms. I think part of the time he, I and the others worked in the "shop" was at night, because I remember looking out the windows and seeing it dark. It made me feel a little anxious, for some reason.

And that's about all I recall. Interesting, eh?

Today I am feeling sleepy!

"A word from our sponsor..."

2006-01-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of things to blog about, such as my new slew of cool eBay auctions, and my status as an Amazon.com affiliate, which I'm going to promote with a newfound vim! :) However, my auctions will run through the night of Feb. 4, and my Amazon status will never end (unless Amazon does!), so instead I will write briefly about something more pressing, but which is in a similar vein.

As everyone knows by now, I get compensated for blogging about certain websites, and for linking to them with particular keywords. As everyone ALSO knows, I don't just blindly recommend the sites, but choose to visit and study them beforehand. That way, instead of just promoting them, I can actually find something personally to SAY about them. :) I've just been given a bunch to weave into my blog, so instead of tacking them on at the end of a regular blog entry, this time I'm giving them their own. (Don't worry, I normally never do it this way!)

Remember a long time ago I said I liked DotFlowers because not only do they sell cool bouquets, gift baskets, etc., but they also have an impressive horticultural database I haven't seen on any other online florist? Well, it's time to promote them again, this time because of their specials on Valentine Day flowers, gifts and other festive things -- even heart-shaped cookies!

Speaking of hearts and flowers (how do you like my segues? *grin*), did you know Neil Young has a movie out titled "Heart of Gold"? You probably do, if you're a fan. And if you're not a fan, you probably don't care. For those folks who, like I, am simply curious what it's all about, just click here: Neil Young Heart of Gold.

Since many folks get engaged in February, ShopForWeddings.com will probably get lots of hits as future brides (and possibly grooms) search for ways to keep their wedding expense budget down to a dull roar. ;) Cheap wedding favors don't have to be cheap-looking -- they're simply things you got at a good cost because you shopped online!

For those who need some extra income before they even think about a wedding budget, there's always stock option trading. (It seems I can come up with a segue to connect just about any topic to any OTHER topic! *grin*) At any rate, this link brings you to Poweropt.com, which bills itself as a place to "find, compare, analyze and make money on option investments." It's all Greek to me, but I'm sure it's useful to many people!

The 69 Meme!

2006-01-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Monday) night, I kept running into this meme over at Live Journal, where I maintain a companion blog to this one. I guess it's called The 69 Meme (for lack of a better name, it now has a suggestive name) *chuckle* Lamely enough, it's actually missing some questions, so in fact it only has 61 questions! How a handful of numbers got skipped, I don't know!

Anyway, I copied the questions and wrote my answers last night, but since I'd already blogged yesterday, I decided to wait until today to actually post them.

I really enjoy reading memes because no matter how well you know someone (either as an online friend, an in-person friend, or both), you can always learn at least a few new factoids about them when you read their meme answers -- provided they give thoughtful and honest answers. And mine are definitely that! :) ;D

If I post all 61 questions & answers right here, this page will go on FOREVER! So, to save space, I'll redirect you to my LJ "cut" page, where my meme answers are contained. Just click here.

Today I am feeling playful/dorky!

Sleep Inertia: do you have it?

2006-01-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, I read a newsbrief about sleep inertia. I think it was in Time Magazine, but I'm not sure. I meant to blog about it since then, but kept forgetting. And (wouldn't you know it?) I kept remembering right when I was lying down to SLEEP! ;D

If you're anything like I am, your body probably feels a little weak and uncoordinated, and your brain feels "foggy" and disoriented when you wake in the morning, even if you got enough sleep. And the feelings are worse if your alarm awakened you from a deeper stage of sleep, such as in the middle of a dream, right? In the latter case, sometimes it almost feels like being intoxicated, although the feeling passes (for me anyway) within 10 to 20 minutes.

I used to think I was just a "slow riser", but now I know that what I experience is sleep inertia. This has definitely validated my feelings and I'm glad I learned about it! :) Here are 3 good articles (don't worry, not too long) where you can read more. I'm curious to know how many other folks experience this. And isn't it scary to think how this can affect the performance of folks who need to be up and active within minutes of being unexpectedly awakened?? Firefighters and on-call doctors are the first examples that comes to mind. :(

Facts About Sleep & Fatigue

Study: Sleep Inertia Affects Decision-Making

Sleep Inertia May Be More Debilitating Than Sleep Deprivation (I don't know about that, but maybe)

Today I am feeling sleepy!

To whom does the finger point? It points to thee!

2006-01-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

(With apologies to Ernest Hemingway, whose For Whom The Bell Tolls quotation I rewrote in an attempt at wittiness)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It seems like the newspapers are full of depressing, frightening and/or angering headlines these days. However, today when I read my hometown newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News, I felt smugly elated! That's because justice was more than served, right here in my own Santa Clara County, to two people who deserved it: Las Vegas residents Anna Ayala and her husband Jaime Plascencia. Anna will receive nine years in prison, and Jaime will receive 12 years, four months! HA HA!! "You've been served, losers!"

I'm not normally a spiteful or hateful person, but in this case, I am. I have neither patience nor sympathy for frauds, scammers and con artists who don't mind ruining the lives of innocent people just to make a buck or two. Those types of people are about as classy as pond scum or yesterday's garbage, and Anna and Jaime are among them. >:( I'm sure their names ring an unpleasant bell by now, since their names -- especially Anna's -- have been headline fodder for almost a year. (I won't provide links to online news articles about this; you'll find more than enough if you do a simple Google search.

In a nutshell: Anna is the person who, on March 22, 2005, placed a severed finger in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's fast food restaurant right here in San Jose! She pretended to be shocked, sickened and angered, and proceeded to ATTEMPT to sue Wendy's for a large sum of money. It's amazing how the whole world learned about this sickening lie in just a few short weeks, and continued to follow the story as details unfolded, including Anna's dark past involving several failed lawsuit attempts (which she never followed through on because her bluff was called or she ran out of steam) as well as a cruel case of fraud.

And her husband is a real winner!! Along with being Anna's accomplice by obtaining the severed finger from a co-worker whom he promised to pay if Anna's scheme earned them some money, Jaime has an even darker past -- failing to pay child support, child abandonment, identity theft and fraudulent use of official documents. The two of them are certainly quite a pair!

The losers were initially also ordered by a judge to pay $21 million in restitution to Wendy's for all the money the corporation lost due to negative publicity before Anna and Jaime's confessions. However, neither the corporation nor the manager of that particular Wendy's are going after the millions. They are, however, demanding the losers cough up $170,000. This is to cover the lost wages of the Wendy's employees who were laid off or had their hours cut due to a drop in business.

Here's a great quote from Santa Clara County Judge Edward Davila that just about sums up the case: "Greed and avarice overtook this couple, and they lost their moral compass." Gee, aren't those two of the seven deadly sins? I wonder how many of the remaining five Anna and Jaime have been overtaken by, and we just don't know it? *smirk* Maybe we don't want to know!

It's nice when the daily newspaper has a HAPPY headline for a change, isn't it?

Today I am feeling gleeful!

Snapple Pie: everything but the tin! ;)

2006-01-18T21:41:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write about Snapple Apple Pie all week, but things kept getting in the way. Hopefully it's not too late, and folks can still find it on the shelves! It's apparently been out since October or November, but somehow I didn't see it until January.

On a recent trip to my favourite Safeway, I saw a 4-pack of Snapples that looked different from the others. The cardboard (or whatever it is they make the 4-pack carriers out of) had a totally unfamiliar graphic, and the bottles themselves didn't have the regular Snapple wrap-around labeling, but rather had a PIE graphic on them. See below; if you want a close-up, just click the pic! :)

I'd never heard of Snapple Pie before, but I love apple pie, and I've loved Snapple since they first launched in the 1990s or whenever it was. So I took the plunge and bought the entire 4-pack. It wasn't a mistake.

The colour looks sort of like applesauce, which I found appropriate enough. The smell of the drink is somewhat appley and somewhat just "fruity." I also detected some mixture of spices, and a slight aroma of toasty caramel, for lack of a better description! When I first drank it, the sweetness of apples struck me first, and I thought it might be too sweet, like Snapple Apple turned out to be. But I was wrong!

Almost as though it was timed, I started noticing there was a hint of tartness there too, perhaps from another juice in the mix, or perhaps from citric or ascorbic acid. And then came the spice flavor of what seemed like cinnamon, cloves and/or nutmeg -- very mild, not at all irritating! Then I noticed the toasty caramel again, only when I tasted it rather than just smelling it, it also reminded me of an actual PIE CRUST! Not exactly like a true buttery, flaky crust from Grandma's oven, but enough so that I could see why on the packing, it says "Our crust is a must!" *chuckle*

I'd recommend this drink to anyone who likes apple pie, and who doesn't mind experimenting with novel flavors. Interestingly enough, I can't find ANYTHING on the Net about Snapple Pie in 2005! I only found references to 2003, when it apparently made its debut as a "seasonal flavor" the company hoped would boost sales during the slow winter months.

Here's a very interesting news snippet from CNN: Snapple Pie hits store shelves And here's an undated promo page from Snapple themselves (click here) in which they talk about not only the Apple Pie, but also another pie called Berry Mix & Mingle. I bet it would taste like crumb berry pie, mmm! I wish I'd seen THAT at Safeway; I'd have tried it too! Has anyone else tried either of these? If so, did you like them? If not, what are you waiting for?

Today I am feeling thirsty!

Shari's stir fry adventure

2006-01-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

In my last entry, I promised a food-related one this time, so here it is. I'd much rather tell you all that I just started a NEW blog, called Earthly Delights over at Live Journal. It's a way for me to reprint the best past editions of a gardening column I used to write, called Earthly Delights, plus write new columns after I use up the old. I'll also be posting my photos that accompanied the column. (I wanted to start a blog of this name here at Blogspot too, but the name was already taken.)

There's a bit of a story behind the column (don't worry; not too long). I'd be tickled pink if you took a peek at the introductory column by clicking the link above. And if you're a Live Journal member, I hope you'll consider adding my Earthly Delights blog to your friends list. *blush* Thanks! I'll blog more about my column in the near future.

But now, due to popular demand, I shall finally blog again about something that I actually COOKED! Do I hear a cheer coming from the directions of my friends "Milgwimper" and Jo, and my new online friends Clare and Fran? *grin* (These ladies are all good cooks, adventurous eaters and love to blog about food. Milgwimper, my best friend, has also been faithfully encouraging me to expand my forays into cooking and baking. Mainly cooking, as I'm more confident with baking.)

I'm pretty proud of the beef and vegetable stir fry I made the other night, not only because it turned out delicious, but because I made it without even consulting a recipe! (Sadly, that truly makes it an adventure for me, the easily intimidated cook). And here is a photo of my unique dish! Click the pic to enlarge it....

OOOPS! What's going on? I didn't make dog stir fry! Where did those furry little cuties come from? It looks like there's been a terrible error! Please don't call the Humane Society! You know what an animal lover I am!!

*giggle* Okay, so I'm being a little silly and composed a crazy-looking "still life" before I started cooking. But I really did make a beef veggie stir fry, completely sans recipe. I didn't have time to blog about it the night I made it, but here's what I did.

First I browned some ground beef in a frying pan/skillet with a little bit of oil. Not just ANY ground beef, but sirloin! And not just ANY oil, but garlic olive oil!

Afterwards (in another pan), I sauteed/stir fried TWO varieties of mixed frozen veggies, also in the garlic olive oil. Both were from Trader Joe's. The TJ's Harvest Hodgepodge consisted of broccoli, carrots, baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, red bell peppers and onions. The TJ's Stir Fry Vegetables consisted of carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, snow peas (a.k.a. Chinese peapods), green soybeans, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots. I used half of the veggies from each bag, leaving the rest frozen for another time.

When the veggies were al dente but not soft, I added the beef, along with two sauces by Kikkoman: their Stir Fry Sauce (not sure what all is in it) and Teriyaki Sauce. I was more generous with the Stir Fry sauce than the Teriyaki, not wanting things to get too salty.

Once the veggies had softened a bit (I don't really like them al dente), the beef was hot, and the sauces had melded with each other and with the food, the dish was done! And we ate it! :) And it was colourful, healthy and very delicious! Here's a photo; as always, you can click it for a larger version. The white tinge/blurriness is due to the steam rising.

One quick thing before I go; I have two quick additional "message from my sponsor" links, which I get paid to link to with certain keywords. You all know the drill. *blush* The first is A.E. Feldman, a company that among other things specializes in executive placement, management consulting and risk management jobs. They're definitely not fly-by-nighters; in fact, they've been around since 1967 and are a woman-owned, second-generation biz. I like that! :) The next link is FightingForYou.com. One of the class actions they're currently profiling is the Prempro lawsuit. I know nothing of this because I'm way too young to be on any hormone replacement therapy (and don't know if I'll ever opt for it). However, I'm sure many women 50 and older will find this info of interest.

And that's it! I hope my details about the stir fry (and the hot steamy photo) didn't make anyone TOO hungry! ;) I love stir frying anything and am trying to think up new and tasty combinations of meats, veggies and sauce. If anyone wants to post a comment with suggestions, that would be great! And please check back soon for more news on my Earthly Delights column.

Today I am feeling accomplished.

I picked a userpic!

2006-01-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

And the winner is.... #2
1. 2. 3.

Thank you to everyone who voted both here at Blogspot and at my LiveJournal pseudo-blog for your favourite among the three blog userpics/avatars I designed at Abi-Station.com. (Please scroll down this page to the previous blog entry for more info about my avatar-making and the reason behind it). Between here and LiveJournal, six folks voted.

One person chose pic #1, three chose pic #2, one chose pic #3, and one person's vote was simply that they didn't want #1. It's interesting that the majority preferred #2, because that was the one I was leaning toward myself. I liked all the pix, but the first one had eyes that were a little too "squinty", and the third one had eyes that were a little too round/wide to be real -- more like anime. %-)

Interestingly enough, the more I looked at pic #2, the more I think it resembles Natalie Portman a little bit, especially the eyes (aside from the fact that mine are green and hers are brown). I've always thought she had a classy and classic beauty, and there's no way I could EVER hold a candle to her! *blush* She is simply stunning. So, just for the record, I'm not trying to imply I think I look like Natalie. I just think pic #2 looks more like me than the others do.

"And now a quick word from my sponsors." As most of you know, I also use my blog to make a wee bit of extra $$. I decided against Google AdSense banners along the top or sides of my blog, because I think they're distracting and they don't always match correctly to the keywords in whatever you're talking about.

What I do instead is make brief mention of certain companies, linked with certain keywords, in a few of my blog entries each month. I get a small but nice compensation each time, and it certainly adds up. :) However, since I don't want to ever sound like I'm blindly promoting things, I promised myself (and my readers) I'll never talk about/link to any company until I've actually visited their website myself, and seen what they're all about. And now, without further ado, here are three now!

It seems Internet marketing firms, such as USWeb, are springing up like mushrooms. However, just like shrooms, some firms are better than others. USWeb strikes me as quite professional: they've been in biz 10+ years, offer a variety of services and have an impressive portfolio, including Fortune 500 companies. Next up is Lussori.com and their beautiful (albeit out of my price range) pearl jewelry. Although its name sounds like it's based in Italy -- or at least New York -- Lussori is actually in Carmel, California, a pleasant coastal town I've played tourist in many times. :) Speaking of pretty sparkly things, the price of gold is in constant flux, but the Monex Deposit Company monitors it -- along with silver, platinum and palladium prices -- like a "yard duty" monitors the school playground at recess!

And now that I got caught up with a few things, I'm hitting the hay! Last night (Friday the 13th -- OOOOH!) I had the gals over for our monthly bingo group, The Bingo Belles, and I was so wound up afterwards that I didn't get to sleep until late. It was a very funny and fun game, and so was the company. :) Plus I actually won TWO gifts this time around. (Last month I was a big loser). Anyhoo, between trying to wind down from the party last night, and accidentally waking up too early this morning, I am definitely ready to catch some Zzzzzz's now. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks again to the five folks who voted for my userpic/avatar. Tune in soon for one of my long-awaited FOOD entries -- with photos! ;D

Today I am feeling sleepy.

Help me pick a userpic!

2006-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

As at least half of my regular readers know, I maintain a "pseudo blog" at LiveJournal.com, which basically just consists of mini summaries that point people back here to my real Blogspot/Blogger blog.

Back in September 2005, when I first began blogging, I think I made a mistake by getting set up with Blogspot instead of Live Journal (a.k.a. "LJ"). LJ has a lot more cool, fun and/or useful attributes than Blogspot does, plus more of my friends use LJ. However, I worked long and hard on my customized Blogspot template, so I can't just give it up. *humble smile*

As a trade-off, I started posting "teasers" in my LJ blog each time I update at Blogspot. Each teaser consists of a mini summary. It may also include photos, such as the festive primroses, which I posted two days ago both here and at LJ. Each teaser also contains a direct link to the matching Blogspot entry. That way, not only do my LJ friends (new and old) know when I've updated my blog; they'll also know if the new entry is something they want to read. (Hopefully they will, and hopefully they'll comment as well *grin*)

The OTHER main reason I maintain a pseudo-blog at LJ is because without joining LJ and (I think?) compiling a user profile ( here's mine), you cannot properly leave comments in the blogs of other LJ users. I didn't mind making a profile over there; in fact, I enjoyed it, because there was a LOT more room to list my interests and hobbies than there is here at Blogspot.

And now the reason for this rant: the other day, I discovered an awesome website, Abi-Station.com , where you can make unlimited customized userpics/avatars/icons! :) It's a little frustrating but a lot of fun. There are so many attributes you can pick from (hair colours and styles, eye colours and shapes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, face line, accessories, animals, clothing, background theme, etc.) that I spent a lot of time messing around -- more than I care to admit!

However, I finally arrived at three avatars I think look the most like me. *blush* The hardest part was picking among the millions of EYES. I want to use an avatar as an alternate for the "real" photo of myself that I use when commenting in people's LJ blogs. I just can't decide which pic to pick! (There's one I seem to be leaning toward, but of course I won't say which).

Since I got a lot of responses to my prior blog entry, where I tempted people to tell me which primrose flower cluster was secretly "Photoshopped in", I'll ask you all another visual question. (For the answer to the primrose one, click here ). This time, the question is this: please tell me which of the three avatars below you think looks the most like me. "The eyes have it...."

1. 2. 3.

Today I am feeling indecisive in a silly sort of way!

A splash of winter colour

2006-01-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

Down the primrose path... ;)

I just wanted to share a very bright, cheery and colourful photo that I took a few days ago. (Click the pic for an even better close-up!) When it comes to winter-blooming annuals, it doesn't get much more festive than primroses! In particular, the various Primula x polyantha hybrids, which are commonly called English primrose or Polyantha primrose. The letter "x" is silent, by the way; it's used to indicate hybridization. Tony will never let me live down the first time I said the Latin name of a hybrid aloud, because I said "times" for the "x" -- as in multiplication! LOL I don't even know what tree, plant or flower it was; I just remember the laughter!

Anyway, this primrose is a good choice for winter landscaping, or even for container gardening. They enjoy being in full sun, but they do NOT enjoy heat, so I wouldn't recommend growing them in the summer -- unless you live in a cool-summer region or have the plants in a cool spot. Most primroses also prefer rich, well-drained soil and regular watering. Some species are fragrant, but I don't think these are (I haven't noticed, anyway).

Mini disclaimer: certain primrose species cause an itchy, poison oak-like reaction on some people's skin, so if you've never planted primroses before, pay attention until you know whether you react or not.

I hope other folks enjoyed this photo as much as I do. :) Something about colourful, pretty flowers always seems to raise my spirits. They also bring to mind a moving quote by Lady Bird Johnson: "Where flowers bloom, so does hope."

Today I am feeling content.

P.S. One -- and ONLY one -- of the primrose flower clusters was "PhotoShopped in" (by me). If you can guess which one doesn't belong, you get a prize!

Google "What You Need" meme

2006-01-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

I don't know if this meme has an actual name, so I took the liberty of giving it one. ;) It's almost as inane as the meme itself -- which is probably why I'm doing it. Inanity is my middle name! Oh wait, Jennifer is, according to my birth certificate! (heehee)

Anyway, over at Live Journal, where I have a user profile and pseudo-blog because many of my friends blog there and I can't comment in their blogs without an account, I came across this meme. It was written Dec. 18 in the blog of a gal named Natalie, whose I.D. is Brandnewpower54. I don't know her, but found her blog when I did a keyword search for Live Journal users who listed "oak trees" in the Interests portion of their profiles. More folks like oaks than I thought! :) If I had enough additional interests in common with these folks, I introduced myself either via a blog comment or via an email, if their address was available.

I commented in Natalie's blog that I liked this meme so much that I was going to try it myself, and I let her know how to find my Blogspot blog. I did try it, but I never actually blogged about it. Alas, life got in the way (holidays, out-of-town guests, me getting sick, etc.) and I plum forgot. HOWEVER, it's never too late to join in the fun!

Here's what you do. Go to everyone's favourite search engine, Google and type in your name, followed by the word needs. Put quotation marks around it to keep the results focused. For example, I typed the following: "Shari needs" and got a surprising amount of results, despite the relative rarity of this spelling. (Las Vegas Shari is apt to agree!) As you scroll through your results, copy and paste the first sentence of the first 15 different results, and comment briefly on each, if you wish. (If you don't want to do 15, do whatever you like, but at least 10 -- that way there's enough variety).

I emphasize different because you may end up with repetitious re-runs. For example, a gal named Shari Kurzrok of New York was in urgent need of a liver transplant last year, and lots of people quoted pretty much the same info about her on their various websites and blogs. So I didn't keep using that for my meme. The good news is that in August 2005, Shari got a new liver! :) Her blog hasn't been updated in months, but from what I can tell, she's doing OK. I hope she continues that way. I may even drop her a line! She sounds like a smart, generous and kind person who's done a lot of good for others, so hopefully that good is now coming back to HER! :)

And now, without further ado, here are my "Shari needs" (*grin*)

1. "Shari needs our help."
This was from a website raising awareness of organ donation and Shari Kurzrok's plight.

2. "Shari needs a complete liver."
Same as above.

3. "Shari's needs for protection and predictability have not been met."
That sounds like something a psychologist would say, if they were analyzing why I was dissatisfied with some facet of my life. *chuckle*

4. "Sleazy Shari needs to lay off of the lip liner."
LOL! Sometimes I may be breezy, but I'm definitely not sleazy. Also, I don't use lip liner, but I do admit to being addicted to yummy flavoured lip gloss!

5. "Shari needs to learn that respect is earned, not commanded."
I don't think this particular Shari has much in common with me. I know respect must be earned, and I have never been the type to command anything of anyone.

6. "Dan reveals why Shari needs a makeover."
I only know one Dan -- a friend of mine and husband of my friend Jenn -- but I know he'd never insinuate that any of his female friends needs a makeover!;) Especially if he knew what was good for him! (heehee) Then again, I *do* need to do something about my under-eye circles....

7. "Shari needs a 20' cable instead."
Instead of what? I could make a naughty joke about the length of things in inches vs. feet, but I won't. ;) Instead I'll make a more mundane comment, that I wish my new laptop had a longer battery life!

8. "Shari needs to come down from her mountain and join the rest of the not so righteous!"
This is another Shari who I probably don't have much in common with. I feel bad around self-righteous people, because they're generally not very open-minded. And they often have an "It's my way, or the highway" mindset. :( Not the type of person I'd want for a friend, even worse than the Shari in #5.

9. "Sandy and Shari need a variety of 'meaty' articles for this issue."
Back when I worked for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, one of my co-workers was named Sandy, and she was an awesome person! So this brings to mind many good memories of working with Sandy.

10. "Shari needs to go buy more balls!"
I've never been very good at most sports, and never really enjoyed playing sports, so this one is funny! About the only sports I enjoy that involve balls are miniature golf, bowling and pool/billiards. I think the mini golf balls would be the least expensive, eh?

11. "Shari Perry said she had received a request to use the courtroom for the filming of two television commercials."
This and #13 are the most specific of all the results. I don't recall who Shari Perry is, or what the commercials were for, but her name certainly has an amusing rhyme to it! Of course, "Scary Shari" is a better rhyme. ;)

12. "Shari needs to see what her Lord would have her do."
I am spiritual, but not particularly religious, so I don't have much to say about this one, other than it does not describe my feelings.

13. "Shari needs to know the citizens of Oceanside are upset with these sorts of actions."
Like # 11, this one is interesting because it's so specific. (I forgot what Shari's faux pas was, though!) Also interesting is that Oceanside is in California, and I'm a CA native and have actually been there. It's a very nice town .It's pretty far away though; way down south between Los Angeles and San Diego.

14. "Shari needs to learn to trust was the message he sent."
The syntax of this sentence is a little awkward. It's paraphrasing what some man said about Shari; I think it would read better if he was actually quoted. "To learn to trust" also sounds kind of awkward. (Okay, I'll take my copy editor's cap off now! *grin*)

15. "As a witness, Shari needs protection."
Yikes! I hope this never applies to me. The idea of a witness needing protection sounds scary! The only thing I ever thought I'd have to serve as a witness for, would not have gotten me in trouble. It was for an accident in which a young mother of two crashed her pickup truck into a county bus. The accident was neither her fault nor the bus driver's, but rather was caused by something extremely slippery in the intersection where I, and then she, made left turns. I nearly lost control of my car! Fortunately, I salvaged the turn. Unfortunately, she didn't. She wasn't hurt, and one of her two kids only had a bruise. No one appeared hurt on the bus either. However, you never know if someone on the bus would later lie and try to squeeze money out of this poor woman. So, I wanted the police and the county transit supervisor to know it was not the woman's fault; as I experienced the same dangerous conditions the other woman did, and that there was NO way to have avoided it!

And there you have it -- the Google What You Need Meme! Feel free to re-name it if you use it. I hope at least someone else will try it -- it really makes for some amusing and interesting blogging!

Today I am feeling amused.

Happy New Year! :)

2006-01-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Happy 2006! :)

Each time there's some holiday or special date in history, Google's resident cartoonist alters the logo of my favourite search engine to reflect it in a cute way. Even though the Google doodle above is understated and hasn't much connection with typical New Year's themes, I really like it! It's bright, happy and hopeful. :) Plus it features a beaver, and since I'm such a rodent-lover, I like them too. (Yes, they are indeed in the same buck-toothed family as rats, hamsters, chinchillas, squirrels, prairie dogs, et. al. Come to think of it, I had buck teeth as a kid before my orthodontic work, so perhaps that's ANOTHER reason why I love rodents! *giggle*)

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve. I was a little worried upon arising on Dec. 31, because it was rainy and wet and the newspapers predicted more of the same throughout the day. Normally that would be fine, but Tony and I had planned to make the Fantasy of Lights part of our NYE celebration. It's a festive spectacle of animated holiday light displays set up throughout Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. (My fave county park). You drive slowly through and enjoy it from the comfort of your warm vehicle. You also can tune your radio to a local frequency to complement the interactive experience with Christmas songs!

Here's a sample of what the displays look like at night. I'll post more photos when I've Photoshopped them and decide which to keep and which to trash. It's so hard taking this type of photo! You can't use the flash or all the lights will be wiped out. But without the flash, the shutter speed is slow enough that any motion of camera or hand makes everything blurry! I like this one, however...

Anyway, fortunately the rain STOPPED raining during the day on the 31st and never resumed. This was good news not just for us, but for everyone else whose plans would have been even more dampened by inclement weather. And so, we had dinner at one of our fave restaurants, went to Fantasy of Lights, hung out at Starbucks where we drank Java Chip Frappuccinos and laughed hysterically while playing Mad Libs, and then drove around Los Gatos and South San Jose (Almaden Valley and Blossom Valley) looking at Christmas lights and holiday displays and almost getting lost. Oh, and listening to some profane guy on the CB radio B.S.'ing with some other guy (who was out of our range) about spending NYE alone on the CB and that they really ought to go get themselves some beers or margaritas! LOL It was hard to follow the one-sided conversation, but what we heard was quite funny!

I know this isn't everyone's idea of celebrating New Year's Eve, but that's okay -- WE had fun. :) I used to prefer wild and crazy parties but nowadays I'm just as happy with lower-key stuff. Plus Tony actually wasn't feeling so well, so it was just as well that we didn't make reservations for the annual NYE party at ComedySportz. (If you enjoy hilarious competitive improv comedy skits, CHECK THEM OUT! There are ComedySportz places throughout the U.S. with performances several nights every week!) Anyhoo, Tony and I attended the show and party last year and had a blast (there's even a midnight post-show dessert buffet), so I didn't mind skipping it this year. In the spirit of New Year's festivities, here's a pic of me taken at the party. It was indeed a challenge getting all the streamers and silly string out of my hair! *giggle*

Today (Jan. 1) wasn't so good, as the weather made up for lost time by storming with a VENGEANCE! I truly haven't experienced this much rain and wind in many, many years. And it went on ALL day! There is so much flooding in the South Bay, and entire Bay Area, that I can't even name all the places. Rivers and roads have just washed themselves away! Additionally, many trees have fallen, and those that haven't fallen have dropped branches all over the place! Lots of accidents too. I feel just awful about all of this! NOT a good way to start the new year! And here on the home front, I think one of our resident Anna's hummingbirds lost his nest, because he hung out on two trees on the patio nearly ALL day! (A small, half-dormant, topiary-style blue potato bush and an even smaller, totally dormant Valley oak sapling.

Here's a photo of the scene; CLICK the photo for a close-up of the hummer...

Some of the gusts of wind were so strong, I couldn't even look at the little hummer, because I thought for sure he'd be blown away. Miraculously and tenaciously, his little feet held tight to the branches. In between gusts, he zipped up to the nectar feeder for much-needed sustenance. As night fell tonight, I stopped looking out at the patio, because I DREADED the thought of seeing him dead on the patio. I hope he flew back to his tree and found better shelter there for the night. These plucky little birds can survive a rainstorm; it's the damn WIND GUSTS that made today so awful for them and I'm sure caused many to lose their nests. I think some of our resident tree squirrels also lost their nests, but at least they're bigger and stronger and thus better able to ride out a storm. (Also more adaptable!)

To end on a happier note, my 4 o'clocks growing along the fence (which I wrote about in the entry just prior to this one) chose TODAY to open their first flower! And here it is -- commentary following. As always, click the pic for a larger version. :)

I'd been watching the couple of developing buds for a few weeks, and the largest finally bloomed! When I went outside this morning, there it was -- pure magenta! It stayed open all day, due to the cold weather. I can't even imagine how mixed up that poor plant must feel! *chuckle* The flower was smaller than normal for fours, but I'm sure that's because the plant is immature. Four o'clock seeds sown in late summer/early fall are actually (per Sunset Western Garden Book) supposed to spend fall, winter and spring growing leaves and bulking up their tuberous roots, then bloom in spring or summer! I guess mine want to "practice" now. The flower is so bright and cheery, and so unexpected this time of year, that I almost feel like it's a good omen, since it finally opened on Jan. 1, 2006. :)

Hopefully future blossoms will display the gorgeous magenta-and-white petal variegation of the parent plant. You never know with fours! In fact, on the SAME parent plant were some solid magenta flowers, some solid whites, and some with various magenta and white stripes, chunks and speckles. When spring comes, I'll plant even MORE fours and see if they catch up with the ones that got their start in September. Please don't try what I did if you don't live in a mild-winter climate. You can't sow 4 o'clock seeds in late-summer/early fall in most parts of the country (they won't make it through harsh/cold winters), but here in the Santa Clara Valley, you can.

And now that it's after 11 p.m., I'm going to catch some Z's, since last night I stayed up late and woke up too early (due to the loud storm). Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone, and may it be a good one for us all! :D I don't generally make "resolutions," per se, but there are a couple of things I definitely plan to accomplish, or at least valiantly attempt, in 2006. But I won't go into those now. I'll leave it with this -- two of my favourite quotes -- "If you can shape it in your mind, you will find it in your life" and "The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground."

Today I am feeling sleepy, contemplative and optimistic.

Making up for lost time: parties, sales, seeds!

2005-12-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

In continuing the game of catch-up, I don't want to let this week go by without blogging about a bunch of other cool things, which certainly made up for all the NON coolness of being sick for several days beforehand. Buying a new laptop on Monday (as I finally wrote in yesterday's entry) was the BIGGEST news, "but wait -- there's more!" ;)

Tues., Dec. 27: family party
My two cousins (Julie and her son Brandon) who were supposed to come with my aunt to the party on the 23rd, which was cancelled due to me being sick, came on the 27th for a secondary party and gift exchange, along with two more cousins (Ron and his son Joshua) who were staying with my aunt while visiting from Texas. Along with my folks and myself, it was a crowded party of seven at the dining room table! :) A very FESTIVELY decorated table, I might add! The only person missing was my aunt. We had a great brunch and a fun gift exchange, with everybody liking their presents!

I was so happy to feel better that I even made (the day before) a delicious Mandarin orange fluff pie whose recipe I found in an old dessert cookbook I almost sold on eBay! My best friend "Milgwimper" (she doesn't like her name used) who blogs at Some Like It Hot has been bugging me to post some more entries about my adventures in cooking/baking, so hopefully the photos below will placate her *grin* Unlike she, I'm not very good at cooking, although I'm OK at baking. Even her husband cooks more than I do! However, I truly am trying to build my confidence, even if it's a little at a time. And this pie helped, even though it was a super-simple recipe involving just a few things: store-bought chocolate pie crust, mandarin oranges, mandarin orange juice, water, orange Jello, lemon juice, lemon zest (could substitute orange zest), and Cool Whip (which I substituted for beaten whipping cream).

Click a pic for a larger version. I don't know why the pie looks two-toned in the second pic; it really isn't!!

Tues., Dec. 27: Bath & Body Works sale
I actually visited my favourite place of indulgence BEFORE the family arrived, but they are more important than my shopping trip, so I put them first. But now I get to write my "confession", as Shari of L.V. has been eagerly awaiting all week! Then again, she got a personal email from me on Dec. 27, the first day of the Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale and holiday clearance, so she already knows every last item I bought, from lathery shower gel to creamy skin lotion to sparkly lip gloss to refreshing body splash! Everything smells and/or tastes like either sweet treats, baked goods, fresh fruits or flowers. Or some combo thereof! Let's just put it this way -- when a store with such amazingly delicious and indulgent bath and body products marks a bunch of things down by 50% to 75% -- I'm there! A few things I actually keep for myself at these events, and a few I save to give as gifts, but MOST I buy so that later, once B&BW no longer has the items on the shelves, I can turn around and sell them on eBay. It's all about supply and demand, baby! ;)

I think Shari's the only person, outside of myself, who could find so much commentary to write about each and every B&BW purchase. Check out The Bountiful Damage Report if you're curious. I love it, not only because she writes well and amusingly, but also because it validates my own compulsion to wax verbose about my purchases!! *giggle* I think she's also the only person who has half a dozen or so B&BW shops within convenient driving distance for her. I guess Las Vegas is truly like the buffets it's known for: too much to pick from, and too many places to pick it! So, shall I plan my next Vegas trip during B&BW's June sale? ;D We can shop 'til we drop in a whirlwind of Shariness!

Weds., Dec. 28: lunch festivity
The first fun thing I did Wednesday was attend a deliciously catered farewell/congratulations lunch for my friend and former co-worker Bea, former longtime editor of the Evergreen Times, part of the Times Media Inc. family of community weekly, twice-monthly and monthly community newspapers.

Not only was it a great treat to see Bea again (joined by her hubby and daughter) but also a bunch of other cool folks from the Times and elsewhere. And the lunch repast was amazing: Caesar salad, garlic bread, several types of pizza, calzones, and fried calamari and dipping sauce. The portions were enough to feed an army! I believe it was all from Megabyte Pizza, which also happens to be located in the Evergreen/Silver Creek area of San Jose. I've been there a few times myself, and it's quite good.

Bea is leaving the Times to work full-time as campaign manager for San Jose Mayoral candidate Dave Cortese, who currently is a San Jose City Councilmember, representing District 8. I haven't yet decided which person I'll vote for next year when San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales' term is up, especially since I'm sure more candidates will throw their hats into the ring down the road. However, from what I know of Dave, he definitely is a worthy contender. (He's also a Democrat, which is a plus in my book!) I hope Bea has an edifying, interesting and exciting time working on the campaign. She's a super-nice, super-organized and hard-working person, so I'm sure she'll do great.

Weds., Dec. 28: "coffee talk"
I forgot where that saying came from (where you pronounce it like "kauwfee tauwk" - LOL) but I think it's pretty funny. At any rate, I had to leave Bea's lunch party sooner than I wanted, because I was meeting my friends Nicole and Tammy for coffee at the Starbucks in the cool town of Los Gatos . Nicole's one of the few friends I've known since middle school who I'm still in touch with. Tammy is a friend I met through Nicole. Well, okay, that was my first time meeting her, but I can always tell after hanging out with someone if they are someone I'd like to consider a friend. And Tammy is. :)

Anyhoo, due to distance and work conflicts, Nicole and I only get together a few times a year. At least now that she moved back to her native Bay Area, it's easier -- once upon a time, she lived out of state! We met in Los Gatos because I had to check my P.O. Box there (long story) and Nicole wanted to see the town again, as she and her parents used to live there. (Well, in the Santa Cruz Mtns part). We met at Starbucks because Nicole insisted on buying me a dessert and my guilty indulgence, the Java Chip Frappuccino (click with caution; it's addictive!), in exchange for a book she bought from me the other week on eBay. I didn't realize she was the bidder until after the auction closed. As soon as I found out, I emailed to tell her NOT to PayPal me the money; I'd just give her the book as a Christmas gift.

I also gave her a packet of more than two dozen hand-harvested 4 o'clock seeds, as she really wanted some, and they're really easy to grow. I know I haven't been obsessing in this blog about 4 o'clocks lately, but that doesn't mean I don't think about them! Visit my Sept. 28 entry "My 4 o'clocks are sprouting!" for the start of it all, or check out "Garden update: 4 o'clocks" written on Oct. 6 or "Garden update: 4'oclock SURPRISE" written on Oct. 31 for more -- including photos! Heck, here are two sample photos now! (Click for close-ups)

Sadly, most of the seedlings in the first container succumbed to what appears to be damping-off. That's odd, since they were the ones NOT transplanted! (Tony thinned the original container by pulling and transplanting about half the seedlings into a second container). The second container seedlings are doing well, but what's doing best are the seeds I planted along the fence. They took off like rockets and -- get this -- even formed FLOWER BUDS! In mild winter climates like the Santa Clara Valley, you can sow fours in late summer/early fall, have them grow all through winter (which includes bulking up their tuberous roots) and then enjoy the beautiful and fragrant summer bloom! After their first year and every year thereafter, fours go dormant in fall and do nothing until early summer, when they resprout from the large tubers. But during their first year, when growing from seed in a mild winter clime, I guess sometimes they get a little confused (or eager?) and set a few flower buds in the middle of winter! I'll be sure to post photos when the first bud opens! :)

Thurs., Dec. 29: more laptop adventures
Yesterday, my old friend Mark, who among other business ventures runs a computer consulting/technical support biz called Go Guys , made a house call to help me set up and configure my new Toshiba Satellite laptop (see yesterday's blog entry), along with the wireless router, the anti-virus/firewall software and various other things. (I still have my iMac desktop, don't worry!) Long story short about the laptop, there's still an as-yet unresolved issue with the router, which I'll explain after Mark returns Sunday or Monday. That's right -- another house call! But at least it's him and not the Geek Squad! I've heard very good things about them, and I'm sure they make great house calls too, but Mark is more flexible and more affordable. Plus I've known him at least 4 or 5 years and can vouch for the fact that he's a very nice person and a hard working family man. I'd truly recommend him to ANYONE! :) Like every other independent tech consultant, he's extremely proficient with everything PC-related. However, unlike every other consultant, he's also extremely proficient with all things MAC!

Oh, and in between all the things I just wrote about this week, I also squoze in some time (on Weds) to shop the semi-annual sale at The Body Shop , but it wasn't nearly as big/good as Bath & Body Works. I also went grocery shopping in several different stores on two different days AND made an unplanned trip to the chiropractor one day when my upper-left trapezius muscle went majorly and painfully OUT! :(

And now I think I'd better try to hit the hay early, since tomorrow night is New Year's Eve! :D I hope no one was bored to tears reading about my week. I know I certainly wasn't bored writing about it. In fact, I'm excited all over again, just thinking of everything!

Today I am feeling (interpret as you wish! heehee)

Making up for lost time: NEW laptop!

2005-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

As sick as I was Dec. 22-24, and recovering from being sick on Dec. 25, I've sure made up for lost time since then! So much cool stuff has happened that I don't know where to start -- so I'll begin at the beginning! ;)

Mon., Dec. 26: computer shopping!

I wasn't keen on venturing out on Monday, since "The Day After Christmas" is notorious for crowds and hysteria, and I didn't want to be a part of it after being holed up for several days. However, I had no choice but to go to Best Buy , my fave eclectic electronics store, and fortunately less than 2 miles from my home. I went because I saw in their newspaper ad insert that they had lots of sales and rebates that one day! Among them was a Toshiba Satellite L25-S1192 laptop for $499! Well, it was $750 but with a $250 rebate. I'd no idea Toshiba makes dozens upon dozens of different laptop models, and a ton in the Satellite series alone! *chuckle* That's crazy! Apple makes a good number of different Macintosh models, but not ANYWHERE near many!

Speaking of Apple, despite being a loyal Mac user since the late 1980s and owner of several Macs, I guess I've become a semi-turncoat. I'm stuck with Mac OS 9.2 because this older G3 iMac can't comfortably upgrade to OSX, due to being slightly under the recommended processor speed and amount of memory and hard drive space. And since no new Mac software runs on anything lower than OSX, and more and more websites every month have functionality that doesn't work on OS 9.2 versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer, I'm feeling more and more like I'm marooned with a dinosaur.

And unfortunately, Macs are STILL much more expensive than their PC counterparts, be it laptop or desktop. The least expensive Mac iBook I could find was between $900 and $1,000! Why would I spend that when I can get a much more universally compatible PC laptop for half that price? When you're as poor as a churchmouse as I am, a $500 price difference is a HUGE deal! *blush* I'll always love the friendly Mac interface and everything about the way Macs work. I don't ever plan to get rid of this desktop either, but there are just too many incompatibilities between the world at large, and Macs. Even with OSX, there are still some companies that refuse to make software for it -- only for Windows!

When I can afford it, I definitely DO plan to buy a Mac that runs OSX. I don't know if it will be a desktop or a laptop, but I do want one. However, with my personal financial and job situations, that wouldn't happen for who knows when?! As it is, the compressor in my car's air conditioner has been making more than normal noise for the past few summers, but I've never had it fixed because it's so costly. IF the thing fails, I'll get it fixed and choke down the monstrous $800-$1200 repair bill. Until then, the A/C works great -- just a wee bit noisily! *chuckle* And yes, I MUST have A/C during the summer in my car. I've become quite heat-intolerant the last several years and hot cars are the worst. :( I'm also afraid of bugs getting in the car and distracting me, so I won't drive with the windows rolled down. I know too many people who've had it happen!

Anyway, in case anyone is geekily curious about my specific laptop, you have its number: L25-S1192. Oh, and it has an Intel Celeron M processor, if that matters. ;) As for me, I'd just call it a Toshiba Satellite L-series. The review in this link makes it sound like I got a bare bones laptop, but the truth of the matter is that I really can't afford ANY laptop, and probably won't any time in the near future, so I had to buy the most bargain-priced I could find, but which still allowed me to do what I wanted/needed. Plus I can always add memory to it, very simply and fairly reasonably. As it is, this Toshiba lap has MORE memory, a BIGGER hard drive, a FASTER processor and MORE multimedia capacity than my iMac G3, so it's far from bare bones to me!!

I also bought a Linksys wireless internet router at Best Buy for $70 (but only $40 after rebate), and of course Best Buy's extended 3-year service plan/warranty for $199, which includes not only unlimited repair work but also 1 free replacement laptop battery per year! I had an incident with the retractable lens of a digital camera I bought at Best Buy, and let me tell you, it's GREAT to have their extended service plan/warrantee. They took care of everything (a lot, as it turned out) and it cost me nothing! (Well, aside from the price of the initial plan, which was a good deal but I forgot how much it was).

I didn't do anything else on Monday, not even open the computer box, because I was too physically and emotionally tired from all the excitement! Not very in character for hyper me, eh? *grin* Well, just remember I'd just gotten over from a nasty virus and 3 days of fever! I also didn't do anything else because there were preparations to be made for a family party the next day (Tuesday). But it's 11 p.m. right now, so I won't write about that cool event until the morning. I also have to write about the not one but TWO cool events that took place on Wednesday, not to mention the complicated computer set-up adventures that finally took place TODAY! (Thanks, Mark! I couldn't have gotten all this laptop stuff going without you!) Ah, and don't worry Shari of L.V. -- I haven't forgotten about including a mini-confessional about my guilty side trip to Bath & Body Works for the half-yearly sale! ;D I promise that's on the way also!

Today I am feeling gleeful/accomplished!!

Happy eBay anniversary to me!

2005-12-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

This isn't really a "belated" wish, since I didn't actually forget the festive date of Dec. 22 -- I just felt too sick to blog about it at the time! But since it was my OWN festive date, I forgive myself for not blogging about it until now. ;) eBay didn't forget about it either; they even sent me the following "card"...

That's right; on Dec. 22, 1998, I became a card-carrying member of the cult! *smirk* My I.D. there is acorn58. It's hard to believe it's been seven years! eBay was just three when I joined, prompted by my friend Nicole. I should've known she'd give good advice, as she's one of the few friends I made in middle school whom I'm still in touch with. She'd had good luck buying and selling books (and other things) on eBay, and thought I'd likewise enjoy the idea of buying and selling in the online auction format.

She was right! Nicole was also an excellent and patient mentor. She introduced me to basic HTML code and tags, which helped me design good-looking auctions in the days long before eBay had pre-made frilly templates sellers could use -- for an extra fee, that is! I continue to use and expand upon my HTML knowledge to this day. Thanks again for everything Nicole! :)

Over the years, I've tried to follow the self-imposed 2/3, 1/3 rule. My eBay activity should comprise 2/3 selling and 1/3 buying in any given year. That way, I'm always in the black, not in the red! As a seller, I've enjoyed much success (and a few failures) selling a crazy quilt of items! Between my simple but cheerful HTML designs, my good quality self-hosted digital photos, and especially my writing/editing skills in creating descriptive and persuasive text, it's hard for me NOT to sell something. *blush*

Some of my best luck has been with collectible used books from a series, especially Time-Life Foods of the World (sshhh!) and The Three Investigators kids' mystery/adventures (sshhh again!). Sorry, but I can neither confirm nor deny where I find these gems. (heehee) I also used to have good luck selling collectible glassware/barware with the names and/or logos of sodas, liquors and liqueurs, but I don't scout out that stuff anymore.

Another success has been shopping at places like Bath & Body Works, Body Shop and Victoria's Secret their semi-annual sales and clearances, and buying at big discounts a variety of bath and body items that will no longer be available in-store for another half-year. Sometimes items won't come back at all, but rather have been discontinued. Either way, I wait a few weeks after the last day of the sale, then turn around and sell the now in-demand items on eBay. B&BW (my fave, and coincidentally also that of "Shari of L.V.") starts the December version of their twice-yearly sale tomorrow, so you know where I'll be! And not just for things to sell on eBay, but to buy a few things for my indulgent self and as gifts for others. Body Shop also has a semi-annual sale on its website, but I'm not sure if it's also in stores. I'll have to call them.

What I've had the most success BUYING on eBay is just about anything with any combination of the following motifs: oak trees, oak leaves and acorns. From jewelry to postcards to stickers to housewares, I've found it! I probably wouldn't have half the beautiful oak-related things in my collection if not for eBay. :) I also used eBay to buy a talking bingo caller, cards and chips this past spring when I formed the Bingo Belles, my monthly gals-only bingo and friendship group. Oh, and I can't forget melt-and-pour soapmaking supplies: I found great deals and a great variety of fragrances and colorants from eBay sellers who could afford to charge less because they have no actual storefront. And then there are all the miscellaneous purchases I've used eBay for that I can't even begin to name, from socks to CDs to Beanie Babies!

And now that I've finished gushing about eBay *grin*, I won't gush but rather will briefly plug a few of my "sponsors", whom I get compensated for mentioning in my blog and linking to with specific key words. (Regular readers already know about this.)

If you like flowers and like the idea of buying/sending them via a thoughtful, well-designed website, check out DotFlowers. I prefer silver jewelry, but if anyone is looking for gold jewelry, you might want to visit Lussori. When I saw their website (even with compensation, I never mention a site before I visit it myself), I was surprised that they're based in Carmel, a beautiful seaside town just an hour's drive from me. (I guess I thought they'd be in Italy!) Speaking of precious metals, for those interested in the silver prices market, you can find plenty of helpful info from the folks at Monex Deposit Co. FightingForYou.com is a site I've seen in the past, and I like it, as it provides info and tools for folks involved (or getting involved) in personal injury/illness lawsuits relating to everything from prescription drugs to dogs to airbags. I'm supposed to link to them by saying New York personal injury, but I couldn't figure out a way to tie in the Big Apple. Oops! There - I just did! ;D

P.S. Quick health update -- as "better" as I was getting yesterday, I feel even "betterer" today. It wasn't strep, and the doctor said it wasn't severe enough to be flu, so I guess it was just a random virus! Thank you everyone who emailed or commented with well wishes. *blush* And thank you even MORE for keeping my dad's health in mind. :) I hope everyone continues to have a happy and HEALTHY holiday season and a great new year!

Today I am feeling content.

Funny Christmas scene - ouch!

2005-12-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

[sing to the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer"]

Santa has collided with a street tree,
Skiing through the streets of San Jose!
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,
But cameras do not lie -- or so they say!

In all honesty, I actually took these photos in December 2004. There's a side street (court, really) off McLaughlin Avenue in San Jose where the homeowners go all-out decorating their home and landscaping for Christmas. They also took the liberty of decorating a street tree with this scene of violence! (LOL) I don't know if they repeated it in 2005, but I'd assume they did. I thought it was so crazy, I had to photograph it. It also moved me to rewrite a stanza of the maddeningly catchy carol, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer! (This link not only provides the full lyrics; it also has a MIDI file with a cool instrumental version of the song).

I hope anyone reading this who celebrates Christmas is having a wonderful day full of family, friends, food, gifts and -- most importantly -- good health. :) The same wish goes for anyone reading this who celebrates Hanukkah, as the first of its seven nights begins tonight.

I'm happy to report I'm feeling better since Friday morning, when last I blogged. My fever seems gone, and my throat culture was negative for strep. Thank you to all the folks who sent me get-well wishes, either via blog comments or email. *hugs* If you could extend those wishes a bit longer, NOT for me, but for my dad, I'd be grateful. As I mentioned in the prior blog entry, he has advanced COPD, which means even the smallest infection can cause big trouble in his bad lungs. He's also 82, so he doesn't exactly have youth on his side either. :( We are all hoping and praying he doesn't come down with what I had!!

Today I am feeling hopeful.

It sucks to be sick!

2005-12-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

I think I might have strep throat. :( Early in the week, I was in close contact with a woman who had strep, but I didn't know it at the time. Ironically, it was while I was in line at the Kaiser pharmacy to pick up my generic version of Prilosec (for acid reflux). The woman was directly in front of me for a while. I learned of her strep when she walked to the counter and said she was picking up antibiotics for strep (and boy did her voice sound BAD!)

I normally always have Kaiser send my prescriptions in the mail during cold and flu season, but the container these particular pills come in is large and I don't think would make it through my mail slot. Then again, we have a great mail carrier, Ed, who always knocks on the door when something doesn't fit, rather than just leaving a note and making me come to the P.O. So, I will NEVER order any prescriptions to be picked up at the pharmacy until April or May -- mail delivery only!

Anyway, yesterday afternoon I started feeling kind of "funny", but I thought it was because I'd just finished dusting and vacuuming the house, which often irritates my nose and throat. However, by bedtime I knew I had a fever, my throat was sore, and my muscles were so achy I couldn't get comfortable. Normally I'd think this is a virus, but because I was so close to a highly contagious person with strep throat, I fear I might have the nasty bacterial infection myself! (I checked online and the incubation period is short -- you usually get sick in 2 to 5 days!)

I'm going to Kaiser soon for a throat culture. I feel so depressed and guilty about getting sick, because my folks, my aunt, my cousin Julie, her son Brandon and I were all supposed to get together here for a festive pre-holiday lunch and gift exchange. Of course that's been cancelled. :( And this is after my mom and I decorated and planned a special menu, my aunt made my grandma's famous whipped cranberry jello mold and Julie was all set to fete us with one of her special hot appetizers. Fortunately, Julie and Brandon are coming back on Tuesday for another celebration, because her brother Ron and his son Joshua (my cousins also, duh) will be in town from Texas. The only person who'll be missing on the Tuesday reprise is my aunt, which I feel bad about. Maybe at the last minute she'll be able to get off work and join us! (I sure as heck don't plan to be sick by Tuesday!!)

I hope everyone stays well and has a very HEALTHY holiday season! And if you think of it, please send good thoughts my dad Al's way. Thanks! He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and an enlarged heart. Even the smallest infection has the possibility of creating very serious complications for his bad lungs -- that's why everyone in the family gets flu shots! So on top of feeling sick myself, I'm sick with worry about my dad!

Today I am feeling sick/sad/worried!

Winter holiday confluence

2005-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

I've always liked the sound of confluence, although I rarely ever find ways to use it. Perhaps I should add this to my Favourite Words List? BTW, yes, I took the snowy oak photo above. You can click it for a beautiful close-up. :) Special prize if you can guess where I photographed it! (Except for Tony; he can't guess, as he already knows!)

At any rate, today marks the beginning of an exciting week-long period, due to the confluence of all four December holidays! That would be, in order: Winter Solstice (today, Dec. 21), Christmas Day (Dec. 25), the first of the seven nights of Hanukkah (Dec. 25) and the first of the seven days of Kwanzaa (Dec. 26).

In my opinion, there are three main reasons for celebrating a holiday. One: it's something your family traditionally celebrated so you do too. Two: it's something you didn't necessarily grow up with, but you celebrate out of respect for other family members (or a spouse) who celebrates it. And three: it's something you like and identify with, whether you grew up with it or not. I celebrate all of the above holidays except Kwanzaa, and each for a different reason. :)

This is not a diss of Kwanzaa; I simply don't know all that much about it and don't know anyone who celebrates it who'd be willing to include this eager but inexperienced white woman. *blush* But from what I do know of it, I find it very appealing, especially since you can follow any religion or even no religion, and still celebrate Kwanzaa.

Since today is the Winter Solstice, I'll keep my commentary on that. Hopefully I'll remember to write on the other three holidays as they come.

The first of winter is upon us; the shortest day of the year and the longest night. This point of balance, from which the sun is "reborn," is celebrated with a variety of religious and/or spiritual rituals by followers of earth-based religions, including Druids, Pagans, Wiccans, some Native Americans and some folks whose spiritual path has no name at all; they just know it centers around Nature and the earth.

Some folks also call it Yule, where we get the term Yuletide from. Yule is the name for an old pagan festival celebrated at the winter solstice. Its name comes from geola, Old English for "yoke." The solstice is like a yoke or balancing point of sorts, at which time the sun is at its lowest ebb.

The traditional Yule log is a carryover from European traditions of ceremonial bonfires ushering in the solstice and keeping the long, dark night at bay. The fire kindled by this log--ideally of oak--traditionally should burn until Jan. 1. The oak tree was (and still is) symbolic of wisdom, strength and fertility--all traits appropriate and useful this time of year.

The evergreen plant mistletoe--which incidentally often grows on oaks--is sometimes called the Golden Bough in Celtic traditions because of the colour its berries take as they age, although only among certain types. There are actually many mistletoe genera and species, with berry colour variations including white, golden, pink and red. Druids in times of olde thought mistletoe had qualities of healing and fertility, which might explain the tradition of couples kissing under it. Mistletoe was also thought to contain the "essence" of the dormant, bare tree during the winter. In truth, mistletoe is a partial parasite -- it attaches to the host tree's branches and "drinks" water and nutrients from the host's vascular tissue. However, mistletoe is also a photosynthesizing green plant, which means it makes some of its own nutrients as well.

The most common image of the holiday season--the Christmas Tree--also carries symbolism. Many earth-based religions feel trees are sacred, or at least deserving of special respect. Like the mistletoe, evergreen trees flourish when most other plants die, and so represent life and rebirth. Tree lights used to be made of candles in glass bowls. One interpretation of the lights is that they represent and contain the sun's warmth. I think that's beautiful.

And on that note, I'll stop, lest someone accuse me of writing an essay! *grin* Just remember: after tonight, we gain about 1 extra minute of daylight per day!

Today I am feeling contemplative and happy.

A season of GIVING!

2005-12-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

A few happy holiday stories to share...

First I wanted to mention ones of my all-time favourite nonprofits, the Family Giving Tree .

I feel strongly about it because its CEO is a longtime friend, Jennifer Cullenbine. I also feel strongly because I've seen, from an insider's view, how the FGT works and how immensely it brightens the holidays for kids, families, seniors and homeless folks who otherwise would have no gifts or joy at Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa. I've also been volunteering in the gift warehouse since 1997, and hope to for years to come! :)

Based in Milpitas, the FGT had its genesis in 1989, when Jenn and her classmate/friend Todd Yoshida were pursuing their MBAs at San Jose State University , where I earned my bachelor's degree several years after them. The FGT started out providing gifts just for disadvantaged kids in one school district (I think that's right?). Over 16 more years, the FGT has expanded like kudzu! OK, maybe not that voraciously, but currently partnering with more than 180 social service agencies throughout the Bay Area is nothing to sneeze at!! In 2002 (a stat I had handy), more than 50,000 needy kids served by these agencies got gifts, thanks to the generosity of the corporations, supermarkets, banks, schools, etc. that host Giving Trees in their lobbies/storefronts/offices AND the people who pluck "wish tags" off the trees, shop for the gift wish of the given child, and return the gift to the same tree they got it from. Some gifts are fun (like games, toys and Walkmen); others are practical (like sweats, jackets or sleeping bags).

This Saturday, I spent 5 1/2 hours in a donated Santa Clara warehouse as a "supervisor elf", although I didn't just teach folks the ropes -- I worked alongside them, sorting and checking more gifts than even the North Pole could hold! It warms my heart that even in a year in which many people donated to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and many other people were un- or under-employed in the Bay Area, they still took the time and money to fulfill gift wishes. I noticed one little girl's wish tag said something like "needs a warm blanket, likes lavender." Not only did her unknown benefactor go out of his/her way to find a LAVENDER blanket, but he/she also included a comforting kid-sized PILLOW as well! That person rocks!! :)

It also warms my heart to see kids and teenagers volunteering alongside their parents, or with their youth groups, scouting groups, etc. If this doesn't teach them about charity and generosity, I don't know what will! (There are also plenty of adults who volunteer with their companies). I was particularly impressed with 10-year-old David. Not only was he meticulous in sorting and checking gifts, he was also very thoughtful! When he saw that a child whose gift wish was "Anything" (how sad) was given a tiny hand-held game that required skill with numbers, David thought the child might like a game that doesn't require a particular skill and allows the player to have fun socializing with others. So he went (with me) to the area of the warehouse ("the store") filled with gifts that were duplicates or had lost their tags, looked at the games part of it, and substituted a Jenga instead. Normally we only shop the store if a child's wish hasn't been fulfilled at all, but I was so impressed with David's sensitivity that I let him do it in this case. :)

This reminds me of how my cousin Ron in Texas took his 5-year-old son Joshua to a dollar store to buy items (from toiletries to toys) to send to families left homeless after Hurricane Katrina. Not only did Joshua learn the importance of thinking about not just yourself but OTHERS, but Ron actually let him pick out a bunch of the items himself! He loved it. I'm sure by 10 (or earlier) he'll be just like David! :) In a society where pre-teens and teenagers have so many "social preoccupations," from shopping/hanging out in malls to taking pictures with cellphones to flirting on the Internet, it's heartwarming to see how many can and DO find time to help others less fortunate.

Speaking of doing something nice for strangers, today I received a gift from my Secret Santa! His name is Vincent J. Brown Jr. I don't know anything else about him because he hasn't yet emailed to introduce himself. Vincent, if you're reading this (I know the Secret Santa site gave you my blog URL), I'd love to thank you personally, so please drop me a line! :)

I learned Vincent's name because it was on the packing slip from the Amazon.com merchant from which my gift was shipped. Even though the Secret Santa site recommended we not spend more than around $15 on our gift recipients, Vincent went a little over and bought me something on my Amazon wish list for $18! (Well, $17.99 for you sticklers *grin*). It's a beautiful natural-colored (non-bleached) cotton T-shirt called Advice from a Tree. (There's an inspirational book of the same name; click this link for more info). Thanks again, Vincent! :)

I'm sure everyone already knows how the Secret Santa site works, either from clicking on my Secret Santa banners, or from reading my excited introduction to the concept in my Nov. 21 blog entry or my even more excited Dec. 11 entry, after I received the name of the person whom *I* am playing Secret Santa for! Again, I owe a festive debt to my namesake and omnipresent character in my blog, Shari of Las Vegas! If not for reading about the "virtual" Secret Santa concept in her blog, I probably would not have found out about it, let alone participated.

"And now a quick word from our sponsors." ;) Speaking of gifts and the kindness of strangers, I'm still participating in that program where I receive compensation (via PayPal) each time I name, and link to, a variety of companies. (It's a lot better than distracting ads in banners along the top or sides of my template!) So please bear with me while I plug a few sites.

I know I've already mentioned the pet tags at LoveYourPets.com, but I've been asked to mention them again. I don't mind, as I love animals, and the site has lots of cool non-commercial areas, like "True Pet Stories", "Cool Pet News", "Pet Health & Safety" and "Pet Humor". I don't know anyone who sustained heart damage from Vioxx, but if you're interested in the current Vioxx class action suit, you might want to visit this link from FightingForYou.com. I likewise don't know much about investing in precious metals, but if I had the time and money to do so, the 30-plus-year-old Monex Deposit Company might be one of my resources.

And that concludes my entry of happy holiday stories!

Today I am feeling content.

Squirrelly? Me? But of course ;D

2005-12-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Always on the lookout for blog quizzes that have enough choices to actually produce accurate results, and that haven't been written by a slang-saturated teenager or an illiterate typist, I found ANOTHER! :)

This one, The Cute Animal Quiz (a title after my own heart!), is something I found in the blog of a friend of one of my friends. I think? *blush* I spent this morning looking at so many blogs of friends and friends-once-removed that I lost track. The actual website the quiz resides on is CuteDucky.com, if you can believe that! I haven't checked out the site completely yet, but it seems to be for animal-lovers.

And now, without further ado -- here is the quiz result for rodent-lover ME! The result is accurate for a variety of reasons. ;D I hope some of you will take this quiz, so I can see if the animal my intuition has assigned you is correct! There are many good questions and a good variety of animals you might turn out to be (more than just the 5 below).

You Are A: Squirrel!

Squirrels are quick and cheerful animals who spend their time scurrying, scavenging, and playing. As a squirrel, you are often seen jumping happily from branch to branch up in the treetops. Squirrels are foragers searching for nuts and seeds, and they are social animals often seen chasing and playing with other squirrels.

You were almost a: Monkey or a Parakeet
You are least like a: Turtle or a Bear Cub Discover What Cute Animal You Are!

Today I am feeling fun-loving!

MEME: '7 Things'

2005-12-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

It seems numerical memes are going around blogdom lately. Not only did I just come across this one, the Seven Things Meme, but I also recently saw a resurfacing of the Four Things Meme that I posted here back in October. I guess good memes are always in circulation. :)

I haven't done ANY meme in a long time, because I don't want to make them feel passe'. However, this one, like the prior one, was fun, interesting and simple, so I liked it. I won't "tag" anyone like I did when I posted the other meme, but I'd love if some of my fellow blog friends "stole" this to use themselves!! :) I always learn something new when I read one of these, no matter how much I already know about a person. And now, here are my answers...

7 things I say most often:

"Cool!"
"Hi!"
"Is that you?"
"Sorry!"
"Blub!" (long story)
"I had an away." (another long story)
Laughter (if that counts as something to "say")

7 things I'd like to do before I die:

Visit Europe
Road-trip (or RV) across the U.S.
Get married
Have a dog, a cat, a pair of chinchillas and a fish pond
Own my own soap and candle boutique
Earn enough money so I don't have to worry all the time as I do now
Write (or at least edit or compile) some type of book

7 things I can do:

Speak in front of a group and actually feel psyched, not terrified!
Find the spelling, grammar, punctuation & style errors other editors miss.
Make people laugh/cheer up with great ease.
Grow trees, plants and flowers with great love.
Write ballads and sonnets (though my poetic muse is currently dormant).
Fold a paper or linen napkin into a bustier (my only party trick, but a hilarious one!)
Swim

7 things I cannot do:

Ride a bicycle
Play most sports well
Higher mathematics (or even "lower", for that matter! LOL)
Get up easily in the morning
Tolerate intolerant people
Hunt (I'm not a vegetarian; I just don't want to kill animals)
Eat rare meat or raw fish

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

Sense of humour
Sensitivity
Chivalry/gallantry
Loves animals
Nice eyes (any colour is fine)
Moustache
Brawny/hairy build

7 celebrity crushes:

Jeez, I haven't had a "crush" on a celebrity in I don't know how long! My celeb crushes were much stronger in my youth. *chuckle* The first 4 names are from my pre-teen and/or teenage years. The next 2 are from my college days. The last is from the late 1990s to early 2000s.

David Hasselhoff
Sting
George Michael
Simon LeBon
Brad Pitt
Mel Gibson
Kix Brooks

Today I am feeling cheerful & a little embarrassed!

All the nuts aren't in the trees...

2005-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

...they're on the STREETS and in the STORES!

How sad that a month like December, which is supposed to be about peace, love, giving and festivity, brings out the absolute WORST in some people! :(

First, the nuts on the streets
In the last 2 weeks, I've seen more bad drivers than I've seen in the prior 50 weeks of this year! Not surprisingly, I've also seen more accidents too -- from fender-benders to major injury accidents (or at least ones that LOOK like there were major injuries, judging from the cars!) In fact, I just saw one today on the northbound side of Hwy 85, just up from Cottle Road. Good thing Kaiser Hospital is nearby!

You name the automobile-related offense; I've seen/heard it multiple times the past 2 weeks on the freeways, highways and even the city streets: speeding, speeding and weaving, tailgating, excessive honking, talking (and playing with) cellphones, dirty looks, not letting merging traffic in, driving on the shoulder, not using turn signals, and sharply and recklessly zooming in and out of traffic like the title character of the 1980s video game classic, Frogger . (cool graphic, that!)

I've NEVER seen it this bad, and I don't really understand why it's worst in 2005 than in previous years. If you can offer a good excuse for why anyone behind the wheel of a deadly weapon should engage in sheer recklessness, thoughtlessness, rudeness and near-insanity, please let me know! In the meantime, I'm getting downright AFRAID to drive anywhere until January, and I'm not kidding! :( And this from someone who is normally very optimistic and idealistic.

Now, the nuts in the stores
I don't like offending anyone, and usually bend over backwards NOT to, but I'd like to tell the "holiday boycotters" to get a life! I find it hard to fathom that some folks have NOTHING better to do than boycott Sears, Wal-Mart, Target and whatever other stores/companies are wishing customers "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". I know some ultra-right-wing Christians feel American society has become too secularized, especially around Christmas. I agree they have every right to feel that way, and I can easily imagine that if I were an ultra-conservative Christian, I'd feel that way too.

However, I think they need to get down off their high horses! Can you imagine the GOOD they could do if they devoted all their time, money and energy to volunteering/community service instead of these knee-jerk campaigns to boycott stores, spread negative publicity about said stores, rile up the troops, etc.?

I especially want to address Fox News anchor John Gibson, who has written a diatribe called "The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse than You Thought." This is one of the most asinine things I've heard all year! First of all, Mr. Gibson, since Christianity is the overwhelmingly dominant religion in the U.S., that means there are LARGE numbers of liberals who are also Christian, and who celebrate Christmas. You are guilty of great PREJUDICE and STEREOTYPING if you think that all liberals are against Christmas! Most liberals, whether Christian or any other religion (or no religion at all) are NOT against Christmas! Shame on you for thinking so hatefully and unfairly! "Let he who is free of blame cast the first stone."

And as for Gibson's misguided notion that there is a "PLOT" afoot to "BAN" the most popular holiday in America -- well -- that's the worst, most flimsy, and most hilarious conspiracy theory I've ever heard in my life!!! All I have to say to Gibson about that is this: perhaps you should see a psychiatrist or psychologist for your DELUSIONAL DISORDER and your IRRATIONAL PARANOIA!

At any rate, I am no longer addressing Mr. Gibson. He's not worth me getting all worked up over (tho I'm already worked up). Back to the thing about Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas -- if you're Christian and someone tells you "Happy Holidays," you can still totally identify with that saying. You might prefer to hear "Merry Christmas," but "Happy Holidays" means Christmas to you anyway, so what's the big deal? You're still getting a festive wish.

However, let's say you belong to one of the many OTHER religions in the U.S., such as (in alphabetical order so I don't -- oh my gosh -- OFFEND anyone!!) -- Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American beliefs, Paganism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Wicca or Zoroastrianism. There are also agnostics and atheists, and if you think there aren't large numbers of those, you have your head in the sand.

If you follow any of the above religions, or no religion, and someone tells you "Happy Holidays," you can still identify with it, because it's a greeting of friendliness, happiness and hope. There's nothing offensive in it. Especially since there's NO denying that several holidays take place in December, whether you observe them or not: Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve.

HOWEVER, if you follow any of the above religions, or no religion, and someone tells you "Merry Christmas," that's something you CAN'T identify with. Not that it's anything bad either. I personally do NOT feel members of non-Christian religions (or no religion) should feel offended when wished "Merry Christmas," because the Christmas-wisher obviously means well, and probably has no idea WHAT religion the other person follows. But, I can see why some non-Christians might feel offended, or at least feel excluded, by such a wish. Hence, we have "Happy Holidays" which is supposed to offend NO ONE.

And yet it seems to offend certain extremist Christians to the point that they are RUINING the holiday season by taking up arms (figuratively, of course, lest someone accuse me of libel!) and wasting their time boycotting stores for saying something as evil and HORRID as "Happy Holidays." Since when did that phrase become the demonization or demoralization of America?!? Stores (and people) who say "Happy Holidays" are only trying to be FESTIVE and FRIENDLY and find some type of COMMON GROUND way to wish everyone a good December! Give me a break!!

Sorry I wrote such a rant. *blush* Between the bad drivers and the boycotters, I have very little patience left. But, I do feel a lot better now that I blogged about it! *grin*

Today I am feeling several things; interpret the faces as you wish!

I'm a 'virtual' Secret Santa!

2005-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

It's official -- I am now a "virtual" Secret Santa! I've been eagerly awaiting this for three weeks or so, and it's finally happened!

If you're a new reader to my blog (or simply an absent-minded one), please peruse my Nov. 21 entry, How to be a 'virtual' Secret Santa for a funny and fun commentary on how I came to sign up for an online gift exchange and why it excites me so much. You can also visit the Secret Santa website itself for more info; just click on the festive banner at the top of this entry.

In a nutshell, I love gift exchanges, especially those along the lines of Secret Pals or Secret Santas. I've never worked in an office that did the Pals thing, but I *have* done a few Santa exchanges in my day. Now that I'm a freelancer/independent contractor who works from home, I sadly have NO chance to do any of this. Fortunately, ever-cool (and oft-mentioned) Shari in Las Vegas blogged about the Secret Santa website one fine November day at Shari.com, I read about it, checked it out and immediately signed up!

It's the brainchild of U.K residents Cal Henderson, Denise Wilton and Tom Coates (credit where credit is due!). They began it several years ago, and it's been growing ever since. I myself tried to get the word out and encourage lots of folks to sign up; I don't know if I was successful or not. Being a Secret Santa is as simple as stuffing a stocking! :) The website guides you through an easy registration process, which includes a link to your publicly viewable gift wishlist on an eclectic shopping site such as Amazon.com . You can also provide a link to your personal web page or -- as most folks provide -- your blog! (It's nice for your Secret Santa benefactor to be able to learn a bit about you).

On Dec. 10, the Secret Santa elves emailed me (and the thousands of others who signed up) with the name and wish list link of a random person somewhere in the world -- mostly the U.S., U.K. and Canada. We're supposed to buy one or more gifts from the recipient's wishlist that equal approximately $15 (not counting shipping). At the same time I received the info for the person I'm playing Santa for, some other complete stranger received info for ME, and will be buying one or more things from my own wishlist. TOO FUN! ;D

I don't want to say too much about my gift recipient, since it's such a small world -- who knows but someone reading this might know the person?! But I will say this much: it's a man; he's married, has two young children and lives in the southern U.S. I read his blog and enjoyed it. He seems thoughtful and friendly. He is very active in his church and most of the folks on his 'Blogroll' all seem to have religion central to their blogs. However, he also sounds open-minded, not afraid to question his beliefs and is quite interested in (and respectful of) other religions. Too bad more of the world isn't like that! :)

He only has 12 items on his Amazon wishlist, all of them are books, and most are of the same genre, which doesn't make for a particularly fun shopping experience for me. But that's OK -- as long as he is happy, that's what matters! As for my Secret Santa, he or she will have NO such problems, as I have more than 45 items to pick from on my wishlist!

No, I haven't gone mad. *smirk* I have a large wishlist for three reasons. First: whenever I see something on Amazon I really like throughout the year, I add it to my wishlist so I can search for it later on eBay, where good deals and steals abound. If I don't have it on the wishlist, I'll forget it ever caught my eye. Second: several members of my family use the wishlist for holiday and birthday gift ideas, so it's handy for them to have one place to look. Third (and most recently): I liked the idea of providing my Secret Santa with a wide variety of gift ideas. Not only does that make it more fun, but in case some items are not immediately available to ship, the Secret Santa can browse for other items that ARE.

If you're shaking your heads with bemusement that someone could write such a rambling commentary on the whole Secret Santa thing, I encourage you to read Shari's blog entry on the topic! ;) You'll see that she and I have more in common than just our first name!

And now, I leave you with a final thought, snipped from the almost-end of the email I got this morning at 8:05:25 GMT from the Secret Santa elves. It sounds like some cheezy, frilly thing I might have written myself, but I assure you, I did not! (LOL)

LOVE AND RAINBOWS AND PUPPIES!

Don't forget, Santa will have worked the hat-o-matic
for you as well! And someone out there is going to
buy you a present! Then everyone will get a present!
Everyone will be happy!

Today I am feeling giddy and festive!

And BINGO is our Name-O! ;)

2005-12-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Funny how childhood songs like "BINGO Was His Name-O" are so fun when we're kids and seem so inane when we're adults. "There was a farmer had a dog" -- what kind of weird grammar is that for kids? *chuckle* Then again, I still feel the urge to clap my hands when I hear this funny, catchy tune, so I guess there's something to be said for it after all.

Anyway, I've been waiting all day to blog about last night (Friday), and now after a day of sleeping in, cleaning the house, doing laundry and various other mundane tasks, I have a bit of time to blog before getting dressed and going out for dinner.

I wanted to say how HAPPY I am about the bingo game last night at my house! At 9 players (8 plus me), it was the biggest crowd since I "founded" the group this past March. I hope everyone had a fun and FESTIVE time! ;D Thank you Becky R., Becky S., Coleen, Ina, Jenny, Jo, Karrie and Lisa for a great game! And thank you Ina for helping Gladys find her voice again for calling bingo numbers. I'm glad almost everyone won something, and am especially glad Becky S. won something, as it was her first time playing with the Bingo Belles. I hope it won't be your last, Becky! :) It was the last game for Jo, who'll be moving to N. Carolina soon. Good luck, Jo!

Since I haven't posted any PHOTOS in this blog for quite a while, here are two group shots from last night's game. If you need to see a larger-sized image, click either photo to view it up-close. For those gals on the mailing list who haven't yet made it to one of our games -- come on down! ;D Look what you're missing!

One of the reasons I'm so stoked is that I got the Bingo Belles together, as a matter of necessity, this past March (even though I've never "started" a group before). As many folks already know, I played in a similar group, the Bingo Babes, for several years. Sadly, they turned into (or always were but hid it), a clique-ish, intolerant and uber-conservative bunch who, in a juvenile manner, pretended to disband in February, only to re-form without telling me and another player.

We were slightly younger than the rest, and liberal, but were always friendly and respectful, kept our opinions to ourselves and believed that everyone is capable of getting along for just 2.5 hours once a month to play a game we all enjoy, despite any differences. Apparently the others were too intolerant and exclusive for that! I found this hurtful, not to mention ironic, since the other player and myself did the least offensive things of anyone! We always brought very good bingo gifts, never took cellphone calls at the bingo table, never made the others feel on-the-spot to buy something we or a loved one was fundraising for, never bragged about our families, and never used the table as a forum to rant and rave about hot-button religious, political and/or moral topics.

Among the OTHER players were folks who brought gifts that were clearly used or several-times re-gifted and/or so undesirable you wouldn't even bring them to a white elephant exchange; who'd make/take inane, loud and very long cellular calls at the bingo table; who'd solicit everyone to buy the cookies, popcorn, cookie dough or giftwrap their kids were selling for fundraisers; brag on and on about their husbands or children to the point that we all knew it by heart; and perhaps worst of all, grind the entire fun game to a halt while they vehemently expounded upon very controversial religious, political and/or moral matters that should definitely not be discussed when you don't know the views of everyone you're ranting to. :(

A third player dropped out of the old group due to the above junk and the "eviction" of myself and the other player, and now the three of us, plus a new group of very awesome gals, have more fun as the Belles than the Babes will ever know! ;D And that's all I have to say about that! (The Bingo Belles know who these other two players are, but since my blog is public, I don't need to say their names.)

Today I am feeling very cheerful!

That was my 50th entry!

2005-12-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

According to Blogspot/Blogger, what I wrote Tuesday was my 50th blog entry! :) Not bad for someone who started this in the second half of September. Not that I'm throwing a golden anniversary party for myself, but I just wanted to mention this notable and happy event. We'll see what I do when my 100th blog entry appears! ;D

And now for something completely different. I wanted to talk about a few websites, which may or may not interest my readers. I recently joined a program in which I earn small compensations each time I mention and link to certain companies. Blogspot offers all bloggers the opportunity to "make money" with your blog by signing up for the Google AdSense program, but I hate the idea of banner ads anywhere on my blog, even along the margins, and even if they're tailored to the topics/interests I blog about. And pop-ups are OUT of the question!

Instead of any of that, I joined this other program. Sometimes I may "sneak" a plug for a certain website or service into one of my entries without it seeming that way (in fact, I already have once). Other times, such as now, I have several to promote at once, and they're unrelated to each other, so there's no way I could seamlessly segue all of them into the same entry. So, I'm being upfront! :)

I don't get anything extra if you click on the sites or not, but I hope you'll check them out if they sound interesting to you. As for me, I promise I will not promote any site until I've personally visited it, as I'd like to be able to say SOMETHING unique about it aside from just its name. Otherwise, it would be nothing but blind promotion, which is how the Google ads work and I don't particularly like that.

The first site, eLearners.com, truly interests me, as I've been wishing for a while I could get a bachelor's degree in another creative field, or if nothing else, an associate's degree or even a certificate! And eLearners has a great online program variety. Plus I like the idea of taking courses from the comfort of my own home (and not having to put on makeup! *chuckle*) My top interests are web design (since I'm very drawn to that already and dabble in it), graphic design (for similar reasons) and digital photography (I love it but could always expand my skills). All of these topics are there, plus lots more, and they're offered through real colleges and universities.

I think everyone knows how much of an animal lover I am, so it's no stretch of my imagination to promoteLoveYourPets.com! They specialize in pet ID tags in various colors and cute shapes. And unlike some sites that just want you to buy, buy, buy, this site also offers cool additional features like "True Pet Stories", "Cool Pet News", "Pet Health & Safety" and "Pet Humor". There's even a link to a survey of 100,000 pet owners that reveals the most popular names for our furry companions. The three most common ones, each earning more than 1,000 votes, are Max, Buddy and Molly. None of those would be my choice for the dog and cat I plan to have in the future, but hey -- to each their own! :)

I certainly hope none of my family or friends are driving with no insurance, but in case anyone is looking to switch companies and would like a competitive quote, you might like CarInsurance.com (what an easy name!). There's a simple 5-step process to get a basic auto insurance quote, where you enter details like your age, gender, the year, make and model of your car, where you live, how many claims you've had, etc. I went through the entire process myself, just to ensure it works and that you can get a quote even if you don't want to enter overly personal info. It works! :) I'm not planning on quitting my auto insurance with AAA/CSAA, but I think CarInsurance.com would be very helpful for undecided folks or new drivers. There's a variety of user tools and information on the website too, not just a quote-generator.

It seems like many folks these days are looking for a job. If you're one of them, and you're looking for finance and accounting jobs in particular, you might want to visit A.E. Feldman at the link I just gave. I looked around the website and it looks very professional and reputable. I'm terribly disabled when it comes to anything related to numbers (*chuckle*), so am not personally interested in this site, but I'm sure it would interest many other folks.

There's nothing interesting about having to sue your doctor or hospital, but unfortunately it seems to be going on more and more lately. Anyone who feels they have a medical malpractice suit should do a lot of research, and it looks like the website "Fighting for You" is a great resource with comprehensive information and resources, easy site navigation and even a free case evaluation.

And now, if you'll pardon the abrupt ending, it's time to get dinner preparations underway, so I will take my leave. :) Thanks again for allowing me to talk about these sites; the compensation really means a lot to me! (When you're a freelance writer, editor and photographer, every dollar helps! *blush*) However, I promise I will only do this promotional thing on occasion, and will try not to get backlogged and have to stuff them all into one entry.

Today I am feeling happy!

Busy bee, that's me!

2005-12-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

Either I have poor time management, or I'm caught in a time warp, because in four days it seems I should have at least gotten SOME of my Christmas cards out in the mail! But in actuality, I've mailed NONE. :( However, I have done a lot of other things in the past four days (Saturday morning through tonight), so I guess I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

To whit: I photographed a community tree-planting event for a freelance project; I cleaned the upstairs and downstairs of the house; I did a load o' laundry; I baked a batch o' brownies; I paid four bills that were hanging over my head; I wrote (and edited) my 2005 holiday newsletter for placement in the aforementioned cards; I followed up on some job leads; I efficiently shopped for and bought several Christmas presents; I attended my mindfulness meditation group after not going for two Tuesdays; and I did the whole "eBay thing" -- invoicing my winning bidders, monitoring who paid via PayPal, organizing and carefully packaging their items and mailing the whole mess (12 parcels!!) at the Post Office.

In between these things, I managed to go out for dinner one night and actually watch a rented movie (March of the Penguins) another night! The eBay stuff took up a lot more time than I thought, and I couldn't put it off in favour of doing my holiday cards, because my seller reputation rides on the items that I ship, and any delays could cause the dreaded NEGATIVE FEEDBACK! <:0 Writing my holiday newsletter also took more time than I thought, because it took a lot of editing and snipping to get it down to just ONE page, since it has to print out on my holiday stationery. I guess the fact that my mom's been sick with a three-day migraine and my dad had another disaster with one of his teeth didn't help matters either, since I ended up changing some of my plans to help accommodate their troubles.

Oh, speaking of eBay, remember my Kenner Sea Wees and Babies auction that I was so excited about? Well, when it ended Sunday evening, the seven or eight bidders who caused the bidding war pushed it up to -- are you ready? -- $229!!! That almost pays for half of the laptop computer I'm hoping to buy during the post-Christmas sales. (Any recommendations on good laptop brands are WECOME! I'm thinking HP, Compaq or Dell.) I never in my wildest dreams thought that a bunch of used, discolored toys from the 1970s would pique so much interest, but I'm sure glad they did! And I'm extremely grateful that I didn't just give the whole lot of Sea Wees, babies and accessories away to the thrift store, as I almost did!

And now, at 9:30 p.m., I'm first going to start signing, addressing and stamping Christmas cards -- inserting the toiled-over newsletter before sealing them, of course! *smirk* If you're not on my Snail Mail card list (I know, how old-fashioned of me), please drop me an email if you'd like to be. Or if you've moved since last year and think I don't have your new addy, please update me. You all have my email address, or if not, it's on my Blogspot profile page.

Today I am feeling frazzled but accomplished.

POEM: Windswept

2005-12-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

Due to popular request, I'm posting another poem. I shared the first one, Beneath the Surface, in my Nov. 2 entry. That poem was written many years ago, and so is this one, called Windswept. (Kind of suitable after the weather we had last night!)

I remember Windswept was among those I "workshopped" in an upper-division poetry class I took toward my English minor at San Jose State. It's written in the style of the Italian sonnet (aka Petrarchan sonnet). I always found English sonnets (aka Shakespearean sonnets) much easier to write, but for the class I had to write at least one Italian sonnet. I'm glad I did!

If memory serves me, this poem generated more feedback and emotion from my classmates than any of the other poems I workshopped that semester. *blush* I wish I could still write like this! Then again, I haven't specifically TRIED it in ages, so perhaps I will again one day! :)

Windswept (April 1994)

The wind was blowing cold across the stones
Like wailing banshees through the dark night's air.
With taper in her hand, she climbed the stair
That wound within the walls that made her home.
This castle sheltered those who once did roam
Among the elements, both foul and fair
Until, when hearts or minds were needing care,
They sought a respite from the gath'ring gloam.

A harvest moon now casts a glow upon
These testaments to lives of other times;
The ruins lie illumined by the light.
I walk alone, lamenting what is gone,
Because those lives were intertwined with mine.
The selfsame wind is blowing cold tonight.

sjk

'Frilly socks' on hairy legs? ;D

2005-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

I was browsing eBay today for a pair of bargain purple socks to wear around the house. Solid purple is okay, but I actually prefer purple mixed with other colours (i.e. in dots, swirls, stripes) or purple as part of a cute theme (i.e. flowers, happy faces, rodents, sweets). A few of my fave around-the-house sox are wearing thin, which is why I'm looking for more.

Anyway, during my search, I came upon a hilarious auction! Be sure to scroll down in the auction page; he has SEVERAL photos! I don't know if this guy is for real or not (he has no feedback so far), but I certainly give him credit for having a lot of nerve and a good sense of humour! ;D It's not any guy who can use the adjective "frilly" while wearing pink and purple socks and photographing them on his hairy legs! LOL (Actually I think his legs look great -- minus the frilly socks, of course!)

Oh, and speaking of eBay, my Sea Wees and Babies auction I mentioned in the previous entry has been bid up to $154.49!! Six or seven folks are engaged in a crazy bidding war, and the auction isn't over until Sunday! I never DREAMED I'd get so much money for a set of used, discolored plastic 1970s-esque toys! *blush*

Today I am feeling giddy/giggly!

Miscellaneous things

2005-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

Like the Island of Misfit Toys, this blog entry serves as a home for miscellaneous things that I wasn't sure where else to put. But that makes them no less worthy! :)

First things first, I am gleeful about the 31 items I put up for bids on eBay in the last 24 hours or so. They include books on several different genres (mainly cooking and gardening) and a hodgepodge of gifts and collectibles. There's also a 1970s set of Kenner Sea Wees & Babies (and a ton of the accessories) that has already received 10 bids and gone up to $57 from a $3 starting bid! And there are still 6 days left before the auction ends. I'm mortified that I'll be earning so much money for a bunch of old, used toys!! *blush* Though I can definitely use this money!! I found the mermaid-themed play set stored away in my garage and something told me that before I donated the toys to the thrift shop, I should see if they're considered collectible on eBay. GOOD intuition there, self! ;D If anyone wants to see all my current eBay bargains (you might find some nice holiday gifts) please click here.

Sometimes I have dreams that are so memorable I think about them days afterwards. Not last night but the night before (sounds like a childhood jumprope song!) I had such a dream. It reminded me of some of the shows on the Sci-Fi Channel where people are terrorized by a malevolent creature. Its origin may be alien, supernatural or animal, but it's always scary and relentless. In my dream, I and a group of assorted "extras" (I didn't recognize them) were trapped in a sprawling, ranch-style house with a lot of trees in the landscaping surrounding it. I don't know how long we'd been hiding out there, trying to avoid and/or attack the monster, but I seem to recall some people who once belonged to the group, were no longer with us. (Draw your own conclusions!)

Fortunately, I discovered the monster was repulsed by the smell of camphor, though I've no idea HOW I came to acquire this knowledge! Interestingly enough, there were a handful of camphor trees growing nearby. Whenever we thought the coast was clear, I and some of the other folks dashed out of the house, jumped into the trees and grabbed handfuls of leaves and berries. We'd then dash back into the house and scatter camphor leaves and berries around all the windows and doors, to keep the monster out. I remember we even ATE some of the berries to make ourselves less appealing to the monster, should we have a run-in with it! (The berries are not edible in real life, except to squirrels and birds). I don't know how the dream ended, sorry. :( But I do recall that when I awakened, I felt all hyped up and my neck and back muscles were very tense!

Speaking of trees, one of my online friends (who knows I love gardening and horticulture) recommended I check out a new website called DotFlowers. She didn't say why, but rather suggested I "look around." At first glance, it looked like most other online florists, with arrangements ranging from birthday sprays to funeral flowers and everything in between! I was impressed that they also have exotic plants, gourmet food and dessert baskets, candles, kid treats and other things, but no matter how tempting these items were, that didn't make Dot Flowers stand out much from the competition. Was the cute "busy bee" logo with the funny zoning eyes what my friend wanted me to appreciate? Was the business started by someone local to my area? Or something else?

Finally I discovered what it was! When I scrolled to the bottom of the website and reached a navigation bar down there, I noticed a link that said Botanical Database. I clicked on it and THAT'S when I realized what sets this site apart! Not that I've been to all the online florists in the world, but this is the only one I've personally seen with a database that sounds like it belongs on a horticulture website, not a florist! Even plants and trees that have nothing to do with florists are in this database. You can search alphabetically by name, or by the state the greenery grows in. There are probably thousands of trees, shrubs, flowers, vines and even "weeds" in the database! Although there are no photos, and there's no cross-reference by Latin name, it's still a happy surprise to find this on a site where I wouldn't expect it. (It appears to be linked to a database called the Integrated Taxonomic Information System for you nerds like me. ;)

On a completely different tangent, are Miss Manners and myself the only people who follow the lost art of the RSVP? As someone who plans several group parties/outings each year, and who runs a monthly bingo group, I'm perennially puzzled by the fact that so many people have an aversion to RSVPing. I know some folks live their lives at the last minute and never know from day to day what they might be doing, and while there's nothing WRONG with that, it strikes me as a hard way to live if you expect to be included when people plan events. If you're never willing to commit to anything, eventually people will give up trying to include you. (Except for naive and idealistic me, who keeps trying).

But I wonder: how hard is it to look at a calendar and write down an event if you don't have anything else already written on that day at that time? It's not rocket science! *chuckle* I was brought up to actually TELL people if I am a "yes", a "no" or a "maybe so" when they invite me to something. I'm as forgetful as the next person (probably MORE forgetful) -- that's why I write an event on my calendar so I don't forget I was invited to it. It seems other people receive invites (whether by email, Evite or paper) and promptly forget they were even invited, let alone asked to respond. I was also brought up that if I committed to attending, for example, Party A, I would not diss it for Party B unless there was a very compelling reason that Party B was more important. If both parties seem equally fun, I will stick with the one I was invited to FIRST. I feel it's important to stick to my word.

I guess I'm a freak because obviously most people prefer to be totally noncommittal. It makes me feel like some kind of stupid nag when I have to follow up with them later and ask if they got an invitation (how do I even know they got it if they don't respond?) and then I have to ask if they are coming or not. Is RSVP'ing so horrid? Does everyone have to wait until the very last second to commit to attending something? Even if someone isn't sure, can't they say something like "I might have to drive my kid to a such-and-such that day; I'll let you know when I know." Do my events suck so badly that people only attend them if "nothing better comes along"? (I know that's not the case, but sometimes I feel that way).

Anyone who has ever planned a birthday party (for themself or someone else), a holiday party, a farewell luncheon, a group road trip or a wedding knows how IMPORTANT it is to get RSVPs, and how frustrating it is when you have no idea how many people are coming, or if there will even be enough people to warrant having the event in the first place! (Well, obviously you'd still have a wedding, but I mean events like bingo, a group trip, a luncheon or a party). Sorry for all the griping. I got carried away! *blush* But I feel better now. I guess this is one of those things I will never understand, and will always find hurtful, despite my best attempts at not letting it get to me. :(

I don't want to end this entry on an aggro note, so I will mention something happy instead! :) Remember the Sea Wees eBay auction I mentioned earlier? Well, it has now jumped from 10 to 12 bids, and from $57 to $71! I can't even imagine how much people will "bid it up" by the time next Sunday rolls around, which is when the auction ends. I've decided that if the bidding goes over $100, I will express my thanks by giving the winner FREE Priority Mail shipping, no matter where they live! :)

One other happy thing: there's still time to become a "virtual" Secret Santa and participate in a REAL gift exchange with bloggers (or any Internet user) around the world! The link I just gave leads to the Secret Santa website, but for more info (and very amusing commentary *grin*) please visit my Nov. 21 blog entry on the subject. It's such a fun and cool idea that I really want to help spread the word!

Today I am feeling a mix of emotions.

Synchronicity! or 'Fortune Favours the Brave'

2005-11-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

As if an instance of synchronicity isn't interesting/unusual enough, I've noticed it often comes in waves. This is a good thing, because not only does it kind of make me feel like there's "something good going on" in an otherwise random and difficult world, but it also kind of makes me feel that I may play a small part in generating and/or participating in the synchronicity. :)

I suspect many folks already know what this word means, and others can take it in context. But just for good measure, I'll quickly define it before I finish blogging. Here are two different (slightly condensed) definitions I found on Dictionary.com.

First: "Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, conceived in Jungian theory as an explanatory principle on the same order as causality."

Second: "The coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality."

The reason I'm talking about this all of a sudden begins with yesterday, when I noticed I hadn't changed my blog's "Quote of the Week" for 2-3 weeks. (OOPS!) I have more than 160 quotes on my Favourite Quotes List, and it's always hard to pick one because no quote makes it to my list unless I REALLY like it! So, this time I scrolled down the list with my eyes closed, stopping randomly. When I opened my eyes, I used the first quote I saw, and it was "Fortes fortuna adjuvat." I've also seen it as "Audentes fortuna iuvat."

I don't know Latin well enough to know which is more accurate; I only know the English version is "Fortune favours the brave." It's attributed to the ancient Roman Virgil in his epic poem The Aeneid. That work, incidentally, was inspired by the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, an ancient Greek who lived much earlier than Virgil. (This is all significant -- read on!)

Among the many tales of Greek mythology and lore mentioned by Homer is that of Prometheus, who as you know stole fire (which was supposed to be reserved for the gods and goddesses only) and brought it to earth for humans to use. His punishment was being chained to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver every day for eternity. (Eventually the hero Heracles/Hercules killed the bird, much to Prometheus's gratitude!) As if you couldn't tell, I love Greek (and Roman) mythology.

Anyway, today I found myself having lunch in an out-of-the-way little eatery in Boulder Creek with Tony. We didn't plan on eating there, and I don't even recall its name. Blue Sun Cafe? It had an attached mini-area where you could browse/buy art, stationery, scarves, books, jewelry, essential oils, handcrafted candles and soap, etc.

While awaiting our food, I picked up a copy of Metro Santa Cruz, which I normally never read because I don't go over the hill nearly as much as I'd like. Then again, you only have to go halfway through the Santa Cruz Mountains to find it delivered in towns like Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scotts Valley, etc. :) While leafing through the paper, I came upon the astrology column by Rob Brezsny, one of the few writers of "horrorscopes" ANYWHERE who I actually enjoy reading and who seems to have uncannily good insights. He did not disappoint me this time either. Here's what he said for my sign (Taurus) --

In ancient Greek myth, Prometheus stole the gods' fire and bequeathed it to human beings, allowing them to cook, stay warm when the weather was cold, and make tools and bricks and pottery. According to my reading of the astrological omens, a Prometheus-like influence is now hovering at the peripheries of your world, angling to provide you with a boon that's pretty damn good, even if it isn't as monumental as fire. There's a catch, however. This benefactor will not be able to bestow the gift unless you aggressively ask for it and unless you are alert for its arrival from an unexpected direction.

As soon as I read this (especially the second half), you can imagine what motto it brought immediately to mind: "fortune favours the brave"! And interestingly enough, the first half begins with a reference to the Prometheus myth. That's connected to Homer, and Homer in turn inspired Virgil, from whom we get the motto in the first place!

Here's one more connection, albeit smaller than the others. Yesterday I was reading Reminisce, a magazine about the "good old days" my aunt gave to my dad at Thanksgiving. I happened to read an article about two brothers who scared their mother with a life-size cutout of a tall, lanky Frankenstein's monster. (It was also funny because the brother posing next to the cut-out had such lanky arms that he looked like the monster! *chuckle*) The only reason I mention this article is because the alternate title/subtitle of Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel Frankenstein was, in fact, The Modern Prometheus.

Interesting how so many seemingly random things (most of which I normally don't even do) all had this specific common bond. That's it (so far!) for me being reminded that fortune favours the brave, but I'm still being reminded that synchro is at work. :) A periodical arrived today that among other things, had a section with a bunch of unusual male, female and unisex baby names. That made me think of the even more unusual names celebrities give their kids these days. I mentioned to my mom it doesn't get much weirder than Periscope! (I can't find on the Internet who it was, but I vividly recall some freaky famous person named their son Periscope a few years ago). At any rate, shortly after our conversation, I happened to watch a silly commercial (I normally ignore commercials) on TV and right there was someone using -- of all the unlikely things -- a PERISCOPE!

When synchro comes in waves like this, it almost always is when I'm unsure about some important thing or situation in my life. It could be connected with family, friends, relationships, work, health, spirituality, finances or whatever. But it's always when I could really use a little encouraging reminder that there's a "bigger picture" going on, it's a good one, and I'm part of it. :) And that's generally exactly when a synchro wave comes! Who knows what may happen next?

Today I am feeling excited and hopeful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy, healthy Thanksgiving Day and I equally hope everyone has a fun and SAFE day remainder of the holiday weekend. I still can't believe how many retail stores are opening at 5 or 6 in the morning to accommodate frantic early holiday shoppers! :( :0 As financially strapped as I am, I'd never want to rise that early on the off chance I might find a great deal on some random thing! (Now if I could save several thousand dollars off a Toyota Prius, I'd be willing to get up at 4 a.m. and be at the dealership at 5. *grin* But otherwise -- NO!)

At any rate, at first I was going to blog about what I personally am thankful for, but I was afraid I'd write too much or get too sappy. Then I thought about perhaps doing a fun Thanksgiving meme, but I couldn't find any out in blogdom except one, and I didn't like it. So instead, I'm going to simply share a list of things to be thankful for that my mom read at today's Thanksgiving dinner (which consisted of my folks, my aunt, my cousins and me). She did not write this list; it's something she found in a magazine, or somewhere, several years ago and typed up to share. I REALLY like it. :)

Oh, and when my cousin Julie emails the recipe, I'm going to post a photo I took of this amazingly delicious frozen pumpkin mousse pie she made for dessert! She says it's super-easy, so I want to share the recipe along with the photo. In the meantime, here's the thankful list. Enjoy!

I Am Thankful For....

the mess to clean up after a party because it means I was surrounded by friends and/or family.

the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

the taxes I pay because it means I am employed.

my shadow who follows me because it means I am out in the sunshine.

the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.

all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.

that lady behind me at a concert who sings off key because it means that I can hear.

the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.

my huge heating bill because it means I am warm.

weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means that I have been productive.

the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive.

Today I am feeling content.

How to be a 'virtual' Secret Santa!

2005-11-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

This "virtual" Secret Santa is one of the coolest things since sliced bread! Well, at least if you believe in the kindness of strangers, you enjoy holiday festivities and you feel that giving a thoughtful gift is just as nice as receiving one. (ALL of which describe me!)

I'll try to keep my glee under enough control to explain further. ;D If you click on the scene above, you'll be taken to the Secret Santa website, but I'll give you a brief intro first.

As most folks know (and the lucky ones have experienced), many offices and companies have a Secret Santa program during the holidays. It's similar to the Secret Pal concept, except that Pals exchange gifts secretly all year, whereas Santas only exchange once -- for the holidays.

I've never worked in an office with Secret Pals (too bad), but I have done Secret Santa exchanges a few times. I love both concepts and I really miss them, now that I'm a freelance "creative professional" who works from home. I suppose I could coordinate an exchange with the Beanie Babies and similar stuffed animals that hang out on my computer hutch, but somehow it just isn't the same! ;)

Enter Cal Henderson, Denise Wilton and Tom Coates of thinkblank.com, three kindred spirits who four years ago created a virtual version of Secret Santas. I can't believe I never heard of this until now, especially since almost everyone who knows me knows this is SOO up my alley! *chuckle* I still might not have known about it if not for reading of it in the blog of my friend Shari. (More on her in a minute!)

I wish I could have participated in past years, but at least I'm involved now, and plan to do it every year hereafter. So far more than 2,000 gifts have been exchanged, per the website. I think that's kind of small for a four-year-old project, so I'm doing my best to get the word out. Please join!

The website guides you through a super-simple registration process, including giving your email address (NO spam, don't worry!) and entering the URL for your online wish list. You must have some place (i.e. Amazon.com ) with a publicly viewable list of gifts you'd enjoy receiving. Since the Secret Santa elves recommend a $15 gift limit, make sure your wish list has at least some items priced at $15 or under. (Some folks may want to buy you two $6-$8 gifts rather than one $15 gift.)

On Dec. 10, the website will randomly email you the name and wish list info of someone anywhere in the WORLD (fear not: most participants are in the U.S., U.K. or Canada). You buy a gift (or gifts) and have them shipped to the recipient at the mailing address they provide on their list. At the same time, YOUR name and wish list have been delivered to someone ELSE, and you too will be surprised by something from your own list.

And now credit where credit is due. My oft-mentioned Las Vegas namesake, Shari, has a very cool blog at Shari.com. (She also had the foresight to register this domain name before I did. *grin*) When I read her blog yesterday, she talked about her past (and current) participation in the Secret Santa site and it sounded so great I had to check it out!

I called Shari "my friend" several paragraphs up because I believe you can become friends with someone even if you've never met. I do not, however, call everyone I know online my friend. My default is to like almost everyone I meet, but I wait to consider someone a friend until I learn what their personality and temperament are (and likewise they can learn about mine). If we have mutual compatibility that way, and if we also have enough things in common to make for conversation that lasts more than a few IM chats or email snippets, then I begin to consider them a friend. :)

If not for the fact that Shari is about 2 1/2 years old than I, I'd wonder if we were separated at birth. (Then again, perhaps I'm just a verrrrry late twin! LOL). Seriously, though, this is the only gal I know of (aside from myself) who can write verbose ramblings about the most inane topics in the world -- yet also weave in humor and insight. (Of course, we both write about serious topics too. But it's funny how we also share a propensity for the eccentric and the picayune -- not to mention a propensity for $10 words!)

On top of all that, we both are passionate for pet rodents (she: hamsters, me: rats); we both have jobs connected with the written/spoken word (she: an English teacher, me: a writer/editor); we both use a purple pen to make corrections in our aforementioned jobs; and we both are into photography, travel, gardening, good food and (duh) blogging. We both indulge at Bath & Body Works, prefer ranch as our salad dressing and used to read Tarot cards. We also both dabble in melt-and-pour soapmaking! How crazy is all THAT? And believe it or not, I once made an attempt to learn Gaelic! I mention this because Shari is a student of Irish Gaelic and it seems she's pretty good at it. As for me, I dabbled in Scots and Irish Gaelic for various reasons when I was in college, but alas, I didn't stick with it. However, to this day I think Gaelic is beautiful and fascinating.

The next time I'm in Las Vegas, we definitely have to meet up, girl! :) (Especially since it didn't work out this October). Even if we're not separated at birth, we can still celebrate our shared Shariness!

And for everyone else -- please consider joining the Secret Santa site. Who knows? You may even end up buying for (or receiving from) one of the world's two most eccentric Sharis! *smirk*

Today I am feeling giddy and festive.

Workin' woman's blues

2005-11-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

As many folks know but some don't, I'm looking for a part-time job to supplement my income. I say part-time, because if I were to hold a full-time job, I already know I would likely have to give up my freelance stuff, due to the major difficulty I have juggling too many responsibilities at once. If I worked 40-45 hours a week, the last thing I'd want to do nights and weekends is MORE work!

Because I love being with people, have strong interpersonal communication skills and have been told by many friends and family members that I'd make a good salesperson (thank you! *blush*), I've applied for customer service/retail type jobs. Not one where I'd work on commission, of course -- I'm not aggressive enough for that! :) I just want to work in a store ringing people up at the register, wrapping gifts, answering questions, offering advice, etc. I want it to be a store where I have a strong personal interest in the merchandise, since obviously enthusiasm is contagious.

And so I applied to Diddams Party Store (I love their amazing selection of not just party supplies but also toys, games, cards, gifts, stickers, candles, stationery and more); Barnes & Noble (I love the all-in-one bookstore concept); Petco (I love animals and could actually visit with them, as pets are welcome in the store); and SummerWinds Nursery (I love gardening and horticulture - duh!). I also love Borders Books (for the same reason as B&N) and Bath & Body Works (I'm like a kid in a candy store with all their yummy, frilly products), but I prefer to avoid the personal security and parking problems connected with working in a big mall). I also love Target and am considering applying there too, but not at one attached to a mall.

So far I've only heard back from Diddams, and at the present time, it's a no-go, as their most pressing need is for folks to work weekends. On all my job applications, I indicated I could work just about any part-time combination of hours Monday through Friday, but not weekends. I didn't say why, but obviously it's because nearly all of my family members and friends are off on weekends, so if I had to work weekends, I'd never get to see anyone or do anything. :(

I also followed up with Petco, but only by telephoning their corporate website folks due to the horrid technical difficulties I had submitting my application online (as they prefer). I was told that yes, it all came through fine, and that now I should just wait to see if the HR department of my local Petcos contacts me. As for Barnes & Noble and SummerWinds Nursery, I'll follow up this coming week. (I want the SummerWinds job the MOST!)

Yes, I'm still a self-employed freelance "creative professional," which consists of doing writing, editing and photography whenever I can get the work. Currently I do varying amounts (and types) of it for one community newspaper group, two magazines and one website chain. I also have a line of photographic notecards featuring my nature photography, but that venture brings in the least money of all. To see some of the images, please click here and scroll down to the "Trees & Flowers" album. (Feedback is always welcome! *blush*)

I could certainly get more WRITING work if I tried, but I don't want more than I currently have. The whole reason I left (after 8 years) a full-time community journalism job in early 2003 and a part-time job in community journalism in mid-2005 is because I was becoming "burned out" on writing. I had opportunities to edit/copy edit the work of others, not to mention assign stories, counsel interns, etc., but it still boiled down to the fact that I did more writing than anything else. And that caused my creative juices to be tapped more and more, with less and less replenishing.

My favorite metaphor is of a waterway. When I graduated San Jose State University with a journalism degree, the passion I felt for, and ease with which I worked in, the field of journalism was like a rip-roaring river. Over the years, the waterway changed in both course and current (to extend the metaphor). It is now, unfortunately, more like a trickling brook. I've tried many different approaches to "bring back that lovin' feeling," from psyching myself out to meditating. I've talked to colleagues, friends, family and even a psychologist.

While I CAN and DO still enjoy the feature-type writing I do for my current clients (and do it well, I must say), that's about all I can currently stomach. Gone are the days when I pounced on a breaking news story or local controversy with the fervor of a news hound. Not that I ever liked covering news and politics as much as I liked covering features, but I used to be able to do without breaking a sweat. That's not the case anymore, and for a while this made me feel very ashamed. :(

After talking with the folks mentioned two paragraphs ago, I'm coming to terms with the fact that people change, and with them change emotions, interests and abilities. I'm not a freak or loser as I used to kick myself about; I'm just someone who for any number of reasons, burned out sooner than I thought I would, and sooner than some people. The ADHD may have something to do with it, or maybe not. (I have no trouble focusing on things I'm intensely interested in).

However, I am absolutely still a creative person. :) I just need to channel that creativity in more than one restricted way. (Ask me about my newest "side project" -- handcrafted melt-and-pour soapmaking!) Back to the journalism side of things, I no longer work at any one company, but freelance so I can pick and choose my projects. What I want MOST is to be a copy editor, because editing has always been one of my strongest traits. It also wouldn't use up my remaining creative juices ("whew!"), because it doesn't involve spinning straw into gold, as writing does. It involves reading something someone else wrote, and catching and repairing boo-boos relating to grammar, punctuation, style, content and clarity. (Quick note: I don't always practice what I preach when I blog, as blogging is more fun and extemporaneous. But please know I am quite obsessive-compulsive when I'm wearing my copy editing hat! *chuckle*)

If anyone knows of any type of job they think I'd be good for, please let me know. I'd be grateful. <:) That goes for retail sales/customer service work OR writing/editing/photography.

Today I am feeling conflicting emotions.

Senate: GET OVER IT!

2005-11-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who feels that the Republican members of the U.S. Senate are behaving like a bunch of stubborn, pouty, petulant bad sports?

I just read this article by AP correspondant Donna De La Cruz in the San Jose Mercury News, Republicans refuse to give Bruce Springsteen his glory days, and I don't know whether to be surprised or NOT surprised. :(

After a certain time, you can only view Mercury News articles if you join the website. There's no cost to join and no spam (I've belonged for over a year). However, in case you don't want to join, here's a slightly condensed version of the article....

An effort by New Jersey's two Democratic senators to honor the veteran rocker was shot down Friday by Republicans who are apparently still miffed a year after the Boss lent his voice to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

The chamber's GOP leaders refused to bring up for consideration a resolution, introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine, that honored Springsteen's long career and the 1975 release of his iconic album, "Born to Run."

No reason was given, said Lautenberg spokesman Alex Formuzis. "Resolutions like this pass all the time in the U.S. Senate, usually by unanimous consent," he said.

Telephone calls to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Lautenberg said he couldn't understand why anyone would object to the resolution.

"Even if the Republicans don't like (Springsteen's) tunes, I would hope they appreciated his contributions to American culture," Lautenberg said.

Springsteen endorsed Kerry last year, and made campaign appearances that drew huge crowds who came to hear music described in the resolution as "a cultural milestone that has touched the lives of millions of people."

Senate: GROW UP, GET OVER IT, and show a little CLASS!

Today I am feeling scornful.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?"

2005-11-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

Some people declare that the holiday season is officially upon us when grocery and drug stores start selling Christmas cards and candy canes or Hallmark shops bring out the yearly commemorative ornaments. *grin*

I like to declare it by something subtler: the first time I hear Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? on the radio in November -- and I just heard it today! :D There's something about this song that really stirs me, even though I've heard it for 21 years. (JEEZ that makes me feel old!) The lyrics are, of course, moving, but there's something about the melody that's downright haunting (in a good way)! Some things you just can't explain; you just feel.

If you're under 30, you may know of Band Aid after-the-fact, but you probably didn't watch (or don't recall watching) the video on MTV or hearing "Do They Know It's Christmas" on the radio back in 1984. Band Aid's organizers were Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who wrote the song Band Aid sang. (Am I leaving out another songwriter?)

Band Aid was a huge number of popular singers and bands from the U.K. and Ireland (many in my favourite genres of "new wave" and "synth pop") who got together to record this song. It was an effort to raise awareness of famine and to "feed the world" (part of the chorus), although the funding actually just benefited Africa. (Ethiopia mainly)

In 1985, this would later influence and inspire the United States' We Are the World, another smash hit performed by USA for Africa. This was a veritable who's who of American singers and bands at the time. Quincy Jones produced the project, and Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson wrote the lyrics.

Later in 1985, July 13 to be precise, we had Live Aid. (Great info here and here). Also organized by Geldof and Ure as a famine-reliever, it was a 16-hour concert extravaganza in London and Philadelphia with performers from England, Scotland, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan and elsewhere. Some folks hailed this as the "Woodstock of the 80s." I think Band Aid was far and away better than Woodstock for many reasons, but that's neither here nor there.

At any rate, if you'd like more info about any of these three events, please click the links. The Band Aid link also has a Midi file of the song, but I must warn you that it's NOT the original melody. It's close, but there are some places where the rhythm, meter and actual notes are jarringly different. I don't know how to compose electronic music, but I'd think it's just as easy to get it right than to get it wrong. Anyway, enough rambling. :) I'm going to stop walking down memory lane and get ready for bed. (My melatonin is kicking in!)

Today I am feeling reminiscent and sleepy.

Where's the lickable wallpaper?

2005-11-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend I watched the newly released DVD of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the much-touted 2005 remake (by director Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp) of Roald Dahl's classic book of the same name.

I've read the book several times, and I've seen the original 1971 musical version Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (by director Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder) too many times to count.

I enjoyed the 2005 version (especially the special effects) and am glad I rented it. I also enjoy Johnny Depp in any role, and I think Freddie Highmore (Charlie) is a loveable and promising young actor. However, I must admit that overall, there were more things I preferred about the 1971 version. Here's the list:

First and foremost -- where's the lickable wallpaper?! It's a minor detail, but I REALLY missed it in the 2005 version. During the factory tour in the 1971 version, one of the places Willy Wonka takes the kids is to a wall covered in small, colorful pictures of fruit (and maybe other things). He invites them to lick the pictures and taste the different fruits. They do, and are amazed.

So was I! In fact, I was so obsessed with lickable wallpaper I even daydreamed about it! (Of course, I didn't think of how unsanitary it would be!) I also remember wanting to take the scratch-and-sniff sticker concept and turn it into scratch-and-lick. (LOL) I need to dig out my copy of the old version and take a screen shot of the wallpaper. I seem to recall the fruit was lined up in columns. I think I would prefer lickable wallpaper like this.

In the 2005 version, there were too many subtle similarities between Willy Wonka and Michael Jackson for my licking, from the pasty face to the glove-wearing to the weird mannerisms. I also thought Wonka was too unfriendly/cold toward his visitors. I know he's an eccentric hermit who probably has little trust in people, but I think he should have more of the whimsical, free-spirited, almost silly quality Gene Wilder brought to the role. This is not a criticism of Depp; I think he was an excellent actor in this role, as he always is. I just prefer Wilder's Wonka over Depp's.

In the 2005 version, we only hear of Slugworth (Wonka's evil competitor) as someone who used a spy-stolen recipe to make a Wonka-esque candy for his own candy store. We don't really "meet" him or learn his personality. That's not true in 1971, probably because in 1971 there's an important scene toward the end that mentions Slugworth.

In the 2005 version, Grandpa Joe's transformation from bed-ridden old man to Charlie's factory tour chaperone just doesn't have the emotional quality as the 1971 version. In 2005, he simply gets out of the bed and does a little victory jig. No one even seems shocked that he's walking. In 1971, the entire family -- not to mention Grandpa Joe himself -- seem totally agog that he's able to walk. And his victory jig is a lot more joyful and engaging.

In 2005, Veruca Salt was not nearly as petulant, nagging, loud and bratty as her 1971 counterpart. Supposedly the epitome of the selfish, spoiled rich snot, her 2005 personality is a bit too toned-down, sometimes even eclipsed by Violet Beauregarde. Additionally, in 2005, Veruca's father seems resigned and exasperated with his daughter's behavior, not intimidated. This is a contrast to 1971, where Veruca's father seemed almost like her slave, frantically kowtowing to her every whim and very intimidated by her.

In 2005, Violet Beauregarde is an ultra-competitive, conceited, self-centered brat who'd be just as hateful as Veruca except for the fact that Violet doesn't demand that she wants everything. I prefer the 1971 Violet, who is an annoying, fast-talking, nose-picking know-it-all, but not anywhere NEAR as hateful as Veruca. I definitely prefer the old Violet and old Veruca.

Augustus Gloop hasn't changed much between the two movie versions, so I don't have much to say about him. Mike Teevee is portrayed as too violent in the 2005 version (probably because we didn't have Nintendo and X-Box games in the 1970s!), but aside from that, I don't have any strong feelings either way about the changes in his character.

In 2005, I thought it was rather silly that all the Oompa Loompas working in the factory are identical. It's like "Attack of the Clones"! (LOL) If indeed the Oompa Loompas were a pygmy-like tribe living in the jungle and worshipping the cocoa (cacao) bean, they should all look similar but not identical! I dunno. I just thought it was kind of disappointing.

How come in 2005 the children are SHOWN what an everlasting gobstopper is, but they don't each receive one like they do in 1971? Those fascinated me almost as much as the lickable wallpaper. And the gobstopper was also crucial to a later plot twist (see below).

I really missed how in 2005 the "Fizzy Lifting Drink" scene was left out. That's where Charlie and Grandpa Joe drink the bubbly stuff and end up in a glass tank (I forgot how) where they almost float up to the fan blades and get killed, and have to "burp" their way down to escape. I liked it because it showed that even Charlie sometimes lets his curiosity get the better of him, and gets in trouble for it.

Because of the Fizzy Lifting incident (in 1971 but sadly NOT in 2005), Willy Wonka yells at Charlie and Grandpa Joe about that incident and tells them that basically, it was all over and they'd get nothing. If you recall, after this argument, Grandpa Joe tells Wonka off and then tells Charlie "If Slugworth wants a gobstopper, he'll get one!!" This is in reference to Wonka's evil competitor, Slugworth, whom we already met early in the movie and who offered Charlie a bribe for the gobstopper recipe.

Of course, Charlie remains noble and honest in the face of all his hurt and disappointment, and hands Wonka back the gobstopper after all. This, of course, is what Wonka had been hoping for, and says the moving but not well-remembered line: "And so shines a good deed in a weary world." He soon bursts into gleeful hysterics and gives Charlie the good news that it was all a test of character and that Charlie is the new heir to the chocolate factory. I like this ending much better than the ending in 2005.

The one thing about the 2005 version I definitely liked BETTER than the 1971 one was that it was true to the Nut-Sorting Room mentioned in Roald Dahl's book. This is where Veruca Salt meets her end (well, not her death, but her end of the tour). In 1971, it was not a room full of squirrels sorting nuts but instead something to do with chickens sitting on nests and laying eggs. (I admittedly can't recall the exact situation). In 2005, it's back to nut-sorting and I almost flipped my wig when I saw all those cute, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed squirrels sitting on little stools and grabbing, cracking and tossing walnuts! (I think everyone knows my love of rodents.)

And that's the end of my review, if you could call it that. Thanks for reading. If you've seen both versions of the movie, I'd love to know which you prefer, and why. (I bet at least one comment will come from "movie maven Marjorie"!) *grin*

Today I am feeling amused.

Garden update: transplanting!

2005-11-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

Today two "trees" in the patio enjoyed moving to much roomier, comfier digs today! I use quotation marks because one is a young Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) not more than two feet tall, so he hardly looks like a palm "tree" yet. His name is Winfield.

The other transplantee is a blue potato bush (Solanum rantonnetii, a.k.a. Lycianthes rantonnetii) named Phoebe. (More on these names later). Phoebe was already trained in the topiary style when we got her a few years ago, so I guess she's a tree. Left to go their own way, potato bushes -- whose flowers are way more purple than blue -- generally become tall fluffy bushes, which I prefer.

Winfield has lived in the same small-size oak barrel since he came to live here. He still hasn't outgrown it, but rather OUTLASTED it! The slats have been slowly but surely cracking, shrinking and rotting, causing too much water to drain out with each watering. Hence, I have to spend a lot more time irrigating him just to keep him from drying out.

Phoebe has lived in the same adobe-colored plastic (UGH!) pot for about as many years. She hasn't seemed as vigorous as she used to be, so I figured she was probably getting root-bound. Since potato bushes always grow best in the ground, I figured it was high time for her to get a new container too.

Many thanks and kudos (and I don't mean the granola bars) to Tony for bringing two LARGE-size oak barrels from a friend who gives them away, and also for helping transplant both trees. With my lower back and my chicken arms (both of which need a lot of strengthening! *chuckle*) it's hard for me to dig and/or pull large, awkward greenery from large containers. And my mom won't even attempt it! Of course none of this is difficult for Tony, who got both trees out of their old homes faster than Miracle-Gro dissolves in warm water!

Winfield's old barrel was in such bad shape it literally fell to pieces upon being picked up, so Tony placed it (and Winfield) inside the new barrel as he took the remaining slats apart from the metal ring. We poured about two bags of soil in and got the palm settled in his new home. I think I even saw him wave his fronds! ;D Incidentally, young fan palms can sit in containers (or the ground) for many years, slowly bulking up and becoming more wide than tall. Eventually, when they feel ready, they "bolt" and start growing a lot faster vertically. And yes: they can and DO bolt in containers; I've seen it myself many times!

Phoebe (for whom we also poured about two soil bags) was delighted with her new oak barrel as well. Not only does it "breathe" better than that yucky plastic pot, but she got the chance to straighten out, having shifted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa over the years. The feisty little Anna's hummingbirds LOVE hiding in the branches while guarding the hummer feeder, so I'm sure they appreciate the improvement too. Plus, now Phoebe has a chance to spread her roots. Hopefully the new growth below the soil will be reflected by new growth above (especially in flowers)! Then again, she always goes half-dormant during winter anyway (and is already), so I'll look forward to the most improvement come spring!

Both palm and potato bush got a thorough soaking after transplantation. I don't anticipate any problems with shock, since fan palms (and most palms in general) are very tolerant of transplantation, and the potato bush is already half-dormant. I'm a little worried about my 4 o'clock seedlings, however. (Click here for my most recent prior 4 o'clock update, with happy photos!)

Anyhoo, since Tony was doing grunt work with the trees, I also asked him to do some delicate work with the 4 o'clocks. I'm such a baby that I'm afraid to pull and transplant seedlings, even though growers do it as a matter of course. I'm too afraid I'm going to kill some and then feel guilty and sad. However, now that my fast germinating magenta-and-white fours have several sets of adult leaves, and my slow germinating magenta-and-yellow fours are making up for lost time, the one pot I planted them all in is WAY too crowded. I planted a lot of each because I thought some wouldn't sprout. Ding-ding, I was wrong!! *chuckle* My fours (both color varieties) had a nearly 100% germination rate!

And so, I found a pot about the same size as the one all the fours were in, and filled it with soil. In the meantime, Tony pulled up half of each color variety from the original pot and we stuck them in the extra pot. A few were destroyed during the pulling, despite Tony's best efforts, but most looked OK. The seedlings in the original pot can now grow larger because their numbers have been thinned, and hopefully all the seedlings in the second pot will also grow well, since they won't have as much competition either. (Fours eventually form large tuberous roots!)

Look directly below for the "before" shots of Winfield and Phoebe from my "before-and-after" series. I'll wait to share the "after" shots until we buy some festive annual flowers to plant around them. I think the trees look sort of lonely/lost in such big barrels alone, plus I love flowers anyway. More importantly, Tony said that because there's now such a large surface area of soil, planting some nice annuals on top will help insulate the soil a little against temperature fluctuations and moisture loss.

Today I am feeling tired but accomplished.

Bet you thought I forgot about explaining the names of the trees, eh? No such luck! ;D But I'll keep it brief. Since Phoebe is a potato bush, the initials for that would be "PB", which my mom commented sounded like "Phoebe". It was a cute name, so it stuck. End of story. Winfield is named after Winfield Blvd., a somewhat long street here in S. San Jose. There was once an open area on one side with the cutest cluster of BABY Mexican fan palms, despite awful soil. They grew there because a tree used to grow in that same spot, and birds plant numerous fan palm seeds both by dropping them from their beaks, and by pooping them. *chuckle* Eventually, someone tore out all the palms, and I felt so sad that when we got our own fan palm, I named it Winfield in memory of the ones that once lived there.

Bingo blues

2005-11-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

Wow! I wrote three entries in ONE day (morning, afternoon and night). That's definitely a record for me, and one that will probably not be broken any time soon. *chuckle*

I was supposed to be playing tonight with my gals-only monthly bingo group, The Bingo Belles , but I think it was just not meant to be. We usually meet the third Friday of each month to eat snacks, talk, laugh, play bingo and win cool prizes that we bring in the form of wrapped gifts. And money for the blackout round. That's it in a nutshell; there's more info available from the above link.

I sort of became the default host of the group since I'm also the founder. (March 2006 will be our 1-year anniversary! *cheer*) Since I had a schedule conflict on the third Friday of November, I moved it back a week to tonight. Unfortunately, this wasn't a good date for many of the Bingo Belles: three players were out of town, one's been sick all week, one had to work, one had a volunteer gig, one had a prior commitment, and one is in the throes of moving. I sure know how to pick a bad date, eh?? All that bad news aside, however, there were STILL enough players for a small but fun game, so I went ahead and planned for it.

However, yesterday I got a call from a gal who had to cancel due to a semi-last-minute change of family plans. And then just today, another gal cancelled, due to a very last-minute plan change. That would have left only three players for sure (including me), plus one who was a "maybe," along with one whom I haven't heard from in several months, so I've no idea where she is.

At any rate, I decided to call the game on account of small turnout, and was fortunate enough to reach the would-be players via cellphone in time. I've decided that since December is the busiest month for many people, I'm going to have a short poll. Everyone on the Bingo Belles group email list will get to VOTE on which Friday in December is best for them: the first, second or third one. (They're all fine with me so far). Whichever Friday gets the majority of votes will be the bingo date.

Ever the optimist, I'm already looking forward to a great turnout and great game for December. :)

Today I am feeling disappointed.

Blog SNAFU fixed! I think?

2005-11-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Although I think I wigged out too much and too quickly in this morning's entry, I'm glad I did, because it inadvertently helped me solve the problem quickly as well.

Actually, the main help came from Shari in Las Vegas (she of cool Shari.com fame). She saw my petulant plea and was kind enough to post some troubleshooting ideas in the comments section. Thank you, Shari! :) You were right -- it was an errant bit of HTML that caused my whole blog template to be upended! (I think this calls for a correction to be made with the perfidious purple pen)! >;)

Anyway, I went and looked at the HTML code comprising the "Which Tree Are You?" quiz that I posted here yesterday (Nov.10), and I saw that one of the tags, I think it was table width, was set at 600. That seemed a bit large for my blog template, especially since my blog has a fancy sidebar. So I randomly changed the 600 to 400 (it sounded like a good reduction) and re-published the blog with the edited entry.

It worked!! Or at least, I think it did. I visited by blog after clearing my browser cache just for good measure, and all seems back to NORMAL! I hope it's that way for everyone else too. And here I went and sent a panicky email to Blogspot's tech support team. *blush* Oh well, hopefully at least they'll get a laugh out of my lameness! :)

Today I am feeling embarrassed and relieved.

HELP! My blog template's ruined!

2005-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

My sincere (and confused) apologies to anyone who's visited my blog within the last few days. When I came to my blog yesterday to post the "Which Tree Are You? (Celtic astrology)" quiz, I had not checked my blog for about 3 days.

When I checked it yesterday, I was HORRIFIED to see that my entire blog template has seemingly been CORRUPTED! The main light-green field where all the text and pix go is suddenly much longer than it used to be. It's supposed to remain as long as (but no longer) than the garden bench photo at the top. But now it's all stretched out past the right-hand margin! This, in turn, has made my entire SIDEBAR (user pic/profile, recent rambles, archives, fave blogs, fave websites, web counter, affiliates) all messed up! They're now sitting smack-dab in the middle of the dark green frame that surrounds the blog, making all of those sidebar items very unpleasant and HARD to read. *blush* (And making me look like I don't care about it!)

I'm sooo sorry! I'm so disappointed with Blogspot as well. :( I changed NOTHING in my blog template between Sunday and yesterday. No edits, no anything. Yet when I came here yesterday, everything was different and RUINED! I know sometimes the monitor's screen resolution can make things screwy, but unfortunately this problem was not so easily solved. I viewed my blog at both 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768, but BOTH resolutions showed the same ugly problem. I also thought perhaps Blogspot suddenly became unfriendly to Netscape Navigator, so I closed that browser and viewed my blog with Internet Explorer. SAME ugly problem!

I am completely lost and confused. I sent an email to Blogspot's tech support team and explained everything I just wrote here; hopefully they will get back to me SOON! Or even if they don't get back to me, that's fine as long as they FIX whatever caused my blog template to change for the WORSE without my knowledge. :( If they neither respond to me nor fix the problem... well... let's just say that I'll have no choice but to be a major HawTHORN (*grin*) in their side until they do!

Today I am feeling aggro and frustrated.

Celtic tree astrology quiz!

2005-11-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

After taking a bunch of the so-called quizzes at sites like Blogthings, Blog Quiz and Quiz Farm (yes, I admit I'm a terrible time-waster *blush*), I got fed up with how many of them contained misleading questions, too few questions to be worth anything, inaccurate results or -- worst of all -- the SPELLING and GRAMMAR skills of the most careless of third graders!! :( Not to mention slang so thick you could cut it with a knife! (Shari in Las Vegas, stay away from 'em! You'll be tempted to get your English teacher's red pen out and mark up your screen! *grin* I almost did that with my copy editor's pen, only mine's purple.)

At any rate, if the teenagers making these quizzes are any indication of our public school system at work, I am VERY worried, and I'm not joking! The slang I can overlook, since it will change with time. After all, no one talks at age 41 the way they did at 14. *grin* But if you reach your teenage years and haven't yet learned how to spell and write in a way that doesn't make you look like an idiot or an illiterate... well... that's sad and scary. Granted, not all the quizzes are like this. Some were extremely well-written and well-thought out. :)

Anyhoo, I got inspired to create my own quiz, and I must say that Quiz Farm has a very good template "wizard" that guides you through the process without you needing any knowledge of any web programming language! You can customize so many attributes of the quiz it's amazing! Mine is called Which Tree Are You? (Celtic astrology). Please take the quiz, and let me know what you think of the results. *blush* You can even post the results snippet in your blog. :) Please also give the quiz a rating if you feel so moved (you'll see that option when you get your quiz results).

I had a lot of fun making this quiz; I also put a lot of thought and time into making it as accurate as possible. My source was a handy little fold-out doodad made of sturdy laminated-type paper called the "Celtic Astrology Decoder." It's made by Australia's Dynamo House, but is very hard to find, so I assume it's out of print. (It has an ISBN number, but no copyright date).

You turn various wheels on the decoder to look up your birthdate, and it shows you what your tree zodiac is. It's based on the Celtic lunar year and the ancient Druidic (Druic?) lore and knowledge about each tree's attributes. The wheels also show you what animal symbol belongs to your zodiac. Whenever I look up someone's birthday to see the personality traits associated with their tree, what I find is generally VERY accurate for the person I'm looking up!! Interesting. :)

Also interesting is that despite my love of and identification with OAK trees, my actual Celtic zodiac is the Hawthorn (another cool tree). And interestingly enough, when I took my own quiz, 3 out of 4 times it pegged me as a Haw!

Today I am feeling giddy.

You scored as The Hawthorn. In Celtic astrology, you're a Hawthorn. The animal symbol that accompanies this tree is the owl. The ancient Druids say Hawthorn people are creative, confident, innovative, eloquent, charming and may be good performers. However, Hawthorns may be prone to being mercurial, impatient, hasty or easily bored.

The Hawthorn

70%

The Hazel

65%

The Ivy

65%

The Rowan

60%

The Ash

55%

The Oak

55%

The Vine

50%

The Reed

50%

The Willow

45%

The Alder

40%

The Elder

40%

The Birch

35%

The Holly

30%

What Tree Are You? (Celtic astrology)
created with QuizFarm.com

'What flower are you?'

2005-11-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

It just occurred to me that my last 4 blog entries have all been about semi-serious to serious topics, and some of those entries were also quite looong! On top of all that, they lacked the respite offered by graphics or photos.

So, now for something completely different: a short, fun and flowery entry -- courtesy of Blogthings.com! :) Most of their little "quizzes" are rather inane, inaccurate or both, but I really liked this one!

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist.
People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you.
You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words.
Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?

I'm not sure why the lily is associated with the above attributes, but they are certainly nice, whatever flower they're connected with! *blush*

Today I am feeling contemplative.

Splenda & NutraSweet: trouble in paradise?

2005-11-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while at the laundromat (an adventure in itself; I had to clean stuff too big for our home washer/dryer), I went down the street and indulged in my fave Starbucks beverage: a Java Chip Frappuccino. I got the "light" version because I'm trying to watch my fat and cholesterol. I don't care about calories and carbs, as I'm actually close to being underweight. However, heart disease and cholesterol problems run in my family, so I'm trying to be proactive about that and ward off anything bad that might be waiting to develop in the future.

According to the Starbucks barista, what makes the frapp light is 2 things. First, they use nonfat milk instead of the standard milk, which might be whole milk (*cringe*) or maybe it's lowfat. I was also told the light frapp contains a sugar-Splenda blend, which leads me to think there are 2 different formulas for the chocolate/mocha syrup: one regular and one with the sugar-Splenda blend. (Splenda is the brand name for sucralose, a so-called "sugar derivative.")

Well, let me just say that all afternoon and evening yesterday, I had more GAS than if I'd eaten a BOWL OF BEANS!! :( *blush* And I can't attribute it to having eaten anything different except the light frapp. (And I never have this problem when I drink a non-light frapp).

I already know I have to stay away from things made with NutraSweet (the brand name for aspartame), because not only do I have a problem with gas, but my whole digestive system feels like it's churning and turning. I don't feel sick, but I certainly don't like the feeling of "internal distress" either. That's why if my only drink choices were diet soda or nothing -- I'd drink nothing! *wry smile*

Apparently I must now add Splenda to the stay-away list. I felt confident about Splenda (versus NutraSweet) because in Splenda's advertising it sounds so natural and so similar to sugar. I do not think NutraSweet is as "natural" or a sugar-derivative, is it? At any rate, I don't think I want to risk it again, otherwise I'll have to quarantine myself for half a day afterwards! LOL

Incidentally, I've found a LOT of website references from people who've experienced an amazing number of unpleasant side effects from both aspartame AND sucralose. Gas and bloating were among the most common complaints of all. Some of the less-common ones were downright horrible, including vomiting, seizures, migraines, rashes, etc.! I guess neither of these sweeteners is as "sweet" as they seem.

If anyone else has had any problems from either of these sweeteners, I'd love to hear about it. (I'm extremely curious by nature, first of all. And second, hearing about others' problems will make me feel like less of a freak! *chuckle*)

Today I am feeling a little yucky.

In defense of Kaiser Permanente

2005-11-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

I know Kaiser Permanente (aka Kaiser Hospital, Kaiser HMO) has long been a whipping boy, scapegoat, etc. for many people. I do not doubt for a minute that many people have had bad experiences at Kaiser, and I truly feel awful for them. One of my aunt's neighbors, in fact, was the hapless recipient of many horrid boo-boos by the Kaiser up in Oakland. However, I also know of many people who had very bad experiences at NON-Kaiser hospitals, clinics and private doctor's offices. Several I even know of personally.

In August 2005, a medical mistake caused a young man to die at Kaiser Santa Teresa here in South San Jose, which is the Kaiser my folks go to, as do I. The details of the incident just came out, and already Kaiser haters are using it to further excoriate the HMO. I think what happened is tragic and unacceptable. However, I'd like to remind that according to a statistic I just heard, 44,000 to 98,000 people nationwide die each year as a result of such errors, and that's certainly not all from Kaiser. Of course, such gigantic figures are ABSOLUTELY INEXCUSABLE, and they shock and disgust me!! I never dreamed in this day and age, figures like that would be so high.

Here's what happened, in a nutshell, followed by a brief commentary by me, in the hopes of de-vilifying Kaiser. If that makes me an apologist, so be it.

On Aug. 29, 21-year-old Christopher Robin Wibeto died at the Santa Teresa campus of Kaiser. He had been hospitalized for treatment of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was mistakenly given an injection of the chemotherapy drug vincristine in his spine. (Vincristine, incidentally, is derived from Vinca rosea, a species of periwinkle whose flowers are pinkish to reddish, rather than the standard periwinkle hue). Wibeto, who happened to be a lifelong San Jose resident, died because vincristine is never supposed to be injected into the spine. I don't know why; I've just read the result is almost always fatal.

It seems this story didn't make the news until Nov. 2 or 3 because investigators with the California Department of Health Services (and those from Kaiser as well) were conducting thorough investigations. Wibeto's family and Kaiser were also in legal negotiations over his death, and recently were awarded an undisclosed financial settlement. That probably was another reason the story was not released to the media until now.

Again, for the record, I think it's tragic and inexcusable what happened to Wibeto, and I wish peace and healing to his parents and brother. However, also for the record, now that Kaiser is again being demonized in public, I'd like to share the consistently EXCELLENT, pro-active and professional treatments and services my folks and I have had from Kaiser. We feel Kaiser's former slogan definitely still applies: "Good People. Good Medicine."

Mom's breast cancer
When my mom found a breast lump nearly 5 years ago, she got a mammogram and biopsy within 2 days, got the results within 2 days and underwent a breast cancer lumpectomy 7 days after that! While in the hospital awaiting surgery, both in the prep area and even in OR, she was asked several times by everyone for her name, what procedure she was having, and where. (Unlike those horror stories of someone having the wrong leg taken off).

All the doctors, nurses, technicians, etc. moved so smoothly and efficiently that month (January 2001) we barely knew what was happening. My mom had nothing but the best follow-up care and advice after the surgery, had doctors who actively listened to her, and together they decided on her follow-up procedures: no chemo, 6 weeks of radiation, 5 years on Tamoxifen, a pill most women with estrogen-sensitive BC take as a precaution. Thankfully her cancer was non-aggressive Stage I. :)

Mom's gall bladder surgery
A few years ago, my mom had some abdominal pain and barely even had to ask her doctor for a scan (I forgot which type) and the doctor was already writing up a referral. The scan showed scars and stones in her gall bladder, which she had removed. At the same time, the very diligent surgeon noticed her belly button had the beginning of a very slight hernia, so she repaired that at the same time.

Mom's migraine situation
I remember one time my mom was in the middle of a 3-day migraine that was one of her worst. The day after she saw her doctor about perhaps changing her migraine medication, the doctor actually CALLED my mom, on the doctor's own time, to ask if my mom was feeling any better. Since my mom was not, she invited my mom to come back that day and she (the doctor) would give my mom a prescription for a calcium-channel blocker sometimes used as daily migraine prophylactic. She said she thought it would be very good for my mom, and she was right!!

Dad's high-risk hernia surgery
My dad has COPD, which for him basically comprises 2/3 advanced emphysema, and 1/3 mild chronic bronchitis. He also has an enlarged heart from this. He uses oxygen sometimes during the day and always at night, and his physical activities have become more and more limited over the years. (Yes, he was a heavy smoker in his youth!) A few years ago he developed a lower abdominal hernia (where the intestines start to poke thru the abdominal wall). We were worried about him having surgery, as he's high-risk due to the COPD and cannot be put under general anesthesia without extreme risk! He's also 82, and age itself is a risk factor. Long story short, he had wonderfully thoughtful and efficient care from his surgeon who left no stone unturned to make the procedure smooth and successful. There were NO complications at all, and barely any pain. It went better than any of us thought.

My upper G.I. series
A few years ago, I was fed up with having acid reflux/GERD symptoms without knowing if perhaps I had a physical reason for it, such as a hiatal hernia (where your stomach pokes up thru your diaphragm). All I had to do was ask my doctor once, and she immediately wrote me a referral to have an upper G.I. tract X-ray series performed. I got that appointment quickly as well, and it went fine. No hernia showed up, or any other abnormalities, so they told me I simply have a weak lower sphincter muscle that doesn't always keep stomach acid down in the stomach. (I'll only have surgery for that if it gets worse!)

My 'almost' emergency
One time, also a few years ago, I went to Kaiser's urgent care on a weekend because I developed a sudden high fever and felt extremely sick! The reason I was worried is because it was also "that time of the month" and I was using tampons, which have been linked to a sudden, sometimes-fatal illness called Toxic Shock Syndrome. (Sorry, I don't mean to embarrass anyone). I was seen very quickly, not at all forgotten or left to "sit around" as many folks say happens to them. A very professional, cheerful doctor saw me, determined it was not TSS because I didn't have the typical body rash and certain other symptoms, and sent me home. I felt a little silly that I bothered urgent care with this, but they were very courteous and said they were glad I came.

My acute rib injury
Another time I visited urgent care because I thought I had a cracked rib and was in intense pain. Again, I was seen almost immediately and treated with great patience and care. The doctor diagnosed it as most likely a torn inter-costal muscle in the rib cage, but said he'd be very glad to refer me to X-ray if I wanted to know whether it was indeed muscle, or bone. Since the treatment for rib cage injuries is basically the same (i.e. they don't "tape you up" anymore, as that can cause lung infections), I thanked him and said I'd do without the X-ray exposure since it wouldn't change anything. He also involved me in the decision on what prescription pain-killers he would prescribe. (I normally have a high pain threshold, but this was PAINFUL!!)

My dermatological procedures
For a few years, I had some little cysts on my back, which my dermatologist examined and said were definitely NOT any type of cancer. However, the cysts slowly grew, and I didn't like them. Two were visible if I wore a swimsuit, which was embarrassing, and one was right at my waistline, which made it annoying to wear certain types of pants. All I had to do was ask my derma if he'd do mini out-patient surgery to remove them, even though technically it was a "cosmetic" procedure, and he immediately said yes. All I got charged was for a standard office visit and a small lab fee. (Whew!) I could have been charged a large amount, since it was an elective cosmetic thing and not a necessary or health-related thing.

My psychiatry/psychology experiences
Even getting into the Department of Psychiatry was a breeze! When I told my doctor, a year or two ago, that I was having problems such as insomnia, anxiety, adult ADHD, caregiver issues (my dad was going thru health problems at the time), and various other things, she took me seriously and without another thought, gave me a referral to psychiatry. It was so easy. I met a very good psychologist who helped me with some of the things. She also suggested I would like a drop-in weekly mindfulness meditation group (which also is something of a stress support group) that I still drop in on to this day, and which is very helpful!! I also ended up switching from the original psych to the psych who facilitates the group, because we got to know one another via the group and I felt more comfortable with him than with her (not that anything was wrong with her).

I could go on, but I won't. I'm sure most folks are bored to tears as it is. *blush* I broke the stories up under bold subheadings to make it easier to read. I hope I was successful. :) At any rate, I'm sure you get the point that even though yes, Kaiser has done some unprofessional and/or stupid things to some people, they are not ALWAYS like that. And there are PLENTY of non-Kaiser hospitals, clinics and doctors who've also done unprofessional and/or stupid things. That doesn't make it right, of course -- not for Kaiser and not for the other medical entities either. Medical mistakes or acts of neglect, especially those that cause someone to die (in Wibeto's case), or to have severe brain damage (in the case of several local people) are inexcusable.

I just wanted to share my 2 cents' worth about what I feel has been the vilification of Kaiser over and above all other medical entities. I simply don't agree with that, but I totally respect the opinions of those people who do.

Today I am feeling not sure.

POEM: Beneath the Surface

2005-11-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

I've had some requests to share my poetry here (*blush*), and decided to do so on an irregular basis. I used to write it as often as a bard, with sonnets and ballads my preferred format, although I also liked free verse. Unfortunately, however, I seem to have lost my poetic muse the last few years.

Actually -- on second thought -- I don't think I've lost it. I think it is simply DORMANT. :)

I can't imagine that something I loved so much, and came so easily to me, could ever simply go away. I think perhaps it just got buried by the same creative burnout that insidiously took away my passion for journalism. But just like some seeds can lie dormant for years until just the right favourable conditions let them germinate, I think the same is likely true for my poetry.

At any rate, the poem below is from 1994. The entire 1990s was a very "fertile" decade for me, perhaps because my brain was being stimulated by college anyway, or perhaps because I went through a lot of strong emotions (both good and bad) due to relationships in that decade. "Beneath the Surface" was one of my fave poems from that decade, and still is, for various reasons. I just can't believe I wrote it 11 years ago!

Beneath the Surface
(Autumn 1994)

A cold, pristine layer
Of icy isolation,
Thickened and hardened
By the passage of
Extended seasons
Of bleak Winter.

But below the chilling layer,
Dark currents can be seen
Through its spots of
Translucence, those
Dangerous spots where
The ice wears
Thin.
Somewhere within the depths
There flows a warm spring,
An ancient vent to a core
Of such heat as would
Melt the weathered glaciers
Lodged atop the craggy
Surrounding mountains.

The swirling currents
Create a hidden turbulence,
As heat struggles to
Vanquish cold.
All this beneath the
Cold and placid surface.

From the distant mountains
The lake offers no clue
As to its internal turmoil.
Tall and hardy evergreens
Overlook the scene
With silence.

Day becomes night
In endless cycles.
Outwardly, all is the same.
Inwardly, the lake is changing.

In the dark before the dawn,
A shooting star
Illumines the sky,
Its trail reflected
On the surface of a small
Pool of water --
A melted spot among the ice,
Emanating warmth.

sjk

Today I am feeling accomplished.

Flu shot misconceptions :(

2005-11-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

I hope I'm not talking to the wall. Actually, even if I am, just writing about this topic makes me less aggro. :) I just wanted to humbly set the record straight about certain misconceptions. I'm a people-person to the core and I always like to help people when I can, and I love seeing people healthy and happy. That's why I feel so frustrated when some folks seemingly shoot themselves in the foot regarding flu shots.

First a bit of background. I got my flu shot today. I've had them every year since 1990, when I started college. Taking a full-time courseload was hard enough -- missing a week due to illness would make it almost impossible to catch up! (Plus I have asthma, which makes flu even less fun!) In the 15 years I've been a flu shot "customer," I'm happy to say I've probably only been gripped by the "grippe" 2 or 3 times. And one of those I think was in the middle of summer, so it's not like the vaccination failed me there! *chuckle*

Just for the record, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a flu shot itself to make you sick with any of the virus strains contained in the shot. That's because the viruses in the serum are DEAD. It's true that once the flu season gets going later, you might not have 100% immunity to these viruses, but you certainly can't get sick with them now! It's also true that some other disease vaccines contain LIVE viruses, and perhaps even old-school flu shots contained live viruses once upon a time. (The semi-new "Flu Mist" nasal vaccine also does). However, all current needle-injected flu shots do NOT contain live viruses, and have not for years.

Yes, it IS possible to feel "ill" after a flu shot, but that's NOT the flu. That's an immune system response, because our immune systems perceive all viruses (even dead ones) as a "threat". So they make antibodies against them, which is how vaccines offer protection. And so, some folks may have a slight fever, slight body aches and slight fatigue for a few days after the shot. There's nothing wrong with these sensations. We've come to associate them with being "sick", so some folks assume that whenever they feel those, they're sick. Not true when those sensations accompany a flu shot, because the viruses are DEAD. (As for me, all I generally have is a sore arm muscle).

And now to address the concerns of folks who come down with a TRUE viral illness within a few days of receiving a flu shot (not just an immune system response). The virus responsible for your illness was in your body BEFORE you got your shot. Perhaps you were doomed to come down with that virus anyway. Or perhaps your immune system might have fought it off, had the immune system not become "preoccupied" in making antibodies against the flu shot viruses (and perhaps engaging in an immune system response as well). However, please know that what you came down with was NOT a virus contained in the shot.

I felt so helpless/frustrated recently when a senior citizen I know told me she never gets flu shots because she feels "sick" after them. I asked if she was allergic to eggs, because THAT is a reason to avoid the shots. Since the viruses are cultured in a medium whose ingredients include eggs, doctors warn anyone allergic to eggs to stay away from flu shots. Of course, this senior was not allergic to eggs. She just doesn't like how she feels for a couple of days after a flu shot.

I tried explaining (in a much abbreviated way!) the points I just raised in this blog entry, but it was like talking to a wall, or to a mule. :( Seniors are especially vulnerable to complications from a nasty case of the flu, which is why they're always at the top of the list of shot recipients (along with folks who have chronic illnesses, who work in hospitals, etc.) The fact that this senior refuses the shot is beyond me.

If this entry causes even ONE person to get the shot who otherwise might not have, I will be extremely happy! :) Remember -- "the life you save may be your own!"

Today I am feeling worried and frustrated.

Happy Halloween!!

2005-10-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

I hope the good folks at Google don't mind me using their image to decorate my blog this hallowed eve. I'm not doing it for any for-profit purpose, and I'm giving full credit for it to Google (my fave search engine). I just thought the motif was very creative (all their holiday-themed "decorations" are!), and I also kept being drawn to the scary, evil hand of the vampire reaching over the second "o". *shudder*

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fun and SAFE Halloween. :) In past years on Oct. 31, I've gone to people's parties, gone to venue parties (like Cheers or the Saddle Rack), gone to the Haunted Forest in Los Gatos, or actually volunteered at the Haunted Forest. This year, however, I stayed home and handed out Hershey's Miniatures to the 24 or 25 kids who knocked on the door (mostly in groups). You'd think in a townhouse complex of 315 homes, there'd be a lot more trick-or-treaters, since it's so fast and easy going door-to-door. Maybe they were all at the mall! *chuckle*

Earlier in the day, I carved my WHITE pumpkin. Since almost everyone uses standard pumps with orange skin, I like to be different and use white. Plus, I think the color contrast between the pale outside and orange inside is beautiful. And then there's the interesting smell. Instead of the standard "pumpkiny" aroma (which I do like), the white ones smell mildly of cantaloupe and cucumber. Very nice. It's not all that surprising, since pumpkins (and other squashes), melons and cucumbers are all in the same family -- Cucurbitaceae! (Gourds are too). I sometimes call this the "coo-coo family," not only because the Latin name starts out that way, but also because it brings to mind the frantic melon on the 9th floor. *smirk* (Don't ask!)

I also did something a little different with the carving. Normally I make some type of jack o'lanterny face, but this time I wanted to be creative, so I bought a pumpkin-carving kit that included a book of templates (stencils?) The tools got a real workout, but instead of using one of the templates, I instead went through my library of oak leaf and acorn theme images and printed out one to carve. Here's what it was....

And here are two views of how my pumpkin turned out. Not as well as I expected, but definitely not as bad as it could have been! :) I decided to forego the sticking-up twig part. In the second photo, the middle-pointing oak leaves almost make it look like a mask.

And, of course, here's what the pumpkin looked like at night, when illumined from within....

Last but not least, I get to use a word that I love, yet hardly ever have occasion to use: PEPITA! It sounds so cute and diminutive, it almost makes me think of what I'd name a pet rodent. (Most folks know I used to have rats and love all rodents). The pepitas in question, however, were none other than the seeds of my aforementioned pumpkin! :D I tossed them in some butter and a tiny pinch of seasoned salt, spread them on a cookie sheet and baked them for about 30 minutes at about 325 degrees F.

Ovens vary widely, especially ones with old dials like mine, so if you want to roast your own raw pumpkin seeds, please don't take my time duration or temperature setting as gospel. The best way is to keep a careful eye (and nose) on them, and stir them around at least once during the baking process, otherwise you may have too many burned ones. After they cool, crack and eat as you would sunflower seeds. Mine were toasty, nutty and yummy! :) As Emeril would say: "this ain't rocket science!" And now here is the exciting photo...

Today I am feeling festive.

Garden update: 4 o'clock SURPRISE :)

2005-10-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

My OTHER 4 o'clocks are sprouting! :)

As many of you know, I planted a handful of 4 o'clock seeds (Mirabilis jalapa), also called Marvel of Peru, in mid-September. I harvested the mini black grenade-shaped seeds myself from 2 of my fave plants. Half were from a plant with magenta/pink and white variegated flowers; the other half from a plant with magenta/pink and yellow variegated flowers. (I planted them in the same container but did not mix the 2 types).

Here's a refresher of ONE style of 4 o'clock variegation; flowers can have any mixture of stripes, splotches or "pie piece" chunks of color! Click either pic for a larger close-up.

By the end of September, the mag-and-white seeds began germinating. Please visit my Sept. 28 entry for more info about the seed sowing and about the unusual beauty and habits of 4 o'clocks in general. :) As October began, mag-and-white seedlings popped up in the container I started them in and also in the poor soil along the fence where I threw a few. (Among the many good attributes of 4 o'clocks is they tolerate almost any soil). Take a look at these thriving babies for the proof!

My Oct. 6 entry has a short update on the progression of the container germinated seedlings, and a photo of how cute they looked as their lanceolate "adult" foliage was just starting to come out.

Unfortunately, NO seeds from the magenta-and-yellow 4 o'clocks had sprouted for most of October, and I couldn't figure out why. Both seed groupings got the same amount of water, sun and warmth. I concluded that even though both parent plants were the same Mirabilis species (jalapa), perhaps they were different strains/varieties. So far I've heard of three different names for 4 o'clocks with variegated blossoms: "Jingles," "Broken Colours" and "Kaleidoscope". I don't know if these also represent three truly different strains/varieties or not. What I do know is that the mag-and-yellow parent is taller, and has stronger-scented flowers than the mag-and-white, so maybe their differences carry through into germinating habits as well.

The good news is that just a few days ago, the magenta-and-yellows FINALLY sprouted! First it was ONE lonely little head peeking up out of the soil, but now -- as if making up for lost time -- there are at least EIGHT! I'm so happy and proud of them! :D I wasn't sure if they were sterile seeds or simply "late bloomers," so I never gave up on them. And I'm glad I didn't!! And here they are (not all are in the picture)....

Below are more pix of what the magenta-and-yellow and magenta-and-white 4 o'clocks look like as adults. (Click for close-ups). I'm always amazed by the variety of colors and patterns on their flowers. :)

.

Today I am feeling gleeful and proud (of the seeds!).

Halloween Corn 'Maize'

2005-10-30T19:18:00.000-08:00

How mortifying! It was one week ago TONIGHT that I rounded up a handful of brave souls to check out the Fremont Corn Maize. I can't believe I haven't blogged about it until NOW! *blush* Actually, I could have written about it any time, but I somehow didn't get around to Photoshopping all the digital pix until yesterday.

In case the above-linked website goes down a few months from this entry, here's a picture of what the 2005 maze looked like. As a California native, I appreciated this maze's theme, but it sure was funny how one path is going right into/out of the gold-panner's butt!

For years, I've wanted to check out the mazes of maize (aka "corn mazes") that crop up each October. This year, I decided to take the initiative and plan a trip -- or at least TRY! My online research showed that the most "local" mazes were in Hollister and Fremont, with perhaps another in the Half Moon Bay area. Fremont was obviously closer for most folks. The location was Ardenwood Historic Farm, which has done this for the past 6 years.

I printed a Yahoo map of how to find the Farm without verifying it on a real map. I also didn't even realize it was almost directly across the street from Karts N Golf, one of two places I celebrated my birthday in 2005. So, due to my lameness, Tony and I drove up and down Ardenwood Blvd. a few times and took a few wrong turns off the boulevard and kept missing the farm. Finally, we pulled into a nearby fire station (across the city limit in Newark!), where I asked for directions. *blush* Like many females I know, I too found myself a wee bit flustered and giddy in the presence of a group of firefighters! Fortunately, one of them knew exactly where Ardenwood Historic Farm was and helped me realize the error of my ways. (I'll definitely verify everything on my AAA maps from now on!)

During the day, it was a normal fun and challenging corn maze. On Friday and Saturday nights, however, it turned into a "haunted" maze with scary characters, props, etc. scattered amongst the corn to add fright to the night! I mistakenly thought it was haunted Sunday nights too, but that was only true for Sunday the 30th. Sorry about the boo-boo! :( But even without the added haunting, we still had fun! At least I did. :) How about you folks: Tony, Karrie, Dan, Dan, Bronwyn, MVA, Coleen and Larry? (Several others also wanted to attend, but couldn't)

Apparently some folks found it scary enough just being a cornfield at night, as last Sunday I overheard a maze visitor comment that it reminded them of the M. Night Shyamalan 2002 sci-fi/chiller Signs . In this movie, the crop circles in an American farmer's fields are portents of a malevolent alien invasion. One unnerving scene is when the farmer (played by Mel Gibson), searches through his cornfield at night, hearing the rustling of an alien and catching an ALMOST glimpse of one. As I was in the maze, I was thinking about 1999's sleeper hit The Blair Witch Project, but in retrospect I agree that Signs is a far better match.

In a different vein, one of the FUNNIEST things to happen at the maze was when my cellphone suddenly rang from the inside pocket of my jacket! As some of you know, my phone's ring is a bouncy, cheerful rendition of Minuet in G Major by J.S. Bach. This link provides a midi file of the real minuet; I couldn't find a clip of my actual polyphonic ringtone (which sounds more like the Disneyland Electrical Parade!) If you click on the link, I'm sure the melody will ring a bell (if not a cellphone! heehee)

The phone rang because Karrie called me, pretending to be frantic and fearful and "lost" somewhere in the maze (complete with screams in the background). It turned out she and some of the other group members weren't even far from us! ;D The high-tech-ness of the ringtone, not to mention the gleefully cheerful ring, were such a total antithesis to the whole maze experience that I couldn't help but LAUGH!!

One of the more interesting things about the maze was that every so often, you'd come to a post with a paper on it containing multiple-choice clues. Some were so easy we said "duh!", whereas some were so obscure we said "huh?" Flashlights, glowsticks or illuminated cellphones (haha) were a must for reading these clues. Next to each answer was the word RIGHT or LEFT; depending on your answers and your memory of how many right and left turns to make, you'd either wend your way successfully to the next clue, or get hopelessly lost in the corn!

But enough of my ramblings. I'm sure by now my gentle readers (remember Miss Manners calling everyone that?) are eager to see the photos from the trip. Well, here they are! As always, you can click on a photo to view a larger version.

MVA emulates a gracious game show hostess as she reminds us of the maze rules, which are enforced by the 'corn cops'.

Coleen and Larry prepare to venture forth into the maze of maize; their smiles belie the fear that grips their hearts!

Tony and Shari are dwarfed by the vastness of the maze.

Intrepid trio Karrie, Dan and MVA as seen from a bridge above the corn, as the vampiric strangers behind them recoil from the light.

Tony studies one of the clue sheets, determined to ensure our escape, not seal our doom!

We all celebrate our eventual emergence from the maze. But wait! Aren't two guys from the group missing?

The celebration continues. The light from my hands is not the result of shouting "Lumos!" (HP ref. for Karrie's amusement). I was actually just using my mag light to help the photographer see where we were in the dark!

Today I am feeling spooky.

"not-so-scary" Shari? :|

2005-10-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

I just took one of those inane little quizzes at Blogthings.com, many of which have the spelling, grammar and syntax of a careless third grader. Oh how I dearly WISH I could get paid to be a copy editor for a site like that!!

At any rate, one of the quizzes that sucked the least was called "How Scary Are You?". I took it in the spirit of Halloween, and also because my nickname is, after all, ScArY sHaRi *evil laughter*. Not surprisingly, however, here is the result of my quiz. (I thought I should have at least gotten the "You are a LITTLE bit scary" designation! But, I guess not.)

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Today I am feeling amused.

MEME: "Four Things"

2005-10-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

That's "meem", not "me-me"! ;D

I've had my blog for about a month now, but I have yet to participate in one of those eclectic, creative snippets called "memes" that are circulating in blogdom. I actually was "tagged" by L/Milgwimper in early October to participate in the 23/5 Meme, but since part of it involved one's 23rd blog entry, I couldn't participate, because at the time I only had about HALF that number of entries. :( Anyone interested in what the 23/5 Meme is about, please visit the Oct. 9 entry in her blog, "Some Like It Hot."

As for me, I will now participate in the Four Things Meme, which I found in the Oct. 25 entry of another friend, Bronwyn, in her blog at Live Journal. (There doesn't seem to be a way to link to individual blog entries there). Bronwyn didn't "tag" me to do this meme, but when I saw it, I liked it, and felt inspired to answer the questions. :) And so, here they are. I'm not up on all the "protocol" regarding tagging my fellow bloggers to participate, especially since I found this meme NOT via getting tagged, but here are the folks I nominate to complete the Four Things Meme -- L/Milgwimper, Shari (my Las Vegas namesake), Marjorie, and Jo. (I'll limit it to four people, since the meme is all about fours *grin*). Of course, it's totally optional and just for fun. No one is obligated to do it.

FOUR THINGS YOU USE EVERY DAY:
1. bed
2. computer
3. phone (cell and/or landline)
4. water

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. babysitter
2. Subway sandwich maker
3. 'media professional' (writer, editor, photographer)
4. freelance version of the above

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU WATCH THE MOST:
1. West Wing
2. CSI
3. Food Network stuff (especially "$40 a Day w/ Rachael Ray")
4. Travel Channel stuff

FOUR PEOPLE YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE LAST:
1. Tony
2. Mom
3. Mike (editor of a magazine I freelance for)
4. Rudolf (tech support for my web hosting company)

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Forrest Gump
2. Braveheart
3. The Breakfast Club
4. The Princess Bride

FOUR THINGS YOU WANT TO DO IN LIFE:
1. Visit Europe
2. Road trip across U.S.
3. Own handcrafted soap biz
4. Fairytale happy ending

FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS YOU'RE CLOSE TO:
1. Parents
2. Aunt Janie
3. Cousin Julie
4. Cousin Ron

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Las Vegas (most recently!)
2. Yosemite
3. Disneyland
4. Chicago

FOUR COSTUMES YOU'VE WORN ON HALLOWEEN:
1. Renaissance Faire peasant/wench ('default costume' for years)
2. Pirate (1 or 2 times in college)
3. Wannabe punk rocker (high school, I think)
4. I wore so many childhood costumes I lost count, but I recall a very cute, old-fashioned clown costume my mom made for me. :)

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU ATTENDED:
1. San Jose State University
2. Gunderson High School
3. Steinbeck Middle School
4. Erikson Elementary School

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPINGS:
1. cheese (duh)
2. olives
3. mushrooms
4. pepperoni

Today I am feeling content.

"Where's George?" (and why it matters!)

2005-10-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention this in my triad of entries about Las Vegas trip, but that's just as well, since those were all too long anyway! *chuckle*

What I wanted to say was that I spent a handful of Where's George? dollars on the trip. Where's George is an ingenuous website where you can track everywhere a bill has been and continues to be. I first discovered the site when I came into possession of a dollar bill stamped in colored ink with something like "See where I've been! www.wheresgeorge.com". (It was supposed to be George Washington talking).

I visited the site and found a place to enter that bill's serial number. I then learned how many other people before me had found the bill, entered the number and entered information about themselves (if nothing else, their city and state). Looking at this and the chart that shows how far the bill has traveled in days and in miles FASCINATED me! It's not just about ones, either. The site has provisions for tracking $2, $5, $10, $20 and higher bills as well. It's simply that $1 bills are the most common, and the website's namesake George is on them. ;)

Because I rarely ever receive a Where's George? bill, I decided to start making them myself. I write "www.wheresgeorge.com --> Track this bill online!" along the horizontal top or bottom margin of various bills, mainly ones. Then I highlight the URL portion. I've been doing this now and then for close to a year, but so far only 7 bills I've marked have ever been re-entered on the site (6 were re-entered once, 1 was re-entered twice). The farthest recorded location of one of my bills is Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois. The closest is Campbell, one of San Jose's neighboring cities.

In an effort to get some of my bills circulating faster, I marked some, registered them at Where's George? for the start of their journey, and then spent them on my trip. I hope to see them being re-entered from all across the country! :) I should've made notes of where I spent them, but I think I can still remember most of them....

$5 at San Jose International Airport gift shop

$1 as part of change for a $5 I gave Shelley, my seatmate when we were delayed flying to Vegas and a raffle game took place on the plane (more info on that day here.)

$1 as part of a tip I gave the Las Vegas shuttle driver who took me to The Aladdin

$1 in the hotel's gift shop

$1 into a slot machine

$1 as a tip for a drink

$1 toward my bill at either Starbucks or the Zanzibar Cafe (both inside The Aladdin)

$1 I think somewhere else, but I'm not sure

I know everyone (including myself) has much better things to do, but I really encourage everyone to give Where's George a try. Whether you enter a bill you found or start your own bills, let's get those dollars circulating! (And unlike the old "message in a bottle" concept, you actually stand a good chance of success with Where's George!) So keep your eye on the money! %-)

Today I am feeling interested.

Las Vegas: TUESDAY Oct. 18 (Part 3 of 3)

2005-10-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

The last of the blog trio on my trip to Las Vegas for the SPJ journalism convention! *cheer* If you haven't read parts 1 and 2 yet, I highly suggest you read them first. Otherwise, the rest of this won't mean much. (They're also more amusing and more illustrated than this one)

I forgot to mention that by the time I went to bed on Monday the 17th, I had broken out and I don't know why. I had red, relatively small, mildly itchy welts on my neck and upper and lower arms. Because I wanted to KEEP them small and mild, I took an antihistamine before bed. I can't believe my absent-minded brain even thought to bring antihistamines with me! Fortunately when I awakened Tuesday, I was no longer bitchy (I mean itchy, LOL). However, then I felt kind of stuck-up (I mean stuffed up, LOL again!)

For what it's worth, I took a picture Monday night of my sleepy/tired eye, after I took off my make-up and washed my face. I cringe at the thought of posting it here, because I think it looks so bad. But I also think it's funny, and it made me laugh. So here it is for your shock and amusement. Remember: you're laughing WITH me, not at me *smirk*!!

Anyhoo, the first set of programs began at 10 a.m. (not counting a special panel from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. -- too early for yours truly!) Some of the set sounded interesting, but none were particularly pressing for me and my situation. That was good, because it gave me time to dress, eat and pack up all my belongings by my 11 a.m. checkout time. It was rainy and very overcast Tuesday morning, and I was not encouraged by the view from my window, part of which included the now almost invisible McCarran Airport! See for yourself....

I then lugged my 500-pound carry-on piece of luggage to the 11:15 program: "Where Do You Get Your Ideas? Freelance Writers' Salon." The presenters were two freelancers: SPJ Freelance Committee chairperson Wendy Hoke again and Roberta Wax. ( Creative Ink is Wendy's blog). This program was very good, but its focus was more on how and where to find/develop story ideas, whereas the previous day's freelance-themed program gave actual resources freelancers could use/visit. But this program was still inspiring, interesting and valuable, and I certainly took notes.

There were one or two afternoon programs I would have truly liked attending, but unfortunately I could only get a 3:15 p.m. flight out of LV's McCarran Airport. That meant I had to arrive at the airport by 1:15 p.m., which meant that I had to get on my way soon after the 12:15 p.m. program conclusion. (I didn't know how long I'd have to wait at The Aladdin for an airport shuttle, and I KNEW I wouldn't be able to walk quickly around the airport, since now my luggage was even heavier than when I arrived (a few souvenirs make a big difference when you have chicken wings for arms! *chuckle*)

But first, a quick backtrack! On the way to The Aladdin on Sunday, we passed the Hard Rock Cafe. Part of the landscaping was a very long line of very tall date palms. One palm caught my eye because its "head" was crooked and looked like it was about ready to fall off! I wanted to take a picture but we went by it too fast. WELL, on the way to the airport on Tuesday, where should my shuttle stop but right in front of the gimpy-headed date palm! The window was spotted with raindrops, but you can still see the palm clearly in the photo below. I suspect it was damaged by careless pruning. However, its fronds seemed as lush as its neighbors'....

When I got to the airport I was so hungry that I didn't even go through the security checkpoint and find my gate. All I did was get my boarding pass at the self-service kiosk, verify my plane was still leaving at 3:15 p.m. (it was, but that changed later), grab an errant luggage cart that some guy didn't return to the locking mechanism, and proceed to the nearest restaurant. It was a Tex-Mex place called Don Alejandro's and it barely even seemed like an airport restaurant. Great menu, nice ambiance and fast service. All I had was an iced tea and their light lunch special of vegetable soup and a tuna salad sandwich (not very Tex-Mex of me). The soup was one of THE best veggie soups I've ever had, and I told the host so! :)

Long story short, here's what happened at that airport as a result of air traffic delays and inclement weather in LV as well as in L.A. That's right -- I had to fly to Los Angeles and then catch one of American Airlines' American Eagle "shuttle" planes back to San Jose. My plane was supposed to leave LV at 3:15 p.m. By the time I left Don Alejandro's, I saw on one of the flight monitors that it was pushed up to 4 p.m. Not bad, I thought. :) However, by the time I got through the security checkpoints and found the right A.A. gate, it was changed to 5 p.m.!

When I told the lady at the gate desk that I was supposed to catch a 6:15 p.m. plane in L.A. to S.J., she printed me another ticket/board pass. It was good for the LAST American Eagle out of L.A. at 7:45 p.m. If I missed that one, she said I'd have to wait until the next day. Yikes! :( I threw away a little money gambling in the airport (which always struck me as weird), and I caved in and bought another frosty Starbucks java chip frapp to drink while reading a magazine and eating one of the high-protein Balance Bars I always take with me on trips. I also made phone calls and/or text messages to L/Milgwimper, Tony and my folks, and almost called Becky too but realized she was still at work. I was so bored (and overtired at that point) that I would have chatted up a stranger, but there was no one right near me! *chuckle*

My plane didn't leave LV until after 5:30 p.m.! I think some folks at other gates actually had their flights cancelled (to other parts of the country). I felt so bad for them!! What a day! I obviously didn't get to L.A. in time for my 6:15 p.m. American Eagle, but fortunately I had enough time to grab dinner to go from the airport's Burger King Express and get to my gate. I could have had to drag myself halfway across the huge airport, but another fortunate thing happened: my gate was quite close! :) I was also EXTREMELY happy that I decided not to check my luggage through, because with all the delays leaving Vegas and the missing of my original connector in L.A., who knows where my luggage might have ended up?! (LOL) Probably not in San Jose by the end of the night!! Timbuktu is more likely -- or at least Dubuque, Iowa! *snicker* So, despite the fact that I got major hand, arm and back fatigue from my leaden luggage, I was very glad I chose not to check it through!

Oh, before I forget, here's a picture I call "pastel sky", because that's how it looked on my late-afternoon flight from LV to LA. (The flight from LA to SJ was totally dark).

This was much prettier in person...

All's well that ends well! :) Even though I didn't get to SJ Int'l Airport until several hours after my originally projected time, I did make it! And boy did I sleep well -- no insomnia for me that night!! I also had a wonderful time on my first flight and hotel trip taken totally by myself. It's still more fun travelling with others, but this was an enjoyable and memorable experience and I'm very glad I did it.

And now, in the words of pioneering broadcast journalist, the late Edward R. Murrow, I will say: "good night, and good luck."

Today I am feeling reminiscent

Las Vegas: MONDAY Oct. 17 (Part 2 of 3)

2005-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning! :) I'm not writing this in the morning, but that was my mood Monday, Oct. 17 upon awakening to my 8:08 a.m. (okay, so I like 'crazy eights' *grin*) wake-up call. It was my second day in Las Vegas for the SPJ National Convention (see previous entry for more info). Fortunately the first group of programs/workshops didn't begin until 10:45 a.m. -- I guess they figured everyone would be up late Sunday eating, drinking, dancing, gambling, shopping or just plain schmoozing at The Aladdin or elsewhere.

Like the captive audience I was, I decided to eat at the Aladdin's Zanzibar Cafe -- an expensive spin on a coffeeshop. I didn't venture outside the hotel to breakfast because of dreary rainy weather (which I hadn't expected) and I didn't walk through Aladdin's Desert Passage Mall because I just didn't think of at the time. And so I dropped $15.45 for juice and an entree (excluding the tax and tip) -- not an auspicious start if I want to emulate Rachael Ray, the travel and food savvy star of the Food Network's "$40 a Day" show. *grin*

I ordered the corned beef hash and scrambled eggs (with toast, of course) not only because I've enjoyed CBH at many other eateries, but also because the Zanzibar added an ingredient I've never seen hashed up before: sauteed celery! I know some folks are gagging right about now, but I love celery. Unfortunately, the CBH overall was a bit disappointing, due to the largeness and toughness of some of the corned beef pieces. But it was certainly filling. While breakfasting, I caught a keno runner and played one $2 six-spot keno game, but didn't win.

Here's my meal. The asparagus was VERY al dente, but the strawberry was good!

After breakfast I headed upstairs to the conference center. Each time slot throughout the day had several simultaneous programs running. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard for me to pick, since some of the programs didn't interest me at all, including those geared toward students, "newbie" journalists, sports writers, hard news hounds, etc. But "Interactive Journalism: Drawing in Audiences with a High Tech Approach" from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. was very interactive, interesting and timely. Its presenter was Jan Shaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. (be sure to check out their cool website.)

An awards luncheon for excellence in college print, broadcast and online journalism took place from noon to 2 p.m., which I'd have enjoyed attending but passed on due to its $40 pricetag. I didn't really feel like lunching during this time anyway, since I didn't get done with breakfast until after 10 a.m.! I passed the time doing several things, including a wee bit of gambling, some people-watching and a stroll through Desert Passage, Aladdin's "mall" of more than 140 retail shops, restaurants, kiosks, etc. Some are similar to what you'd find at your local mall; others were not.

What caught my eye the most were the loud colors (and almost as loud 80s New Wave music -- YEAH!!) at Fat Tuesday, which looks like a giant 7-Eleven wall of Slurpee machines, except that these slushes are ADULT beverages! From various types of daiquiris, margaritas and pina coladas to froo-froo cocktails like Sex on the Beach and Mudslides, to unique concoctions called "190 Octane," "Peachtree Bellini," "Eye Candy," "Mardi Gras Mash" and "Tropical Itch," this place is amazing!!

When I walked up to the counter, I was greeted by Biff, one of the few people who could give me a run for my money on effervescent cheerfulness to total strangers! LOL He no doubt was amused by the agog look on my face and my query of "what's this all about?" His immediate reply was a big grin and a "You've never been to New Orleans, have you?" To which I confessed I have not.

Founded in the mid-1980s, Fat Tuesday now has "bars" in nine states, plus Mexico. I sure hope they come to California! ;D Although if they do, I bet it'll be in Los Angeles or San Diego first. :( Anyhoo, Biff was dispensing samples to anyone who stepped up, even if they didn't ask. He gave me the "190 Octane," which happens to be Fat Tuesday's most popular AND most potent potable! Talk about a persuasive seller! *smirk* Not that he needed to lure me in -- I already loved the whole Fat Tuesday concept.

Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for alcoholic drinks at 1:30 p.m., otherwise I probably wouldn't make it through the afternoon and my next SPJ convention program at 2:15 p.m. In fact, I was on my way back to The Aladdin to refuel with the caffeine and chocolate of a frosty Starbucks java chip frappuccino (which caused Biff to mock gag when I confessed my intentions!) However, he forgave me because he saw my SPJ tote and it turned out he once was involved in journalism too -- "before I became all jaded!" he said with a chuckle. Although he asked me questions about the various people and things comprising the convention, I don't think he'll be making a move back to the media. "I'm having a lot more fun now!" he asserted of his current job, and I must say it is very evident. :)

I promised Biff I'd come back after dinner and actually BUY a drink, but alas, between a somewhat late and very filling dinner, and a liberal slot machine that I couldn't walk away from, I never returned to Fat Tuesday that night. Oops! :( In exchange for taking the following photos for my blog, Biff said I had to give him my URL, so hopefully he's reading this now and will see my apology. Next time I'm in Vegas (which may be next year, if I can plan a "girls' weekend out"), I promise to bring everyone to Fat Tuesday for drinks! ;D

This place is so bright....

....I gotta wear shades!

Moving right along, I certainly wasn't surprised The Aladdin had a Starbucks coffeeshop in-house. If banks, supermarkets and airports have them, why not a casino? I also wasn't surprised that the smallest size ("tall") of java chip frappuccino (which I sometimes call mocha chip) was $3.95! And here I feel indulgent spending $3.20 for it at home! Ah well, that's what happens when you're a captive audience. *grin* Because I wanted a little sustenance with my frap, I bought some raspberry shortbread tartlets, which were a nice complement to the drink. Of course I took a photo, and here it is: my refreshing festive afternoon repast! (Tony, are you laughing?)

The program from the 2:15 p.m. offerings that I chose was "The Business of Freelancing." Its topic was anything and everything a freelancer might need (or want) to know, and then some. Two of the three presenters, Wendy Hoke (check out her cool blog Creative Ink) and Jill Miller Zimon (no blog but a nice web page) I'd already hung out with for a time at the Sunday night reception. Funny, how of all the hundreds of folks I could have met in the buffet line, it was two fellow freelancers! :) Wendy is also chairperson of SPJ's Freelance Committee, which I am definitely going to join and become active in. I'm also going to visit the wealth of websites Wendy, Jill and Bruce Shutan (the other presenter) had compiled of interest to freelancers. For a list of them, click here (this is as much for myself as any of my blog readers, as I'm likely to lose the list otherwise! *blush*

There were also programs in the 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. time slot, but I forewent them in favor of a "professional review session." Throughout Monday and Tuesday, students and professionals could get their resumes and clips (work samples) critiqued in one-on-one sessions (about 20 mins each) by high-ups in the business. My high-up was none other than SPJ's immediate past president Gordon "Mac" McKerral! I'd seen his column and photo in many past issues of SPJ's magazine, Quill, and I knew of his major experience in the media world. So it was exciting and humbling to have a session with him. I even gave him a copy of my resume, and he said once he got home he'd visit the online version (which I designed myself) and click on the links that lead to a variety of my written and photographic work. I can't wait for more feedback, be it positive, negative or any combination of the two. *blush* If anyone reading this is interested, you can see my resume here.

After this, I went back up to my room to write out the postcards I'd bought the night before in the 24-hour gift shop. As many of you know, I'm a postcard nut who loves sending them even when I know I'll be home long before the cards reach their destinations. *chuckle* My hand was a little shaky due to the Starbucks on a half-empty stomach AND the muscle fatigue from dragging my heavy carry-on luggage the day before, so I hope the 6 of you who received cards didn't think I was writing while drunk! (LOL)

And now a quick mention of my almost-meeting with my Las Vegas namesake Shari, who many years ago beat me to the punch of registering the very cool domain name of Shari.com. But aside from myself (heehee), I can't think of anybody cooler than this other Shari to blog at that domain name, and that is the truth. :) We have a lot of "Shari-ness" in common, including a love of pet rodents, photography, gardening, travel, food, words, wit, writing and random inane things.

I'd been an irregular "lurker" to her blog for a year or two but never posted a comment and never emailed to introduce myself. (I don't know why, pretty lame really). Ever since I got my own blog, however, I guess I felt more "worthy", so I began an email and blog-comment correspondence with Shari and discovered she's a very funny, friendly and interesting person.

We tentatively discussed meeting up in Sin City early Monday eve -- a "bloggable" topic if I ever heard one -- but unfortunately it didn't work out. (A heads-up she left in my blog Monday afternoon but I never returned to the Internet Cafe to see it). Shari also called once (didn't get thru) and sent me several text messages that day, but I never received them. Sorry about that! :( I have Verizon Wireless and my service was VERY crazy and unreliable at The Aladdin. Here is proof that she gave it the ol' college try (she actually blogged about it!). Next time I come to Vegas, we'll make plans more ahead of time, eh? Maybe it will even be when Mike's in from Australia! Then again, if that's the case, you probably will be catching up on lost time far away from Vegas! *grin*

There's always something good in something bad, and even though I was bummed that the two most eccentric Sharis west of the Mississippi didn't get to meet, I still had a lot of fun. I had a beautiful and delicious dinner at The Zanzibar Cafe (which made up for the somewhat disappointing breakfast). It was a plate of 3 fish tacos filled with shredded veggies and juicy mandarin oranges (which I love). The fruity sauce in the upper right was a perfect complement. The meal also came with Spanish rice and a serving of FOUR or FIVE different types of beans in sauce that was also delicious. I've never seen so many types of beans in one grouping before!! Oh, and the dish was garnished with scoops of tomato/cilantro/onion salsa, guacamole and sour cream, with a big red chile (or something) pepper, which I did not eat! Here's the photo (don't look if you're hungry!)

When I took this pic, I confessed to the couple next to me that I had a blog and liked including photos of food in it. They didn't seem to find that weird at all. (whew!) In fact, they even offered me a photo of the brownie sundae they had for dessert, because it was so pretty and tempting. I told them I'd definitely include it, but anyone who knows my eating habits would know I could never eat a huge dessert right after a huge meal. (LOL) I have to put a good deal of space between the two! Anyway, the woman took the following photo herself....

After dinner I'm not sure what all I did to pass the time, but one of the things I did was a little gambling! Normally I always migrate to nickel video poker, because at least with poker you can have SOME effect on the outcome of a given game/hand. With slots, you don't. However, I fell into a nickel slot machine call Bucks Ahoy that was bright, colorful, played appealing music and had a swashbuckling pirate theme that I liked. It turned out to be a propitious choice, because the $10 to $15 I invested on that machine kept me playing for OVER 2 HOURS! Not bad for someone who has trouble with her attention span! *grin*

I got so many "mini jackpots" and got to play so many bonus round interactive touch-screen games that I simply couldn't get up! :D The machine was very fun and generous. (And cool when the pirate talked -- he had a Scottish accent!) I even had a nice chat with a friendly senior lady named Elva who sat next to me (at another Bucks Ahoy) and proceeded to have the same good luck I was having! She could have been from anywhere, but it turned out she was from somewhere in the Monterey/Salinas area -- practically my neighbor! Of course, I told her about Cafe Rustica in Carmel Valley, the restaurant I blogged about on Oct. 15.

Here are two photos: one of me smiling furtively as some random lady took my picture (who obviously jerked the camera as she took it) and another of the video screen when I had just won 100 nickels, which I took myself. It's crooked and weird because I was afraid security would tell me not to take pictures, but no one ever came. Be sure to click on the screen shot, so you can see the various symbols up close (especially the beautiful treasure chest!)

And that's it for this entry! I'll conclude my trip with the next one! Thanks for reading. *blush* Comments are always welcome. :)))

Today I am feeling giddy.

Las Vegas: SUNDAY Oct. 16 (Part 1 of 3)

2005-10-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

This will be a real exercise in self-control. As many of you know, I love to write about fun stuff and tend to ramble when I'm excited about and/or interested in something. *blush* However, since there's so much I saw and did on this trip, if I allowed myself to ramble I would risk putting my readers to sleep, earning the dubious "longest entry award" from Blogspot, or both! (heehee)

Please remember that ALL photos can be clicked on to give you a larger/better version of the image. :)

In a nutshell, I was in Sin City on Sunday, Oct. 16 thru Tuesday, Oct. 18 for the annual National Convention of SPJ ( Society of Professional Journalists), of which I've been a member since the mid-1990s. For the amusing background info on my adventures in getting this trip planned, which I won't go into much detail about now, please visit my Oct. 1 entry.

My American Airlines flight out of San Jose International Airport was at 1:15 p.m., but due to thunderstorms in Las Vegas and accompanying air traffic delays, we had to wait more than an hour in San Jose. However, because the airport needed our gate for other planes, mine spent most of that extra hour "sitting on the tarmac", waiting its turn to leave. The only thing worse than waiting in a terminal is waiting in a cramped airplane seat! HOWEVER, being the optimist, I want to focus on 2 cool things that came of it.

First, I had a very nice seatmate, Shelley from Chicago. She was on her way to LV for a "girls week out" that she and her friends enjoy there every year -- sans husbands or boyfriends, sans children! She also happened to be a player of bingo (one of my fave group games) and mah jongg (my mom's fave group game). LOL! Plus she brought a huge stack of "indulgent" magazines like People, Enquirer, etc. and shared them with me. A very friendly person. I hope you had a great trip and won some money, Shelley! :)

The second cool thing was a MONEY RAFFLE! You folks who fly often probably are laughing at my amazement, but I've never heard of this on a plane! About halfway into the hour on the tarmac, the flight crew announced a contest to pass the time. Everyone who wished to participate was told to get out a dollar and write their seat number on it. An attendant collected the bills in a bag and had one of the kids on the flight draw a bill. The person who contributed it won the WHOLE BAG!! :) I unfortunately didn't win the pot, which turned out to be $88 (Not everyone participated). Eight is one of my lucky numbers, but oh well. Maybe next time.

The flight to LV was uneventful. As we landed at McCarran Airport, I was mesmerized by the long row of palm trees (Mexican fan palms, to be precise) speeding by, and the way the plane's wing appeared to be pointing to them. I took a picture figuring the trees would be one long blur, but instead they came out pretty good!

The last time I flew to LV was about 6 years ago with my mom, and I swear I don't recall the animal "sculptures" rising from the floor of the airport! Either we didn't come by this area, or they simply weren't made yet. Being an art fan, I think I'd have remembered them. There was desert horned lizard (aka "horny toad"), some type of snake, and some type of creature I missed. Here's the hisser....

As you know from my Oct. 1 entry , I had to pay a pretty penny to stay at one of the strip's largest and lavish-est resorts: The Aladdin. I could've stayed anywhere on the strip (I prefer the thematic elements of Treasure Island, Excalibur, Luxor and Bellagio), but since the SPJ convention was at The Aladdin, I knew it'd be 100 times more convenient to stay at the same venue. And it sure was! :)

One of the things that impressed me about my hotel room was the "mini suite" nature of the bathroom. (You can tell I don't normally stay in fancy places! LOL) Upon opening the double French doors, a deep, long bathtub faced me. To the right was a long granite vanity; to the left was a recessed shower stall, plus a separate room with another door for the actual toilet (with happened to have a leaky flapper valve!). In one of the pix below, you'll notice my face (and camera) framed in the small round mirror. That was not accidental, but rather the result of careful photo composition! :)

Speaking of observations about my room, the following triad of pix reveals my eccentric love of all things inane. In fact, I'm probably the only person who'd think of photographing (for the sake of future blogging) these things. Well, okay, my LV counterpart Shari (and savvy founder of Shari.com might also be guilty of the same. *grin* As might my best friend "L", a.k.a Milgwimper; she who blogs at Some Like It Hot. (I'll write about Shari's and my ALMOST meeting in the next entry).

I don't know what types of moths they have in LV from spring through mid-summer. However, if they're able to fly up (or down) the sheer face of a high-rise hotel and finagle their way into a long, narrow vent and into hotels, maybe I don't WANT to know!

In today's litigious society, it's good to warn people about every possible safety hazard, but was this sign really necessary? The only time carpets are slippery is when they're still damp from the shampooing -- my carpet was as dry and rough as a bone! Perhaps the "slip n' slide" effect may result if hotel guests engage in activities that get the carpet damp all over again! But we won't go there!

And finally we have this sign for all the people who might otherwise REALLY get the carpet wet! Nevermind the fact that there's a whole closet in which to hang clothing, and nevermind the fact that I had to climb up on a chair in order to reach this sprinkler -- and then just barely! I guess at least one hotel guest (probably there to attend a Stupid Fest) caused a sprinkler deluge! BTW, the sticker says: "Contact with sprinkler will cause flooding."

A few programs/workshops took place Sunday afternoon for the early-arrivers, but unfortunately I didn't get there soon enough to take the one that sounded interesting to me: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" The topic addressed when to stay or leave a media related job. It sounded like it was partly geared toward young professionals who'd outgrown their first job, but I'm sure it would have addressed folks like myself, who have experienced general burn-out after 8-10 years of being overworked and underpaid by various community newspaper groups. Then again, I already made the choice to go -- I now make my living solely by freelancing. Currently that's with one newspaper group, two Bay Area magazines and one website chain.

At any rate, the highlight of Sunday was the opening night reception form 7 to 10 p.m. at Aladdin's swanky Curve Lounge. I'm not even sure if you can visit the lounge without a reservation or a VIP status! However, I didn't need to worry this time; I was "with the group." Here's how our convention booklet described the gala:

The Aladdin's ultra lounge, Curve, will be closed to the public as journalists take over the place. Don't miss this great opportunity to network and take advantage of a delicious menu of Italian favorites along with scrumptious desserts and a hosted bar.

The buffet did include Italian food, but it also included Middle Eastern fare with a touch of Indian and Asian fare as well. Very nice selection and presentation! :) My fave food, was, of course, the Italian. I didn't take any photos because it was hard enough balancing my heaping plate in one hand and my icy cosmopolitan in the other! (I don't normally drink cosmos because I don't want to be seen as a "glam girl", but the bar didn't have the ingredients to make any of my fave "froo-froo" fruity cocktails like Sex on the Beach, etc.)

I did, however, score a delicious dessert platter shot! After a suitable break of walking, sitting and schmoozing, I went back for a treat -- right when a server set down a new, untouched platter! Unfortunately the succulent white and dark chocolate-covered strawberries were not on this platter, but you can see a tiny corner of them in the lower left. I didn't even realize that, because I was in a rush when I snuck this photo (not that anything's sneaky about a blinding camera flash) before anyone took anything. The yummies didn't last long -- I can personally attest to that! ;)

After the reception petered out, I found my way to a "practice" room where a handful of PATIENT croupiers were teaching people (mostly convention folks) how to play craps. I've never been able to figure this game out, but since this was a no-pressure situation with play money (chips), I took the plunge! The croupiers explained things too quickly for me to absorb it all (especially since I have trouble processing anything involving numbers), so I just kept asking over and over and staring like a deer in headlights. I also just kept playing. These guys will never see me again, so why should I care if they think I'm an idiot? %-D As it turns out, after about a half hour, I no longer felt completely lost -- only partially! And I definitely understood some concepts that previously were alien.

On the way back to my room (on the 27th floor), I noticed something that reminded me of a strange sort of still life on a table in the elevator waiting area. I don't know why, but I took its picture. I call it: "Still Life with Phone and Wine." ;D

I guess I was still wound up from the whole day and evening, because suddenly I hit upon the idea of photographing myself jumping on the bed wearing my clothes and boots! Or maybe it's because Tony, with whom I'd talked on the phone earlier that day, jokingly asked me if I'd been leaping across from bed to bed in glee. (I've never in my life stayed at any motel or hotel alone and was giddy from the indulgence of it all!)

This is where camera self-timers come in very handy! The first shot below is hilarious and so perfect -- I'm totally in the air. I think I almost hit the ceiling! (If not with my head, probably with my hair!) The second picture was snapped right as I landed (from another jump). If not for the fact that my hair hasn't fallen yet, it would simply look like I was standing on the bed with my arms and legs out. But in fact I had just landed from another jump! *giggle*

And that's it for the SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 portion of my trip. I'll do separate blog entries for the 17th and 18th later, which will include purposeful programs, fantastic food, slutty slot machines and airport aggroness! (If I write anything else now, this entry will become WAY too long!) Any and all comments are welcome and always make my day. :) *blush*

Today I am feeling happy.

Live from Las Vegas! ;D

2005-10-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, I really am in Las Vegas as I type this. :) But no, this will not be a long blog entry, and will have no photos either. :( All that good stuff will come when I get home and have time to tell all sorts of amusing, exciting, interesting or just plain weird things about my 3-day trip! (And download many cool photos.)

Alas, currently I have only 10-20 minutes to use the free 'Internet Cafe' here at The Aladdin Hotel/Casino, and then I need to be considerate and give up this computer to the next person waiting. You'd think with the size of this convention (Society of Professional Journalists National Convention), they'd have set up more than FOUR computers for us to use, but hey -- it still beats paying $9.95 to use the computer in my own hotel room, or $5 per 10 minutes or so in the hotel's 'Business Center'.

And so, I will sign off for now, but please stay tuned for more in a few days. :) In the meantime, please check out the entry immediately preceeding this one: "Flowers, Feathers, Fish & Food." It will hopefully fill your daily quota for enjoying the ramblings of Scary Shari. *grin*

P.S. No jackpots yet, but hopefully I'll make some winnings tonight! (How much can one win on nickel slots anyway?) ;)

Today I am feeling AGOG!