MRE Creations

#165 - It takes a village...

2011-05-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

So I bought my first car this weekend and this is how it went.

A friend of mine from college works IT at the dealership and hooked me up with one of the salesmen. My uncle's cousin knows a guy there and hooked me up there as well. Turned out to be the same guy. Then the Finance Manager apparently was the singer at my Aunt's wedding from a while back. On top of that I get an email from an old upper class men that works at the insurance company office that I filed my insurance with...

Small world...

#164 - All part of the family...

2011-05-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Every family has its troubles, skeletons, and jokes. A running joke for my family is the varying medical problems that we all share. We have a nice general range of High Blood Pressure, Hyper-Tension, High Cholesterol, Diabetes, Asthma, Heart Problems, Stroke, Fibroids, Cysts, Lupus, and various bodily aches and pains.

I've been lucky through my youth to only get away with minor sprains and the occasional and rare bout with Asthma. But jokingly I did feel left out from all the rest. What can I say, I wanted to fit in.

Well I got my wish it seems. As you know I recently had another cyst removed. In doing so my OBGYN discovered the root of the problem. Over the past week I've been reading about it, trying to understand what the heck it is and what I can do...

Endometriosis (I always mis-pronounce it) - Which is to say my uterus throws up backwards and it hurts like a bitch. At least thats one of the ways - there are other causes for Endometriosis; but mine is uterus regurgitation into the fallopian tubes.

Apparently not much is known about Endometriosis and there is a lot of conflicting information. It can be the result of a lot of things or a few things. Luck of the draw I guess.

So I got my wish, my own little medical quirk.

But like the saying goes things come in threes... so no doubt I'll get another cyst down the line. Hopefully this one takes more than 4 months to form.

And if someone is feeling like a remarkable asshole... these would make great gifts.

#163 - Adventures with my ovaries

2011-05-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

***WARNING if you DO NOT want to see live and real ovaries or are squeamish about medical pictures--- DON'T read***

Well I managed 5 hours of sleep since getting home yesterday from the hospital. I hurt like a person should hurt after a surgery and I might still be a bit dizzy from the anesthesia. But, it could be my pain meds that I took at 4am, label warns of dizziness.

So yesterday I admitted myself at Queens for a surgery to take out an ovarian cyst. If some of you recall I had the same thing happen in Dec 2010.

That one looked like this:

So it was the same old game this time around. Surgery was scheduled for 11AM but got pushed back to 7PM. I got to watch the Heat and Celtics game and catch up on a lot of NatGeo and Discovery channel.

Dare I say that this time around it was a bit bigger...

I was out by 11PM.

Instructions point out that I need rest for about 6 weeks, I got doc app next Monday, and I'll be back in school on Tues.

#162 - A decade....

2011-04-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

#161 - Where is the novelty...

2011-04-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I really do not see what is so great about buying a car?

Right now its turning to be one of the most single frustrating things I've had to deal with.

#160 - Dressed and ready to go...

2011-03-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

The bindings fit and this bad girl is ready to go! Next week I'll do a tune up and wax.

March 23 can't come soon enough!

#159 - All bright and shiny...

2011-03-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry no pictures this time, only for the fact that the differences at really subtle and are seen better in RL. But I put down several coats of acrylic enamel and that got the red to really pop out. Now every thing is sharp and bold. Even the light under coat of metallic is standing out really well.

Now I have to wait another 5 days for that to cure, before I tune it up with wax and test the bindings on it. I'll put pictures up then.

#158 - A rather productive weekend...

2011-02-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Part 2

So the short and long of it all before I spam you with images; I put the first base coat of color on (black) today. I used up 2 cans of black paint. I followed it up with one light coat of metallic silver sparkles... LOL and had to dull that out a bit. Too many sparkles. I let that sit and then did the stenciling for my initials; which is the main design. I used red paint for it and that pretty much sums up the main paint job. Now I just have to wait for the paint to cure before I put the enamel on. :) Should take about 7 days...

You'll have to wait two weeks for new pictures... I'm going to give the enamel another week to cure before I put my bindings on.

#157 - Because sometimes I never do it half way...

2011-02-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

I finally got a snowboard to call my own thanks to my wonderful cousin, aunt, and mom that gave me the hook up. I couldn't choose the design, but that didn't stop me...

With some research I got my gear together an started my custom paint job.

Part 1

First things first, gotta clean off the dirt and grime.

After drying it down and letting the board get some sun, I began to prep it for the first coat of primer. (Hint: plug those holes with q-tips)

With all the holes plugged up I started with the first coat of primer.

By the time I got to the second can I had laid down two nice coats...

I'm going to drop one more coat and seal the primer to finish up my day. I'll post up part 2 when start I laying down the first colors.

#156 - Small joys...

2011-02-01T08:20:00.001-08:00

Taking my students to volunteer the day at a pre-school, today. Previously I have dressed up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are. But this year I wanted to do something different.

So I'm reading The Very Hungery Caterpillar, but no caterpillar suit. :)

I love it when I get to read to little kids. All I hope is to make it just as exciting as I remember. Not to mention it gives me an excuse to re-read my childhood favorites. :)

#155 - I hope...

2011-01-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to decided where to lay my thoughts down. I have one too many avenues; do I journal old school, do I sketch, do I blog, do I Facebook, do I put this up on Evernote... thank god I don't have Twitter or Tumbler. Communication these days... But as you can see blogger won out; which works because I back this account up anyway and its easier to search my files rather than look for my sketch book at the moment.

So 2010 is done with and looking back, especially through my blogger, its all been about Japan and the return to real life after. So I struggled to think what else was there besides work and my trip to Japan that defined my life for 365 days.

So working backwards...

In December, I:

-had an ovarian cyst rupture, to which I discovered that its hurts a LOT!

-topped the year out at 50 geocaches found

In November, I:

-broke my old phone and became a droid

-got a dog (which btw, Tatsu just made 1 yr old)

In August, I:

-started geocaching, though unsuccessfully at first.

In, June and July, I:

-was on top of the world. Period.

In April, I:

-went to the Big Island and discovered why you need a 4x4 to get to Moana Loa. ;)

Naturally there are a crap load of family moments that slide in to balance things out.

But shit, I know there are things missing. If someone remembers, remind me!

So whats in store for this year? I don't like making resolutions or promises. I like to hope that another year will go by with out me regretting anything. 2010 definitely took me to both ends of the emotional scale, we'll see what 2011 brings.

(Besides the 10 year HS class reunion... Holy SHIT!)

Oh and right now I just heard some lyrics that makes me hope that there is someone out there for me to be romantic for... cause all my great ideas are being wasted on paper. :)

#154 - Lost

2010-12-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes finding oneself as lost both figuratively and literally gives way to finding out where you really need to go.

I really hate that "first step"....

But lets hope I made the right choice...

#153 Gotta love those misadventures...

2010-11-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went out geocaching again, thanks to my friend Jan who dragged me out a few months to start this rather quirky hobby. Amidst our searching and getting chased out of bushes and such I got the idea of keeping a log of what goes on. Jan mostly does the photo taking, so I figured since I'm always so busy with my eyes on my andriod planning our next hit; I might as well keep notes of what goes on. You can check out the first entry by going to my Blogger page, there is a link under my geocache pofile banner.

Mom says that now I need a hobby that involves more violence to get rid of the left over energy.

#152 - And there I stood...

2010-11-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

Frost had a good idea going, two roads a such. But while I may have seen the world in such a way, now I find that there are much more that just two roads and the choices so much more difficult. Sure while the less traveled may be adventurous and the clear path filled with security; life just has way too many options.

So as I sit and stew over life; I wonder which will make me happiest.

#151 The End of It All and then Moving On...

2010-09-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well its been a month and then some since I got back from Japan. The Monday right after I got back into the US I was right back into my classroom setting things up for my students. From there its was all work... with some play.

But lets recap.

After I left Osaka (with some tears because I had a more that wonderful time there.) I headed back to Tokyo, around the Arashibashi area. Close to Akihabara. Well I got lost getting off my train, so lost I was to the point in tears. But I was saved again by Japanese old people that showed me the way. For a 10 person dorm, Ann's Hostel was pretty good! I was worried I was going to be lost all night. Anyway there were some great people that I met in my dorm. I had thought that being with 10 other girls would be a problem but this was such a better experience than my last nights in Cork, Ireland.

There was a lot to do while I was here, lots of book shopping and realizing I don't like the electronic part of Akihabara that much. But then I again I'm not a big fan of Tokyo either; well its busy places at least. So most of my alone time was spent shopping, and HOLY SHIT! I forgot I went to visit the graves of the 47 Ronin! I totally got lost again (and had to use the bathroom to boot!)trying to find it, still it was so worth it. In the rest of my time I got to meet a wonderful woman and her family, Mayumi-san. Her and her husband were wonderful hosts taking me around Tokyo and showing me their bathhouse. Not to mention taking me all the way out to Kawasaki for some of the best sushi I have ever eaten in my life! I got to eat this huge sea snail... that was pretty epic.

There really wasn't much other than that in my last few nights. Before I headed to the airport I stayed at the same Holiday Inn just to gather myself and to get omiyage at the near by mall. Then I had a Terminal moment because I had to check out of my room at 11AM and then spend the rest of the day till 9:30pm hanging around the airport. That was fun... :P No really, it was quite comfortable. I even got teary eyed. OMG especially at this one moment where a family was saying goodbye to each other and there were these two kids, cousins I think. Well the tear jerker was that the two cousins (a boy and a girl) didn't want the other to leave. It was so fricken adorable watching them cling to each other then when the family had them hug goodbye they both started crying and wouldn't let the other go. I even started tearing to the point where I was getting weird looks.

But I'm back in the states... and I miss Japan. I honestly do.

#150 - You all are going to hate me...

2010-07-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

but I just weighed myself it and it came out to 52.7kg.

Wow, so much has happened in the last three days that I can`t really figure out what to say for this entry. On the 21st was the one of the two local flea markets of Kyoto. I headed out reasonably early to the Toji temple and it was no surprise that it was already hot. It was definately a shopping day and I think I put my money to work and headed back with some reasonable purchases. I did have to head into Nishiki Market area to get another back, but looking at the backpack right now I don`t think its big enough either! (It will be on of two carry-ons with the other holding more omiyage). On the 22nd went back to Osaka to meet up with my friend Sawako, I met her at J-hoppers Hostel where she works and she is super kind! We had takoyaki which with her friend Suki we had to cook ourselves and okonomiyaki which was already cooked. We spent a lot of time talking about Hawaii since Suki loves Hawaii and comparisions of Japan to the West. Heading back Sawako and I made plans for me to come back on the 23rd so that I can attend some of the festivities that are part of their Tenjin Masturi Festival in Osaka.

I canceled the next two days of my reservation on Tokyo and Sawako offered up her home for me to crash. I got to meet her two sisters, her nephew, and her mom. They took me out for sushi yesterday and OH MY GOD! It was the freshest sushi I have had yet! Sawako`s mom kept making sure I had something on my plate so I think I had pretty much a sample of every fish they had on the menu, including salmon roe and I even had sea urchin (which was apparently high quality being that it was from Hokkido). OH! I even had eel liver too! But I originally thought it was octopus. LOL Then I was in for a big surprise, the sushi chef has his specialty which I won`t say only because I hope it stays just in that resturant. But holy crap I didn`t expect it to taste so good, given the combination of ingretients seemed rather odd. It was SOOOOOOO good!

I also want to point out how hard core Sawako`s mom is... of the four of us that were out only her mother and I were drinking. We started with beer and while I stuck with beer for the rest of the night Sawako`s mom (who is in her 60s) moved on to a couple glasses of Shouchu, which she explained that while she loves sake she usually drinks shouchu because it has less calories. Oh and she makes her own plum wine at home.... XD.

We walked Sawako`s mom back to the house and Sawako, her younger sister Tomoko, and I headed out for karaoke. Japanese karaoke beats American karaoke hands down. It was really great fun and I managed to stumble my way through a couple Japanese songs. Tomoko explained karaoke was her way of releasing stress to which I agreed and told her about Rock Band. ;)

Again Japanese hospitality strikes again and I am greatfully with a group of wonderful people! I am so thankful for all the awesome and kind people I have befriended on this trip! I hope that I can only return the same hostpitality in the future.

#149 - A rare moment when I have a wish...

2010-07-20T03:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a believer that you have to be careful what you wish for, but today I honestly with my whole heart wished that I could speak and understand Japanese far better than I can right now...

Today was my day in Nagoya to watch the Sumo tournament and my wanting to understand and speaking Japanese has nothing to do with watching Sumo. The officals provided a really great booklet in English that explained all the important things.

I found myself sitting between 'oji-san' and 'oba-san' while I watched the bouts go on. I got to the small arena half way through the lower ranking fights and met 'oji-san'. Regardless of our language barrier he took it upon himself to explain as best as he could to me what was going on and how to check off who won on my Japanese fight list. (I'd like to point out that the english list that is provided is only half of the "juryo" matches and all of the "makuuchi" matches.So all the fights that I watched prior to my english list where just kanji I could not understand.) Bouts started at 8:15AM and didn't end till 6PM. 'Oba-san' arrived toward the end of the low ranking fights and took it upon herself to make sure that I kept eating through out the whole day. Be it half her rice bento, which was rice and azuki beans mixed and cooked together and a small box of DELICIOUS mochi. I didn't even get a chance to finish 1/3 of the 1500 yen bento I bought when I got there. (For the record the small part that I managed to taste is some of the best food that I've eaten while staying here... the Japanese don't fuck around with their food.)I literally have to eat the rest of the bento for dinner tonight, but right now I'm STILL feeling a bit full. ><;;;;

Oji-san and oba-san was GREAT company while watching the tournament, a definate golden moment of my time here. I felt like I was back with Satomi-kasan and was being taken care of all over again. In fact oji-san's friend, Sensei, came close to the end of the juryo matches and after the tournament made sure that oba-san and I got in a taxi safely to make our way to Nagoya station. Of course oba-san would hear nothing of me paying the taxi fare... (They all insisted that I share a taxi with oba-san and not take the subway.)

I'm so sappy about this... this is a great memory and I'm glad I went to the tournament. But I did wish I could speak and understand Japanese better.

The old people of Japan really make me want to sit and listen regardless if I understand or not, and I'm sure then have wonderful stories to share.

I pratically spent the day watching sumo with grandpa and grandma, they took such good care of me.

But still even though my understanding was so little, I understood the kindness that oji-san and oba-san shared with me, Sensei too! Tomorrow I'll be heading to a temple for the local flea market there, but I'm going to remember to go say a prayer for them.

#148 - This the part where...

2010-07-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of things happen...

Gion Matsuri came and went. I have to say that I enjoyed the night before the parade only because it was a lot more festive. But the procession of floats was awe-inspiring! They were so beautiful and how the people moved them about to make the turns was TOTALLY old school.

Nara was beautiful as well as the Daibutsu there, the deer weren't a problem for me but it was rather funny watching them chase around a little girl that was too scared to give them the cookies. (She wasn't that little... probably my students age.) Still I chuckled.

Went to Nagoya today, Sumo tournament is going on dispite all the earlier scandels and ironically all the of the cheap seats are sold out till the 25. So I got some sorta expensive ones for the 20 (becuase that was the only next available day). Personally I don't favor the current favorite wrestler (I think he has a bit of an attitude) but to spend a day watching the sport that Akibono them made famous in Hawaii... I'm down for it.

Between all this, I'm still finding time to check out the odd shrine or temple that I missed in my previous week in Kyoto. You would think that once you've seen one, you've seen them all. But there are a few that have a character all of their own and have found places in my heart.

I am totally looking forward to the flea market on the 21st and hopefully tomorrow after doing some exploring on the bus again I can watch comorant fishing at Arashiyama.

Hmmmm... I still have that hike to the onsen... poop... gotta fit that in somewhere.

#147 - Kewpi mayo...

2010-07-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

how I love you... Not only have you made me enjoy lettuce just on its own, but I find myself chomping away on Japanese cucumber as a snack now. The whole idea of gaining weight on this trip is a total no go... I'm eathing way too healthy and its all voluntary.

Anyway I'm back in Kyoto *huge sigh of relief*. The Gion festivites start tomorrow at least in my opinion they do. The parade isn't till the 17th but there are a bunch of traditional events going on tomorrow that I'm going to be checking out. Since I've done much of all the touristy things here in Kyoto my first time here, I find myself wandering a bit more with very little direction. Plus I have to wait till pay day before I can do my more adventurous trips. I got a day trip to Nara, I'm debating on another day trip to Hiroshima, then theres the hike to a real onsen in north Kyoto...

OH! And I scored tickets to the Ghibli Museum... for when I'm back in Tokyo Area.

But tonight I'm going back to Arashiyama and watch people fish with Comorants... Here that uncle tony, they don't use fishing poles... they use frickin BIRDs to catch fish. I'll make sure to take pictures. :)

Edit: Later that night.... So the fishing was canceled due to the heavy rain in the area. Had some mean thunder/lighting storms while I was waiting for the bus to arrive. The thunder was striking at 3 miles at the closets. "Sugoi!" I heard someone say. Yeah it was pretty damn awesome. But regardless that the fishing got canceled I got some great shots of the river which had mist rolling over it in the twilight. :)

#146 - Went to the beach...

2010-07-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

and I can see why the Japanese love coming to Hawaii. OH! and I found one Ku Aina along with a bunch of other Hawaii-ish type stores. But I hiked around Kamakura and headed down to their local beach in the area. It was mostly brown/dark brown sand, bull kelp on the beach, crows, and hawks. Holy shit the hawks! They would totally swoop down on you if you have your food visible to their eyes, but the crows would totally mobbed a single hawk and just chill there, kinda sorta protecting you from them. But as soon as you leave your gear around expect to be raided. I totally watched as a couple of little kids almost have close ones with the hawks.

I`m kinda over Tokyo, only for the fact I don`t want to spend any more money. I might find another place to do a day trip out of here. Ghilbli tickets are hard to get, not because there are so few its just because the machines are all in JAPANESE! ><;;;;

Anyway totally going for a nap then soaking again in the AWESOME traditional outside bath the ryokan has.

#145 - Japanese Hospitality...

2010-07-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Is so great! I had a great experience doing a Japanese home stay. I met a really great woman who does home stay`s for western foreigners and she was so unbelievably nice. She took me around Fukuyama and even set up a tea ceremony for me, complete with dressing me up in a furisobe; which is a super formal kimono. Yes I took pictures, no I didn`t wear make-up.

It was such a great experience that I was practically in tears as I left. I loved staying with her, and hope to come back again to be able to stay with her again.

But I had to leave the Kansai region in favor of Tokyo, in order to explore Kamakura. My first full day I spent hanging out with my cousin Andre and his `house-wife` Tracy. Total inside joke there. But we totally kicked it in Shibuya and traveled around the near by stations. Tomorrow they invited me along to check out a bath house. I`m staying at a place called Ryokan Kangetsu, which is the most pricey of the places I`m staying at. But its so worth it! It has an outside traditional bath and I get my own room for once. Its a nice treat for me after staying in hostels for the last three weeks. Though I miss the people I`ve met.

#144 - Aina Hina

2010-07-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

I managed to find the only Hawaiian bar in Hiroshima and managed to make friends there. So if anyone is around Hiroshima you need to check this place out. I'm headed there again hopefully tomorrow night. Its a great place to chill after a long day...

Which by the way I was at Miyajima... I cheated and took the ropeway up and hiked down. My knees hate me. BUT!!!! I had a set of BOMB ass oysters! There was a small stand selling 3 oysters for 500 yen, while everyone else was selling 2 oysters for 400 yen. I went back a second time and the old man there gave me a free oyster... so I got 7 oysters for 1000 yen. They were so damn good!!! The deer were alright on the island and I didn't see any monkeys.

But before all of that I got really depressed walking around the A-Bomb museum. Its safe to say that I cried through most of it. The group of guys that I hung out with have split up and Lucy the french girl that I"ve been rooming with will be leaving as well. I'm here in Hiroshima for a couple more nights, and tomorrow I'm going to see if I can meet up with this sweet old lady that invited me out for lunch. She usually does homestays for foriegners and works as a nurse. I met here in the hostel when she stayed over for a convention.

Right now it seems that the hostel is full of middle age people or older and not young people.

Now its going by really fast as I look at the calendar... I only have three weeks left.

#143 - And they attacked the gas station...

2010-06-30T16:23:00.001-07:00

Actually no one attacked anything... but only the my guy friends would really get that reference. What really happened could be considered exciting depending on how you look at it. The lot of us from the IchiEnSou went out with Yashi, the owner, for a brief stroll and to picnic by the river. We also went to an arcade where I found that I still have skills at Time Crisis and the basketball shooting game. I also had the pleasure of playing DDR with a rather tall British bloke named Ben. We were both terrible on the *difficult* setting. Anyway when we got back to the guest house and lounged about the electricity went out. It was out for a bit but remarkably only for our block. The electricity went off and on for a couple hours, we were in bed by 11 so if there were continued difficulties we didn`t notice. But I think that the reason for the rolling blackouts could have been due to the heat which if it weren`t for the A\C would be slightly unbearable.

#142 - Cafe Independance...

2010-06-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Kyoto so far has been an interesting mix of old and new. The heartland of majority of Japan`s temples and Geisha. I find it rather refreshing when I see women and men walking around in traditional kimonos but...

I think Ive over dosed on temples and shrines. They are literally quite everywhere and while beautiful, Im having a case of "too much of a good thing". So Ive taken to doing things that are around the temples but are slightly less known. Like finding a small waterfall grotto behind the Nizenji Temple... which was rather creepy since I was the only one walking the trail and there were tiny shrines and a cemetery along the way. It honestly felt like I was being watched by the surrounding forest.

The food had been really good to me, especially the dairy which surprisingly I can ingest with no lactose problems. Oh and I ate chicken hearts (hows that uncle willie!) yakitori style.

As for Cafe Independance...
In the movie with Bill Murry, Lost in Translation, I honestly don't think he would have that much of a problem with Japan if he stayed in a guesthouse or a hostel. Practically all the girls in the all-girl dorm/room (all 4 of us) went out to scope the club scene. Being the "worldly" lot we stayed away from the up scaled establishments and anything that charged outrageous cover and drink prices. Which lead us to Cafe Independence which worked as a artsy cafe in the day and a rather pseudo-bohemian club at night. I only say that because of the people there while trendy and rather down to earth looking, most of their clothes probably cost the amount of my 7 night stay here in Kyoto. But the atmosphere was great, we got in for about 1000 yen which also included a drink. The DJ music on the other hand sounded like... well crap. Sorry to say there was not continuity in beat or style. The irony was that they were mostly English songs of which i know from speaking with one of the managers in my last hostel that most Japanese don't understand the lyrics too.

Today Im going to walk the rest of Eastern Kyoto which hopefully will take up most of my day.

#141 - Japanese Sanitary Pads 101

2010-06-25T01:01:00.000-07:00

Right... so you have to know what length you want them; where as in the US you base the type of pads on the amount of flow. But if you can imagine my confusion where I had to think about length and its in centimeters. I`ll admit I don`t know my size in centimeters. I felt like a right idiot in the 7~11 trying to figure all of this out. So all in all I hope I got the right one, I`m hoping I`m playing it safe by going long.

But I made it to Kyoto, and the guest house IchiEnSou is just beyond words. Its got that old small home feel, with jazz music playing in the lounge. Got lost walking around while i waited for check in time. Kyoto feels more like a small town rather than a city. This is due to the fact that most of the buildings are built to a certain height. Again very few crowds, or at least it seems so. Yasu, the owner of IchiEnSou, explained to me that it`ll probably get crowded on the weekend.

I`m going to head to the tourist info office tomorrow and plan out this weeks set of activities. I already have a couple WH site walks to go on, but I don't want to OD on temples.

#140 - Rain... and clothes

2010-06-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently I was not fully prepared for rain, humidity, and constantly sweating most of the day. So I`m going out today to grab a couple more shirts, another pair of shorts, and an umbrella. Bitting into my budget a bit but I have to adapt to this hyper summer weather.

Another thing, I actually miss my students. School here appears to be on a longer year round schedule with several breaks instead of the long breaks in America. The hostel is right next to a primary school, so its pretty neat to watch the kids head to class in their smart looking uniforms.

I really need to remind myself that I am on vacation, but its difficult when I read great articles on how the Japanese are re-incorporating the abacus into their curriculum. It makes me really miss teaching. Gah! Stop it Mel and just go shopping already!

Also it seems that everyone has check out on my floor and I`m the only one in my room for the time being. Check in is at 3 so maybe I`ll get some new roommates.

#139-"I think I`m turning Japanese..."

2010-06-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

I`m still getting mistaken for a Japanese person. Which is why I get a mixed reaction of amusement and surprise. But man, all this pressure. I feel bad because most times I think they expect me to know things, and honestly I would like too. The people here are so nice and I feel like I had let them down.(The only exception is when you have to board public transportation.)

Oh well. I:m still having lots of fun anyway.

I made another travel change. I decided to nix my trip to Mt. Fuji, due to weather. Its been over cast here in Osaka and its been rainy around parts of the Kansai area. All this rain has been moving toward the Tokyo area and in wet weather I rather be safe then caught in a situation that could be dangerous. Not to mention a 14 year old girl died recently due to hiking another volcano here in Japan, but mainly due to inhaling the toxic air.

I also rolled my right ankle today and I have a blister on my left foot. My ankle hasn`t swelled yet so I don`t think I sprained it. But both my ankles have been bothering me, which I think is due to all the walking.

So instead of heading to Mt. Fuji I`ll be on my way to Hiroshima. In actuality, I feel like I `have` to go to Hiroshima.

#138 -This is where Mel gets hit by a train...

2010-06-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

No just joking... idiot me realized why there was a beeping noise in time. I`d been traveling the whole day and I was so hell bent on getting to my hostel. But I managed to get back behind the bar in time... it was a Shinkansen too! And man was that ever a long way to go. I have to say that the Shinkansen beats Amtrak hands down. Its so damn fast and comfy; unlike the local trains. Standing in those with a large backpack was no fun. But its also safe to say that I got lost several times at a few different stations. Tired of guessing where the heck to buy a ticket and to where I bought an Icoco card to get around the local systems, especially since I`ll be going to Kyoto tomorrow to meet up with my old boss and his wife.

I took the Nazomi from Tokyo to get to Osaka-Shin; which to my delight was a coastal route. Its also raining and the mist and moisture is clinging to the mountain sides. Just watching that type of scenery reminds　me of a Miyazaki movie.

I`m hoping to sleep better tonight, because right now I am bone tired to traveling. I pretty stoked to get a map and walk around, regardless of the rain.

I just opened up a can of liquid jello... odd bout tasty. And thats the best description you get...

Which brings me to another point; softphone doesn`t like it when I use their data. So I`m having a hard time sending pictures to my drop box. But still I can call out and if you`re calling me and I fail to pick up; that Japanese lady is a GOOD thing. Just press 1 and you`ll get my voicemail.

#137 - Out of the comfort zone...

2010-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

I can definately say that I am a lot more nervous about this trip to Japan than I was for Ireland.

But what can I do, bailing out is not an option.

So I'm off to the airport. Hopefully I'll be blogging once a week. My drop box album will be updated as fast as I can take pictures with my camera.

Safe traveling!

#136 - "... I trust you, but you might bring home Japanese..."

2010-06-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Oh grandma, I'm so glad you are concerned about me.

Well I'm back in Hawaii for a pseudo-lay over, its for two nights. Pretty much to get rested and re-pack for Japan.

But man, California was awesome!

Okay the long ass drive to the Sequoia National Park was frustrating. Why frustrating? Let me put it this way, if you are going to ask me for directions, whats the point in asking me if you are not going to follow them! But the park was way cool! AND there was snow! We were pressed for time and we were still irritated with each other (specifically me and my mom) so we didn't stay long. The whole trip was 9 hours (8 on the road and 1 at the park).

But it was still fun. I was also addicted to Pokemon Emerald on my cousin's DS. Ridiculous! I still can't figure out how I got addicted to playing that game. (I ended up playing it for the majority of the time I was there.)

Super proud of my cousin Jamie who is now a high school grad. Man her grad party was a trip. I was totally stoked to see and hang out with my cousins Krystal, Andre(and his wife Tracy!), and Eric. It was pretty sweet to see my other aunts and uncles too!

Came back with lots of second hand electronics to tinker with. (My mom scored 5 first generation Ipods) Totally went dumpster diving in my Uncle James' garage.

Ate catfish for the first time, thanks Uncle Willie! Oh! And I got to follow my uncle to work, he works in the sheriff coroner's office. The first thing I saw was a body in a bag as I entered through the door, it was rather surreal.

But yeah back to the catfish, because all the food I ate while visiting was so good.

I've also found most of the ins and outs of my new bag... which reminds me; I'm gonna take another nap, then start unpacking from my Cali trip to pack for my Japan trip (less than 42 more hours to go)

Oh and if you are reading this from the Blogger website and not Facebook, you'll notice the Drop Box Album below my posts. I've set up my phone to be able to email the pictures I take on it to a Picasa album. So you'll at least get visual updates if not wordy ones. :)

#135 - Unlimited Exploration... Limited Internet

2010-06-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well I am gone on the first leg of my trip for the summer. Computer is going to be shut off and laptop is going to be left at home.

I'll be in California for the next 7 days so accessing the internet won't be too much of a problem. But after that in Japan its going to be very limited.

My cell is following me as always and I'll be "roaming". Shoot me a text if you like or give me a call. A familiar voice would be nice to hear while I travel Japan alone.

I'm going to try and update my blog once a week while traveling, but I don't know how that will play out.

Have a fun and safe summer!

#134 - Bubbling Excitement

2010-05-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well we're at the 5 day mark for the students as they count down to their summer vacation. People keep asking me am I excited for my summer, but in all honestly that is the furthest thing from my mind. Most of the time. Right now for all us teachers its just total paperwork, grades, end of year clean up, and making sure our students don't go completely ape shit with summer excitement.

But then when I am at home or in the early morning, such as now, I can't help but feel the slow build up of excitement and anxiety as my travel dates get closer and closer.

June 7th marks the first trip which is to San Jose, CA. Mainly for a graduation, I totally begged my mom that she could not see the Sequoia trees without me. Hence a mini road trip to go hug a tree.

Coming back on the 14th, I'm given one day of rest before I fly out again on June 16th.

I got my itinerary down solid now and I can't believe I'm going to be doing half the shit I got planned.

As in the previous post:

Arrival - June 17 Narita
Mainly hanging around the Holiday Inn and prowling vending machines for toothpaste.

June 18-24 Osaka
The whale shark is the main highlight mostly, before I go cruising around and getting lost on the buses, subways, and trains.

June 25-July 1 Kyoto
This is my first week in Kyoto, but I'm actually using Kyoto as a base for day trips out to Hiroshima, Kobe, and Nara.

July 2-July 6 Kawaguchiko, Mt. Fuji
1AM hike to watch the sunrise from the summit.

July 7 - July 13 South Tokyo
I'm mainly planning on exploring the areas south of Tokyo and east of Mt. Fuji. There are some hikes that I am totally stoked about in this area.

July 14-22 Kyoto (yeah I know originally I was suppose to go north)
GION MATSURI! As you can see, yes I'm back in Kyoto. This time its all about the temples, gates, bamboo groves, festivals, AND the flea market! SCORE!

July 23-28 Tokyo
I might as well see the main city of Japan and the Ghibil Museum.

July 29-30 en route back to Hawaii via Narita
I'm probably going to sleep all day in my hotel room.

My Japanese is total crap but I hope to get by with what little I know. As long as I can feed myself I should be alright. I hope I don't have an asthma attack on Mt. Fuji, have to get a refill on my inhaler.

Got me a bigger traveling backpack, (my old Eagle Creek was too small for this length of a trip). So now I'm pretty set with what gear I need. Need to double check on rail and bus passes for certain areas, but I am good and ready to get lost.

#133 Japan or bust... and whale sharks too!

2010-03-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

Man... this year has not let up; but I got a bright side. I finally got most of my itinerary down for my trip to Japan.

Arrival - June 17 Narita

June 18-24 Osaka

June 25-July 1 Kyoto

July 2-July 15 Its still up in the air, since I want to go to Okinawa. I just need to wait to see what the ferry schedule is like in July

July 16-22 Sapporo

July 23-28 Tokyo

July 29-30 en route back to Hawaii

Pretty damn excited now. Just gotta keep up with the Rosetta Stone.

#132 - Crazy people... everywhere!

2009-12-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

Working through my second year as a teacher I'm beginning to realize that it takes a certain type of person to be a teacher. Whether you deem that 'type' to be special or not is up to you. I honestly think that to be a teacher you have to be slightly off your rocker.

Christmas break is coming up and my co-workers and I can't hardly wait. I think we're more excited than our students.

Speaking of which I think I'm regressing into my 8 year old self. Not 10 year old mind you, I was much more adventurous when I was 8. How do I know this? Well lately I've been going out of my way to catch any creepy crawly I can get a jar around so I can bring it in for my students to see. My last exploit was a centipede. (Which by the way actually did death convulsions as it died in its jar. Both creepy and cool.) I think I'm trying to be 'that kid' to be an example to my kids to get out more and explore more, because honestly I think kids need to do that.

Sucks though I'm planted in front of my xbox sick this past weekend.

Funny enough I had another one of those great moments with a couple of my students. Before our boys basketball game a couple weeks back I had two of my students eagerly volunteer to help me do the scoring for the game. As we waited the girls talked about the video-games that they were playing on lord knows what console or hand-held that they owned. Being the dutiful teacher I put my two cents in on my opinions of which games were better and whether or not Beatles Rock Band was worth it over Guitar Hero. This got the reaction of:

"Wow Ms. E, your just like us!"

To which I merely smiled and replied, "Not quite, you're just like me."

My students eyes widened as it dawned on them. "Cool!"

We shared a good laugh and our boys basketball team lost by 3 points.

#131 - Slices of Life

2009-11-02T11:09:00.001-08:00

Work has been kinda heavy on my lately. Its amazing how one person can just put a wrench in all the goodness. But I'm trying to get over it and distract myself heavily. (I honestly hate it when all I find myself talking about is school and work related shit.)

But today... after I gave my students the prep for their Religion test. One of them startled me, in her quiet victory (she was being really silent about it), as she finally figured out a tricky question in the reading that was really giving her a hard time.

It was a score moment that just leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy.

Oh! And I had a bomb as time walking around as Max from Where the Wild Things Are, this past Halloween. It was only made sweeter when I was carrying my 2 year old cousin back on my shoulders and she totally fell asleep on me.

Again warm fuzzies.

#130 - Nov 3rd can't come soon enough

2009-10-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Okay I've been pretty quiet about Dragon Age:Origins lately. The only reason that I can think of as to why that is the case is because its just too damn awesome, and I'm trying to contain my inner gamer girl.

Yet several things happened today that broke my vow of silence:

1.Watched the new video:

And if you are reading this off Facebook sorry if the vid doesn't embed.

Seriously how fucking hot is THAT!?

2. Bioware released a literal part of the game; the character creator.
WHICH! Unfortunately for my old ass tower, I am unable to run due to my old video card. (Lucky me my pre-ordered special edition copy is for my XBOX 360) But I am still bummed that I could not try it out.

3. Last but not the least... TIM-fucking-CURRY is one of the VOs!!!!! If I ever was a closet fan of any actor... it is totally him. From Darkness to Rocky Horror to Shadow to Clue to god knows what else.

Other than being a total bitch for Bioware games... the fact that Tim Curry is the VO for one of the characters (a rather dastardly evil fellow) totally wins me over again!

Actually the awesome cast list just grows (all of this is really old news and my total fangirl reactions is the complete reason why I wanted to stay away from finding out any new information):

Claudia Black - Good god! I totally wanted to be her when Farscape was still around.
Kate Mulgrew - We just crossed over into my neglected Trekkie past

I really can't wait.

No seriously I already have picked out what race and background I want to be.

Its just that sad.

:)

#129 - A curious observation

2009-09-22T15:03:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been noticing that my students have been rushing through their tests. They skip over the instructions and most times do not heed my warnings.

It drives me nuts!

I remember a time when test would take a full half hour to an hour to complete. You had to really work for it! Yet now my students finish their tests with in 10-15 minutes.

Have I dumbed down the tests so that they can complete it with enough time, and is that conducive?

Or should I make longer tests that use up a larger amount of time?

I'm also noticing that students can't sit still for long periods of time anymore. While I have had students with ADHD or ADD at least they learned how to keep themselves busy.

Best yet I find myself having to tell kids how to keep themselves busy rather than the kids learning on their own. [And this is time spent productively]

#128 - Epiphanies while grading papers

2009-08-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

Right now I should be in bed, but I'm not. I'm grading papers. I'm doing work that's off the clock and I'm not being paid over time. Thought unlike my co-worker who was in on Saturday to grade her classes Science notebooks, I prefer to be set up at home. (Actually the truth is that my home computer has my gradebook on it and I don't like the ones they have for Linux right now)

BUT that's beside the point (point being I'm a (private school teacher and we get paid; well not that much)...

Yet dispite all of this: There is idea from this video...

Where the top 10 in demand jobs for 2010 didn't exist in 2004 and students are being prepped for jobs that don't exist, technology that hasn't been invented, and for problems that haven't even occurred.

Whose job is that?

Well primarily its the parents duty to lay down the basics, but in school its the teacher's job to carry on. That just makes my job as a teacher seem fucking profound and suddenly more important than I usually feel that my job is.

Another caveat here is another video I love about learning and development:

Oddly enough... my parents were weird enough to basically let me do all of those things on this video list. (Explains a lot and I plan on doing the same thing should I ever spawn offspring. I'm actually quite excited to pass on my pocket knife to my kid.) Inspired by this video awhile ago, I'm trying to find a place in my curriculum where I can get my students to take apart an appliance, because personally the ability to do that has made a lasting impression in my life.

As a teacher I might just be crazy.

#127 - The awesome things my students ask me #1

2009-08-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

I doubt that this will be the only time I feel like I have to share things like these, so a post like this will be numbered.

But can I just say that there is never a same day and I love how these kids keep me on my toes.

For example:

Excerpt from a "10 Year Goal" activity - "I want to grow a mustache"

A random question at lunch - "When am I going to grow arm pit hair?"

Excerpt from 20 questions with the Teacher (and my personal favorite) - "If you get married are you going to wear a tux or a dress?"

To which I responded... "Which ever makes me look prettier."

#126 - My Life according to Bjork

2009-08-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

I just had a really long day, a day of crap happenings, slight freak outs, and honestly a really great ending. So I'm kinda wired, I'm trying to encourage myself to eat my QLB. from 4 fricken hours ago but either I'm too tired, too wired, or just odd hungry.

Anyway this came around to me again and I was "what the hell its fun".

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)."

Pick Your Artist:
Bjork

Are you a male or female:
"Venus as a Boy"

Describe yourself:
"Army of Me"

How do you feel:
"Oops"

Describe where you currently live?
"Hidden Place"

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
"Desired Constellation"

Your favorite form of transportation:
"Walkabout"

Your best friends are:
"Violently Happy"

Your favorite color is:
"All Neon Like"

What's the weather like:
"Storm"

Favorite time of day:
"The Night"

If your life was a tv show, what would it be called:
"Its Oh So Quiet"

What is life to you:
"Human Behavior"

Your last relationship:
"Immature"

Your fear:
"Domestica"

What is the best advice you have to give:
"All is Full of Love"

If you could change your name, you would change it to:
"Joga"

Thought For The Day?
"Pagan Poetry"

How I would like to die:
"Generous Palmstroke"

My soul's present condition:
"Big Time Sensuality"

My motto:
"It's in Our Hands"

I went through a few artists before Bjork totally tickled my fancy and I spent hours just listening to her over and over again. This has to be my favorite list.

So glad this week is over.

#125 - Adventures at City Mill

2009-07-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick slice of life story:

So today I went up to City Mill (a local hardware store), Home Depot and Lowes are too much of a drive for my lazy ass so City Mill is just right, not to mention their prices are pretty sweet. Point I'm making its my place to go when I need hardware or supplies.

Today's item was spray paint for a mural I'm working on. Which I got but that didn't stop me from wandering around. In browsing the staple guns (which I ended up getting a hammer model stapler) one of the sales assistants came up to help me out. Now I recognized him (since he has helped me out a few times) and all I can say about his personality and looks is that he is 'jolly' and all kinds of awesome. Anyway he takes a look at my basket and inquires about the spray paint. I of course explain the mural idea for my classroom and then he asks where I teach... yada yada yada.

When I mention my school, he has a small moment of recognition. To which I smile and mention "Remember a girl that came in a while ago who bought a whole lot of bamboo... that was me."

And he replied: "That's right you're the 'Dancer Girl'!"

There you have it... I'm "The Dancer Girl".

Totally made my day and because I bought stuff I got a free shirt too!

#124 - Food Porn

2009-07-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

Okay I just got really hungry after watching Anthony Bourdain's Episode - Food Porn. Naturally as I watched what delights gets his taste buds off I couldn't help but thinking what gets me salivating.

So in no particulary order:

Eggs - Like the saying goes, I love eggs! No really I really love eggs. I had eggs for breakfast with rice for most of my life. Staple part of my diet. No shit.

People need to get their asses over to Grass Skirt Grill in Haleiwa.
Their 8oz Burger w/bacon, avocado, and grilled onions is just beautiful. At least to me... especially when its cooked medium rare. My first time... finger licking fuckin' good.

Beef 'Kilowhen' - Now I'm probably spelling the Ilocano wrong, but from what I have learned 'kilowhen' means raw. Beef Kilowhen is raw beef (really good beef) that is salted/peppered, I think soy sauce or it could be patis, mixed with onions and green onions and its so effin damn good. Now I won't eat much of sashimi... but you drop a plate of beef kilowhen in front of me, don't expect me to share.

Fish and Chips - And not in America... Good god fly over the pond and get your fingers dirty. My first time was at a blue hole in the wall walk-in in Dublin, Ireland, of which sadly I can't remember the name. But holy shit! Sitting under a tree moaning at how damn good it tasted. Let me also point out it was my first encounter with garlic mayo... my life has never been the same since.

Saimin(also known as Ramen) is my ultimate comfort food. Garnish with anything I can get my hands one. Usual staples are either spam, Portuguese sausage, char siu pork/beef, green onions, egg (always need to have an egg), kamaboko, really... anything sometimes. Saimin comes in first as far as brothy soups come with Pho coming in second. Oh god! Pho how I miss you so!

Zippy's Breaded Mahi Mahi Plate - why? I can't even remember when I first tried this when I was younger but 10 times out of 10, you go to Zippy's with me and I'll always order this. Its just the way the fish, lemon, tartar sauce, rice, and mac salad come together. Its like an orgy... a tasty one.

Holy shit! Can't forget the Diamond Head plate at Kona Kitchen in Seattle. Hawaiian Sweet bread french toast, with all bacon, scrambled eggs, side of hash brown, and a cup of Kona Coffee. Use to be meal highlight of my Sunday. A nap after is required.

Banana Lumpia was candy to me... like Kilowhen don't expect me to share. Deep fired banana goodness with brown sugar. Sweetness.

Grandpa Cipi's Lauya - Honestly I don't know what the hell is in this other than chicken, green papaya, and cabbage but you drop this over rice and its always a good day. Kinda like that one scene in Ratatouille, you know at the end where the critic guy has a flash back of warm goodness. Yep... its just like that.

Chicken soft tacos with a Hienekin at Cholos. There has been too many Fridays that prove the wonderfulness of this set of beer and tacos.

A pint of Mack & Jack - probably the only beer that gets mentioned on its own, but we don't have it on tap here in Hawaii and I've been jonesing for a pint so badly. Its just so smooth... and tasty!

Oh my god! The left over crunchy stuff from Adobo over rice.... That NEVER gets old! So good you have to eat it with your fingers.

Any type of Asian curry... with either beef or chicken with chunky vegetables and rice. Mmmmm... just thinking about it, so hungry!

Phat Thai! I honestly miss being able to walk a couple blocks to get a plate. Chicken and mild spiciness! Especially when it was cold. I can't almost smell it.

I know I probably missing some, there's just so much good food out there. Whats funny is that the other day I was reading an old article I wrote when I was in 8th grade which was about myself. Listed as my favorite thing to do: eat. Somethings never change.

So whats your food porn?

#123 - Morning cartoons how I miss you...

2009-07-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Warning - Lots of videos ahead.

So its Sunday and its a pretty quiet morning. I don't have cable down in my den area since I don't watch that much TV. But I can definately say right now I am definately jones-ing for some good old morning cartoons. Which are near non-existent today.

Not to mention if you haven't see its advert recently:

Cartoon Network is going to integrate live shows into their line up. Then that got me thinking... there have been a lot of live adaptations of comics, cartoons, and games... (I can't believe they went there with Candyland) All of which are alright but sometimes I honestly would love to see those great animations stay as animations.

Now right now technology has allowed for a lot of great special affects to be made possible in movies which of course lets us have all of that great live action entertainment. Yet while the inner child in me is awed and amazed at live action movies and all their special effects, she also misses (A LOT) the great 2D animation that played part in a large part of her life.

Let me share some of my favorites:
Thundercats

I still have the action figures and a plastic version Lion-O's sword somewhere.

Silverhawks

In pre-school I was so cool... why? I had a Silverhawk lunchbox. It was red plastic and all kinds of awesome.

Bravestar

So this totally made me want to be a cowgirl when I grew up.

Centurions

I thought the action figures for this show was the coolest thing ever. There were so many snap on thingies!

G.I. Joe

Ironically I never owned a G.I. Joe action figure. I would always sneak away my cousin's and then get in trouble later.

He-Man/She-Ra

I had to fight my grandmother to watch these two shows. :P

Sonic the Hedgehog

Once a fan-girl always a fan-girl...

Pirates of the Dark Water

If only it didn't get canceled!! But still one of my favorite sets of action figures.

TMNT

I had the hugest crush on Mikie... LOL

You know looking at this video list, aside from She-Ra... God I was such a tomboy! LOL

#122 - Whats a girl suppose to do...

2009-06-23T14:03:00.001-07:00

*Sigh* This is going to sound rant-like... so consider yourself warned.

Right now I'm spending most of my summer in a slightly humid classroom teaching summer school, when I could be planning a blast of a weekend attending the 2009 San Diego Comic Con. Total personal dream of mine and I've probably already mentioned that in my blog. As the date gets nearer and nearer I'm seeing articles and commentary about women/girls attending events such as the Con and the reasons why women/girls do so. Suffice to say not all the the reasons are ones I agree with.

Now, no doubt there are women/girls who ARE going to attend to check out the cute actors from movies and shows that they completely fawn over and follow.

Yes, there are going to be women/girls there that might be... I dunno, checking out possible BFs.

Who knows, maybe there are women/girls attending that are going to dress up to have pictures taken of them because they love attention.

Better yet, there are definitely going to be women/girls there who are utter Loser Fan Girls for the show, comic, game, or series that they love and want to be there to show their support.

I also want to point out that I also understand that women/girls are the minority attending these events. But I would like to also think that there are also guys there that attend for the same reasons I mentioned above.

Now that doesn't make anyone's reason better or worse. Thats the facts... Well my opinionated fact.

But who cares!

Whats wrong with women/girls like that attending those events? They provide eye candy, something physically present to drool over thats not on paper. Tell me, what the heck are you going to use the rest of that 8 gig memory card in that camera on anyway after you've taken all the pictures of Jackson, Whedon, Twilight, Transformers, or whoever? And whats wrong with hooking up at a Con, it might be cute. I've even seen a wedding done at a con, so don't just blame the women/girls. I know that there are guys out that think it is utterly bad ass to do a wedding march to the musical styling of the "Imperial March".

Okay, now apparently women/girls with those reason tend to blind the majority to the other part of the minority. Yep theres more to a women/girls double X chromosome. Women/girls ARE also going to attend because GOD DAMMIT they like comics, they love to draw, and OH MY GOD they might actually even pay attention to the plot of a storyline. I'd also like to mention some women/girls are gamers as well, table top to PC to console. You name it, they are totally there.

They can KICK ASS too...

Lets not also forget that there are women that publish, design, market, and draw comics and games as well. Some DAMN good stuff by the way.

Its an old and tiring, yet true argument that I've pretty much seen, read, and participated in all my life.

I don't understand why men (now not all of you... don't let my words make you feel pigeon holed) still can't imagine that women will like the same damn things they do for the same damn reason.

#121 - Workout Playlist

2009-06-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

So its pretty much been a whole month since I last posted anything and I manged to survive a whole year of teaching. In fact its been one year to this month that I packed up my stuff and moved from Seattle to Hawaii.

And what do I do during the summer (besides teach summer school)...

Here is a list of music that I listen to while I workout:

Running
Lord Give Me a Sign - DMX
Down Boy - Yeahs Yeahs Yeahs
*I pretty much loop these songs while I run, be it jogging or HIIT training.

Punching Bag/Shadow Boxing
99 Problems - Jay-Z & DJ Danger Mouse
Master Passion Greed - Nightwish
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Speed - Atari Teenage Riot
*because really, everyone loves some "want-to-beat-the-shit-out-of-something" music

Circuit Training
Church - T-Pain ft. Teddy Verseti
Lucifer - Jay-Z
Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
If You Want Blood You Got It - AC/DC
Good Luck - Basement Jaxx
*these pretty much keep my heart rate up and my energy going

This is just a small sampling of what I'm listening to right now. I figure I'd share because I'm always looking for more music to listen too while I workout.

#120 - For anyone who loves videogames

2009-05-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Escapist posted the newest trailer to Dragon Age: Origin recently with some interesting things to share.

Hit up their site for the news on it and watch the trailer there.
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OR you can watch it here and hear my two cents on the trailer and their post.

Here is the trailer:

Okay I have to say a small bit on the criticism regarding the new trailer. Yes clearly this took a whole new direction from the previous trailers.

Previous trailer:

Clearly the new trailer is aiming for a general population of gamers, who apparently love rock, sex, and lots and lots of blood. [Remember Bioware was also the company that brought us Mass Effect and alien sex.] Now as a honest to goodness fan of Bioware and all its games maybe I should be insulted. Here is proof to all the hardcore gamers out there that great games are being aimed at the masses and not those that would fully appreciate them.

BUT I agree with Mr. Gaider, SO WHAT... is it that BAD? Crap I love Bioware's games so much that hell if I could come up with a way that I could sell Dragon Age: Origins to my mother on this Mother's Day I would! And I would make sure that she enjoyed that gaming experience!

Fans, you have been shown proof over that past few years of the hard work, the dedication, and sheer greatness that the guys at Bioware are putting out for DA.

Great games, like great music, like a great anything should be shared!

Fuck! Its like a good book, if you damn love it so much you should buy two. One for yourself and one for the poor sod that you're going to harass into reading it. [And they are going to love it too!]

The morale of this fangirl delusion, support these Canadians! When Dragon Age comes out buy two and give one to your mom.

#119

2009-05-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Before I even started the real meat of this post I realized that while I am 119 posts in, I have made my students write 145 journal entries this school year. You will have to add about 25 days to that and you'll get the final number.

But on to semi-non-important matters. Here are topics that strike me when I'm on the can, staring at the rays of the morning sun, or when I'm crouched tense looking for that damn roach that was so pleasant to wake me up in the middle of the night.

Reading multiple books is a bad idea. But sadly it happens. In this case all the books I'm reading are just great so I don't have such a big problem. One of them "Hardcore Zen..." made a mention of how enlightenment is sometimes perceived as a retirement. The whole concept of "When I 'get it' everything is going to go according to plan and I can chill for the rest of my life..." Thinking about that concept and still having not put in my retirement papers; I realize that's not how I want to be like when I'm older.

Retiring one day a week (Sunday) is enough for me! To think that such a state could exist longer than 24 hours doesn't work with my mind. Also the fact that everything will just be smooth sailing doesn't compute. I do agree with the saying "everything will be alright in the end..." BUT every moment of my life is fill with multiple endings. Do all of them come out alright? Not really but I get by.

Those are my thoughts this morning.

#118

2009-05-01T10:20:00.001-07:00

I don't know if this can sum up my April completely but I think it can do it well enough.

But sucking milk out of a bottom corner of a ziplock bag was both odd and satisfying.

That is all.

#117

2009-03-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

13 hours ago I was at the last Journey concert in Honolulu, 13 hours later I have woken up realizing I have no voice.

I can now safely check off, "Was part of a large mass of voices singing in a stadium/arena along with [insert band name]" from my very vague Things-in-life-I-would-like-to-do-list. The concert was just speechless! Two encores and Journey played mostly all of the favorite classics of their songs. I was kinda bummed they didn't play "Sunshower" but it was still a utterly fantastic concert. I stood for the two whole hours, my shoulders hurt from keeping my arms raised and pumping for most of that time. Arnel was an unbelievable ball of energy, Journey did really good in picking him to take up the lead.

It was a moment, one of "those" moments and I got the chance to go. Thanks Aunties!

Now to do homework and its raining...

#116

2009-03-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

As I was posting some new stuff to my artfire account (which only turned out to be one picture as I was horrendously sidetracked, you will soon see why...) I had to pull out my Ireland travel journals in order to label the picture accordingly. I think I spent an hour flipping back and forth through the dog-eared pages reading entries at random, then I suddenly started tearing up. I realized how I utterly miss traveling for the sheer sake of adventure. I've probably mentioned it before but on that one trip I never remembered being that brave or adventurous as I was then, not even now.

So in my nostalgia what do I do... I pull out the Japan journal I've started and two dog-eared Japan guides that I'm using as references and got back to laying out my Japan trip. What I love right now is that there are so many small insignificant (not really) things that happen that seem to remind me of this goal.

Here is what I figured out so far:

I plan to save $5000-$6000 dollars. (I spent $3000 on personal expenses in my two months in Ireland) I could cut it down to half as I get flesh out my final plans. The main money suckers is the airfare and the rail passes. (Not to mention I really want to go to a Ryokan and an onsen)

My initial list has 13 main areas to visit and I haven't even hit south Japan yet!

I'm looking to travel in July and August, most especially because I want to make it to a couple festivals.

That is my trip so far.

And the excitement still hasn't gone away.

#115

2009-02-25T22:46:00.001-08:00

Long story short...

Had to go to the ER...

Was able to walked out with an inhaler and antibiotics.

#114

2009-02-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Lots of things on my mind at the moment.

First of which is my uncle's 'Something' soup that he made for our lunch while the both of us sit sick and coughing today. It was practically 'something' as he made it from what ever he could rummage out of the kitchen. Amzaingly when he brought my bowl to my room everything seemed to warm up. Now there is something you should realize; the room that I occupy is a small patio space that use to be the main living room of the house when my grandmother was still alive.

As I sat at my desk slurping up the bits of seafood, shitaki mushrooms, and rice I could vaugely make out the phantom shadows of my grandmother's old couch, the TV in its original spot, and all the old bits of furniture that use to be in this space. But what struck me was the feeling of warmth that came with all those memories. If I were to be honest the space now is rather 'cold' I took the carpet out and I'm slowing removing all the old tiling, which leaves the cement floor. Its all very industrial and cold. I hope one day I can bring the warm back.

It never fails to amaze me on how far yet so close my grandmother is to me (my grandfather as well). I tell myself that I will visit her and him, but never have I built up the courage since the day that they passed and I watched them be buried.

All that from 'something' soup.

And while I am on the topic of memories, my auntie reminded me of how much I made myself forget most of my Junior year of high school and why I don't celebrate my birthday. It was a moment that lasted no more than a half hour and I was just 17. I asked to have sometime by myself, standing by my father's bedside as I listened to the sterile beeps and hiss of hospital equipment marked my fathers faint spark of life. I can't remember if I said anything, but on that day I unopened my one gift, a community-family offering, a green longsleeve T&C shirt with yellow plumeria across the front.

That was my last birthday.

In other news:

I was lucky for that second chance.

#113

2009-02-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

All the hopes, aspirations, and pride in my 5th grade class has evaporated into ashes. When asked in today's journal "Explain what does it mean to love unconditionally?",my students clearly told me that they did not understand the question.

Saddness

#112

2009-02-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

Okay got this via RSS.

Which totally reminded me of this...

And all I got left to say is... "I WANNA PLAY!!!"

That is all.

#111

2009-02-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

I found this rather interesting. Wordle is a generator that creates word clouds from the common or most used words in blogs, RSS, and so on. You can also type in your own set of words as well.

Here is what my blog looks like in Wordle.

Large words you can guess are used most frequently. Though I don't remember using 'species" so much.

#110

2009-02-05T20:30:00.001-08:00

I'm having a Ska revival.... Japanese style!

This video by Yum!Yum!ORANGE seems to always make me smile.

#109

2009-02-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

I found out today during a faculty meeting that one of my co-workers had never had a Happy Meal until I bought them for everyone in our meeting today.

Totally was a moment that was full of awesomeness! She had never had chicken nuggets to boot!

Smile moment... basking in the glow.

#108

2009-01-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

As I watched a DVD on the properties of Earth, its different faces, and all the things that make it our Earth. Sitting amongst my students I was amazed at how much power the sun has over the earth despite the great distance between the star and planet. It was a geeky "Holy Crap!" moment and again I was reminded how small I was in comparison to the rest of the universe.

Another interesting topic, was during early recess. The 4th grade teacher and I contemplated the ideas of what truly makes a species vicious. This was in response to a current situation in Hawaii involve Pit bulls and making them illegal due to their aggressiveness. We agreed that the aggressive nature of any species depends on how it was nurtured. Of course any species is prone to aggressiveness (humans not excluded) but when an animal is in an environment that teaches to to control it, its aggressive nature should not be blamed on its species alone.

#107

2009-01-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

While taking a break from playing Fable 2 I came across this in the RSS feeds.

This was just awesome! Now I played cops & robbers, TMNT, and went around in my own dirt bike reeking havoc on my grandmother's poor disposition when I was younger. The "marry me" thing was just to girly for me I guess. But this little girl is just kick ass in my books.

Beside the learning to ride her bike on her own and ramping over the little boy brat, my favorite part was when she colored her bike a different color with a magic marker. Priceless!

"Its a girls bike...!" Indeed...

#106

2009-01-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

School has been canceled tomorrow due to imminent weather... Really Really. Damn lucky kids! They don't get to see their report cards! *evil laughter*

ANYWAY! I did fanart... Mai-Hime and very Shiznat.

From ShizNat

I was being very geeky while entering grades. Just using my tablet... sketched.

Be safe everyone!

#105

2009-01-06T12:33:00.001-08:00

I should maybe blog about my start of the knew year... but I'm not that motivated.

What really got me today was this incident:

My class is a bit talkative and I honestly don't mind when they talk in class as long its not while I'm teaching. They tend to get a bit loud and sometimes I have have to call them to attention. But of course as a teacher you can only do that so many times till it gets irritating. So I give my students a choice keep going with all the talking or they get more homework. They know that I'm pretty good about keeping their work load light, but they also know that I can lay it on thick. Let me also point out that they know my mannerisms to a degree.

So they were give the choice again today.

During their Reading, I gave them work to do and let them have at it. Their volume level was moderate and not high. The punch line to this was that I only stood up from my desk to reach for a workbook for the next class and immediately the whole class goes quiet. It was such an abrupt change that I nearly laughed out loud that their response conditioning. They had thought that because of their talking I was going to give them more work.

I think its going to make me giggle for the rest of the day.

#104

2008-12-22T10:04:00.001-08:00

So Linux is trying to kick into the mainstream commercials. Using a theme similar to the "I'm a PC" idea... or something like that.

Not sure I'm all for it... But I am a Linux user and I love this vid.

XD

Grew up fast indeed!

#103

2008-12-16T20:43:00.001-08:00

Man I haven't drawn in a while... I managed to stomp this out in 15-20 min in PS2. I even colored, something I hardly do. Just a bit of a warm up before I shower and stomp out a couple more papers for grad school. XP

I'll prolly go back and add depth and shadow later.

#102

2008-12-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Despite how crappy my days have been... this got me laughing out loud.

So my uncle and I are watching this rather elaborate Chinese movie whose name I can't remember at the moment. As we watch we talk about the characters and how messed up the web of interpersonal relationships are. Specifically the character of main actress:

Uncle:...you know she doesn't really fit this role.

Me: How so...? She's played a slut before...

Uncle:... but she's evil. She's usually a nice slut.

And he delivered in a matter-of-fact tone. All I could do was agree and laugh.

Later...

Uncle: Look she even has a evil slut smile...

Priceless moments with my uncle and foreign films.

#101

2008-12-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple things that are making me smile right now.

Pyrats... ARRRRR!!!

#100

2008-12-05T09:10:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how time has pass so quickly. Practically less than 6 months ago I moved back home to a career job and my family. Its now December and I've been a teacher for 4 months. I try not to think too hard since everything still feels a bit surreal.

Like last weekend, I absolutely love spending time with my younger cousins. Last Sat. my cousin Ash' and her high school basketball team got to scrimmage against the local high school. Let me point out that my cousin goes to my old alum in town and her mother and our aunt both went to the local high school. The local gym is kinda hallow ground, since our aunt made the all-star team for basketball in her high school years. The game sorta runs in the family since I also played in high school too. So I'm sitting in the gym watching Ash play, behind me is her mother and our aunt. I realized that 3 generations from our family that played basketball was sitting in that gym and ambling around my legs is Ash's younger sister, Kemi (1 year old) who might just be the fourth generation to play when she gets older. That was my "whoa" moment this past weekend...

That came to mind as I realized I need to get the girls into shape for this season's girls basketball at the school. Yep I'm coaching. XD

Aside from that, my journal question for my students today is: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object?

I'm excited to see the answers.

Oh and I'm at post #100... Hmmm... YAY!

#99

2008-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

I got choked up in class today. Specifically math class, the lesson that my students are working on involves factoring and prime numbers. Now this is where it got corney... really pathetic type corny. As I was helping one of my students tackle what was to him a rather difficult factoring tree, I realized how much I love my job. My student looked so proud of himself after he managed to get the factoring right and I thought "Shit! Thats my teaching moment of the day."

#98

2008-11-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

Still a bit groggy from my two day camp trip with my students, I’m sitting at my home desk on a day of personal leave trying to catch up with late grad school assignments. Yet all the while the application form for my MetLife retirement plan is distracting me. Till now I’ve never been at a job where I was comfortable enough to even think of setting up a retirement plan much less request an application for one. As I had flipped through it got me thinking; what am I saving my money for? What am I going to do with my retirement? What is the point? Now I personally don’t like money, I hate having it as much as not having it. I’m no big spender, in fact it took me weeks to months to work up the courage to dish out the money on few pricey things I own (guitar, camera, computer, printer, TV). And here I am wondering what is the point to saving up money when I have nothing in mind to save up for, I’m single, I don’t plan on having kids anytime soon, I have a roof over my head where rent isn’t terrible, not having a car isn’t a problem, general bills aren’t a hassle at the moment, and I’m pretty much content.

Then from the back of my mind pops up: JAPAN

The last large trip I took was my backpack adventure around Ireland, I think in the summer of 2005 or 2006. Financially that was funded mostly by a school loan and an unprepared checking account. So now with a Japan trip (which I’ve been thinking about for nearly a year now) slowly formulating in my mind maybe I have something to save for.

The general idea is nearly 2 months backpacking from north to south (within reason) eating. My main points of interest will be the Hokkaido area, Kyoto, the rural areas around Mt. Fuji, and if I make it Okinawa. I might make a quick stop in Tokyo, but I’ve never been interested in cities that much. Sorry to say my Dublin experience wasn’t that great and I don’t want to deal with large crowds again. I prefer the less rural areas to explore and quite literally get lost in. (It happened several times in Ireland and I treasured those experiences).

Hoping to stay in hostels and the occasional onsen, I’m planning on it being a “rough” trip. Most of my money will be geared to food and the occasional gift so not counting the air fair I’m hoping to save up at least 5k, though I doubt I would be spending that much. At least I hope. The trip itself is planned for the summer of 2010, not calculating any other obligations that may come up, so the savings play may be workable.

Well I’ve wasted enough time daydreaming, back to essays for me.

#97 (VICTORY!)

2008-11-17T00:45:00.001-08:00

I think I deserve a little victory pose... I finally got through 3 weeks of backlogged work!

Now I need to finish all of my late grad school work. :(

But its one thing at a time. XD

#96

2008-11-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up and immediately went right back into entering grades, all at 5AM. By the time 6AM rolled around I was angry. Not at my kids but at the fact that my kids did not get the chance to apply themselves properly in the last 3 weeks. After testings we had a craft fair, after that we had our Halloween activities, next week the kids have 3 days of excursions, and progress reports are due on NOV 24. Sadly my kids don't have much to show for it, even though I know that they have a lot to share. I was so frustrated.

And you know the saying, "when it rains it pours."

Started my period soon after, found out that my skylight is still leaking (which means I have to fix it as soon as I get home), I still haven't finalized my classes camping trip, and I still have reports to do for both work and grad school.

In a right state of frustration (I even wore my heels to work with the hope I could "curb stomp" something) I stalk towards my classroom. Passing by an opening between the office and the convent I spy the sunrising. In those two seconds my frustration evaporated in a total moment of universal contentment and then I thought to myself "Shit! There went my righteous mood of anger!"

Now I'm mildly irritated and amused. Also I am so ready to give my students their test today!

MWAHAHAHAH!!

#95

2008-11-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

So it seemed for a while everyone was doing this. Once I received a similar forward of "100 Things." For the "ADD Generation" I think this is a little easier...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you're supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 people to be tagged and pass it on!

[On a personal note I'm not going to tag anyone and leave them to find this format amusing and C/P the damn thing themselves. This is more or less a *grin* and *poke* to a friend whom checks in on me time to time and I never get around to being on time to respond. I'm terrible I know.]

1. I have the attention span that is probably the same size of a goldfish's brain. Honestly I will actually break a conversation to point out something that I just so happen to see go by; just cause. So all of you that notice this about me, I can't really apologize... I do really try to pay attention. :D

2. Someday soon I will go on a backpacking trip through Japan from the north to the south sampling all the great food that the country has to offer. (and maybe some anime too... but really... I'm the type of girl where her heart is where her stomach is)

3. I adore songs that make me cry and admit that I am an utter sap with the right circumstances, i.e. something like this...

4. Speaking of songs I believe that music is THE only universal language that transcends.

5. I'm a lot more geeky than I appear to be, sit around a spend sometime talking to me and you will realize.

6. I've very protective of my family and in some aspects my friends as well.

7. I hate centpieds, only cause I stepped on one when I was little barefoot and it bit me.

8. I have a pet peev about cluttered desktops... not you know a literal desk but the desktop of a computer OS. I will literally go about deleting icons that are unused, even if its not my computer. (of course I ask first)

9. I adore Oscar Wilde and love this one quote by him "The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves."

10. Toward the end of my life whether I'm a nun (a secret passion), a crotchety old woman, or still a wise old teacher... I want to be most remember as a Storyteller.

11. I'm in love with Japanese design...

12. I don't really care if someone mistake's me for a guy, its happened enough. And I don't care if I'm carded till I'm 40. What matters to me that I do not give in and stop being myself. Which is hard because in my profession I'm a role model for 8 hours a day (sometimes it feels like it goes 24-7)and who I am, how I dress, or act can influence one of my students. I just hope to whatever higher being there is, that its positive.

13. I have a secret love for gardening and yard work.

14. I love the game where you make things out of the shapes of clouds. The most recent was a Klingon Battle Cruiser... verified by my co-worker during morning assembly sometime this past week.

15. I openly detest one person in my life.

16. I feel more myself now than I have felt in a long time.

#94

2008-10-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

[10/9 Thursday]
I know that as soon as I get a new TV… I’m going on a videogame binge. XD Thank you Chris… the 360 is going to be the death of me, BTW.
The games on my radar right now as of 2008:
Fable 2
Mirror’s Edge (really excited for this one)
Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD remix
The Last Remnant
Mass Effect [X]

[10/10 Friday]

Hahah after talking about getting a new TV I am totally mindful I have to keep a tight budget. Actually I have to figure out which things are priorities. Aside from that I’m getting use to my new place and waking up early as I use too so my roommates just have to get use to it. I can’t wait till I can wake up early enough for breakfast.

WHICH! By the way I get to go grocery shopping this weekend! XD

So damn excited! I miss cooking my own stuff and all this take out is killing me! But I think I gotta get storage containers for most of my food stuff. I can’t wait for miso soup breakfasts! *drool*

[10/12 Sunday]

My space in the house is starting look like my own.

#93

2008-10-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

[9/25 Thursday]
I like to joke that I honestly don’t have a social life outside of teaching and grad school. Sometimes it true, there are just weeks that seem to stretch on and on without a moment of respite. Luckily I got PT to work off the stress of the day and Sundays a day where I just do laundry and my homework. It’s a day completely for me. Now that I think about it I feel like I’m back in my first 3 years of college where I was doing everything and anything.

[9/29 Monday]
I realized that I really need to quit being a douche and keep on taking my vitamins. I also weighed myself in this Saturday. Where at the beginning of the summer when I moved back home I came in at about 118 lbs. and my goal was to gain at least 2 pounds; well I’m now 116 lbs. So much for gaining weight… Crap. I really gotta get to stuffing my face.

My neighbors were gone for the weekend while their house was fumigated. So it was quiet for a blessed 2 and half days. They returned tonight… loudly.

[9/30 Tuesday]
It is my hope that I can bring my students, though they may be young, to understand that it is sometimes the small things that make the biggest difference.

[10/1 Wednesday]
Dropped the 100 push up challenge since I’m pretty much working out 3 times a week now. I’ll probably incorporate it back in when my arms don’t feel like jelly.

[10/2 Thursday]
There are days where I am thankful for the 1 hour while in PT where I don’t have to think.

[10/5 Sunday]
I’ve finally physically moved myself into my new place. There are still some loose stuff that needs to be collected, but I’m finally in a place that I can nearly call my own. Reason for the ‘nearly’ I’m sharing a kitchen and bathroom with 3 other people. But for once I got my own room AND a bed. No sleeping on the floor for me and what I find pretty cool… no more computer in the same room as my bed. What I have to watch out for are the night time creepy crawlies but hopefully that won’t be its own problem.

Man I totally remember Creepy Crawlers!!

Oh did I mention I gotta be old school. Since I can’t find the remote to my DVD player or TV… I need to haul my ass those 4 feet to change the volume, channel, or work the DVD menu. XD

#92

2008-09-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

-Switched taking my vitamins to the evening before I sleep
-Started my protein drink this morning. Oddly I can feel a difference, like a soft tightening in my chest. ALMOST like how it felt before I fainted a year ago, but not that strong. May half my intake tomorrow even though the portion is about 7kg less than what my daily serving per meal of protein is suppose to be.
-Will do my test of the 100 push up challenge after school today. Let’s see how I survive.

[Fri 9/12]
I have to say that today was not one of those good days. I had to give a talk to and punish my students twice today and that is two times more than I would like. Its draining, emotionally draining. I honestly hate doing it but when they get out of hand… I pretty much told them, “You can either choose to be in trouble, or choose not to be in trouble… it’s not a tough decision.”
I am definitely ready for the weekend. I just have one assignment for grad school and I should be good to go for the weekend as far as that is concerned. I’m looking forward to spending some great time with family. I just want to spend a whole day smiling and laughing unconditionally.

[Tues 9/16]
Well the weekend totally drained me so I completely skipped my first day of working out. Crap.

There is a line from a favorite poem, “…despite all of its sham and drudgery it’s still a beautiful world.” And after last week the long weekend, yesterday, and last night (which is a story all on its own and I’ll leave it at that) Today one of my co-workers who is the mom of one of my students and one of my classmates from my early years at SMS came in and gave my some great news! My classmate gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 8lbs and 22 something inches. CONGRATS MOM! God, she did it without the meds… got to give her credit. But that definitely picked up my morning like a rocket.

Fri [9/19]
PT at work after school… totally kicking my ass.

#91

2008-09-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

I introduced my class to the awesomeness of a “Bittersweet Symphony”. I have to say that they were a lot more receptive to that song rather than “Walk this Way” by Aerosmith/Run DMC. We have also begun practicing for our Grandparents Day and they sound wonderful.

Since I haven’t settled down yet… yeah I know. XP And I need to get into some sort of shape other than thin. I came across the 100 Push Up Challenge and figured I would give it a shot, since sadly enough my push-up is rather sissy.

Okay now I have a story for you. As I was coming home from work on day I found that my drive way was blocked by a box leaning up against the fence.

If you are wondering why there is print outs of 'Coach' taped to the sides, search back in my blog to my entry on my wallet. You'll get the picture. In fact I still have to take pics of my bag. XD Anyway! The box definitely perked my curiosity since I know I didn't have anything ordered that large. So I proceeded to open it along with the envelope that had a short but amusing letter.

Now heres the part where I might have died laughing.

What impresses me the most is the detail of craftsmanship. No doubt the creators have a story that goes with this, because I can't see them just coming up with this with out some random inspiration.

Thanks guys! (no doubt you know who you are) Dare I say this makes me miss you guys a little bit more.

Yes I am wearing a skirt and I gave my gift a name; "Rod of Discipline"
Why so lame? Because "Sit-down-shut-your-mouth-do-your-work-or-face-the-consequences-skull-basher" was just too long.

:)

Happy Hump Day!

#90

2008-09-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

The term “Teacher”, is larger than its definition. It’s been nearly over a week and I’ve not only been just a teacher, I’ve been a soccer ref, counselor, nurse, and mentor. There are, no doubt, many other jobs that are in store for me in the coming year. Of course it’s definitely an under credited job, but I can’t say that it’s not rewarding.

I still do art on the side, currently eyeing out this sweet work bench at the hardware store, but I can safely say that I’m in a career. Teaching isn’t just a job. It’s not something I hate at the end of the day, though sometimes my kids make it tough, but I have to say it’s what I wake up for in the morning.

How cheesy is that?

OH and on top of that I managed to pass my first semester of Grad School. YAY!

And now for something completely different, as I was going through old files I found these amusing gems.

I have to say there are some moments that I miss from my college years.

89

2008-08-22T01:30:00.001-07:00

GOD! Finally moving into my own space, not completely renovated. It's definitely a work in progress but I got enough done to give myself my own bedroom and some place to put my clothes. It's going to be nice to pull clothes out of a drawer instead of routing around a bag or hamper.

School starts in less than 3 days and I just need to get through details… details… and more details.

[Update 3 days after school started]

Okay my class has to perform for their grandparents so I took suggestions for songs…

What came up were songs from High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus… I feel old.

Espeically when the question of "Whats heavy metal?" came up…

I am so tempted to do some Staind or ICP on them… but yeah. I need my job. XD

That's it short… still alive. I feel like I have no time for anything. I got to sleep thinking about school and I wake up thinking about school.

#88

2008-08-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

I woke up at 3AM couldn't get back to sleep… this is the result.

It has been a tradition every 4 years since the revival in 1896 and in nearly 5 days I will be hooked on the XXIX Olympics. Now lately China hasn't been getting the greatest PR and you can be sure they have been trying their hardest to
promote themselves. I'm not even going to go in to the protests or the politics any deeper, I really want to look forward to this year like any year and not imagine a political train wreck.

So to help with my personal Olympic hype I went searching!

1980 Moscow Opening Ceremony – Opening Act & Parade of Nations

1980 Moscow Opening Ceremony – Children's Show

1980 Moscow Closing Ceremony – Misha says Goodbye

1984 L.A. Opening Ceremony – Olympic Hymn

1984 L.A. Opening Ceremony – Rhapsody in Blue

1984 L.A. Opening Ceremony – Lighting the Cauldron

1984 L.A. Closing Ceremony – Space Ship

1988 Seoul Opening Ceremony – Hand in Hand (eng sub) ;)

1988 Seoul Opening Ceremony – Dragon Drum Ceremony

1988 Seoul Opening Ceremony – Lighting the Cauldron

1988 Seoul Closing Ceremony – "Goodbye"

1992 Barcelona Opening Ceremony - Highlights

1992 Barcelona Opening Ceremony – Flaming Arrow *

1992 Barcelona Closing Ceremony – "Amigos Para Siempre"

1992 Barcelona Closing Ceremony – "Fuego Gitano

1996 Atlanta Opening Ceremony: Part 1 – Part 2

1996 Atlanta – Lighting the Cauldron

1996 Atlanta CC – Gloria Estefan "Reach" **

1996 Atlanta CC – "Power of the Dream"

2000 Sydney Opening Ceremony – Deep Sea Dreaming, Dream Time Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

2000 Sydney Opening Ceremony – Lighting of the Cauldron

2000 Sydney Closing Ceremony – "Vangelis"

2000 Sydney Closing Ceremony – Savage Garden

2000 Sydney Closing Ceremony – "Island Home"

2000 Sydney Closing Ceremony – "We'll be One

2004 Athens Opening Ceremony – Welcome Home(Part 1 & 2) Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

2004 Athens Closing Ceremony – Part 1

2004 Athens Closing Ceremony – Maleviziotis & Serra

2004 Athens Closing Ceremony – Anna Vissi

2004 Athens Closing Ceremony – From Athens to Beijing

*One of the best moments I think of lighting the Olympic Cauldron.

**The best Olympic Theme that I have ever heard.

So yeah, there you go! Of course not all of that is probably in the order that it was show at the actual ceremonies and there are a lot more video clips out there.

Only 4 days, 17 hours, and 5 more minutes to go!!

#87

2008-08-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Finally started moving stuff into the shed, looking at all the stuff I have to move makes me feel better. Now I know I’m not the only one with a lot of “stuff” in the family. Oh and I realized that my MA is in Secondary Ed. and not a MA in Teaching. Doh!

Testing out a new (to me anyway) multi-vitamin. The label suggests 4 tablets a day, but I’m going to half the amount. If all goes well for a couple weeks to a month without any side effects I’m going to start on protein. Been keeping my cousin company with my bike while she conditions for her cross country team, she’s been bugging me to join her on her short training days – I told her give me a month to get some meat on. Oh! Finally installed a water bottle holder on my bike and looking for some fenders or mud flaps. I might just be part of the few that bike to work where I live and the country roads tend to get muddy some. I’ve got headwind heading toward work no matter the time of day, it’s pretty killer. Still the fact that for 20 minutes a day (10 min to work and 10 min back) I don’t think about anything. Nothing at all, other than me, my bike, and way; that’s it – and it’s be best freaking feeling in the world! Mind you school hasn’t started yet but I’ve been doing trail runs and errands around the town. My bike was the best decision I’ve made so far (turned down a moped for it earlier). The 10 minute commute isn’t all that bad either, since in Seattle it took me 10 just to walk to my bus stop.

And here’s a story for you; so a roach flew into the living room where I was chilling and on to my laptop screen which I had propped up on my knees . If you are from Hawaii you know the significance of that roach. I’m kinda proud of myself that I didn't freak out and instead just calmly put the laptop down and stepped away. The little bugger then hoped off and scurried its way behind the TV. I resettled myself and watched as it flew up from behind the TV and got smacked by the spinning over head fan. It landed on the chair I was leaning up against still alive. There was no way I could comfortably relax in my living room with the roach around so I calmly picked up a composition book and waited for it to give me a clear shot. I managed to hit it good knocking it to the floor, total bug face plant with a twitch. To my utter amazement it began to try and walk! Look around I used a piece of scrap paper to pick it up. Feeling it squirm in my fist I squeezed harder, later smiling in satisfaction at the sound of a exoskeleton crunch. Triumphant I make my way to the kitchen to throw it away, I was shocked to see as the scrap of paper drop and the roach wiggle its way out and skittered around the can trying to get out.
Since my return home I’ve been crashing on my parents’ living room floor till I can finish my renovations. You can imagine that I was not looking forward to sleeping on the floor that night.

Currently watching:

Koihime Musou - I swear Rin Rin’s hair pin, you’re gonna see it on a shirt I’m going to make! XD

Rewatching:
Seirei no Moribito – The anime that made up for my complete and utter disappointment in Mnenosyne.
Avatar: the Last Airbender (eps 17-finale) – Do you even have to ask…

Reading:
Natruto # 411 - Initial reaction after I finished was pretty much, “OMG… what the hell?!?!” I don’t know if I should be amazed or if I should laugh.

#86

2008-07-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Its been nearly 3 weeks since I’ve moved back and I’m still living out of boxes. Heh. It seems that if I’m not at work working, I am at home doing homework, and if I’m not doing that I’m renovating. Somewhere down the line I lost my social life, if I had one to begin with.

Still in the middle of it all I manage to work in some odd bits of amusement:

-Making up 7 years of absence from home (i.e. making my mom laugh (best sound in the world), getting to know my new baby cousin, hanging out with my aunts and uncles (who haven’t unlocked their Rock Band – Blasphemy!!), and trying to even out my ass of a sunburn)

-Watching Kiohime Musou – Rin Rin’s hair pin is AWESOME!

-Managed to figure out how to get the song from this – to be my ringtone.

-Watched the Avatar: The Air Bender finale.

Now normally I would go into a gushing review on how utterly-friggin-fantastic it was (AZULA! OMG!) But it’s a Sat. and I’m being lazy. Wouldn’t you be too? Its quiet, I got the sound of the beach calling me, the sun is out, it’s not too hot (yet), wind chimes tinkling on the porch… total sweetness!

I hope you enjoy the weekend!

#85

2008-07-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

Not so long ago I had a really great conversation with a awesome friend of mine that made me realize that I am utterly in denial on how uber-geeky I really am. So I will admit I have my moments...

And this is one of them...

Last night on Gametrailers.com, Bioware released the first official trailer for their "spiritual successor" to the Baldur's Gate Series - Dragon Age: Origins (previously know as just Dragon Age).

And if you can't see it in Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLigKX7Jk9c

If you haven't heard of BioWare let me toss out some names that might sound familiar - MDK2, Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and Mass Effect... Now fans such as myself have been waiting for a release date. Last year it was slated for sometime around Oct, but it now has been pushed back to early 2009. (God I hope so... I'm drooling at the bit.)

I don't want to go on and on about this game right now, my friends have heard enough as it is from me. But if you're interested in what could be another ground-breaking game check out the Dragon Age: Origin wiki and there is also a forum, but you might have to dig around for the real meat of the matter. The fans get a bit wild there and so do the developers, so beware. :D

Oh and though there isn't much up on the Official Site yet you can check it out here.

Now I can only eagerly await to see if anything else shows up for DA: Origins in the upcoming E3.

#84

2008-07-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Okay I am so behind on what I really need to do. I managed to somehow survive the first week of grad school online and some how I always feel like I'm catching up. Don't get me wrong I love the damn class... Whew!

My new list for the next 7 days or so...

Clean out patio
Clean out patio
Put floor in shed
Clean out patio
Do homework
Not freak out about work

So yeah! Thats it! So what makes me feel better and not over whelmed?

Now I love bollywood, but I can't say that I'm a die hard fan. My first expeirence was a movie by the name Lagaan, which I still watch form time to time. But sometimes I feel some of the Bollywood movies are a bit too corny for me. STILL I have to say I will not ignore a dance scene.

And here is the originial from that great rendition from 'So You Think You can Dance?'

#83

2008-07-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

The comic book world has lost another great illustrator and story teller.

As a comic book fan, I wasn't deep and heavy into the Marvel or DC universe. I knew enough to get by and not seem completely dumb around my guy friends. My area of interest was in Elfquest, Usagi Yojimbo, independent comics, and... Fathom. These were the graphic novels and comics that inspired me and my passion for illustration and storytelling. So it was a sad day when I recently discovered that Michael Turner the creator of my favorite series Fathom had passed away. I have to say that aside from Wendy Pini, Michael Turner had been a great inspiration in my persuit to be a illustrator and storyteller. His style blew me away, the first time I laid eyes on an issue of Fathom (and yes I know he had to previous work on Witchblade...) I can only hope to be half as brilliant as he was.

Michael Turner... Thank You! And you will be missed...

#82

2008-06-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Well its been nearly a week since I've moved back. I've been making lists of things I need to to, things I need to get, and things I can't forget. Man, my lists are getting lists all their own. ><;;; So what I'm going to do is take things one day at a time by one week at a time. The immediate things to do this coming week:

Build shed.
Move things from patio into shed
Sign teachers contract.
Throw away trash from patio.

And if I feel adventurous - Seal up a 1 1/2 of the wall in the patio after it has been cleared out.

But there are obstacles... oh are there ever distractions... LOL

To my delight my aunt and uncle have the Wii Fit and to no surprise but my body tested out as - Underweight at 27 years of age. Now I've known for a fact that I've been skirting that line and I know I can't totally take Wii seriously. But honestly... yeah it sucks I need to gain some pounds if I want to put on some muscle to tone out.

But my big focus is crushing my cousin's scores. (Acutally my aunt them are trying as well, good old family compitition... XD )

Lo and behold my uncle has also begun P90X with a awesome pull up bar! Which is pretty cool since now I'll have my uncle and maybe my aunt to workout with.

Then there are the trips to the beach... ><;;; I'll finally get my tan back... thank god!

My stuff is still working its way over the Pacific so no pictures yet...

Man you guys gotta see my coach back... it friggin rocks. Beautiful IRONY!

Alright back to crushing my aunt's score.... :D

#81

2008-06-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Okay I need to get this out before I forget, lose inspiration, and before the internet closes on me. It might be awhile till I get a chance to log back on, as I will be settling down in a new place, a new home.

First I want to thank all the people that were able to show up to my send off and a slightly larger thank you to the persons that had a hand in masterminding the whole thing. To those that were unable to come, I will still miss you and will hope to see you soon, because this is hardly a good-bye.

(The pictures from that night are incriminating - but I will post them up as soon as I am able. ^^)

Growing up I moved from primary school to the next and high school was a commute from the country to the city, with that type of lifestyle friendships for me were fluid, like water and wind, moving and always changing. When I graduated high school I handed out 'Thank You' cards to my family with a line that went "...I would not be who I am today if it were not for you..." and its true they defined 18 years of my life.

I did not realize what would be in store for me when I moved to Seattle 7 years ago. I did not know at that time, the wonderful people I would meet and get to know. The people whose friendship I can safely say have shown me what a wonderful relationship can be when friendship becomes a solid ground to grow from. So in the past 7 years, my friends - YOU, have told me how funny, quirky, weird, creative, and [insert your own adjective here]I am. But I need to clarify that I would not be who I am if it were not for YOU, who inspired me these past 7 years. Sure Mel will always be Mel, Erice might sometimes be Grice, and you can always count on me to be late with things that matter - still if it weren't for all the laughter, tears, jokes, puns, adventures, mis-adventures, gutter talk, brunches, Breakfast Club, drunken sessions, car rides, camping trips, frustrations, confessions, Happy Hours, or long work hours that I might have shared with YOU; I don't think I would be as cool as you say that I am.

YOU make that difference in my life.

In YOUR own way you have shown me love and support, gave me a kick when I needed it, kept me in line and set me free; even more so in these past few months. Despite the change and distance; the support you have given me in my new venture in life...

YOU've humbled me.

YOU've again reminded me how utterly THANKFUL and LUCKY I am to know such wonderful people in my life. (And for some of you - Don't worry you're still assholes.)

In closing, I've failed to say all that I wanted to say because I lack the articulation to express how much I am going to miss YOU.

And YOU can be sure that on my flight I'll be worrying the persons next to me as I read through YOUR notes(or attempt to at least), because honestly I am real big softy - and its so easy to make me cry when it matters.

(Heck I haven't read my birthday card because I know that's going to get me emotional - see what I mean!)

So till next time,

Mel

2008-06-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Oh the bodacity!

So the story goes; yes that is a duct tape wallet. In fact it is MY duct tape wallet that I made for myself during an afternoon of insane boredom in a slightly distant past...

It just so happened that last week my wallet some how slipped out of my backpack as I was stuffing the outer most pocket of my bag with containers of leftover food. My boss, the funny guy that he is, calls me later that evening to tell me of my missing wallet and then later message's me on Facebook.

His words, "We upgraded your wallet..."

My knee jerk reaction was as follows in my head:
"Huh... maybe they added more tape, it was getting a bit ratty."

"Shit... I hope they didn't change it with a 'girlie' wallet..."

"Fuck if they give me a purse I'm gonna feel bad, there is no way in hell am I going to use it..."

The next day; to my surprise and laugh filled reaction the image above speaks for itself. God I love my wallet. XD

2008-06-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

So I have more or less 6 days left before I finally move...

And instead of the packing I need to do... I finally read the last chapter to Inuyasha. Its still sinking in that the series is now over and with such a gratifying ending. *happy sigh*

Okay yeah... back to packing... or the art of trying not to.

2008-06-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

I got 20 days left before I finally move on to my next great adventure. And I think I found the a great soundtrack for this leg of the journey. Its been forever since I've listened to Cyndi Lauper and I am quite happy that she continues to find ways back into my life.

Cyndi Lauper Splash NYC 2008 from Long Tran on Vimeo.

"True Colors" indeed and I highly recommend her new album!

[Edit: And the official music video]

2008-05-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Going through my Google Reader this morning I watched this video about Starcraft

Back in the day I was such a geek for Blizzard Entertainment. (Thank you Uncle Tony!) That video brought back so many memories of late nights and days of doing absolutely nothing except getting my ass kicked by the Protoss. XD

Then I realized that Mass Effect has finally been released for PC, though I won't be able to purchase it until I have all of my moving expenses covered and taken care of. Yet despite it all I'm excited! Looking back there have been a handful of games that I constantly go back to playing over and over again.

-The Warcraft Series, with extensions - but NEVER WoW
-Starcraft, with HOT Karrigan extension.
-Baldur's Gate Series, with extensions - This game I re-play like clockwork every year. XD
-KOTOR - recently aquired late last year and have already replayed it several times. XD
-Ragnarok Online - I can't get away... LOL
-Arcanum - Old school from back in the day.
-Magic: The Gathering - YEP! There was a PC game... and I still reinstall it from time to time.

GAH! I just want to move already so I can get Mass Effect! XD

2008-05-25T01:11:00.001-07:00

Whoooo!!

BJ Penn TKO over Sherk!

[Edit]: Made hyper link to fight clip

2008-05-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

Gah! So much to do and little time to do it in. Its getting exciting here in Seattle, I'll be moving back to Hawaii in 5 weeks. Shit. Which means I've been distracted and haven't really caught up with things.

I have Ep 4 Mnemosyne waiting to be watched.
I haven't checked for a new Avatar Ep yet either ><...

But I have watched this video which I HAD to share... its just Cute. And I feel weird saying that... XD

2008-05-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I would be the person I am with out my mom and I think that goes for a lot of people.

Time Magazine has a list of the 10 Best/Worst Moms. (Worst Moms are listed first.)

This list rocks! You'll see when you get to the end. Its rather tongue and cheek... :)

2008-05-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

God this gave me my laugh of the day... or at least one of them. LOL

"Yeah, don't be a dick."

LOL... Yeah Zuko! Don't be a dick.

As an Avatar fan anyone should enjoy this.

2008-05-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Just got done watching Iron Man for the second time. I was skeptical at first but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the movie. My hope is that as they move the storyline along and bring in more superheros in relation to the Avengers, that the other movies live up to the expectations if not surpass them.

No doubt people are going to nickpick on the details but learning from my experiences with Transformers, Superman, and the other comics/games made to movies; sometimes you just gotta enjoy it for what it is. I'm going to keep telling myself this as I await the release of the G.I. Joe movie.

Though I have to say I still don't like the Fantastic 4 movies and the last Hulk that came out. (but I am looking forward to the new Hulk movie... its slowly winning me over from my past disappointment.)

2008-05-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Okay... So I totally forgot about this. BUT! I hope you Avatar fans were able to remember to watch the TWO new episodes; The Boiling Rock. I had been worried that after such a long hiatus that the new episodes would lag, but I was pleasantly surprised. The first involving teamwork between Sokka and Zuko, and the other surprises well... I leave that alone. I would HATE to give it away.

A personal favorite moment of mine:

Sokka: My first girlfriend turned into the moon.
Zuko: *pause* Thats rough buddy...

I'll admit that moment is priceless! I still giggle every time I watch the episode or when I think of it. My roommate prefers the "Special Prisoner" moment... which for me was awesome since I'm usually the one that has the gutter mind.

Now to await the fall out of these two awesome episodes!

Till then...

I can totally relate to the character that shows up in the top left. And I don't think anyone can say no to Caramelldansen.

2008-05-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

I love my friends because they know enough of my quirky traits to send me things like this. XD

Now if I wasn't sick and had my voice back I would break into song too!

The world IS just awesome!

And if you are just like me and you want the mp3, you can get it here.

Thank you Discovery Channel!

2008-04-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

This add is awesome! Totally reminds me of that Honda Commercial.

2008-04-29T07:36:00.001-07:00

I might not get anything done... but my god I want this. XD

2008-04-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

"You're a teacher?"
"Part time..."

I think I just squee'd myself silly and I honestly don't know why it took me so long to actually see this trailer!

I love it when I have those small moments where I realized what inspired most of my youth and life. Indiana Jones was definately one of those things that did, I was 6ish or so when I saw the The Last Crusade and I couldn't have been the only 6ish year old girl that wanted a fedora and whip. :D

So now after watching that Indiana trailer over and over again a few times, I decided to check out what else is in store for this summer. Here are my other summer picks:[Posted in no specific order]

Iron Man

Kung Fu Panda

Mongol

CoN:Prince Caspian

Get Smart

Wall-E *Quick note: I am no more excited to see this than any of the other films that I have mentioned here... Okay, maybe a little. Okay, maybe a LOT. (But not as much as Indiana Jones. ^^ )

Wanted

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The Dark Knight

Mamma Mia!

2008-04-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Thank god for Catholic School nuns... LOL. I about split a gut at the end of this great skit with Tina Fey (another favorite of mine).