Ayo Technology the Sequel

So, after this long without blogging about anything, the thing that really gets me off of the couch and onto the computer is a silly comment by my husband that there's "nothing really special" about the Samsung Alias: the bomb-ass new cell phone that we both got recently. Yes, I traded in my trusty Treo for a flip phone. But, not just any flip phone, no...in fact, the one thing that is extremely special about the phone is that it flips both ways! Both "portrait" like typical phones for talking, and also "landscape" for texting. The keyboard looks a little funny because the numbers are sideways in landscape mode and there are a bunch of letters all over the place in portrait mode, but its very easy to get used to. If that's not special, I don't know what is. It's taking some getting used to, but the buttons were the easiest transition for my texting that I could find after trying and immediately hating other Verizon phones like the enV and Glyde. Those who cannot appreciate new technology do not deserve to own it :) You must exude a certain level of awe for these sorts of things...a certain level of overeagerness to obtain them...a certain level of unnecessary loyalty to the piece of tech for as long as it is convenient. After years of watching me get cool gadget after cool gadget, my husband joins in claiming that he never gets cool tech stuff. And when he does...blasphemy. Okay, that's a little dramatic, not quite blasphemy, but ridicularity (one of the new favorite made up words I've cycled through lately).

That's all for now. Though I may write something about the election if I feel like ranting. PS, our new Verizon service is way more bang for our buck than AT&T.

The Essentials

I've been hoarding topics again. Some are events long since gone...but the thoughts have stuck in my mind. And I think, therefore I am, ergo I blog.

A little while ago we had a blackout that lasted like two days. It was oh so fun trying to figure out what to do as we couldn't find any flashlights. Luckily we had some hardcore flashlight thingy for the car that was unopened and it provided a lot of light and could be propped up. Some tea lights that I had from Ph also came in very handy. Candles really do shed a lot of light, no wonder people could survive with just that for so long. What I mean to say is, we've (I've) become totally dependent on electricity, its sad.

Next was the water issue due to a broken water main or something. We had no potable water for a few days. I hate the word potable because what the hell does that mean anyway. We couldn't drink the freakin' water. Never have I been one to jump up and run to the store and clear out the shelves at the first sign of trouble or natural disaster. But, this time, I had to go and get water. It actually was a lifesaver. Especially with a baby. I bought some small water bottles even though I usually try to stay away from them because I think its a waste of plastic. I was not at all happy with this situation in general. And again, too dependent. I'm certainly privileged as I know that there are many many people who live without drinkable water, yet must drink it anyway and who live with no electricity. Such is life. But, I try to do my part to help others.

Speaking of people who are down and out and helping others. Recently there was a man on the side of the road with a sign...you know, the one that says they are homeless and need food or whatever. The car in front of me had his hand out of the window and was holding something. It looked like a pack of crackers. And then, he chucked it on the ground. He actually threw the food onto the ground and made the homeless man pick it up like a dog. I was absolutely disgusted. I'm still mad about that. What, he didn't want to touch the man's hand? The line of cars wasn't moving so it wasn't that. I guess I shouldn't judge because there could be any number of reasons why he did that. Maybe he was worried for his safety or the safety of those in his car and didn't want to have the window all open where the man could just reach in. But, I didn't get that vibe at the time. The casual way that he chucked it on the ground did not give me that impression. Anyway, we were on our way to get something to eat, and I thought about the situation briefly and then promptly forgot about it. I think that is something from which many of us suffer. We know there's a problem, we think about trying to help, but then our lives interfere and we go about our business. Though I envy those who go beyond that. I think that's partly why I wanted to do the ESL tutoring. I wanted to do my part. And its very enjoyable. It's not helping homeless people, in fact my students seem to be quite well off, but its my part, nonetheless.

Green is for Gimmick

So, I may not be a popular person for saying this, but I have to say it. I'm over the whole "green" movement. While I agree with taking action to preserve the environment and limit waste, etc. and do my part to some degree, I find the commercial and fad-like turn the movement has taken to be annoying. Everyone has "green patrols" and "green initiatives" and green this and green that. I mean, recycling, electric cars, solar power...these things have been around for years. But, for some reason the green thing only took off within the last couple. I wonder if there was one thing that triggered this or if it was several things, or if we are just evolving as a country and society. Well, regardless, we still managed to turn it into an advertising campaign/gimmick/money-making thing.

The good thing is that at least more people are taking action now. Though, there's so much out there that its confusing. Personally, I don't know what's true and what's not, what's safe and what's not. We've bought those new light bulbs that use a lot less energy and supposedly last forever. They shed the weirdest yellow light, but I'm over it...in the name of the environment. But, they have mercury in them or something so they are dangerous if they break and you're not supposed to touch the debris. Then again, I read that that's ridiculous and you should be careful and just not run your fingers through it and then lick them. If I'm having trouble sorting through all the green crap, I can imagine what most of the country is thinking...well, at least I know there will be some more interesting and helpful car options in the next few years. According to this article, the electric revolution is on the horizon and then some. Compressed air powered cars...who knew? Hybrids are great for now, but I think we could do a lot better. Can't wait to see...how much they cost...

So Much to Say

...so much to say, so much to say, so much to say, da da da da da da. Okay, that particular DMB song didn't translate well. But, the notion is valid. I recently got back from a trip to the DR, what what! Okay, just the Dominican Republic. But, when you say it "DR", it just sounds cooler and warranted the extra whatever that was I added. It was a nice trip to participate in my brother's wedding. We stayed in the Dreams resort which was very nice. However, goodness gracioius the bed was so damn uncomfortable!!! It was the worst bed I've ever slept on in my life. They must get a lot of massage business. That must be why they had ads for their spa everywhere you turned. I didn't get as much sun as I had wanted. I can obtain a nice tan when I try. But, alas, I wasn't really trying. I did get to watch more TV than I had expected. I happened upon an interview with a young woman who had just come back from Iraq sans both her arms (most of them at least). It was a very sad story, though she and her husband seemed to both be getting along. Well, on the way home from the DR (holla!) I was listening to a song by an artist Brendan James that I thought really spoke to what is going on right now and what has been going on for the last 5 years with Iraq and all. I randomly bought his EP off of iTunes several months ago and I really like his voice. It's like a young slightly more modern James Taylor. Doesn't sound very appealing, I know but he's good. I will leave you with a link to a video of him performing it and the lyrics...it is called "Hero's Song":

Here I am
In the desert again
A compass and a weapon
A lost American

I started out with a simple plan
And a locket in my hand
But the sun is so unforgiving
And the wind so hard to stand

Fall out, fall out
With the rest of your brothers
With the rest of your sisters
Heroes on the line

Carry out what your leader says
For what his leader says
Is that his leader says
This is right for the people

No one will ever understand why
Thousands of beautiful healthy young statues must fall
Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
No I cannot live with
Doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I cannot die this way

In the water, in the sand
Is the blood of a culture
Is the blood of an ancient people
In whose holy war I stand

I hear the world like a cannon roar
Say I can't win this war
I promise them this
Isn’t what I signed up for

No one will ever understand why
Thousands of beautiful healthy young statues must fall
Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
No I cannot live
With doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I cannot die this way

No one will ever understand why
Thousands of beautiful healthy young soldiers must fall

Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
No I cannot live
With doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I will not die this way

Presently

My 3 year (I think) blogiversary was last week and while my blog topics have become more far and few between, the happenings in my life have sorta increased in number. That is a weird roundabout way of saying that I have slightly more of a life, but haven't blogged about it. So, instead of blogging about "real life", I'll blog about something else we all love...spam.

So, lately I've been getting tons of spam from "foreign people" trying to give me money. My favorite is one with the following subject line: "I am presently at JFK airport". I knew that one would be good. Apparently, I've left Frank Chambers (a diplomat from the Caribbean) hangin' in the airport with 7.5 million dollars. Hopefully the Internet access is free since he is literally emailing me from the airport.

Well, I lied...a little real life. I'm really enjoying teaching English as a second language. Did I blog about that already? I can't remember. Well, if not, surprise! I'm tutoring two Korean students and its fun and rewarding. Taught one how to say "banana" like an American. I had to somehow explain that I have no idea why the "ban" in "banana" sounds like buh and "ban" the word sounds like, well, ban. I mean, seriously. I love words. I've always been interested in them and how they fit together to form language, and slang, and grammar, etc. And I've always known that the English language could be really weird and annoying, specifically pronunciation-wise. But, it's really becoming more obvious to me as I teach. I feel really bad for anyone who has to learn it as a second language. It's mostly memorization instead of logic. Ridiculous word of the hour: aisle. No one new to the English language could ever figure out how to say that on the first try. Let alone a second or third.

On a more positive note, one of the newest additions to the American population, my son, will hopefully have limited problems learning to speak English. He doesn't really say any real words yet and has, in fact, stop saying uh oh, but he has got several different letter combination sounds down. And he started walking this past week!! He's a-growin'!

Can it be I stayed away too long?

A little Jackson 5 for ya there. I gotta get back in there with the musical titles...

So, several things have happened lately that are interesting, to me at least. The first is my bonafide good samaritan moment. Well, really my husband and I. We were at the library so I could check it out for my ESL tutoring (I'll get to that next). When I came back to the car, an SUV next to us was pulling out and leaving. There was a stroller on the sidewalk in front of the space. Ted seemed kind of dumbfounded and said "I think they just left their stroller". So, I was like...let's follow them so we can tell them! Of course, they were almost out of the library parking lot by this time so we had to hope that we would catch up. By the time we got to the main road, I saw the SUV disappear to the right onto the main, main street. We somehow saw it turning left after that and kept following (what we thought was the right car). After another minute or two, luckily they turned into a townhouse complex. Otherwise, I don't know how much longer we were going to follow them (certainly not onto the freeway, especially if it was the wrong direction from our house). We drove around the complex until we saw the car parked. The woman was still in the car seemingly deep in thought. I knocked on the window and told her about the stroller and how we totally followed her all the way from the library. She was very grateful and said something to the effect of "See, that's how much is on my mind!". I'm glad we were able to help...she obviously had other issues to deal with other than trying to figure out where her stroller is and possibly having to buy a new one (those things ain't cheap). It was a little adventure. Yes, that's sad that that's the type of adventures I have these days.

So, on to the ESL tutoring. I've become a tutor for a local Literacy Council chapter. I went to two all day Saturday trainings and have been assigned two South Korean students (adults). Our first session was a little awkward because I've never done this before and we had to be sorta out there in the library because the private tutor rooms were booked. We actually went down to the children's section where it was a little quieter surprisingly. Except for the little girls at the next mini-table smiling in our direction (probably because they knew we were doing something strange--me reciting some simple words/sentences and the students speaking back), there was no problem. I didn't have much time to prepare for that first lesson, so I looked forward to having a whole week the next time. Today went soooooo much better. I've booked tutor rooms for all our lessons so it was a lot easier. We had a good time. The time went by so far (just an hour). We spent the last 5 minutes with one of the students trying to say something to me that I just could not understand. Typically I have no problem with understanding them (they can communicate well enough to function). Ultimately, I finally figured out that she was basically trying to say time flies when you're having fun and we all laughed :) We meet twice a week, so I'll have to really prepare for this coming Thursday. It's a lot of work (for now), but I really enjoyed today and I hope I continue to enjoy it.

Off With Her Head

Wow, almost 3 months have gone by and I haven't posted a thing. No, I'm not pregnant again :) which is what happened the last time I went this long without posting. I think some of it has to do with that my craziness at work finally died down and I was probably sick of staring at a computer screen more than I had to. That and, I just go through periods of anti-technology. Or really, anti-computer (no more than I absolutely have to for checking my email, ordering groceries, paying bills, that sort of thing). I guess I'm over it now. That, and I've been seeing the 60 some notifications go by in my other email address connected to my facebook, myspace, etc page that there are things going on that need my attention before people think I'm ignoring them. Oh well, better late than never. And its easier with technology. You don't write to someone over snail mail and you might never talk to them again. With this, I can just jump right back on the carousel, which never stopped spinning just because I wasn't on it.

There were several things that I have wanted to blog about. I'll have to either try to remember them or come up with new things. I'll have to do something if there is to be any chance of regaining or obtaining readership (though I don't think it was that robust in the first place). Unfortunately, my life has become somewhat less interesting since having a baby. He just turned 1 year old. I can't believe it. There was no hoopla about it (partly because he was sick). But that's okay, he wouldn't know what was going on anyway.

Well, off to catch up on other stuff...

Viva Obama No More

So, I'm kinda disappointed. Up until now, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the presidential race activities. I know that I will vote Democrat. In general, I agree with the overall agenda to further "social causes" regardless of how difficult or unrealistic that may be. I feel it is the right thing to do. Therefore, I will always vote Democrat. However, the specific candidate to endorse? That's a whole other question. Since, I am not tyring to research the hell out of each of their websites or constantly watch television trying to figure out what the differences are in their campaigns, I instead turned to the Washington Post. I took a little quiz on there (well, not little, it was quite robust). It was called Choose Your Candidate. I thought it was pretty comprehensive...many issues covered where you choose which stance you agree with most. The expanded views could be quite long and it took me at least an hour to do the whole thing. I think it defaults to hide the person you are agreeing with. So, as I went along, I could see that I clearly supported one candidate's stance over the other two (between Obama, Hillary, and John Edwards). Isn't it nice that Hillary is on a first name basis with the country? Anyway, I thought for sure that my choices were leading me to agree with Hillary more. I thought this because one of the stances I thought for sure was hers. I was all set to abandon my leaning towards Obama in favor of Hillary. But, low and behold, all along the stance I was choosing over the other two belonged to John Edwards!!! I was shocked and dismayed. Why? Because I don't like John Edwards. Not really for any good reason, he just gives me a bad vibe. I've been told otherwise, that he is really nice, etc. But, whatever, I feel what I feel. Also, I feel like he is really politician-y and I'm sick of hearing about his childhood. And I'm pissed about how the 2004 Democratic campaign went (they thought they could win the country over with intelligence). But, now what am I gonna do? Assuming the Washington Post did good research and didn't put out a bogus quiz thingy, I'm all for John Edwards. I can't deny it. I'm not sure I have the energy to further pursue the issue. But, I certainly will be paying a lot more attention to what John Edwards says. It's just unfortunate that he probably won't win the candidacy. He's like the third wheel right now. And just when I was starting to like him...

Vile Viral Video

Okay, so you know how my profile over to the right says I like to jump on the various bandwagons of society and life. Well, I fully did just that tonight. And I wish I hadn't. While watching an episode of Best Week Ever, they alluded to some disgusting video circulating the Internet and how videos of the reactions to the video were getting more circulation than the video itself. Now, we're super behind on what's going on in the world and I have steered clear of youtube for the most part partly because I don't have time to get caught up in videos. Anyway, of course, Ted and I immediately go to the computer to see if we can find it on youtube. Not difficult to find, of course. We watched a few reactions, which are indeed funny. But, why? Why is it funny to watch other people almost throw up? I just have to say that the actual video is truly the most disgusting thing I've ever seen and I didn't even watch the whole thing. I couldn't. I had to leave the room and even put my hands over my ears and yelled lalalalala until it was over so I wouldn't have to hear the music in the video reminding me of what was going on (there were no sound effects, just music). I honestly didn't know how I would react, but I didn't think it would be all that bad. In general I have an okay stomach strength, if you will. But, this...was unspeakable. And the phenomenon of how this video and the reactions spread across America, and even the world, is evidence of the true sickness of pop culture. I am ashamed to call myself apart of it. But, I guess it makes life fun. For the few people who may be reading this, I am not going to link to the video. If you are dying to be grossed out beyond anything you have ever in your life experienced (at least probably 95% of people are), I'm sure you could find it. And that's all I have to say on the matter.

New Year's Resolution

I started this post on Dec. 28th. I thought I'd get ahead of the game. Be able to post it before new year or on New Year's Day. But, alas, it didn't happen. And here I am on the 6th of January posting it. Anyway, it has lost some of its luster or associated excitement, but I'm posting it anyway with my ending added. Happy New Year!

So, I've never really taken new year's resolutions seriously. And even if I sorta made one, I was like 95% making it. This time, I have one that I really want to do. Not necessarily because it is the new year. But, because it is the right time for me and it happens to coincide with the new year. I was very recently reacquainted with a school of thought / philosophy that I had been interested in. As I take up this thinking once again, I plan to be positive in the new year. Not that I will always be successful, but I will at least make a distinct effort to be consciously aware of my thoughts, feelings, and actions. Hopefully this will lead to good things in my life and will spill over as a positive effect on those I come in contact with on a daily basis.

Good Medicine

Have a laugh...

Merry Christmas, if you care

And happy holidays all around. Or happy no holiday if you don't celebrate anything. What a month it has been! And I just got home from a visit to my parents house. The whole family came to spend Christmas together. And it was Mitch's first Christmas! He absolutely loved the wrapping paper on his presents. It was difficult to get it away from him. We played lots of games and stayed up really late. This always happens, but makes it difficult to get up the next day. I must say that Catchphrase is pretty dang fun. We've played it before, but I don't remember it being this fun. We were so loud at some points we couldn't even hear the buzzer going off, which of course caused more commotion about whether the buzzer went off or not and when.

I had something interesting to blog about, but I can't remember it. Well, to address an earlier thing I mentioned, I'll just say that the world is definitely moving forward as I saw an iPod vending machine in Nordstrom's a couple of weeks ago. Now, I don't shop in department stores really or the mall, so I would have missed it, had I not been passing through on the way to pick up something at the Sharper Image. It was a huge monstrosity of a vending machine. It was all lit up inside and had all the iPods and accessories. At first I thought it would just have some Shuffles or Nanos. No...it had everything from those to full blown video iPods and even iPhones. It had this nifty touch screen ordering thingy, too. I was amazed. Later in another part of the store, or another store on another trip (I can't remember), there was an Xbox 360 there to play, and I assume to buy. This is very random because it wasn't like it was near electronics or anything in the department store, which doesn't have much in the way of electronics anyway. It was just randomly by some clothes. They really get your attention, though.

I'm looking forward to a productive, yet not insane 2008. Which means I'm not really looking forward to it for the most part. I guess the highlight will be the new things Mitch will be able to do. He still can't crawl or talk, but he's almost there on both fronts. Though, the latter will be a very slow progression. But, he does new things all the time, so maybe in a week he'll be able to say Happy New Years! :) Or not, maybe just dada on command (and not as two syllables that sould like da and da).

Wintry Mix of Crap

Okay, complaint time. Wouldn't you complain if yellow water was raining from your kitchen ceiling? Wednesday evening (the same day that it snowed for the first time this season and made everyone in the area drive like idiots), I came home to water raining from my kitchen ceiling, onto all the stuff on the counters, and soaking into the carpet at the entryway to the kitchen. The toilet upstairs randomly overflowed (luckily nothing nasty) and had been dumping water onto the floor up there, which subsequently came through the kitchen ceiling, for who knows how long. Some of the bedroom carpet is also soaked. I've been dealing with it, making phone calls, waiting for phone calls, doing work from home in between, and trying to help my husband who is ill, all day today. It's been wonderful. A real treat. We'll probably have to get the whole ceiling replaced, and maybe part of the surrounding walls, bleach everything, including all the baby bottles and accessories that were on the kitchen counter, move stuff from the living room and kitchen into other rooms in order to take care of the water damage even though there is no room to do such a thing in this tiny townhouse, pay $1000 deductible for our homeowners insurance (after that the damage is covered), and hope that we don't have a major plumbing problem (fixing pipes/the cause of the problem is not covered)...the list goes on. Well, that's all I have to say...there are a couple of things I wanted to blog about, but they have been superseded. Maybe in a few days I'll mention the following when things aren't crazy around here: iPod vending machine and Morse code.

Where Art Thou, Thanksgiving?

So, I've never been overly into Thanksgiving. Though, I always like when it comes around because I can enjoy it and appreciate it without feeling like some kind of fraud like with religious holidays. Though, I usually think at least once each year about how Native Americans were thanked for their kindness with slaughter. But, I digress. I know people say this every year, but Christmastime seems to come along earlier every year. But, this year, it really did come earlier!! WASH FM, the soft rock/adult contemporary radio station I listen to sometimes always plays Christmas/holiday music starting the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas. But, when I turned on the radio today, I was astounded to hear something strange...a song from The Grinch or something. I thought maybe it was a fluke (a wierd fluke), but I was later validated by what sounded like a Michael Bolton holiday song. What?? It's not even Thanksgiving yet. What happened to Thanksgiving? It's like no one cares anymore. There are day after Thanksgiving sales, but that doesn't count. The food tends to be the same at Thanksgiving and Christmas, which works for me since its usually yummy. And its family time. When your family is scattered throughout the country, it's nice to have a reason to get together, even if its just the once for the holiday, even though we all know we shouldn't wait until a holiday to see our family if we can help it. But, once is better than none. Maybe I missed the memo, but I still like Thanksgiving, even if it is just a precursor to Christmas.