new site

Hey, folks.

I've got a new blog, so please update links. Why? Well, I wanted to go with a new look and stuff, since I'm updating to a new life, but I didn't want to change my old one or how it looked, because I liked it. So I'm just keeping it as an archive.

Well, I graduated, worked a few days, and am now back in Visalia.

More to come, including pictures.

fatigue

Earlier today, I was tired. How tired was I? SO TIRED. One of the faults of blogs, as with any other written medium, is that there is a limit to the extremity that one can express. I can make my words all caps, then bold and italicize them, but the phrase still lacks that special roll of the eyes and/or wave of the arm that provide Deb's drama queen antics with so much cachet.

But anyway, I was SO TIRED that I took a nap. This is a notable event, because it is very difficult for me to nap: I'm too highstrung to settle down and sleep in the middle of the day; it's enough of a task to settle down to sleep for several hours at night. My napping is become much more frequent as I get older, though, in that it has occurred twice within the year 2005. Whew! I'll be nodding off in the middle of sentences before you know it!

In my own defence, I have reason to be tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep over the past several days, I've been working hard on school (and somewhat less hard on work), traveling hundreds of miles and staying on dorm floors and living room couches, and yesterday was a long day. Jeff and I drove from Whittier to Visalia last night, and arrived at 1 am, after which we both crashed in bed. When I woke up this morning, I was still tired and wanted to sleep more. Jeff decided that we needed to go shopping, so we picked up fast food breakfast (I'm a sucker for egg and cheese burritos and greasy hash browns) and went to Costco for bulk dry goods and stuff. I stumbled and wandered through Costco, and when we got home, I was just so sleepy that I just had to lie down on our comfy couch in the sunshine (when there was sunshine). Jeff ate a prime rib lunch (he made it from scratch), and I conked out for two hours, after which I awoke thoroughly groggy.

I'm still alive. Just can't think of anything good to write.

fled

Yes, it is true.

I fled the LA/Orange County area yesterday afternoon. I had little reason to stay at work (long story involving all my coworkers actually being on travel this week, so nobody really needed me to be there), so I surprised Jeff by driving home and being in the house when he got here. Heheh.

So here I am in Visalia, getting lots of stuff done. I have work and school stuff to do.

Jeff and I are both working hard on finding employment. We have a few good leads, but nothing definite yet. I'll give more information as we know more. =)

Weekend in review

Jeff and I spent Friday evening and Saturday with the Guthries (Sam and Melissa, aka the Gu-3s). We began by eating Pho, then watched Finding Neverland, and then crashed for a well-deserved sleep.

Saturday found us all having a slow start, then doing useful things like homework (Melissa, Jeff, and Deb) and messing with a computer (Sam). Three words: Ebonics language lesson. We wanted to go to Darya, a Persian restaurant, but they didn't have lunch prices on the weekend, so it was too expensive to eat there. We checked in with two other places, and both were closed. We ended up at Pomodoro at the Orange Mall, and it was okay. I had a lot of fun talking with Sam and Melissa. We went back to their place and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, while I did some more homework.

Jeff and I then made our way to the Winters' for their now-traditional annual Christmas party. It was fun, and we stayed up way too late. We slept in till 10 am, so we didn't get to go to church, but we did meet my parents and Dan for lunch at the Lakewood Mall. We then went back to the Block to meet the Winters again, and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Ben and Amanda hadn't seen it yet. After dinner at TGI Fridays, we headed up to the Yoshimotos'. Jeff, Josh, and Laurel are all in bed already; I am just up waiting for my laundry to be done in the dryer.

This week in review

It wasn't so interesting that I have to write a huge thesis about it, but here are a few highlights:

Monday
-Drove 225 miles to work.
-After getting to work, my favorite khaki pants ripped in the rear. Very traumatised, but fortunately, was able to avoid "most embarrassing moment" scenario, and had suitcase full of clothing in car in parking lot. Was unable to find replacement pants at Savers. Am now down to two pair of pants for entire week.
-Lunch at Quiznos with some of the guys; one of them is leaving for another company, so it was the last lunch with him.
-Spent the night with Mia in Emerson.

Tuesday
-Worked part of day at work.
-Ran errands at school, including going to Talbot office and library.
-Dropped into the Word and Image metatorrey class for a pleasant time. There was much discussion about "Is Indiana Jones an anti-hero, and does he change for the better in Raiders of the Lost Ark?" and "Why does everyone like It's a Wonderful Life so much?" Lots to think about, even though I don't care for It's a Wonderful Life (IMHO, Capra went downhill after 1939 and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), and like Temple of Doom best of the three Indiana Jones movies.
-Ate and chatted with Joi. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did. I love talking with her, because we both bring such different perspectives to the table, yet I think we have a lot in common. We both see the world in ways that are unique when compared to people around, and have (I think) a sort of sensitive artistic temperament. Joi is a real artist, and I am-- well, what am I? I guess I'm not really an artist, per se, but I like to pretend that I am. But no matter, I learn a lot from Joi.
-Tried to study, but couldn't, due to the hustle and bustle of Mia and Misty packing and getting ready to fly to Washington D.C. for an anthropology conference the next day. Slept instead.

Wednesday
-Fairly routine day at work. Coworker generously gave me some guavas from his yard-- crispy and tart, with white centers. Yum!
-Studied at Starbucks in the B&N at Amerige Heights with Christina and Will.
-Spent night with Christina and Corky.

Thursday
-More fun at work.
-Roommate night with Sara and Elizabeth. Well, Sara came fairly late, but then we watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Still not sure what I think about the movie. I didn't think the direction was all that great, yet somehow it was structured skillfully enough to evoke all the proper emotions at all the proper times. One thing I can praise is the acting-- No scenery chewing, yet all the young leads carried themselves well and very professionally. I would not be surprised if we see great things from them in the future, particularly America Ferrera (Carmen--so gorgeous!) and Amber Tamblyn (Tibby--totally my kind of girl). I guess I would not say that this is a great movie, or even good movie, by any standard, but I would say that it is an outstanding film within its genre of teenage-girl-friends-coming-of-age-movies (and yes, I know that's like saying Big Daddy is an outstanding film within the genre of "comedies" made by Adam Sandler... but not quite so damning with the faint praise and all).
-Accomplished absolutely no studying at all.
-Spent night with Elizabeth and her pets (frogs and hermit crabs).

Friday
-Work again.
-Saw that there were 70 formerly reserved tickets for the Narnia premiere that were released and available. Ran over to school and got two, so that Jeff and I can go; he really wanted to, but we didn't get tickets in time, when they were first offered. We're going to the 6:45 pm showing. Look out, Nicole Kidman, because Deb is going to be working the red carpet for the first time!
-Going to have dinner and spend the evening with the Guthries, in a bit. Jeff is driving down, as we speak.
-Two weeks till graduation. I have SO MUCH to do. *panic*

Just facts, no opinions here

I just ate a little packet of Peanut M&Ms, and all of them were either green or orange. Was this some kind of St. Patrick’s Day promotional thing? You know, like the green, white, and red M&Ms at Christmas. Or was it coincidence? Wow.

Today is World AIDS Day. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the World Malaria Day, the World Tuberculosis Day, or the World Schistosomiasis Day. I guess I'll be waiting for a while, since most people don't care about deadly diseases unless Hollywood celebrities or rock stars declare them to be a worthy cause.

Today is also the day that demonstrators are choosing to fly the Bintang Kejora (West Papuan flag), in commemoration of the 1 December 1961 declaration of independence and autonomous rule, which was quickly squelched by Indonesia.

These two facts are curiously related (and prove that my grousing about the prominent coverage of HIV/AIDS should not lead one to assume that I am blind to the actual significance of HIV/AIDS). Significantly, West Papua (western half of New Guinea) is Indonesia’s most sparsely populated province, yet has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection. If unchecked (and as far as I can tell, Papua constitutes a ticking time bomb that nobody in, say, the UN really wants to touch), it will quickly reach the epidemic proportions found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Think one can't find humor in pathological viral infection on the pandemic level? Think again. BBC reported that the King of Swaziland (he of the 13 wives, but that's not the humorous part) banned AIDS Day observances because they coincided and conflicted with a traditional celebration, despite the fact that Swaziland has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS infection (no, that's not the funny part, either). Apparently, this innovative ruler instituted a four-year (ended in August 2005) sex ban for young Swazis, in an attempt to stem the spread of the prominent disease; the BBC correspondent observed that this action was quite unpopular among young people, especially in urban areas. Ya think?