Prince Caspian

I just watched the second movie of the Narnia series, "Prince Caspian." I know. I know. It came out a long time ago, but I liked it. The special effects were cool. I liked the mice characters. :) Kinda like Puss-'n-Boots from "Shrek." It definitely had a different feel from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." That one felt more magical. This lacked a bit. Maybe because the bad guys are human... Some parts were still really cool though. The magical trees are much better than LOTR's Ents. They were so much more lively and flexible.

And what's up with Susan's stupid lines? In the first movie, she said something like "Just because you're given a sword doesn't mean you're a hero!" to Peter as he was trying to find a way for them to cross the river or ice crossing or something. And in this movie, to Peter, she says, "Just exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?!" as he's trying to save the Narnians. The answer is kinda obvious? He's doing it for Narnia? For his country? I give this movie ***.* (3.5 stars).

Defiance

Oh! I cannot wait until this movie comes out. I love love love movies about war and survival. But I gotta wait until next December, I think. Oh the torture!

Valkyrie

This movie is "eh." Maybe it was just "eh" because I was sitting in the second row third seat from the aisle, and I had a hard time understanding some of their accents? And they talked really fast sometimes! Damn! Should I go back to my ESL classes??!! Hahah! I thought I would absolutely love this movie because I love almost anything that has to do with war and victims of war, but this one was just okay. Some moments were really intense, and I certainly don't have a problem staring at Tom Cruise for a couple of hours. (Too bad he's weird. His hot points went down after that whole Katie Holmes thing started...) I've never heard of Operation Valkyrie until now. Since this movie was just based off of a true story, I don't know how much of it is factual. But it's good and sort of comforting to know that there were people trying to overthrow Hitler. All of these people were true heroes. They sacrificed their lives and their families to fight for righteousness and freedom. This movie gets ***.* (3.5 stars). :)

Seven Pounds

Excellent acting. (There's talk of Will Smith getting an Oscar?) Beautiful and interesting story. A bit of a slow beginning. Makes you think. What would you give for love? What would you give to erase mistakes you've made? What would you want to do before you die? What are you taking for granted? What would you give your life for? How would you commit suicide? (Yikes! Don't like that last question too much, but it is kinda interesting... :\) This movie gets **** (4 stars). :)

Best Movie of the Year Goes to...

Gran Torino. I haven't seen a lot of the new releases so don't know how this compares to other '08 releases, but I'm sure a lot of others will agree that this is yet another fine movie by Mr. Clint Eastwood.


What's it about? It basically tells the story of an old white veteran (who seems to hate everybody except his late wife) who gets to know... and eventually like... his Hmong neighbors. This Hmong family clashes with an Asian gang, and Walt (Eastwood's character) gets involved. It's sort of silly to think of a 78-year-old man being an action hero, but with Clint Eastwood, not only does he deliver, but he sure is scary. His words and menacing eyes can make anyone pee in their pants.

One small detail included in the movie that many people will not get is the tattoo of one of the Hmong gangsters. Two Chinese characters for "family" is written proudly across his chest. Another member kept using their blood lines as an excuse to get Walt's neighber, a teenage boy named Thao, to join their gang. After refusing to partake, this gang commits horrendous and unspeakable acts to their "family." It makes you think what does "family" really mean. Is it defined with a family tree? Is it defined with love for each other? Walt struggles with this throughout the movie...

This film kept my attention from beginning to end. The dialog is hysterical, particularly the racist bits. The story and the lives of these people seem so real. It deals with family, honor, violence, vengeance, love, life and death... I don't want to give anything away so will stop here. Just wanna say, this movie gets ***** (five stars). :) It is so awesome.

Day or Night?

It's the night of December 12 (but technically, it's the 13th). Tonight's moon is supposed to be the brightest for this whole year. I tried taking a look earlier, but it was raining. Yay!! It's raining!! It's actually raining!! So before retiring for the evening, I looked out the window and saw that it's so freakin' bright outside! Looks like the sun is about to rise. Beautiful. Coupled with the smell of rain, it was even more beautiful.

Crumple or Fold?

A while back, I was asked, "Do you crumple or do you fold?" "Huh?" I looked at my friend in confusion. "You know, when you go to the bathroom, do you crumple or fold the toilet paper?"

Ooooh!! Never thought about that actually, but I think I crumple then fold. Crumpling makes it a little fluffier, otherwise, you would have to use layers upon layers of folded toilet paper to get a good thickness - one that won't tear through and you'd be wiping your ass with your fingers. Don't want to do that! But then just crumpling doesn't give you much control of the paper. It can fall apart and lose its shape easily. That's why you have to fold, er, rather, wrap your new creation to seal it. If you do the crumple and wrap, you'll always have a good wiping experience. :)

Good luck and have fun!

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so I'm starting to think about resolutions for the coming year. I don't even know why I bother because I never follow through with them, but I guess it's a standing tradition, so why the heck not?!

I've come up with two so far:

1. Draw that darn wedding portrait of my parents. (I said I would in 1997. Pretty sad. I know...)
2. Work out enough to fit into my old clothes comfortably! I'm sure this one or something similar is on nearly everyone's lists. All the luck to you!! And me!! Heehee...

That's it for now!

Brad's Stache

Dear Mr. Pitt,

Please please please shave off your 'stache! Or at least once the filming for the movie which requires you to have that awkward splotch of hair on your upper lip is done. Makes you look so much older. :(

Your one true love,
Josephine

* Photo borrowed from dailymail.

Jingle Bells Again?!

I call KOIT 96.5fm my karaoke station. Whenever I feel like singing along to a sappy or cheesy song, I go to that station and I'm bound to either run into Madonna (not so great), Whitney Houston (awesome!), or some artist belting about how love is wonderful or horrible. Most of these songs can be found in karaoke books everywhere! Love it! But starting this weekend, they're going to start playing Christmas songs all day everyday. How horrible is that. I can only take so much of Frosty and Rudolph. Hmph. Oh well. Better get my fill of the cheese before this weekend rolls around. Well, a couple other sappy stations are 94.5 and 101.3, but those aren't "karaoke" enough for me.

And...

I don't think there was anything McCain could have done to win this election. This country is in such bad shape that people want to see change. We need change. And believing a democratic president will bring this much needed change, the majority of Americans voted for Obama. Sorry, McCain. You ran a good race. :)

A Brighter Future

Hallelujah!! Go out and celebrate!! The people of the United States of America have finally opened their eyes and elected a Democratic president. Barack Obama is going to be our 44th president! And he won by a lot of electoral votes! There is hope for us afterall!! After the ridiculous results of the 2004 election, I didn't know what would happen. I'm so glad the people have finally had enough of bad, selfish, and immature decisions. Who would have thought that a black man with the name of Obama (kinda sounds like Osama so-and-so) could be elected president, but wudduya know?! Great things can happen. :)

Come January, a lot of weight will be thrown on President Elect Obama's shoulders. There certainly is a lot to fix! But I truly hope and pray that he and his group of advisors will make the right decisions and rebuild our nation. No more war. No more shaky economy. No more dependence on oil. No more fear. No more global embarrassment and shame. It is a historic and happy night for many Americans, particularly African Americans (except for the horrible racists... haha! Screw you guys!! Suckas!!!!). I hope this is the start of a bright and prosperous future for us. (Our stocks are already going up! Yay!)

***

I just finished watching his acceptance speech. Awesome stuff. He stirred hope, optimism, and lifted spirits to all of us watching. I'm so excited for him to start his term and see what changes will be made.

Izzie at the Beach

Izzie took her first little trip to the beach a couple of weekends ago in Santa Monica. This was her first contact with sand.


You can see her apparent displeasure from the texture. :)

The Most Awesome Night EVER!!

OH

MY

GOD.

I have never loved the New Kids more than I do right now!! Went to their concert Friday night at the HP Pavilion, and oh my goodness, I had such an amazing time and so did all of my friends, including a straight male friend who went because his wife made him. AAAHHH!! I don't even know where to begin! Okay, my excitement started to build as I was walking towards the arena along with hundreds of other girls, some sporting their New Kids on the Block t-shirts and buttons. One even wore leggings with black lace trim. Totally early 90's. I've never seen such a huge sea of women. I was telling my friend that this would be a guy's paradise. But then decided that girls would probably think he's either gay or some poor schlep that was forced into going... You could just feel the energy in the air. Smiles and excited chatter everywhere. (I'm listening to New Kids on pandora right now and my heart is racing again!!! Oh my god!!!)

So first to open was Lady Gaga. (When I first saw her name, I thought it said "Lady Caca.") I like her music. Lots of dance stuff. And she has a hot pair of legs. Second opener was Natasha Bedingfield! Her songs have always been hit and miss with me, so I wasn't too excited to see her. I've converted after last night. I love her! My new favorite song is Love Like This. It's so happy! I love it! Her voice is so strong, and I love that she's not cutesy. I hate cutesy girls.

Now for the main headliner - The New Kids on the Block. Wow! Okay, the New Kids have always been my favorite group. I was a huge fan when I was a lot younger, but never had the opportunity to go to a concert. So I was super excited to go to this one. It was surreal to be sitting there in the arena along with more than 15,000 other screaming fans. I couldn't even hear their opening song, Single, because of all the shrieking throughout the stadium. Of course, I contributed. I contributed a lot. As a matter of fact, my voice sounds like I've been screaming non-stop for nearly two hours the previous night. They took us back to our teenage years with the most awesome songs ever like Please Don't Go Girl, I'll be Loving You Forever (my favorite!), Step by Step, Cover Girl, My Favorite Girl, Tonight, and so much more! And they also sang some of their newer songs like their new hit Summertime (which is growing on me), Click Click , etc.

The show was one big highlight for me. One big moment of awesomeness. But if I had to choose a wow moment, it'd be when Jordan wore that shirt... unbuttoned. Hubba hubba hubba. Those wild screams from lustful women... what an earful! I just gotta say... Jordan is one hot fella. And Jonathan is soooo handsome and looks so sweet! And Danny looks great! And Donnie and Joey are awesome too, have aged well, and really took the crowd. Jordan did too. :)

They ended the night wearing Celtics jerseys and singing Hangin' Tough. It was a great and appropriate finale. As the music kept rolling, the five of them ran through the doorway and disappeared... and appeared again as they did a little lap around the stage, clearly having a great time. They ran off the stage again for the last time. I so did not want it to end! I couldn't believe I just saw The New Kids on the Block... in the flesh... What a dream come true!

NKOTB

When I was in my early teens, I was like many other young girls... and some boys. I was madly in love with the New Kids on the Block. Hehehe... especially Jordan Knight. So when my friend asked me if I wanted to go to their October concert, I was like, sure, why not? Since my teen years, I no longer devote most of my time drooling over Jordan and memorizing their lyrics. I sing along with their songs whenever it comes up on my iTunes, but that's about it. Haven't been interested in their latest songs... actually, that song about the summer was not that great...

So anyway, last night changed everything. I saw a VH1 special, I think, about the New Kids. It talked about how they started, why they broke up, and how they all got back together again. OH MY GOSH! Hearing them croon "Please Don't Go Girl" and "I'll Be Loving You" made my heart melt all over again!! I can't believe how quickly the fan in me burst out. I was perched on the couch, slapping my bf excitedly. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" Pretty annoying, I know. :)

These five boys have grown up to be some fine men. My how lovely Joey and Jon looks now. Heehee... Jordan's still cool too. :) I can say that they have truly grown up from boyz II men. Heehee... Can't wait 'til their concert!!! Ten more days!! I gotta go find my pins!!

Some Random Things

1. My mom just made a Chinese dessert that looks like little black poopies sitting in caca water. The water tastes good because it's just water, a brick of brown sugar, and ginger. But the poopies are kinda bitter because she put this vegetable inside. Hmm, vegetable + dessert don't really seem like they mix well. Reminds me of that Friends episode when Rachel made that dessert with layers of whipped cream, jam, ground meat, peas...


2. My mom brought home the ugliest stuffed animal I have ever seen in my entire life. This dog looks like a burn victim. My brother said it looks like a rabid dog. But mom thinks it's so cute and nice. My bf claims that he would buy it. Reasoning behind that is that he believes no one else in the world would buy such a thing and he'd feel sorry for it. I've grown to like this super ugly stuffed animal. I named him "Scary."


He can be friends with "Ugly" the Tahoe bear. When Keith gave this to me, I thought this was the ugliest stuffed animal ever made. Mom's got worse taste than Keith!


3. And I saved the coolest bit for last! I saw a siamese moth the other day!! It had two heads, two sets of wings, two sets of everything, but just ONE body! It was soooo cool! Too bad I couldn't get a better picture. And no, it's not photoshopped. Why in the world would I spend time doctoring a mutated moth. Now if it was a Bigfoot...

Long Week

I can not wait until this week is over. It's been a long one. Haven't had such a bad week in a really really long time. I'm tired and need a break. Sooooo.... I can't wait until Friday night! It'll be the start of a long weekend for me! Yay!!! I can see the light!!!

Another Funny Dream

I had quite a dream last night. My boyfriend and I were going to visit one of my work clients, JT. When we get there, he wants to introduce us to his hot new wife. The bf and I wander to the backyard and see her. Wow. She is the definition of natural beauty. Keith says "Hi" to her and instantly falls in love. They stare into each other's eyes, he leans in and pecks her on the lips. "What?! What just happened," I thought. Again, he leans in and they kiss again! Ugh! I can not believe he is doing this right in front of me. Totally forgot I am here. Anyway! I walk out of the room and check out the rest of the house.

My friend's wedding reception is adjoined to this small estate. I sit down at my table-- without Kieth (hmph!). The bride and groom come up to everyone at the table and ask, "Okay, what do you want for dinner?" I was thinking, "What? You didn't ask this in the rsvp card?" So I ask, "What do you have?" The bride replies, "Salad, chicken, salmon, halibut, and steak." From out of nowhere, Mae appears and tells me she got the salad. If anyone knows Mae, this is so unlikely. Haha! So I ask the bride, "How's the halibut?" Bleh bleh bleh... I ask again, "What?" "It's GROSS!!" Shocked to hear that she was so honest, I decide to go with the steak. When my dinner arrives, my steak looks like a flat piece of brown plastic. On top of it is a flat piece of white plastic that's supposed to be mashed potatoes. Man. That stuff sure is chewy! If this is like this, I wonder how bad the halibut must be! And now I know why Mae got the salad. She must have gotten the inside scoop that all meat is bad here. As I am chewing away, the bride's hand pops out. "That'll be $6.75, please!" "What?! I have to pay for my dinner??" This is so strange!! So I start looking for money and manage to get change from them....

P.S. I woke up being mad at Keith. I'm gonna get him back for what he did to me... in my dream. X(

Speaking as a Lovesick Teen...

I'm in love with Raymond Lam. It makes sense because he looks like Louis Koo, my original crush of many years, but Raymond is just younger. Oh my goodness. I sound like a cougar. Hahaha!! Well, anyway, Raymond, my love, has a fantastic voice and when his hair is nice and clean cut, uuuggghhhh, he just looks sooooo hot. So yummy.

Here's my ex. Hahaha...


And here's my new love...


This is a video of him singing. His voice is pretty good. :)



And here he is in the awesome soap I'm watching now speaking English. It's funny. :)

Moonlight Resonance

I've always been a huge fan of Chinese soaps. Moonlight Resonance is my latest addiction. This 40 chapter masterpiece at 40 minutes a chapter offers hours and hours and hours of mouth-dropping drama, humor, suspense... everything!!! I'm already dreading the final chapter. Once it's over, I will be suffering from major withdrawal. In the meantime though, this is the best thing ever!

Weird Dreams Again

I've been having a lot of dreams about animals lately. They're pretty strange.

1. I dreamed that I was at the foot of some mountains, probably in Costa Rica somewhere, getting ready to give a horseback ride... yeah, g-i-v-e a horseback ride... to a horse. This horse was strange. Its body parts could disassemble. I remember taking off the head and gingerly placed it on the ground, afraid of hurting it. When it was time to embark on our little trek with the rest of the group, the horse got onto my back. Boy was it heavy! But I didn't complain. My only concern was its comfort. I rubbed and patted its leg and asked, "Are you okay? Are you comfy?"



2. The very next night, I had a dream that I was given a really cute puppy. The cutest little puppy I've ever seen. I loved it so much and wanted to protect it so stuck it in the back of my pants, like inside my pants, almost in my butt crack. Haha... Every once in a while, I'd take it out to pet it and admire it. The last time I retrieved it from inside of my pants, I noticed it was sort of hard and no longer moving. I placed it on the ground. Took a few steps back, and realized that this puppy I loved so much was dead. In the attempt of protecting it, I killed it. As I stared in grief and horror, he turned into an orchid petal. Before I had any time to react, it turned into a pile of mush. I had to clean up the mess. As I wiped up with a towel, I felt some bones amid the puddle of my liquified puppy. :(



3. Just a couple of nights ago, I dreamed that I was trying to get home via the subway. I walked up a long flight of winding stairs to find overcast skies and an unkept beach. Looked kinda like Ocean Beach, actually! This was obviously not home, so I started to go back down the stairs. Since the opening was made of sand, it started to crack a little. Afraid that it would collapse, I went back up. All of a sudden, my friend, Mae, and a bunch of other strangers appeared and started down the stairs. I called to Mae, "Mae! Be careful! I heard it cracking earlier. I think it's gonna collapse!! Be careful!!" She waved to me in acknowledgement but continued anyway. Right afterwards, I heard a huge craaaacckkkk and the whole thing fell into the ground. Everybody was gone. Everything was lifeless.

Cut. Next scene. I was held captive by Amazonian warriors. My brother was beside me. I saw Mae and the rest of the people who perished in front of me close by. I was relieved they weren't dead. Instead of bounding us with ropes or twine, we were to pair up and hold a piece of rope. Each person holds one end. We were not to let go. My brother suddenly had an urge to take a bath. I rolled my eyes. "Are you serious?! You wanna take a bath NOW?!" He insisted on it, so I followed him holding my end of the rope. As I turned the other way while he was bathing, I shook my head in disbelief. We were prisoners with no idea of what our future held and there he was taking a bath... A hand stuck out in front of me holding a platter of meat. It was raw meat. The man (who was the owner of this hand) gestured to me to eat this. I picked up a piece of flesh and flipped it over. There were blue and red and green feathers on the other side. Oh god. It looked awfully like a macaw, a beautiful bird of the Amazon. I managed to tear away chunks of flesh with my teeth. It was really nasty. The man then confirmed that I was eating a macaw.


All images were borrowed from other sites.

Dumbest Reason to be Stuck in Traffic

I was stuck in sluggish traffic on my way up to San Ramon for about half an hour today. I just assumed there was a stalled vehicle, minor accident, you know, the norm. Didn't really spend any time thinking about it. As I was approaching the Sheridan exit, I noticed three people standing at the overpass waving to all the commuters below. My initial thought was that they were pretty amusing, a good break from the frustration that's built up in the past half hour, until things started speeding up right after I drove under the overpass. I couldn't believe they were the reason for the traffic jam! Three stupid adults waving to drivers below could cause such a hectic drive. I saw two motorcycle cops whiz by as I approached them. I hope those people got a beat down! Just kidding. I do not condone violence... for the most part. :)

Dodgeball

A few friends and I are gathering tomorrow to play a good ol' game of dodgeball. The dodgeball I played in elementary school is very different from what was shown in "Dodgeball", the movie. In school, what we did was split into two teams. One team who is armed with red rubber balls forms a circle while the other team groups up in the middle. The game starts when the team on the outside (Team A) starts throwing balls at the people inside (Team B). Whoever gets hit is out. If a member of Team B catches a ball and throws and strikes a Team A member, that person in Team A is out. I guess the "real" version of dodgeball is sort of similar except that both teams are behind lines. Well, our dodgeball game tomorrow will be quite interesting. We'll be playing with rollerblades on. Since I'm horribly uncoordinated in inline skates, I will need lots of luck, so send some good energy this way please.

If any of you are interested, here are the rules I got from dodgeballusa.com.

THE TEAM
Teams will be made up of 6-10 players. Six(6) players will compete on a side; others will be available as substitutes. Substitutes may enter the game only during timeouts or in the case of injury.

THE FIELD
The game may be played indoors or outdoors. The playing field shall be a rectangle at least 50 ft long and at least 30 ft wide, divided into two (2) equal sections by a center-line and attack-lines 3m from, and parallel to the centerline.

IDEAL MEASUREMENTS: 60’ x 30’ – Identical to a volleyball court.

THE EQUIPMENT
The official ball used in tournament and league play will be an 8.25" rubber-coated foam ball.

THE GAME
The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them "OUT". This may be done by:

1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.

2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the ground.

Definition: LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, including the floor/ground, another ball, another player, official or other item outside of the playing field (wall, ceiling, etc)

BOUNDARIES
During play, all players must remain within the boundary lines. Players may leave the boundaries through their end-line only to retrieve stray balls. They must also return through their end-line.

THE OPENING RUSH
Game begins by placing the dodgeballs along the center line – three (3) on one side of the center hash and three (3) on the other. Players then take a position behind their end line. Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerline to retrieve the balls. This signal officially starts the contest. Teams may only retrieve the three (3) balls to their right of the center hash. Once a ball is retrieved it must be taken behind the attack-line before it can be legally thrown.

TIMING AND WINNING A GAME
The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. A 3-minute time limit has been established for each contest. If neither team has been eliminated at the end of the 3 minutes, the team with the greater number of players remaining will be declared the winner. Details on overtime can be found in the NADA Rule Book.

TIME-OUTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
Each team will be allowed one (1) 30 second timeout per game. At this time a team may substitute players into the game.

5-SECOND VIOLATION
In order to reduce stalling, a violation will be called if a team in the lead controls all six (6) balls on their side of the court for more than 5 seconds. This also applies to tied teams. More details can be found in the NADA Rule Book

Whew!

So the 2008 Summer Olympics are over and was a great success. What I'm relieved about is that Juselino Nóbrega da Luz was wrong about the Olympics being a failure! (I wrote a little about him in a July post.) I just hope he is wrong about everything else!!

Tree Sitters

Man! Those tree sitters in Berkeley are far more annoying than some of my relatives. If it was up to me, I'd just chop down those trees whether they're in there or not. That'll teach them a lesson. They probably already lost sight of what they're fighting for anyway. It's been so freakin' long. I can't imagine how much of the taxpayers' money was used because of these protesters... Stupid people.

Ta Prohm

Yay! After much time away from my latest masterpiece, I finally found the time to finish my painting! The source is of a photo I took while wandering through the ruins of Ta Prohm, an Angkor temple in Cambodia. Hope you likes!

The End of Life as You Know It

I was looking through Craigslist postings yesterday while my bf was on the phone. I saw one from a guy who seems like he's getting rid of tons of stuff! He had three kayaks, a canoe, kiteboarding gear, parachute, coats, rollerskates, rollerblades, tents, sleeping bags, exercise equipment, skis, snowboard, snowshoes, and the list goes on and on and on. When I saw this long list, I told my bf that this guy is getting rid of everything! His response was, "Maybe he just got married." Hahaha, if that was true, the poor bastard just killed his soul and spirit.

Such Fools!

The two men who claimed that they found Bigfoot and the "Bigfoot researcher" are total idiots. They are the least credible people with a history of lies and armed with THREE blurry pictures and DNA results showing that one sample is human DNA, another from a possum, and the third inconclusive due to technical problems. I wonder how long they are planning on keeping up this charade. Can you believe they're offering tours to find more Bigfoot for $500?! I REALLY hope no one will sign up for this! That's the stupidest thing! I just want to shake the stupid out of them!! I never knew there are such brainless people out there, thinking that they can profit from something as solid as water. I'm just baffled by their stupidity! WHY would you do this? I just don't get it. I watched a little of the press conference yesterday and you could just tell that they never crafted the full details of their story cuz they got stumped with questions. I give props to the journalist standing in the back of the room firing questions at the three idiots while wearing a Chewbacca costume. Nice. :)

The Olympics Effect

Watching the Olympics, games where the most amazing athletes in the world compete against each other and break world records, has not inspired me to become more athletic, but has turned me into a complete couch potato. So sad but true. When are these friggin' games over?! If I keep watching, my skin will start melting into the leather couch! That wont' smell great...

I just finished watching the all-around female gymnastics competition. These girls are awesome. Not only do they have amazing physical ability, but they have such great composure! When Nastia saw her final high score, she just smiled. I woulda whooped for joy! And when it was decided that she's the gold medal winner, she smiled a lot and hugged her dad a lot. If it was me? I'd be either bawling like a baby or running wild like a crazy woman! No, both!! I'd point at all my competition and scream, "SUCKAAAAAAAAAS!!" Just kidding. I'd do a roundhouse kick, then scream. Shoot. I can't do a roundhouse kick in real life, well, not one that wouldn't cause any injury to myself or anyone near me, but doing a good roundhouse is more likely than becoming an Olympic medalist. Shoot. I better go to sleep. I'm starting to not make any sense. Yes.

Holy crap! A wrestler got the bronze in some competition, and after receiving the medal on the medals stand, he took off his medal and stalked off! He said the judging was unfair, and he deserved the gold! Let's see if he'll get stripped of his medal!

My eyes are burning from too much artificial light! Good night and good luck!! :)

Woah! It's Bigfoot!

I am definitely not a bigfoot skeptic. I will believe almost anything. If you tell me dinosaurs still exist in untouched areas of the Amazon, I'll believe it! But this claim that these two guys from Georgia found this corpse of this once mythical bigfoot in the remote forests of Georgia seems a little unbelievable. If this is real, why couldn't they have posted a better photo? The face looks like a poor Photoshop job. I can do better. And it looks amazingly like those ape costumes used in those sci-fi movies. And instead of just revealing the DNA evidence and other photos, why can't they just reveal the actual corpse? So many questions, but I doubt we'll get good answers. Well. We shall see if this is a hoax or not at tomorrow's press conference in Palo Alto...

Simple Pleasure - Water Balloon Fight

Nothing brings out our inner child more than a good water balloon fight on a hot summer day. A couple of weeks ago, my friends threw a birthday party for their 1 year old daughter. One of the forms of entertainment was water balloons. At first, we played organized games, but inevitably, this turned into a full on water balloon war. This is probably the only game that both attackers and victims enjoy attacking and being victimized. A game so simple can turn everyone into a child, erase ill feelings and turn enemies into friends, even if it's momentary. I think we all ought to play once in a while. Forget what hurts/pains/angers you and engage in a good water balloon fight.

Dream ## - The Pitts

The other night, I had a dream that Brad Pitt and I were deeply in love with each other. It was a love like no other. We were truly happy. But one day, Angelina came into the picture. She seduced him with her awesome sexy power. No wait. She's not awesome. And she took him away. I was so heartbroken and so mad. I hated her. Grrrrrr... We all know who's supposed to be the real Mrs. Pitt!!

Izzieeeee!!

Isabella and her proud mother. :)

Yosemite July 2008

The old bf and I made a short trip to Yosemite this past weekend. We were not aware of the fire burning in Mariposa, a county neighboring Yosemite, that started last Friday. When we got to the park, we drove straight to Glacier and Washburn Points. The air was a little smoky, but we could still the mountains, waterfalls, and large landmarks of the valley floor well from up there.

This is taken from Washburn Point. To the left is Half Dome and to the right are Vernal and Nevada Falls, also commonly known as The Giant Staircase. Even in this poor light, how you can think this is anything less than incredible?

After a short while of admiring the breathtaking views, we made our way back down to the valley. The difference in that half hour was incredible. The air was a lot denser and gray. I quickly snapped a shot of the valley as we drove by Tunnel View. The parking lot was closed for some reason.

This is a slightly different angle, but it's supposed to look like this.

Half Dome could barely be seen from Sentinel Bridge. We hung out in the valley for a couple more hours, having a casual lunch at the Ahwahnee, checking out the famous landmark, and taking photos of anything that caught our eye. As time quickly flew by, I noticed my eyes started to sting from the increasingly heavy air and my lungs didn't feel quite as strong. Even though the entire valley was blanketed in a fog of smoke, I still found Yosemite to be so incredibly beautiful. It seemed as if all was seen behind a soft red filter. It was beautiful.

The mountains are like gigantic ghosts looming in the background.

El Capitan veiled in smoke.

The sun fighting its way through the darkening skies.

How Accurate is He?

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hit Japan today, July 23, 2008. A Brazilian man by the name of Juselino Nóbrega da Luz already knew this would happen before it happened. This prophet's forecasts are listed in an article in Y Dan, a Vietnamese magazine published on June 1, 2008.

He foresaw:

911

The capture of Saddam Hussein

The death of Pope John Paul

The tsunami in southeast Asia (He even wrote a letter on April 30, 1997, warning a powerful official of some country [don't remember what my dad interpreted for me] that a tsunami will hit on December 26, 2004. He received a response saying that they are much too busy with other things than to worry about his premonitions.)

A large earthquake to hit Japan in July 2008

What does he see in our future?

The China Olympics will not be successful. He sees that the 2004 Olympics was the final one.

September 18, 2008
There will be a devastating 9.1 earthquake in Nanking and Hoinan, China.

December 17, 2008
The US will survive another terrorist attack.

2010
Certain regions of Africa will suffer from severe droughts and extreme temperatures - up to 58 C (136.4 F).

June 15, 2010
New York stock market will collapse with worldwide repercussions

2011
Cures for some cancer will be discovered. Finally! Some good news! BUT! Humans will contract a disease that will cause victims to die within four hours.

November 25, 2013
A volcano will erupt off the waters of Spain, causing a 150 foot high tsunami. These waves can even be felt in Brazil and the US.

2016
There will be a typhoon in China taking the lives of many people

2016
George W. Bush will pass away from a medical emergency.

2026
"The Big One" hits San Francisco. Parts of California will collapse into the Pacific.

I really hope none of these will come true, but he was right on with some things though. It's sad to say that our future looks pretty bleak...

Nightmares

I had a dream the other night that I was carefully inspecting my hair, and the horrors I discovered! I had split ends!! This is the second time I had this nightmare. A guy I know laughed when I told him this. "Only a woman would have a dream about that." So true.

This is an interpretation I found at dreamdictionary.com.

If your hair was luxuriant and you were pleased with its appearance and/or condition, it is a sign of good health, progress, and contentment; but if it was thin, falling out, or worrying you in any way, it forecasts difficulties ahead.

It all depends on how you see things. An occurrence may seem very unlucky after hearing this dream interpretation, but if I never learned of it, that same occurrence may not phase me at all! Heh heh heh. I currently do not see or forecast any difficulties ahead, but we shall see. We shall see...

P.S. I Love You

Spread the word! Josephine has a new favorite movie! And the honor goes tooooooo... P.S. I Love You.

Yes, this is a chick flick, but it doesn't have your typical ditz playing the leading role. It's Hilary Swank. C'mon. And the leading man is Gerard Butler. Remember King Leonidas from 300? The man's man? Yup, that's him!

I really loved Hilary Swank's character, Holly. She was so flawed and imperfect. She was so real and lovable. And Gerry (Gerard Butler) was such a lovable character too! And he's not bad looking. :) I'm not going to say anything about the storyline because I knew nothing about the movie before watching it. Maybe that made it better? But I cried 10+ times during, and even while talking about it later on, I continued crying! What is it about these crying movies that make me love them so?!

So if you have nothing to do, please go rent or buy P.S. I Love You. It may entice you a little more to know that my male boss (who is not gay) cried a couple times while watching as well. :) I can't wait to watch it again! I love love love this movie.

Joke of the Day

Q: What did the farmer say when he saw the brown chicken doing the brown cow?

A: Brown chicken brown cow.

Don't get it? Utter the notes ubiquitously used when someone is referring to porn. Get it now?!

Look...

at what I ate for breakfast yesterday.

So Cute I Wanna Squeeze Her 'til She Cries!!

G-8

It is "mind-bottling" (hahaha... from Blades of Glory for those of you who are not in the know) to think that a group of the richest world leaders (Germany, Russia, Japan, US, France, England, Canada, and Italy) can set aside three whole days of meetings in hopes of solving the world's problems. Three entire days! Truly mind-bottling. They have these meetings annually, but can problems really be solved in such a short period of time? In the past, these international super countries were actually world leaders, meaning their combined contribution and influence made a big difference to the rest of the world. But today, there are emerging countries that hold a lot more power than they once did. How are the G-8 meetings supposed to solve anything if these emerging countries aren't involved? Well, at least China is included this year... They are growing at an alarming rate.

And what about the environmental issues? I honestly don't think that they are taking this seriously. Instead of setting goals to be accomplished by 2050, why don't they make short term goals that are reasonable and tangible? These long term goals just seem like fluff. They're set to appease the public, but there are no specific plans to significantly decrease CO2 emissions, cutting down of rain forests, etc. Or are there? I do not know the details of their decisions in the past, but from what I see, no significant changes have been made.

California Wildfires 2008

Wow. At one point, nearly 1500 wildfires were burning in California last week. Here's the latest map produced by MODIS that illustrates which regions were/are burning. Yellow means the fire is out. Red and orange means they are still active. In the map, they appear to be tiny dots. But if you think about the area your city occupies and compare that to the fires, the fires seem much more threatening. Thank you, firefighters, for protecting us!

Junk in Ha Long Bay

This is the first painting I've done since, gosh... I think 1996 or 1997... Yeah, it's been quite some time. And painting is the first art studio class I ever got less than an A in so I would really like to develop my skills. (I received a B which I totally deserved. My early paintings were sooooo stupid. For example, I did a painting of Psylocke from X-Men. How dumb is that...) Anyway, I enjoyed this project, and am planning on doing more. Will update you if that ever happens. :) Oh yeah, medium used - acrylic.

So Much Hair!

What's Your Name?

This is a small list of outlandish names I've compiled from some people I know. These are real people, not fictional characters.

1. Nithugga (To make it worse, this is a girl.)

2. Shithead (pronounced sheh-thayd. Imagine the torture she had to endure every time the teacher called role.)

3. Fary Supid (Guy from Singapore. It's bad enough his first name is "Fary," but man, his last name just really does it!)

4. Bum Seok and Yoo Seok (A pair of Korean twins)

5. Tyrone (This was an old Chinese man.)

6. Juwana Saman (Poor girl...)

7. Dragon (This is a nerdy looking Chinese guy.)

8. And lastly, my friend's parents were seriously thinking of naming him either Tron or 7Eleven.

I Wish...

that there are windows or at least better ventilation in the women's restroom at work. Some smells marinate in there, and let me tell, those smells aren't that great...

Happy Chores

I saw this article on Real Age site today: Does Sweeping the Floor Make You Smile?

Got me to realize, small household chores do lift my spirits! I've always loved to rake, sweep, and vacuum - ever since I was little. I guess this form of cleaning somehow relates to cleansing of the mind too. A clean room is equivalent to a lush meadow brightened with spring flowers. Don't get me wrong. I certainly am no neat freak. AND don't think that I'll jump at opportunities to clean. I only do it when I feel like it. ;)

That's me at the age of three or four sweeping our apartment. Don't you love the beautiful television set in the back? We had two channels?! NO WAY!!!

By the way, RealAge.com is the most awesomest site - ever. It houses so much information that everybody can make good use of. Check it out if you have a chance. I bet you'll learn something really interesting.

Josephine Zee Papillon #2

1. I used to have a lot of bloody noses when I was little. One time, I bled and swallowed for four hours before throwing up all the blood. My dad rushed me to the hospital where I got these two really cool looking nose plugs, and had to keep them in for a few days. One eventually fell off after day two. The doctor pulled out the other one a few days later. Eeww...

2. I had In 'n Out for the first time in six years last Friday. Animal style hamburger with fries and a free chocolate shake! Big YUM!!

3. You know what else is yummy? Isabella's legs. My little sister and I took turns sinking our teeth into her soft fleshy thighs. She didn't feel a thing because she's so chubby! She's only four months old, by the way.

4. Have I told you that one day in the fourth or fifth grade, I ran to school with a kitchen knife in my hand?

5. High gas prices make me very angry. :(

Surprise Roommate

I heard this really funny story on the radio today...

A man from southern Japan reported that someone has been stealing food from his kitchen. It's happened for quite some time, but has no idea how it's happening. So he installed a surveillance camera that sends snapshots to his cell phone whenever it detects a person's movement. So! Turns out there has been a homeless woman living in one of his closets and comes out to get food when he leaves his house. And she's been living there for a whole year!! An entire year! Can you believe it?! Hahaha!!!

Chili

Yummm... A nice big pot of homemade chili. How yummy is that... It's especially nice when it's thick and chunky and a little spicy... Yum, huh? Dystrickians? LOL!

* Image borrowed from www.healthline.com

Bounce-O-Meter

Ladies and gentlemen, we all agree that saggy boobs are unattractive. Right? They sag so much you can throw them around your neck and wear them like a scarf? Or you brush them aside to clean your belly button? If you don't want this to happen to you (or gentlemen, you don't want this to happen to your ladies, or even worse, happen to you), you must support them properly with a good sports bra. To find out what's best for you depending on the size of your breasts and the physical activities you partake in, check out the Bounce-O-Meter! It's totally awesome! They have 3D animation of a (manlike) torso with realistically bouncing boobs in three states. 1. Nude 2. With a regular bra 3. With a proper sports bra


P.S. Pretty cool design for the site too. Me likes!

She's Cool!

Diane Feinstein is awesome! She reprimanded a handful of oil executives for raking in record profits quarter after quarter with no regard for ethics or moral values. You go girl! (Oh my god. Was that totally To Wong Foo?) I know this scolding won't help us victims from these horrible money hungry monsters, but at least there are "plans" in the lawmaking pipeline to protect the consumers. Hope it comes soon!! Gas prices are so high that I don't want to drive anywhere anymore. :( And the cost of practically everything has gone up as well!

Is it Possible??

Years ago, a friend of mine told me about his brother's dream. In his dream, he saw a female friend of his, told her he wanted to show her a number of places, took her by the hand, and dragged her around going to different places and showing her different things. A couple days later, he saw this friend of his. The first thing she said to him was, "Hey! I had a dream about you the other night! You grabbed me by the hand and dragged me all over the place!" This can't simply be a coincidence. How can two people have the exact same dream on the same night?

So it makes me think, if I had a dream that I was wandering around somewhere, let's say my old house, is it possible that my spirit left my body momentarily and was actually at that house? And what if a current resident of that house got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom or something and was able to see my spirit? Wow. I wonder if that's possible...

I wonder how my friend's brother's dream was possible. Some things are so unexplainable and so incredibly intriguing...

Pure Insanity!

How long do we wait on the sidelines as we watch an authoritarian government commit crimes to its own human existence by refusing aid already rapping at the door and begging to help? Can you be so controlling and so insanely fearful of foreigners entering your country that you allow possibly a couple of million people to die so that you can continue to instill fear in your citizens in the future? The way the Burmese government is handling the Cyclone Nargis disaster has been terribly criticized. It is plain to see that they are 100% incapable of pulling off a disaster relief effort large enough to save their people. They own a ragtag team of ships and planes... Completely useless in this situation. So what do they do? Refuse help. And as an attempt to make foreign eyes ease the pressure, they show a select number of people staged relief sites that they have built. C'mon! Give us outsiders a little more credit.

More than 100,000 people have died, and this number is expected to soar. The total is in the hands of the junta. Time is of the essence, and they are willingly letting it slip through their fingers as we all watch with pain and frustration. In the end, can they be punished for turning a natural disaster which should have only taken a few thousand peoples' lives and turning it into a man-made catastrophe that puts millions of peoples lives on death's threshold? And why is China their buddy? Because they're undemocratic? Ugh. When things like this happen, it's so easy to say that there are many sucky people out there.

***

And adding to their senseless acts, they did an extremely poor job of warning their people that a cyclone was coming!

Contrasting Top 5's

I was racking my brain to find what my bf and I say most frequently to each other. No matter how hard I squeezed those brain cells, I could not get the lists to balance each other out. You'll know what I mean when you read. Here are the top five things we say to each other.

Him to me:

1. How ya doin', pretty girl?
2. What ya eat for lunch?
3. How was your day?
4. Thank you.
5. I love you.

Me to him:

1. You are SO annoying.
2. Blah blah blah...
3. Don't touch me.
4. You're stupid.
5. Stop it!

Don't question our relationship! It's working out really well. I say tons of mushy crap too. Believe me. I do. I have TONS of witnesses. Heh heh heh... :)

The Queen's Bowels

Queen Victoria was preoccupied with her bowels and would summon her court doctor for a discussion on the subject up to six times a day. While she was away on her honeymoon her physician was surprised to receive a note from her one day informing him: "The bowels are acting fully."

The Giant Bathroom Reader, © 2006

When I read this, one person popped into mind... This one's for you, Snob!! :)

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! Take care of and love our planet like we do our bodies cuz we've only got one!!

Izeebella

One more of my wonderful niece...

The Rose

I found a new interest - the rose. This hobby bloomed one day when I finally remembered to water the plants in the backyard. I saw the bushes with roses in full bloom. I thought, "Wow. They are so incredibly beautiful... but overgrown." I started to do a light pruning, though I've never done that before, and voila! I am in love. Putting time into something that is pure and unrelated to work was so relaxing. I was floating in a world where only my rose bushes and I exist. So! I'm trying to learn how to prune, but it's kind of scary hacking away at something I know so little about. Well, let's see how it goes. =)

This quote I found about roses made me laugh:

"I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Birthday!

Dear Josephine Zee Papillon,

Happy 1st birthday! Hope there are many more to come! And thank you for providing such awesome reading material, photographs, insight, information... You are just plain awesome.

Sincerely,
Your biggest fan

LOL! Yes, I'm retarded! It's been a year since my first entry. Woohoo!

Isabella Update

Isabella is now 10.5 weeks old. In the past, my siblings and I always thought terms like "bundle of joy" and "precious" were so corny and stupid. Now, after Isabella entered our lives, we understand what people are saying. She IS a bundle of joy and is very precious... and beautiful and absolutely perfect. I love her soooo much!




P.S. An added bonus to photo #2 is that I'm wearing my old Westborough Honor Society cardigan from the 7th grade! Go Westborough Wildcats!! LOL!!

It's April 15

It is April 15 once again, and my pockets bear huge holes. I am just glad that I have everything paid for: state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes... HUGE holes... But I can breathe again! Hip hip hooray!! I hope all of you have your taxes taken care of too!

Deed Joo Know?

Deed joo know dat in 2010, heleum bahloons well be band prom Cauleepornia? Yah! Eet ees troo! Lawmakears in Cauleepornia agrid wit powere gompahnees dat heleum bahloons are baht baht baht. Lahst jeer, approxeemuhtley 200 powere oudtagess were cossed by dess bahloons. And becoss op dess, powere gompahnees were sood por meelleons op dollahrs. And whoebere ees got selleeng dess bahloons weel be pined $100. On Decembere 31, 2009, I shoot hap a heleum bahloon bartee. Lass jance!!

P.S. Dees entree ees dedehkehted to my otder lober, Mae. =)

It's Frozen WHAT?!

I have never thought about human waste in outer space. Well, why would I? That is until I read something in one of my books. So it turns out that urine is evaporated into space while solid waste is stored in airtight bags and frozen to bring back to Earth. Can you imagine being the lucky person who gets the privilege of cleaning this stuff out? It'd be funnier if the bags were transparent! (And I certainly hope they're not. Hmm... I see that astronaut so-and-so ate corn on May 9, 2007.) Could they be confused with frozen rolls of cookie dough?

And the method they used before this was some sort of napkin which they lovingly called "nappy." One soiled by a famous astronaut can be found at some museum. (Sorry, forgot the details.) Final thought... Who in the world would want to see one that's been used?!

Meteorologists' Bias

Second item on my agenda this evening is the adjectives and tones meteorologists use in their weather forecasts. Okay, we all know that global warming is happening at a faster rate anyone can imagine. We also all know that rainfall levels are lower than average.

Many people watch the news to learn about the forecast for the next few days. This is the perfect opportunity to educate people about global warming, increasing amounts of heat waves, erratic storm behavior, water conservation... basically, our planet's dire need of human contribution to slow down our demise. We can't stop this because planets go through its phases, but things are happening at an alarming rate. Anyway, all meteorologists (well, except Sandhya Patel for ABC) I've seen are biased for warm weather by saying that "tomorrow will be beautiful with plenty of sunshine" or "we'll have better weather and will be in the 80s." When we have rainfall, some of them will furrow their brows or shake their heads. They should stop letting people think that sunshine is good and rain is bad. People need to stop thinking this way. A lot of people don't think about our changing weather patterns and lack of normality these past few years, but it is immensely important that we understand why these things are happening.

For the record, I do love warm weather. I like to wear spring and summer clothes and have outdoor get-togethers and go for a stroll while eating ice cream. But having more of the type of weather that allows you to do those things isn't worth what we will lose in return: our livelihood.

The Olympic Torch

She's baaaaack!!

I have two things to complain about. The first item of the evening is the switcheroo of the Olympic torch run in San Francisco yesterday. I do not understand why it is such a big deal that the route was changed. I understand why people would be disappointed that they didn't see the runner on the planned route, but it was well-known that the route may change, even after the run has started. Everyone who actually made an attempt to experience this Olympic moment should have been aware that protests were planned to take place on the pre-determined route, and anyone with half a brain will understand that peace isn't always sustained when it comes to protests. Sometimes, violent riots break out. Well anyway, I am in agreeance with Mayor Newsom and Police Chief Fong. It is better to have disappointed people than to have numerous arrests and injuries. So stop crying about this!

TMFB* - Rock Lobster

Something funny in Thailand happened that I forgot to mention in my previous entries. The night we flew into Phuket, we had no idea where to go for dinner so asked our hotel receptionist for suggestions. We ended up going to a beachfront restaurant called Sivouey (or something like that). This restaurant had "tourist trap" stamped all over it. Bad food. Bad service. And most interesting of all were the pair of entertainers armed with musical instruments and microphones.

I don't know about the other diners, but our group just wanted to enjoy each other's company, but this duo kept talking to us. "HIIII!!! And where are you guys from?!" "Oh, California?! California is beautiful. We've never been to California!" "Oh! San Francisco! That's wonderful!! How long are you here for?! What would you like us to sing for you tonight?!" "Hotel Calfornia?!"

Halfway done with dinner, after they've bugged all the other diners, our turn came again. "The guests from San Francisco, California! How are you doing tonight?! How is your dinner?! It's great, isn't it?! Do you have any song requests tonight? C'mon! We can sing anything!" Anything, huh? "ROCK LOBSTER!!" Tommy requested. "Rock Lobster?" Certain of what he wanted to hear, Tommy repeated, "Rock Lobster!" With a less confident tone now, they responded, "Uhhh... we can't do that song. We already sang that song tonight, before you got here!! But we can sing you another song! How about...??" I forgot what song they ended up singing, but I just thought it was hilarious that it was very obvious that they did not know Rock Lobster or maybe haven't even heard of it! What was funnier was if they were telling the truth, that they had actually sang Rock Lobster earlier that evening, that must have been a sight! I would have paid to see this middle-aged Filipino couple sing that crazy song. Hearing them yelp and belt out the extreme highs and lows of that song would have stolen the top spot of my Thailand/Cambodia vacation experiences!

*TMFB = Tickled Me Funny Bone

I Love My Brakes and Rotors!

I have never been so appreciative of my brakes and rotors until last night! I no longer have to drive around making cu-cu-cu-cung-cung-cung-cung noises whenever I step on my brakes! That was absolutely horrible... and dangerous! I love my new and properly functioning car parts!

Catalog Choice

Did you know that 19 billion catalogs are sent out in the United States annually?* That's a whole lot of trees sacrificed and carbon emissions produced for things that a large percentage don't even look at! Minimize your carbon footprint and save our planet from excess waste by reducing the number of catalogs you receive! Register with catalogchoice.org and opt out of a number of catalogs. It's easy and free!

*Statistic from Women's Health Mag which they got from catalogchoice.org.


(This image doesn't hold a strong visual connection with the message above, but what the heck. I like this photo I took in Kyoto. It was a huge and welcoming contrast from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.)

Mount Hamilton

Another hike we started waaaay too late in the day. Though we were only there for twenty minutes, we encountered a bunch of herding cows, sweeping vistas of the green hills during sunset, and cold wind (the reason why we only hiked for a short while). And we managed to snap a few shots. Here's one...