私の生き生き日記！

Macy's is having a 4th of July sale, so since my aunt is giving me a down comforter for the new place, I thought I'd check out duvet covers online. After about five minutes of browsing, I'm starting to feel like Ignatius J. Reilly -- flabbergasted at the lack of taste and decency. lol

First of all, what is up with all this "Ed Hardy" shit? Who the hell is Ed Hardy? His stuff looks like it would work much better as a tattoo design than as a fashion statement for someone's bedroom. Why does he appear to be laboring under the delusion that I want to sleep under a bedspread festooned with busty mermaids or a comforter that looks like it was inspired by the Double Dragon logo? WHY??

Also, what's up with jacquard? I don't know exactly what the word is supposed to mean, but going by the current evidence in front of me, I would guess that "jacquard" is French for "ugly". Blech!!

I'm thinking maybe I'll just steer away from the bed linens and focus on finding myself a nice sale-priced blender. Yeah. And maybe some flatware.

I just got a link from cebuscapucinus to an article where Mao-chan vol. 2 was reviewed!

http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/07/02/mao-chan-book-2/

Cool huh?! This was the first manga I ever translated (well, for pay that is -- I've done fan translations before), so it's really cool to see that someone read it and enjoyed it! I do think Mao-chan was a pretty humorous story, so it's something that a lot of people could probably read easily and find pretty amusing.

Reading the article reminded me that I wanted to check and see when the next manga I translated is coming out, so I went to Amazon.com and found it here. Looks like it's coming out on August 25th... but I wouldn't recommend that anybody actually read it, lol. Unlike Mao-chan, this manga (IMO) wasn't funny at all and I actually found the plot to be pretty annoying. I had to really make myself finish the translation and I had signed a contract to do 2 volumes, so then I had to slog through the second volume after I finished the first (;_;) I'll probably buy both volumes for posterity, just so I can have copies of stuff I translated, but that's about it. If you guys wanna check it out, feel free, but be warned ahead of time: it's really cheesy and very typical shoujo, so if a story about a girl with a serious obsession over a boy who consistently treats her like shit doesn't sound very appealing to you, you'll probably want to skip this book. eyeroll

Well, we didn't have any documentary-related stuff going on today, so I decided to spend most of the day moving stuff over to the new apartment and fixing things up there, and then work some more on the film log I've been creating with J and D. The idea is to log all of my film log notes in an Excel spreadsheet, then label each note with tags so we can search for related notes. Then D and I will compile rough scripts for scenes by finding out what J wants to create a scene about, then making a brief outline of how the scene could progress and then searching for relevant log notes to flesh out the scene. We did this together on Monday and it worked pretty well, but I have to finish logging the rest of my handwritten notes onto the Excel spreadsheet so we can continue.

I didn't wind up working on the log at all today though, because I got so caught up with things at the apartment. I got a lot done -- I moved some furniture around, put a lamp together, got most of the kitchen stuff organized and put away, finished lining most of the shelves and drawers, moved some more boxes over and unpacked what I could, etc. Best of all I brought my Bose stereo over and plugged it in in the kitchen and was jamming out to some really old CDs from like back in high school. lol Anyway, the apartment is really starting to look like somebody lives there now. I'm waiting for the appliances to be installed and then I'll probably start spending nights over there even if all my stuff isn't quite moved over yet. I have to figure out what day would be best to get the rest of my furniture moved over from Theetsa's house too. Which means I have to find movers. sigh I'm kinda dreading finding movers. megalomania79 and her fiance just told me a horror story last weekend about the movers that moved their stuff into their new place, so I want to make sure I hire somebody good since they're going to be moving my precious armoire and piano!

I keep meaning to bring my camera over and take some pictures of the apartment as it's coming together, but haven't remembered to bring the camera along yet. I'll try to do that tomorrow after work or something because I promised Theetsa I would show her some pics of what the place looks like. She's never been out there and she really wants to see it.

Speaking of Theetsa, I went to see her yesterday with my mom and she was sleeping, so she was a bit sluggish at first but once she woke up she was looking pretty good and had a good amount of energy. I heard from my aunt today that she was really perky and actually went down to the dining room and ate about 2/3 of her meal, which is good because she hasn't wanted to eat very much lately. So I think she's doing well. The nursing home she's in is like a paradise for old people too if you ask me. I walked around the place with my mom yesterday and dude -- they have a lounge, and a piano, and a library, and a fancy dining room, and events, and all kinds of stuff. It almost looked like part of the cruise ship we were on last summer! And Theetsa's room even has a view of the Intercoastal. I'm telling you, when I get old I hope somebody puts me into this place. The nursing staff seems to be really good as well. If I were Theetsa it would be a real no-brainer: hmmm, stay in the nursing home with people to attend to my needs 24 / 7 and entertainment and socialization opportunities out the wazoo, plus still be able to go out to her regular Bingo nights and church whenever she wanted... or go back to living all alone in my grandparents' house with no regular transportation and nothing to do all day but watch TV. I say nursing home all the way! lol

You guys have heard me mention the Self Discovery workshops I attend on here before. They've just updated their website and it's a lot more informative than it was before, so I thought I would post a link here about it for anyone who might be interested in what it's about.

The main page can be found here: http://www.selfdiscoverytechniques.com/

Here is a link that explains the basic foundation of the workshops: http://www.selfdiscoverytechniques.com/our-vision-a-mission/foundation.html

This is a link to some SD articles about the nature of self-awareness and consciousness: http://www.selfdiscoverytechniques.com/articles.html

For me, this way of looking at my life and learning to understand myself better has completely changed the way I live. It may not be for everyone, but the things I have learned here have definitely helped me to be more successful, more fulfilled, and more capable as a person. I'm very grateful to have had the experiences I've had through participating in Self Discovery and to have met the people I've met and made the friends I've made there.

I don't know how exactly to describe this without getting overly wordy, but I just wanted to say that I am having the most amazing experience lately reconnecting with a few certain people who I never really expected to be part of my life ever again. I am incredibly moved that this reconnection is even possible for me to do and that it's happening very naturally and easily with no expectations, no effort, and no strings attached. There are painful past events that a few years ago I never would have believed I would have been able to let go of, and now this reconnecting process is proving to me that that's exactly what has happened -- I have truly let go of the past, and by doing so have given myself the ability to fully enjoy what's happening in the present. I am seriously so overwhelmed -- it feels like I have given myself the greatest gift ever, and it's a gift that I didn't even know I wanted so badly until I got it. I know this probably makes no sense but I have tears in my eyes right now as I'm typing this. I am so grateful and so happy to be free, and be myself, and be full of appreciation and caring instead of old resentments, anger, and bitterness.

So today I finally got my new bed delivered to the apartment from Macy's. I had tried to leave directions with the delivery people on Thursday, because I knew they wouldn't be able to find a brand-new street and brand-new apartment complex on GPS, but the guy who answered the phone said there wasn't enough space to enter the directions in the computer, so he would have the delivery guys call me when they got close to the apartment.

Little did I know these poor guys were driving up all the way from Miami, and somehow or other somebody told them to go to Georgia Avenue, which was totally incorrect. At least it wasn't somewhere super-far away (I think it's probably less than 10 miles from my place), but being from Miami, these poor people didn't know the neighborhood and it took an extra hour and several phone calls before they finally found my apartment. However, they were very nice and got everything set up quickly.

As I was waiting for them to show up, I saw something on the ground next to the front step. Turns out it was... half a dead rat. lol It was really weird, it took me a while to register that yes, I was in fact looking at the lower half of a dead rat. The upper half was just completely missing -- it looked like the rat had been neatly chopped in half. I'm sure something must have eaten it, but whatever it was, it did a very neat job. It had yanked out the innards too, some of which were lying nearby. Yeah, it was kinda disgusting now that I think about it. lol I'm going back over there later to start moving some stuff in, so I'll bring a nice big garbage bag and some gloves or tongs or something to pick it up with. Blech.

I would have to say Billie Jean. I have always adored that song. As a kid my favorite part in the music video was where he's walking down the sidewalk and it starts lighting up. Although come on, Thriller is just an awesome album all around.

Anybody remember the Captain Eo 3-D Experience starring Michael Jackson that they used to have at Disney World? I think it was in Epcot. As a kid, I loved Captain Eo. I'm still kinda sad they've gotten rid of it. Not sure what they replaced it with.

My dad told me the apartments just passed the inspection for the CO, so I can finally start moving my stuff in! Hooray!!

Now here's something really, really funny. Remember how I said I'd been having weird, like, flashes of intuition or whatever you want to call it? Well, on Tuesday my dad told me they probably wouldn't get the CO this week, so I should call Macy's and push back the bed delivery again. I said OK, I would handle it. Well, Macy's called me yesterday to confirm the delivery and for some reason, I didn't tell them to reschedule it. Instead I just re-confirmed the delivery information. Sounds like a crazy thing to do in light of the fact that it's scheduled to be delivered on Friday, and as of Wednesday when I got the call, as far as I knew we still wouldn't be getting a CO, right?

However, five minutes ago my dad came in and told me they just now got approved for the CO and I can go ahead and start moving in. Which means it's a good thing I didn't push back the bed delivery again, now isn't it?

I'm telling you... this intuition thing is getting stronger and stronger all the time. lol

Oh! And the nicest thing happened this morning!

I had a cellophane fortune-telling fish that someone from the LSG group on Ravelry sent me anonymously as a little fun present. It was really cool -- you put it in your hand and it curls up, and whichever end curls up is supposed to mean something. It's just a fun and pointless thing, like mood rings or whatever.

Anyway, I had brought it to work to play around with and unbeknownst to me, as I was helping a customer one day, the customer's nosy little child was poking around on my desk, found my fortune-telling fish and CRUMPLED IT UP like a piece of trash! It was totally beyond saving after she got through with it. Poor fortune-telling fish.

However, today M (my co-worker and partner in crime) came in and handed me something. At first I thought it was just the old plastic envelope that my fish used to be in. But no! It was a brand-new envelope with a brand-new fortune-telling fish in it to replace my old one! Her mom had bought a few somewhere and she had brought one in just for me. What a nice thought!!

Well, today was a nutty day for sure.

First my mom called and said I should stop by the hospital and visit Theetsa because she announced that she has decided to "give up" (on recovering, that is) and wanted to see me. Ooookay. There is really nothing physically wrong with Theetsa except that she needs to recover from her surgery and let her hip heal, ya know? The blood transfusion went fine, she does have an ulcer apparently but it's really nothing serious. Her heart is super-strong, and as a matter of fact the gastroenterologist said that if her heart hadn't been as strong as it is, then she could have easily died when the blood loss happened and her hemoglobin and (something else??) count dropped so low. So... yeah. But she says she doesn't want to live anymore, and I can understand where that comes from. For one thing, she's outlived her immediate family and almost all of her friends, and the two I can think of that she has left both have dementia, which I'm sure is probably very saddening for her to see. Her husband died in 1956 (holy shit that was a long time ago), and she's been a widow for much much longer than she was ever married. She's also outlived her own eardrums, and her hearing is really terribly bad. It's hard for her to participate in family events because she can't hear the vast majority of what's being said, even with her hearing aids on, and there's nothing that can really be done about that. She also can't get around the way she used to; she's unsteady on her feet and even if she makes a full recovery, my mom is looking into checking her into the nursing home she's currently doing rehab at because we just don't see how she can go back to living alone again. It just isn't gonna work and it's not safe. So I think her biggest frustration is that while her mind is still sharp as ever and her body is still very healthy and strong for her age, it is hard for her to accept the limitations of not being able to hear, not being able to do all the things she wants to do, and not being able to live on her own anymore. She has always been very independent and very stubborn, and I don't think she wants to have to deal with losing some of her freedom.

All that being said, I don't see any big signs yet that she is really "giving up" for real. It is possible she might decide to will her own death, but when I saw her today she seemed just as spunky as ever, although definitely on the ornery side. It doesn't feel to me like she is really "ready to die" just yet, but then again she apparently doesn't say all the same things to me that she says to other people, so maybe I'm just not seeing the evidence for that. But I've already decided the best thing I can do is accept whatever happens. If at almost-97 she is worn out and truly has lost any desire to keep on going, well, who has a right to question that. She's had a long and mostly great life, and I'll miss her whenever she does pass away, but if she believes there's something better waiting for her after death than what she's got going on here, I'm not going to try to stop her from believing that.

Well... I guess on a slightly more upbeat (?) note, after I left the hospital I had to head down to Davie to meet with our director and his wife to do some storyboarding. About 15 minutes away from there my car suddenly freaked out on me and started to die -- while I was driving full speed down I-95. Yeah, needless to say it was a little unnerving to have my car break down in traffic and have to pull over on the side of the highway. I have no idea what's wrong except that it's not the usual air hose issue -- I popped the hood and checked it, and was all prepared to fix it with my little screwdriver if that had been the problem. lol

The good thing is that I had just determined that it wasn't something I could fix myself, and had just gotten on the phone to call the director's wife and tell her I couldn't make the meeting, when a passing tow truck stopped and offered to take me to the nearest Nissan dealership. Great timing! So he took me over there, where I met the nicest service representative who was a very cool and nice guy. I like him a lot, and I also like the service tech I met who's going to run a diagnostic on my car tomorrow. It was too late when I got there, so I won't know what the problem is until they call me tomorrow, but I really like the people there and I'd definitely like to give them my business from now on should my car need anything again in the future.

Also, would you believe this -- the tow truck guy was an aspiring indie filmmaker, lol. It was a hilarious, well, "coincidence" for lack of a better word. Coincidences are becoming a lot more common in my life these days. lol

And speaking of filmmaking... we are really putting together some awesome stuff in the editing suite. I should say, our director is putting together some awesome stuff. I was seriously blown away all over again on Monday by what a great job he's doing and how amazing some of our footage is! I talked with my parents about it tonight and we're all really seeing how this film could be a great commercial success. It's still in the early stages, but a few outside folks have screened some of what we have so far and the feedback has been great. I just really think that by the time all's said and done, we're going to have an amazing work of art and feel incredibly fulfilled and satisfied with all the hard work we've put in.

You know how sometimes things just fly out of your mouth and you have no idea you're going to say them until they're already out?

Today I told someone, "Look, if you've got something to hide, then do a better job." It came completely out of left field. I had no idea I was going to tell them off like that. lol

The really funny thing is that I didn't know this until I said it, but that pretty much sums up the way I've been feeling about a few other things lately as well. If there are things you want to keep personal, then don't bring them out in the open. Especially when nosy curious types like me are around, 'cause I like to ask questions and I'm not very shy about it. lol

Also, I have been having some weird-ass "psychic" episodes lately, for lack of a better word. I don't know what you would call these things exactly but they really did happen.

1) Yesterday I was on the phone with J, our documentary director, and I told him he reminded me of a comic character my dad told me about from the old comic strip L'il Abner. According to my dad, there was a character who was an Indian chief that had his own personal little rain cloud pouring down on his head all the time. Not even five minutes after I got off the phone with him, my aunt and I were watching the Mets game and the announcer commented out of nowhere, "Remember that Indian chief from L'il Abner who had a rain cloud hanging over his face all the time?" Apparently it was raining at the game and the announcers were getting dripped on. Isn't that crazy?!

2) Last night around midnight I suddenly got a sinking feeling in my stomach. It just lasted for a few seconds, but I felt really nauseated and had a "bad feeling". I don't know how else to describe it. I woke my mom up (she was sleeping on the couch) and told her I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Today my mom called me around noon and told me Theetsa had to be readmitted to the hospital for a blood transfusion. She's been in rehab for her hip and has been doing OK up until today except for being anemic. We don't know yet exactly why the blood loss happened, but apparently the doctor said it's not uncommon for blood loss to occur after a hip surgery so... at least there's that. But I'm telling you, it's really weird that I had a feeling something was about to happen, ya know??

Anyway... hopefully Theetsa will be feeling better tomorrow. I don't know what to think about this whole hip thing right now, but I know that if anybody on earth is going to make it through breaking the same hip twice and having to get a blood transfusion and having to do physical therapy, it's definitely Theetsa. She's a pretty strong old lady!

First off, Happy Father's Day! (^_^) What'd you guys do for Father's Day? We're having the family over for dinner later, and I got my dad a cute card and a bottle of wine. My dad's not big on gifts, so I usually get him a nice bottle of wine on special occasions because it's one thing I know he'll actually use and enjoy. It's either that or clothing. lol

Anyway, other than that, not much is new. I'm working away at the office three times a week and keeping busy with that. On the days I'm not there I work on documentary stuff. I'm putting together an Excel spreadsheet of all the log notes I took of our footage, and D (our director's wife who is a producer for HBO Latin America) is helping me add tags to each log note so that we can make them searchable by topic. From there we're going to start putting together some scenes to aid our director in cutting the film together.

We're aiming to record most of the songs written by Barry for the documentary soundtrack in early/mid-July. We're going to do one day at the studio to record all the songs that involve multiple performers. Then we'll go back on another day and record the ones that just Barry and I play together on. I have to create a recording schedule so we can plan out the first recording day and how to best budget our time. Then I have to coordinate with everybody and figure out what day they can all be there to record. That'll probably be the trickiest part. lol

Other than that, I'm still waiting to move into the new apartment. I can't move in until they pass all the inspections and get their CO, which keeps getting pushed back from week to week. First it was pouring rain pretty much every day for a while, which delayed getting a letter they needed from one of the engineers approving the drainage ditches. Now it seems that because construction is slow, the building inspectors are being extra-picky, so they've already had to have people come out more than once and check on everything. That's life in the construction industry for ya (^_^) So yeah... once they pass their final inspection, they'll get the CO and I can move in then. I really hope it happens soon 'cause I keep having to call Macy's and reschedule delivery on the bed I bought each week. lol

I have most of everything I need to get started in the apartment, and definitely all the furniture I need now. I've treated myself to a few little cute things here and there as well. I bought this off of Etsy:



It can be used as a spoon rest. Isn't it pretty? I just love unique handmade things, especially pottery. And I love this person's ceramics! She's awesome! Check out her Etsy store here if you want to see more of her work. She's got these cute little gingko leaf plates that I think are awesome too. I love this plate as well. sigh

I also made a trade with our photographer and got a framed print of this photo he took at the Adams Ranch that I'm planning to hang in the living room. So pretty! sigh I wish I were as good a photographer as he is.

I've got some plans for other things to do in the apartment too. If I can get permission to, I want to make some more of my own stencils and stencil some designs on some of the walls. I was thinking about stenciling a border up in the downstairs bathroom, for example. I bet it would look cool! I also have plans for a little throw rug I want to make... kind of a design idea I thought up. We'll see how that all works out (^_^) For now I've already got plenty to do on my plate though! lol

I got my hair cut! Wanna see? Wanna see?

(Of course, because I got my hair cut and it looks fabulous, it also just so happens that I'm not wearing any makeup today. I can never seem to time it quite right so that I achieve 100% glamorous-ness simultaneously. lol)



This image brought to you by Mac OS's Photo Booth application (^_-)

What do you think? I think it came out great! Actually I would rate this the best haircut I can remember getting in recent memory, for various reasons.

1) It cost me $15 (and yes that includes blow-dry!!).
2) The girl spent an hour and a half on me and was very much a perfectionist about her work, which added up to a great haircut for me!
3) She complimented my hair, said I had a great natural wave and a beautiful color, and didn't try to sell me a bunch of crap or convince me to get highlights. People always try to talk me into getting highlights. lol
4) I got a little mini head-and-neck massage when I was getting my hair washed. Awesome!

The reason why the haircut was so cheap is because I went to Pyure, which is an Aveda salon. I guess they have some kind of super-high standards at Aveda, because they make their stylists train with the company, and if they're still in training the going rate for a haircut is $25. My sister went there and got her hair cut by the same girl who did mine today, and recommended her to me specifically. She also gave me a referral card, which meant I got an extra $10 off, so that's how I wound up only spending $15 to get my hair cut. Well, and because the haircut was so cheap I also splurged on some product that's supposed to help maintain curls and waves. So we'll see how that works.

I have some referral cards I can give out too now, so if anybody would like to hit up a Pyure salon and try their luck, let me know!

Finally just saw this movie tonight. I think my family and I might be the last people on earth to finally get around to watching it, lol. What can I say... I thought it was fabulous. I loved pretty much everything about it. It was fun too that I knew some things about the Hmong culture from being friends with Zer and from reading the book her brother wrote about their family's history and how they came to America.

Also, as flawed as Clint Eastwood's character was in many ways, I was really impacted by his sense of justice and how he stood up for both of the kids. I think we've lost some of that willingness to fight for what's right in the world today.

(Note: I started off this entry thinking I would be blowing off steam about an annoying problem that had just come up, but as I was writing the post, I came up with the solution for my own problem! So this entry turned out to be more like a record of my own mental process of solving this problem.)

So we're gearing up to record the bulk of the songs for the documentary at a recording studio hopefully in July.

I've been kinda overseeing the music rehearsal sessions and keeping track of what we need to remember for recording and performance purposes. Barry, a friend of the documentary team, has been composing most of the music.

Barry has a brother named Marc who plays the harmonica, so he had this idea of getting Marc to play on a few of the songs. So we added Marc on to a few of the songs and they sound really great with a harmonica part.

We didn't have a drummer for most of the songs, so Marc suggested his teenage son, Jordan, play the drums. I was kinda "meh" about that because while I realize that a drum would sound great, I didn't want to do a whole lot of adding and tinkering to the songs at this point. Barry and I had been counting on just using some pre-recorded beats. But obviously a real drummer is better than that, so I said OK, let's have a rehearsal with Jordan too and see how it goes.

We had one rehearsal with everybody. Jordan was doing a decent job, but (being a kid) he wasn't super-experienced. Some of the drum parts he did great with on his own. Others I had to make suggestions about, which was fine, but then he didn't always remember what I had asked him to do. On one song he was really struggling just to keep an even beat. I said OK, no problem, you can just practice at home with the recordings of the songs your dad already has, and we'll have a couple more rehearsals all together to get the drum part smoothed out before recording. No problem.

Well, we haven't met to rehearse with the drum part again since then (which was back in early May I believe) because Marc (Jordan's dad) was away on a trip for a while. I spoke to him about a week and a half ago before he had to leave for out of town and said when he got back, we would need to rehearse again a couple of times. I also added that I could come over and help Jordan with the drum part by himself because according to Marc, he hadn't really been practicing and kinda "forgot" some of what I asked him to do. *eye roll*

So then Marc goes out of town. I've been busy working for my dad and trying to finish the video log project I've been working on for a couple of weeks, so I didn't have music on my mind too much. I just figured I'd call Marc on the 14th which was the day after he was supposed to come back into town, and talk about rehearsing.

So I called him, left a message, didn't get an answer. Was getting ready to call him again today but logged on to check my e-mail first and found an e-mail from him instead. And what does the e-mail say? Apparently they got an opportunity to send Jordan to summer camp for free, so they're sending him to one summer camp for three weeks and another one after that for two more weeks.

...

I'm just sayin'... what the hell dude. You wanted your kid to be included in playing on the music, OK fine. I was open to that. But he hasn't practiced, he's apparently forgotten his parts, and now on top of that now he's going to summer camp for the next five weeks? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this picture??

The funny thing is that I seriously have had a feeling for the past couple of days that Jordan was not going to be able to play on the songs with us. I can't explain it but I truly did anticipate that something like this was going to happen. I also had a feeling from the get-go (before we even had that rehearsal) that including him as a drummer on the songs was going to be a lot of work, and well, I guess I was right. I was willing to have him play if he was going to put the work in, but if he hasn't practiced or bothered to remember the parts I helped him come up with for the songs, then I guess he doesn't place a whole lot of importance on being part of the band.

So I'm really annoyed about all this, but my wheels are already turning and I'm trying to think of where we could find another drummer. I can see the benefits of the situation in that now I'm free to find a drummer who would be more experienced and have a quicker, more intuitive grasp of the songs and how to play to them... but I just don't know where to find that person.

Oh wait!!! Now I just remembered -- the owner of the recording studio said a while back that he has musicians available for just about any instrument if you don't have someone to play a certain part. Perfect! So we might have to pay a professional to come in and rehearse and then play with us, but this gig would be a cinch for any drummer with experience, so that part would be really easy.

Whew! I think I just solved my own problem. Now I feel a lot better (^_^) I'm not even irritated about the situation with Marc's son anymore 'cause we'll definitely get much better results with a professional drummer, and we'll get that result with a lot less work and stress on my part. I was willing to coach Jordan if I had to, but I'm not a drummer and that's not my area of expertise, so it'll be a real load off of me to have someone come in who just knows what they're doing and will be open to suggestions.

Amazing how even when something lousy happens, it usually winds up working out for the better in the long run (^_^)

I don't put a whole lot of effort into doing my hair, but ever since I got long layers cut into it a month or so ago, I typically let it air-dry after washing it and it'll wind up drying kinda curly / wavy.

I used to flat-iron it because I liked my hair to be straight, and I still do, but letting it air-dry this way takes even less effort and I think it looks kinda cute... although I would like for it to have a bit more consistent curl to it without having to invest too much effort in achieving such a look.

I can't decide though whether I like my hair better wavy or straight on a day-to-day basis. What do you guys think?

Here's a picture of what it looks like wavy (well, kinda messy, but still wavy):



And here's a picture of what it looks like straight:

I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I got my first close-up look ever at a brown recluse spider yesterday. OMFG



I was sitting on the porch of the trailer out in Ft. Pierce that we do our music rehearsals at, and this thing was crawling around on the underside of the gutter (on the outside of the screen, thank god). I pointed it out to Rob and he confirmed that it was a brown recluse. Then he spritzed it with bug killer through the screen. I hope he killed the thing because damn, do you know what a brown recluse spider bite can do to you??? Trust me, the pictures are too disgusting, so I won't be posting any here (@_@)

In other much happier news, I had a follow-up appointment with my periodontist today to check out how my gums have healed from the surgery I had almost two years ago. lol I like going to see my periodontist for two reasons. 1) He likes baseball, particularly the Red Sox (yesss!) and 2) He seems to think of my gums as a personal surgical masterpiece and loves to look at them, photograph them, and compliment himself on how well they turned out. I find it hilarious (^O^) He is actually a very nice guy and not a raging egomaniac or anything, but he does take pride in his work (^_^)

So he checked me out and pronounced my right side a 96% success, but said that he'll have to go in and do additional work on my left, because the gum tissue on that side is still way too high even after the initial surgery. He had told me that he would probably have to do that, but the good news is that it won't cost me anything additional -- and he said he'd even be willing to touch up the right side, also at no additional cost, and get it up to 100% if I'm willing. And he didn't even charge me for today's visit, either, which I thought was very cool! I guess it pays to be somebody's work of art! (^_-)

We actually spent longer talking about the Red Sox than it took him to look at my gums (^_^) He thinks J would be a prime candidate to play for the Red Sox, since their main catcher right now is Jason Varitek and they don't really have a backup other than the guy they use specifically to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Well, I personally think it would be fabulous if J wound up playing for MY FAVORITE BASEBALL TEAM EVAR, so yeah, no argument here! (^O^) Now my wheels are really turning, because Jason's playing up in New Jersey, so that could be a great opportunity for him to get scouted by the Sox... hmmmmm... well, that is if he doesn't decide to quit of course. I've been trying to call him but haven't gotten ahold of him yet, so I'm not sure if he's rethought that idea or not. I tend to hope so because he was 2-for-4 yesterday and he's been getting a lot of praise from the game announcers, so now's the time to stick it out and try to make something happen!

I found this YouTube video of someone playing my favorite traditional Greek song from when I was a kid.



I always knew this song had something to do with the ocean and a boat, but didn't know the rest of the lyrics. Tonight my mom and I made a loose (really loose) translation based on the smidgen of Greek I remember and my mom's conversational fluency. lol ( Lyrics behind the cut )

Aaaand in closing I would just like to say... who IS this guy in the YouTube video?! He's definitely the best-looking Greek guy I've ever seen. And he plays the guitar and (judging by his YouTube videos) the piano too? All righty then. I'm just sayin'... compared to most of the Greek boys I grew up with, based on this video alone he's a lot cuter and a lot more talented. lol

So it's 3:30 in the morning, and I'm still up because I've been playing The Sims 3 for like 5 hours or something. lol It took me about half that time just to create my first Sim! They've got so many options for how you create them now, it's just ridiculous. Clothes are completely customizable, and you can give them personality traits as well as lifetime long-term goals to accomplish. It's pretty nuts.

Anyway, as I was playing The Sims in the living room, the TV was on and I was kinda half-catching the show that was on. It was this new series called Nurse Jackie which apparently just premiered this week. The first episode kept rerunning on whatever channel the TV was on, and it must have played at least three times while I was playing the game, so I was eventually able to piece together most of what happened during the show.

The premise so far seems to be that the main character, Nurse Jackie, is a bit of a walking contradiction in terms. She is a competent and efficient nurse most of the time, married with kids, yet often comes off as a bit cold and detached. On the other hand, she regularly abuses prescription meds she gets from the doctor she's having an almost disinterested affair with, and yet every once in a while, you get a glimpse of a more caring side to her.

It was really bizarre and I found myself interested by the contrasts between different parts of her personality. I know nothing about the show, so I went on Wikipedia to see if there was any more information about how the story is supposed to progress. At the bottom of the entry I found this:

Soon after Nurse Jackie premiered, the New York State Nurses Association decried the unethical behavior of the title character, and the detrimental impression regarding nurses that such a portrayal could have on the public, stating, "In the first episode, Nurse Jackie is introduced as a substance abuser who trades sex with a doctor for prescription drugs ... She has no qualms about repeatedly violating the nursing Code of Ethics. Although Showtime describes her as a 'competent nurse,' one could argue that no competent nurse would behave this way."

Really? Really?? Are the people who are going to be watching this show really supposed to be dumb enough to presume that one fictional character on TV is representational of nurses in general and / or New York nurses in particular? I find reactions like this fascinating. Do people not have any faith in others' abilities to determine fact from fiction, or to discern that a made-up story on TV is in no way equivalent to an accurate portrayal of what goes on in real life?

It seems like reality and fantasy are becoming somewhat confused these days. On one hand we've got a bunch of scripted, set-up, fake-as-hell "reality shows" bombarding us constantly over the airwaves, and on the other we've got fictional stories that some people feel could be misconstrued as reality-based.

I guess I feel like, if people supposedly aren't intelligent enough to distinguish between a fictional TV show character and that character's real-life equivalents, then how the hell can they be expected to be intelligent enough to make good decisions about much of anything else in life, either? We think people are smart enough to vote, or smart enough to get an education, but yet we don't believe they're savvy enough to handle a little controversy in their television entertainment without blowing a gasket? I just don't get that mentality.

I'm a bit of a post-whore today... lol

I got home and did what the girl at the Apple store told me to do re: Time Machine and voila -- problem solved! My external hard drive is happily backing up my files as we speak.

I made sure to call the Apple store back and thank them for their help. Fortunately the same girl I talked to earlier answered the phone again ('cause I didn't get her name the first time) and I thanked her for helping me and told her how much I appreciated it. She really went above and beyond -- when she checked the schedule and found out I wouldn't be able to make an appointment to come in until Thursday, she took the initiative to ask one of their tech support guys if there was anything I could do on my own that might fix the problem, and what they told her to tell me wound up working. So she saved me some time and effort and I definitely appreciate that. Not to mention that now I don't have to wait till Thursday to play The Sims 3! d(^_^)b

So I called the Apple store to make an appointment and described the problem to them over the phone. They think it's an easy fix and told me what to do to fix the problem, so when I get home I'll give that a try. Hopefully that will take care of the issue, if not then I'll have to call back and make an appointment for Thursday.

Well, that made me feel better! They didn't seem to think anything horrible was wrong with it, so I'm sure it'll be OK. I'm just nervous because I don't know anything about Mac issues, and I'm still learning my way around my MacBook Pro, so it's all unfamiliar territory to me.

In unrelated news, I wore a skirt to work today that I haven't worn in a long time, and I forgot how much I liked it and how comfortable it is. Normally I don't wear skirts or dresses because I like being able to move around more freely in pants. But this skirt is really cute and I think it makes my legs look good (^_-) So in general I would say I look pretty darn cute today -- or really, I guess a better way to put it is that I feel pretty darn cute. And it's fun! If I hadn't overslept I would have taken the time to put on some makeup too, but that's OK -- I can do that next time I wear this skirt (^_-)