THE ADVENTURES OF AIRECEL IRIS:

2010: The Good

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 04:33:00 +0000

The year of 2010, to put it lightly, was not my personal favorite. Although 2010 was a year of unemployment and some personal disappointment, there were amazing moments. Rather than focusing on the unpleasantness of 2010, I'm going to focus on the good things about this year. For the sake of my readers: Positive Things 2010 in bullet point format.

My boyfriend was fantastic, per usual

My brother was cool, per usual

I am extremely blessed with people that really care about my well being
I received amazing Christmas presents

I used my camera a ton more than 2009 (See my PORTFOLIO or my Tumblr)
I got to see World of Color at California Adventure

I got to watch Conan live in jeggings with two of the best people I know

I got to experience Trapeze Arts first hand

I got to experience prom all over again with these crazy people

I got this on the first try

I wonder what 2011 has in store.

Old and New Checklists

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:27:00 +0000

One of the similarities of successful people is their love of list-making. So, in my attempt to be successful at achieving my goals for the year, I created lists in 2008 and 2009, but somehow forgot to make a list in 2010. My goals for 2009 were as follows:

Graduate
Visit a foreign country (UK or Australia maybe?)
Learn to play the ukulele
Lose 10 pounds
Use my bike at least once a week (after rainy season)
Use my camera more

I gladly report that I graduated, went to London, learned to play a song on the ukulele, and I used my camera quite a bit more. I did not, however, lose the intended 10 pounds, or use my bike once a week. That being said, I have used my bike more than ZERO times and lost some weight in 2010. Below is a video I made of my British shenanigans:

Had I remembered to make a list of goals for 2010, I probably would have written the following:

Pass the NCLEX
Get hired for the RN New Grad Residency of my dreams
Go somewhere I've never been before
Shoot some more weddings

I passed the NCLEX, I have not been hired for a residency yet, I haven't traveled anywhere new this year, but I did get to shoot some weddings. Although, there's still a month and some days left to achieve my other 2 goals for the year! I had an interview last week with Kaiser Oakland, Emergency. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping with all the powers of 2010 that I'll be able to check off #2 in the list above very soon!

Our version of STREET WARS!!

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:27:00 +0000

At the start of the game you will receive a manila envelope containing the following:

A picture of your intended target(s)
The home address of your intended target(s)
The work address of your intended target(s)
The name of your intended target(s)
Contact information of your intended target(s)

Upon receipt of these items, your (or your team's) mission is to find and kill (by way of water gun, water balloon or super soaker) your target(s).

You can hunt your target down any way you see fit; you can pose as a delivery person and jack them when they open the door, disguise yourself and take them out on the street, etc.

If you are successful in your assassination attempt, your team will receive 1 point. Assassinated players can no longer assassinate other players, but they can serve as intel or spies. This continues until you work yourself through all the players. New kills and team totals will be updated every day until there is one assassin left. The team with the most kills wins. Losers buy Winners dinner…but first live in fear.

RULES

Safe Zones:

The square city block where you work.
Buses and bus stops
Inside bars (not restaurants with bars, ONLY bars)
No parking lot ANYWHERE is safe, unless you work at a parking lot (ex: you are a parking lot attendant). The parking lot on the block of your office is not safe.

Weapons:

Brightly colored water guns.
Water balloons
Super Soakers
Any Other Water-Based Weapon that is conceptually similar to the above.
Nothing that remotely resembles a real firearm. Obviously.

Kills:

1 hit kills.
KILL QUOTA: You must have at least 1 kill per week. Failure to meet this quota results in your disqualification.
SUDDEN DEATH: In the event that the score is tied, and there is one player left for each team, ALL assassinated players will be able to come back and help in the assassination of the 2 players left standing.

Nursing Residences....rarer than a guy that enjoys Twilight

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:48:00 +0000

So, what's brought me back to the world of blogging? If not a way to freely voice my opinions to an audience of complete strangers, it's simply that there is nothing better to do. Yet. With the extremely limited, near non-existence, of nurse residencies in the Bay Area (and about everywhere else), I've found myself spending the hours of my day having breakfast while scouting hospital websites for jobs, doing the Insanity workout some time before lunch, showering, lunching, more job scouting, "hulu-ing", dinner, sleep, and repeat. It is a dismal existence. Before anyone even THINKS about saying, "But there's a nursing shortage," let me enlighten you with the following information:

There is still a nursing shortage, but there's a bigger shortage of money
Many hospitals don't have a lot of money right now
Nursing Residencies cost hospitals tons of money

In the past few months, there has been no greater frustration than to address the above statement because it basically implies that I just did not know about the shortage, and now that I know, all my unemployment woes are magically dissolved. HOORAY. Or not.

A question that comes a close second to the silly statement "But there's a nursing shortage" is "Have you tried KP.org?" People, I have been LIVING in KP.org and Sutterhealth.org, among countless other websites.

It is a science to stay positive in this current economy with the kindly mailed reminders of student loans about to go into repayment, the promise of even more graduates to come in May, and not a scheduled interview in sight.

The Twilight Series: So Sexy Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Below is a review I wrote for the first book of the series:

Twilight's a quick read, but it feels specifically calculated to make females lose their minds. It's no wonder this book is found in the hands of nearly every woman waiting to board their flights in airports around the world. It's a chick flick in novel form, multiplied by teenage angst, to the power of annoying redundancy. I mean, I GET IT, he's beautiful! Get on with it already. The references to the object of obsession’s beautiful features, his hard body, and his hypnotizing scent go on and on. They are squeezed into nearly every other paragraph in case the audience had a lapse of concentration the last time it was mentioned.

So, you ask, "Why is this book such a huge success?" There are bits of it that are appealing: the Romeo & Juliet-esque romance, the sexual tension, and it stirs the kind (or cruel, depending on your particular experience) memory of first love and/or lust. Girls are generally attracted to men that make them feel protected, men that are interested in who they are, men that only have eyes for one woman, men that smell good, and men that are "beautiful". The male character is all of those things, and women eat it up because he is crafted by the author as every woman's perfect man. It's genius on her part, and the millions she's raked in is obvious proof. (Grade: C)

OK, I gave it a terrible review, but the funny (or sad) part is that I continued with the second, third, and fourth book. If that were not enough, I bought the boxed set in secret because I knew I would be subject to ridicule if my boyfriend found out. Here, in an effort to redeem (or further embarrass) myself, are my reasons (aka excuses) for moving forward with the series:

1.) I saw the movie. It was far from great, but Robert Pattinson won me over with his face (bloke on the right).

2.) The chapters are titled obviously enough so that I knew which ones to skip over. Any chapters that didn't have vampires in them were skimmed, and any chapters that specifically concentrated on a werewolf named Jacob were entirely skipped over.

3.) I liked reading about what I call the "sexy wrong". She wants him even though she knows it's dangerous, and she pushes her boundaries to persuade him to get "intercoursical" with her. He responds with something like, "I want to but I can't because I might want you too much, and I may end up killing you." Now THAT is sexy wrong!

4.) I wanted to know if he would eventually do it with her.

5.) I was on winter break and I needed reading material to pass the time.

My recommendation:

Twilight would certainly not be the first book or series I would recommend to any female, teenage or otherwise, but if you have the time to read about vampire sexiness I do have a few recommendations.

Read the first book to understand what it's about, read the summaries for the 2nd and 3rd books because they're really not worth reading (but read the last 4 chapters of each), and read the 4th book because it is filled with vampire sexiness. If you're interested, I have the books on pdf. A sad revelation, but true none-the-less.

Attractive actors you might actually have a chance with because they're not really famous yet..

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:44:00 +0000

This blog was inspired by the 30 Rock marathon I had a few days ago. There was an episode called "The Hair and The Head." The guy that played "The Hair" was fairly good looking and I thought, "Oooh man. If I ever had a chance with an actor, it'd be with him cause he's not famous yet!" Don't ask me how I figured that one out, but for some reason I think that the less famous a person is, the more likely it would be for that person to fall madly in love with me. Also, it would be less likely for them to land movies with hot boyfriend-stealing actresses. Anyway, to the ladies and gay men that read this blog, I provide you with some pictures of actors who aren't quite famous yet, but are pretty easy on the eyes:

Exhibit A: Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans, Undeclared, Sons of Anarchy)

He has a pretty face, but it's his accent that gets me. Oooh that British accent will be the death of me one day!

Exhibit B: Val Emmich (Ugly Betty, 30 Rock)

That dimple just kills me.

I'm sure there are tons of other attractive, fairly unknown, actors out there. I invite you to enlighten me.

Duck picture, a welcome to 2009, and photoshoot fun..

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Oh GEMMA!:

Here are the rules:
1. Take a picture of yourself.. riiiiiight.. NOW!
2. DO NOT change your clothes. DO NOT fix your hair.. Just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.
5. Tag 10 people to do this and leave their pics as a comment (or email me or post on your own blog)!

This picture is courtesy of Gemma. Thanks A LOT! haha. I initially intended for this blog to be about the New Year, and my new goals, but the rules called for a picture to be taken RIGHT NOW.

Some time ago I saw a duck towel at Pottery Barn Kids, and I've always wanted one. This year, on my birthday, I finally got one! I normally use it more as a half blanket instead of a towel, and on this particular morning there is dorky evidence of it posted on the internet. Again, thanks Gemma.

Goals for 2009:

In 2008 I wrote the following goals: Go to Europe, finish my stupid thesis, keep up this blog, write more songs, do more gigs, stress less, go skydiving. I am lucky enough to have gone to Europe in 2008. I also had my research approved, kept up this blog, written more songs, and performed at some gigs. I'm canceling out sky diving since I added that goal mid-year, and I failed at stressing less. Maternity and Pediatrics kicked my butt this past semester, and I have to admit there was quite a bit of stressing. Although, I did stress less about things outside of school which is a huge improvement.

Now, I reveal to you, my goals for 2009:

Graduate
Visit a foreign country (UK or Australia maybe?)
Learn to play the ukulele
Lose 10 pounds
Use my bike at least once a week (after rainy season)
Use my camera more

My Brother:

Just for the heck of it my brother and I went to the Berkeley dock, and I took some pictures. I love my camera. It does the job, but I think I'll upgrade within the year.

oOoh Vegas...

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:09:00 +0000

It was a successfully fun trip to Vegas. It was great to see my buddies from my Eurotrip again. While I had a great time hanging out, my feet are still punishing me from the hours of trekking up and down the strip, and the walking on heels. It was freezing cold in Vegas. We nearly missed all the fun and excitement due to the snow. The Vegas airport was closed the day before our flight was schedule to leave, but thankfully the snow melted away by the following day and off we went.

There were a lot of shenanigans, shopping, and cracking up over our 3.5 day stay in Vegas. We stayed with our friend Emily who lives in Vegas, and she took us EVERYWHERE. We partied it up at Hard Rock, hung around the outlets, saw a Mystere, "built" a gingerbread house, and spent some time on Fremont. Fun times.

I consider these to be the highlights of the trip:

Richard Macdonald Exhibit

We tried to grab some tickets to watch O, but O wasn't playing until after Christmas. We saw Mystere instead. On our way to grabbing tickets, we came upon an exhibit by Richard Macdonald. I have never been the type to say, "Oh yeah, that's worth the ridiculous amount of dollars they're charging," but in this case, I really did feel that the pieces of art were worth it. I was blown away. It was absolutely beautiful.

Gingerbread House Building

OK, I was only there for half of the process, but it was still fun. Five people failed at something that should have taken one person to put together. My friend Emily put the very same model together with some 5 year olds. How hilariously sad for us.

Mystere

I would have to say that I liked Kooza a bit more than Mystere. Mystere is supposed to be the first of the Cirque Du Soleil shows, and it seems that the producers have significantly built upon the original, but it was still entertaining. There were bits and pieces of it that were just beautiful.

Hanging out with friends

Of course this was the best part of the trip! It's always fun to hang out with crazy friends. Memorable bits:

"WHY SO SERIOUS?" - Drunk Jenn
Drunk sprinting Christine
Henley

Relief, random gigs, partying with nurses, and other post-finals randomness

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:23:00 +0000

Relief:

I am through with this semester. Thank heavens! It was the most text heavy semester by far. There was a lot of work, and a lot of stress, but it's over. That's a total of 2 ATI's, 9 exams, 1 stupid boring concert, 1 research proposal, 1 thesis lit review, 8-9 care plans, and countless hours of reading and dollars spent at Starbucks.

Random Gigs:

Audiology had a last minute gig put together, with the help of my friend George, in North Beach last Thursday. It had to have been one of the most random gigs we've done to date. We were the house band for an amateur comedian night at Grant & Green. The comedians were NOT funny. It was so UNfunny, in fact, that it turned out to be quite hilarious, just on accident. Some of the comedians got mad at us for not laughing, but we really tried! There was a certain point in the evening where everything was funny though. At least we received free drinks as the house band for the night, so that was enjoyable.

Partying with nurses:

After all the craziness of finals and Audiology's random gig, I headed to Poleng to party with some awesome future nurses. I don't think I've seen that many nurses in one place, and that includes lectures. It was a blast! With the free drinks from Grant & Green added to the drinks at Poleng, the following morning did not turn out to be nearly as fun.

Other Randomness:

After a gig on Saturday, I went to hang out with some friends I don't get to see very much. It was my friend Marie's daughter's christening/1st birthday party, and it was a good excuse to get everyone together. It turns out, all my friends who are well into their 20s are still kids. We played glow in the dark miniature golf, stole tokens that were intended for the smaller children so we can play ski-ball and the like, and I was also an accessory to an arcade crime (Noel and his girlfriend found a game where tickets would just continually come out if you pulled at it. They totaled nearly 3000 tickets at the end). I saw this at the glass case with all the prizes in it, and thought about how inappropriately funny it was:

Just. One. More!

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:42:00 +0000

Winter break is so close I could freaken taste it! Last week consisted of a maternity ATI, a pediatrics ATI, and a literature review final for my thesis. I had my maternity final today, and Wednesday awaits with a pediatrics final. It seems so close, and yet so far away. The pediatrics final is about 200 pages of reading. I must admit, I'm a little nervous. Nursing is kicking my butt this semester. Although, this semester has the reputation of being the hardest in any university's nursing program, so I guess it's SUPPOSED to be this difficult. Send me your positive thoughts for Wednesday!

For those of you who I have neglected this semester, my apologies. Winter break is almost here, and I'll catch up with you soon.

My brain cannot wait to get a decent break! "Where's the best place to rest your brain," you ask? Why, Vegas of course! Christine, Jenn, Dan, and I are heading to Vegas on the 18th to meet up with the other awesome people we met on our Euro trip. I can't wait to have everyone together again!

On a totally unrelated and random note: PACQUIAO WON! That was such a great victory for Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6th! Hooray for him, but I must say I am saddened by what he did to Oscar De La Hoya's face. He was so pretty prior to the fight.

Lastly, I should comment on a silly thing I saw the night of the Pacquiao/De La Hoya fight. I saw the fight at a family friend's house where tons of other Filipinos gathered to cheer for a major Filipino international celebrity. For those of you who don't know, Filipinos like to have tons load of food at their parties. Ridiculous amounts. This house party was no different. The thing that was unusual was this:

The odd thing was, I thought, "That is the very reason I need a labeler!" A few short seconds after I took this picture, someone put food in without a cover, and I said, "I think they're pretty serious about having to cover your food! It says STOP twice!" He laughed and still did it, so I busted him out. haha.

My father's interesting theory...

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:49:00 +0000

My father, to put it nicely, is interesting. The other day, my brother found me online and said, "You'll never guess what Dad just said!" Others would probably make a few guesses, but the things my father comes with can sometimes be so out there that I don't even try to guess anymore. On that particular day, my father's theory, in summary, was that Barack Obama is the precursor to the anti-christ. Just a precursor, you ask? Yes, because my father thinks the anti-christ is going to come out of Syria for some reason. How am I related to this person? A few other things he's said in the past:

- Palin is brought by God
- Global warming is something the liberals made up
- Obama is not a real Christian
- Evolution is not real (p.s.: my father is a bacteriologist, and he's seen bacteria evolve.)
- We're America we should be able to take what we want
- Don't adopt a black child (in relation to a conversation I was having with him about my consideration of possibly adopting a child one day).

No, people, he was not kidding. I'm almost tempted to send him this Christmas greeting:

Baby buff

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:15:00 +0000

I give thanks for Thanksgiving, but I do NOT give thanks for the extra pounds. Dan's niece Ava showed everyone how to work off the holiday pounds:

Notice the technique and the six pack under that shirt! She did about 1000 or so before she even broke a sweat. She is such a cutie. Below is a clip of Ava showing off another talent.

On the topic of buffness, my cousin Dino is apparently going to have another fight on December 13th. I have no idea why he has the biggest picture, or why he's right smack dab in the middle of the poster, but good luck to him! I'll be trying my best to make it that day.

Slightly related is this weird poster I saw when Dan and I went to go have some dim sum at Ranch 99:

It says LOVE EXERCISE. I automatically went into a hysterical giggle. I suppose one can argue that "love exercise" means exercising the heart due to heart break, or something related to relationships, but adding the handcuffs really makes that argument difficult to believe.

Thesis papers, duct taped rugs, The Roots quitting, and other atrocities ...

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Thesis papers

This thing is driving me CRAZY! I purposely chose a "sexy" topic so I would actually be interested in doing the research, but over the past semester my "sexy" topic has become the opposite. So UNsexy, in fact, that I have chosen to blog instead of work on my Internal Review Board proposal. It is just torture. Goodness.

Duct tape rugs

I walked into class one day and found THIS:

What the heck? That's pretty ghetto, Dominican University. Not only did they cut a rug in half, but they duct taped it to the floor. You couldn't spend some of the thousands of dollars you're charging me to go there to buy two decent rugs? GOODNESS!

The Roots quitting

This is probably the craziest news yet! My friend Patrick linked me to an article discussing The Roots' pending retirement from touring, as they have signed on to be Jimmy Fallon's house band when he takes over Conan O'brien's show next year. Say goodbye to respectable hip hop, people.

Prop 8

Probably long over due, but the passing of prop 8 saddened me. It wasn't that long ago when bi-cultural marriages were frowned down upon. It wasn't "right" or "natural". Not having the right to marry the person you love is baffling.

Some people who supported Prop 8 argued that they did not want their children to learn about it in schools. When did they start teaching about marriage in schools? That was certainly not part of the curriculum when I attended Glen Cove Elementary school. Others argue that marriage is only supposed to be between a man and woman, but marriage is also supposed to be FOREVER and monogamous, and many marriages have not adhered to that (i.e. divorces and cheaters). Give me a break people. Stop judging others, and let people live. You're saying this is wrong:

but this is somehow better because it's between a man and a woman?:

Apparently, Jesus rocks.

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:44:00 +0000

I kid you not, people. There is a Christian version of Guitar Hero. I wonder if Jesus would say, "Good job ripping off the original, kids," or if he would instead say, "Maybe you should use all the effort you put into this totally ripped off game, and put it into something that will actually make a positive effect in people's lives." I guess this version is doing so well in the market that they're thinking of putting together a Christian ROCK BAND version. GEEZ.

On a random note:
Ever wonder who they're pointing out at?

Congratulations...

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Congratulations!! You just won an awesome brand new President! HOORAY!

I went to a bunch of websites today to see the headlines. I observed the following:

CNN: U.S. chooses "change"
MSNBC: How he did it
NYT: President-Elect calls outcome a defining moment
CBS News: "A New Dawn" Barrack makes history, leads democrat surge to D.C.
USA Today: With Obama win, America changes course.
BBC: A Historic Moment
FOX: As he savors historic victory he also faces A WORLD OF TROUBLE (in extra big font)

Oh, FOX News...you're crazy hilarious.

Election Day

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:15:00 +0000

Tomorrow, don't vote for this guy:

Elections Everywhere Else

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:21:00 +0000

What's voting like in different countries? Well, for the countries that have the right to vote, it can be a totally awesome experience. It was an election year in the Philippines on one of my visits. My mother's entire province went out to their polling place, an elementary school, and it was a huge party. There wasn't a single person who COULD vote, that didn't. Every ballot was a paper ballot, and everyone's thumbs were blackened by "I VOTED" ink. It was fantastic. I thought, "Why couldn't it be a party like this for US too?" Voting is often viewed as a chore in the United States for some reason, a civil DUTY. Perhaps that's why young voters shy away from voting, it's just ANOTHER chore to do, there's a line without a fun roller coaster at the end of it, there's some planning required with registration, and there is early waking up involved.

Australia actually requires all citizens of age to vote, and if they don't there's a fee.

"What happens if I do not vote?

Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty.

If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs.

If there's anything that will make young voters turn out, it's the threat of losing the little money they have. I was listening to NPR the other day, and a guest proposed that voter registration be automatic upon the age of 18. BRILLIANT! If the government found the 18+ population during Vietnam, they should be able to do THIS! Imagine the turn out if we fined people for not voting, and if there was automatic voter registration! Young voters would have the MOTIVE to go, and the extra step of voter registration wouldn't be a worry. Eh, maybe someday.

Why do people do this?

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:52:00 +0000

Ok, WHY? Why do people do this? If you're not seeing this clear enough, it's a picture of a man I saw at Best Buy. He's wearing a camouflage outfit, and those are leaves on his tree colored suit. You might not have noticed him as he blends so perfectly into his surroundings, but trust me, he's there. The best part is when I took the picture, a Best Buy employee said, "Oh, do you know her?" As if I were taking a picture of her co-worker. REALLY? That's like seeing an alien at The Gap, and in your excitement, a lady says, "Yeah, I know, great sweater!" People are just weird.

Unexpected things...

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:03:00 +0000

For as long as I've been alive my Lolo (aka Grandfather) has been a beacon of strength. He does these weird exercises in the morning, and kind of looks like he's punching the air. It's not quite shadowboxing, but it's similar. He wasn't exactly designated, but he was certainly a reliable chauffeur. He drops off and picks up my cousins after school just as he'd picked me up. We knew we could always call him mid-day, if our parents were unavailable, to pick us up from school if we were ill. These sorts of things are always taken for granted as a kid. Maybe it's because it was so routine, that it kind of lost it's awesomeness.

Oddly enough, the things that drove me crazy about my Lolo are the very same things that I kind of grew to love about him. He does this thing, it's totally disgusting, where he burps for minutes on end without an "excuse me." It used to make me want to gag, but it's kind of funny and weird now. He used to make me turn on our old computer so he can play chess, and complain about how slow the computer took to load as if it were my fault. While we would get ready for school, he would play the same crazy song, his MASTERPIECE, over and over until we had our backpacks on. If we were misbehaving, he'd use to say, "Do you want me to take your nose and put it in the back?" He told awful jokes.

You kind of take for granted of the things that are routine and reliable because, well, they're routine and reliable. Today, my Lolo, my model of health, had a heart attack. He had an angioplasty, and the doctors said he was lucky to have gotten to the hospital when he did because he probably would not have lasted much longer.

My cousin observed my Lola (grandmother) whispering "I love you" to my Lolo when he came out of surgery, and my Lolo replied, "YA, I already KNOW dat. Did you remember to take your medicines?" That is so indicative of his personality: overly concerned, pushing away "mushy" feelings directed toward him, and funny, but just not on purpose. 81 years old, and going strong.

The past few weeks..

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:19:00 +0000

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. With the move, several exams, time at the hospital, patient care plans, practices, and a mid-week gig in San Francisco, I can hardly make time for Ugly Betty. Although, let's face it, I make the time.

Of course, with the turbulent times, I also made time for the three different debates. Like many others, I was baffled by Palin's idiocy. Had I known that all it took to be a U.S. Vice Presidential candidate was a pair of fancy shmancy specks, an accent, and a stupid wink, I would have moved to Europe years ago.

Also, on a pretty random note, I went to the bathroom this morning after breakfast, and when I walked back to the living room......the light by the door was switched on. Nobody was at my apartment except for me. I thought for a second, "Did I turn that on, and not even realize it," but I was nowhere near the door the entire morning. Then I thought, "OH GEEZ! Did someone break in, and is that person hiding right now?" I walked around holding a screwdriver while checking every room and closet. I don't know what I would've done with that screwdriver had I actually discovered an intruder. In conclusion, I think Casper paid me a friendly visit. Energy wasting, random scarer, Casper. Thanks for bumping up my PG&E bill, guy.

Kauai, Maternity Rotation, and Moving

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:26:00 +0000

A lot's been going on the past few weeks, as evidenced by lack of blogging lately. I went to Kauai for a few days, I started my maternity rotation, and I'm getting ready to move into a new apartment.

1.) Kauai:

It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had. It was absolutely beautiful. We spent quite a bit of time snorkeling. We got to see a bunch of sea turtles in their natural habitats, a monk seal, several different types of fish, and an eel. We spent some time kayaking, saw a cheesy luau, hung out on a hammock, saw a beautiful sunset, and ate way too much awesome food.

2.) Maternity Rotation:

I am IN LOVE with this rotation. There are cute little babies everywhere, and the patients, for once, are generally happy. I've seen two births so far. It's just about the greatest rotation so far!

3.) Moving:

I HATE moving! I've had to move every 1-2 years, and it gets worse every time. Although, I am a little excited to move to a new complex. There'll be a pool, jacuzzi, gym, communal office, and every apartment has its own assigned garage. We've already started planning out where the furniture will go!

Here's what the model looked like..

OOo-LYMPICS!

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:48:00 +0000

OoO-LYMPICS!! OooO-DRAMA! OooO-Awesome! Who knew that I was going to be THIS interested in the Olympics this year? I haven't been this excited about the Olympics since that girl broke her foot in the women's gymnastics team event, and still did a second vault to win it for the team! For some reason, a win isn't as spectacular without an injury. Phelps wins? Big deal! Phelps wins while swimming with 3 functional limbs? FANTASTIC! Here is my break down so far:

1) China is f-ing intimidating:

It took all but 30 seconds for me, and probably the entire nation, to realize that in the event of war, China could totally kick our asses.

Yeah, those are people. And yes, they're just there to drum. 2008 men just drumming. It's like China saying, "Yeah, we have 2008 drummers. If we wanted to we could bring out 400 million, your entire population, to drum and we'd still have several million more left to kick your asses if need be." It's a little unsettling.

2) China is FANCY:

Granted, I haven't witnessed that many Olympic opening ceremonies, but China's opening event had to have been the most beautiful, high-tech, and impressive one to date. In a span of a few hours China reminded the world:

a. "We have the man power!"
b. "We invented fireworks, bitches!"
c. "We can make HUGE l.e.d screens."
d. "We can do some amazing crap."

3) In your FRENCH FACES!!

Last night, the French were officially moded! They failed to smash the U.S. team in the 4 x 1oo, and after talking all that trash, I couldn't blame them for looking so sad. We SMOSHED them! HAHAH! It was awesome!

4) Stupid People!

I caught a glimpse of the TODAY show before going to work this morning. They were filming in Beijing, and they had people screaming in the background as they do when they're in their New York studios. Some people in the background were asked where they'd just come from, and lady replied, "We just came from watching the Men's Butterfly, and _______ won!"

Thanks a lot for ruining THAT for me, lady! It doesn't air until about 11 pm here. Freaken idiot.

It's Not Me, It's You

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:18:00 +0000

There has never been a line so overused in a break up than the infamous, "It's not you, it's me." Dan and I had a conversation about the validity of this statement because, let's face it, most of the time the person saying it really means it the other way around. It's the "nice" way of breaking up with someone. It's like saying, "You're great. I'm the asshole that's changed so you shouldn't feel badly about this break up situation."

The reality of it is, the person doing the break up doesn't actually feel that way. I looked back at the few moments I used that line, and I never meant it. I just didn't want to say, "You're too short, and I thought I'd be fine with it, but I guess I'm not." Perhaps the better way to phrase the cliche is, "You haven't changed, but I just realized that I can't deal with that," or, "You haven't changed, and I'm bored now." It might not be as nice, but you know it's the truth.

If, for some miracle, you've actually used this line and meant it, please enlighten me.

Other classic break up lines:

“You deserve someone better.”
“I just need some time to find out what I want.”
“I need some time to experiment and find out who I am.”

Where'd it go?

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:21:00 +0000

Birthdays used to be exciting. In my younger years, birthdays almost always meant I would get money to buy Sanrio pens and other junk I already had too much of. Coincidentally, have you seen how slutty Hello Kitty looks lately? I know it's random, but what the heck? Dress a little more age appropriate, Hello Kitty.

Anyway...Years later, birthdays meant being able to drive, getting to watch rated R movies without parental supervision, getting to go to a club, or lawfully drinking alcohol. After 21, it became harder to look forward to birthdays. I thought, "OK, when I turn 25, I'll get to rent a car by myself, and my car insurance rate will drop," but when that time came I was sadly mistaken. I guess insurance rates only go down for men, and I haven't needed to rent a car since I already have one.

I've been probing my brain for something awesome to associate with 27, cause let's face it, it's only 3 years away from 3o, and I gotta look forward to something exciting to replace my anxiety. After some thought, I have decided to go skydiving. I've always wanted to go, and it's exciting! Yes people, 27 is the year you go skydiving. It's official.

16: Get to drive
17: Get to watch rated R movies
18: Get to go clubbing
21: Get to drink
25: Get to rent a car
27: Get to go skydiving

I'll say that 28 will be the year I get to swim with the sharks, 29 is the year I get a scuba diving license and actually use it, and 30...well, I'll have to put more thought into that. 30 is a big deal.

Garlic Breath, Theatre in the Park, and Kites:

noreply@blogger.com (2011 Edition) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:46:00 +0000

When you can fit in a Garlic Festival, Theatre in the Park, a Kite Festival, and still have other awesome things planned in one weekend, you know you live in one of the greatest places on the planet!

1.) Garlic Breath:

I'll be heading to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy on Saturday with a group of friends to eat a bunch of garlicky food! I've never gone to the famed Garlic Festival before, but have always wondered what the heck something like Garlic Ice Cream would even taste like. Of course there will be mountains of garlic fries, half of which will land in my stomach.

If you thought that a garlic festival was just gluttonous fun, you'd be wrong! A new Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival, with looks, brains, talent, and an extensive knowledge of garlic history, will be crowned this year! Below was last year's winner:

2.) Theatre in the Park:

I love movies, parks, free stuff, and San Francisco. Combining all those four things, along with free popcorn, is beyond exciting. I'll be heading to Dolores Park on Saturday evening with a blanket to watch The Breakfast Club, as should you.

3.) Kite Festival:

I went to the Berkeley Kite Festival last year, and had such a great time. You can't really go wrong with an event on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with giant kites, kite fights, and exhibitions.

4.) More:

Somewhere in the middle of all this awesomeness I'm going to fit in practice with Audiology , moving a bed, watching my brother's performance, and maybe Salsa dancing.