6.18.2006
I received some relief today. It wasn't exactly celebrated as well as I had hoped. After numerous hours of being on my feet and agravation here and there throughout the day, it would have been nice to come home to something that was a bit more welcoming than what I experienced tonight. I just wanted about an hour of senseless television to relieve some tension and I ended up having to fight for what I wanted to watch from a nonresident! I guess it was too much to ask from a person who ALWAYS hogs the television especially during some petty game for the petty pleasure of watching a nonLA resident continue to prove why he's a great ballplayer.
5.30.2006
What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?
Has that proverbial question finally smacked me in the face? I'm in the midst of looking for a new position and there have been a few signs that point to that question and suggestions that I should have a plan. To what extent should I have a plan?
When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be able to look down on the planet and see the clouds swirling as the planet rotated in the universe. I wanted to be among the clouds of dust and particles in space and witness the miracles of the universe. But then I found out that most astronauts have scientific backgrounds. Science was fun for a while but never really my forte since I grew to learn that scientists spend most of their time in labs and don't really interact with people, which is what I'm more inclined to do.
As I became older, I found my leadership skills. I took on various student leadership positions that allowed me to interact with students, teachers, administrators and other school district officials. I really loved to see the whole school policy process take place. With all of that came the understanding of politics and lobbying.
College hit and I took a backseat to all the "leadership activities" that I did in high school. It didn't take very long until I was at it again. I was extremly active in the AS organization as well as various other related activities on campus and off campus. All the while, maintaining decent grades in my business program. I event attempted to get an ethnic studies certificate but it would have taken me another semester and more money, which was not an option. Along the way, I gained experience in the human resources field and marketing. Through all my experience in college, I gravitated towards marketing but if I ever had to, I could work in a human resources field but again...not really something I want to completely pursue.
Today, I find myself in LA, foreign territory. As I drove to work today, I started to recount my years spent at Kaplan. How many significant things did I really learn there? I learned how NOT to run a company, especially one the size of Kaplan, Inc. - an international conglomerate. I remember getting the opportunity to look at demographic and sales data and being a part of the planning process for classes and other test prep products and I remember how excited I was. It was finally something that allowed me to use my brain a bit more. Up to that point, I was droning away at the computer, performing tasks on Quark that required minimal knowledge of the program. I found so many ways to create shortcuts that I accomplished tasks in no time. Since I was among the two people who knew that program inside and out, I managed to survive four or five re-structures of the company, at least in the region I helped to manage.
During my last two years at Kaplan, I startd to get involved with community activities again. I started to re-build my network outside of work. Most of my community activities have been spent with the Pilipino American community, one that's still very young in getting politically and socially organized. All the while, I've tried to stick to the field that I have the most expertise in - marketing/public relations/promotions/event planning. So I guess that's what I want to be when I grow up. It'd be even better if I get into a company that will help offset some of my costs to get an MBA but again, how much value will an MBA add to my abilities? That's another question that I haven't quite been able to answer yet.
When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be able to look down on the planet and see the clouds swirling as the planet rotated in the universe. I wanted to be among the clouds of dust and particles in space and witness the miracles of the universe. But then I found out that most astronauts have scientific backgrounds. Science was fun for a while but never really my forte since I grew to learn that scientists spend most of their time in labs and don't really interact with people, which is what I'm more inclined to do.
As I became older, I found my leadership skills. I took on various student leadership positions that allowed me to interact with students, teachers, administrators and other school district officials. I really loved to see the whole school policy process take place. With all of that came the understanding of politics and lobbying.
College hit and I took a backseat to all the "leadership activities" that I did in high school. It didn't take very long until I was at it again. I was extremly active in the AS organization as well as various other related activities on campus and off campus. All the while, maintaining decent grades in my business program. I event attempted to get an ethnic studies certificate but it would have taken me another semester and more money, which was not an option. Along the way, I gained experience in the human resources field and marketing. Through all my experience in college, I gravitated towards marketing but if I ever had to, I could work in a human resources field but again...not really something I want to completely pursue.
Today, I find myself in LA, foreign territory. As I drove to work today, I started to recount my years spent at Kaplan. How many significant things did I really learn there? I learned how NOT to run a company, especially one the size of Kaplan, Inc. - an international conglomerate. I remember getting the opportunity to look at demographic and sales data and being a part of the planning process for classes and other test prep products and I remember how excited I was. It was finally something that allowed me to use my brain a bit more. Up to that point, I was droning away at the computer, performing tasks on Quark that required minimal knowledge of the program. I found so many ways to create shortcuts that I accomplished tasks in no time. Since I was among the two people who knew that program inside and out, I managed to survive four or five re-structures of the company, at least in the region I helped to manage.
During my last two years at Kaplan, I startd to get involved with community activities again. I started to re-build my network outside of work. Most of my community activities have been spent with the Pilipino American community, one that's still very young in getting politically and socially organized. All the while, I've tried to stick to the field that I have the most expertise in - marketing/public relations/promotions/event planning. So I guess that's what I want to be when I grow up. It'd be even better if I get into a company that will help offset some of my costs to get an MBA but again, how much value will an MBA add to my abilities? That's another question that I haven't quite been able to answer yet.
5.28.2006
Another Reason Why Catholicism isn't All it's Cracked Out to Be
And they ask why non-Catholics AND Catholics are disillusioned with the religion. I hardly believe kneeling vs. not kneeling should be categorized as a mortal sin. Fanatical?...hm....
A Ban on Kneeling? Some Catholics Won't Stand for It
By David Haldane
LA Times Staff Writer
May 28, 2006
At a small Catholic church in Huntington Beach, the pressing moral question comes to this: Does kneeling at the wrong time during worship make you a sinner?
Kneeling "is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin," Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, told his flock in a recent church bulletin. The Diocese of Orange backs Tran's anti-kneeling edict.
Though told by the pastor and the archdiocese to stand during certain parts of the liturgy, a third of the congregation still gets on its knees every Sunday.
"Kneeling is an act of adoration," said Judith M. Clark, 68, one of at least 55 parishioners who have received letters from church leaders urging them to get off their knees or quit St. Mary's and the Diocese of Orange. "You almost automatically kneel because you're so used to it. Now the priest says we should stand, but we all just ignore him."
The debate is being played out in at least a dozen parishes nationwide.
Since at least the 7th century, Catholics have been kneeling after the Agnus Dei, the point during Mass when the priest holds up the chalice and consecrated bread and says, "Behold the lamb of God." But four years ago, the Vatican revised its instructions, allowing bishops to decide at some points in the Mass whether their flocks should get on their knees. "The faithful kneel … unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise," says Rome's book of instructions. Since then, some churches have been built without kneelers.
The debate is part of the argument among Catholics between tradition and change. Traditionalists see it as the ultimate posture of submission to and adoration of God; modernists view kneeling as the vestige of a feudal past they would like to leave behind.
At the center of the controversy is the church's concept of Christ, said Jesuit Father Lawrence J. Madden, director of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy at Georgetown University in Washington. It's a question raised in the bestselling book "The Da Vinci Code."
Because the earliest Christians viewed Jesus as God and man, Madden said, they generally stood during worship services to show reverence and equality. About the 7th century, however, Catholic theologians put more emphasis on Christ's divinity and introduced kneeling as the only appropriate posture at points in the Mass when God was believed to be present.
Things started to change in the 1960s, Madden said, when Vatican II began moving the church back to its earliest roots. What has ensued, he said, is the predictable struggle of an institution revising centuries of religious practices.
The argument over kneeling, Madden said, is "a signal of the division in the church between two camps: those who have caught the spirit of Vatican II, and those who are a bit suspicious. Because it's so visible, what happens at the Sunday worship event is a lightning rod for lots of issues."
One flashpoint involves the Agnus Dei. Traditionalists say the faithful must then fall to their knees in awe for several minutes, believing that the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Christ.
Lesa Truxaw, the Orange Diocese director of worship, said Bishop Tod D. Brown banned kneeling because standing "reflects our human dignity. It's not that we think we're equal to God, but we recognize that we are made in the image and likeness of God."
Orange County parishioners are still allowed to kneel at other points in the Mass, including the Eucharistic prayers. Kneeling is optional as worshippers receive communion.
No less an authority than the pope is on record as favoring kneeling. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI last year, wrote in "The Spirit of the Liturgy," published in 2000, that the gesture, "comes from the Bible and the knowledge of God." He has not addressed the issue as pope.
American Catholic bishops have taken the opposite position. "Standing can be just as much an expression of respect for the coming of Christ," said Msgr. Anthony F. Sherman, a spokesman for the liturgy secretariat of the U.S. Bishops Committee on the Liturgy based in Washington.
That hasn't quieted critics.
"It's hard to understand why any bishop would prohibit his people from expressing reverence in the way they have done for centuries," said Helen Hull Hitchcock, a founder of the conservative Adoremus Society for the Renewal of Sacred Liturgy in St. Louis.
The controversy at St. Mary's by the Sea began to intensify late last year after Brown appointed Tran to lead the 1,500-family parish.
Tran took over following the retirement of the church's longtime pastor, who had offered a popular traditional Latin Mass.
Tran's Mass reverted to the more modern English form practiced in most American churches, and hundreds of parishioners signed a petition in protest. Then, to pull the church into the modern era, the priest told members, they were not to kneel after the Agnus Dei.
Many refused to comply. "Not kneeling would be sinful," said Manuel Ruiz, 45, "because that is what I believe I should do."
Mary Tripoli, 54, a former member of the parish council, was dismissed for her insistence on kneeling: "Standing may be reverence, but kneeling is adoration. It's the one thing that means Catholicism throughout the world. It's what sets us apart."
At least two altar boys, the parish altar servers coordinator and three members of the parish council have been dismissed from their duties for kneeling at the wrong time, according to parishioners.
Angered by the anti-kneeling edict, a group calling itself Save Saint Mary's began distributing leaflets calling for its return outside church each Sunday.
Tran responded in the church bulletin with a series of strident weekly statements condemning what he called "despising the authority of the local bishop" by refusing his orders to stand, and calling the disobedience a mortal sin, considered the worst kind of offense, usually reserved for acts such as murder.
Tran sent letters to 55 kneeling parishioners "inviting" them to leave the parish and the diocese for, among other things, "creating misleading confusion, division and chaos in the parish by intentional disobedience and opposition to the current liturgical norms."
Father Joe Fenton, spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, said the diocese supports Tran's view that disobeying the anti-kneeling edict is a mortal sin. "That's Father Tran's interpretation, and he's the pastor," he said. "We stand behind Father Tran."
Recipients of Tran's banishment letter said they have declined his "invitation" to depart.
Kneeling, said Teri Carpentier, 50, is praying "with our bodies, not just our minds."
During a recent Saturday afternoon Mass, dozens of worshippers defiantly knelt after the Agnus Dei.
One who didn't was Winifred Mentzer, 84.
"I've been standing lately," she later said, "because I'm all the way up front, and I know that the priest is watching. But I'm kneeling in my heart."
A Ban on Kneeling? Some Catholics Won't Stand for It
By David Haldane
LA Times Staff Writer
May 28, 2006
At a small Catholic church in Huntington Beach, the pressing moral question comes to this: Does kneeling at the wrong time during worship make you a sinner?
Kneeling "is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin," Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, told his flock in a recent church bulletin. The Diocese of Orange backs Tran's anti-kneeling edict.
Though told by the pastor and the archdiocese to stand during certain parts of the liturgy, a third of the congregation still gets on its knees every Sunday.
"Kneeling is an act of adoration," said Judith M. Clark, 68, one of at least 55 parishioners who have received letters from church leaders urging them to get off their knees or quit St. Mary's and the Diocese of Orange. "You almost automatically kneel because you're so used to it. Now the priest says we should stand, but we all just ignore him."
The debate is being played out in at least a dozen parishes nationwide.
Since at least the 7th century, Catholics have been kneeling after the Agnus Dei, the point during Mass when the priest holds up the chalice and consecrated bread and says, "Behold the lamb of God." But four years ago, the Vatican revised its instructions, allowing bishops to decide at some points in the Mass whether their flocks should get on their knees. "The faithful kneel … unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise," says Rome's book of instructions. Since then, some churches have been built without kneelers.
The debate is part of the argument among Catholics between tradition and change. Traditionalists see it as the ultimate posture of submission to and adoration of God; modernists view kneeling as the vestige of a feudal past they would like to leave behind.
At the center of the controversy is the church's concept of Christ, said Jesuit Father Lawrence J. Madden, director of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy at Georgetown University in Washington. It's a question raised in the bestselling book "The Da Vinci Code."
Because the earliest Christians viewed Jesus as God and man, Madden said, they generally stood during worship services to show reverence and equality. About the 7th century, however, Catholic theologians put more emphasis on Christ's divinity and introduced kneeling as the only appropriate posture at points in the Mass when God was believed to be present.
Things started to change in the 1960s, Madden said, when Vatican II began moving the church back to its earliest roots. What has ensued, he said, is the predictable struggle of an institution revising centuries of religious practices.
The argument over kneeling, Madden said, is "a signal of the division in the church between two camps: those who have caught the spirit of Vatican II, and those who are a bit suspicious. Because it's so visible, what happens at the Sunday worship event is a lightning rod for lots of issues."
One flashpoint involves the Agnus Dei. Traditionalists say the faithful must then fall to their knees in awe for several minutes, believing that the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Christ.
Lesa Truxaw, the Orange Diocese director of worship, said Bishop Tod D. Brown banned kneeling because standing "reflects our human dignity. It's not that we think we're equal to God, but we recognize that we are made in the image and likeness of God."
Orange County parishioners are still allowed to kneel at other points in the Mass, including the Eucharistic prayers. Kneeling is optional as worshippers receive communion.
No less an authority than the pope is on record as favoring kneeling. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI last year, wrote in "The Spirit of the Liturgy," published in 2000, that the gesture, "comes from the Bible and the knowledge of God." He has not addressed the issue as pope.
American Catholic bishops have taken the opposite position. "Standing can be just as much an expression of respect for the coming of Christ," said Msgr. Anthony F. Sherman, a spokesman for the liturgy secretariat of the U.S. Bishops Committee on the Liturgy based in Washington.
That hasn't quieted critics.
"It's hard to understand why any bishop would prohibit his people from expressing reverence in the way they have done for centuries," said Helen Hull Hitchcock, a founder of the conservative Adoremus Society for the Renewal of Sacred Liturgy in St. Louis.
The controversy at St. Mary's by the Sea began to intensify late last year after Brown appointed Tran to lead the 1,500-family parish.
Tran took over following the retirement of the church's longtime pastor, who had offered a popular traditional Latin Mass.
Tran's Mass reverted to the more modern English form practiced in most American churches, and hundreds of parishioners signed a petition in protest. Then, to pull the church into the modern era, the priest told members, they were not to kneel after the Agnus Dei.
Many refused to comply. "Not kneeling would be sinful," said Manuel Ruiz, 45, "because that is what I believe I should do."
Mary Tripoli, 54, a former member of the parish council, was dismissed for her insistence on kneeling: "Standing may be reverence, but kneeling is adoration. It's the one thing that means Catholicism throughout the world. It's what sets us apart."
At least two altar boys, the parish altar servers coordinator and three members of the parish council have been dismissed from their duties for kneeling at the wrong time, according to parishioners.
Angered by the anti-kneeling edict, a group calling itself Save Saint Mary's began distributing leaflets calling for its return outside church each Sunday.
Tran responded in the church bulletin with a series of strident weekly statements condemning what he called "despising the authority of the local bishop" by refusing his orders to stand, and calling the disobedience a mortal sin, considered the worst kind of offense, usually reserved for acts such as murder.
Tran sent letters to 55 kneeling parishioners "inviting" them to leave the parish and the diocese for, among other things, "creating misleading confusion, division and chaos in the parish by intentional disobedience and opposition to the current liturgical norms."
Father Joe Fenton, spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, said the diocese supports Tran's view that disobeying the anti-kneeling edict is a mortal sin. "That's Father Tran's interpretation, and he's the pastor," he said. "We stand behind Father Tran."
Recipients of Tran's banishment letter said they have declined his "invitation" to depart.
Kneeling, said Teri Carpentier, 50, is praying "with our bodies, not just our minds."
During a recent Saturday afternoon Mass, dozens of worshippers defiantly knelt after the Agnus Dei.
One who didn't was Winifred Mentzer, 84.
"I've been standing lately," she later said, "because I'm all the way up front, and I know that the priest is watching. But I'm kneeling in my heart."
5.23.2006
Romantic Nostalgia
So I admit to my romanticized memories of San Francisco. I haven't been there in a while and I'm starting to really crave for the cold air hitting my skin, the sweeping vistas of Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Pacific Heights, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park and Downtown SF from Lone Mountain. I miss depending on either the Geary or Balboa line to get me to where I want to be. I miss huffing and puffing my way up and down those damn hills. I miss the rare warm days sitting on the grass enjoying the few sunny sunny days The City gets. First goal after I get a new job - make a trip to SF AND Napa for an olive oil tour and wine tasting.
5.16.2006
final numbers
finally was able to get final numbers from our event two weeks ago. i'm not really jumping out of me seat. sponsorships were up, as well as advertising and silent auctions. all expenses were lower than last year but overall, the net gain was about $2K more than last year. boo! :-(
5.15.2006
5.11.2006
doh! damnit...tonight myspace became the black hole of my existance!
by the way, stomp is a little overrated after you've already seen way too many variations of tinikling and that other pilipino traditional dance where all the dancers are performing with two sticks in their hands and beating them to the music beat. witnessing other ethnic indigenous dances that use non-western instruments probably didn't heighten the stomp experience either. at some points in the performance, i thought of a group of kids throwing a tantrum and grabbing any possible thing in their midst to make large banging noises to add on to their frustrations.
at least i can say i saw it. thank goodness the tickets were free! thanks joey!
by the way, stomp is a little overrated after you've already seen way too many variations of tinikling and that other pilipino traditional dance where all the dancers are performing with two sticks in their hands and beating them to the music beat. witnessing other ethnic indigenous dances that use non-western instruments probably didn't heighten the stomp experience either. at some points in the performance, i thought of a group of kids throwing a tantrum and grabbing any possible thing in their midst to make large banging noises to add on to their frustrations.
at least i can say i saw it. thank goodness the tickets were free! thanks joey!
5.08.2006
4.27.2006
I've figured it out. Karaoke is only for those with really bad vocals, at least in public. I was contemplating this as I was watching the Lakers' game last night at Max's in Glendale and listening to people amuse themselves with their so-called talents.
I know I will offend some friends in saying this. But I truly think that is why people get on the Karaoke machines in public. There has to be some ounce of humor in the performance or it's just plain boring when someone that can stay on key and in time performs! It's not as funny. I was thinking back on all the moments The Joe and his friends have made me sit through those sessions and each time, they've attempted something humorous to make the experience somewhat enjoyable, at least for me. I think that's often times why I don't want to sing since I don't know really know how I can be funny on the mic unless you're like The Joe and expounds on some Tagalog song that speaks to how a Lola warns her grandchild about falling in love with someone that's not exactly in the same "breeding quality" as her family.
Yes, I do roll my eyes often when the word, "karaoke" even comes up. Yes, sometimes I do feel as if I'm being tortured. Yes, I do require a significant amount of intoxication to get me in the right mood to completely "play along." I can't help it. It's hard to listen to not so good stuff when you try to surround yourself with really good sounds all the time, especially in the crazy situations I often get myself into.
But just because I hate karaoke doesn't mean I don't love my friends and, I guess, my Joey. Just don't expect me to be the first to suggest this kind of entertainment.
I know I will offend some friends in saying this. But I truly think that is why people get on the Karaoke machines in public. There has to be some ounce of humor in the performance or it's just plain boring when someone that can stay on key and in time performs! It's not as funny. I was thinking back on all the moments The Joe and his friends have made me sit through those sessions and each time, they've attempted something humorous to make the experience somewhat enjoyable, at least for me. I think that's often times why I don't want to sing since I don't know really know how I can be funny on the mic unless you're like The Joe and expounds on some Tagalog song that speaks to how a Lola warns her grandchild about falling in love with someone that's not exactly in the same "breeding quality" as her family.
Yes, I do roll my eyes often when the word, "karaoke" even comes up. Yes, sometimes I do feel as if I'm being tortured. Yes, I do require a significant amount of intoxication to get me in the right mood to completely "play along." I can't help it. It's hard to listen to not so good stuff when you try to surround yourself with really good sounds all the time, especially in the crazy situations I often get myself into.
But just because I hate karaoke doesn't mean I don't love my friends and, I guess, my Joey. Just don't expect me to be the first to suggest this kind of entertainment.
4.21.2006
Someone read my mind today!
Creating Confidence
Capricorn Daily Horoscope
You may begin to doubt your ability to provide for yourself today. This sense of insecurity could stem from anxiety over your obligations or challenges you may currently be facing. If you can look at your life with an optimistic eye and consider every problem to be a blessing in disguise, you’ll likely regain your confidence about your ability to shoulder your many responsibilities. Consider how well you have dealt with challenges in the past. To do so again, you may simply need to change your outlook and start to believe in your ability to find solutions. Today can be a wonderful time to create a step-by-step plan for seeing to your obligations.
Approaching our concerns with the notion that everything will work out allows us to put our worries aside and concentrate on seeking constructive solutions. In choosing to assume that a situation will turn out all right, our mental state gradually shifts to one where we become confident that we can deal with any problem. We also begin to have faith in our abilities. This optimism can keep us cheerful and practical-minded through good and bad times. Our positive mind-set allows us to see the possibilities rather than dwelling on concerns. Adopt a positive outlook today, and you will be able to focus on what needs to be done rather than worrying about what may or may not happen.
Capricorn Daily Horoscope
You may begin to doubt your ability to provide for yourself today. This sense of insecurity could stem from anxiety over your obligations or challenges you may currently be facing. If you can look at your life with an optimistic eye and consider every problem to be a blessing in disguise, you’ll likely regain your confidence about your ability to shoulder your many responsibilities. Consider how well you have dealt with challenges in the past. To do so again, you may simply need to change your outlook and start to believe in your ability to find solutions. Today can be a wonderful time to create a step-by-step plan for seeing to your obligations.
Approaching our concerns with the notion that everything will work out allows us to put our worries aside and concentrate on seeking constructive solutions. In choosing to assume that a situation will turn out all right, our mental state gradually shifts to one where we become confident that we can deal with any problem. We also begin to have faith in our abilities. This optimism can keep us cheerful and practical-minded through good and bad times. Our positive mind-set allows us to see the possibilities rather than dwelling on concerns. Adopt a positive outlook today, and you will be able to focus on what needs to be done rather than worrying about what may or may not happen.
4.16.2006
What I did for Mike's Spring Break
Just one of the many things...
Oh yes, the boy was hurting the next day but he had one hell of a ride! Take 2...
Oh yes, the boy was hurting the next day but he had one hell of a ride! Take 2...
4.03.2006
A New Stage
All the time I was wondering what the heck I wanted to do with myself and someone makes the decision for me. It's time to go back to corporate life, at least for right now. Time to build up more capital for myself and for The Joe, as he'd like to think, while continuing with all the community stuff as before. It's certainly been a wonderful time and I can fully understand the complexities of working in such an environment. I am also greatful for all the support I've received, personally and professionally...moving with courage and confidence.
3.30.2006
Keeping Conscious
Here's a few things to remind all of us to live with meaning.
1. Live simply and live deliberately. By choosing not to get caught up in the details of this fast-paced world, you are doing your part to slow down the . You will also discover that you have more time to enjoy being alive.
2. Stay in touch with yourself. Soul searching, meditation, and journaling are just a few of the many activities you can take part in to stay aware and learn as much as you can about your emotions, reactions, likes, dislikes, dreams, and fears. Having a solid sense of self gives you a firm foundation for living in this world.
3. Support or teach others as often as you can. This can help you form connections with people while also giving you an opportunity to make the world a better place.
4. Consciously choose what you will allow into your being. The media bombards us with visions of hate, war, and pain. Be judicious about what you read, watch, and listen to.
5. Acknowledge the beauty that resides around you. Whether you live in a sprawling metropolis or a stereotypical suburb, there are natural and man-made wonders just waiting to be discovered by you.
6. Nurture your ties to your tribe. If you don't have one, create a community that you can belong to. Modern life can be isolating. When you have a tribe, you have a circle that you are a part of. Its members - loved ones, friends, or neighbors - can be a source of support, caring, guidance, and companionship.
7. See the larger picture. Remember that the way that you choose to live is not the only way to live. Widen your perspective by exploring other modes of being through research, travel, and discussion.
8. Embrace the challenges that life presents to you, and challenge yourself often. After a time, even the most exciting jobs or lifestyles can seem routine. Never stop assimilating new knowledge about whatever you are doing, and your life will never seem dull.
9. Move your body. In this busy world, it can be easy to live a sedentary life. Movement reacquaints us with our bodies and connects us to the earth in a visceral way. It also restores our vitality.
10. Make time for stillness, silence, and solitude. The world can be noisy, and we are subject to all kinds of noises nearly every waking hour. We are also often "on the go" and unable to relax. Being alone in a peaceful place and making time for quiet can help you stay in touch with yourself.
1. Live simply and live deliberately. By choosing not to get caught up in the details of this fast-paced world, you are doing your part to slow down the . You will also discover that you have more time to enjoy being alive.
2. Stay in touch with yourself. Soul searching, meditation, and journaling are just a few of the many activities you can take part in to stay aware and learn as much as you can about your emotions, reactions, likes, dislikes, dreams, and fears. Having a solid sense of self gives you a firm foundation for living in this world.
3. Support or teach others as often as you can. This can help you form connections with people while also giving you an opportunity to make the world a better place.
4. Consciously choose what you will allow into your being. The media bombards us with visions of hate, war, and pain. Be judicious about what you read, watch, and listen to.
5. Acknowledge the beauty that resides around you. Whether you live in a sprawling metropolis or a stereotypical suburb, there are natural and man-made wonders just waiting to be discovered by you.
6. Nurture your ties to your tribe. If you don't have one, create a community that you can belong to. Modern life can be isolating. When you have a tribe, you have a circle that you are a part of. Its members - loved ones, friends, or neighbors - can be a source of support, caring, guidance, and companionship.
7. See the larger picture. Remember that the way that you choose to live is not the only way to live. Widen your perspective by exploring other modes of being through research, travel, and discussion.
8. Embrace the challenges that life presents to you, and challenge yourself often. After a time, even the most exciting jobs or lifestyles can seem routine. Never stop assimilating new knowledge about whatever you are doing, and your life will never seem dull.
9. Move your body. In this busy world, it can be easy to live a sedentary life. Movement reacquaints us with our bodies and connects us to the earth in a visceral way. It also restores our vitality.
10. Make time for stillness, silence, and solitude. The world can be noisy, and we are subject to all kinds of noises nearly every waking hour. We are also often "on the go" and unable to relax. Being alone in a peaceful place and making time for quiet can help you stay in touch with yourself.
3.29.2006
A New Baby
One of my lovely friends was down for a visit this past weekend. I took two days off to spend some time with her and always to take a breather from work. It's been very nice.
It was wonderful catching up with her. She's one of my friends whom I will die with and we will always have each other's back. She can finish my sentences when I don't know how to verabalize my thoughts. She understands the intonations in my sentences and just knows me even during the times when I can't see me.
Before she left, we talked again about starting our own business. We've been scheming about several different ideas for the past five years. I don't think it's necessarily about making money at the end of the day but being able to work for ourselves and doing things we really like to do has been the draw. Being able to work with a white canvass is something that has always attracted the two of us, as well. Some good thoughts were definitely shared. Maybe in the next three years?
It was wonderful catching up with her. She's one of my friends whom I will die with and we will always have each other's back. She can finish my sentences when I don't know how to verabalize my thoughts. She understands the intonations in my sentences and just knows me even during the times when I can't see me.
Before she left, we talked again about starting our own business. We've been scheming about several different ideas for the past five years. I don't think it's necessarily about making money at the end of the day but being able to work for ourselves and doing things we really like to do has been the draw. Being able to work with a white canvass is something that has always attracted the two of us, as well. Some good thoughts were definitely shared. Maybe in the next three years?
3.28.2006
A much needed breather
I've been working 9-11 hour days in the past few weeks. This doesn't really count the amount of additional time I spend at home so maybe the count should be more like 10-15 hours. I'm finally taking off tomorrow and Wednesday for some much needed rest. My throat has been scratchy for the past few days so I've been trying to fight that off, too.
I had a little yoga session this morning. I've forgotten how good a little meditation and movement feels first thing in the morning. For some reason, I've been waking up around 7am/7:30am for the past few weeks. Maybe my body is finally trying to regulate itself.
My day and evening were going relatively well until a little situation irked me around dinner. A few of us were gathering at our friends' place and I couldn't find parking on the main street. I had to park in the back of their alley and pass through a portion of the street that was semi-blocked by four car-loads of guys. They had their cars on and were parked on the street talking to each other like no one else was going to drive on the damn street. I'm not really one to ask to be walked somewhere, so you'd think one of the few times I'd ask, the one person who I thought would not question me or put up a fuss did. I was so hurt. And then the stupid prick attempts to playfully make peace by playfully...hell no...bastard! No apology as of yet, at least not a sincere one.
Tomorrow is a new day. I'll do some light work first thing in the morning and wait for Gellie and Bernie to get their asses over here. I don't understand why they haven't figured out that the 405 is the worst freeway to take in this area. Ah well...some people gotta get smacked on the ass a few times before they really get it.
I had a little yoga session this morning. I've forgotten how good a little meditation and movement feels first thing in the morning. For some reason, I've been waking up around 7am/7:30am for the past few weeks. Maybe my body is finally trying to regulate itself.
My day and evening were going relatively well until a little situation irked me around dinner. A few of us were gathering at our friends' place and I couldn't find parking on the main street. I had to park in the back of their alley and pass through a portion of the street that was semi-blocked by four car-loads of guys. They had their cars on and were parked on the street talking to each other like no one else was going to drive on the damn street. I'm not really one to ask to be walked somewhere, so you'd think one of the few times I'd ask, the one person who I thought would not question me or put up a fuss did. I was so hurt. And then the stupid prick attempts to playfully make peace by playfully...hell no...bastard! No apology as of yet, at least not a sincere one.
Tomorrow is a new day. I'll do some light work first thing in the morning and wait for Gellie and Bernie to get their asses over here. I don't understand why they haven't figured out that the 405 is the worst freeway to take in this area. Ah well...some people gotta get smacked on the ass a few times before they really get it.
3.10.2006
Sad joePod
OMG! Tragedy struck today...my joePod went sad.
I made myself not overreact and calmy went to apple.com to see what they had listed under support. You know it's not a good thing when there's a direct link with the same icon on their homepage for iPod support. After going through all the steps I still couldn't fix it. The primary scare was that I don't have all my songs saved in iTunes so in cases like this, there is major reason to panic.
Then my lovely friend, Hiyas recommends I look through the forums since they are most often times more help than the "geniuses" at the Genius Bar. After reading over the forums, I found one discussion that related to my case. The last resort was to throw it against something and shake it up a bit. I didn't go through exactly the same extent but after I tried resetting it again after I shook it a little, it went into data mode and the light turned on! WOOHOO! Tragedy averted!
I'm currently uploading everything I have in joePod back into my iTunes playlist...never again! Thank you Jesus! I'm still taking it into the Genius Bar to make sure I've updated joePod's software correctly.
Mercury, you suck big knockers right now!
I made myself not overreact and calmy went to apple.com to see what they had listed under support. You know it's not a good thing when there's a direct link with the same icon on their homepage for iPod support. After going through all the steps I still couldn't fix it. The primary scare was that I don't have all my songs saved in iTunes so in cases like this, there is major reason to panic.
Then my lovely friend, Hiyas recommends I look through the forums since they are most often times more help than the "geniuses" at the Genius Bar. After reading over the forums, I found one discussion that related to my case. The last resort was to throw it against something and shake it up a bit. I didn't go through exactly the same extent but after I tried resetting it again after I shook it a little, it went into data mode and the light turned on! WOOHOO! Tragedy averted!
I'm currently uploading everything I have in joePod back into my iTunes playlist...never again! Thank you Jesus! I'm still taking it into the Genius Bar to make sure I've updated joePod's software correctly.
Mercury, you suck big knockers right now!
3.06.2006
3.03.2006
fun project of the day
just got approved for a grant to create a multi-media program at SIPA. that means all apple products including adobe photoshop, illustrator, indesign and possibly final cut pro and more ram! woohoo! i'm spending someone else's money to buy stuff i luv luv luv! the only downer is that i might end up taking on some of the tech support and training until we get a professional in here.
3.02.2006
3.01.2006
I HATE THE CITY'S BUILDING AND SAFETY DEPARTMENT!!! I had to call them to get information on a variance that I need to get in order to build a higher fence at our office. They put me on hold for freakin' 18.57 minutes!!! I have it recorded on my damn cell phone. When the stupid code engineer finally answered, he spent TWO FREAKIN' MINUTES talking with me to answer my damn question!!! FIND A BETTER WAY TO ANSWER FREAKIN' QUESTIONS! GET ON EMAIL, BASTARDS! mfs!
2.23.2006
had an annual physical today...kind of like getting your car checked up. weird. waiting for the test results from all the fluids they extracted from my body. THANK GAWD they found the freakin' vein in my arm the first time they stuck the needle in it! one of the times i had to get blood drawn, the damn nurse poked around under my skin trying to find it. she wasn't successful and stuck with a "baby needle" on the top of my hand which HURT MUCH MORE! baby needle my ass!
this is the first time i've been a member of kaiser. thank you, most high for the fact that i can critique my experience with my health provider! i felt like i was being put through an assembly line. after my initial doctor's appt., i went downstairs to the lab to get blood drawn. they gave everyone numbers. when mine was called, i entered a hallway that lead to where 8 people were drawing blood for patients with numbers. weird. i wonder how long the 8 people spent just drawing blood from patients each day. i think the whole visit contributed to my anxiety of being in a hospital like setting. i practically grew up in them because of my dad. i still get messed up walking around in the damn hallways and elevators that all look the same. even the signs that tell you where you're going and where you are look the same so i rarely pay attention to them. if i ever get hospitalized (knocking on wood), i'd never leave my room for fear that i would never find my way back!
this is the first time i've been a member of kaiser. thank you, most high for the fact that i can critique my experience with my health provider! i felt like i was being put through an assembly line. after my initial doctor's appt., i went downstairs to the lab to get blood drawn. they gave everyone numbers. when mine was called, i entered a hallway that lead to where 8 people were drawing blood for patients with numbers. weird. i wonder how long the 8 people spent just drawing blood from patients each day. i think the whole visit contributed to my anxiety of being in a hospital like setting. i practically grew up in them because of my dad. i still get messed up walking around in the damn hallways and elevators that all look the same. even the signs that tell you where you're going and where you are look the same so i rarely pay attention to them. if i ever get hospitalized (knocking on wood), i'd never leave my room for fear that i would never find my way back!
2.15.2006
Ok, so I was raving about this cd when it was being blasted during KCRW's membership drive but I'm starting to give it second thoughts. The majority of songs are classic sambas and other Brazilian standards that artists have sampled world-wide. Timeless is filled with great reworked beats but a part of me feels like Mendes' artistry and contributions take a back seat to all the American Hip Hop/R&B stars that accompany his arrangements on this album. I think I may also be partially blinded by the fact that the Black Eyed Peas, aka Will.I.Am, haven't really been on my top 10 list of Hip Hop groups since they took on their female member and the depth of their lyrics began to erode. The songs that Will.I.Am raps on sound like every up tempo Black Eyed Peas song that's on their latest album...whoopty freakin' do! Can we be a little more original? So I admit that I may be a little over critical of this album but again it sounds like the producers and other contributors were going for a more "marketable" and "commercial" sound than really focusing on the artistry of the project. You be the judge.
2.11.2006
listening
sometimes it's ok if the person you're speaking to can't give you advice on how to handle a challenging situation. it's probably because you really do have to figure out the answer on your own.
and sometimes, it truly does help to vent out your frustrations with someone else, which really does sometimes lead to your solution.
and sometimes, it truly does help to vent out your frustrations with someone else, which really does sometimes lead to your solution.
2.07.2006
Dinner Season
Damn...I can feel it. It's been nonstop today. I hate unproductive ass meetings where people just like to hear themselves talk. What the hell are you going to call a damn meeting for if you nothing results from it! Some people!
I feel like I have 50 million things to take care of at home plus all the crap I have to take care of at work...weekends are made to just stay home. Thank goodness this only happens for a little while.
I feel like I have 50 million things to take care of at home plus all the crap I have to take care of at work...weekends are made to just stay home. Thank goodness this only happens for a little while.
2.02.2006
1.30.2006
Hero?
In the past week after the Pacquiao/Morales boxing match, everyone has been buzzing about their beloved "Pacman." Everyone, as in, all Pilipinos including my very dear Joe. The main reason for my non-bandwagon jumping ass is that I'm highly disturbed that the Philippines and Pilipinos around the world, have found a new persona to place their "heroic" labels on, yet again. I can see it now. When Pacquiao retires from boxing, one of his "homies" is going to talk him into running for office and there you have it...the tradition of non-qualified elected officials and the Philippines being at the bottom of the international economy continues. I'm SO looking forward to it!
Ok, maybe I'm making too many assumptions. Who's to say that he'll decline pleas of running for office? Who's to say the he won't genuinely become more politically active and informed? So maybe he will be a great leader some day but that day has yet to come!
The bottom line is that Pilipinos have a history of placing "famous" people on pedastals as if they know all, see all, hear all, comman all. In general, expectations are set for falsely idolized individuals as high as God sometimes! And when things go awry, the blame gets placed on those individuals who were elected or put in charge. Shouldn't the blame go to the people who elected the person to office? (This, in particular, applies to all the Bush mo-fus, too.) The good leaders or at least the ones with a little more ethics are the ones who decline to be in such a position of power because they personally feel that they are unqualified for the duties. The ones who have helped to keep in the Philippines in disarray as well as maintain its wonderful status of "developing country" are most likely those who are in power and will most likely stay in power for the rest of the country's natural being.
Is there hope? If so, what kind of hope may that be? Can the country be "saved"? I'd like to remain optimistic. But just like my uncle who tills the talon and struggles to send my cousins to school, one at a time, it's difficult to keep hope if you get pushed down so often.
1.27.2006
Security Measures
As much as BofA irritates me, they saved my ass this morning. A representative from their Fraud Detection office called me this morning asking me if I had authorized a check that was WAY more than what was in my check account right now. I didn't recognize the name of the person or the company's name that was on the check! SCARY that someone would have that much info on me to be able to do that!!! Bastards!
I filed my claim with BofA and went through the steps of closing my account and getting a new one. The only drawback is that I don't get new checks until next week and I don't have auto deposit on my paycheck for this cycle. The nice BofA rep I was dealing with at the Chinatown branch was kind enough to offer me a free cashier's check if I needed it before my actual checks arrived.
Lessons learned -
1. Don't make online payments or do online banking over unsecured wireless networks...never again!
2. Make sure your firewall is functioning the entire time!
3. Keep your account info as confidential as possible, particularly to those who have absolutely no business having it.
4. NEVER NEVER carry your social security card on you! If your wallet gets stolen with the card, it makes it that much easier to apply for finance with your identity...yes speaking from experience! After that, I've made it virtually impossible for other people to apply for finance under my identity and have made it even more difficult for me to get credit...may have a been a good thing for me. :-)
Safe shopping, my lovelies!
I filed my claim with BofA and went through the steps of closing my account and getting a new one. The only drawback is that I don't get new checks until next week and I don't have auto deposit on my paycheck for this cycle. The nice BofA rep I was dealing with at the Chinatown branch was kind enough to offer me a free cashier's check if I needed it before my actual checks arrived.
Lessons learned -
1. Don't make online payments or do online banking over unsecured wireless networks...never again!
2. Make sure your firewall is functioning the entire time!
3. Keep your account info as confidential as possible, particularly to those who have absolutely no business having it.
4. NEVER NEVER carry your social security card on you! If your wallet gets stolen with the card, it makes it that much easier to apply for finance with your identity...yes speaking from experience! After that, I've made it virtually impossible for other people to apply for finance under my identity and have made it even more difficult for me to get credit...may have a been a good thing for me. :-)
Safe shopping, my lovelies!
1.23.2006
Letting go
It's good to verbalize and write down thoughts...just to get them off your chest...somewhat. :-)
1.20.2006
Screeeeech
I was raked across the coals today. I kind of had a feeling it was coming but everything was constructive to hear. Would've been nice to have had the expectations explained explicitly to me from the very beginning. It was kind of a blur when I transitioned from one position to another.
Does it matter that I take a little more time to process when someone is yelling at me?
Does it matter that I take a little more time to process when someone is yelling at me?
1.11.2006
Last one for tonight
As much as I hate The Joe and some of his tendencies, this one's for him because I can just picture how big of a smile he'll have on his face.
My current tv obsession
Thank the stars for Google Video!!! This one's for my fellow obsessed roomie! "I'm NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CRYING!!!" ahahahahah!
1.09.2006
One of My Toy Stores
This is going on this week. :-( Unfortunately, I can't say I've ever gone. Some of my friends up North are going tomorrow. I'd totally let the nerd part of my personality take over and go romping around through Yerba Buena Gardens and the Moscone Center to check out all the new toys and accessories! I would've gone stir crazy at the Apple store yesterday if The Joe wasn't around.
1.07.2006
Another candle
Thanks to all who helped celebrate my birthday this past weekend. Wonderful food was shared over dinner with wonderful company. Many blessings to you all and may this year continue to bring your more joy, strength and fun surprises.
1.03.2006
A Tradition I wasn't Raised On
As much as I love creative activities, I'm bored by parades. The famed Pasadena Rose Bowl happened yesterday and I was astounded at how many people waited OVERNIGHT and sat in the rain to watch the entire thing. I guess it's a tradition that I was just not raised on but for some reason I've always hated parades. I remember being in the homecoming parade at school and although there was a significant number of people watching the parade, I remember spending hours upon hours looking for various resources to decorate the stupid float and then spending 20 mins. on the stupid float. Senior year, I was so stressed from all the planning for the homecoming float, I got sick and had to be dragged home by Michael and Matt and remember looking back through Mike's hatchback window at everyone working on the float. Trauma...maybe not. I've disliked parades for as long as I can remember, way before high school.
12.28.2005
Looking for...
snow gear
I never go up and I'm spending New Year's Eve weekend with the Bernardo clan in Big Bear. Why would I ever need to get snow gear if I'm rarely there?
So I'm looking around for gear and The Joe is of no help to me. "I have to look for my own clothes." fucker.
I never go up and I'm spending New Year's Eve weekend with the Bernardo clan in Big Bear. Why would I ever need to get snow gear if I'm rarely there?
So I'm looking around for gear and The Joe is of no help to me. "I have to look for my own clothes." fucker.
12.25.2005
It's Official
Advent season is now over and it is now officialy the Christmas seasons, through January 6th, that is. For those unfamiliar with the traditions and beliefs of our Catholic lives and upbringing, the Christmas season begins December 25th and ends on January 6th, the date biblical scholars believe to be the date when the Three Wise Men reached Baby Jesus.
I think I'm getting out of my bah-humbug phase. I still feel a little bit of it lingering. What can I say...opening presents and sometimes exchanging them really doesn't do it for me anymore. What's gotten me to start stepping out of the phase is my godson, JJ, running to me as I walked through their door and giving me a great big hug and telling me that he missed me and then plots a big fat kiss on my cheek. Anyone who can't react positively to that is really smoking some major crack. His sister, Jelisa, was as cute as can be in her frilly plaid and velvet Christmas dress, going around trying to eat everything with her chubby little fingers and cheeks that scream out, "pinch me, pinch me!" She is one of the friendliest two year olds I have ever met on the earth! She loves being held by anyone but likes her space when she feels like it and even tells you when to change her diaper by handing you a clean one! Ev was telling me that JJ doesn't like coloring with crayons and staying in lines but loves to paint for hours...goes after his ninang's heart! I hated coloring in lines and much preferred free-form art in elementary school. Both of them are super duper smart. When I was getting ready to leave, JJ gave me another big hug and said he was going to miss me. I can't wait to see them again in the Spring when they come down to go to Legoland. Since I've never been there, I figure I'd take the opportunity and go play with them. :-)
Afterwards, I went back to Auntie Inday's house to tsismis with more of my family and The Monster came running to give me a big hug and kiss as I walked to the family room where he had already gotten to the mahjong set and was creating space ships...just like the ones Aniken rides in. Oh, and apparently he's not Pilipino, he's Aniken-not just a name but a way of life. The Monster, aka Sebastian, has definitely lost a ton of his baby fat. He's as old as JJ but The Monster is about a foot taller.
If this keeps up, I'm really going to want some of my own in the near future. I have yet to see my god daughter so hopefully I can go spoil her tomorrow.
I think I'm getting out of my bah-humbug phase. I still feel a little bit of it lingering. What can I say...opening presents and sometimes exchanging them really doesn't do it for me anymore. What's gotten me to start stepping out of the phase is my godson, JJ, running to me as I walked through their door and giving me a great big hug and telling me that he missed me and then plots a big fat kiss on my cheek. Anyone who can't react positively to that is really smoking some major crack. His sister, Jelisa, was as cute as can be in her frilly plaid and velvet Christmas dress, going around trying to eat everything with her chubby little fingers and cheeks that scream out, "pinch me, pinch me!" She is one of the friendliest two year olds I have ever met on the earth! She loves being held by anyone but likes her space when she feels like it and even tells you when to change her diaper by handing you a clean one! Ev was telling me that JJ doesn't like coloring with crayons and staying in lines but loves to paint for hours...goes after his ninang's heart! I hated coloring in lines and much preferred free-form art in elementary school. Both of them are super duper smart. When I was getting ready to leave, JJ gave me another big hug and said he was going to miss me. I can't wait to see them again in the Spring when they come down to go to Legoland. Since I've never been there, I figure I'd take the opportunity and go play with them. :-)
Afterwards, I went back to Auntie Inday's house to tsismis with more of my family and The Monster came running to give me a big hug and kiss as I walked to the family room where he had already gotten to the mahjong set and was creating space ships...just like the ones Aniken rides in. Oh, and apparently he's not Pilipino, he's Aniken-not just a name but a way of life. The Monster, aka Sebastian, has definitely lost a ton of his baby fat. He's as old as JJ but The Monster is about a foot taller.
If this keeps up, I'm really going to want some of my own in the near future. I have yet to see my god daughter so hopefully I can go spoil her tomorrow.
12.24.2005
Something fun...
| Your Birthdate: January 6 |
 You tend to be a the rock in relationships - people depend on you. Thoughtful and caring, you often put others needs first. You aren't content to help those you know... you want to give to the world. An idealist, you strive for positive change and dream about how much better things could be. Your strength: Your intuition Your weakness: You put yourself last Your power color: Rose Your power symbol: Cloud Your power month: June |
12.23.2005
Me...discriminate?
Ugh...I was just looking for information on a particular Pilipino family and happened to come across a entertainment gossip website. There were passages about some Pinoy star having a bday at a freakin' restaurant in LA's Chinatown (how fab?! ) and the how she just moved in to a condo in Marina Del Rey and is paying an arm and leg for the monthly rent (even more fab! ). Apparently the journalist was highly impressed.
A few other passages down the page covers the same star's babyshower or something with the same damn people and even more pseudo fabs and wanna be's.
Damn...I'm being such a hater. I don't even know these people. There's just something about the tendencies of OVERLY ma-arte Pinoys that rubs me the wrong way. At least with SOME American celebrities, I can respect them for their art and other societal contributions! But overall, I do detest what fame can do to some people.
A few other passages down the page covers the same star's babyshower or something with the same damn people and even more pseudo fabs and wanna be's.
Damn...I'm being such a hater. I don't even know these people. There's just something about the tendencies of OVERLY ma-arte Pinoys that rubs me the wrong way. At least with SOME American celebrities, I can respect them for their art and other societal contributions! But overall, I do detest what fame can do to some people.
12.22.2005
Just what I was thinking!
December 22, 2005
Staying Afloat Amidst The Spin
Taking Things Personally
Every time you interact with others, you have the choice to listen to, acknowledge, and let go of their words, or you can take what they are saying personally. Taking things personally is often the result of perceiving a person's actions or words as an affront or slight. In order to take something personally, you must read negative intent in an individual's words or actions. But what people do and say has no bearing upon you and is usually based on their own experiences, emotions, and perceptions. If you attempt to take what they do or say personally, you may end up feeling hurt without reason.
If you are tempted to take a comment or action personally, creating some distance between yourself and the other person can help you. Try to determine what is at the root of your feelings. Ask yourself if the other person's words or actions are just reinforcing some insecurity within you or if you can really be sure that an offense was intended. You may even want to ask them what they meant. Finally, put yourself in the other person's shoes. Instead of taking their words as the truth, or as a personal affront, remember that whatever was said or done is based on their opinion and is more reflective of what is going on inside of them, rather than having anything to do with you. You may have been an easy target for someone having a bad day, and their comments may have been offered with no ill intentions.
When you recognize that what anyone says or does doesn't necessarily have anything to do with you, you will no longer feel hurt or attacked. While it's easy to take things personally, you should never let anyone's perceptions or actions affect how you see yourself or your worth. Your life is personal to you, and it is up to you to influence your own value and sense of well-being.
12.21.2005
One cure for my ailments
Jill Scott - Beautifully Human
This one goes on the all-time best albums list. Every time I feel down, this album always lifts my mood, especially "Family Reunion." It makes me miss my family but creates the mood where you can revel in the fact that your family is crazy but you love them anyway.
My roomie and I love "My Petition," Ms. Scott's loveletter to our god forsaken nation. With all the talks about how the FBI and the government has infiltrated various nonprofit organizations and individuals because of supposed connections to various "terroristic" international groups, this one is probably the most poignant on the album.
"I want to love you but you lie to me repeatedly. I want to have faith in you but you just don't come through like you said you could....O say can you see...I want fresh fruits, clean water, air that I don't see, I want the feeling of being safe on my streets, I want my children to be smarter than me, I want to feel free, for real..."
Her writing is impeccable and incomparable to others in the R&B field right now. Go 'head Ms. Scott and shake your thang!
12.20.2005
12.16.2005
The Best Christmas Present Ever
I just received a message from my friend informing me her cancerous lymph nodes have significantly decreased. Yes, this was the best Christmas present...for everyone!
OMG! Weird...someone was reading my mind!
Gifts From The Heart
Capricorn Daily Horoscope
If you don't exercise care today, you may find that you are overspending your holiday or monthly budget. You may be inclined to express your respect, love, or affection for the people in your life by buying luxurious gifts. But the expensive presents you buy today can have a large effect on your finances tomorrow. Being creative in your giving can help you find the perfect gifts without breaking the bank. Putting aside materialism and looking for inexpensive yet heartfelt presents or making homemade gifts for loved ones can be a win-win situation. Your efforts to find and create wonderful gifts may be applauded as the holiday season progresses. Instead of looking to malls and boutiques for the right gift today, try looking into your soul.
Gifts that cost little or nothing are often the most memorable and meaningful because they come from the heart. Though it can be tempting to spend a lot of money to express your love or esteem, giving heartfelt gifts can ensure that the object of your affection will treasure and appreciate your gift for a long time. Gifts that come from the heart have the power to strongly influence the recipient's emotions and demonstrate that you put a great deal of thought into your choice of a gift. Such gifts are a true expression of your feelings and your thoughtfulness and are often much more individual than store-bought presents. Buying or making a gift from the heart today can be just the thing to make your loved ones' holidays special.
Gifts From The Heart
Capricorn Daily Horoscope
If you don't exercise care today, you may find that you are overspending your holiday or monthly budget. You may be inclined to express your respect, love, or affection for the people in your life by buying luxurious gifts. But the expensive presents you buy today can have a large effect on your finances tomorrow. Being creative in your giving can help you find the perfect gifts without breaking the bank. Putting aside materialism and looking for inexpensive yet heartfelt presents or making homemade gifts for loved ones can be a win-win situation. Your efforts to find and create wonderful gifts may be applauded as the holiday season progresses. Instead of looking to malls and boutiques for the right gift today, try looking into your soul.
Gifts that cost little or nothing are often the most memorable and meaningful because they come from the heart. Though it can be tempting to spend a lot of money to express your love or esteem, giving heartfelt gifts can ensure that the object of your affection will treasure and appreciate your gift for a long time. Gifts that come from the heart have the power to strongly influence the recipient's emotions and demonstrate that you put a great deal of thought into your choice of a gift. Such gifts are a true expression of your feelings and your thoughtfulness and are often much more individual than store-bought presents. Buying or making a gift from the heart today can be just the thing to make your loved ones' holidays special.
12.13.2005
Mantra of the Day
"Treating yourself with gentleness as you move forward on your path today can help you avoid discouragement and inspire you to keep going."
12.12.2005
presents
giving presents is an age old tradition of a means to pay reverance to someone for something. the world has transformed it into an absolute bottom line fattening scheme...greedy bastards. who could blame them? if you didn't make your year in sales, the last of the year is the absolute last time to do it before the end of the fiscal year, right? makes me not want to get anything at all, for the sheer principle. damn my principles.
12.09.2005
Holiday...er Christmas Cheer
Oh man...tis the time of year! As you're reading the article, keep in mind a few more perspectives:
1. Seperation of church and state, according to US law - where do you draw the line and how far do you want to interpret it?
2. If schools are truly wanting to be more multi-cultural than have celebrations for all the damn holidays - Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Pagan Solstice & Christmas.
3. Does it really matter what stores/companies are doing? Is it not enough that you stay true to your own beliefs and keep your traditions strong in your families? How big of a battle are you looking to fight?
A Very Wary Christmas
Retailers and governments heed the wrath of Christians who seek recognition of the sanctity of the occasion. Attorneys are standing by.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
December 9, 2005
PARKER, Colo. — Christmas is back.
A few weeks ago, banners outside every Lowe's store in the nation announced a sale on "Holiday Trees." Hundreds of Christians called to complain that the home-improvement chain was shunning Christmas.
The banners came down. Now the fake firs and pines are clearly labeled "Christmas Trees."
Target, too, started the season with a generic marketing theme. It pushed holiday plates, holiday leggings, holiday ornaments, holiday trees — with nary a mention of Christmas. Then, more than 500,000 shoppers signed an online pledge to boycott the chain. This week, Target promised to bring more Christmas into its stores as Dec. 25 approaches.
For the third year in a row, Christians nationwide have mobilized to put the holy back in the holiday. And they are winning battle after battle.
Their most publicized victories have come in the retail realm, where they have urged stores to acknowledge that the December shopping frenzy is not just about scoring a cheap DVD player, but also about celebrating Christ's birth.
Walgreen Co. says it's too late to change this year's "holiday" circulars, but in response to dozens of customer complaints, it has promised to bring back the word "Christmas" in its 2006 ads.
Macy's — the subject of a small boycott last year — sent activists a letter touting its use of "Merry Christmas" in ads, store windows and a TV jingle. A Macy's executive vice president, Louis M. Meunier, pledged that the company would use Christmas in even more marketing next year.
Defenders of Christmas hailed the news with triumph.
But they haven't stopped at the mall door.
At least 1,500 attorneys have volunteered to sue any town that tries to keep Nativity scenes out of its holiday displays. About 8,000 public school teachers stand ready to report any principal who removes "Silent Night" from the choir program.
The volunteers are armed with a seven-page memo that lays out the case for Jesus in public school concerts, for creches in the classroom and for mangers in city parks (as long as the religious references are balanced with secular songs and decorations).
The memo was written by the Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm based in Orlando, Fla., that is affiliated with the Rev. Jerry Falwell. The firm won a federal ruling in 2003 that said several Massachusetts high schoolers' free-speech rights were violated when they were suspended for distributing candy canes adorned with religious greetings.
This week, the Liberty Counsel won against two Florida towns that had agreed to let locals decorate a public park with a Christmas tree and a menorah but not a Nativity scene. The nonprofit law firm had no sooner filed suit in federal court than the towns reversed course and permitted a display depicting Jesus' birth.
Liberty Counsel President Mathew D. Staver has also threatened to sue two Wisconsin elementary schools over choir concerts he says deny the religious nature of Christmas by featuring songs about Santa instead of Jesus.
One of the districts Staver has questioned does include the religious song "Angels We Have Heard on High" in a "holiday sing." But he remains convinced that secularists have declared a "war on Christmas," in some cases going so far as to change the lyrics of songs like "Silent Night" to remove any reference to Christ's birth.
"People often think the safest route is to censor Christmas," Staver said. "But to be inclusive, you need to recognize all aspects of the holiday."
That message has even made its way into politics. After a decade as a generic holiday tree, the twinkling conifer at the Capitol is a Christmas tree once more, thanks to a request by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
Some Christian leaders have taken their campaign to the White House, expressing outrage this week over the annual White House greeting card, which offers wishes for a happy "holiday season." President Bush, they said, had better start wishing them a "Merry Christmas" instead.
Such demands have some skeptics crying Grinch.
"To call out a team of lawyers to insist that people say 'Merry Christmas' — what could be less in the Christmas spirit?" asked Jeremy Gunn, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
"Don't they have anything better to do?" he asked.
Christian activists respond that this is one of the most important causes they can imagine.
In their view, God, prayer and faith have been unfairly pushed out of the public square — out of classrooms, city halls and now shopping malls — in the name of multiculturalism.
"Even people who aren't normally churchgoers are saying they're sick of it," said Jennifer Giroux of Cincinnati, who has begun marketing $2 rubber bracelets stamped "Just Say 'Merry Christmas.' " In her first week in business, she sold about 5,000.
She and others see the secularization of Christmas as political correctness gone mad. Tying their campaign to such commercial yardsticks, such as the number of times the word "Christmas" is mentioned in an advertising circular, is their effort to elevate the holy, they say, by making sure no shopper, parade-watcher or first-grade choir student can forget what all the tinsel and trimmings are about.
That means insisting that everyone call Christmas "Christmas" — and nothing else.
"Christmas is not a holiday. A holiday is when you take a day off work and run around playing," said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Assn., which led the Target campaign. Using the word "holiday" for Dec. 25 devalues "our nation's most holy day," Sharp said. "And I take offense."
Shoppers rushing into a Lowe's in this suburb south of Denver tended to agree.
"We're celebrating Christ's birthday," said Renee Tillitz, 34. "This is not just a time to buy people a lot of junk."
"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! So call it Christmas!" Dick Warner, 77, fairly shouted.
The defenders of Christmas take pains to explain they're not asking to monopolize the season. They say they'd welcome store displays wishing customers a Happy Hanukkah or a Blessed Kwanzaa or even a Joyous Pagan Solstice along with a Merry Christmas. What they object to is the rigorously neutral message that has become common.
"Renaming a Christmas tree a holiday tree doesn't make any more sense than taking a menorah and renaming it a candlestick," said Staver of the Liberty Counsel.
The law firm and other groups have used the "battle for Christmas" as a fundraising pitch. Some activists have also tried to turn the campaign into a political issue. Fox News Channel host John Gibson came out with a book this fall called "The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christmas Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought."
Critics on the left say right-wing leaders are creating a crisis to rile voters.
If so, it hasn't worked on Mary Rittler, 78.
She prefers "Christmas" to "holiday," but as she pushed her cart through a Lowe's parking lot, Rittler said the semantic scrap seemed much ado about nothing.
Then she paused.
Musing aloud, she said there was one holiday battle that seemed to her worth fighting.
"You talk about offended — I'm offended when stores start putting up Christmas lights in November," she said. "Let Thanksgiving have its day."
1. Seperation of church and state, according to US law - where do you draw the line and how far do you want to interpret it?
2. If schools are truly wanting to be more multi-cultural than have celebrations for all the damn holidays - Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Pagan Solstice & Christmas.
3. Does it really matter what stores/companies are doing? Is it not enough that you stay true to your own beliefs and keep your traditions strong in your families? How big of a battle are you looking to fight?
A Very Wary Christmas
Retailers and governments heed the wrath of Christians who seek recognition of the sanctity of the occasion. Attorneys are standing by.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
December 9, 2005
PARKER, Colo. — Christmas is back.
A few weeks ago, banners outside every Lowe's store in the nation announced a sale on "Holiday Trees." Hundreds of Christians called to complain that the home-improvement chain was shunning Christmas.
The banners came down. Now the fake firs and pines are clearly labeled "Christmas Trees."
Target, too, started the season with a generic marketing theme. It pushed holiday plates, holiday leggings, holiday ornaments, holiday trees — with nary a mention of Christmas. Then, more than 500,000 shoppers signed an online pledge to boycott the chain. This week, Target promised to bring more Christmas into its stores as Dec. 25 approaches.
For the third year in a row, Christians nationwide have mobilized to put the holy back in the holiday. And they are winning battle after battle.
Their most publicized victories have come in the retail realm, where they have urged stores to acknowledge that the December shopping frenzy is not just about scoring a cheap DVD player, but also about celebrating Christ's birth.
Walgreen Co. says it's too late to change this year's "holiday" circulars, but in response to dozens of customer complaints, it has promised to bring back the word "Christmas" in its 2006 ads.
Macy's — the subject of a small boycott last year — sent activists a letter touting its use of "Merry Christmas" in ads, store windows and a TV jingle. A Macy's executive vice president, Louis M. Meunier, pledged that the company would use Christmas in even more marketing next year.
Defenders of Christmas hailed the news with triumph.
But they haven't stopped at the mall door.
At least 1,500 attorneys have volunteered to sue any town that tries to keep Nativity scenes out of its holiday displays. About 8,000 public school teachers stand ready to report any principal who removes "Silent Night" from the choir program.
The volunteers are armed with a seven-page memo that lays out the case for Jesus in public school concerts, for creches in the classroom and for mangers in city parks (as long as the religious references are balanced with secular songs and decorations).
The memo was written by the Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm based in Orlando, Fla., that is affiliated with the Rev. Jerry Falwell. The firm won a federal ruling in 2003 that said several Massachusetts high schoolers' free-speech rights were violated when they were suspended for distributing candy canes adorned with religious greetings.
This week, the Liberty Counsel won against two Florida towns that had agreed to let locals decorate a public park with a Christmas tree and a menorah but not a Nativity scene. The nonprofit law firm had no sooner filed suit in federal court than the towns reversed course and permitted a display depicting Jesus' birth.
Liberty Counsel President Mathew D. Staver has also threatened to sue two Wisconsin elementary schools over choir concerts he says deny the religious nature of Christmas by featuring songs about Santa instead of Jesus.
One of the districts Staver has questioned does include the religious song "Angels We Have Heard on High" in a "holiday sing." But he remains convinced that secularists have declared a "war on Christmas," in some cases going so far as to change the lyrics of songs like "Silent Night" to remove any reference to Christ's birth.
"People often think the safest route is to censor Christmas," Staver said. "But to be inclusive, you need to recognize all aspects of the holiday."
That message has even made its way into politics. After a decade as a generic holiday tree, the twinkling conifer at the Capitol is a Christmas tree once more, thanks to a request by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
Some Christian leaders have taken their campaign to the White House, expressing outrage this week over the annual White House greeting card, which offers wishes for a happy "holiday season." President Bush, they said, had better start wishing them a "Merry Christmas" instead.
Such demands have some skeptics crying Grinch.
"To call out a team of lawyers to insist that people say 'Merry Christmas' — what could be less in the Christmas spirit?" asked Jeremy Gunn, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
"Don't they have anything better to do?" he asked.
Christian activists respond that this is one of the most important causes they can imagine.
In their view, God, prayer and faith have been unfairly pushed out of the public square — out of classrooms, city halls and now shopping malls — in the name of multiculturalism.
"Even people who aren't normally churchgoers are saying they're sick of it," said Jennifer Giroux of Cincinnati, who has begun marketing $2 rubber bracelets stamped "Just Say 'Merry Christmas.' " In her first week in business, she sold about 5,000.
She and others see the secularization of Christmas as political correctness gone mad. Tying their campaign to such commercial yardsticks, such as the number of times the word "Christmas" is mentioned in an advertising circular, is their effort to elevate the holy, they say, by making sure no shopper, parade-watcher or first-grade choir student can forget what all the tinsel and trimmings are about.
That means insisting that everyone call Christmas "Christmas" — and nothing else.
"Christmas is not a holiday. A holiday is when you take a day off work and run around playing," said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Assn., which led the Target campaign. Using the word "holiday" for Dec. 25 devalues "our nation's most holy day," Sharp said. "And I take offense."
Shoppers rushing into a Lowe's in this suburb south of Denver tended to agree.
"We're celebrating Christ's birthday," said Renee Tillitz, 34. "This is not just a time to buy people a lot of junk."
"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! So call it Christmas!" Dick Warner, 77, fairly shouted.
The defenders of Christmas take pains to explain they're not asking to monopolize the season. They say they'd welcome store displays wishing customers a Happy Hanukkah or a Blessed Kwanzaa or even a Joyous Pagan Solstice along with a Merry Christmas. What they object to is the rigorously neutral message that has become common.
"Renaming a Christmas tree a holiday tree doesn't make any more sense than taking a menorah and renaming it a candlestick," said Staver of the Liberty Counsel.
The law firm and other groups have used the "battle for Christmas" as a fundraising pitch. Some activists have also tried to turn the campaign into a political issue. Fox News Channel host John Gibson came out with a book this fall called "The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christmas Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought."
Critics on the left say right-wing leaders are creating a crisis to rile voters.
If so, it hasn't worked on Mary Rittler, 78.
She prefers "Christmas" to "holiday," but as she pushed her cart through a Lowe's parking lot, Rittler said the semantic scrap seemed much ado about nothing.
Then she paused.
Musing aloud, she said there was one holiday battle that seemed to her worth fighting.
"You talk about offended — I'm offended when stores start putting up Christmas lights in November," she said. "Let Thanksgiving have its day."
12.01.2005
Challenge
The Joe and I have the task of preparing New Year's Eve dinner for the Bernardo/Domingo clan camping trip. I was thinking of putting a creative spin on things and making "good luck" dishes from various cultures after watching a few programs on The Style Network, The Food Channel, HGTV, and The Travel Channel.
I'm torn between how much preparation and research it's going to take and how much all the flavors are going to mix well with each other. So far, I've found out that noodles are for long life in the Chinese culture. I've only uncovered a few desserts from the Philippines. My mom always makes arroz caldo for the New Year. We'll see how this one goes.
Anyone else got any resources?
I'm torn between how much preparation and research it's going to take and how much all the flavors are going to mix well with each other. So far, I've found out that noodles are for long life in the Chinese culture. I've only uncovered a few desserts from the Philippines. My mom always makes arroz caldo for the New Year. We'll see how this one goes.
Anyone else got any resources?
11.20.2005
California, Sweet California!
I can firmly say that I've been to Utah and will NEVER live there! I was in Provo from Monday of this week through Thursday. I was there for supervisor training with the AmeriCorps*VISTA Program.
The people I was with were great! I met a number of colleagues in various nonprofit and public organizations throughout the West Coast. Why were the Californians the rowdiest?! It was great networking with a ton of people who were going through similar professional and community challenges! Admist all the negativity you hear regarding the United States, it was also wonderful and affirming to see other people who are dedicated to creating better communities in our nation. So I guess I was kind of proud to be an American during the time I was at the training.
Some interesting haps- figures that the Californians would get stuck in the room with the worst heating. It was as cold in our workshop room as it was outdoors. It was in the 40s the entire time with a bit of snow and tons of sun. The best part of the room were the windows that looked out onto the mountains a few miles away. The air was super thin since we were at a higher elevation. I decided to do a little yoga one morning and I almost died because the air was so thin.
Here's a picture of the hotel with the mountains in the background. The picture is from Marriott's website. As you can tell, it was probably taken in a non-winter month since there isn't any snow on the peaks. At least I got some use out of my cutsy red coat!
I went up with my workshop group to the Sundance Resort during the last night we were there. Too bad we got there AFTER the sun had set AND it was snowing. We walked around a bit and checked out the restaurants, deli, lodge and shop. It was cute, with a creek flowing through the middle of the resort. We ended up eating at The Foundry Grill. I had the salmon and one of the best pinot grigio's I've had in such a long time! I can't remember the name of the maker, though!!! It was so buttery, fruity and softly scented, I'm almost tempted to call the resort to find out where the heck I can get a bottle of it! So yes, eating at one of the best restaurants in the area totally made up for the hotel banquet food we were being fed the entire duration of training.
I totally felt like I was in "Oldtown America." The street behind the hotel had restored buildings with some stores that had been there since the 1800s. I guess things don't change very quickly in Provo. I went to a bar with three peeps on Tuesday night and shared a pitcher of Polygamy Porter, proudly dawning the tagline "Why have just one?"
It tasted like a fruitier and lighter version of Guinness. The other interestingly named brew was 1st Amendment Pale Ale. Benjamin Franklin appears on the bottle of this drink. Apparently it was in protest of some kind of alcohol tax in Utah. Each bar charges a sort of cover charge but I think I remember it being called a "membership fee." Nonlocals get a card that states they've paid the membership fee so they can come back for the duration of the card. Not sure what the story is behind this one.
Just as I was getting used to the thin air, it was time to get home. I came home to 80 degree weather...THANK GAWD I LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!!! I'm never leaving this god-forsaken state!
The people I was with were great! I met a number of colleagues in various nonprofit and public organizations throughout the West Coast. Why were the Californians the rowdiest?! It was great networking with a ton of people who were going through similar professional and community challenges! Admist all the negativity you hear regarding the United States, it was also wonderful and affirming to see other people who are dedicated to creating better communities in our nation. So I guess I was kind of proud to be an American during the time I was at the training.
Some interesting haps- figures that the Californians would get stuck in the room with the worst heating. It was as cold in our workshop room as it was outdoors. It was in the 40s the entire time with a bit of snow and tons of sun. The best part of the room were the windows that looked out onto the mountains a few miles away. The air was super thin since we were at a higher elevation. I decided to do a little yoga one morning and I almost died because the air was so thin.
Here's a picture of the hotel with the mountains in the background. The picture is from Marriott's website. As you can tell, it was probably taken in a non-winter month since there isn't any snow on the peaks. At least I got some use out of my cutsy red coat!
I went up with my workshop group to the Sundance Resort during the last night we were there. Too bad we got there AFTER the sun had set AND it was snowing. We walked around a bit and checked out the restaurants, deli, lodge and shop. It was cute, with a creek flowing through the middle of the resort. We ended up eating at The Foundry Grill. I had the salmon and one of the best pinot grigio's I've had in such a long time! I can't remember the name of the maker, though!!! It was so buttery, fruity and softly scented, I'm almost tempted to call the resort to find out where the heck I can get a bottle of it! So yes, eating at one of the best restaurants in the area totally made up for the hotel banquet food we were being fed the entire duration of training.
I totally felt like I was in "Oldtown America." The street behind the hotel had restored buildings with some stores that had been there since the 1800s. I guess things don't change very quickly in Provo. I went to a bar with three peeps on Tuesday night and shared a pitcher of Polygamy Porter, proudly dawning the tagline "Why have just one?"
It tasted like a fruitier and lighter version of Guinness. The other interestingly named brew was 1st Amendment Pale Ale. Benjamin Franklin appears on the bottle of this drink. Apparently it was in protest of some kind of alcohol tax in Utah. Each bar charges a sort of cover charge but I think I remember it being called a "membership fee." Nonlocals get a card that states they've paid the membership fee so they can come back for the duration of the card. Not sure what the story is behind this one.
Just as I was getting used to the thin air, it was time to get home. I came home to 80 degree weather...THANK GAWD I LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!!! I'm never leaving this god-forsaken state!
11.13.2005
Weekend with the Fam
Spent the weekend with the Family, my mom's side, to be exact. I didn't grow up with them so times spent with this side are greatly cherished. I love visiting everyone in Los Osos. This is the view of Morro Bay with Morro Rock from Los Osos. We decided to make a stop in Santa Barbara since we had plenty of time to get up to my familys'. Chris and I parked along Ocean Ave., near Downtown. We parked and took a walk to the pier, hoping to grab a taste of good seafood from one of the places that was featured in an episode of $40 a Day with the overly chipper Rachael Ray. Folks, the fresh seafood at the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company at the end of the pier is no joke. All the prices are super affordable because they always sell the stock for the day. They just have counters to sit at, as well as public tables on the pier so plan accordingly. The crabsalad sandwich was super yummy and my friend was diggin' the calamari sandwich. Their market rate steamed lobster with salad was featured on the show. Market rate means that the price of the lobster is less during peak season (Oct.-Mar.), which also means that it's best to get the lobster then as opposed to any other time of the year. Having gone to school in San Francisco, Chris and I were both glad to be next to the clean ocean again. The sun felt so good on my skin, especially since I spent the last four days indoors, trying to recover from a cold. I just wanted to glab a blanket and sleep in the park until the sun went down and then continue our drive to Los Osos. We went in search of a gelateria on or near State St. after lunch but to no avail. We ended up at the Costco in Goleta to grab a cup of frozen yogurt before we proceeded northward. Thank goodness I remembered the exit! Thanks, UCSB Alums!
The drive along the coast is always breathtaking, rain or shine. You move from one beachside city to another until you curve inland through the mountain tunnel near Vandenberg AFB. Acres of farmland and rolling hills are passed on the drive up to Los Osos. We were tempted to stop at a winery but didn't think of it until we passed the last one in Santa Maria. Oh! Before I forget, if anyone wants to try a winery in Paso Robles, Eos Estate Winery is THE place to go to, especially when you want a great bottle of muscato and muscat canelli, a great dessert wine!
Uncle Andoy, Auntie Linda and Uncle Ray are all farmers. It's wonderful eating there. Not only do they live near the ocean so all the seafood is fresh, but all the vegetables and fruit are also very sweet, crisp and taste the way they used to when I was a kid. Very few experiences compare to being with them...everything about the visit is so down to earth.
My cousin, Ellaine, and I were joking about how her parents had invited the village to her sister's babyshower. The village was truly present yesterday. They helped with all facets of the festivities, down to cooking through the night to ensure that there was plenty of food for everyone at the party. Our families share the same experiences - descending from those who learned to live off the land, living in a 3 bedroom house with a small family in each room during the first years of our lives, growing up with an extended family, calling our parents' comadres and compadres "auntie and uncle" or "lolo and lola" because they looked after us (physically, mentally and spiritually) when our parents couldn't. I see us continuing the same traditions, hoping to extend that feeling of a village to our friends and family members who are not Pilipino. This is, indeed, one of the very many factors that make me feel proud to have been raised the way my brothers and I were. I come from a family of very strong individuals, people who have weathered way too many storms to count.
Everyone is getting older and hopefully a little wiser. My aunts were trying to marry off their sons for some reason. I couldn't help but think that maybe it would be worthwhile for my male cousins to leave home and figure out how to live on their own before they start looking for someone else to be their pseudo-moms. It's one thing to leave home for whatever reason and then come back to get your bearings, with the intention of leaving again. It's certainly another issue of never wanting to leave home until you potentially find "the one." Leaving home or just releasing yourself from your safety net has a ton to do with personal growth. Not being able to find "the one" has a hell of a lot do with that, as well. Questions or implications of marriage and/or children were rampant all weekend, as well. How could they resist with two grandchildren on their way? I think everyone is starting to feel rather aged. They want to see their family blossoming beyond their children. Um...that won't be happening for quite some time so no matter how many questions or implications keep coming, they just keep sliding off my back.
Funny moment #1
I was enthralled with the National Geographic Channel's show, Taboo . The program was about various cultures around the world including insects and spiders and other venomous creatures in their regular diets. I was so into the show that at one point, my mom shoves sinuman (sweet rice steamed in banana leaves) in my face and I jerk back thinking it was something as foreign as what I was watching on the television. That's the last time I'll be watching something like that before I sit down to eat.
Funny moment #2
Of course, the karaoke machine needs to break out at some point during a Pilipino gathering. Aunti Linda went so far as to make a contest out of it. The top three singers received cash prizes. Too bad I was still congested. After the sangria was whipped out and some line dancing started, I would have whipped all of the drunk aunties to an oblivion.
Many thanks to Auntie Amy who let Chris and I crash at their house. People were packed at Uncle Andoy's house. The bathrooms were madhouses and I didn't want to stick around to see what they were going to be like in the morning. Overall, the weekend was a wonderful end to the my ill-stricken week. Can't wait to hang out with the other side of the family come Christmas time.
11.09.2005
It's raining, it's pouring and all LA natives think the sky is falling!
The one thing LA natives can't do is drive in the rain. The non LA natives know this and get freaked out so everyone gets all screwy on the roads during showers. This entire area is not built for water. The streets get flooded, the highways get flooded, backyards get flooded, garbage cans get flooded, critters' homes gets flooded. It's big news when it rains down here! All the stations think they should be outside IN the rain when they talk ABOUT the rain!
I'm feeling a little better today. Nasal passages have opened up and I can breathe out of my nose, finally!!! Maybe my sense of taste is back. My nose is still itchy and red. Yes, my only sickness for the year, damnit!
Would going to work for half the day today be overdoing it? I'm not completely sure if my director would like me being there but I know I have some cleaning up to do so I'm going anyway. Besides, I have to close tomorrow night for some event so I won't be going in until around noon or so.
Back to the grind...
11.08.2005
the one thing i hate about being sick is losing my sense of taste. and with that goes your sense of smell and the ability to breathe out of your nose. sucks when you're trying to get to sleep. i currently have a bag of used tissue next to my bed...blech. at least i only get sick once a year so this better be the one time this happens! this probably also means that i should really start taking better care of myself, including ending all the excuses of not being able to exercise. a little at time, right...as long as i don't get this sick again, i'm all for it. i feel like i've been a hermit for the past two days. i only went out today because i needed to pick something up from a friend. even then, i felt like i was walking under water because my ears are plugged. i'm having the time of my life right now!
11.06.2005
Remembering our Ancestors
Dia de los Muertos, aka Day of the Dead, aka Feast of All Souls just recently passed. It's an indigenous celebration that was passed to The Church by colonized ethnic groups who continued to practice this tradition long after they become christianized. It's a time to remember our ancestors, all of the struggles they endured in their lifetime and remembering that we stand on their victorious shoulders.
I was completely amazed at the traditions of this celebration when I was in the Philippines in 2003. I grew up knowing very little about this tradition. As far as I knew, you're supposed to build altars to your ancestors during special occassions and place the same food and beverages on the altar as that which the entire party would be eating. In the Philippines, not only was food placed on altars but an all out party was hoppin' at the cemetary. If it hadn't rained the night before, I'm sure they would have had karaoke machines bumpin' until sundown. Family members from afar came home for the occassion to help clean the debris on ancestral gravesites, decorate them, light candles in their ancestors' memories and take time to truly remember them.
My lovely friends introduced me to Dia de los Muertos in college. It was so similar to Pilipino traditions, it was not hard to embrace it. Besides, with all the pasteles y decoraciones hermosas, who could resist?
To my dearest Lola, Lolo and Uncle Gimo, thank you for your strong spirits. Your loving memories lives on in me and inspires me everyday of my life. Lola, you inspire me to be as great of a woman as you were in your lifetime. My most vivid memories of the Philippines are of you. Lolo, you inspire me to seek the truth in all that I do. Uncle Gimo, you remind me to live life to it's fullest and find the silver lining in everything. I miss all of you dearly but I know you're always with me and will always be there when I need a kick in the ass to keep going. I promise to share the gifts you've given to me to others I encounter in my lifetime.
I was completely amazed at the traditions of this celebration when I was in the Philippines in 2003. I grew up knowing very little about this tradition. As far as I knew, you're supposed to build altars to your ancestors during special occassions and place the same food and beverages on the altar as that which the entire party would be eating. In the Philippines, not only was food placed on altars but an all out party was hoppin' at the cemetary. If it hadn't rained the night before, I'm sure they would have had karaoke machines bumpin' until sundown. Family members from afar came home for the occassion to help clean the debris on ancestral gravesites, decorate them, light candles in their ancestors' memories and take time to truly remember them.
My lovely friends introduced me to Dia de los Muertos in college. It was so similar to Pilipino traditions, it was not hard to embrace it. Besides, with all the pasteles y decoraciones hermosas, who could resist?
To my dearest Lola, Lolo and Uncle Gimo, thank you for your strong spirits. Your loving memories lives on in me and inspires me everyday of my life. Lola, you inspire me to be as great of a woman as you were in your lifetime. My most vivid memories of the Philippines are of you. Lolo, you inspire me to seek the truth in all that I do. Uncle Gimo, you remind me to live life to it's fullest and find the silver lining in everything. I miss all of you dearly but I know you're always with me and will always be there when I need a kick in the ass to keep going. I promise to share the gifts you've given to me to others I encounter in my lifetime.
11.02.2005
I'm totally bummed that I can't travel right now, at least not as extensively as I want. I kind of feel like just isolating myself from everyone else so I don't have to feel envious of other people's whereabouts. Many factors come into play as to why I can't go very far - money, time, money, time, money.
At this point, I would be completely satisfied with being able to just relax and take a little break from work. I've been working my ass off this past month. All for the greater good but god damn it...it hurts sometimes. And to top it off, my mind has gotten so used to thinking very quickly and shooting off in different directions at one time that when it is time to just chill out, it takes a while for me to get into that mindset and the next thing I know it, it's time to go to work again.
I try to stay away from discussions about the area I work and/or any issues pertaining to it. But I've found that when opportunities arise, you gotta take advantage of it...or do you? I've really tried to stay concious about dividing my personal time with work but it really does get to you after you spend more of your time at work and find yourself with less personal time as usual.
I have the entire week of Christmas off. It seems so far away. I haven't seen my family in about a month or so, not since my parents came down here to move my brother into school. He comes around whenever he can but I think I particularly miss my cousins. Those bastards went to the big sumo convention in Vegas last month. V is getting bigger by the day, I'm sure and I have yet to see her. I haven't been to San Francisco in months. I miss my friends...I miss being with people who just know me, the ones who need no explanation of how I feel or what I'm feeling...they just know. Even planning time to see them feels like additional effort I can hardly extend right now.
Desire...wanting to roll into a ball and wait for the new year to come.
At this point, I would be completely satisfied with being able to just relax and take a little break from work. I've been working my ass off this past month. All for the greater good but god damn it...it hurts sometimes. And to top it off, my mind has gotten so used to thinking very quickly and shooting off in different directions at one time that when it is time to just chill out, it takes a while for me to get into that mindset and the next thing I know it, it's time to go to work again.
I try to stay away from discussions about the area I work and/or any issues pertaining to it. But I've found that when opportunities arise, you gotta take advantage of it...or do you? I've really tried to stay concious about dividing my personal time with work but it really does get to you after you spend more of your time at work and find yourself with less personal time as usual.
I have the entire week of Christmas off. It seems so far away. I haven't seen my family in about a month or so, not since my parents came down here to move my brother into school. He comes around whenever he can but I think I particularly miss my cousins. Those bastards went to the big sumo convention in Vegas last month. V is getting bigger by the day, I'm sure and I have yet to see her. I haven't been to San Francisco in months. I miss my friends...I miss being with people who just know me, the ones who need no explanation of how I feel or what I'm feeling...they just know. Even planning time to see them feels like additional effort I can hardly extend right now.
Desire...wanting to roll into a ball and wait for the new year to come.
11.01.2005
Erwin Federizo, one of my favorite visual artists right now, did this
and this
I love his style! I even ended up purchasing a print from him at FPAC this year. His designs are very fluid and historical in context. He had this great graphic of halo halo which I'm told is also in his kitchen at home. The artists that stand out to me have distinct touches to their work. If I like artists' work enough, I should be able to see or hear their work and pinpoint exactly who created it.
Erwin will be designing ads for Addidas and other big accounts for an ad agency in The City for the next month. Congrats to him! If he ever starts his own business again, I'm soo going to advocate for people to work with him!
and this
I love his style! I even ended up purchasing a print from him at FPAC this year. His designs are very fluid and historical in context. He had this great graphic of halo halo which I'm told is also in his kitchen at home. The artists that stand out to me have distinct touches to their work. If I like artists' work enough, I should be able to see or hear their work and pinpoint exactly who created it.
Erwin will be designing ads for Addidas and other big accounts for an ad agency in The City for the next month. Congrats to him! If he ever starts his own business again, I'm soo going to advocate for people to work with him!
10.27.2005
10.26.2005
Maybe I'm not understanding something but how can one be working on a political campaign but not be fully engaged in the process by not being a registered voter? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? The rules can't be changed if you don't play the game first...right?
Ok...another random story...
This article should have been titled, "Outlawing Magic."
Before you build anything, shouldn't you automatically think to check with The City, especially when the safety of a child is involved? "Outlawing Magic?!" COME ON!
Not in My Neighbor's Backyard
By Martha Groves
Times Staff Writer
October 26, 2005
The mansionization battle rustling the leaves of North Barrington Avenue is something new even for Brentwood.
It's a dispute not over a 12,000-square-foot neo-Tudor monster or a towering modernist cube, but over a backyard treehouse for an 18-month-old girl.
This being Brentwood, of course, the edifice at issue is no ordinary treehouse.
When Les Firestein, a television producer, and his wife, Gwyn Lurie, a screenwriter, wanted to do something really special for their daughter, Sydney, they enlisted their friend Roderick Wolgamott Romero.
Romero is a renowned builder of elaborate treehouses for such celebrities as Sting and Donna Karan. His work can be found in the "fantasy gift" section of this year's Neiman Marcus holiday catalog. Beginning price: $50,000.
In the backyard of the Firestein-Lurie home, which sits on a tree-studded half-acre north of Sunset Boulevard, Romero and his buddies built a roughly 10-foot-by-10-foot structure of reclaimed wood, salvaged windows and vintage stained glass from Buenos Aires that would quicken the heart of any fun-loving child or parent. The treehouse includes a viewing deck bordered by a railing crafted from tree branches from the backyard.
In return, Romero asked for a week's worth of lodging and all the Baja Fresh meals he could eat. With his tattooed arms and braided, knee-length hair swept up under a tweed cap, Romero and his pals worked for days, even in the rain.
Richard Fleming, the couple's next-door neighbor and a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, was not amused.
He feared that children could perch in this aerie and look in on him and his wife in their backyard pool and hot tub. He suspected, also, that city codes had been violated.
Enter the city of Los Angeles. As the treehouse neared completion last Thursday, city inspector Thomas Sze arrived on the Firestein-Lurie doorstep, responding, he told them, to an anonymous complaint.
"Oh, that's big," Lurie said he told them after looking at the treehouse and the much larger platform on which it rested. Sze also expressed concern about the structure's safety. On Friday, he delivered a written order that all work be halted.
"We're requiring plans and permits if [they] want to continue," Dave Keim, the city's chief of code enforcement, said in an interview Tuesday. "We'll work with them to try to legalize this…. It's not going to be easy."
The city does not require permits for nonhabitable structures less than 8 feet square, but Keim said the treehouse exceeds that size and therefore requires city permission. Firestein and Lurie can appeal whether a permit is required.
Firestein, whose credits as a TV producer and writer include "The Drew Carey Show" and "In Living Color," said his rights have been violated. "We just want to make this a magical place," he said. "It's as if the city has come in and said: 'We're outlawing magic.'
"And where do we go from here? No viewing platforms? No climbing in trees? No swing sets? No children playing? It is, figuratively and literally, a slippery slope."
The slope on which the Firestein-Lurie treehouse sits is dramatic. The steep hillside spills down from the back steps of their house to an expanse of green dotted with a play set, a trampoline inserted directly into the lawn and a picnic table. The rear is lined with towering eucalyptus trees. A moss-covered path zigzags from the main house and deck to the grass.
From down below, one can look back up the hill to the underside of the platform that supports the treehouse. The platform, which by the city's estimation is 20 feet by 30 feet, vaguely resembles a ship, with its "prow" pointing toward the lawn. It is more or less triangular, built around three eucalyptus trees. The platform's beams rest on a system of steel rods that have been inserted into the trees. An arborist assured the homeowners and the builders that the poles would not harm the trees.
The windows of the treehouse face onto the Firestein-Lurie property. The treehouse originally had a rear window that overlooked Fleming's property. After Fleming complained, the builders repositioned it. Firestein and Lurie have also vowed to plant trees and vines to mask the view of the treehouse from Fleming's property.
The couple expressed surprise that the situation has come to this, given their efforts to keep neighbors informed of their intentions — and given the care they say they've taken to ensure that the treehouse is safe.
Shortly before Firestein and Lurie moved in in August, the couple who sold them their house held a dinner party to introduce them to the neighbors. Fleming and his wife were there. When Firestein and Lurie announced their plan to build a treehouse, Lurie said, one neighbor offered to create a piece of art for it.
Fleming, however, said the treehouse plan "never crossed these ears." If it had, he added, "I would have raised questions immediately."
Dressed in blue scrubs, Fleming stood on his front lawn one recent afternoon and said that "it may turn out to be fine."
After living cheek-by-jowl with neighbors at the beach for several years, he said he values the privacy that this leafy Brentwood neighborhood affords. So does his wife, Margaret Michaels.
The dispute has taken much of the fun out of the treehouse experience for Firestein and Lurie.
They have received encouragement from their neighbor to the south, Craig Butler, a graphic designer.
"I think it's really beautiful," Butler said. "From my vantage point, it is so well integrated, non-obtrusive and very charming. It's like a little clubhouse."
His wife, Alexis, however, noted that in this neighborhood, residents crave total privacy. "Whether it's beautiful or not is not the issue," she said. "If I thought they were looking into our pool, it would be upsetting."
Ok...another random story...
This article should have been titled, "Outlawing Magic."
Before you build anything, shouldn't you automatically think to check with The City, especially when the safety of a child is involved? "Outlawing Magic?!" COME ON!
Not in My Neighbor's Backyard
By Martha Groves
Times Staff Writer
October 26, 2005
The mansionization battle rustling the leaves of North Barrington Avenue is something new even for Brentwood.
It's a dispute not over a 12,000-square-foot neo-Tudor monster or a towering modernist cube, but over a backyard treehouse for an 18-month-old girl.
This being Brentwood, of course, the edifice at issue is no ordinary treehouse.
When Les Firestein, a television producer, and his wife, Gwyn Lurie, a screenwriter, wanted to do something really special for their daughter, Sydney, they enlisted their friend Roderick Wolgamott Romero.
Romero is a renowned builder of elaborate treehouses for such celebrities as Sting and Donna Karan. His work can be found in the "fantasy gift" section of this year's Neiman Marcus holiday catalog. Beginning price: $50,000.
In the backyard of the Firestein-Lurie home, which sits on a tree-studded half-acre north of Sunset Boulevard, Romero and his buddies built a roughly 10-foot-by-10-foot structure of reclaimed wood, salvaged windows and vintage stained glass from Buenos Aires that would quicken the heart of any fun-loving child or parent. The treehouse includes a viewing deck bordered by a railing crafted from tree branches from the backyard.
In return, Romero asked for a week's worth of lodging and all the Baja Fresh meals he could eat. With his tattooed arms and braided, knee-length hair swept up under a tweed cap, Romero and his pals worked for days, even in the rain.
Richard Fleming, the couple's next-door neighbor and a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, was not amused.
He feared that children could perch in this aerie and look in on him and his wife in their backyard pool and hot tub. He suspected, also, that city codes had been violated.
Enter the city of Los Angeles. As the treehouse neared completion last Thursday, city inspector Thomas Sze arrived on the Firestein-Lurie doorstep, responding, he told them, to an anonymous complaint.
"Oh, that's big," Lurie said he told them after looking at the treehouse and the much larger platform on which it rested. Sze also expressed concern about the structure's safety. On Friday, he delivered a written order that all work be halted.
"We're requiring plans and permits if [they] want to continue," Dave Keim, the city's chief of code enforcement, said in an interview Tuesday. "We'll work with them to try to legalize this…. It's not going to be easy."
The city does not require permits for nonhabitable structures less than 8 feet square, but Keim said the treehouse exceeds that size and therefore requires city permission. Firestein and Lurie can appeal whether a permit is required.
Firestein, whose credits as a TV producer and writer include "The Drew Carey Show" and "In Living Color," said his rights have been violated. "We just want to make this a magical place," he said. "It's as if the city has come in and said: 'We're outlawing magic.'
"And where do we go from here? No viewing platforms? No climbing in trees? No swing sets? No children playing? It is, figuratively and literally, a slippery slope."
The slope on which the Firestein-Lurie treehouse sits is dramatic. The steep hillside spills down from the back steps of their house to an expanse of green dotted with a play set, a trampoline inserted directly into the lawn and a picnic table. The rear is lined with towering eucalyptus trees. A moss-covered path zigzags from the main house and deck to the grass.
From down below, one can look back up the hill to the underside of the platform that supports the treehouse. The platform, which by the city's estimation is 20 feet by 30 feet, vaguely resembles a ship, with its "prow" pointing toward the lawn. It is more or less triangular, built around three eucalyptus trees. The platform's beams rest on a system of steel rods that have been inserted into the trees. An arborist assured the homeowners and the builders that the poles would not harm the trees.
The windows of the treehouse face onto the Firestein-Lurie property. The treehouse originally had a rear window that overlooked Fleming's property. After Fleming complained, the builders repositioned it. Firestein and Lurie have also vowed to plant trees and vines to mask the view of the treehouse from Fleming's property.
The couple expressed surprise that the situation has come to this, given their efforts to keep neighbors informed of their intentions — and given the care they say they've taken to ensure that the treehouse is safe.
Shortly before Firestein and Lurie moved in in August, the couple who sold them their house held a dinner party to introduce them to the neighbors. Fleming and his wife were there. When Firestein and Lurie announced their plan to build a treehouse, Lurie said, one neighbor offered to create a piece of art for it.
Fleming, however, said the treehouse plan "never crossed these ears." If it had, he added, "I would have raised questions immediately."
Dressed in blue scrubs, Fleming stood on his front lawn one recent afternoon and said that "it may turn out to be fine."
After living cheek-by-jowl with neighbors at the beach for several years, he said he values the privacy that this leafy Brentwood neighborhood affords. So does his wife, Margaret Michaels.
The dispute has taken much of the fun out of the treehouse experience for Firestein and Lurie.
They have received encouragement from their neighbor to the south, Craig Butler, a graphic designer.
"I think it's really beautiful," Butler said. "From my vantage point, it is so well integrated, non-obtrusive and very charming. It's like a little clubhouse."
His wife, Alexis, however, noted that in this neighborhood, residents crave total privacy. "Whether it's beautiful or not is not the issue," she said. "If I thought they were looking into our pool, it would be upsetting."
10.24.2005
Why I Have a Love/Hate Relationship w/USF
LOVE
#1
New Green Class Offered to Students of USF's School of Business and Management (aka McLaren School of Business for the old folks)
by Emily Coon
“The objective is to stay in business indefinitely.” Todd Sayre
This fall, Todd Sayre, associate professor - accounting, launched USF’s first course on sustainable business. Using science and economics, Sayre will demonstrate how sustainable practices make good business sense. Sustainable businesses seek to balance the necessity of economic achievement with environmental quality and social justice. A quick scan of the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index reveals how extensively corporate America is embracing this new perspective. Sayre asserts, however, that education has not kept up with the trend. He is eager for USF to “get on board.”
“The university’s Vision and Mission Statement is a good fit with the principles of sustainability,” he said. The new course boasts a stimulating line-up of guest speakers including the co-founder of Global Exchange and a top executive of Interface. Sayre has been coordinating with USF’s chapter of Net Impact, a national organization that promotes corporate social responsibility, green business, public policy, and legislation. They plan to publicize the speaker schedule as a lecture series open to the public.
Two field trips are planned for the end of the semester. One is to Frog’s Leap Winery, which employs sustainable farming practices such as the use of spiders rather than pesticides. The other trip is to Solar Living, an “off-the-grid” community in Marin.
The sustainable business course has proven popular with undergraduate students and is at maximum enrollment. Says Sayre, “I am excited about the semester. I have many socially aware students.”
#2
USF has increased their ethnic minority recruitment for instructors in the past few years and one of them on the tenure track is Assistant Professor Victor Rios. This picture does little justice to this fine specimen of a homie from around the way turned budding sociology professional with an expertise in gang formation and the juvenile justice system in the United States.
USF Alumni Donnettes, check out the latest issue of "USF in the News," Vol. IV, No. 2. Yes, I must confirm that I would have had further distraction besides the ocean views if this man were around back then.
HATE
eh...check out my other blogs...I've included tidbits on USF's shadiness...I'm sure I can dig up more dirt later. The University has been spending money like water to update dilapidated facilities and actually make it more asthetically attractive to go to school there. I'm sure some kind of drama is bound to come from that. Besides, it's good to still be in touch with faculty and administration.
#1
New Green Class Offered to Students of USF's School of Business and Management (aka McLaren School of Business for the old folks)
by Emily Coon
“The objective is to stay in business indefinitely.” Todd Sayre
This fall, Todd Sayre, associate professor - accounting, launched USF’s first course on sustainable business. Using science and economics, Sayre will demonstrate how sustainable practices make good business sense. Sustainable businesses seek to balance the necessity of economic achievement with environmental quality and social justice. A quick scan of the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index reveals how extensively corporate America is embracing this new perspective. Sayre asserts, however, that education has not kept up with the trend. He is eager for USF to “get on board.”
“The university’s Vision and Mission Statement is a good fit with the principles of sustainability,” he said. The new course boasts a stimulating line-up of guest speakers including the co-founder of Global Exchange and a top executive of Interface. Sayre has been coordinating with USF’s chapter of Net Impact, a national organization that promotes corporate social responsibility, green business, public policy, and legislation. They plan to publicize the speaker schedule as a lecture series open to the public.
Two field trips are planned for the end of the semester. One is to Frog’s Leap Winery, which employs sustainable farming practices such as the use of spiders rather than pesticides. The other trip is to Solar Living, an “off-the-grid” community in Marin.
The sustainable business course has proven popular with undergraduate students and is at maximum enrollment. Says Sayre, “I am excited about the semester. I have many socially aware students.”
#2
USF has increased their ethnic minority recruitment for instructors in the past few years and one of them on the tenure track is Assistant Professor Victor Rios. This picture does little justice to this fine specimen of a homie from around the way turned budding sociology professional with an expertise in gang formation and the juvenile justice system in the United States.
USF Alumni Donnettes, check out the latest issue of "USF in the News," Vol. IV, No. 2. Yes, I must confirm that I would have had further distraction besides the ocean views if this man were around back then. HATE
eh...check out my other blogs...I've included tidbits on USF's shadiness...I'm sure I can dig up more dirt later. The University has been spending money like water to update dilapidated facilities and actually make it more asthetically attractive to go to school there. I'm sure some kind of drama is bound to come from that. Besides, it's good to still be in touch with faculty and administration.
10.20.2005
Went to another fundraiser tonight and low and behold, Big Tone was there! First of all, this is the largest grossing fundraiser in the Asian Pacific American community I have been to, thus far. And it's only their 22nd year doing this. Of course, the politics were steep in this event. (I think I've grown a bit more cynical through all of the things I've been doing in the past few months.) Then Big Tone gets presented his awards and this ass doesn't even remember the name of the damn organization that's honoring him! This fool was apparently involved with the agency over the course of a decade, at the very least! Maybe he should lay off his press events and spend a little more time behind his damn desk.
I think the highlight of the night was when they called my friend's name in a drawing to win a car! It was so freakin' random and she wasn't even there! Her company was there to represent her! My other friend and I screamed at the same time when they called out the name! SO RANDOM! Too bad the ticket was paid by her company after she had pleaded to purchase the ticket to begin with. Maybe next time.
I think the highlight of the night was when they called my friend's name in a drawing to win a car! It was so freakin' random and she wasn't even there! Her company was there to represent her! My other friend and I screamed at the same time when they called out the name! SO RANDOM! Too bad the ticket was paid by her company after she had pleaded to purchase the ticket to begin with. Maybe next time.
Value in Education
As I was driving to work this morning, I was listening to a radio program addressing education in Los Angeles, specifically the significance of Magnet schools in the district. Being a product of them from elementary through high school, I'm all for magnet programs!
According to a UCI professor on the radio show who wrote her dissertation on social ramifications of magnet schools, they began sometime in the '70s to address the need to have integrated campuses within public school districts due to economic, ethnic and other social differences. After the first couple of years they were running, people liked them so much, no one wanted to get rid of them. Then we come to present day and now there is a divide between those who claim that magnet schools and programs are simply for integration purposes and those who emphasize the academic excellence of the programs. In a city as large as Los Angeles, we see stand alone magnet schools, such as Bravo Magnet, that are governed by the same requirements as regular district schools and magnet programs within large district schools, such as the math, science and performing arts magnet programs at Van Nuys High School. The demand for these programs have gotten so high that the process to enroll students have now become quite competitive. The Magnet Program Director of LAUSD tried to explain on the radio show some point system they use to determine enrollment but it sounded a bit too complicated.
I wish I could have listened to the rest of the show but there were tons of interesting topics there were discussing. The moderator inquired about the overall academic performance of students in magnet schools and programs versus the overall performance of students in non-magnet programs. I think the fact that Bravo Magnet is the second top academic performing school in LAUSD is pretty damn significant. Principal Flores-Torres of Bravo mentioned that there are about 30% "gifted" students enrolled, along with a number of lower performing students. The fact that the school has a mix of academic performance levels is good because those who are not performing so well can get guidance and motivation from their peers who are. Coming from a magnet program within a larger school, all the honor students were typically also enrolled in the magnet programs. Our classes were smaller, we had more group projects and were more often hands-on. Our forest ecology classes contributed to the fire/deforestation research with the Calavares Big Trees Park. The marine biology class contributed to research on the marine life in and near the Monterey Bay Aquarium. How more hands on can you get?
The major question that stood out in my mind during the radio show was, can the way programs are being run in the magnet schools be integrated into regular programs within LAUSD? The Magnet Program Director said that some non-magnet schools are examining ways of using successful teaching methods in regular programs. Can this be a way to advance the overall academic performance of LAUSD? Let's hope so. If these changes are successful, I'm sure other districts will use it as a model to integrate their teaching methods, as well.
The reality of the educational system in the United States is apalling. The fact that some schools who have the resources employ development professionals to aid in finding funds for programs they do not want to cut is clear evidence on how strapped for cash our schools are. The fact that the stupid dork running California's government wants to take more money away from the public school system while his children are safely tucked away in private schools is even more disturbing. And they wonder why California's children are not academically performing as high as other states. Hm...maybe we kept more money in the schools and allowed each child to get a simple text book might help. THINK!
According to a UCI professor on the radio show who wrote her dissertation on social ramifications of magnet schools, they began sometime in the '70s to address the need to have integrated campuses within public school districts due to economic, ethnic and other social differences. After the first couple of years they were running, people liked them so much, no one wanted to get rid of them. Then we come to present day and now there is a divide between those who claim that magnet schools and programs are simply for integration purposes and those who emphasize the academic excellence of the programs. In a city as large as Los Angeles, we see stand alone magnet schools, such as Bravo Magnet, that are governed by the same requirements as regular district schools and magnet programs within large district schools, such as the math, science and performing arts magnet programs at Van Nuys High School. The demand for these programs have gotten so high that the process to enroll students have now become quite competitive. The Magnet Program Director of LAUSD tried to explain on the radio show some point system they use to determine enrollment but it sounded a bit too complicated.
I wish I could have listened to the rest of the show but there were tons of interesting topics there were discussing. The moderator inquired about the overall academic performance of students in magnet schools and programs versus the overall performance of students in non-magnet programs. I think the fact that Bravo Magnet is the second top academic performing school in LAUSD is pretty damn significant. Principal Flores-Torres of Bravo mentioned that there are about 30% "gifted" students enrolled, along with a number of lower performing students. The fact that the school has a mix of academic performance levels is good because those who are not performing so well can get guidance and motivation from their peers who are. Coming from a magnet program within a larger school, all the honor students were typically also enrolled in the magnet programs. Our classes were smaller, we had more group projects and were more often hands-on. Our forest ecology classes contributed to the fire/deforestation research with the Calavares Big Trees Park. The marine biology class contributed to research on the marine life in and near the Monterey Bay Aquarium. How more hands on can you get?
The major question that stood out in my mind during the radio show was, can the way programs are being run in the magnet schools be integrated into regular programs within LAUSD? The Magnet Program Director said that some non-magnet schools are examining ways of using successful teaching methods in regular programs. Can this be a way to advance the overall academic performance of LAUSD? Let's hope so. If these changes are successful, I'm sure other districts will use it as a model to integrate their teaching methods, as well.
The reality of the educational system in the United States is apalling. The fact that some schools who have the resources employ development professionals to aid in finding funds for programs they do not want to cut is clear evidence on how strapped for cash our schools are. The fact that the stupid dork running California's government wants to take more money away from the public school system while his children are safely tucked away in private schools is even more disturbing. And they wonder why California's children are not academically performing as high as other states. Hm...maybe we kept more money in the schools and allowed each child to get a simple text book might help. THINK!
10.19.2005
There's something about the Fall/beginning of the holiday season that jump starts my creativity. As I was getting ready this morning, tons of ideas were flowing through my head as to what I'd like to do for my lovies this season. Maybe it's the motivation and the fact that I should have more free time during these cold months to do stuff. Ah well...default is to just stay in bed, read books and play with my powerbook all day...if only!
10.17.2005
Good times
HOTTIES! This was before the crazy reception at Moonie and Lovella's wedding, the most rowdiest one I've been to, thus far! I clearly remember when this picture was taken.
However, I can't quite remember this one.
However, I can't quite remember this one.
10.12.2005
Teen Beat
That's my friend, Xochitl and I. My sweet little brothers had to dig through the crates for this one! This was before I figured out Johnny Depp is a bit off his rocker. I have no idea why I ever thought it would be cool to take this picture! I'm embracing the phase.
Yes, that's Patrick Swayze in the background...Dirty Dancing phase, before he tried to make an album. There were probably a few New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson posters floating around on the walls, as well. I'm owning up to it.
Screw all of the posers!
10.09.2005
Stepped into the Wardrobe
Disney finally hit the jackpot. They're putting out book one of CS Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" - "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" THIS December!
Before Harry Potter came along, The Chronicles blew all the other similar fantasy tales out of the water. A whole new world is created in the first book, one in which parallels of reality and biblical parabels are perfectly presented in the eyes of a child. It was until later in college that I really started to study CS Lewis and found that he was a devout Christian - OOH! It explains the parallels between God and Aslan's role in the Narnian series. Lewis also wrote numerous papers examining Jesus, Christianity and faith. Lewis' Narnia series was a huge social commentary on political, educational and religious views of man.
In terms of the movie, many of the creative people were the same ones who helped to develop the Lord of the Rings movies so one can clearly imagine the scope of this film's visual effects. I CANNOT WAIT! I remember watching the BBC versions as a child and thinking, "this is great to get visuals of the books." Getting better visuals is astounding. I really hope they remain true to the stories. December can only tell!
Before Harry Potter came along, The Chronicles blew all the other similar fantasy tales out of the water. A whole new world is created in the first book, one in which parallels of reality and biblical parabels are perfectly presented in the eyes of a child. It was until later in college that I really started to study CS Lewis and found that he was a devout Christian - OOH! It explains the parallels between God and Aslan's role in the Narnian series. Lewis also wrote numerous papers examining Jesus, Christianity and faith. Lewis' Narnia series was a huge social commentary on political, educational and religious views of man.
In terms of the movie, many of the creative people were the same ones who helped to develop the Lord of the Rings movies so one can clearly imagine the scope of this film's visual effects. I CANNOT WAIT! I remember watching the BBC versions as a child and thinking, "this is great to get visuals of the books." Getting better visuals is astounding. I really hope they remain true to the stories. December can only tell!
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