tagged :)

I was tagged by Novie ~ Thanks!! :D I'd love to hear anyone else's answers!





1.What was your fondest childhood memory?
Acting out books and videos with my two sisters closest in age. We fell in love with Star Wars/Chronicles of Narnia/Perimeter One/Star Trek. Countless hours were spent reenacting scenes with legos and such. We would also create our own light sabers from sticks. We bordered along obsessive for most things but we did manage to have lots of fun. <3

2. How was your first kiss?
hmmm... haha, wrong person, wrong place, wrong time

3. Where do you think is the best place to retire?
There's a cruise ship called The World. It's a brilliant idea and if I could finance it I would. Can you imagine how much fun that would be?
http://www.aboardtheworld.com/

4. If given the chance to speak to God face to face, what would you tell Him?
I would tell him that I have no idea why he cared so much for someone like me and that I will never understand completely why he would put himself through crucifixion. And I would tell him thank you.

5. Do you consider yourself LUCKY?
Somewhat lucky. I really do believe that some people are born with a sense of luck and others just aren't.


6. Are you aggressive or the shy type?
I am somewhat aggressive- haha. Depends on the situation though!

7. Cake or Ice cream?
Ice Cream - absolutely beyond a doubt undoubtedly.

The Killers

I watched a great movie the other day called The Killers. The movie has just the right amount of humor, action, romance, and the acting is decent! Ashton Kutcher plays the male lead and Katherine Heigl plays the female lead. I've seen both in several movies and it would appear their acting quality has improved. 27 dresses killed me.

AK plays a dude that works as an assassin until he meets KH and marries her. He's always wanted to live a normal life so once that ring is on his finger he leaves his life as an assassin and settles down to live in one of 'those perfect neighborhoods.' All is well until his past life catches up to him. If you have a chance you should totally see it. Some people like it and some people just don't. I knew nothing about the movie when I decided I'd watch it. So I was pleasantly surprised. 

I was running errands with my sister Lee the other day, and what should I happen upon? I couldn't resist. I wanted to do something obsessive Twilight fans do. (I do like Twilight, just not to the point of obsession.)

BTW_ if you have a husband and you feel inclined to make him eggs, please make sure you make them just the way he likes them. Or stay away from men who live in Kentucky. Apparently, dear husband decided he didn't like his eggs and ran after his dear wife with a shotgun. And his step daughter. And the neighbors they ran to for help. Killing people over eggs? At least he did us a favor and turned the gun on himself.

I will not forget September 11th. Some Americans find it easy to brush off and forget- perhaps they did not lose a friend or family member. And perhaps they operate as if the only important thing in life is what happens in their own backyard. 

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington

You're SOOOO Vain

Carly Simon sings a song “You’re so Vain.” When I was growing up my music exposure was limited and I heard that song for the first time in the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” One of my favorites as far as typical chick flicks go. I'm sure that had something to do with Matthew McConaughey. There’s a line in the song that goes “I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee.” Now I’m sure there’s a real and official interpretation of that line, but I haven’t bothered to use Google and look it up. Here’s what I believe it means.

I was house-sitting for a family a few months ago. They have this beautiful sweet kitty who does not like alone time. It was one of those mornings where you really needed your coffee and I gave in to the desire. I made myself coffee and then went for the milk. I can go without sugar… but I really do like my milk. I poured it in and to my dismay, all these white flakes jumped to the top. So in the song, my interpretation would be dreams gone sour. Never drink coffee or any beverage when there are white flakes at the top. 

In China the one child rule is under discussion. Apparently China would like extra workers and additional members for a society that is growing older. In my family I’m one of eight. It’s strange to think of only being allowed to have one child. If my parents had lived in China I would not exist. Stop.Listen would not exist. I think one day I would like to go to China and see it. It is a country that is indeed fascinating. Maybe if a family is allowed two children China will have more girls!  

On a side note, I try not to discriminate by saying things like “I don’t like all people who live in Antarctica!”  Sha Zukang a UN official for China said “I don’t like Americans” amongst a lot more. It must be tiring to have to put on an open and negotiating peaceful front all the time. In politics it’s all about diplomacy. If your opening words are insulting your chance of influencing the second party is pretty much nil. Unless they dig the insult thing.  When it comes to politics or religion one could talk until their face was blue and the other person would likely still stick to their guns. That’s why I find debating somewhat pointless. Nobody wants to change their mind! Most people I know hate change. If there’s change I’m initiating, I’ll initiate it as slow as I can. The end result is something we’re pleased with but the getting there is a difficult process. 

To burn or not to burn. I don’t know what your opinion is… but if it was any other book besides the Koran I doubt anybody would care. 

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington. 

By the way, I just read an article that discussed the use of facebook as a correlation to one’s narcissism tendencies. Interesting.  I’m starting to feel defensive. 

Hollywood

I'm really in love with Michael Buble's music. It really doesn't stop at his smooth and sexy, beautiful voice. We still have his charismatic gorgeous good looks to consider. I fell in love with his "Haven't met you yet" song and that was just the beginning.
I'm writing this post to share his amazing new single "Hollywood."



And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington

Of Pens and Pencils

I am now using Google Reader to stay in connection with the various blogs I am subscribed too. So much for trying to stay away from Google. They have the advantage because everything is Google and everything Google creates is right there, easy and convenient.

Have you ever noticed how normal it is to know something is not quite right but to not bother doing anything about it? We like convenience and we don’t like change. I procrastinate on a daily basis and the effect is me, all stressed out, needing to go to anger management class. If anyone comes up with an easy solution on breaking bad habits, I’m sold. However, it will probably be a while before I can apply the method. Beyond procrastination, to each his own.

There is a psychology term “functional fixedness.” It’s an interesting concept and I just read an example that I am going to share with you. NASA decided its boys needed a space pen so they could write upside down and not deal with those “no ink” problems. Lots of dollars later, they figured it out! The Russians wanted the same thing for their space boys. Without spending money they settled on using a pencil. You can’t say American’s don’t persevere.

I hope I read this wrong or perhaps it was mis-written or something. Apparently Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s cleric said the WW2 Holocaust was a myth and people should accept that. Yes, indeed. An atrocity like that is best forgotten. According to George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We like to be ignorant though. It’s easier to be happy that way.

Next time you deliver a pizza pack a gun. That might be the only way to make sure nothing hooky goes on. Richel Nova was delivering dominoes pizza and was stabbed to death. And that’s probably right after he rang the doorbell. What I find interesting is how young the suspects are. I wonder if the video games and movies we have today desensitize people to the point that killing someone is no big deal. I’ve never been into the horror movies genre but I have seen a few. Some I’d like to forget. I think if everyone walked around with machine guns, we would think twice before stabbing someone for the thrill of it.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington.

The Evils of Google

Is it just me or has Google been in the news a lot this last month? Usually about invasion of privacy, China and Google, Germany and Google, or “bedbugs sighted in Google’s Office!” I suppose the last one is the most amusing.  So if Google’s getting the heat from all over right now, how do YOU feel about Google?

They’ve recently added a feature called Google Dashboard so you can see what kind of information Google collects about you and how public that information is to others.  I use Google as my primary search tool, I like how it looks and I haven’t had much opportunity to locate something else. Apparently Chrome has a function that allows you to search “privately.” I don’t believe that really solves anything though.  I have a conspiracy theorist inside me though, so I always think there’s probably more than meets the eye in most situations.

If you want to check out Google and privacy, look up google.com/privacy. On the left side you’ll see a link titled Dashboard. Go ahead and click it, you might just learn something about yourself.

People are not happy with Google and now they’re speaking out about it.  If you‘ve ever been to Times Square you were probably one in a million walking about. A 15 second clip of the movie below will be advertised there around Christmas. Check this video out: Can we all say CREEPY together? Wait... that would probably be even more creepy.



So in my last post I talked about Starbucks. I really do spend a lot of time there so that makes us pretty tight. I read a story about a 28 year old woman who stepped out of her car and was heading into Starbucks when an African American woman threw acid in her face. Her eyes were saved by her sunglasses but can we all say HATE CRIME? That’s so awful! And she was right outside a Starbucks I visit all the time in Vancouver Washington. Eeek. It gets worse, the same thing happened to a woman getting out of her car and heading to her home. Her HOME!! What’s up with these people? Dude. Like are you serious?? I suppose that means we should all be on our guard no matter where we’re headed. It's disturbing.

By the way, I learned how to take snap shots of my screen- thrilled! I love having techy brothers and knowing how to use the Google search function.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk-Washington.
Stay safe and enjoy the holiday!

Barista Hottie

In 2010 something changed. My usual trips to Starbucks began involving regular coffee instead of lattes. My summer drink of choice; iced coffees. To shake things up a bit I would ask for a different syrup instead of the signature sweetener they use. 

After drinking regular coffee and paying a decent price for that, I started to really take into account the cost of a latte. If I were to go anywhere else besides Starbucks I would die before I'd pay $4-5 for a 16 ounce drink. I'd walk out the door and find something else. Starbucks appears to have somewhat of a religious following. They do have something going for them, mainly, environment, excellent service, and good drinks. I've done coffee shop surfing and usually walk away thinking there's something really wrong with the taste of the coffee and never come back. Unless, they have free wifi and it's highly convenient. 

I spend many hours studying in Starbucks. At one point, I spent 2 days consecutively working on my Tax Accounting assignments. I hated Starbucks for the next few days. The only highlight, besides the delicious coffee was the BH behind the counter. BH stands for: barista hottie. (And he really took that one to a whole new level) Yes, a barista is not just a woman. It's any human who has been trained and can make those amazing espresso drinks we throw down $$$ to enjoy. When robots start making espresso drinks I'll change the definition to "any "thing" that makes those amazing espresso drinks..." 

It gets better though. After spending many hours in Starbucks you get to see and hear people ordering there drinks. Something about the heat outside causes people to order venti's and to add a little of this and a little of that. I'm guessing when they're all done, they've probably spent $8 on their drink. It better be a  good one. 

My family buys whole milk and I grew up drinking whole milk. However, when I started working I began drinking skim milk. And ever since then, that's usually what I'll drink cause it's there. Now whenever I put milk in my coffee I usually always go for nonfat milk- it just tastes right. Yesterday I drank a glass of whole milk and it tasted like whipping cream minus the density. I was like WOW you really can tasted a difference!

Starbucks came out with a new drink and I put the $$ down to try it. It's called a Toffee Mocha. It was delicious! It wasn't freaky sweet and it had a nice mix of flavor. Last year they came out with a Caramel Brulee Latte and that was so sweet one couldn't even finish the thing.  As I was ordering the drink the barista making it confirmed with the barista taking my money that the Toffee Mocha didn't include whipped cream. "No whipped cream?" said I. "Would you like whipped cream added to it?" said he. "Is it going to cost me extra?" said I. "no, I wouldn't dream of charging you for whipped cream!" said he. "I'll take it." said I. I take nonfat milk with my regular coffee and add whipped cream to my lattes. That's almost a contradiction. 

Starbucks is doing something right because when all is said and done, I still spend my money there. I usually always walk away satisfied which is the important thing. In today's day and age, competition is coming at a business in all directions. Rule of thumb: Your coffee shouldn't suck if your business is a coffee shop. We can all be happy that Starbucks is going green. My last gift card from my dear sister Lee, was green. And the girl was happy. 

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington

By the by, it's return of the bedbugs and you're next! XD -pop quiz- what do bedbugs, mosquitoes, leeches, and Edward have in common?