Facebook, Snookie, Weddings, and Homework

I think we should put our hands together and give a round of applause for Facebook. They are going to have an IPO in the future. 2012 to be exact. My response “I’m totally going to invest in THAT.” I know Facebook has been getting a bad rap in the news lately and rightly so. However, despite all that, no one on my friends list has deleted their FB.  Kind of goes inline with, if you can’t see it, it must not exist. Look at it in terms of “oh, Aunt Vilma got her jewelry stolen!” “Oh, that is just terrible.” blah blah blah, the end. (unless you were going to inherit something from Aunt Vilma, then maybe a different story). Then look at it like: “Our house was broken in to!” “Go out and change all the locks, get a new security system, etc….”

We all know who Snookie is, right? I didn’t until this morning but I do know about the 10% tax for tanning salons. How lame is that? I’ve never gone to one, I usually get a sufficient amount of tanning done in the summer from God’s yellow sun. You know how they say the sun causes skin cancer? Well, I’ve heard it two ways. Some people also say it’s the sunscreen. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on one of those bottles? ICK. There is the “good” kind of sunscreen that only has a few ingredients but one looks extremely pale after the application. I never used to use sunscreen until I came to CA. Now if I spend a day at the beach I use it. I really hate sunburns.

I was talking with a friend the other day and I mentioned that “I hate weddings.” It wasn’t a total off the wall random comment because there was a wedding going on in the vicinity. I do hate weddings though. The last wedding I participated in, I really put in my dues. I helped in the kitchen and with clean up afterwards. You only do that when it’s a reallllly good friend getting married. At the end of the event I was on my hands and knees cleaning a floor. One of the bridesmaids walks by and is like “Oh, everyone’s working so hard! Hehe!” Oh yes, so funny. Mind you, the only thing she did was walk the isle and complain about not getting forks and enough food. But that’s not why I hate weddings. They usually are all the same with a tiny bit of variation (I guess that‘s called tradition) and they can cost a fortune. The fortune I’m talking about does not compare to the 3 million Miss. Clinton is having spent on her wedding but it is still substantial. Therefore, I have decided, I shall not have a wedding. I shall have a huge reception party. Half the stress and twice the fun.

I’m including a picture of myself in this blog post, I generally do not do that. Yesterday I spent 1.5 hours scraping the sides of a dock. I have never been more sore in a million different place. I almost fell out of bed this morning. I just didn't want anyone to think I was all play and no work.

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California.

I’m only extremely tardy in this post due to spending 10 hours on one homework problem and still remaining unsatisfied with the answer I came up with. Sometimes I guess you just have to learn to let go.

Luther Vandross

Germany’s 2010 Love Parade Festival ended in 15-20 deaths and many injuries when one of the only exits was closed up. People became irritated with the slowness of the crowd and a stampede of people was the result. How would you like to go to a parade festival with one million other people and witness that? Not really.

I was listening to a duet by Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross today. Luther Vandross is an amazing singer. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 54 from a heart attack. When you’re 20 it’s scary to think of 27 being half of one’s life. I had a conversation the other day with a lady I work with. She was talking about how she came to work in finance. She achieved her career dream, became VP of a company, had kids, money, and she wasn’t happy.

~Dance with my Father by Luther Vandross~ Chances are, you've most likely heard this song before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLuP-4ZEhOE

My life is highly compartmentalized. I have school in one compartment, work in another, family in another, and so on. I find myself giving everything to my school and work, and what is leftover I give to my family. After that there’s nothing left. It get’s to the point where you almost make yourself believe “if I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.” But there are some things at the back of your mind that you can’t forget. And it’s always “when I’m not so busy I’ll get to it.” In retrospect, I can’t think of many times where life has ever slowed down since I was 17 and started working full time.

It’s really all about finding balance. My pastor once gave a description of how it should look when Jesus is at the center of everything you do. He gave the illustration of an ole wagon wheel. The center should be Jesus and all the spokes coming out is what you have going on in your life. Beyond keeping Jesus at the center, you have to take advantage of the moments that cross your path. If you have an opportunity, don’t wait for tomorrow.

When I was back in Washington, there were a few people I had on my mind that I wanted to spend more time with. I was busy with school and work and didn’t make time. And now I’m miles away and there is no way I could do what I tossed around in my mind a month ago.

I know this is old news but Darth Vader robbed a Chase bank. And as far as bank robberies go I think that was brilliant. Next time we’ll be hearing about Mickey Mouse’s big bank robbing debut.
 
And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California

Schedule

Due to extreme busy-ness I have not had an opportunity to update my blog. From now on, I will be posting 3 times a week. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from HB, California.

Pet peeves, Baseball, and Shopping

One of my pet peeves involves people leaving trash around at places like movie theaters. If you’ve ever stayed until the end of a movie, watching the credits while the theater room empties, you will see what I’m talking about. As you leave your seat to walk out, you are stepping over spilled popcorn, empty cups, and candy bags all over the floor. Apparently we are too lazy to walk 20 steps to the trash can outside the door. (Even though we‘ll walk by it anyway… so it‘s more we are too lazy to carry something 20 steps)

The baseball game was great. There were home runs and it was a close game. I don’t know much about baseball, but I kind of figured when the fans were all clapping and cheering, something good was happening. I debated as to what team I should cheer for and settled with the Angels. I was in their stadium after all. And they won. It’s interesting the kind of people you’ll sit around when you’re at a game like that. There was a gentleman in front of us who was very loud and talked a lot. (I don‘t think English was his first language) To the right there was a couple gals and they were usually buying something every 5 seconds. And they left a ton of trash in there absence.

Today I went shopping and it was a very successful trip. I finally bought myself some tennis shoes. I really have never liked tennis shoes and have not needed to wear them much. It’s not like I do that much outside now a days anyway. But after a 4 mile walk in flip flops…. I changed my mind. I bought a cute pair of sandals too.

I have been a nanny for the last 3 years and I watched twin boys. The most beautiful and adorable boys you’ll ever see. Today I read in the news that a pair of twin girls drowned in Mass. That makes me sad. I can not imagine what the family must be going through. When watching kids it only takes turning away for one second. You never know what can happen.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from HB, California

Volunteerism and Philosophy

Can you say Baseball? I can. The Angels were playing the Mariners last night and I watched half the game. Not too bad. But, the exciting part comes on Saturday. I will join the ranks of people in the stands actually watching the game for themselves. There is a first time for everything. And the Seattle Mariners are from WA, ha.

I’m now working as a volunteer at the local art center and had my first day yesterday afternoon. I’m also volunteering elsewhere in Finance. I told a girl who works at the art center and she was like “so why are you doing all this volunteering?” I thought for minute and I have no idea why. The finance makes sense but the art center is a little out there. I think I’m going to like that girl. I watched an acrylic painting sessions and I’m impressed. My art skills generally extend to stick figures. 

I met a Dr. of Philosophy last night. He was a charming guy and an excellent cook. He talked about an interesting concept “levels of happiness” and how each individual is born with a specific level. And in that level they can be up at the top, in the middle, at the bottom, etc…. and sometimes you can bounce way beyond in either direction, but you will usually end up settling in your range. So two people could experience the exact same circumstances and depending on their level of happiness, they could feel two completely different ways. I still have to mull that over but it is interesting.

I was going to talk about Euthanasia but I’ll save that for another post. I started to write about it and felt it was too depressing for this gorgeous day. Waking up to sunshine and blue skies is so wonderful. I love rain and clouds but sunny and blue comes to a close second.

Argentina has legalized gay marriages, complete with all the rights. It sounds like it was a close call though. I wonder what is next? Russia has been experiencing a heat wave currently and many people are dying. Why? Usually they are falling in swimming areas after drinking alcohol. Not  a good combination, I guess. Weather is an interesting thing. In the DC area, MD and NY included, there was a 3.6 magnitude earthquake felt. I know a couple people who live in that area but I believe myself to be excommunicated from there lives. So I can’t really make any phone calls.

Starbucks here I come. 

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California.

The French Parliament and Copy Machines

The French Parliament is approving a ban on face covers; burqa veils included. On the surface, you can come  up with a couple good reasons to do so. According to Yahoo News, “the niqab and burqa are also seen here as a gateway to extremism and an attack on secularism, a central value of France for more than a century.” So because France is proud of their secularism they are going to impart their views on the few that actually wear burqas. I don’t really care what one’s view on Muslimism is, I think it is irrelevant in this situation.

Let’s look at it from another angle. Say that in the US you are banned from wearing hats because the US Supreme Court rules in favor of the “wearing of hats as a disrespectful act towards Mother Nature.” I would consider that an infringement on my rights. How is that so different than the French Parliament approving the burqa ban? Of course it is titled something else… but that is essentially what it is doing.

I  like the freedom of opening my closet and choosing what to wear without thinking, “Oh, I can’t wear that scarf…. It’s orange. That’s illegal.” It seems that the direction we are headed for globally is repressive.

I have a volunteer job and I put in my first day yesterday. I spent 4 hours using a copy machine to copy proposals and store files on the computer. It was interesting. It’s in the Finance department so I have great hope that once the 3 filing cabinets are done, I’ll be doing something more finance like. However, it will look smashing on my resume. Can “shred paper” “make photocopy’s” etc… I did learn all about Ledger paper though. You never think about the different types of paper until you are spending time changing the copy setting every 5 minutes before you can slide the paper through.

Be careful what you twitter if you are in Venezuela. Apparently their laws are pretty tough….

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California.  

Sports

I told you I was going to be adventurous someday and that day turned out to be Saturday morning. I was offered a chance to learn some Karate and I said “Yes, why not?” It was low key and I knew two of the people having met them last week. They would do a move using the right hand for the block/punch. THEN opposite.  I knew I was lacking in something, but the whole reversal thing just threw me off. And then it got worse or maybe better. There was a young gorgeous gentleman participating and helping me bumble along.

I think I would someday like to do something like Karate. As much as I would love to start taking lessons I fear my perfectionist complex will comes into play. If I can’t do something 100% I don’t really feel the desire to even put a little bit out.

Somebody else said that the other day too. Isn’t it nice to know our quirky behavior is sometimes universal?

I was rooting for the Netherlands. So boo hoo to Spain. I watched my first World Cup Soccer game on TV. As you can tell, I’m not a huge sports fanatic.  I am a fan of walking, however. I walked 4 miles today in flip flops. I’m thinking I should not do that again, but I’m also thinking my flip flops deserve a name for having been put through that. Jane and Jill perhaps?

Car accidents are traumatic.  The other day there was a car accident around Portland, Oregon. Now, that’s not so unusual. However, confusion was caused due to the car occupants having been dressed up as zombies for a party they were going to. I want to go to a zombie party.

I have Germany and Venice on my mind. If I had an opportunity to live in a foreign country and tour Europe for a couple years, I would do it in a heartbeat. That is what happens when you spend time around people who travel consistently.

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California

(I haven‘t had an opportunity to take many pictures, hence, many of my own pics are not showing up lately. Also, I will add a disclaimer later, but you all should know that the pictures on this blog are either mine or images of the public domain)