Fin Rot

My betta fish, Malcolm, has fin rot. I know I don't talk about him much and I have yet to take a picture of him to post in "My Family" section, but I still care about him. I feel terribly guilty that he has fin rot. Technically, it's tail rot because that's where the white cottony stuff is. How does a fish get fin/tail rot? Usually, by not having good water conditions to swim in. I know I'm a bad mom. I feel awful. Right after school, I ran around to two different pet stores looking for maracyn and sea salt. I even got him filtered water. I've already cleaned his tank and plants. I also boiled his gravel for a few minutes. Hopefully, everything will be okay. Don't forget to keep your tanks clean! >_<

Teaching is Like...

Teaching is like...

Classmate's metaphor: donating blood.

My response: Because it can be lifesaving.

Classmate's metaphor: blue cheese.

My response: Because it's not for everyone.

Classmate's metaphor: scrapbooking.

My response: Because good teaching is memorable.

My metaphor: conducting a symphony orchestra.

I Don't Want to Remember

Today, I got picked last for Geography Baseball when we were picking teams. At the age of 24, it hurts just as bad as when I was 9. Those thoughts of: "Why don't people like me?" and "They think I can't do this" surfaced again. Long after the game has ended, those feelings and thoughts keep echoing inside of me. How can I go back to class tomorrow? When will these feelings be pushed back far enough in mind that I won't think of them every other minute?

Wong Fu Productions

After my hubster and I watched "Yellow Fever," we've been addicted to Wong Fu shorts. My personal favorite is "Just a Nice Guy." If you watch it and want a Nice Guy shirt, they're for sale at the Wong Fu Productions website.

For Hardcore Office Fans...

Did you know that there's a Dunder Mifflin website? It's hilarious.

Re: I Wish Upon a Shooting Star

My friend Mark who is still doing research in Belize wrote this very nice posting entitled I Wish Upon a Shooting Star. It reminded me of something that I had so desperately wanted to blog about from my latest trip but forgot to blog about until now, so thanks Mark!

When we flew out of DC, the sun was just starting to set. There was a tropical storm that had drifted off of the Eastern shoreline, but there were some lingering thunderstorms hanging around. When we got high enough about the clouds, we could watch the lightening from the the thunderstorms. It was one of the most amazing sights. Sometimes, we could even see the actual lightening bolts striking within the clouds. I was in complete awe until the lightening stopped. Nature is simply amazing.

Listening

[Listening] doesn't judge, know, or argue. When we listen to people, our own language softens. Listening may be the cardinal act of giving. It is a silent quality. I think it is the source of peace.

- Paul Hawken (2002)

How Asian Are We?

Most of the time, my hubster calls himself a banana and a call myself a coconut. You may be wondering why. Well, those are the analogies that people use who identify more with American culture but look like some kind of other ethnicity. Sometimes, the Asian sides of us do show through nice and clearly. For example, we went to see our new place yesterday. The best part was finally seeing our new flooring. What's the first thing we do when the sales agent leaves? We both take off our shoes and walk all around the house barefoot. :) I told my mom and she just laughed.

Cabin Fever

Yesterday after math class, I was so excited to be somewhat free. I was totally looking forward to vegging out on the sofa for a little while doing a whole lot of nothing. Once I got comfy, I got an overwhelming claustrophobic feeling. I didn't feel like I was trapped in our in condo since I've hardly been home. Instead, I felt like I was trapped in my own skin. Weird, right? I've never had this feeling before.

I tried to tell my hubster that it felt like cabin fever. He said I must have felt like that because I sit in classes from 9am-5pm almost every day of the week. I told him that that wasn't why. I felt like I had spent too much time with my mind, listening to my interior thinking voice for too long. I do so much thinking and listening each day. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm definitely excited to do so much thinking and analyzing. At the same time, I need a break from it and I need some sunshine. I'm posting this somewhat odd posting just in case someone else is feeling the same way. Just know, you're not alone and get some fresh air. It helped me tons. :)

Black Bears

Yesterday, my hubster brought in the mail and I got an awesome postcard. One of my kiddos from this past school year sent it to me. How freaking cool is that? It totally made my day. I'll scan the front of it when i get the chance but here's what it said:

Dear Mrs. T---,

Are you enjoying your summer? I am. I saw a few black bears and many deers at Sequoia. See you soon.

From,
Mr. RN

I'm going to send him a postcard and tell him how I've been going to school to be a teacher and I went a saw the Lincoln Memorial and how it looks like a penny. (Because they did money last year.)

Top 5 Things We Learned about D.C.

1. If you plan on driving, get GPS! Don't be cheap. Just get it. You'll be so happy that you did. You'll save gas and time.
2. It's super green and pretty because of humidity. Be prepared to deal with the humidity.
   
3. Read the road signs carefully. Each sign has like 10 names on it. There's a difference between local and express, so know which one you need to take.
   
4. Too much of the Potomac River can be a bad thing unless you intended to drive along the riverside. Otherwise, you could be totally lost.
   
5. It is possible to drive into the "heart of the beast" (also known as downtown D.C.) just know that parking gets pricey.

Driving along HWY 395. Isn't it pretty?

Monumental!

This past weekend we went to D.C. to go to the wedding of one of my hubster's good high school friends. We flew into D.C. Sunday morning at around 8:30am. After landing, we got our rental car and planned to meet up with one of my hubster's other friends who was there for the wedding too. To our dismay, we missed the turn off when leaving the airport to go to Alexandria, Virginia. We ended up driving along the Potomac River for quite sometime while looking for a way to turn back around. What we didn't know was that D.C. freeways are not like California freeways. You can't just hop on the next exit and turn back around. Instead, it's like a maze. You have to take one freeway to the next to the next until you get close enough to your original destination. It took us about two hours to get to a town that was only 6 miles away. Pathetic, right?

We eventually had to have my hubster's friend and wife come and get us because we just couldn't figure out how to get to their hotel. We had a late breakfast at this place that had a window sign that said "Good service is a hobbit." Later that afternoon, we went to see a couple of the nearby monuments. We walked from 17th and Constitution all the way to the Lincoln monument. It doesn't sound too bad, but it was blazing hot. There was some sort of heat wave. It felt like the middle of the Sahara. Along the way, we got to see the World War II memorial. I enjoyed the Lincoln monument. It reminded me of a giant penny. Afterwards, I convinced my hubster to indulge me in an overpriced popsicle, which was like a little slice of icy heaven. Seeing the monuments was very cool and we had good company. It's picture time.

Our starting point.

World War II Memorial.
There's a wreath for every state.

View of the Washington monument and World War II monument and us in the way.

As my hubster says, "It's the big stick."
Personally, I think Washington got cheated in the monument department.

Us at the foot the Lincoln monument.

My hubster and Jon at Lincoln's foot.

View of Capital building in the distance.
All I can think of is the School House Rock Bill song.

Yay for the Smithsonian!

One of the things we really wanted to do during our brief trip to D.C. was go to any of the Smithsonian museums. We knew that we wouldn't have time for all of them, so we decided to go to the Natural History one. Originally, we planned to take the metro into the city.

When we got to the metro station, there was only metered parking, which wasn't an option for us. Then, we had to decide to be brave and drive into the city or hang out in the suburb that we were at the day before. We decided to be brave and drive in. It took a lot of courage since we got crazy lost the other day. By some grace, we managed to successfully drive in and stumble across an underground parking structure. We parked at the Regan building. If you have to use a parking structure, it's a nifty one and within decent walking distance to all the Smithsonians and the National Mall.

The Natural History museum blew me away. There were so many cool things to see and it was free! I learned all about the evolution of horses. I took a ton of pictures and I had a hard time narrowing them down, so there's a ton of pictures below. My top picks were the Easter Island head, the meteorites, and the Hope diamond. Afterwards, we tried to make it to the National American History museum. It was right next door, but it was closed for renovation. Boo! FYI, it'll be closed until Fall 2008. At least, we got the Natural History museum done.

Yay, we made it without getting ridiculously lost!

The rotunda entrance. Love it!
Doesn't it look something out of a movie?

One of two Easter Island statues in the U.S.

A huge chunk of a meteorite.

Hope Diamond which is HUGE in person.

The ancestor of the armadillo.

A spiral burrow.

Some prehistoric bird.

Still enthusiastic even though we still have two more stories to look at.

Ancient Crush.

This is how a giraffe drinks.

My hubster exploring a pouch.
It had a teeny kangaroo in it.

A calcite bird's nest.
My hubster said, "I guess they didn't make it."

A dung beetle.
(I just liked how this picture turned out but dung beetles are important.)

I Would Date...

Hubster: You know which celebrity that I would date?
Me: Who?
Hubster: Natalie Portman.
Me: Really? Why?
Hubster: She's next door girl cute and she always looks like she's thinking. You know, Jessica Alba is only good to look at. That's all she's good for. (laughs)

Yay, my hubster likes girls that think! Good thing, I married him. You may be wondering which celebrity I would date. My longstanding favorite is Johnny Depp. He's got a quirky intellectual personality plus he's dreamy.

Johnny Depp (left) and Tim Burton (right)

Yellow Fever

What Does It Mean to Know Someone?

In the grad program that I'm in, there's this big emphasis on getting to know each other. I understand that they want us to feel comfortable interacting with each other, but what does it mean to know someone? I'm not sure. Here are my reasons:

• You may not think that someone knows you but that person may know something about you that you may not even know. This idea came across from one of my favorite lecturers/mentors at Poly. When we had to write an expository essay about ourselves, he ended up saying, "Have you ever thought that as your teacher that I know things about you that you may not even know?" I believe this true because Ms. Johnson could totally peg what kind of student I was. When she described what kind of learner/student I was, it helped me make better sense of myself in a way I wouldn't have thought of.

• There's too many different layers to a person. I've been with my hubster for almost 10 years and I still learn new things about him. For example, I randomly asked him if he could have any super power what would it be. His joke answer was: X-ray vision. Then, he changed it to saving people's lives. I would never have been able to predict either of those answers!

I believe in the value of talking to a person and learning about them. There you go! Rather than saying I'm getting to know a person, I'm learning about the person. Using the term, "learning" allows for the continuous growth of information that you gather about a person.

I know that this is a super random blog, actually not that random because I did provide a relevant context. Well, the context is relevant for me at least. But, it's really just food for thought rather than my usual narrative. :)

Banksy

Banksy Unmasked? A Graffiti Mystery

Friday, Nov. 02, 2007 By ALEX ALTMAN/LONDON

Banksy lurks in the shadows, outside the klieg lights of the celebrity he's generated. He shrinks from cameras like a vampire from the sun. The graffiti artist, whose work has fetched millions of dollars at auction houses from the likes of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has never been publicly identified.

But this week, Banksy may have been unmasked. A camera-phone photograph of a man painting on the side of a building in Bethnal Green, East London could be the first image of the guerrilla artist. The photo shows a man appearing to work on a mural of yellow lines that snake down the street, hop a curb and bloom into a flower climbing a wall. In the photo, the man dons blue jeans and sneakers and a dark green jacket. What appears to be a spray-paint mask is perched atop his head. more>>

Follow-Up Article:

Banksy: An Artist Unmasked

Monday, July 21, 2008 By ALEX ALTMAN/LONDON

For years the graffiti artist known as Banksy has been the art world's Deep Throat: a hugely influential figure whose identity remained shrouded in mystery. Now, like Deep Throat, he has been given a name.

Banksy is a 34-year-old native of Bristol, England, named Robin Gunningham, Britain's the Mail on Sunday reported on July 13. The thread that may have unraveled the mystery was a 2004 photograph taken in Jamaica, which many — including photographer Peter Dean Rickards — say is the only known picture of Banksy. (The artist's agent, Steve Lazarides, denied that the photo — which depicts a man in jeans and sneakers crouching above a can of spray paint — is of Banksy. A spokeswoman for the artist declined to confirm or deny the Mail's report.) more>>

You can see some more of Bansky's stuff on Time here.

In the Club

This past weekend we survived our 2 day/1 night trip to Washington D.C. We went because one of my hubster's good friends from high school got married. The wedding was wonderful and we learned a bunch about D.C. Here's one of my favorite conversations that I heard at the reception:

Newlywed Friend: (smiling at my hubster) So, this is what it's like to be in your club now?
Hubster: Yea. How does it feel?
Newlywed Friend: Great. (still beaming)
Hubster: So, you're going to have to let me know what changes.
Newlywed Friend: I'll let you know.
Hubster: The right answer is nothing. (laughs)
Newlywed Friend: Sounds good.

Seriously, how cute are they? They're both happy being married. :) Hopefully, I'll have time this Friday to do a more extensive post about our trip complete with photos. I would like to do asap while I still remember all the details. Toodles.

Yay for My Hubster!

My hubster finished his first non-required school book. What was it? The Alchemist. Yay for my hubster! [Insert golf clap] On our not-so-pleasant-drowsy drive back home, we had a good talk about the book. He even asked what other books he could read that had some kind of message like The Alchemist. Thank you Paulo Coelho for making my hubster somewhat interested in reading! I told him he might want to try The Little Prince because it has all sorts of lessons about being a grown up. Do you have any other suggestions?

Learning is Like...

My classmates came up with:

Learning is like
an onion.
like cooking.
like the start of engine when you first turn it on.
like sticking your hand into a dark hole.

I came up with:

Learning is like playing with Legos.

Food for Thought

"I am humble because I am incomplete."

Did You Say Crab is on the Menu?

Mr. Franklin

Remember, crazy Mr. Franklin from Western Civilization Pr/AP in 10th grade? He would slam the leaf on the podium to get us to remember the dates for the Norman Conquest and end of the Roman empire. He showed us weird videos like Tartuffe, which I now find hilarious. I just wrote a paper about him. I categorized him under good learning experiences. Why you may ask? Because, I actually did learn a lot from regardless of how eccentric he was. Maybe the eccentricity helped out. :) I hope all is well with him wherever he is.

See You in a Year?

Today, my program officially started. Boy, did it start with a bang. I went from class from 9am-5pm with only a 45 minute break at around 11am. From 5pm-7pm, I got a chance to cook dinner, eat dinner, and take a quick nap. Since 7pm, I've been working on homework. I think I'll be going until 11pm. That homework is only for 2 classes. I can't imagine what's going to happen when my impossible math homework gets tossed in the mix. I guess it's official my posts are going to be more sporadic and a lot shorter. I'll be back to my normal life and my normal self in a year. Time to power through. Wish me luck!

"Country of the Blind" - H. G. Wells

from Jeanette's Sketchblog

Well, my pre-homework for my Culture, Language, and Learning class was to read H.G. Wells' "Country of the Blind." I know that H.G. Wells is mostly known for War of the Worlds and the Invisible Man. However, this short story was beautifully written and very compelling. It's about a valley of inhabitants who bear blind children. Soon enough, all the inhabitants are blind and they have moved beyond the myths associated with sight.

Then, a man with a sight falls into their midst. He has heard legends about this valley and these people. Because he has sight, he assumes that they will treat him like a god or king. What happens with him and the inhabitants is something I didn't think would happen. I loved the themes of softness vs. roughness and light vs. dark. I know the light vs. dark seems quite obvious, but the descriptions of light are gorgeous. I might even check out Invisible Man now.

On Hiatus

A vintage postcard of Cambria Pines Lodge

We've been on a temporary hiatus. This past weekend we were up in Cambria hanging out with my a-mazing mentor teacher from last year and her husband. They have to be some of the sweetest and most down to earth people that we know. They spoil us with these trips to Cambria and the chance to stay at their cozy vacation house. It was a well-deserved break and just what I needed before my next set of classes started.

Can you believe I got homework during Orientation last Friday before my class even starts on Monday? This program is no joke. Unfortunately I don't have any photos because we just did a bunch of lounging and napping.

Say Cheese

Recently, I joined Facebook. Yea, I know. What on earth took me so long to do it? I was holding off on the whole social networking because I prefer calling my friends or seeing them in person. The time finally came to stop being so old-fashion and get on board. Another reason I've been avoiding it is that I didn't want to feel the pressure of having 200+ friends. I don't even think I know 200+ people well enough to be my friends.

Eliot's caption is: "No worries, bat"

Where does the "Bat" come from? They're my post-wedding initials. It's funny because he calls my hubster "Batsman." [Insert Chuckle] What can I say? My friends are awesome goobers.

I also found this photo on Jason's page. (Jason was unbelievably sweet the day of the wedding and we made him an honorary bridesmaid. Of course, we meant honorary bridesmaid in the most positive way. :) He was one of the few boys that got to hang out with us while we prepped that morning.) I think this is a good candid photo of my hubster, just ignore me stuffing my face:

What Do You Do with Poetry?

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.*

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

- Billy Collins

*Unfortunately, I was one of those people who would try to persuade an answer from a poem for quite some time. I finally learned to enjoy poetry in my Modern Poetry in Translation class, which I took my fourth year at Poly. That's quite some time especially when you're an English major.

Funny Little Frog - Belle & Sebastian

Javan's

Ever since I started going back to school, we've been living like students all over again, relying on Costco's samples as snacks and eating at inexpensive college-budget-friendly restaurants. You do what you have to do, especially when there's only one source of steady income floating two people. We've been loving finding quality food for cheap. Last night, we went to Javan's. Originally, we had planned on going to Fresh Wok, but it was closed due to a family emergency.

I'll be the first to admit that we had high hopes since we already went to IV Deli and had amazing food. Honestly, Javan's is okay. It's not spectacular but it's not bad either. It's definitely middle of the road. I had the Turkey Club, Plus also known as #12 while my hubster had some kind of burger. I think it was an avocado bacon burger or something like that. What made my sandwich really good was the bacon. It was just crispy salty deliciousness. My hubster aptly pointed out that it was the microwavable bacon, but it was still good. His burger was okay. It wasn't as good as the ABC at Firestone Bar & Grill. It was on par with the Habit and In 'n Out. We'll be sticking to IV Deli from now on. :)

I Lvoe to Raed

"My Frankenstein"

I think this is the first Joan Crawford movie that I've ever seen. I've been avoiding her movies ever since I saw Mommie Dearest. Even though she might have been a bit bent, she is excellent in A Woman's Face. I stumbled across this movie in my Netflix recommendation section. Oh, how Netflix knows me so well.

The premise for the movie is a woman with a slightly grotesque burn on her face has turned to a life of petty crime because she was rejected by society and unable to get a normal job. Then, she gets her face fixed and has the opportunity to be like any other woman. However, can she turn her back on her previous life of crime? It definitely has a lot of old Hollywood suspense. My hubster and I found ourselves rooting for Anna, Joan Crawford's character. Most of the movie is told in flashbacks. I loved this movie. It's definitely worth checking out!

Fun Fact:

This movie came out in 1941 and it was a remake of a movie with the same title made in 1938, starring Ingrid Bergman who later starred in Casablanca.

What's Your Madeline?

In last month's or this month's GQ, there's an article called My Sweet Life by Alan Richman. The article is a wee bit long. He goes through all of his top desserts like salt water taffy, the Pig's Dinner (humongous sundae), etc. The nitty gritty of the article talks about how sweets are a large part of our culinary identity. Most of us relate sweets with childhood. One way to chase down our nostalgic childhood is by hunting down our favorite sweets in original perfect form. Richman claims that everyone has a "madeline." You know, that one sweet that instantly brings you right back to your childhood. Of course, this article got me thinking, "What is my 'madeline'?" Me being the indecisive person that I am, I have 2.

1. Homemade Dessert of Choice - Gingerbread Cookies:

from flickr

My mom and I would make these cookies into shapes of stars, Christmas trees, hearts, and people. We even made trees when it wasn't ChristmasI remember her teaching me that I should push the cookie cutter as close to the edge as possible, so I can get the most out of the dough. Funny enough, we never really decorated the cookies. The shape always seemed entertaining enough for me.

2. Restaurant Dessert of Choice - Cheesecake:

from flickr

We never made cheesecake at home because my mom said it was too hard and we didn't have the right pan. Often, we would go on a cheesecake search to find the best cheesecake in town. I still love cheesecake in almost any flavor. My absolute favorite would be plain New York Cheesecake. For all these reasons, one of my favorite episodes of Friends included Chandler and Rachel and the stolen cheesecake. :)

p.s.

This is my 200th post. Yay!

Happy Fourth of July!

Have a Wonderful 4th of July!
Men love their country,
not because it is great,
but because it is their own.
-Seneca

OMG Fuzzy!

When I was a wee one, my parents got me a bunny for Easter one year. I loved my bunny, Coco, and used to push it around the neighborhood in my mini shopping cart. Wasn't I a cute kid? Eventually, my parents gave it away to a better home because they didn't realize how high maintenance bunnies were. I haven't considered getting another bunny since. However, if I ever did feel like scooping puddles of pellets, I would get an Angora rabbit just like this one:

Yum Yum

I just learned about this cool photo editing website called Picnik. It's pretty awesome because you can connect it to the photo website of your choice such as Flickr and edit photos that you've posted there. You can also upload photos from your computer. There's some really cool editing stuff like different filters and borders. I'm definitely going to try using the borders more for my blog photos, but we'll see how lazy I get. I still want to know how to put photo corners on my pictures like in scrapbooks. Before I forget, did I mention that Picnik's free? Like Flickr, you can get the Pro version at a price. Here are some photos I tinkered with.

Edited with 1960s filter.

Edited with Focal Soften filter.

The Original

View AllenandBea's map

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos h

Feeling Ashy

Right now, I feel like I'm trapped in a giant ashtray and some chain smoker keeps flicking the erroneous ash from his cigarette onto me. I'm not exaggerating. There's a wildfire in the foothills across the freeway from us. You can see flecks of ash flying in the air and huge billowy clouds of smoke are blocking the foothills. Last I heard, which was this morning, it was only 5% contained.

Hopefully, the firefighters have it a little more under control. It's really awful because we have to keep all our windows closed and not stay out too long. It gets hard for me to breathe after awhile and my eyes get all agitated. Of course, my hubster, being the superhuman that he is, is completely unaffected.Last night, we lost power for about 4 1/2 hours. I was studying for my quiz by flashlight.

I felt so bad when I saw my car completely coated in ash.

Even my Hello Kitty sticker is all ashy.

Those are pretty sizable chunks of ash.

Another Reason Legos are Cool

from Balakov

I <3 My Dad

I'm still feeling a glum, which is why I haven't called my dad lately. I know. I know. Shame on me. I just didn't feel like trying to be happy. Today, he took the initiative to call me, so I called him back of course. He instantly knew that I've been glum. (I'm assuming my mom's been passing along the info.) Here's my favorite part of our conversation:

Dad: (ever the optimist) Don't worry. You'll get used to everything.
Me: (ever the pessimist) I hope so.
Dad: For now, I'll call you every day to remind you that we support you.

That was the perfect remedy. How can you be glum chum after someone tells you that? Thanks Dad. Below is one of my favorite photos of my Dad from the wedding.

It definitely shows our personalities: me being the over analyzer and my dad being the carefree bubble blowing dad. Classic.

Trying to Tell Me Something?

My parents and really close friends are big believers in signs, not the kind of signs like street signs. They're more into cosmic, divine signs. Well, I was on the phone with my mom telling her how I feel like a big fat failure right now, etc. She replied with, "It's because you're a perfectionist. You always want to be on top of the game." I know she's right. I won't deny that. I'm definitely a self-admitted perfectionist. Just as I got off the phone to wallow in my own self pity, I checked one of my favorite blogs and saw this article:

The Pitfalls Of Perfectionism

You could say that perfectionism is a crime against humanity. Adaptability is the characteristic that enables the species to survive--and if there's one thing perfectionism does, it rigidifies behavior. It constricts people just when the fast-moving world requires more flexibility and comfort with ambiguity than ever. It turns people into success slaves.

Perfectionists, experts now know, are made and not born, commonly at an early age. They also know that perfectionism is increasing. One reason: Pressure on children to achieve is rampant, because parents now seek much of their status from the performance of their kids. And, by itself, pressure to achieve is perceived by kids as criticism for mistakes; criticism turns out to be implicit in it. Perfectionism, too, is a form of parental control, and parental control of offspring is greater than ever in the new economy and global marketplace, realities that are deeply unsettling to today's adults. more>>

If that's not a big ol' sign than I'll never know what a sign is. Gosh, I must be getting really blind if I have to have these big of hints come by my way.

Lateral Smateral

Lateral thinking is totally kicking my butt right now. After doing two hours of lateral thinking, my mind feels numb like I just stuck my head in the freezer for two hours. 0_0