Current Mood: CC is listening to: Everybody Wants to Rule the World--Tears for Fears (Tears Roll Down: Greatest Hits 82-92) Whew! All done updating my new machine :-). Lost my Saturday, but it was worth it :-). I had to move a lot of stuff from my old laptop to the new one:
Files
E-mails
List of favorite websites
My saved Webshots wallpapers--all 400+ of them. This was a challenge. My previous wallpapers were downloaded to fit a normal-size screen. My new laptop, on the other hand, is widescreen. I *could've* just dealt with the empty space on either side of the pictures, but I decided to re-download all my wallpapers over so that they're scaled to widescreen monitors. Looks much better now :-).
I also decided to buy a skin for my laptop :-). It's really just a sticker you put on top of the cover. It'll make the laptop look more personalized :-). This is the one that I chose:
Pretty, huh? :-) It was between that and this:
and I decided to go with the first one. It's more girly :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Southwest Harbor--Jim Chappell (Acadia) Lookit what Steve got me for my birthday :-D!
A brand new laptop :-)! Oh I near cried when he surprised me with it. I've been wanting a newer, faster machine not just for work but for play too. Steve recently got Sims 2 and I've been enjoying playing with it :-).
So if you're not seeing too many entries this weekend, it's because I'm a little occupied with either a) playing Sims, or b) moving stuff from my old laptop to my new one :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: It Might be You--Dave Koz (It Might Be You [Single]) I just found out today that each person with a Yahoo e-mail address can create a *second* Yahoo e-mail address that's linked to the main Yahoo address :-).
"Huh?" you say.
We all know that people often have more than one e-mail address. It comes in handy when they want to sign up for something online but don't want to run the risk of exposing their real e-mail address to spam.
So for example, I can give out ccslish@yahoo.com to friends and relatives, but I would give out something like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious@yahoo.com to online marketers (gee, I wonder if that e-mail address really does exist :-)).
The problem with that is, this means I would need to check my e-mail twice: after checking ccslish, I would need to log out of Yahoo and then log back in as supercalifra..you know what I mean... and then check the inbox for THAT. Ugh, too much work.
What I found is that if I go to Options in Yahoo Mail and choose Mail Addresses, I can create supercalifragilisticexpialidocious@yahoo.com as a secondary e-mail address that's linked to ccslish@yahoo.com. This means any mail sent to supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is automatically and discreetly sent to the ccslish Inbox. I wouldn't have to log out and log back in.
AND when I'm writing e-mail, I can choose to send it from ccslish or from supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with a drop down menu :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Take the A Train--Duke Ellington (Jazz Profile) My husband, ladies and gentlemen :-)... Click on the picture for the full size :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34: I. Heart's Wounds (Allegretto Espressivo) --New Philharmonia Orchestra (Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites No. 1 & No. 2 / Norwegian Dance No. 2 / Homage March) This entry is going to be interesting to my Filipino readers who haven't lived in the US or haven't heard of this phenomenon. I'm kind of new to it myself.
Steve is going to try to educate me about:
What have I learned about it so far? Steve has told me that The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a TERRIBLE movie that was made in the 70s. As a matter of fact, it's so terrible it's developed a cult following through the years.
You know how, when a movie/performance is so bad, that people start heckling and making fun of it as it's happening? That's how the cult following started. People, in the course of their heckling, have said some really funny things and people just kept adding more and more lines until a standard script emerged. Today, the heckling includes such things as:
Throwing rice at the screen when the newlyweds exit the church
Throwing toilet paper at the screen when one of the characters exclaims, "Great Scott!"
Yelling a certain curse word every time you hear the name "Brad Majors"
People say it's so much fun that some of them have actually started dressing up as the characters when they watch the movie (which is customarily shown at midnight).
Steve ordered the DVD that had a section on audience participation so that he can show me what it's like. Unfortunately, there isn't a showing of the RHPS in Memphis anytime soon so I won't be able to fully experience it just yet :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60: III. Allegro Vivace--Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven: Symphonies No. 4 & No. 6 "Pastorale") These two pictures are from my cousin Katz's blog. The first one is awfully cute; the second one is just way too funny :-).
You can make the comic strip bigger by clicking on the image :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Lucky Charm--The Rippingtons (Let it Ripp) I watched this show for the first time yesterday and I was actually pleasantly surprised by it:
When I first heard that Gene Simmons of KISS fame was going to have a reality show, I thought it was going to be another Osbournes. I purposely avoided it for that reason. I felt TV was already saturated with overly dramatic reality shows.
Yesterday A&E had a Family Jewels marathon and I just happened to see it as I was channel surfing.
My reactions included such thoughts as:
"Wow, Gene Simmons isn't as weird in real life as I thought he'd be..."
"Oh his son's FUNNY :-)!"
"Awww he loves his family so much."
"These children were raised well."
I love watching the Gene-children interactions. You can tell how much he loves them, and how much they love him. I also love watching the Gene Simmons-Shannon Tweed interactions (I'd say "husband-wife," but they're not married. They've been together 23 years but they're not married. You can tell that they love each other very much, though :-)).
Does it sound boring? I guess maybe it does, compared to all the other drama that's on TV. But I sure appreciate that families like this can still exist in the crazy world of Hollywood.
Here, let me show you what I mean. Here's an excerpt of the show. It's about 1 minute and 19 seconds. The show includes couch interviews, you see, and the topic was Gene Simmons' hair. You get to see how Gene interacts with his kids, and how Shannon interacts with the kids.
Watch video If it doesn't play automatically, choose video 25 from the menu on the right. It's titled "My Hair, Myself."
When you watch the video, look at how Sophie (his daughter)'s arm is linked with Gene's as they talk on the couch. You can tell by how she talks to him that she adores him :-). I also thought it was a warm fatherly moment when he let her look up his nose towards the end of the video :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Konzert Fur Klavier Und Orchester Nr. 4 G-Dur Op. 58: 3. Rondo / Vivace--Berliner Philharmoniker (Beethoven: Die 5 Klavierkonzerte (The Piano Concertos)) All three coats that I bought online arrived this week. They're all as pretty as I thought they would be, but I had to send them back. Why? Because they were all too small. I ordered them in a size 8, simply out of habit. Whenever Steve and I go clothes shopping, 8s usually fit me. I usually interpret a size 8 as "Medium."
When the coats got here, I was so excited to try them on.
I could barely fasten the buttons!
I double-checked the catalog, and according to the size chart, 8s are actually a SMALL and I had to order them in size 12s instead.
Size 12! Two sizes larger than you thought you were--how bad is THAT for your ego?
I made Steve try the coats too (we're pretty much the same build--heck, he lets me borrow his shoes sometimes :-)). They barely fit HIM, and HE doesn't have uh...additional size considerations in the chest area :-). He said the only way he could wear one of the coats was not to button it. So, fortunately, it's not just me.
Lesson learned: double check the size chart in catalogs because they don't always match what you're used to. And no matter how threatening it seems to order a bigger size, it's better than having to send them back and having to wait all over again :-(.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Symphony No. 25 In G Minor, K183: I. Allegro Con Brio--English Chamber Orchestra (Mozart: Symphonies 25, 29, 38 & 40) I was listening to "Fighting Talk" and trying to get a sense of the chords so that I could play it when a sudden thought hit me...
Pachelbel's BAAAAaaacck :-)!
(If you'd like to see that Pachelbel rant blog entry again, click on the "Found on the Internet" label on the sidebar. A new window will open and you'll see the Pachelbel rant video there)
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Fighting Talk--Everything But the Girl (Baby, the Stars Shine Bright) You know, I never bothered to look up the lyrics to other Everything But the Girl songs, but now that I have, I'm actually kind of impressed at some of the songs' contents :-). I didn't realize until I saw the lyrics that "Fighting Talk" is a reference to "L'Esprit d'Escalier" (a French term that literally means "staircase wit"--it describes a retort to an insult, or any witty, clever remark that comes to mind too late to be useful--when one is on the "staircase" leaving the scene).
...plus I love the sound of the cellos in the background when it gets to the chorus :-).
Well it's so easy to be witty in retrospect When you're out the door you pause a moment to reflect On all the crushing one-liners that you should have said But you always were reduced to angry words instead
Fighting talk on the stairs Is enough to show who never cared Fighting talk, who will be spared The abuse that's always hurled as you curse and swear
But it's so cruel how the moment can let you down And how eloquence deserts you When you find yourself on sensitive ground You slam the door and turn the catch You turned your home into a prison Conversation into a slanging match
Fighting talk on the stairs Is enough to show who never cared Fighting talk, who will be spared The abuse that's always hurled as you curse and swear
But oh, my love I'm sick and tired Of all the cruelty love's acquired We never more need come to harm If you lay your head here on my faithless arm
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Come on Home--Everything But the Girl (Baby, the Stars Shine Bright) Since we're talking about memories, I wanted to post a video of a group whose songs I haven't heard in a long time: Everything But the Girl.
I loved how they used an orchestra to add power to this song :-). I also love Tracey Thorn's flapper look--I'll probably have my hair cut that way again in a few months :-).
She's got an AWESOME voice--at the same time, sometimes it's kind of tough to make out what she's saying--so I'm adding the lyrics to this entry as well :-).
Come On Home
Baby come home, I miss the sound of the door Your step on the stair's not there to wake me no more And every day's like Christmas Day without you It's cold and there's nothing to do
And it's mighty quiet here now that you're gone I've been behaving myself for too long 'Cause I don't like sleeping Or painting the town on my own So please come on home
Baby, what's keeping you all this time You're wasting your days out there in the sunshine And who can I turn to if you believe still That England don't love you and she never will
For it's mighty quiet here now that you're gone And I've been behaving myself for too long 'Cause I don't like sleeping Or watching TV on my own So please come on home
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Prodana Nevesta: Ouverture--Wiener Philharmoniker (Smetana: Moldau / Vysehrad) *also known as the music you hear building up to where the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote freeze and are introduced on the screen* When Steve and I went to the museum last weekend I realized, "Man, I don't know as much about art as I would want to."
Then I remembered that there was this cool art CD that Futurekids used to use as part of the curriculum. If you're reading this and you worked with me at Futurekids, this'll bring back memories :-):
Microsoft Art Gallery!
I enjoyed MS Art Gallery because there were some really interesting art lessons in there like perspective and composition and such.
It doesn't overwhelm you with information, but gives you just enough that you learn to appreciate the paintings when you see them.
This is a *really* old CD. They don't even sell it anymore. I had to do some digging to find one that was for sale. When I got it, I near busted my sides laughing as soon as I read the first step of the installation instructions :-)...
Turn on your computer and CD-ROM drive, and then start Windows (usually by typing win at the command prompt)
I was like, "Oh my GAWD!"
And for it to run properly, it needed at LEAST a 386SX or higher, with 4 MB of RAM, VGA and a 256 color display. It also needed [gasp] a whole 1 MB of available hard disk space!
Current Mood: CC is listening to: P.S. I Love You--Beegie Adair (I'll Take Romance) I took this picture today at 3:30 in the morning. I didn't realize until I was halfway through eating my leftover steak that this would be a great picture.
I think it's hilarious that I would eat food from a "costs-more-than-usual" restaurant like Ruth's Chris and at the same time, do something so cheesy as to drink soda from a red plastic martini glass
Current Mood: CC is listening to: All or Nothing at All--Frank Sinatra (The Reprise Collection)Have you ever tried sleeping on a Select Comfort bed?
It's a dual-chambered air mattress that allows you to personalize how soft or how hard you want your side to be. Steve and I got ours at the end of November 2006, but it wasn't until last night that I had a newfound appreciation for it.
I hit my perfect sleep number for what I needed that night :-). I'm usually a 35, but last night it didn't seem as comfortable. I firmed it up to 45 and oohhhh it was perfect for my back :-). I fell asleep mumbling, "You can't do this with a spring mattress..."
I know that Steve is sleeping more soundly too. You know how I know? Because he's sleeping more soundly--literally :-). He's begun snoring :-).
I've snored since I was 15 so I've always been a deep sleeper (sometimes I sound like you're dragging an armoire across a wooden floor :-)), but in the two years we've been together he's *never* snored until now :-).
Now I know he's sleeping deeply enough, long enough for his throat muscles to relax and get him snoring :-). And that's a good thing :-).
Also, since the dual air chambers aren't connected, that means when I'm ready to get up, he doesn't feel it.
I think our dogs like it too. Since we've gotten the bed, our dogs have been more inclined to sleep on it. We usually don't mind, but sometimes they literally SPRAWL themselves on it and just refuse to budge :-). I can't tell you how many times Steve has gone up to go to the bathroom only to find when he comes back that Jack has taken over his spot :-). They must have the same sleep number :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture, Op. 21 And Incidental Music, Op. 61: Wedding March, Op. 61 No. 9 --The London Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream / Symphony No. 3 "Scottish") The online classical radio station I listen to suddenly played the music that you hear right after two people get married, which brought back memories of how I had wanted to plan the Philippine version of our wedding.
We got married in the US, you see, and at the time Steve and I felt it was a good idea to eventually have a Philippine wedding/renewal of vows type of thing so our friends in the Philippines can have a celebration as well.
Now that Steve and I have been married over 2 years, I'm pretty sure there isn't going to BE a Philippine version of the wedding :-). Not that we don't want our friends to celebrate with us, we do, but paying for a lavish wedding seems a little overboard now, especially when you start thinking about what you *could* do with the money instead :-).
Besides, the thought of celebrating something two years after the fact seems kind of weird :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Allegro con Spirito--Rodrigo (The Instruments of Classical Music: Guitar and Lute) Steve and I had an awesome cultural weekend :-).
Saturday morning he and I went to the Germantown Performing Arts Center to watch the dress rehearsal for the Iris Chamber Orchestra with guest and featured guitarist Jason Vieaux.
I hadn't really listened to Jaxon Vieaux's work, but I was SO pleasantly surprised when I recognized the pieces they were performing--they were the first two tracks of one of my favorite CDs: The Instruments of Classical Music: The Guitar and Lute.
You should ask Steve how excited I was--my back shot straight up, I leaned forward, I had a huge smile on my face, and I was tapping the melody on Steve's thigh :-).
Then after the dress rehearsal, we had lunch, then went to the apartment to kill time before we watched Curse of the Golden Flower.
Then Sunday, it was gray and rainy. Perfect weather to spend indoors at a museum :-).
We had lunch at the Brooks Museum's restaurant called the Brushmark. They had excellent food :-).
Then we toured the museum. The website talked about an audio tour, but it wasn't available that day. I enjoyed the Renaissance, the Medieval Treasury, and the Antiquities sections. My favorite painting was one that I thought was done by Caravaggio, but it turns out it was done by one of Caravaggio's students. It was amazing how the style was so remarkably similar.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: some jazz saxophone piece--I'm too lazy to look it up :-). *Warning: rant*
I had a conversation with a friend that eventually led to the question as to why Steve and I don't have children. Again.
Oy. I cannot understand why some people insist on repeatedly hounding child-free couples into having children. I mean, when someone tells you they prefer blue over red, you don't ask them why. And even if you do, you don't ask them why *over* and *over* again. It's like they don't believe you, like it's not a valid choice--"Is that your final answer?"
Other things that Steve and I experience:
receiving looks/ remarks of pity
remarks of it being just a stage: "You're still young. You'll change your mind."
the ultimate remark: being called selfish for not having children
You know what I really hate, though? When the person that tries to convince me to have children *doesn't* have children. It's like, "Get a Ferrari! They're awesome! They're great!" "Do you own one?" "Well, no."
Then again, I shouldn't be upset. For me, that's just proof of the extent of the social conditioning. We were raised to think that way: people get married, they have kids. We've been raised to think of children as being the romantic ideal--the ultimate sign that you're a true, loving, married couple.
Surprise! It's not. There are enough abandoned and abused children in this world to tell us thinking that way is simply not accurate.
You know what's sad? Whenever we see families where the parents are unfit, we cluck our tongues and say, "They shouldn't have had children if they knew they were going to be unable to support them." But when someone has exactly that foresight and decides not to have kids because it would be a bad idea, society seems to automatically conclude that there's something wrong with them, or that they're selfish people for not wanting children.
I've got nothing against people who decide to have children. I really don't. Heck, if my parents didn't make their choice to have kids, I wouldn't be here.
I just wish people would stop having a problem with couples who decide that children aren't for them.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Mulata de Mi Amor--The Rippingtons (Wild Card) My Google homepage is set up to show 3 daily quotes from the website Quote of the Day. Today's quote was interesting. From David Brin:
"It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."
I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense :-).
It's also the perfect introduction to the movie that Steve and I watched yesterday. We saw Curse of the Golden Flower. It's a subtitled Chinese movie with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li.
If you're planning to watch the movie, don't read on--there'll be some spoilers in this entry :-).
When I watch a movie that defies the traditional formula of the good guy winning in the end, I always try to figure out what the lesson is. Curse of the Golden Flower is a story about a royal family that tears itself apart because of secrets and lies.
Chow Yun Fat, the Emperor, comes back from three years on the battlefield only to find that the Empress (Gong Li) has been having an affair with the Crown Prince (the Emperor's son from his first wife).
Unfortunately, out of his three sons, the Crown Prince is the Emperor's favorite. Exposing the Empress's infidelity would mean exposing the Crown Prince as well. So what he does instead is add an ingredient to the Empress' daily medicinal tea that would slowly drive her insane in ten days.
The rest of the plot follows a "who-knows-what-and-decides-to-tell-whom-so-what-are-you- going-to-do-now?" storyline.
The result? At the end of the movie, all three princes are dead.
It seemed to me that the film was a lesson about the assumptions and decisions we make when we don't have all the information we need. The two older sons did what they thought was the right thing given the information they had:
The middle son decides to help his mother overthrow the Emperor because he felt it wasn't right that the Emperor was poisoning his mother (he didn't know that the Emperor knew about the plot)
The eldest son, the Crown Prince, decides to tell his father about the plot because he felt it wasn't right that anyone should overthrow the government (he didn't know that his father was poisoning the Empress)
What's ironic is that the son who *did* have the most information--the youngest prince--didn't do the right thing with it. Probably not even 18, he ends up killing the Crown Prince simply because he was jealous that his two older brothers were the ones getting all the attention. He also made an attempt to overthrow the Emperor with only *six* guards. It's the kind of thing that makes you shake your head and mumble, "Oh, you idiot."
So what's the connection between Curse of the Golden Flower and the quote at the beginning of this blog entry, about power attracting the corruptible?
The Emperor lied and cheated his way to the top. He used to be a "lowly captain," but he left his first wife (even though he still loved her--that's why the Crown Prince is his favorite son) for the chance at power and the opportunity to marry a princess. Throughout the movie, the Emperor is trying to get his *first* wife killed too because she knows his secrets.
This first wife is the spy that tells the Empress she's being poisoned, and everone finds out later that her daughter was *also* having a secret affair with the Crown Prince.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Time after Time--Chet Baker (Let's Get Lost: The Best of Chet Baker Sings) Okay, this Wikipedia article on the basics of football helps :-). It makes football a little easier to understand :-). It actually answered some of the questions that I had when I was writing the previous entry :-).
Who knows, I might actually understand the game in time for the Superbowl :-)...
Hmmm... maybe what I should do is get a miniature football field with mini football players (kind of like toy soldiers) and have Steve walk me through what happens in a game, like playing with dolls :-).
[Hears a collective male groan at my putting "playing with dolls" and "football" in the same sentence] Hey, whatever works :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: 101 Eastbound--Fourplay (The Best of Fourplay)I've lived in the States for 2 years and I *still* don't know much about football. The only things I know are:
One team needs to stop another from getting the football to the other end of the field
The teams start in the middle of the field, kind of like a...what's it called... a jump ball in basketball (also pronounced "jambol" by many Filipinos ;-))
Each team gets 4 chances to move toward their goal by 10 yard increments (I once thought, "Just 10 yards? That's a piece of cake." But then I didn't take into account 300 pound guys rushing towards you :-))
If the team is successful at moving at least 10 yards by the fourth try, they get to go again--having 4 new chances to move 10 more yards, etc. If they're *not* successful, the ball goes to the other team.
You're not allowed to stop another player by grabbing the front of his helmet and using it as a handlebar (yup, that's the only penalty I remember)
I probably have some of these rules wrong. Steve'll probably correct me when he sees this blog entry :-)...
Anyway, the Superbowl--the major football finals where the best team from the AFC competes with the best team from the NFC for the title of best football team of 2007--is on February 4. I figured it'd be cool to put some football-related commercials on my sidebar.
Peyton Manning's the... [looks it up]... quarterback for... [looks it up]... the Indiana Colts... sorry, the *Indianapolis* Colts.
[giggles] Steve's going to shake his head sadly when he reads this entry, I know it :-). He'll probably even pinch the bridge of his nose and mutter something like, "Yep, that's my wife."
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Last coat, I promise :-). This was on sale at target.com. It's usually $79.99 but it's only $39.99 now AND it's free shipping :-)...
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Mornin'--Al Jarreau (Jarreau) Have you ever found a clothes place that suited your personality perfectly? I did, recently. It's called Newport-News. What originally made me visit their site was their sale prices, then I saw the other fashions available and I knew this was going to be one of my favorite sites, even though I don't normally shop from catalogs.
A few weeks ago I bought a nice, practical, beaded black puffer vest for $11.99. It was on sale then and now it's marked even lower at $9.99.
This morning I bought two coats (gee, can you tell it's getting colder in Memphis :-)?)
This brocade coat is usually sold for $99, but now it's on sale for $49. The faux-sable notch collar is detachable :-).
This next one I got because it was just really cool and very period-looking: a black velvet Edwardian jacket :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: All I Need--Richard Elliot (City Speak) So many people I know love the TV series Heroes. It's nominated for two Golden Globes, including Best Drama. It's also a People's Choice nominee for Favorite New TV Drama, so it's certainly making waves and impressing a *lot* of people.
Maybe it's just me, and don't get me wrong, it's an interesting story--kind of like X-Men meets 24. It's just that, well, it's X-Men meets 24.
It's a race against the clock to save the city from a bomb (in the form of a person--hints are dropped that it's going to be Peter Petrelli). Don't get me started how the prediction (in the form of a painting) looked very Dark Phoenix. I can't find a picture of the painting, but I found the Dark Phoenix picture it reminded me of:
And speaking of Dark Phoenix, one of the Heroes mutants is fighting with herself to keep her darker alter ego from taking over her body.
A Professor tries to locate mutants around the world so he can bring them all together.
Peter Petrelli's power is that he's able to temporarily siphon the powers of other mutants. He *looks* like Cyclops, but is actually Rogue.
Cyclops from X-Men
Peter Petrelli from Heroes
Another mutant's power is an uncanny ability to heal. I was surprised she didn't have an adamantium skeleton :-).
Maybe it was *meant* to be X-Men meets 24. And that's fine. I mean, I've watched all 11 first-season episodes in 3 days. It's got a nice story. It's just that, for a Golden Globe and People's Choice nominee, I was hoping the characters and/or story were going to be a little more... I dunno, I guess original.
And I'm probably wrong about this (I usually am), but for now I'm going to predict that Sylar (the bad guy killing off all the other mutants so he can get their powers) is going to have a confrontation with Peter Petrelli and Peter will siphon off Sylar's powers. However, he'll be unable to contain it and, in a moment of heroism, he'll kill himself to save the city.
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