I got to spend a good weekend with my folks and my sister, whom, to my suprise, did not actually talk my ear off! My grandfather is doing much better, thanks to those who were concerned, and my grandma is battling her old-age related hearing problems and some patterns of obsessive-compulsiveness.
We spent the weekend going out to eat, watching Chinese t.v. on the satellite dish, and grocery shopping. Hung out with the cousins, ages 11 to 16 and enjoyed a few bouts of thunderstorms in Houston, which had sort of a mild summer compared to two summers ago.
Flew back home on a small commuter jet that was delayed in picking up passengers. While we were preparing to land, I can see storm clouds nearby, as well as the setting sun. It was kind of scary and neat, the cloud made the sun have the misty appearance to it. Maybe the pilot was inexperienced or the conditions for landing were not good, but I swear that we could have almost landed 2x, but each time the plane would pick up and ascend again, attempting another approach. Of course, some on the plane were getting a bit nervous, and yours truly had to pee, really badly! This bald headed tough looking guy sat next to me and started commenting about how unusual it was for a plane to make multiple approaches to the runway, and I just couldn't help it so I told him about this one time that a friend of mine's C-130 engine having been hit by a mortar on its way up (they all survived and made it to Kuwait, by the way). I know, probably not the most calming thing to say to someone who might be feeling a bit nervous (to say the least), but at least I thought that I'd cheer him up with the conclusion of the story.
We then finally landed after about half an hour of circling around in the sky, and while the plane's taxing, a lot of people on board took out their cellphones and said to their friends/relatives/mistresses/lawyers/pimps/johns that they've survived the flight!
The GF picked me up from the airport, then we ate at Chili's (I still dont' know why they salt their food so much!), and went back home to watch the hurricane coverage ( it has been said that New Orleans as we know it could be gone.) until it was time for bed. I slept good and sound, lucky to not have been a news item on the evening news.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
The "come to Jesus" meeting
There was a meeting held by one of the directors of the place that I'm currently working at noon today, with myself and a bunch of other reservists. The meeting was about what is going to happen to our employment after the end of the fiscal year, which will be on the last day of September.
Basically, our director told us that they really liked the work that we are doing for them, but since they don't know if funding will keep on flowing, they are going to extend us for 90 days and try to look for funding in the meanwhile so they can keep us working into next year. Nothing is really a gurantee though, maybe for the directors of that place, but not for us reservists.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter, and I've always known that nothing lasts forever. I told one of the other reservists there that I feel like that we're a bunch of temps wearing uniforms. If they don't get enough funding for next year, I won't shed a tear because it was a good run for a job and it probably will be time to leave KC anyways.
One of the reservists is getting ready to go to Iraq/Afghanistan/GITMO (he doesn't know yet where he'll be deployed to), and I hope that he'll be safe and come back intact and relatively healthy. They've already got two other people deployed, one to Iraq and another to Afghanistan.
If you have not done so yet, please go and read Michael Yon's blog, it has been so far the best combat reporting ever done from Iraq. I wish that Mr. Yon was there when I was deployed, he's a great writer. There was one reporter from the Tacoma, Wa. area who shall remain nameless, who was the the imbedded reporter to the brigade that I was assigned to. He (the reporter) was not a guy who was curious about anything at all and didn't show much of any interest in what's going on around him... too sad.
Going to visit the folks this weekend, so I will wirte more when I get back, in the meanwhile, please take good care!
Basically, our director told us that they really liked the work that we are doing for them, but since they don't know if funding will keep on flowing, they are going to extend us for 90 days and try to look for funding in the meanwhile so they can keep us working into next year. Nothing is really a gurantee though, maybe for the directors of that place, but not for us reservists.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter, and I've always known that nothing lasts forever. I told one of the other reservists there that I feel like that we're a bunch of temps wearing uniforms. If they don't get enough funding for next year, I won't shed a tear because it was a good run for a job and it probably will be time to leave KC anyways.
One of the reservists is getting ready to go to Iraq/Afghanistan/GITMO (he doesn't know yet where he'll be deployed to), and I hope that he'll be safe and come back intact and relatively healthy. They've already got two other people deployed, one to Iraq and another to Afghanistan.
If you have not done so yet, please go and read Michael Yon's blog, it has been so far the best combat reporting ever done from Iraq. I wish that Mr. Yon was there when I was deployed, he's a great writer. There was one reporter from the Tacoma, Wa. area who shall remain nameless, who was the the imbedded reporter to the brigade that I was assigned to. He (the reporter) was not a guy who was curious about anything at all and didn't show much of any interest in what's going on around him... too sad.
Going to visit the folks this weekend, so I will wirte more when I get back, in the meanwhile, please take good care!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Marketing myself so I can maybe retire one day
I've mentioned before that I am so far liking this job that I've got right now. As far as job security is concerned, if all things work out right between the reserve unit (the unit that has me on their roster) and the powers that'd be here, I'll be okay for at least another year, I think.
I've been toying around with the idea of possibly becoming an reserve officer, for job security (whatever that means) and for another thing, it might possibly be mutually beneficial for both the military and myself. (The extra language skills) I contacted the air force, who are probably doing so well in recruiting that they can afford not to call or e-mail people back, I talked to someone at the navy and found out that if I cross over, then I'll lose whatever clearance level that I have and will have to start all over again, and since I did not come from a navy environment, my chances of becoming commissioned in the navy was like less than 20%. I've since detected a certain pattern with officer recruitors, that is they'll always tell you to go enlisted first and then apply for a commission, or in the case of air force, they just won't call you back at all. Now I've spent almost a decade being enlisted and not nearly as naive as I used to be, so no thanks to the navy.
I remember when I was a bit younger, I used to think that I'd pick up something really useful in the military, college, life, etc. and make it really marketable to others so I'll never have to wear uniform again or try so hard to maintain (in this case, to improve) my physical fitness level. I don't mind staying in the military, but I also don't mind putting that part of life behind me. I don't think you need to display your patriotism by being in the military, and that's just how I see it.
I'm open to just about whatever, but as long as they don't come at a cost of the GF and the kids, you know?
I've been toying around with the idea of possibly becoming an reserve officer, for job security (whatever that means) and for another thing, it might possibly be mutually beneficial for both the military and myself. (The extra language skills) I contacted the air force, who are probably doing so well in recruiting that they can afford not to call or e-mail people back, I talked to someone at the navy and found out that if I cross over, then I'll lose whatever clearance level that I have and will have to start all over again, and since I did not come from a navy environment, my chances of becoming commissioned in the navy was like less than 20%. I've since detected a certain pattern with officer recruitors, that is they'll always tell you to go enlisted first and then apply for a commission, or in the case of air force, they just won't call you back at all. Now I've spent almost a decade being enlisted and not nearly as naive as I used to be, so no thanks to the navy.
I remember when I was a bit younger, I used to think that I'd pick up something really useful in the military, college, life, etc. and make it really marketable to others so I'll never have to wear uniform again or try so hard to maintain (in this case, to improve) my physical fitness level. I don't mind staying in the military, but I also don't mind putting that part of life behind me. I don't think you need to display your patriotism by being in the military, and that's just how I see it.
I'm open to just about whatever, but as long as they don't come at a cost of the GF and the kids, you know?
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Life in the Midwest
My sister and I call each other just about everyday, and also e-mail each other at various times during the day. She is calling me more lately ever since her divorce earlier this year and we'd just chit chat about what has been going on during the day, plus some family stuff. Lately, I just don't have that much to say to her about what has been going on during the day. Sensing that, she'd try to fill up the silence with whatever that she tell me about what has been going on with some other people at her work.
I like my current job and I think that the people at work are some of the nicest group of people that I've ever worked for. It's true that I'm not a huge fan of military setting, but the above characteristics sort of compensate for all of the above, and not to mention that I got to goto Japan and Monterey,Ca.!
Yet for rest of the time I'm kind of feeling desperate, feeling trapped in this open space, really wide space full of corn and hay. At least I'm a little bit older, imagine some kid, 18 or 19 years old and have to be stationed here for the army or for school, what would they have to do? I'm not sure living here is making me like other people more. The GF said that I'm not as nice lately to others, not that I'm out there doing stuff that would piss people off, but I'm a lot more nonchalant about them than I used to be. Things are just so blah here, plain, gray, and unexciting. I am sure that the Midwest is a great place to raise kids, I think that depends on what kind of kids you've got.
We'll see, maybe some big revelations would come and we'll grow to love and even miss this place when we are away. We still don't really have friends except some token ones from the cyberspace. The GF is more worried about it than I am, because I'm used to it. Sometimes, popularity breeds contempt.
Okay, I'm blabbing here, but you get the point.
P.S. Just finished watching the final episode of "Six Feet Under" and I think it almost couldn't have ended it a nicer way. Rarely had I seen a show that is centered on the themes of loss and yet it's also about life and hope. Kudos to Mr. Alan Ball! The GF already knows this, that I also think that Peter Krause is hot!
I like my current job and I think that the people at work are some of the nicest group of people that I've ever worked for. It's true that I'm not a huge fan of military setting, but the above characteristics sort of compensate for all of the above, and not to mention that I got to goto Japan and Monterey,Ca.!
Yet for rest of the time I'm kind of feeling desperate, feeling trapped in this open space, really wide space full of corn and hay. At least I'm a little bit older, imagine some kid, 18 or 19 years old and have to be stationed here for the army or for school, what would they have to do? I'm not sure living here is making me like other people more. The GF said that I'm not as nice lately to others, not that I'm out there doing stuff that would piss people off, but I'm a lot more nonchalant about them than I used to be. Things are just so blah here, plain, gray, and unexciting. I am sure that the Midwest is a great place to raise kids, I think that depends on what kind of kids you've got.
We'll see, maybe some big revelations would come and we'll grow to love and even miss this place when we are away. We still don't really have friends except some token ones from the cyberspace. The GF is more worried about it than I am, because I'm used to it. Sometimes, popularity breeds contempt.
Okay, I'm blabbing here, but you get the point.
P.S. Just finished watching the final episode of "Six Feet Under" and I think it almost couldn't have ended it a nicer way. Rarely had I seen a show that is centered on the themes of loss and yet it's also about life and hope. Kudos to Mr. Alan Ball! The GF already knows this, that I also think that Peter Krause is hot!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Back from Monterey
Got back from lovely Monterey this past Friday afternoon, and I flew back from San Jose with some of my supervisors, who are some of the smartest and nicest people that I've gotten to know, so the trip back was good.
I had first been to Monterey pre 9-11, for a language competition for the armed forces. They've since cancelled the event due to the fact that all the Arabic linguists in the services are now serving in the theaters of war. Monterey is a picture of this ideal place to live, it's not prone to extreme weather changes, and even though it can be a bit chilly there, it'll never snow due to its unique geography. I think if I live there now, that would spell the end of my so called working career as I know, I mean, who would want to work when you live so close to the beach?
The GF joined me out there, and I think she enjoyed the town also. When I am attending the conference that I've been sent to attend, she'd drive around town in the rental car. We had lots of good foods, lots of seafoods and some ethnic foods, that's a definite plus, when the places which you travel to have great foods!
Now we are back in the Midwest, it seems almost depressing. I know that life in Midwest will not be forever, and if were not for the trips that we've taken, either together or alone, I'd probably go insane. I know that you guys and gals have heard me complain about that before, but I just cannot help it that the combination of unstimulating places and people simply make a bad combination. It has been hard for the GF to find a job also, and I know that it is not because she's underqualified.
I took a look at strykernews while typing this entry out, and I cannot say that I know of anyone in the new stryker brigade, heck, I hardly know the people that I was over there with anymore. It's easy to began to feel complacent, I mean, it'll almost be a year since I had gotten back from Iraq. It's so easy to dwell on how boring life is in the Midwest, and that some aspects of my personal relationships are not perfect. I think sometimes I just need to snap out of it and remember that I got out of that place with my life and the whole experience was not that bad. I'm not getting nostalgic, I would not want to re-live that time all over again. I'd hate to leave the GF, the families, and my dog and cats all over again. My dog and I got gray together while I was over there! (He's not even 6 years old yet!)
I think I felt especially appreciative of that fact when I walked on the beaches of Monterey with my barefeet!
I had first been to Monterey pre 9-11, for a language competition for the armed forces. They've since cancelled the event due to the fact that all the Arabic linguists in the services are now serving in the theaters of war. Monterey is a picture of this ideal place to live, it's not prone to extreme weather changes, and even though it can be a bit chilly there, it'll never snow due to its unique geography. I think if I live there now, that would spell the end of my so called working career as I know, I mean, who would want to work when you live so close to the beach?
The GF joined me out there, and I think she enjoyed the town also. When I am attending the conference that I've been sent to attend, she'd drive around town in the rental car. We had lots of good foods, lots of seafoods and some ethnic foods, that's a definite plus, when the places which you travel to have great foods!
Now we are back in the Midwest, it seems almost depressing. I know that life in Midwest will not be forever, and if were not for the trips that we've taken, either together or alone, I'd probably go insane. I know that you guys and gals have heard me complain about that before, but I just cannot help it that the combination of unstimulating places and people simply make a bad combination. It has been hard for the GF to find a job also, and I know that it is not because she's underqualified.
I took a look at strykernews while typing this entry out, and I cannot say that I know of anyone in the new stryker brigade, heck, I hardly know the people that I was over there with anymore. It's easy to began to feel complacent, I mean, it'll almost be a year since I had gotten back from Iraq. It's so easy to dwell on how boring life is in the Midwest, and that some aspects of my personal relationships are not perfect. I think sometimes I just need to snap out of it and remember that I got out of that place with my life and the whole experience was not that bad. I'm not getting nostalgic, I would not want to re-live that time all over again. I'd hate to leave the GF, the families, and my dog and cats all over again. My dog and I got gray together while I was over there! (He's not even 6 years old yet!)
I think I felt especially appreciative of that fact when I walked on the beaches of Monterey with my barefeet!
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Off to Monterey!
The GF and I will be off to Monterey, Ca., for about a week. I will be attending a conference for work, and she will be checking out the local beaches and sceneries. The weather over there is expected to be near perfect and I hope that I'll have some chances to stroll the town somewhat.
Will take some photos and post them when I'm back.
You folks take good care!
Will take some photos and post them when I'm back.
You folks take good care!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Some clarifications
The GF called my attention to the blog "Trying to Grok", it's a blog written by a young military wife currently stationed in Germany. She started her blog to support her husband while he was deployed in Iraq, and since her husband returned from his deployment, her blog has transformed into a kind of right-leaning opinion blog.
Mrs.Grok's last few entries have been about females in the military, not whether or not they should serve or even take on combat roles, but about how slutty we can all be. The impression that I've got is that we are all people who uses sex as weapons against men to get them to do what we wanted them to do.
Mrs.Grok's got a point, there are a lot of females in the military like that, but there are also a lot more of them in the civilian world, we just don't hear as much about them. When I was out there, I've seen both types of women, those who just cannot keep their legs shut, and also those who just wanted to work their shift, and not get involved with anything of that sort. I wasn't an angel out there, but I for one did not use that to my advantage. Now I hope that Mr. Grok did not himself step across that line while he was out there, but even if he did, we'll never know. Men are really great at having sex just for the sake of having sex and nothing more, not to say that there are not women like that, I just don't think that there are as many.
I'm just saying that everyone makes mistakes, and unless you've been there, you'll think for a minute before rendering a decision or verdict. For that reason, I don't think that I'll be reading a lot of Grok from day to day.
Mrs.Grok's last few entries have been about females in the military, not whether or not they should serve or even take on combat roles, but about how slutty we can all be. The impression that I've got is that we are all people who uses sex as weapons against men to get them to do what we wanted them to do.
Mrs.Grok's got a point, there are a lot of females in the military like that, but there are also a lot more of them in the civilian world, we just don't hear as much about them. When I was out there, I've seen both types of women, those who just cannot keep their legs shut, and also those who just wanted to work their shift, and not get involved with anything of that sort. I wasn't an angel out there, but I for one did not use that to my advantage. Now I hope that Mr. Grok did not himself step across that line while he was out there, but even if he did, we'll never know. Men are really great at having sex just for the sake of having sex and nothing more, not to say that there are not women like that, I just don't think that there are as many.
I'm just saying that everyone makes mistakes, and unless you've been there, you'll think for a minute before rendering a decision or verdict. For that reason, I don't think that I'll be reading a lot of Grok from day to day.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
I'm an emo rocker....
| You Are an Emo Rocker! |
 Expressive and deep, lyrics are really your thing. That doesn't mean you don't rock out... You just rock out with meaning. For you, rock is more about connecting than grandstanding. |
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
the space shuttle launch
I breathed a sigh of relief as the space shuttle made it safely into space. It has been a long time since we've sent someone up there.
Despite all talks about how our space agency has been under fire for all kinds of things from agency culture to budget diffuculties, I'm glad to see that they are at least trying to get things back on track.
And that's reall what counts.
Despite all talks about how our space agency has been under fire for all kinds of things from agency culture to budget diffuculties, I'm glad to see that they are at least trying to get things back on track.
And that's reall what counts.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Back To work!
Greetings! I made it back safely back to the US of A on Saturday from Tokyo, and narrowly missed the earthquake that rocked the city! I've had a blast in Japan, got to meet some really neat people, all were fellow analysts/translators and are at the top of their game, much more that I am at mine.
I travelled with a group of all men, three supervisors and two fellow analysts, so there were much testosterone but not too too much. There were two who liked to drink beer A LOT, while the other men suffered from jet lag and a case of xenophobia. (One of my supervisors just stayed in his hotel room and read.) I think I've finally gotten over my fear of eating raw fish, and have eaten sushi 3 times without any tummy incident! The secret is in the freshness of the seafood, and the mixture of the seasoning. I couldn't speak any Japanese, but nevertheless managed to pick up a few simple greetings so that some people there actually thought of me as Japanese!
The weather over in Japan was hot and muggy, their "rainy season". I was just glad that I didn't have too much of jet-lag!
Japan overall is a very clean country, and Tokyo is one of the most packed cities that I've been to. Most people are shorter in height and they work very hard. I will post more photos from my disposable camera when I get them developed. My tummy, needless to say, was very happy to have been in Japan! Nomatter where I am at, I'll always have an Oriental stomach!
We've stayed at gov't lodging during the first 4 days of our trip, and it was alright, typical gov't lodging, if you know what I mean. However, I was thrown into the lap of luxury when we got to Tokyo for the last 3 days of our trip. We stayed at ANA Hotel Tokyo (ANA stands for "All Nippon Airways".) and that's the hotel that our diplomatic corp uses whenever they've got guests. The rooms (at least mine) are small, but it's got everything, not to mention one of the best beds that I've ever slept on! I've got a good view of downtown Tokyo from the 25th. floor, and you can see it in my previous entry.
Never in my imagination would I envision that the gov't would send me to a place this exotic, so thank you, the powers that be!
I just wish that the GF could have come along on this trip, even though we did not have a lot of free time, what free time we did have was quite valuable! My biggest disappointment was probably the fact that I couldn't find the hello kitty world headquarters, or doraemon stores, but I did get to see the Harajuku district, where Gwen Stefani found her a bunch of Harajuku girls. There's really nothing that special about that district, all it was was a shopping area filled with stores like the GAP, Guess, Banana Republic, etc.
I'll write more about the trip later, still got a bit of jet lag to suffer through!
I travelled with a group of all men, three supervisors and two fellow analysts, so there were much testosterone but not too too much. There were two who liked to drink beer A LOT, while the other men suffered from jet lag and a case of xenophobia. (One of my supervisors just stayed in his hotel room and read.) I think I've finally gotten over my fear of eating raw fish, and have eaten sushi 3 times without any tummy incident! The secret is in the freshness of the seafood, and the mixture of the seasoning. I couldn't speak any Japanese, but nevertheless managed to pick up a few simple greetings so that some people there actually thought of me as Japanese!
The weather over in Japan was hot and muggy, their "rainy season". I was just glad that I didn't have too much of jet-lag!
Japan overall is a very clean country, and Tokyo is one of the most packed cities that I've been to. Most people are shorter in height and they work very hard. I will post more photos from my disposable camera when I get them developed. My tummy, needless to say, was very happy to have been in Japan! Nomatter where I am at, I'll always have an Oriental stomach!
We've stayed at gov't lodging during the first 4 days of our trip, and it was alright, typical gov't lodging, if you know what I mean. However, I was thrown into the lap of luxury when we got to Tokyo for the last 3 days of our trip. We stayed at ANA Hotel Tokyo (ANA stands for "All Nippon Airways".) and that's the hotel that our diplomatic corp uses whenever they've got guests. The rooms (at least mine) are small, but it's got everything, not to mention one of the best beds that I've ever slept on! I've got a good view of downtown Tokyo from the 25th. floor, and you can see it in my previous entry.
Never in my imagination would I envision that the gov't would send me to a place this exotic, so thank you, the powers that be!
I just wish that the GF could have come along on this trip, even though we did not have a lot of free time, what free time we did have was quite valuable! My biggest disappointment was probably the fact that I couldn't find the hello kitty world headquarters, or doraemon stores, but I did get to see the Harajuku district, where Gwen Stefani found her a bunch of Harajuku girls. There's really nothing that special about that district, all it was was a shopping area filled with stores like the GAP, Guess, Banana Republic, etc.
I'll write more about the trip later, still got a bit of jet lag to suffer through!
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
Off to Japan!
It's almost 11 PM at night and I am blogging, downloading some songs on my Ipod, and packing at the same time! I've been working frantically to get my own presentation ready for the past week, and finally, I'll get to get it out of the way in the next few days!
Tomorrow morning, I embark on one of the more exotic business trips in my life! Iraq was fairly exotic, but Japan? I can't wait to see what things are like over there!
I am going as a tag-along with my team from work, we will be going to a lot of meetings and powerpoint slide shows, all in business casual clothing, and that's new for me! I've never held any jobs where I had to be dressed up every day, maybe one of these days, I will.
I hope to be able to eat a lot of Japanese food, get to know some cool folks, and take lots of pictures in the process! I will be posting the pictures on this site when I come back from the trip!
Since I don't really know if I'll have internet access, or the time to access it, don't be suprised if I don't see you guys and gals until sometimes late next week.
I'll be missing the GF and all of our pets!
Tomorrow morning, I embark on one of the more exotic business trips in my life! Iraq was fairly exotic, but Japan? I can't wait to see what things are like over there!
I am going as a tag-along with my team from work, we will be going to a lot of meetings and powerpoint slide shows, all in business casual clothing, and that's new for me! I've never held any jobs where I had to be dressed up every day, maybe one of these days, I will.
I hope to be able to eat a lot of Japanese food, get to know some cool folks, and take lots of pictures in the process! I will be posting the pictures on this site when I come back from the trip!
Since I don't really know if I'll have internet access, or the time to access it, don't be suprised if I don't see you guys and gals until sometimes late next week.
I'll be missing the GF and all of our pets!
Monday, July 11, 2005
The weekend
Weekends are a great time to catch up on beauty sleep! Not that it's really helping me regain or obtain any beauty, but ever since I've turned 30, I find that sleeping has become one of my favorite pasttimes! I've never been a partier, drinker, or an all-nighter, just never found a lot of attraction in these activies.
The GF and I took her motorcycle to the shop for repair, looked at some other motorcycles, drooled over them, and then went to this boot shop in St. Joseph, Mo. I couldn't help but to have purchased a pair of cowboy boots, I mean, they're tacky but cool! You can see the photo in the previous entry! The store clerk was this tall, tanned, and blond woman who was no stranger to an Asian shopping for cowboy boots! In fact, she's even dating a Chinese boy! We got to talking about life in the Midwest (still boring), Asian foods, her boyfriend and his peeves, and I felt a sense of relief, why a sense of relief? Well, from what she had mentioned, I am not the only Asian in the Kansas/Missouri area, and hooray for Asian men! I mean, my Asian brothers are venturing bravely into the territory of dating Caucasian women! (I couldn't be the only one, right?) It's just kind of rare for me to see many Asian man dating Caucasian women, even less Asian men dating African American women, that'll be so cool because they can have kids who'll probably be really exotic looking, like Foxy Brown, Tyson Beckford, or that dude from that group "Fine Young Cannibals"... all part Asian and Black!
Watched "Tour De France" and marvelled at how skinny these cyclists are, most of them weigh less that I do! (not all that hard to do) I'm kind of ashamed to say that so far, I've enjoyed watching the cyclists crash the most ;-) !
Went to dinner with a guy from work and his very young girlfriend (he's 29 and she's 18), he's about to be deployed to Iraq. He's a bit of a doofus but overall a good guy. Wait, maybe he's really not all that much of a doofus, I mean, he was able to score with a younger chick, right? (gosh, my values are all kinds of mixed up, right?)
Ended the weekend at Barnes and Nobles, where I satisfied my appetite for tabloid magazines and browsed over some other books. This book that caught my eye was a book about this Marine who was gay, and a pornstar. All of a sudden my mind just wondered about what if I was also a pornstar while in the service? Nah, don't really have the body for it. The old joke in the reserves was that a lot of the females join the reserves because of the porn industry, where they all work at as civilians, just doesn't offer good enough health insurance, so they all had to do something, hence the reserves. I, on the other hand, just failed the audition!
The GF and I took her motorcycle to the shop for repair, looked at some other motorcycles, drooled over them, and then went to this boot shop in St. Joseph, Mo. I couldn't help but to have purchased a pair of cowboy boots, I mean, they're tacky but cool! You can see the photo in the previous entry! The store clerk was this tall, tanned, and blond woman who was no stranger to an Asian shopping for cowboy boots! In fact, she's even dating a Chinese boy! We got to talking about life in the Midwest (still boring), Asian foods, her boyfriend and his peeves, and I felt a sense of relief, why a sense of relief? Well, from what she had mentioned, I am not the only Asian in the Kansas/Missouri area, and hooray for Asian men! I mean, my Asian brothers are venturing bravely into the territory of dating Caucasian women! (I couldn't be the only one, right?) It's just kind of rare for me to see many Asian man dating Caucasian women, even less Asian men dating African American women, that'll be so cool because they can have kids who'll probably be really exotic looking, like Foxy Brown, Tyson Beckford, or that dude from that group "Fine Young Cannibals"... all part Asian and Black!
Watched "Tour De France" and marvelled at how skinny these cyclists are, most of them weigh less that I do! (not all that hard to do) I'm kind of ashamed to say that so far, I've enjoyed watching the cyclists crash the most ;-) !
Went to dinner with a guy from work and his very young girlfriend (he's 29 and she's 18), he's about to be deployed to Iraq. He's a bit of a doofus but overall a good guy. Wait, maybe he's really not all that much of a doofus, I mean, he was able to score with a younger chick, right? (gosh, my values are all kinds of mixed up, right?)
Ended the weekend at Barnes and Nobles, where I satisfied my appetite for tabloid magazines and browsed over some other books. This book that caught my eye was a book about this Marine who was gay, and a pornstar. All of a sudden my mind just wondered about what if I was also a pornstar while in the service? Nah, don't really have the body for it. The old joke in the reserves was that a lot of the females join the reserves because of the porn industry, where they all work at as civilians, just doesn't offer good enough health insurance, so they all had to do something, hence the reserves. I, on the other hand, just failed the audition!
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Friday, July 08, 2005
Save our little Katie!
From Ms. (Soon to be Mrs. Tom Cruise) Katie Holmes:
"Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase," Holmes says in W, on newsstands July 22. In the interview, a theme emerges with many similar comments, including "Tom is the most incredible man in the world."
Oh Pullleeaaassse!
During the W interview, the actress wouldn't part from Jessica Rodriguez, who is described as her "Scientologist chaperone." Rodriguez's role in Holmes' life remains vague, though Rodriguez says they're "just best friends" since meeting around the time Holmes met Cruise.
"You adore him," Rodriguez told Holmes when the actress was at a loss for words to describe her love.
I smell a bizarre scientology,mind-manipulation,twisted friendship triangle between Katie, Jessica, and Tom!
"Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase," Holmes says in W, on newsstands July 22. In the interview, a theme emerges with many similar comments, including "Tom is the most incredible man in the world."
Oh Pullleeaaassse!
During the W interview, the actress wouldn't part from Jessica Rodriguez, who is described as her "Scientologist chaperone." Rodriguez's role in Holmes' life remains vague, though Rodriguez says they're "just best friends" since meeting around the time Holmes met Cruise.
"You adore him," Rodriguez told Holmes when the actress was at a loss for words to describe her love.
I smell a bizarre scientology,mind-manipulation,twisted friendship triangle between Katie, Jessica, and Tom!
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Meatwad
Since I posted the threat level earlier, I figured I might as well post this self portrait...
I am meatwad.
I am meatwad.
About the London Bombing
To all Al-Queda members, especially you, Osama,
You can all go to hell, stay there, and enjoy your 70 virginal pigs because I doubt that there are even one human female virgins out there!
While you are in hell, go and F*ck yourselves!
You don't even know how wrong you are, praying to the God that you've created in your own minds!
Deepest sympathies to the injured and the dead in London.
You can all go to hell, stay there, and enjoy your 70 virginal pigs because I doubt that there are even one human female virgins out there!
While you are in hell, go and F*ck yourselves!
You don't even know how wrong you are, praying to the God that you've created in your own minds!
Deepest sympathies to the injured and the dead in London.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Back from the in-laws!
Sorry that it has taken me a while to write, but I've been neck-deep in work and preparing for an upcoming trip. (for work) This entry will be short but I'll be sure to write more later.
It was so nice to see the nephew, little Zach! He was really happy to see the GF, myself, and the dog! When a kid loves you like that, it really kind of reminds you that maybe you're not a total loser after all. Sure, I might not have been or am the most attractive person out there with the winning personality, but at least I've been deemed approvable by the pets and most of the kids that I've been in contact with! Zach is so curious and loves to run around outdoors, and that's what kids should be instead of glued to tv or in front of their gameboys!
The in-laws looks like they've lost a lot of weight and are also stressed out because of issues revolving Zach's mom and dad. At least though, over this past weekend we were all able to let go of that stress for a little bit. We went out to have some good seafood at Pappadeaux's restaurant, and had some good burgers and hot dogs the day after!
I will post some photos in my next entry and have some more thoughts about what has been going on, so for those of you who actually read this site, stay tuned!
It was so nice to see the nephew, little Zach! He was really happy to see the GF, myself, and the dog! When a kid loves you like that, it really kind of reminds you that maybe you're not a total loser after all. Sure, I might not have been or am the most attractive person out there with the winning personality, but at least I've been deemed approvable by the pets and most of the kids that I've been in contact with! Zach is so curious and loves to run around outdoors, and that's what kids should be instead of glued to tv or in front of their gameboys!
The in-laws looks like they've lost a lot of weight and are also stressed out because of issues revolving Zach's mom and dad. At least though, over this past weekend we were all able to let go of that stress for a little bit. We went out to have some good seafood at Pappadeaux's restaurant, and had some good burgers and hot dogs the day after!
I will post some photos in my next entry and have some more thoughts about what has been going on, so for those of you who actually read this site, stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Good Intentions
Music by: glen phillips and toad
Lyrics by: glen phillips
It’s hard to rely on my good intentions
When my head’s full of things that I can’t mention
Seems I usually get things right
But I can’t understand what I did last night
It’s hard to rely on my own good senses
When I miss so much that requires attention
Have to laugh at myself sometimes
And I can see that I’m not blind
There’s little relief
Give us reprieve
For all the things I’ve left behind
I’m positive that I’m not blind
I’m not afraid things won’t get better
But it feels like this has gone on forever
You have to cry with your own blue tears
Have to laugh with your own good cheer
It’s hard to rely on my good intentions
When my head’s full of things that I can’t mention
Seems I usually get things right
But I can’t understand what I did last night
There’s little relief
Give us reprieve
Imagining the world outside
I’m positive that I’m not blind
I can’t be hard on you
’cause you know I’ve been there too
Learned a lot of things from you
But life gives little relief
Give us reprieve
And when everyone is cold as ice
I clinch my fists and close my eyes
Imagining the world outside
But I can see that I’m not blind
Lyrics by: glen phillips
It’s hard to rely on my good intentions
When my head’s full of things that I can’t mention
Seems I usually get things right
But I can’t understand what I did last night
It’s hard to rely on my own good senses
When I miss so much that requires attention
Have to laugh at myself sometimes
And I can see that I’m not blind
There’s little relief
Give us reprieve
For all the things I’ve left behind
I’m positive that I’m not blind
I’m not afraid things won’t get better
But it feels like this has gone on forever
You have to cry with your own blue tears
Have to laugh with your own good cheer
It’s hard to rely on my good intentions
When my head’s full of things that I can’t mention
Seems I usually get things right
But I can’t understand what I did last night
There’s little relief
Give us reprieve
Imagining the world outside
I’m positive that I’m not blind
I can’t be hard on you
’cause you know I’ve been there too
Learned a lot of things from you
But life gives little relief
Give us reprieve
And when everyone is cold as ice
I clinch my fists and close my eyes
Imagining the world outside
But I can see that I’m not blind
About President Bush's speech and other things....
The GF and I watched the speech given last night at Ft. Bragg on tv. The GF basically agrees with the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thinks that good things are happening despite the nightly body count on tv. Philosophically, I agree with President Bush, and I am trying to be more convinced, but even after the speech last night, I still think the details are sketchy about our long term goals and exactly how we are helping the Iraqi forces fortifying themselves.
I asked the GF if she would have felt differently if I had not come back from Iraq, or lost parts of my body while I was there, she said that she wasn't sure.
I do remember feeling like what costly of a waste of a life when I saw Private Coleman lying on the ground and bleeding from everywhere of his body.(Don't get me wrong, the Iraqis are also paying a very high price.) I don't think that I'd like the job of a US president, playing the game of global politics, indirectly/directly responsible for deaths of thousands. Most of the people that I was over in Iraq with have either gotten out of the service, or doing whatever they can so they won't have to be back there again. Maybe one day, the time spent over there will not feel like it was spent wasted. It was a confusing time, and I hope that I've become a better person for it, but it's still a work in progress. I am grateful to have seen that part of the world though, I mean, how many other people could say the same about where they've been to?
The GF's job search has been diffucult and it has been frustrating. I guess the better economy just hasn't yet made it to this part of the world. I just wish that she has something to do so she won't be so bored. At times, I feel like that we are members of the witness protection program, it's pretty isolated here and we don't get the people here at all. (I guess people here don't get us either.)
Looking forward to seeing the nephew this weekend, some kid therapy would be great!
I asked the GF if she would have felt differently if I had not come back from Iraq, or lost parts of my body while I was there, she said that she wasn't sure.
I do remember feeling like what costly of a waste of a life when I saw Private Coleman lying on the ground and bleeding from everywhere of his body.(Don't get me wrong, the Iraqis are also paying a very high price.) I don't think that I'd like the job of a US president, playing the game of global politics, indirectly/directly responsible for deaths of thousands. Most of the people that I was over in Iraq with have either gotten out of the service, or doing whatever they can so they won't have to be back there again. Maybe one day, the time spent over there will not feel like it was spent wasted. It was a confusing time, and I hope that I've become a better person for it, but it's still a work in progress. I am grateful to have seen that part of the world though, I mean, how many other people could say the same about where they've been to?
The GF's job search has been diffucult and it has been frustrating. I guess the better economy just hasn't yet made it to this part of the world. I just wish that she has something to do so she won't be so bored. At times, I feel like that we are members of the witness protection program, it's pretty isolated here and we don't get the people here at all. (I guess people here don't get us either.)
Looking forward to seeing the nephew this weekend, some kid therapy would be great!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
This past weekend and other stuff....
We got back from our marathon-driving mini vacation to Gurnee, Il. My sister lives up there, and she was trying to sell her condo. After about 2 weeks on the market, she found a buyer and that's pretty amazing! The GF got to spend some time around my sister and overall, the experience was alright, they're not completely used to each other yet, but they've no clue how alike they are with each other.
We spent most of the $ buying food and eating them! We had Italian, Chinese, Japanese,American, and vietnamese food. If we had more time, I'm sure we would of had Indian food also! My sister and I can eat!
My dog Ramen, got to spend some quality time with his canine cousin, Woody. Woody is a beagle and quite talkative. There were a few times when Woody got on Ramen's nerves because Woody was being too noisy and spazzy. I don't think Ramen likes other dogs much, he definitely likes humans better!
Listened to a lot of news and talk shows on the XM, driving to and back from Gurnee, and I heard that President Bush will address the nation on the war in Iraq tonight, and I'm interested in hearing what reasons he has for maintaining our force there. While it's true that the war on terror will last for many more years to come, it is time to be more clear and communicative on our goals, worries, and successes. I can understand that the patience of Americans are stretching thin, and frankly, even I sometimes wonder why we are still there and the sacrifices can seem so fruitless at times. Do we really have a good understanding of the Arab countries to make this work? Do the Arabs understand that they've got to help themselves too?
More on this topic later, right now, I'm just trying to wake up and this rain outside is not helping much!
We spent most of the $ buying food and eating them! We had Italian, Chinese, Japanese,American, and vietnamese food. If we had more time, I'm sure we would of had Indian food also! My sister and I can eat!
My dog Ramen, got to spend some quality time with his canine cousin, Woody. Woody is a beagle and quite talkative. There were a few times when Woody got on Ramen's nerves because Woody was being too noisy and spazzy. I don't think Ramen likes other dogs much, he definitely likes humans better!
Listened to a lot of news and talk shows on the XM, driving to and back from Gurnee, and I heard that President Bush will address the nation on the war in Iraq tonight, and I'm interested in hearing what reasons he has for maintaining our force there. While it's true that the war on terror will last for many more years to come, it is time to be more clear and communicative on our goals, worries, and successes. I can understand that the patience of Americans are stretching thin, and frankly, even I sometimes wonder why we are still there and the sacrifices can seem so fruitless at times. Do we really have a good understanding of the Arab countries to make this work? Do the Arabs understand that they've got to help themselves too?
More on this topic later, right now, I'm just trying to wake up and this rain outside is not helping much!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Anxious....
To get out of the office and prepare for our trip up to Chicagoland to see my sister and her canine son!
My collegue is on the phone, don't know who he's talking to and I don't care. He had let out many a laughs about God knows what and it's beginning to get a bit annoying. There's the kind of laugh that you make because something is really funny, and the kind of laugh you make because you want other people to think that they are funny, not really worth it, as far as I'm concerned. I got radio Vh1 blasting into my headsets, "The Power" by Snap is really good to mute out unwanted noises.
Here's a site for y'all to waste a few minutes of your time over... All Look Same
I will probably not blog until we come back from that part of the Midwest, have a good one for me in the meanwhile!
My collegue is on the phone, don't know who he's talking to and I don't care. He had let out many a laughs about God knows what and it's beginning to get a bit annoying. There's the kind of laugh that you make because something is really funny, and the kind of laugh you make because you want other people to think that they are funny, not really worth it, as far as I'm concerned. I got radio Vh1 blasting into my headsets, "The Power" by Snap is really good to mute out unwanted noises.
Here's a site for y'all to waste a few minutes of your time over... All Look Same
I will probably not blog until we come back from that part of the Midwest, have a good one for me in the meanwhile!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Proust Quesionnaire for yours truly...
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Good food, able body, happy heart, great family and friends.
What is your greatest fear?
Nothing more to look forward to in life.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I can't say that I do at this point.
Which living person do you most admire?
I'd have to say my grandparents, they've done so much in their lives and helped out a lot of people in the process.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Soaps,lotions,shoes....
What is your favorite journey?
From here to there.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Overt modesty, it makes me doubt you.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Let's see, my boobs, big head, big legs,heavy footed walk and run.
Which living person do you most despise?
Probably Osama Bin Laden, that crazy son of a bitch.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My GF, and the pets.
Where and when were you happiest?
When I'm off traveling with the GF and eating great foods.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
That they'd be more accepting of my GF.
What is your most treasured posession?
My canine, human, and feline friends.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Lattitude: 36 degrees North to 40.35 degrees North
Longitude: 89.6 West to 95.42 degrees West
(Otherwise known as the coordinates of The State of Missouri.)
What is your favorite occupation?
What I am doing now.
What do you most value in your friends?
Steadfastness.
Who are your favorite writers?
Joseph Campbell, John Irving, John Steinbeck,Cynthia Heimel, John Krakauer.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Doraemon, I consider him a hero.
Who are your heroes in real life?
(stealing this one from Umberto Eco)"Unhappy the land were heroes are needed."
What are your favorite names?
Winston, Marlboro,Kent, Camel,Virginia Slims, Capri,Dijarum.
What is your motto?
"As long as the food is good...."
Good food, able body, happy heart, great family and friends.
What is your greatest fear?
Nothing more to look forward to in life.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I can't say that I do at this point.
Which living person do you most admire?
I'd have to say my grandparents, they've done so much in their lives and helped out a lot of people in the process.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Soaps,lotions,shoes....
What is your favorite journey?
From here to there.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Overt modesty, it makes me doubt you.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Let's see, my boobs, big head, big legs,heavy footed walk and run.
Which living person do you most despise?
Probably Osama Bin Laden, that crazy son of a bitch.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My GF, and the pets.
Where and when were you happiest?
When I'm off traveling with the GF and eating great foods.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
That they'd be more accepting of my GF.
What is your most treasured posession?
My canine, human, and feline friends.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Lattitude: 36 degrees North to 40.35 degrees North
Longitude: 89.6 West to 95.42 degrees West
(Otherwise known as the coordinates of The State of Missouri.)
What is your favorite occupation?
What I am doing now.
What do you most value in your friends?
Steadfastness.
Who are your favorite writers?
Joseph Campbell, John Irving, John Steinbeck,Cynthia Heimel, John Krakauer.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Doraemon, I consider him a hero.
Who are your heroes in real life?
(stealing this one from Umberto Eco)"Unhappy the land were heroes are needed."
What are your favorite names?
Winston, Marlboro,Kent, Camel,Virginia Slims, Capri,Dijarum.
What is your motto?
"As long as the food is good...."
Monday, June 20, 2005
Hooray for Mr. Haraguchi!
Japanese man, 95, sets 100m record
Posted: Monday June 20, 2005 12:20PM; Updated: Monday June 20, 2005 12:20PM
Kozo Haraguchi broke a record in his age bracket that stood for six years.
AP
TOKYO (AP) -- A 95-year-old Japanese man who took up track only three decades ago has run the 100 meters in 22.04-seconds, a record for his age bracket, according to media reports.
Kozo Haraguchi looked sturdy and fit as he dashed Sunday at an outdoor track slick with rain in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki.
"It was the first time for me to run in the rain and as I was thinking to myself, 'I mustn't fall, I mustn't fall,' I made it across the goal," Haraguchi told reporters.
Japanese media reports Monday said that Haraguchi had beaten the world record of 24.01 seconds for the 95 to 99 age group set by Hawaii-resident Erwin Jaskulski in May 1999.
His time will be submitted to the World Masters Athletics organization for verification, they said.
Haraguchi also holds the World Masters Athletics' world record for the fastest man aged 90 to 95 -- a time of 18.08 seconds he set in September 2000. He started track events at age 65 and stays healthy by taking hourlong walks daily.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Wow!
Posted: Monday June 20, 2005 12:20PM; Updated: Monday June 20, 2005 12:20PM
Kozo Haraguchi broke a record in his age bracket that stood for six years.
AP
TOKYO (AP) -- A 95-year-old Japanese man who took up track only three decades ago has run the 100 meters in 22.04-seconds, a record for his age bracket, according to media reports.
Kozo Haraguchi looked sturdy and fit as he dashed Sunday at an outdoor track slick with rain in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki.
"It was the first time for me to run in the rain and as I was thinking to myself, 'I mustn't fall, I mustn't fall,' I made it across the goal," Haraguchi told reporters.
Japanese media reports Monday said that Haraguchi had beaten the world record of 24.01 seconds for the 95 to 99 age group set by Hawaii-resident Erwin Jaskulski in May 1999.
His time will be submitted to the World Masters Athletics organization for verification, they said.
Haraguchi also holds the World Masters Athletics' world record for the fastest man aged 90 to 95 -- a time of 18.08 seconds he set in September 2000. He started track events at age 65 and stays healthy by taking hourlong walks daily.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Wow!
I've no hair now!
When I had gotten back to my folks' home late Friday night, grandpa had already returned from a long-stay in the hospital. He had stayed there for almost 3 months, and almost died 2x while he was there, and now is doing some walking with the help of a walker, eating, does not need a breathing tube down his throat now, and way different than when I last saw him. I am really relieved that he's doing better now, I still worry about grandma a bit, she's aware that her mental state is not what it used to be, and it's sad to watch sometimes, but it happens to the best of us, even those without alzheimers.
To let grandpa take a quiet nap, I offered to take grandma to the hair salon to get her a haircut, since grandpa had gotten sick, she had not had any chance to beautify herself in any way. I'd figured tha I could also get a haircut or get my highlight re-touched. Flipping through these Japanses hairstyle magazines (the hair salon is a Chinese owed salon in Southwest section of Houston.), I picked this one hairstyle that essentially looked kind of different on me. I was trying to get the messy look, but since my hair's thick and stiff, the hairdresser had no choice but to layer the heck out of my hair and in the process, lopped off most of my highlighted hair. So I'm back to looking kinda like a boy, with gray highlights, but if you looked at me, with my cleavage and still thinks that I'm a boy,then we've got to talk!! The good thing about this haircut is that I'll stay cooler for the summertime, use less shampoo/conditioner, and no need to blow dry...maybe never have to comb again! (just kidding!)
Grandma, after 3 hours, got a perm that made her look like she had more energy and had more hair...now if I had more time, I'd suggest that she get some haircoloring herself. To tell you the truth, her hair did not even start graying much until she was in her mid-70's!
The GF asked me if she looked older now than when I had met her, I don't think she has. Neither of us has ever really looked our age. She told me that I looked like I've gotten older, not counting the graying hair. Having lived around a lot of older folks growing up, it really doesn't alarm me much. I've been really young once and really, once was enough, and as long as I still have enough energy and curiosity about people and the world around me, I don't really care. Everyone gets old, so might as well accept it, you know?
To let grandpa take a quiet nap, I offered to take grandma to the hair salon to get her a haircut, since grandpa had gotten sick, she had not had any chance to beautify herself in any way. I'd figured tha I could also get a haircut or get my highlight re-touched. Flipping through these Japanses hairstyle magazines (the hair salon is a Chinese owed salon in Southwest section of Houston.), I picked this one hairstyle that essentially looked kind of different on me. I was trying to get the messy look, but since my hair's thick and stiff, the hairdresser had no choice but to layer the heck out of my hair and in the process, lopped off most of my highlighted hair. So I'm back to looking kinda like a boy, with gray highlights, but if you looked at me, with my cleavage and still thinks that I'm a boy,then we've got to talk!! The good thing about this haircut is that I'll stay cooler for the summertime, use less shampoo/conditioner, and no need to blow dry...maybe never have to comb again! (just kidding!)
Grandma, after 3 hours, got a perm that made her look like she had more energy and had more hair...now if I had more time, I'd suggest that she get some haircoloring herself. To tell you the truth, her hair did not even start graying much until she was in her mid-70's!
The GF asked me if she looked older now than when I had met her, I don't think she has. Neither of us has ever really looked our age. She told me that I looked like I've gotten older, not counting the graying hair. Having lived around a lot of older folks growing up, it really doesn't alarm me much. I've been really young once and really, once was enough, and as long as I still have enough energy and curiosity about people and the world around me, I don't really care. Everyone gets old, so might as well accept it, you know?
Friday, June 17, 2005
About the Natalee Holloway case.
New arrest in Aruba missing teen case
Authorities take fourth man into custody
Friday, June 17, 2005 Posted: 11:32 AM EDT (1532 GMT)
Natalee Holloway was last seen Monday, May 30.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Aruban authorities said Friday they had made a new arrest in connection with Natalee Holloway's disappearance, bringing the number of men in custody to four.
A prosecutor's spokeswoman identified the man arrested Friday only by his initials, S.G.C., in keeping with Aruban law. She said he was born July 21, 1978.
Police arrested him at 6:25 a.m., and were still searching his home several hours later, said police commissioner Jan Van Der Straten.
He said the 26-year-old's name was given by one of the three suspects in custody.
Police are holding Joran Van Der Sloot, 17, Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and his brother Satish Kalpoe, 18. They were arrested June 9.
Holloway was last reported seen around 1:30 a.m. on May 30, when she left the nightclub Carlos'N Charlie's with the three young men.
Authorities have found no trace of her, despite a massive search. (Full story)
No charges have been filed against the three, and defense attorneys for each have said they maintain their innocence.
Prosecutors planned to argue Friday that they need to keep the three in custody for further questioning. Under Aruban law, prosecutors can ask judges to approve three eight-day extensions, followed by one 60-day extension and then one 30-day extension.
Suspects may be held up to 116 days -- and in rare cases even longer -- before formal charges are filed, said prosecutor's spokeswoman Mariaine Croes
On Wednesday, authorities searched Van Der Sloot's home, seizing two cars and removing bagfuls of evidence.
Van Der Sloot's father is awaiting a ruling on his petition to see his son, which is required under Dutch law since Van Der Sloot is a minor. Aruba is part of the Netherlands.
Two hotel guards were arrested early in the investigation, but were released on Monday. They were never charged. (Full story)
CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.
*This case is looking stranger than ever. I wonder why the Arubian authorities kept arresting people but cannot produce a body. I hope that I'm wrong, but after so many days, there's serious doubt that Ms. Holloway is still alive and well. It could be the case that Arubian investigative techniques are to arrest first and then gather evidence, but the fact that her wherabouts are still unknown is very unsettling.
Authorities take fourth man into custody
Friday, June 17, 2005 Posted: 11:32 AM EDT (1532 GMT)
Natalee Holloway was last seen Monday, May 30.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- Aruban authorities said Friday they had made a new arrest in connection with Natalee Holloway's disappearance, bringing the number of men in custody to four.
A prosecutor's spokeswoman identified the man arrested Friday only by his initials, S.G.C., in keeping with Aruban law. She said he was born July 21, 1978.
Police arrested him at 6:25 a.m., and were still searching his home several hours later, said police commissioner Jan Van Der Straten.
He said the 26-year-old's name was given by one of the three suspects in custody.
Police are holding Joran Van Der Sloot, 17, Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and his brother Satish Kalpoe, 18. They were arrested June 9.
Holloway was last reported seen around 1:30 a.m. on May 30, when she left the nightclub Carlos'N Charlie's with the three young men.
Authorities have found no trace of her, despite a massive search. (Full story)
No charges have been filed against the three, and defense attorneys for each have said they maintain their innocence.
Prosecutors planned to argue Friday that they need to keep the three in custody for further questioning. Under Aruban law, prosecutors can ask judges to approve three eight-day extensions, followed by one 60-day extension and then one 30-day extension.
Suspects may be held up to 116 days -- and in rare cases even longer -- before formal charges are filed, said prosecutor's spokeswoman Mariaine Croes
On Wednesday, authorities searched Van Der Sloot's home, seizing two cars and removing bagfuls of evidence.
Van Der Sloot's father is awaiting a ruling on his petition to see his son, which is required under Dutch law since Van Der Sloot is a minor. Aruba is part of the Netherlands.
Two hotel guards were arrested early in the investigation, but were released on Monday. They were never charged. (Full story)
CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.
*This case is looking stranger than ever. I wonder why the Arubian authorities kept arresting people but cannot produce a body. I hope that I'm wrong, but after so many days, there's serious doubt that Ms. Holloway is still alive and well. It could be the case that Arubian investigative techniques are to arrest first and then gather evidence, but the fact that her wherabouts are still unknown is very unsettling.
For the weekend....
I can't say that I've had the best day ever today, I went into work and my co-worker and one of my bosses (both of them males) were displaying a kind of pissy mood, I don't work directly under my boss so my interaction with him is minimal, so I couldn't possibly have done something to him. My co-worker, on the other hand, might have been frustrated with me because our supposedly collective project effort is not so collaborative because none of my project submissions have met his approval, or whatever. We sat in the same office all day not saying much to each other. He's kind of a private guy, former Sgt. First Class, and not a bad guy except when it comes to ass-kissing ( a real important skill if you want to make it in this man's army, and then some.). I realize that I might not have been a really experienced soldier and really knowledgeable in intel. matters, but I am trying. I don't want to confront him, it's not personal, but I certainly hope that he'll soften up a bit, because life's just too short to have PMS!
Tomorrow, I am flying back to Texas to see my folks and check to see how they are doing. My grandpa will be discharged from the hospital earlier tomorrow afternoon and will continue his rehabilitation at home. I am really relieved that he's doing so well now. I still worry though, this is like his 2nd. big close call. My grandma is also suffering from alzheimer's, in the early stages but to the point where her medications are beginning not to help her have clear moments. I have no idea what thngs'll be like when/if she no longer recognizes any of us but I do know that I've got to appreciate the times tha she still does recognize and interacts with us.
Dinner tonight was really disappointing, my GF and I wanted some sea food, so we drove about 40 minutes to this place that we've read about on the internet. The place was supposed to be a Cajun seafood restaurant, but with the Cajun element seriously missing. ( no cracks about the Midwest not anywhere near the ocean!) The veggies were soggy, the bread was cold, and the gumbo was too tasteless to even mention! Bad food can really fuck with my perspectives on life, and we've so far had really bad food in the Midwest. My tastebuds are contemplating suicide, the only saving grace is that the GF is cooking better. When I fly back down to Texas, I am going to bring a whole bunch of take-outs back, stored in tuppeware!
Have a good weekend everyone! Will write more when I get back from Texas! (A pretty darn good state!)
Tomorrow, I am flying back to Texas to see my folks and check to see how they are doing. My grandpa will be discharged from the hospital earlier tomorrow afternoon and will continue his rehabilitation at home. I am really relieved that he's doing so well now. I still worry though, this is like his 2nd. big close call. My grandma is also suffering from alzheimer's, in the early stages but to the point where her medications are beginning not to help her have clear moments. I have no idea what thngs'll be like when/if she no longer recognizes any of us but I do know that I've got to appreciate the times tha she still does recognize and interacts with us.
Dinner tonight was really disappointing, my GF and I wanted some sea food, so we drove about 40 minutes to this place that we've read about on the internet. The place was supposed to be a Cajun seafood restaurant, but with the Cajun element seriously missing. ( no cracks about the Midwest not anywhere near the ocean!) The veggies were soggy, the bread was cold, and the gumbo was too tasteless to even mention! Bad food can really fuck with my perspectives on life, and we've so far had really bad food in the Midwest. My tastebuds are contemplating suicide, the only saving grace is that the GF is cooking better. When I fly back down to Texas, I am going to bring a whole bunch of take-outs back, stored in tuppeware!
Have a good weekend everyone! Will write more when I get back from Texas! (A pretty darn good state!)
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Army Recruitment, or the military recruitment in general.
Read this article, from, of all places, "VH-1.Com":
Army Recruitment Down For Fourth Consecutive Month
Doubling enlistment bonus, raising age limit considered in wake of low numbers.
by Brandee J. Tecson
Army recruiters talk to high school students (file) (Photo: Getty Images)
U.S. Army recruitment numbers were down for the fourth consecutive month in May, and officials said a "monumental effort" will be made to avoid missing the Army's annual target for the first time in six years.
The Department of Defense announced Friday that the Army missed its May goal by 1,600 recruits, nearly 25 percent, despite having lowered the target from 8,050 to 6,700. Meanwhile, the Army Reserve met only 82 percent of its recruitment goal
The Pentagon, which usually issues recruitment figures at the beginning of every month, delayed releasing the May numbers until Friday in order to minimize the media glare on the Army's recent recruiting shortfalls, according to sources quoted in The New York Times.
"It is indeed going to be a push to make up the shortfalls [we have] before the end of the fiscal year, but we are going to do everything we can [to meet the target]," said Douglas Smith, a public affairs officer for U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
The Pentagon is considering asking Congress to double the enlistment bonus from $20,000 to $40,000 and to raise the age limit for active-duty service personnel from 35 to 40. "Today's 40-year-old may no longer be old," Smith said. "People are in a lot better shape now than in the past."
The Army is also looking to boost enlistment with a new benefit that will help soldiers purchase homes. The pilot program would pay up to $50,000 in mortgage costs for recruits who enlist for eight years of duty.
Along with adding more than 1,000 recruiters, the Army launched a new ad campaign in April targeting prospective student recruits and their parents. Instead of using images of war and combat, the new Army ads, with names like "Smart Guy" and "Good Training," emphasize educational and personal-growth opportunities. Some ads specifically target Latinos and include the tagline "Yo Soy El Army" ("I Am the Army").
The Army has received widespread criticism lately about overly aggressive recruiting tactics. A one-day "stand down" was held last month in response to the claims (see "Army Has One-Day 'Stand Down' To Focus On Recruiting Tactics").
There is also a growing number of counter-recruitment efforts emerging on high school and college campuses (see "U.S. Army Misses Enlistment Goal, Counter-Recruitment Efforts Rise"), but Smith said the Army is not concerned with the demonstrations. "We defend America and all its freedoms, and freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental," he said. "As long as we are able to speak to students, we're not going to complain about others who may [also] speak to them."
Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said he's optimistic that recruiting will pick up in the summer, when recent high school graduates filter into recruiting stations. Compared to the traditionally slow spring recruiting season, "summer is an enormously more favorable environment," he said.
I am not sure if anyone really realizes how many people already knows someone who has served, got their marriages and bodies screwed through service in the armed forces, or more recently, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a Sgt. who works in my office who had gotten his right arm blown off when he was in Iraq. Sometimes, it doesn't even really take someone saying anything negative about the military to sway people away from the military, people can see and read things.
I'm not exactly sure if all the lures of more enlistment bonus money or even newer slogans will help out with the recruitment effort much. Most know that bonus money are usually taxed and even if you get the full payment, it would amount to less than half of the proposed pay-out.
I can't believe that I'm suggesting this, but how about a mandatory 2 year military commitment after graduation from high school? With the only exemption being those who are handicapped mentally/physically? You can't make the military sound like something that it's not in order to attract people. There's an imbalance here, a strong country should have the most well-staffed and the best military forces in the world. Still being a reservist myself, I know how low on personnel the military is right now. Some of the senior ranking personnels cannot retire because there are very few people to replace them, and there's also a shortage of junior ranking personnels (enlisted and commissioned). You end up sending the same people back to Iraq and Afghanistan, burning them out in the process.
I think the 2-3 year mandatory military service policy is being practiced in various parts of the world. In my plan, after the two-year service concludes, you can either opt to get out of military service, and go home with educational assistance that's guranteed for you if you want to go to college or trade school. If you opt to stay in the military, you can but you must at least complete an associate's degree while you are in, and the military will help you with it... so when you get out, you'll know more than handling a weapon and drive a tank.
Military service is not made for everyone, but I think some structure and familiarization with work ethics and physical/mental dicipline are something that every 18 year-olds should at least know something about.
Army Recruitment Down For Fourth Consecutive Month
Doubling enlistment bonus, raising age limit considered in wake of low numbers.
by Brandee J. Tecson
Army recruiters talk to high school students (file) (Photo: Getty Images)
U.S. Army recruitment numbers were down for the fourth consecutive month in May, and officials said a "monumental effort" will be made to avoid missing the Army's annual target for the first time in six years.
The Department of Defense announced Friday that the Army missed its May goal by 1,600 recruits, nearly 25 percent, despite having lowered the target from 8,050 to 6,700. Meanwhile, the Army Reserve met only 82 percent of its recruitment goal
The Pentagon, which usually issues recruitment figures at the beginning of every month, delayed releasing the May numbers until Friday in order to minimize the media glare on the Army's recent recruiting shortfalls, according to sources quoted in The New York Times.
"It is indeed going to be a push to make up the shortfalls [we have] before the end of the fiscal year, but we are going to do everything we can [to meet the target]," said Douglas Smith, a public affairs officer for U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
The Pentagon is considering asking Congress to double the enlistment bonus from $20,000 to $40,000 and to raise the age limit for active-duty service personnel from 35 to 40. "Today's 40-year-old may no longer be old," Smith said. "People are in a lot better shape now than in the past."
The Army is also looking to boost enlistment with a new benefit that will help soldiers purchase homes. The pilot program would pay up to $50,000 in mortgage costs for recruits who enlist for eight years of duty.
Along with adding more than 1,000 recruiters, the Army launched a new ad campaign in April targeting prospective student recruits and their parents. Instead of using images of war and combat, the new Army ads, with names like "Smart Guy" and "Good Training," emphasize educational and personal-growth opportunities. Some ads specifically target Latinos and include the tagline "Yo Soy El Army" ("I Am the Army").
The Army has received widespread criticism lately about overly aggressive recruiting tactics. A one-day "stand down" was held last month in response to the claims (see "Army Has One-Day 'Stand Down' To Focus On Recruiting Tactics").
There is also a growing number of counter-recruitment efforts emerging on high school and college campuses (see "U.S. Army Misses Enlistment Goal, Counter-Recruitment Efforts Rise"), but Smith said the Army is not concerned with the demonstrations. "We defend America and all its freedoms, and freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental," he said. "As long as we are able to speak to students, we're not going to complain about others who may [also] speak to them."
Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said he's optimistic that recruiting will pick up in the summer, when recent high school graduates filter into recruiting stations. Compared to the traditionally slow spring recruiting season, "summer is an enormously more favorable environment," he said.
I am not sure if anyone really realizes how many people already knows someone who has served, got their marriages and bodies screwed through service in the armed forces, or more recently, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a Sgt. who works in my office who had gotten his right arm blown off when he was in Iraq. Sometimes, it doesn't even really take someone saying anything negative about the military to sway people away from the military, people can see and read things.
I'm not exactly sure if all the lures of more enlistment bonus money or even newer slogans will help out with the recruitment effort much. Most know that bonus money are usually taxed and even if you get the full payment, it would amount to less than half of the proposed pay-out.
I can't believe that I'm suggesting this, but how about a mandatory 2 year military commitment after graduation from high school? With the only exemption being those who are handicapped mentally/physically? You can't make the military sound like something that it's not in order to attract people. There's an imbalance here, a strong country should have the most well-staffed and the best military forces in the world. Still being a reservist myself, I know how low on personnel the military is right now. Some of the senior ranking personnels cannot retire because there are very few people to replace them, and there's also a shortage of junior ranking personnels (enlisted and commissioned). You end up sending the same people back to Iraq and Afghanistan, burning them out in the process.
I think the 2-3 year mandatory military service policy is being practiced in various parts of the world. In my plan, after the two-year service concludes, you can either opt to get out of military service, and go home with educational assistance that's guranteed for you if you want to go to college or trade school. If you opt to stay in the military, you can but you must at least complete an associate's degree while you are in, and the military will help you with it... so when you get out, you'll know more than handling a weapon and drive a tank.
Military service is not made for everyone, but I think some structure and familiarization with work ethics and physical/mental dicipline are something that every 18 year-olds should at least know something about.
World on fire by Sarah McLachlan
How true.....
World On Fire
The worlds on fire its more then I can handle
Ill tap into the water try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able
Hearts are worn in these dark ages
Youre not alone in these stories pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And Ill try to hold it in
Yeah Ill try to hold it in
Chorus
I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change whats coming
Stay close to me while the skys falling
I dont wanna be left alone dont wanna be alone
Chorus
Hearts break hearts mend love still hurts
Visions clash planes crash still theres talk of
saving souls still colds closing in on us
We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some
Chorus
World On Fire
The worlds on fire its more then I can handle
Ill tap into the water try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able
Hearts are worn in these dark ages
Youre not alone in these stories pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And Ill try to hold it in
Yeah Ill try to hold it in
Chorus
I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change whats coming
Stay close to me while the skys falling
I dont wanna be left alone dont wanna be alone
Chorus
Hearts break hearts mend love still hurts
Visions clash planes crash still theres talk of
saving souls still colds closing in on us
We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some
Chorus
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
If I was interviewed on the Actor's Studio show....
I'd answer to James Lipton...
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD?
-Journey.
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WORD?
-Apathy.
WHAT TURNS YOU ON?
-Scents.
WHAT TURNS YOU OFF?
-Standoffishness.
WHAT SOUNDS DO YOU LOVE?
-My dog slurping water.
(There's another sound but I can't mention it because it would make the show not so family-friendly, but it has to do with why I call my GF "The PQ"!)
WHAT SOUND DO YOU HATE?
-Mortar rounds flying.
WHAT PROFESSION OTHER THAN YOURS WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTEMPT?
-A veternarian.
WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU NOT LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN?
-Personal injury lawyer.
IF HEAVEN EXISTS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR GOD SAY WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PEARLY GATE?
-Welcome home, your family and friends are waiting for you at the multi-ethnic buffett table!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD?
-Journey.
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WORD?
-Apathy.
WHAT TURNS YOU ON?
-Scents.
WHAT TURNS YOU OFF?
-Standoffishness.
WHAT SOUNDS DO YOU LOVE?
-My dog slurping water.
(There's another sound but I can't mention it because it would make the show not so family-friendly, but it has to do with why I call my GF "The PQ"!)
WHAT SOUND DO YOU HATE?
-Mortar rounds flying.
WHAT PROFESSION OTHER THAN YOURS WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTEMPT?
-A veternarian.
WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU NOT LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN?
-Personal injury lawyer.
IF HEAVEN EXISTS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR GOD SAY WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PEARLY GATE?
-Welcome home, your family and friends are waiting for you at the multi-ethnic buffett table!
Monday, June 13, 2005
A few things.....
Things between the GF and I are better, thanks for those of you who might have been concerned. She and I both go through these periods of dark moods, sometimes at the same time and other times, not so much.
That's part of the art of being with someone, you try to live with and accomodate with each other's nasty habits and personality faults. She is really worried for the nephew and the rest of her family, and rightfully so.
I need to explain a bit further, about why I felt the way that I felt about my roomie from Iraq. I realized that I was being kind of vague. Let me divulge one detail in the conversation. She (the old roomie) had mentioned that she had received some kind of explicit (I am presuming sexually) e-amil from some guy from her unit. She commented on how inappropriate it was (which I don't happen to disagree with.), and that heat/war environment just makes people get crazy in the head. She was talking as if she didn't experience it herself. Not to say that I was being angelic while I was over there, but I didn't exactly try to change or convince myself that the history was different. Overall, I asked myself "who is this person sitting in front of me?" Maybe I really never knew her at all, that's certainly a possibility.
This made me think of that song "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, part of the lyrics goes like this....
"Tell me
Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're
Acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated
Life's like this, you
And you fall and you crawl
And you break and you take
What you get and you turn it into
Honesty Promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it...."
In other news, it seems like the folks at "Hollywood Reporter" are reporting on how Mr. Tom Cruise has lost the PR war. The link is here:
http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=8765884
Looks like I'm not the only one who felt this way about Mr. Cruise.
That's part of the art of being with someone, you try to live with and accomodate with each other's nasty habits and personality faults. She is really worried for the nephew and the rest of her family, and rightfully so.
I need to explain a bit further, about why I felt the way that I felt about my roomie from Iraq. I realized that I was being kind of vague. Let me divulge one detail in the conversation. She (the old roomie) had mentioned that she had received some kind of explicit (I am presuming sexually) e-amil from some guy from her unit. She commented on how inappropriate it was (which I don't happen to disagree with.), and that heat/war environment just makes people get crazy in the head. She was talking as if she didn't experience it herself. Not to say that I was being angelic while I was over there, but I didn't exactly try to change or convince myself that the history was different. Overall, I asked myself "who is this person sitting in front of me?" Maybe I really never knew her at all, that's certainly a possibility.
This made me think of that song "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, part of the lyrics goes like this....
"Tell me
Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're
Acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated
Life's like this, you
And you fall and you crawl
And you break and you take
What you get and you turn it into
Honesty Promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it...."
In other news, it seems like the folks at "Hollywood Reporter" are reporting on how Mr. Tom Cruise has lost the PR war. The link is here:
http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=8765884
Looks like I'm not the only one who felt this way about Mr. Cruise.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Rain, rain go away.....
I think the weather pattern in the Mo./Kan. area have been and will be as follows: Windy, rain, tornados, lots of tornado and severe storm warnings, followed by intermittent periods of extreme sunshine and warm temperature.
I smoked a cigar last night and got sick,and I thought that I could handle it. I felt nauseated and got just a wee bit smarter about it. I don't usually smoke, but every once in a while, I do smoke a little. If you gave me a pack of cigarettes, it'll still be mostly unsmoked for months.
The GF got a phone call this morning from her mom, and it seems like the custody issue of the nephew has taken on a nasty turn, depending on how it goes, the grandparents might have to sue for the kid's custody. The nephew is the cutest kid and has all sorts of potentials, and we love to take him out to the parks and just to play/interact with him whenever we could. It's such a pity that his folks are going through such hard time. I don't think the GF's too happy about it either.
Got a call from my old roomie from Iraq, she moved to the Southern portion of these United States, and she came to the KC area for her last army reserves drill. She asked if we wanted to get together for lunch before she goes back to her new abode, I agreed, a bit reluctantly, for obvious reasons, but I thought that it would be nice to see her for maybe once more, before both of our lives move on to way different paths. The lunch was alright, we've chit chatted about some past events, some present ones, and some things in-between. I've got to say that I really envy how she remembers things differently and how she also uses that to her advantage. To each his/her own, I guess, and we all try to do what we can to get by.
Things are not cool today between the GF and I, maybe that's why I felt that hint of bitterness towards the old roommate. I hope that things would get better,or maybe the GF is right, I'm not capable of doing anything right, I'm just crawling along in life.
I smoked a cigar last night and got sick,and I thought that I could handle it. I felt nauseated and got just a wee bit smarter about it. I don't usually smoke, but every once in a while, I do smoke a little. If you gave me a pack of cigarettes, it'll still be mostly unsmoked for months.
The GF got a phone call this morning from her mom, and it seems like the custody issue of the nephew has taken on a nasty turn, depending on how it goes, the grandparents might have to sue for the kid's custody. The nephew is the cutest kid and has all sorts of potentials, and we love to take him out to the parks and just to play/interact with him whenever we could. It's such a pity that his folks are going through such hard time. I don't think the GF's too happy about it either.
Got a call from my old roomie from Iraq, she moved to the Southern portion of these United States, and she came to the KC area for her last army reserves drill. She asked if we wanted to get together for lunch before she goes back to her new abode, I agreed, a bit reluctantly, for obvious reasons, but I thought that it would be nice to see her for maybe once more, before both of our lives move on to way different paths. The lunch was alright, we've chit chatted about some past events, some present ones, and some things in-between. I've got to say that I really envy how she remembers things differently and how she also uses that to her advantage. To each his/her own, I guess, and we all try to do what we can to get by.
Things are not cool today between the GF and I, maybe that's why I felt that hint of bitterness towards the old roommate. I hope that things would get better,or maybe the GF is right, I'm not capable of doing anything right, I'm just crawling along in life.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Everyone's a little gay....
Thanks to the blog "Just One Bite", I got this article....
Rivals spur men to produce better sperm
15:56 08 June 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Rachel Nowak, Melbourne
Men who view pornographic images of two men and a woman produce better-quality sperm than men viewing pornographic images of just women, an Australian study reveals.
The finding suggests that humans may be capable of subconsciously increasing semen quality when faced with the possibility that their sperm will have to outrun those of other men in a woman’s reproductive tract.
In the study, zoologists Leigh Simmons and Sarah Kilgallon of the University of Western Australia in Perth asked 52 heterosexual men aged between 18 and 35 years to ejaculate into a container after viewing the two types of image.
The volunteers had previously abstained from sexual activity for two to six days. In samples from men who viewed the images containing the two men and a woman - the “sperm-competition” images - 52% of the sperm were motile. This compared with 49% sperm motility in the men who viewed the images of women only – a difference that was statistically significant after taking into account lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.
But there was also a seemingly contradictory finding. Men who viewed the sperm-competition images had fewer sperm in their ejaculate: 61 million per millilitre compared to 77 million per millilitre for the men who viewed the female-only images. More studies are needed to explain this finding.
Rapid response
“It’s a fascinating study. The effect is obviously immediate. This suggests that something [in the body] can be adjusted very, very quickly,” says Jon Evans of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who studies sperm competition in guppy fish.
The findings might suggest ways to improve the quality of sperm during fertility treatment.
The postcoital struggle between sperm is well known in species in which females may mate with more than one partner. For example, male chickens allocate more sperm to an attractive hen with a large comb than an unattractive one, upping the chances that one of their sperm will get to the egg before those of other contenders. Bulls and boars used for artificial insemination by the farming industry produce better-quality semen if they are allowed to view other animals mating.
However, Simmons is not suggesting that humans regularly indulge in multiple matings. “We need to step away from that in 2005. The risk of sperm competition is very low nowadays, but in the lineage of primates that resulted in humans there was probably sperm competition,” he says
Previous studies have found that men who look at pornographic images depicting groups prefer the sorts of sperm-competition images used in the current study. Men may simply have evolved to find them more erotic so that they can respond appropriately to sperm competition, says Simmons.
The study, which examined the role of lifestyle factors, also suggested that carrying cellphones might be associated with lower sperm counts and a lower percentage of motile sperm. But previous studies in this area have been equivocal.
Journal reference: Biology Letters (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0324)
I think, if I'm not mistaken, I've also read reports that women get just as turned-on looking at images or films of lesbian encounters, even though some might not care to admit it, their measured physiological responses said the opposite.
Rivals spur men to produce better sperm
15:56 08 June 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Rachel Nowak, Melbourne
Men who view pornographic images of two men and a woman produce better-quality sperm than men viewing pornographic images of just women, an Australian study reveals.
The finding suggests that humans may be capable of subconsciously increasing semen quality when faced with the possibility that their sperm will have to outrun those of other men in a woman’s reproductive tract.
In the study, zoologists Leigh Simmons and Sarah Kilgallon of the University of Western Australia in Perth asked 52 heterosexual men aged between 18 and 35 years to ejaculate into a container after viewing the two types of image.
The volunteers had previously abstained from sexual activity for two to six days. In samples from men who viewed the images containing the two men and a woman - the “sperm-competition” images - 52% of the sperm were motile. This compared with 49% sperm motility in the men who viewed the images of women only – a difference that was statistically significant after taking into account lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.
But there was also a seemingly contradictory finding. Men who viewed the sperm-competition images had fewer sperm in their ejaculate: 61 million per millilitre compared to 77 million per millilitre for the men who viewed the female-only images. More studies are needed to explain this finding.
Rapid response
“It’s a fascinating study. The effect is obviously immediate. This suggests that something [in the body] can be adjusted very, very quickly,” says Jon Evans of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who studies sperm competition in guppy fish.
The findings might suggest ways to improve the quality of sperm during fertility treatment.
The postcoital struggle between sperm is well known in species in which females may mate with more than one partner. For example, male chickens allocate more sperm to an attractive hen with a large comb than an unattractive one, upping the chances that one of their sperm will get to the egg before those of other contenders. Bulls and boars used for artificial insemination by the farming industry produce better-quality semen if they are allowed to view other animals mating.
However, Simmons is not suggesting that humans regularly indulge in multiple matings. “We need to step away from that in 2005. The risk of sperm competition is very low nowadays, but in the lineage of primates that resulted in humans there was probably sperm competition,” he says
Previous studies have found that men who look at pornographic images depicting groups prefer the sorts of sperm-competition images used in the current study. Men may simply have evolved to find them more erotic so that they can respond appropriately to sperm competition, says Simmons.
The study, which examined the role of lifestyle factors, also suggested that carrying cellphones might be associated with lower sperm counts and a lower percentage of motile sperm. But previous studies in this area have been equivocal.
Journal reference: Biology Letters (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0324)
I think, if I'm not mistaken, I've also read reports that women get just as turned-on looking at images or films of lesbian encounters, even though some might not care to admit it, their measured physiological responses said the opposite.
Wow!
Apparantly, I was not alone in my feelings about Tom and Katie....
http://www.freekatie.net/
"join the movement to liberate Katie, a young, gifted, actress held captive by forces we may never understand...."
"Don't turn away. Your indifference makes you part of the problem. Talk to your children, join in community support groups.."
They are even selling tee shirts and buttons!
http://www.cafepress.com/mccam.22973403
http://www.freekatie.net/
"join the movement to liberate Katie, a young, gifted, actress held captive by forces we may never understand...."
"Don't turn away. Your indifference makes you part of the problem. Talk to your children, join in community support groups.."
They are even selling tee shirts and buttons!
http://www.cafepress.com/mccam.22973403
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Real World Austin and other tangents
Right before turning in for the night, the GF and I watched the "Real World Austin" preview, and looking at some of the footages, made us miss Austin a lot. I can't say that I'm a fan of the series, but I did enjoy watching it when it first started about 10 some odd years ago. At that time, it was original and even at some points, thought-provoking.
Now, we've got reality shows seeping out of every orifices and the scenarios are just not as interesting anymore. I'm sure that "Real World Austin" will also have its fair shares of racial tension, drunken parties, and lesbian kisses. Still cannot believe that we were residents of that city, up to about two months ago!
There will be a castemember, Rachel, I think that's her name, who was a combat nurse and like yours truly, did her time in the sandbox. In her intro, she stated that she was caught having sex with her current boyfriend "mid-thrust" while in Iraq. I thought that was refreshing, maybe not the kind of representation that the armed forces wanted to have for someone like her, but let's get real here, there are a lot of hot-blooded, young and horny servicemembers out there. (There are also a lot of servicemembers who are of the oppposite.)
I thought about writing to MTV to have them make something like "Real World Iraq", about what people do when they are in and out of the uniform, but kind of figured out that it would get A LOT of people in trouble, so I had to shelve that in the backcorner of my mind.
I'd like to see someone like Oprah out in the field, taking a team of massage therapists and makeover specialists to make over the soldiers. How about "Queer Eye for the captain"? I almost burst into tears of inspiration when Emril Lagasse cooked for the troops! (Okay, he cooked for some of the air force folks stationed STATESIDE and not out in the sandbox, but still....)
Now, we've got reality shows seeping out of every orifices and the scenarios are just not as interesting anymore. I'm sure that "Real World Austin" will also have its fair shares of racial tension, drunken parties, and lesbian kisses. Still cannot believe that we were residents of that city, up to about two months ago!
There will be a castemember, Rachel, I think that's her name, who was a combat nurse and like yours truly, did her time in the sandbox. In her intro, she stated that she was caught having sex with her current boyfriend "mid-thrust" while in Iraq. I thought that was refreshing, maybe not the kind of representation that the armed forces wanted to have for someone like her, but let's get real here, there are a lot of hot-blooded, young and horny servicemembers out there. (There are also a lot of servicemembers who are of the oppposite.)
I thought about writing to MTV to have them make something like "Real World Iraq", about what people do when they are in and out of the uniform, but kind of figured out that it would get A LOT of people in trouble, so I had to shelve that in the backcorner of my mind.
I'd like to see someone like Oprah out in the field, taking a team of massage therapists and makeover specialists to make over the soldiers. How about "Queer Eye for the captain"? I almost burst into tears of inspiration when Emril Lagasse cooked for the troops! (Okay, he cooked for some of the air force folks stationed STATESIDE and not out in the sandbox, but still....)
I wonder...
I read this post on cnn.com,
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Women who have difficulty reaching orgasm can blame it on their genes.
Like heart disease, anxiety and depression, scientists discovered in a study of 1,397 pairs of female twins that there is a genetic basis to female orgasm.
"We found that between 34 percent and 45 percent of the variation in ability to orgasm can be explained by underlying genetic variation," said Tim Spector, of the Twin Research Unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
"There is a biological underlying influence that can't be attributed purely to upbringing, religion or race."
Other studies have attributed differences in the ability to achieve orgasm to cultural, religious and psychological factors.
Between 12 to 15 percent of women don't have orgasms compared to about 2 percent of men. Males are also quicker at 2.5 minutes, while the average time it takes for a woman to reach orgasm is 12 minutes, according to Spector.
"Why is there this biological difference between the sexes? The fact that some of this is heritable suggests that evolution has a role," he told a news conference.
Spector suggested reaching an orgasm could be a way for women to assess whether a man would make a good long-term partner. It may also increase fertility, according to some theories.
In a study of identical and non-identical twins published on Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, Spector and his team found huge variations when they surveyed them about sexual problems.
One in three women, or 32 percent, said they never or infrequently had an orgasm. But 14 percent said they always had an orgasm during intercourse.
"More women were able to orgasm during masturbation, with 34 percent always reaching orgasm," the researchers said in the journal.
The frequency of orgasm was higher for identical twins with a partner and by themselves which suggests a clear genetic impact, said Spector.
"There is something biological that explains some of this large variation between women," he said, adding that many genes could be involved.
If scientists could discover which genes and how they function, it could potentially pave the way for future therapies to treat women who cannot reach orgasm.
But Spector said orgasm is a very complex process which is poorly understood. Little research has been done because it is still a taboo subject.
Anatomical and biological features and psychological factors may all play a part.
....So, what does that say about the females who just cannot reach orgasm whatsoever? Does that mean that they were just naturally selected as not likely candidate for not having offsprings? I know that I'm putting it in too general of terms, but y'all know what I mean by that.
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Women who have difficulty reaching orgasm can blame it on their genes.
Like heart disease, anxiety and depression, scientists discovered in a study of 1,397 pairs of female twins that there is a genetic basis to female orgasm.
"We found that between 34 percent and 45 percent of the variation in ability to orgasm can be explained by underlying genetic variation," said Tim Spector, of the Twin Research Unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
"There is a biological underlying influence that can't be attributed purely to upbringing, religion or race."
Other studies have attributed differences in the ability to achieve orgasm to cultural, religious and psychological factors.
Between 12 to 15 percent of women don't have orgasms compared to about 2 percent of men. Males are also quicker at 2.5 minutes, while the average time it takes for a woman to reach orgasm is 12 minutes, according to Spector.
"Why is there this biological difference between the sexes? The fact that some of this is heritable suggests that evolution has a role," he told a news conference.
Spector suggested reaching an orgasm could be a way for women to assess whether a man would make a good long-term partner. It may also increase fertility, according to some theories.
In a study of identical and non-identical twins published on Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, Spector and his team found huge variations when they surveyed them about sexual problems.
One in three women, or 32 percent, said they never or infrequently had an orgasm. But 14 percent said they always had an orgasm during intercourse.
"More women were able to orgasm during masturbation, with 34 percent always reaching orgasm," the researchers said in the journal.
The frequency of orgasm was higher for identical twins with a partner and by themselves which suggests a clear genetic impact, said Spector.
"There is something biological that explains some of this large variation between women," he said, adding that many genes could be involved.
If scientists could discover which genes and how they function, it could potentially pave the way for future therapies to treat women who cannot reach orgasm.
But Spector said orgasm is a very complex process which is poorly understood. Little research has been done because it is still a taboo subject.
Anatomical and biological features and psychological factors may all play a part.
....So, what does that say about the females who just cannot reach orgasm whatsoever? Does that mean that they were just naturally selected as not likely candidate for not having offsprings? I know that I'm putting it in too general of terms, but y'all know what I mean by that.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Sunday tidbits
Got the appearance of the blog changed a bit, and with GF's help, got a photo of my cat little man on the blog in the place where my picture is supposed to be. I think my cat's so much cuter and definitely more photogenic than I'll ever will be!
I'll try and get some more photos for y'all to look at, adding a bit more color to the whole thing. I also updated the blog links because I read different blogs than the ones that I've started reading a while back. Please go and take a look at them, I think they really have a lot of interesting stuff to say!
Things between my GF and I have been stable, I am glad that in her effort to get a job, she has landed some interviews and even though they're still somewhat of an ongoing thing, I am sure that she has been wowing these perspective employers! I think she'll feel somewhat happier once she finds something to do that she likes. At least it's a way to get to know some people and participate in some functions of the society, even if the people don't end up to be friends.
I think I'm also slowly but surely fitting in the schemes of things at work, even though I still feel like that I've got a steep learning curve ahead of me...I think I'm climbing it at this point.
I'm not thinking about Iraq and the people back there as much now. I don't regret the experience at all, but I sure don't want to go back to Iraq under the circumstance that I've first gone to Iraq with! I really hope that what we've done and what we are doing now are going to help the Iraqis out in the long run, but not having enough understanding of the Middle East, its people and their religions were some of our first mistakes. Misunderstanding just breeds more misunderstandings.
Looks like I'll be in uniform for a while longer than I originally planned, hopefully, I'll do it better this time around.
I learned that relationships are some of the hardest things to better and maintain in this world, but if you really want it to work out, it can work out somehow. Alone time is really important too. I would never rip those who are single as losers, I have more problems with those who thinks that by being in a relationship with a man or a woman would resolve all of their problems, if you are not fine with yourself, then how are you going to be fine with someone else?
My grandfather went from the edge of death to now finally able to speak, take small steps with the help of a walker, and even though he's still somewhat weaker than before he got sick, I thank God that he's still around and I look forward to visiting my grandpa soon!
I learned a lot about faithfulness from interacting and taking care of my pets, and I think us human beings have a lot to learn from them.
Sometimes, I'd miss the friends which I had in the past and not so distant past, and not all of them I've kept in touch with or parted in good ways, but I wish them all well and consider myself quite lucky to have known them, and maybe if luck should have it, they'll be back in my life again.
My GF is one of the cutest and the smartest person that I know. We were at the eye glasses store to look for a pair of new glasses for her, and watching her trying on all the different pairs of glasses got me, frankly, quite tickled! (Too bad she's about to be on the rag.) :-(
I learned that biking is a lot less painful than running, except when you crash.
I am not ashamed of my love for bad music, movies, and fashion!!!
Okay, that's about it for now.
I'll try and get some more photos for y'all to look at, adding a bit more color to the whole thing. I also updated the blog links because I read different blogs than the ones that I've started reading a while back. Please go and take a look at them, I think they really have a lot of interesting stuff to say!
Things between my GF and I have been stable, I am glad that in her effort to get a job, she has landed some interviews and even though they're still somewhat of an ongoing thing, I am sure that she has been wowing these perspective employers! I think she'll feel somewhat happier once she finds something to do that she likes. At least it's a way to get to know some people and participate in some functions of the society, even if the people don't end up to be friends.
I think I'm also slowly but surely fitting in the schemes of things at work, even though I still feel like that I've got a steep learning curve ahead of me...I think I'm climbing it at this point.
I'm not thinking about Iraq and the people back there as much now. I don't regret the experience at all, but I sure don't want to go back to Iraq under the circumstance that I've first gone to Iraq with! I really hope that what we've done and what we are doing now are going to help the Iraqis out in the long run, but not having enough understanding of the Middle East, its people and their religions were some of our first mistakes. Misunderstanding just breeds more misunderstandings.
Looks like I'll be in uniform for a while longer than I originally planned, hopefully, I'll do it better this time around.
I learned that relationships are some of the hardest things to better and maintain in this world, but if you really want it to work out, it can work out somehow. Alone time is really important too. I would never rip those who are single as losers, I have more problems with those who thinks that by being in a relationship with a man or a woman would resolve all of their problems, if you are not fine with yourself, then how are you going to be fine with someone else?
My grandfather went from the edge of death to now finally able to speak, take small steps with the help of a walker, and even though he's still somewhat weaker than before he got sick, I thank God that he's still around and I look forward to visiting my grandpa soon!
I learned a lot about faithfulness from interacting and taking care of my pets, and I think us human beings have a lot to learn from them.
Sometimes, I'd miss the friends which I had in the past and not so distant past, and not all of them I've kept in touch with or parted in good ways, but I wish them all well and consider myself quite lucky to have known them, and maybe if luck should have it, they'll be back in my life again.
My GF is one of the cutest and the smartest person that I know. We were at the eye glasses store to look for a pair of new glasses for her, and watching her trying on all the different pairs of glasses got me, frankly, quite tickled! (Too bad she's about to be on the rag.) :-(
I learned that biking is a lot less painful than running, except when you crash.
I am not ashamed of my love for bad music, movies, and fashion!!!
Okay, that's about it for now.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Saturday
To recap, I ran into a friend of mine yesterday when I was finishing off my day at Ft. Fartknocker, I've not seen him for a while now. We've first met (actually, the GF got to know his wife first) in the blogsphere. During my first days working at the Fort, they've been very nice to me, showing me around the vicinity, and letting me hang out with them from time to time. I guess because of all of us being busy with our jobs and perspective lives, we had not all hung out since the GF and I had moved up here. My friend commented on how weird my blog have gotten, and I have been jumping from one topic to the other. It suits me fine though. I stated this blog not neccessarily to influence others or to make a lot of sense. I don't start the day thinking about what I am going to blog about, rather, I just let it flow, non-profound thoughts and all. Maybe one day when we've got kids and they'll read this and see how random mom was.
Anyways,it was good to see him, maybe one day we'll hang out again.
Today, we went to see a Royals baseball game, and we got lucky because we caught a break in this stomy weather that we've been having. It was Royals vs. the Texas Rangers, and even though the pitchers were sucky at times, the Rangers still managed to win, 14 to 9. The baseball stadium was a bit smaller than the ones that I've been to, but it does the job fine. The snacks were quite expensive but overall, I've had a good time. The GF's commentary on the players, their playing styles and the special guests (brought to you by the fellowship of christian athletes) were great additions to being there!
We came back home to this big storm that scared the heck out of the pets, especially the dog. It's finally over now and he's exhausted, laying on the floor.
Time to tuck in and talk to the GF!
Anyways,it was good to see him, maybe one day we'll hang out again.
Today, we went to see a Royals baseball game, and we got lucky because we caught a break in this stomy weather that we've been having. It was Royals vs. the Texas Rangers, and even though the pitchers were sucky at times, the Rangers still managed to win, 14 to 9. The baseball stadium was a bit smaller than the ones that I've been to, but it does the job fine. The snacks were quite expensive but overall, I've had a good time. The GF's commentary on the players, their playing styles and the special guests (brought to you by the fellowship of christian athletes) were great additions to being there!
We came back home to this big storm that scared the heck out of the pets, especially the dog. It's finally over now and he's exhausted, laying on the floor.
Time to tuck in and talk to the GF!
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Dear Mr. Tom Cruise
Dear Mr. Tom Cruise:
While I cannot say that I am a die-hard fan of yours, I do respect, so far, your body of work overall. After having watched you gush with love for Ms.Katie Holmes on an episode of "Oprah", I have to say that you look like you've lost it.
I'm glad that you seem to have found love with Ms. Holmes, but really, that has got to be the worst acting job ever in the history of film, tv, and theater. I know that your film earnings and popularity might have decreased somewhat after say, like "Jerry McGuire"? I say that who you are going out with and what a romantic you are is just getting way too old. And what is up with your tidbit about giving advice about post partum depression? When was the last time that you've given birth to a baby?
Please, leave the silver screen for a while, do some respectable stage work or something that'll really show how good/bad you are as an actor. Date Miss Holmes, a monkey, a donkey, I don't really care, as long as you are happy and I don't really have to see that bad acting job like you've done on "Oprah".
Thanks,
Someone who's still trying to have a thread of respect for you....
While I cannot say that I am a die-hard fan of yours, I do respect, so far, your body of work overall. After having watched you gush with love for Ms.Katie Holmes on an episode of "Oprah", I have to say that you look like you've lost it.
I'm glad that you seem to have found love with Ms. Holmes, but really, that has got to be the worst acting job ever in the history of film, tv, and theater. I know that your film earnings and popularity might have decreased somewhat after say, like "Jerry McGuire"? I say that who you are going out with and what a romantic you are is just getting way too old. And what is up with your tidbit about giving advice about post partum depression? When was the last time that you've given birth to a baby?
Please, leave the silver screen for a while, do some respectable stage work or something that'll really show how good/bad you are as an actor. Date Miss Holmes, a monkey, a donkey, I don't really care, as long as you are happy and I don't really have to see that bad acting job like you've done on "Oprah".
Thanks,
Someone who's still trying to have a thread of respect for you....
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Back from Colorado
The GF and I just had just finished our first vacation after I came back from Iraq. Thank God for this past long weekend! The dog tagged along too for the long drive from here to Colorado Springs. Whoever said that Kansas was flat ought to have his or her eyes re-examined! There was a long road of nothing but hills and the only population were cattles and horses. It's kind of beautiful in a drug-induced haze sort of way.
On the way to and back, we listened to both AM an FM radio, as well as the IPOD, since the satellite radio portal has something wrong with it. Dammnit, I got the satellite radio for long drives!
We stayed at this econolodge on the edge of town, kind of a ghetto area, but it was fine since we were just there to lay our heads and eat the free breakfast.
The mountains were beautiful! We went to the zoo and saw giraffes necking, hippos feeding, and watched people like they're a part of the zoo display. Thanks to military discounts, we didn't have to pay for most of the tickets at full price. We also took the railroad to the top of Pikes Peak, it was really cold at the top, around 14,000+ ft. When we came down from the mountain, I got this raging headache that wouldn't go away, probably from the altitude. Should of had a shot of oxygen from the oxygen bar at the top of the mountain, $6 for 20 minutes, flavored too! I wondered about what it would be like, just to live on top of one of these mountains with no one but your signigicant other and maybe a few pets. I kind of feel like I live like that now, except for the 8 hours that I'll have to spend working. I think the GF would like to live in the mountainous states one of these days.
It was kind of surreal coming back to this part of the Midwest, not our absolute favorite, but hopefully, it won't be permanent. I think the GF said that she felt depression lift as soon as we drove out of Kansas. I kind of always have believed that you make the place that you are at, but so far, the Midwest have stumped me a bit.
On the way to and back, we listened to both AM an FM radio, as well as the IPOD, since the satellite radio portal has something wrong with it. Dammnit, I got the satellite radio for long drives!
We stayed at this econolodge on the edge of town, kind of a ghetto area, but it was fine since we were just there to lay our heads and eat the free breakfast.
The mountains were beautiful! We went to the zoo and saw giraffes necking, hippos feeding, and watched people like they're a part of the zoo display. Thanks to military discounts, we didn't have to pay for most of the tickets at full price. We also took the railroad to the top of Pikes Peak, it was really cold at the top, around 14,000+ ft. When we came down from the mountain, I got this raging headache that wouldn't go away, probably from the altitude. Should of had a shot of oxygen from the oxygen bar at the top of the mountain, $6 for 20 minutes, flavored too! I wondered about what it would be like, just to live on top of one of these mountains with no one but your signigicant other and maybe a few pets. I kind of feel like I live like that now, except for the 8 hours that I'll have to spend working. I think the GF would like to live in the mountainous states one of these days.
It was kind of surreal coming back to this part of the Midwest, not our absolute favorite, but hopefully, it won't be permanent. I think the GF said that she felt depression lift as soon as we drove out of Kansas. I kind of always have believed that you make the place that you are at, but so far, the Midwest have stumped me a bit.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Hooray for pink nipples!
They're so cute, young looking, and tender to the touch! They just remind me of pink cotton candies, and pink peeps (even though they're not my favorite candies), and strawberry flavored cakes with bits of real strawberries in it! Pink nipples are even better covered with either whipped cream, marachino cherries, or even honey drizzled on top of them!
I don't know what I'd do without them!
I don't know what I'd do without them!
Monday, May 23, 2005
For Beth
Friday night
I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head
Well looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind
I've been a fool
To ever open up my heart
To all that jealousy,
that bitterness,
that ridicule
Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowd I'm pushing
Chemicals all rushing through my bloodstream
Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To tell you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon
Sunday all the lights of London Shining ,
Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the
Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon, Babylon
I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head
Well looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind
I've been a fool
To ever open up my heart
To all that jealousy,
that bitterness,
that ridicule
Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowd I'm pushing
Chemicals all rushing through my bloodstream
Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To tell you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon
Sunday all the lights of London Shining ,
Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the
Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon, Babylon
Friday, May 20, 2005
Random brain stuff
From the GF (this is the sh*t!): http://cryingwhileeating.com/
The anti-commercials: Sprint guy and the Verizon guy, duking it out.
Jerrod from Subway shows us how he really lost all that
weight. (C'mon, no one can eat one type of food ALL THE
TIME without barfing it all up!)
Sarah Jessica Parker fighting Joss Stone because she wanted
her old job at The Gap back. (Imagine the screams from Joss!)
Rick Springfield finally confesses that he wished that he WAS
Jessie's girl.
Pornographic milk ad. (Think, "Milk, where's your mustache?")
Following the GAP ad. tradition, Jamie Lee Curtis cuts
Catherine Zeta-Jones to get her job at T-Mobile back.
Chinese breakfast: rice gruel, fried peanuts with a bit of salt, pickled cucumbers, smoked fish, or sardines, pork meat shreds, stinky tofu, cold tofu with soy sauce and thousand year old eggs, and soy milk, in both salty and sweet kind. (cold or hot, it doesn't matter....mmmmm.....!
That's about it for now...
The anti-commercials: Sprint guy and the Verizon guy, duking it out.
Jerrod from Subway shows us how he really lost all that
weight. (C'mon, no one can eat one type of food ALL THE
TIME without barfing it all up!)
Sarah Jessica Parker fighting Joss Stone because she wanted
her old job at The Gap back. (Imagine the screams from Joss!)
Rick Springfield finally confesses that he wished that he WAS
Jessie's girl.
Pornographic milk ad. (Think, "Milk, where's your mustache?")
Following the GAP ad. tradition, Jamie Lee Curtis cuts
Catherine Zeta-Jones to get her job at T-Mobile back.
Chinese breakfast: rice gruel, fried peanuts with a bit of salt, pickled cucumbers, smoked fish, or sardines, pork meat shreds, stinky tofu, cold tofu with soy sauce and thousand year old eggs, and soy milk, in both salty and sweet kind. (cold or hot, it doesn't matter....mmmmm.....!
That's about it for now...
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Sick
I'm reporting in sick today, what began as a minor cold blossomed into something more. I feel all stopped up and my head feels 4 feet thick. I hope lots of water, soup and rest will do the trick to getting better!
It has been a pretty quiet day so far. The GF went to wal-mart and got some stuff so we could eat. The pets have been napping on and off all day long. I read some stuff online when the GF referred me to this site called "Trying to Grok", feel free to google the site! The author of the blog is a military wife, and she started to blog when her husband got deployed to Iraq and has been blogging ever since.
Her particular entry today was about how she has been so enriched by living as a military wife, in a military community, surrounded by military people. She mentioned a particular instance when she and her husband went on a cruise, and when she mentioned that they're from Missouri but now living in Germany because of the military, the rest of the people at the table got silent, almost uncomfortable and just stayed away from questions about what it was like in Iraq/Germany.
I'm glad that Mrs. Grok has found her niche, but I also thought that she had gone a bit too far. Perhaps some of the people on that cruise were uncomfortable talking about war, maybe they are opposed to it, or maybe the civilian and the military lifestyles are just so far apart that they didn't know what to ask. Sometimes when I read her blog, she seemed so gung-ho I thought she should have been the one who joined the army.
I think we all live with a degree of illusions about our lives, and you've got to draw a line somewhere. Let's be real here, military life may be great for some people, but it's stifling for others. Just because you had opted not to join the military, or have decided to get out after serving for awhile, doesn't mean that you are less patriotic than lifers.
Now back to nursing the cold!
It has been a pretty quiet day so far. The GF went to wal-mart and got some stuff so we could eat. The pets have been napping on and off all day long. I read some stuff online when the GF referred me to this site called "Trying to Grok", feel free to google the site! The author of the blog is a military wife, and she started to blog when her husband got deployed to Iraq and has been blogging ever since.
Her particular entry today was about how she has been so enriched by living as a military wife, in a military community, surrounded by military people. She mentioned a particular instance when she and her husband went on a cruise, and when she mentioned that they're from Missouri but now living in Germany because of the military, the rest of the people at the table got silent, almost uncomfortable and just stayed away from questions about what it was like in Iraq/Germany.
I'm glad that Mrs. Grok has found her niche, but I also thought that she had gone a bit too far. Perhaps some of the people on that cruise were uncomfortable talking about war, maybe they are opposed to it, or maybe the civilian and the military lifestyles are just so far apart that they didn't know what to ask. Sometimes when I read her blog, she seemed so gung-ho I thought she should have been the one who joined the army.
I think we all live with a degree of illusions about our lives, and you've got to draw a line somewhere. Let's be real here, military life may be great for some people, but it's stifling for others. Just because you had opted not to join the military, or have decided to get out after serving for awhile, doesn't mean that you are less patriotic than lifers.
Now back to nursing the cold!
Monday, May 16, 2005
Lovely weekend
Got words last night that my grandpa, after having made some improvement, was put back to intensive care unit for a high fever, probably due to bladder infection, and dangerously low blood pressure levels. As much as I am not ready or don't want it to happen, the end may be closer for my grandfather than ever. I also noticed that I've been closing in because of my worries for him, my grandma, who's in the throes of alzheimer's, and also work, I'm working with a whole bunch of really smart people, and to turn out quality products in short amount of time can be a bit trying.
So, if someone from home says the word, I'll be flying back home to try and see grandpa. I really hope he'll pull through again, but I also do realize that he is really old and tired.
The GF and I tried to take it easy this weekend, slept late yesterday and today. Went for a little bike ride, eat at a local pub, went to the zoo, and ate well. The weather was just great! It was just a bit on the cool side but at least it was sunny and pleasant. The zoo in Kansas City was okay, but there were not a lot of varieties of animals there, maybe they're having budgeting problems.
It wasn't all a loss at the zoo though, we were looking at the lions exhibit and we saw two lions getting it on!!!! Goto the photopage and check the pictures out. It was like watching animal porn! I thought that funniest part was the fact that there were lots of kids, toddler age, there and they didn't really know what was going on. I thought that the parents found the act amusing but were kind of stuck on answers for their kids. I heard one parent tell their kid, "They are hugging." I laughed so hard that I think some tears came out!
Every weekend should be this good, minus the bad news....
So, if someone from home says the word, I'll be flying back home to try and see grandpa. I really hope he'll pull through again, but I also do realize that he is really old and tired.
The GF and I tried to take it easy this weekend, slept late yesterday and today. Went for a little bike ride, eat at a local pub, went to the zoo, and ate well. The weather was just great! It was just a bit on the cool side but at least it was sunny and pleasant. The zoo in Kansas City was okay, but there were not a lot of varieties of animals there, maybe they're having budgeting problems.
It wasn't all a loss at the zoo though, we were looking at the lions exhibit and we saw two lions getting it on!!!! Goto the photopage and check the pictures out. It was like watching animal porn! I thought that funniest part was the fact that there were lots of kids, toddler age, there and they didn't really know what was going on. I thought that the parents found the act amusing but were kind of stuck on answers for their kids. I heard one parent tell their kid, "They are hugging." I laughed so hard that I think some tears came out!
Every weekend should be this good, minus the bad news....
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Paula Abdul and Corey Clark
Who really gives a shit about whether or not they had slept with each other. Why is Corey Clark such a loser, he lost the idolship on "American Idol", and life goes on, so he should get over it!
For those who actually give a damn about this issue, why don't y'all get back into something more meaningful like the Tupac conspiracy or something?
For those who actually give a damn about this issue, why don't y'all get back into something more meaningful like the Tupac conspiracy or something?
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Tues. morning
My satellite radio has been acting up lately, not getting much reception, don't know whether or not it has something to do with the wiring or the antenna, or the satellite that transmits the signals is about to go bad.
It has been a very trying past couople of days, I think the GF's faith in the future and us level is at a all time low. She said that I've pretty much checked out on the relationship two years ago...right around the time that I got deployed. I don't want the relationship to go out like that, but if being together is going to feel worse than being along, then what is the sense in that? She doesn't think that I try and has always put myself first in the relationship, and I really hope that I wasn't really like that.
I'm not trying to make exucses about how hard it was being deployed and everything, I tried and adapted somewhat, I had to try and make the best of the situation,even though the process of it had been not the best.
I don't know how but I hope things would somehow improve between us, I really hope so.
It has been a very trying past couople of days, I think the GF's faith in the future and us level is at a all time low. She said that I've pretty much checked out on the relationship two years ago...right around the time that I got deployed. I don't want the relationship to go out like that, but if being together is going to feel worse than being along, then what is the sense in that? She doesn't think that I try and has always put myself first in the relationship, and I really hope that I wasn't really like that.
I'm not trying to make exucses about how hard it was being deployed and everything, I tried and adapted somewhat, I had to try and make the best of the situation,even though the process of it had been not the best.
I don't know how but I hope things would somehow improve between us, I really hope so.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Happy Friday
It has been kind of quiet at work today, since it's Friday, no one's mind was really at work, and some have even taken the day off or left work early. The people who are there tried to stay somewhat focused by taking frequent smoke or coffee breaks. In a place to which not much goes on, I wonder what people are so anxious about when it comes to Fridays. I mean, do they go and gorge themselves on bad movies on DVD and food? Or do they go home and have marathon sex?
The GF went to play poker earlier in the day but quickly got out because today wasn't a good poker day for her. She was really disappointed. I think I disappointed her even more when we went bike riding and I left her behind when she got tired. We went riding on some back country road near where we live at, and I have to admit the hills kicked my butt too, almost crashed 2x. I didn't mean to, but lately I don't think I've done a lot of stuff that has impressed her lately.
Been having a lot of strange dreams,not all of which I remember, but I do know that they were strange, and it puzzles me somewhat as to why I'm having these dreams.
It's a quiet night,after the bike ride,none of us really wanted to do or say much. Maybe things will perk up more tomorrow. Off to bed now.
The GF went to play poker earlier in the day but quickly got out because today wasn't a good poker day for her. She was really disappointed. I think I disappointed her even more when we went bike riding and I left her behind when she got tired. We went riding on some back country road near where we live at, and I have to admit the hills kicked my butt too, almost crashed 2x. I didn't mean to, but lately I don't think I've done a lot of stuff that has impressed her lately.
Been having a lot of strange dreams,not all of which I remember, but I do know that they were strange, and it puzzles me somewhat as to why I'm having these dreams.
It's a quiet night,after the bike ride,none of us really wanted to do or say much. Maybe things will perk up more tomorrow. Off to bed now.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
what's going on....
We've been living in this part of the Great Midwest for almost a month now, and both of us are trying not to feel like that we've moved into a complete cultural vacuum. It seems like you've basically got to drive 30+ minutes to get to anywhere. There seem to be a lack of available jobs, culture, ethnic eateries, and everything just seems to be really free-floating.
I've been trying to do some cycling, and for what little social interaction it offers, it's just another way to really try and enjoy the sceneries, you know, lots of rolling hills and farmlands. Working on a military post means that you get to enjoy certain amenities such as the gym and the swimming pool, but as I get to do these things, I feel more or less like I am on auto-pilot, these people really do keep to themselves.
One would think that by moving to a place where nothing is happening, one would be more apt to read more, write more, or even develop a new skill right? So far, that hasn't been the case, I'm ashamed to say. My dog is, however, getting more time spent with nature, I call it "grass time", it's better for the poopy! The cats are getting by, but I'm sure that they'd be so much happier to get back outside and play!
So we'll just have to keep on keeping on....because there just isn't much left to do....
I've been trying to do some cycling, and for what little social interaction it offers, it's just another way to really try and enjoy the sceneries, you know, lots of rolling hills and farmlands. Working on a military post means that you get to enjoy certain amenities such as the gym and the swimming pool, but as I get to do these things, I feel more or less like I am on auto-pilot, these people really do keep to themselves.
One would think that by moving to a place where nothing is happening, one would be more apt to read more, write more, or even develop a new skill right? So far, that hasn't been the case, I'm ashamed to say. My dog is, however, getting more time spent with nature, I call it "grass time", it's better for the poopy! The cats are getting by, but I'm sure that they'd be so much happier to get back outside and play!
So we'll just have to keep on keeping on....because there just isn't much left to do....
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
So far....
Had a fairly quiet weekend, did the grocery shopping thing, the movie thing ("Kung-Fu Hustle" kinda funny, you should go and see it!), some heart to heart time with the GF (she said that I was being a lot like her in the stuff that I had been thinking about. I just wasn't sure if I could do the emotional support thing for her much anymore, if I wasn't doing a good job from before.), and we closed the weekend with a meeting with the gal that I had messed with while I was in Iraq! She just came back from a four-week training in California and was stopping by the post to pick up some stuff for her uniform.
Amazingly, the GF was cool with it, and I guess that gal was too. She met my pets, saw the new apt., chit chatted about her new boyfriend that she swore was "the one", and all the time I was curious about how the GF thought of her and vise versa. I think the GF would rather me not ever talk to her again, and that just may be what would happen, changes in life and passage of time would take care of that. I didn't think that being mean was the way to go.
It has been diffucult lately, we just moved, and I was gone again to see my folks, and it's just so damn easy to become ultra-sensitive about all things. I'd like to sleep for a week straight, veg out with the GF and the pets, talking about anything but the sensitive topics that have no easy answers, and just go on from there.
Amazingly, the GF was cool with it, and I guess that gal was too. She met my pets, saw the new apt., chit chatted about her new boyfriend that she swore was "the one", and all the time I was curious about how the GF thought of her and vise versa. I think the GF would rather me not ever talk to her again, and that just may be what would happen, changes in life and passage of time would take care of that. I didn't think that being mean was the way to go.
It has been diffucult lately, we just moved, and I was gone again to see my folks, and it's just so damn easy to become ultra-sensitive about all things. I'd like to sleep for a week straight, veg out with the GF and the pets, talking about anything but the sensitive topics that have no easy answers, and just go on from there.
Friday, April 22, 2005
sex
* It should be butt-nekked.
* Both (or however many partners you'd prefer at once) should have been showered and clean, none of that heavily perfumed shit.
* Sweat should only be for afterwords.
* Stupid shit should not be uttered during sex, sometimes, "ohhs, and ahhhhs" would do fine.
* If you are not done, and she (or he) is, go ahead and jack off.
* Never attempt any positions that you are not flexible enough or in shape for.
* Keep the farting to a minimum.
* Scented candles, scented candles!
* "Oh you are so big!" should be uttered only at the right moments.
* Hands, hands are very important.
* No excessive spit.
* Please brush and gargle before, not after.
* Make sure that positionally speaking, you two (or three or four) are in agreement.
* Lube!
* Make sure your toys are fun and can pack some punches! (not literally, but the stronger the viberation, the better it is.)
* Ventilation, very important for oral sex performance. (If you don't want to pass out.)
* There's nothing wrong with either dick or pussy.
* Don't forget to snuggle afterwards!
* Both (or however many partners you'd prefer at once) should have been showered and clean, none of that heavily perfumed shit.
* Sweat should only be for afterwords.
* Stupid shit should not be uttered during sex, sometimes, "ohhs, and ahhhhs" would do fine.
* If you are not done, and she (or he) is, go ahead and jack off.
* Never attempt any positions that you are not flexible enough or in shape for.
* Keep the farting to a minimum.
* Scented candles, scented candles!
* "Oh you are so big!" should be uttered only at the right moments.
* Hands, hands are very important.
* No excessive spit.
* Please brush and gargle before, not after.
* Make sure that positionally speaking, you two (or three or four) are in agreement.
* Lube!
* Make sure your toys are fun and can pack some punches! (not literally, but the stronger the viberation, the better it is.)
* Ventilation, very important for oral sex performance. (If you don't want to pass out.)
* There's nothing wrong with either dick or pussy.
* Don't forget to snuggle afterwards!
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Update
On this past Saturday, I got a phone call from my sister, telling me that my grandpa got into the hospital a few hours ago, dangerously low blood pressure got him in an ambulance. She said that my uncle (who usually is around my grandparents a lot) was close to tears as he was calling her. We agreed to get plane tickets for flights leaving our perspective towns at the earliest time possible.
I had just moved, and this is not the kind of stuff that I needed, but who's really in control of all this anyways? I frantically looked for plane tickets and finally found one leaving at 6 in the morning and with a military discount. It was already close to one in the morning, I was tearing up too. The gf was looking and I'm sure feeling helpless for me too. I cried for a bit and told her that I wasn't ready to see him go, who is?
Didn't get much sleep that night, arrived at the airport, met up with my sister, and rushed towards the hospital. Grandpa was in intensive care unit, and he was all tubed up from breathing tubes, IV lines, to catheters in his groin area. I've never seen him so helpless. His eyes couldn't even open because he was so weak. How did it all get so bad? I just talked to him on the phone a day earlier, he sounded weak but was hanging in there.
He had over 8 doctors of different specialities examine him, and no one really has any answers on why he was ill. All they could do is treat whatever symptoms that comes up. I think his will is very strong, I've seen him attempt to communicate, and struggle to open his eyes. All the members of the family pulled different shifts to be in ICU with him, then taking turns taking care of grandma, who has been freaking out (rationally or irrationally), and getting boxed lunches for those pulling their shifts in the hospital. That means not a lot of sleep for anyone and lots of over-flavored Chinese foods.
Everyone was frustrated but did their best to get along, however, I could no longer stand one of my aunt's (not the one that I grew up with) negative atttitudes towards me and the general scenario of trying to take care of the folks, so instead of exploding in front of her face, I wrote her a serious letter, asking her to cut the crap out, that no one is asking her to be anyone's best friend, but could she just be more mature about this whole thing. I had withstood her attitude over the years but it's getting ridiculous, you know?
I felt afraid, tired, and not knowing what to do all at the same time. Questioning my relationships with family, friends,and gf, and wondering if I should just be a hermit, drop out of life for a while and then start again.
Yet, looking at grandpa and how he's fighting for his life, there are still some things worthwhile and in a way, I know at least what some of them are.
I had just moved, and this is not the kind of stuff that I needed, but who's really in control of all this anyways? I frantically looked for plane tickets and finally found one leaving at 6 in the morning and with a military discount. It was already close to one in the morning, I was tearing up too. The gf was looking and I'm sure feeling helpless for me too. I cried for a bit and told her that I wasn't ready to see him go, who is?
Didn't get much sleep that night, arrived at the airport, met up with my sister, and rushed towards the hospital. Grandpa was in intensive care unit, and he was all tubed up from breathing tubes, IV lines, to catheters in his groin area. I've never seen him so helpless. His eyes couldn't even open because he was so weak. How did it all get so bad? I just talked to him on the phone a day earlier, he sounded weak but was hanging in there.
He had over 8 doctors of different specialities examine him, and no one really has any answers on why he was ill. All they could do is treat whatever symptoms that comes up. I think his will is very strong, I've seen him attempt to communicate, and struggle to open his eyes. All the members of the family pulled different shifts to be in ICU with him, then taking turns taking care of grandma, who has been freaking out (rationally or irrationally), and getting boxed lunches for those pulling their shifts in the hospital. That means not a lot of sleep for anyone and lots of over-flavored Chinese foods.
Everyone was frustrated but did their best to get along, however, I could no longer stand one of my aunt's (not the one that I grew up with) negative atttitudes towards me and the general scenario of trying to take care of the folks, so instead of exploding in front of her face, I wrote her a serious letter, asking her to cut the crap out, that no one is asking her to be anyone's best friend, but could she just be more mature about this whole thing. I had withstood her attitude over the years but it's getting ridiculous, you know?
I felt afraid, tired, and not knowing what to do all at the same time. Questioning my relationships with family, friends,and gf, and wondering if I should just be a hermit, drop out of life for a while and then start again.
Yet, looking at grandpa and how he's fighting for his life, there are still some things worthwhile and in a way, I know at least what some of them are.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The tale of two bitches
As most of you probably already knew, I was raised by my paternal grandparents, followed by a few years of living with my aunt (my father's younger sister), and uncle (her husband). In my recollection, life was pretty peaceful with my grandparents, and life with aunt and uncle was a whole other matter. I had always admired my aunt from when I was a little girl, I was born when she was in high school and since she was my mother's age, some people had mistaken us for mother and daughter. Something happened over the years and she became a picky and domineering woman, and my primary memory from the age of 10 to about 17, (I had also lived for 2 years in between with my father and stepmother, who really should have not become parents to start with.)I remember the daily yellings and lots of that psychological manipulation stuff. She dominated me and my uncle, and my uncle and I are cordial, but we were never close to began with.
I finally moved out to goto college, thus ending that part of my life with her. Don't get me wrong, she had all the best intentions, she just pushed me too hard from time to time. She's now in her 50's and has a son of her own since I left to goto college, he's an smart and active 15 year old. She works in the textile industry and has her one woman ran business. I don't know how big or how profitable her business is, but it frequently takes her to Southeast Asia for business. She's so ambitious that I don't think she'll retire any time soon.
My uncle, her younger brother, always have been the smartest and upright kid of his pack, did just about everything right, except that he married this seemingly sweet woman who basically turned out to be a total bitch. Maybe he had married the type that he fancied, someone masochistic always seems to want someone sadistic to be their partner. She was a Vietnamese immigrant from a large family, met my uncle while they were both graduate students, and married in the mid-80's. At first she was pretty sweet, then something happened, as if she had forgotten that a typical Asian family is, in nature, a large family with all 3-4 generations present and living in close proximity. Maybe she got sick of the fact that my grandparents chose to live nearby and wanted to be involved in their kids lives, who really knows why. She got bitter and angry over the years and even though she didn't yet lash out, with the ways that she carried herself around my uncle side of the family, she might as well have.
When my grandpa got ill, my aunt flew down for a week to help and take care of him. There were a lot of tension between her and my uncle, over what the best care was for grandpa, and it really helped when my uncle wife would occasionally cry out "Why me? What did I do to deserve caring for this family?" In reality, it has been my uncle, her long-suffering husband, who has been taking care of the folks, bringing home the pay so she didn't have to go and find a job, and shuttling the kids from and to school and all the activities that they do. (To tell you the truth, my cousins, all three of them, ages range from 11 to 16, couldn't stand to lift a finger either to help their dad out.) I can only imagine how my aunt was feeling at that point. You see, my aunt, after having pissed off so many people, business associates, family and friends alike, will not hesitate to get into a full-fledge fight with her sister-in law. I only hope that when they do duke it out, it'll not be in front of the grandparents or my uncle.
Maybe they are just what each other needs, one to vent and the other to take.
It also kind of makes me afraid to have kids sometimes, am I going to raise them mostly Chinese or American? Am I going to pressure my kids to take care of me if I fell ill or have gotten really, really old? Or do I want us to be in a nursing home, with other old folks like us, that'll probably feel like we're back in college again...dormatory style living, all over again! Hopefully, by then we'll be so deep into our amnesia or alzheimers to really care!
My thoughts are with my grandparents.
I finally moved out to goto college, thus ending that part of my life with her. Don't get me wrong, she had all the best intentions, she just pushed me too hard from time to time. She's now in her 50's and has a son of her own since I left to goto college, he's an smart and active 15 year old. She works in the textile industry and has her one woman ran business. I don't know how big or how profitable her business is, but it frequently takes her to Southeast Asia for business. She's so ambitious that I don't think she'll retire any time soon.
My uncle, her younger brother, always have been the smartest and upright kid of his pack, did just about everything right, except that he married this seemingly sweet woman who basically turned out to be a total bitch. Maybe he had married the type that he fancied, someone masochistic always seems to want someone sadistic to be their partner. She was a Vietnamese immigrant from a large family, met my uncle while they were both graduate students, and married in the mid-80's. At first she was pretty sweet, then something happened, as if she had forgotten that a typical Asian family is, in nature, a large family with all 3-4 generations present and living in close proximity. Maybe she got sick of the fact that my grandparents chose to live nearby and wanted to be involved in their kids lives, who really knows why. She got bitter and angry over the years and even though she didn't yet lash out, with the ways that she carried herself around my uncle side of the family, she might as well have.
When my grandpa got ill, my aunt flew down for a week to help and take care of him. There were a lot of tension between her and my uncle, over what the best care was for grandpa, and it really helped when my uncle wife would occasionally cry out "Why me? What did I do to deserve caring for this family?" In reality, it has been my uncle, her long-suffering husband, who has been taking care of the folks, bringing home the pay so she didn't have to go and find a job, and shuttling the kids from and to school and all the activities that they do. (To tell you the truth, my cousins, all three of them, ages range from 11 to 16, couldn't stand to lift a finger either to help their dad out.) I can only imagine how my aunt was feeling at that point. You see, my aunt, after having pissed off so many people, business associates, family and friends alike, will not hesitate to get into a full-fledge fight with her sister-in law. I only hope that when they do duke it out, it'll not be in front of the grandparents or my uncle.
Maybe they are just what each other needs, one to vent and the other to take.
It also kind of makes me afraid to have kids sometimes, am I going to raise them mostly Chinese or American? Am I going to pressure my kids to take care of me if I fell ill or have gotten really, really old? Or do I want us to be in a nursing home, with other old folks like us, that'll probably feel like we're back in college again...dormatory style living, all over again! Hopefully, by then we'll be so deep into our amnesia or alzheimers to really care!
My thoughts are with my grandparents.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Update
As of yesterday afternoon, we're all packed, the movers came and loaded our earthly posessions onto a 18 wheeler, stuffed the cat into the cage (they are so going to kill us later!), and packed the dog in GF's car and off we went.
Boy am I going to miss Austin! Even though this city has been poor in job opportunities and rich in flaky people, you can't beat the warm weather, the food (oh yeah!), and its various interesting aspects. A friend of mine from my Iraq days came to say hello. It was kind of weird time, he was on a cross-country trip, kind of a reward/job search trip upon his retirement from the army. He's rather young for someone who is retiring (38), and is about to pull his hair out because he thought that getting a job would be easy upon retirement, after all, the war on terror is still going on, and he being ex-military, would be game for any defense contracting firm. The thing is, he was either too busy or unwilling to pick up additional skills aside from driving a tank, and chasing girls, so he's having a hard time now.
It's funny, he didn't have that much of fun in Iraq, since his girl chasing reputation preceeded him. For a while, he had a crush on my then roommate in Iraq, unfortunatly, his devotion did not yield to what he had wanted. He's a self-confessed pervert, but that was what was so enduring about him, at least he was honest about it. He told me over coffee that he thought that I was a bit of a prude when it came to that area....I just laughed. You see, one doesn't always have to be downloading porn all the time in order to be a perv. It was good to see him, between all the worries about jobs and frustration, I wish for all the best for him!
I also, through my friend, got to talk to another friend of mine from Iraq. She was a postal clerk there, and she came back to the reserves after about a 15 year break. Kind of interesting, like myself, she's not very military at all. A 47 year old free spirit, and a vegan, we had fun making fun of things and sometimes other people. She had kept in touch with my other friend but couldn't get in touch with me because she did not have my information. When I finally got to talk to her, I found out that she wasn't doing well. The war has affected her so much that now she's on antidepressants, and in counseling. It sucks but at least she's making an effort to help herself better.
My grandfather has become quite ill, and so far no one really knows why he's ill. His doctor thought that he had a stroke, but a brainscan found out that it wasn't true. Guesses included diabetes, chemical inbalance, etc. He's in a stupor all the time, cannot stay awake, doesn't really want to eat, and also cannot walk. I'm pretty worried about him. I know that he's pretty old and falling apart physically is part of the deal, but nevertheless, it's still pretty hard to accept. I really hope he feels better soon.
I've got to somehow buckle down and get back to work, unpack, and make our lives in a strange new place again. I have no idea how it'll all turn out, I hope that it'll be good though.
Boy am I going to miss Austin! Even though this city has been poor in job opportunities and rich in flaky people, you can't beat the warm weather, the food (oh yeah!), and its various interesting aspects. A friend of mine from my Iraq days came to say hello. It was kind of weird time, he was on a cross-country trip, kind of a reward/job search trip upon his retirement from the army. He's rather young for someone who is retiring (38), and is about to pull his hair out because he thought that getting a job would be easy upon retirement, after all, the war on terror is still going on, and he being ex-military, would be game for any defense contracting firm. The thing is, he was either too busy or unwilling to pick up additional skills aside from driving a tank, and chasing girls, so he's having a hard time now.
It's funny, he didn't have that much of fun in Iraq, since his girl chasing reputation preceeded him. For a while, he had a crush on my then roommate in Iraq, unfortunatly, his devotion did not yield to what he had wanted. He's a self-confessed pervert, but that was what was so enduring about him, at least he was honest about it. He told me over coffee that he thought that I was a bit of a prude when it came to that area....I just laughed. You see, one doesn't always have to be downloading porn all the time in order to be a perv. It was good to see him, between all the worries about jobs and frustration, I wish for all the best for him!
I also, through my friend, got to talk to another friend of mine from Iraq. She was a postal clerk there, and she came back to the reserves after about a 15 year break. Kind of interesting, like myself, she's not very military at all. A 47 year old free spirit, and a vegan, we had fun making fun of things and sometimes other people. She had kept in touch with my other friend but couldn't get in touch with me because she did not have my information. When I finally got to talk to her, I found out that she wasn't doing well. The war has affected her so much that now she's on antidepressants, and in counseling. It sucks but at least she's making an effort to help herself better.
My grandfather has become quite ill, and so far no one really knows why he's ill. His doctor thought that he had a stroke, but a brainscan found out that it wasn't true. Guesses included diabetes, chemical inbalance, etc. He's in a stupor all the time, cannot stay awake, doesn't really want to eat, and also cannot walk. I'm pretty worried about him. I know that he's pretty old and falling apart physically is part of the deal, but nevertheless, it's still pretty hard to accept. I really hope he feels better soon.
I've got to somehow buckle down and get back to work, unpack, and make our lives in a strange new place again. I have no idea how it'll all turn out, I hope that it'll be good though.
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