A co-worker's son spent a semester in Japan. You can see pictures from his trip here: Jeremy's Site

My favorites:

• Row of shops in Kyoto on the way to the temple
  
• cherry blossom trees at Imperial Palace Park
  
• Ramen vending machine
  
• Sushi bought from a store
  
• Japanese style breakfast at a hotel

The food pictures make me hungry, except for this one.

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Oscar Wilde: The Portrait of Dorian Gray. You are a horror novel from the world of dandies, rich pretty boys, art and aesthetics, and intellectual debates between ethical people and decadent pleasure-seekers. You value beauty and pleasure but realize their dangers, as well.


Which literature classic are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

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I think it was at church yesterday that I remembered my experience of almost being saved. You see, I was baptized Episcopalian. Most Christian denominations believe that upon baptism, our sins are forgiven. By God's grace, we won't go to hell. That's what they say.

I went to a private school for most of my education, a very fundamentalist school. The only reason I was able to attend was because my father worked there and my sister and I got in on discount. I never felt completely accepted, but I wasn't truly ostracized until my father became the asst. principal. At that point in time, there was no hope of me being accepted by the "cool" kids, with their Dooney and Bourke purses and their Girbaud jeans. The skater boys wouldn't talk to me, because they were doing bad stuff that I might tell my dad (of course, my main crush in middle school was a skater). I had a group of friends, but we were all outcasts: the girl with an overbite, the almost-chubby girl with an obvious crush, the non-white girl with a thick braid, and me.

We had weekly chapel services, and if we were "lucky", a pastor from the church would speak to us (one time we had someone come talk to us about the "evils" of homosexuality). At one of these, the preacher called for anyone who felt the "spirit" to come up front and be saved. I remember thinking this might be a way to social-acceptance, and was also just curious to see if anything special would happen. As we walked out the chapel to this guy's office (two other heathens and I), my dad grabbed my arm in the hall.

"What are you doing??!!" he asked me. He looked very disappointed, as well as angry with me.

I can't remember my response, but middle-school was my rebellious period, so it was probably something like, "I dunno." I went up to the office and talked to the preacher. He wanted to schedule a time for me to be baptized during a church service and more. We set up a time for me to come by again, and left it at that.

A week later, in health class, an office aide brought in a message for me from the preacher and I ignored it. I stuck it in a pocket in my binder and left it there.

Later on, I discovered public high school, where I was not an outcast, and this private school terminated my dad for not being Baptist. Well, that's the summarized version of it, anyway.
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I'm barely awake and tried to do an audio post, but I just had to post that after being in labor for 35 hours (my rough estimate), Kristina gave birth to Julian Tomas about an hour ago. It's pretty crazy thinking of her as a mom, but that's what she is now. I'm not sure about the name - when we had discussed names, this one never came up, but I like the Tomas part.

I'm now going to attempt to go back to sleep. We'll see.
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My first board meeting as President is tonight. I'm not really looking forward to it. I think it is going to be long (not by my fault) and there will be some angst between people. I have to try to stay neutral, which I can do, but I can't handle loud, brash people very well. I'll let you know how it goes.

My president's report:

President’s Report - 8/26/04

As was e-mailed to all of you, P---- resigned as President as of July 22, so I am now serving as President. I’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill, but know that I will work to the best of my ability with all of you, L--- and everyone at MdC to make sure that we use our resources responsibly to help as many in need as possible. I am encouraged by the success of our Back to School drive. I hope that you will keep me updated on issues regarding M---. I will certainly try to remain available for discussion and conversation, although e-mail is my preferred form of communication. My e-mail address is xxxx, and my phone numbers are xxx (work) and xxxxx (cell/home).

We have a new board member coming on from U---- Church. A-- has worked and is still working with various other local non-profits, as well as serving on the mission committee of U--, and I know that we will benefit from her knowledge and experience. She has already attended a fund development meeting and has already given us some great input and ideas.

I am looking forward to the branding package that the fund development committee will present to us at our next meeting in September. I am especially excited about the prospect of a new web site for our organization, as this will be another way for us to spread the news about MdC, and potentially get more donors (not necessarily just from the central Texas area) and volunteers.

As the fund development committee will report, the volunteer celebration is almost upon us! On September 30 we will celebrate our volunteers and the great work MdC is doing. Involvement of board members is needed for this celebration by helping lead groups through (our supposedly finished new office building), helping set up cake and refreshments, and other such tasks. Please let S-- or me know as soon as possible if you are unable to come.

Thank you for all the work you continue to do for MdC!
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Guster is coming to the Austin Music Hall on Sept. 11. I can't decide whether I can really afford to go. I don't know anyone else in Austin who is a Guster fan, so I'd probably have to buy a friend a ticket to bribe them to go with me.

I know they would be a great show, but the ACL fest is the next weekend! I just can't figure out what I really want to do. I haven't seen Guster in concert since 2000, so it is about time I caught them again, but I just don't know.
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I thought this post had disappeared into the void, but audioblogger must have found it finally and posted it for me.


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I think that covers it.


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I just read that the syndicated version of Who wants to be a Millionaire? (the version I prefer) is going to allow computer users to be part of the action. If you are on Instant Messenger during the taping of the show, you could be part of the "ask the audience" feature. So now I am keeping my IM open. I'm such a geek.

If you want to IM me, go to my profile for my screenname.
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create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

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In 1978 (the year you were born)

Jimmy Carter is president of the US US Senate votes to turn over the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999 Israel and Egypt reach a peace settlement at the Camp David Accords The US and mainland China announce that they will restore full diplomatic relations Members of Jim Jones' People's Temple commit mass suicide in Guyana Pope John Paul II becomes the first non-Italian pope in centuries Ted Bundy is captured in Florida The first computer bulletin board system is created Garfield debuts in newspapers Ashton Kutcher, Kobe Bryant, Usher, Clay Aiken, and Nelly Furtado are born New York Yankees win the World Series Dallas Cowboys win Superbowl XII Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup Saturday Night Fever and Grease are the top grossing films "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees spends the most time at the top of the US charts Diff'rent Strokes and Mork & Mindy premiere

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I hadn't heard this song in years, but thanks to KVSC on my iTunes, I got to hear it again. I almost bought this CD, but someone warned me that this song was the only decent one on it.

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
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I've gotten so callous when it comes to phone solicitations. As the main one who answers the phone at work, I get to deal with all types. I used to be so worried about hurting someone's feelings (not kidding) or having them think bad of me, but now, I just don't care. As soon as I hear that tell-tale pause when I answer the phone (their system figuring out that yours is a real number), I just hang up. Luckily I don't have to deal with telemarketers at all with my home phone. Yay, no call list!

I also strongly dislike solicitors who come to our office. Even though all entry points to this building clearly state, "NO SOLICITORS", people just ignore it and come on up. Because I am face-to-face with them, it is harder to be dismissive. I still do it though. I say we're not interested, even though I usually give them a business card for their tally.

Then when they do a "follow-up call", I hang up on them.
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The films I saw:

Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase
Pro and Con
and two other abstract shorts.

Ferry Tales

Both directors were in attendance last night at the Alamo and did Q&A with the audience.
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Words from A Word a Day that I have made note of (on a piece of paper in my writing desk at work):

excerebrose
benighted
urtext
petrichor
devoir
matutinal
candent
anent

My sentence attempts with same words:

Dubya is mighty excerebrose; some people also might think him benighted after hearing his speech mistakes.

I own the urtext of Barbara Park's "Skinnybones"; she later updated the book in the late 90s, and it's just not as funny.

I was able to post about the petrichor a few days ago because we had gotten some rain.

It is everyone's devoir to vote.

Part of my matutinal practice is to put on makeup, but it really depends on how much energy I have.

Howard Dean was quite candent in his speech last August at Fiesta Gardens. I took some pictures with my SLR camera, and the lighting exagerrates this.

Everything anent Fox News irks me to no end. I wish I could just boycott everything related to Fox, but I love my Simpsons too much.

Re: that last sentence, I found out that one of the funds I've got my IRA in has a small percentage invested in NewsCorp. It really angered me, but unfortunately, I can't switch to a socially-conscious fund. Whaa.
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Yesterday this here blog got at least 70 hits. That's more than I've ever gotten in a day on what I presume to be my other, more popular blog. I think I'll just keep posting about the Austin City Limits fest, because obviously, people like it.

Last night I had to go to a meeting for MdC (I only found out about it yesterday afternoon). It was a really long meeting, punctuated by the fact that I only had an apple to eat beforehand. I snacked on cheese and crackers during the meeting, but that only does so much.

Anyway, we are having a volunteer celebration in late September (Grupo Fantasma will be playing it), and during the worship service beforehand, I get to issue a welcome address. Everything in the service will be translated to Spanish, except for the sermon. The executive director told me that I would speak, and then someone would translate for me. I told her, if someone will write down the correct translation of my speech, I could do it (I did take about 8 years of Spanish in school). Now I regret saying that. Speaking in front of lots of people is much easier for me to do when compared with singing, but in Spanish? At least I know it will be short.
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There are more than a couple of times that bands I wanted to catch are playing up against each other. Sheryl Crow vs. Los Lonely Boys, Mindy Smith v. Calexico, Modest Mouse v. Abra Moore, Terri Hendrix v. Neko Case. Argh!

Schedule for ACL Festival
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I can't blame work too much.

I can't blame my volunteering with the non-profit, either.

I went to this blog and read a couple of entries and was so impressed.

I used to be able to write stuff like that. Maybe not of the same caliber - in fact, my stories were always a little funny. Anyway, now I am slightly disappointed in myself for saying I will write, and not doing it.

Maybe this weekend I will take a break from packing and make myself write. Or at least try to do a few exercises from my copy of Escaping Into the Open. It's honestly been a few years since I tried anything from the book.

Ah, it's my own fault.
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Thanks to Radmila, I find this entry about movies that make you cry, and here's what I came up with:

Joy Luck Club - I always cry.

Steel Magnolias - I always cry at Sally Field's scene in the graveyard. It is a sure thing for me to cry when watching this movie.

The Pianist - I bawled when he was separated from his family at the train station.

Field of Dreams - when Ray meets his dad on the field.

It's a Wonderful Life - when "Auld Lang Syne" starts up, I'm choked up.

Farenheit 9/11 - I got extremely choked up when the mom read her son's letter from Iraq.

Finding Nemo - when Nemo finds his dad. Yah, I'm a sap.

Whale Rider - when her grandfather doesn't come to her performance.

The Iron Giant - I love this movie! His sacrifice gets me every time.

Goodbye Mr. Chips - when all the kids say it.

Random Harvest - go rent it if you haven't seen it yet. A 1940's melodrama with Greer Garson and Ronald Colman.

In the Name of the Father
Shadowlands
Sophie's Choice
Lilo and Stitch - when Lilo and her other sister are on the hammock. and the ending, too.

What about you?

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Thanks to Scott Bateman, I have gotten hooked on mash-ups. He posted a few of Go Home Productions' mixes on his site, and now I'm searching for more.

These mash-ups - I think John Cage would've been interested in them. They aren't as random as he would have liked, but it seems like something he would dig.

Right now I'm listening to osymyso's mash-up called "Intro-inspection", which takes intros from 101 different pop songs and puts them together into one 12-minute piece.

I think I might be getting addicted.
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Which Nigerian spammer are You?

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1) Sheryl Crow - I haven't seen her since the Buffalo Bowl in 1999. (update: that would be the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. Obviously I only went there once!)
2) Patty Griffin - I've never been able to see her in concert, and I LOVE her stuff.
3) Neko Case - I love her work with the New P*rnographers, so am excited to be seeing her
4) Los Lonely Boys - although I've heard they aren't that great live.
5) Elvis Costello - I'm not a big fan, but it will be neat to see him.
6) Franz Ferdinand/Modest Mouse - I think they will be an awesome show, even though I've only heard one song from each of them.
7) Blind Boys of Alabama/Ben Harper - I am sure these groups will be great in concert.
8) Abra Moore
9) Mindy Smith - I already know she'll be a good show.
10) Calexico - I love their cover of "Alone again or. . ."
11) Bob Schneider/Bruce Robison/David Garza - I like what I've heard from these guys, but have never made it to their shows.
12) Terri Hendrix

I think this fest will be the place to be in September!
Artists & Schedules

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What I've been thinking about for the past few days:

Isn't it strange that a) I know someone who was murdered, b) a shootout occured behind a Habitat house I was working on in Minnesota, and now c) a murder/suicide happened near my apartment complex? Surely this is abnormal. I'm really wondering what it all means. I myself haven't been a victim of violence, but it seems to happen in the outskirts around me.

update: I also went to high school with the man they called the Greenbelt murderer. I just remembered that.

I'm actually thinking about trying online dating. A cry for help? I don't know. It just seems like I'm not meeting anyone new lately. I volunteered for SxSW to meet people, and I did - I met a now pretty-close friend and an acquaintance. Nothing more. Where I work isn't conducive to meeting a romantic interest, that's for sure.

I can't focus on higher literature anymore. I can concentrate on higher lit that I've read before, like the copy of After Dachau that I bought at The Book Stop in Albuquerque. However, I try to read The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and I just can't make myself do it. I'm really frustrated with myself; all I read nowadays is chick-lit.

and of course, my financial situation is pretty much always in the back of my mind. I hate that I think about money so much. I'm really not that into it; I'm just trying to figure out how to get by on what I've got.
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- finding out the A/C isn't functioning in my office building

- finding out a murder/suicide occured in the proximity of my apartment complex (from a reporter at the scene)

- the fact that I'm moving this month, and my finances are extremely tighter than normal

Other than that - my week is going great!
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