putting the knit in shizknit

Wet Fun

You could be full of shit and become a weatherman here in SoCal. Its either sunny or rainy here and right now the rain is coming down so hard that if I were to take Mia out for a walk, I'm afraid I'll be swept away by the down currents in the gutter as we attempt to cross the street. Not that I relied on the stupid Doppler 7000 crap by ABC7 but we had planned yesterday's snow trip for over a week now, perfectly, right before the storm. I snowboarded for the second time, which has resulted in my current state of soreness in many parts of my body that typically goes unused. It was raining when we left LA but by the time we arrived at Mt. High, it was amazingly gorgeous. Freakin' cold, but gorgeous.

We went with two groups of people - Guy and Hiroko from Hawaii and Jakobi and Cassandra from Chicago - two different climates of America and neither had really snow*'ed before. J&C decided to take ski lessons and G&H did snowboarding lessons with T&I.

By the afternoon the storm had begun rolling in, and with it lots of cold blasts of air. By the time we were leaving, I was still on my ass a lot but Jakobi was blasting by on his skiis - my legs were so gimpy I was having a difficult time controlling them in order to move me in specific directions. I hate that feeling, especially because I was the driver and I drive stick shift.

Overall, it was great wet fun followed up by some hella good dumplings at the Din Tai Fung in Arcadia. They don't take reservations, and they don't seat without your entire party being present. They opened at 5 PM and by the time we arrived at 5:20 PM, the place was hoppin. There is a glass window where can watch the mostly Mexican staff wrapping the dumplings and the steamers fully stocked (oh my, that sounded like a fobby sentence). The dumplings are sold in trays of 10, so go with a bigger party so you can taste a bigger variety. The prices ranged, but every 10 dumplings were about $6.50 or so. They came out piping hot off the steamer and were extremely juicy inside, but especially with the vinegar, soy sauce and baby ginger slices were absolutely a delectable dish. It was perfect for that horribly cold, rainy weather. Overall it was Good, but I would only return again if I were in a party of 4+ people.

Sex & the City Season 6, Part II

There are those who like to plan and schedule, and others who like to live at the seat of their pants. I'm the type of person who likes to plan days to live on the seat of my pants. I'm also one of the rare few who doesn't have cable TV, in fact, we watch most of our TV on a 13" VCR/TV combo I've had since the dorm days of college. The one thing I miss about cable is Sex & the City on HBO, although not a huge problem because I am impatient and I love watching the episodes in marathon, rather than weekly. It was torture waiting so long for the second DVD set of the last season 6 to come out - thus today had been a planned vegetation day - pick up DVD at 10 AM when stores open, and then veg.... until I've watched every last episode. I loved every minute of it!

Favorite quote by Carrie: "I've taken a lovvvver"
Favorite moment: When Petrovski surprises Carrie with an Oscar de la Renta dress and an evening at the opera and asks her for a dance outside the MET as a quartet serenades the incoming guests.
On the Ending: perfect-o. We now know Mr. Bigg's name is "John" and we can relate to (or wish for) that moment when life is falling apart around us and the love of our lives walks in to save us. Also, the choice of dress when Carrie is sleeping on Petrovski's bed was outstanding - it was absolutely gorgeous.

Christmas Follow-up

Ahhhh yes. I had heard about this poster at work, simply a rumor, more like a legend. The story goes that many don't think much of Orlando Bloom other than a pointy-eared blonde bow and arrow man from Lord of the Rings, but once they see this calendar, they fall in love. My biggest dilemma is trying to figure out where in my office (where I seem to spend most of my time) I should post it. Poster is courtesy of my very considerate Hawaiian buds Guy and Hiroko.

I spent Christmas with T's family where I got to meet the newest addition to their family, the cutest chihuahua named Oreo. He was very nervous, anxious and territorial which made for an interesting evening considering that my Mia has some issues with dogs on her own, especially when on leash. It was a nice quiet evening as we watched movies on TV (a reason why I don't have cable, I would be glued to the TV all day long and get nothing accomplished), ate dinner and Japanese Christmas cake. This is quite random, but the Japanese eat cake on Christmas because they think this is what Americans do (which is also the reasoning for the blond hair I've seen these days). So what did we do? We did what we think the Japanese think the Americans do. Oh, and if you look closely at the cake picture, you will see that Santa Claus had the first bite of frosting.

The Little Tree That Could...

Last year, I got to experience a live Christmas tree. We went to the lot, picked one out, tied it to my car, drove it home, dragged it up the stairs, set it up and cleaned up the mess. After the Holidays, we purchased a saw, sawed it into pieces, and cleaned up the mess. As much as I enjoyed a real tree, I couldn't go through with it again this year. While home at Thanksgiving, I found the cutest package at the Vons up in Oakhurst. Now you're probably wondering what on earth I found at the local grocery store - it was a potted baby tree (replant after the holidays!), a box of 20 hand-painted ornaments and blinking christmas lights all in one package for $18! This cute darling is now what we've nicknamed "the little tree that could" as it has somehow managed to accumulate more presents than the tree 20 times its size last year.

Since we are in the wee hours of Christmas morning, let me just quickly post my newest prized possession :) I will post more later, as I need to go download The Complete U2.

Cabochon Ring II

I never updated my cabochon ring project. I hand sawed the excess silver off of the bottom and then hand smoothed it down with a file and sandpaper. I then drilled a small hole in the middle of the bottom piece, then hand sawed a hole leaving 2 mm edge. The most difficult part was to saw it so cleanly and evenly since it determines the amount of light that shines on the stone from the bottom. I decided to do a thick band of sorts, and so I sawed and milled flat another piece of silver to approx 1.5 mm and hand sawed a curve into the band. I can't wait for the Winter quarter to start so I can finish!

..

Mood: Tired, serene
Reading: blog
Drinking: diet pepsi, should be a red bull

Danger! Achtung!

Need I say more? Actually, I was just mulling around the kitchen waiting for T to come home from work and cook me something, I noticed this on the fridge:

First 5K Run!

On May 7, 2005 I will be running my first 5K marathon! It will be with the Revlon Run/Walk at the LA Coliseum, in support of fighting against women's cancers. Please support me by making a tax-deductible donation online!

Cabochon Ring

Next project is a cabochon ring! A good friend had bought me this aquamarine cabochon stone to entice me to sign up for this class. I'm glad that she did! Again, I started with a chunk of silver and milled it flat for the long piece which I hand-wrapped around the stone for measurement. After some sawing and soldering, it became an oval ring that the stone can fit snugly into. Then, I took a flat piece which was soldered onto the bottom. Next steps will be to saw the excess flat piece off, saw a circle on the bottom and to file smooth!

Week 3 Update

So today marks week 3 since my Lasik procedure. Since my last update, I have noticed fluctuations - for the better! By 5 days after my procedure, I noticed a remarkable difference in vision - it came during my drive home (a 3 hour drive through the Grapevine and Central California) when I realized I was seeing mountains and peaks that I hadn't seen before (and I don't mean because of smog or fog). In fact, the edges were more crisp and clear, and the colors were brighter. When taking walks through the fields, I looked down and was shocked to see the way the dirt crumbles and falls under my shoes and I'm starting to notice how dirty my shower really is...

On my first day back to work, I was almost blinded by the brightness of my LCD monitor. Things in general as well as colors seem brighter in general, and had to reduce the brightness to 70% and then push the monitor to the edge of my desk. By the end of the day (like many people, I'm at my computer most of the day) I was experiencing some eye strain which has gotten better as the days have gone on.

I don't know what my prescription currently is, as I haven't had another checkup. I originally had one scheduled on Tuesday, but then got rescheduled for next Monday (slightly annoying, as my surgery had been a reschedule as well) but since Dr. Assil is a man in demand (he's the Lasik surgeon for the FOX show The Swan), I guess thats to be expected. Overall, I love it. My left eye still seems to be not as great as my right eye, but overall I'm seeing better than when I had my contacts. Happy Happy! :)

UPDATE: As of the Monday appointment, I am seeing 20/20 with both eyes. My right eye is now 20/20 and my left 20/30 which is a large improvement over the day after surgery. My next appointment will be in 2 months.

The freedom which binds us.... to those before us.

I love to read. Nothing felt more welcoming than a stack of magazines and catalogs to leaf through upon coming home (okay, well, the gorgeous roses were quite nice too). The latest issue of Newsweek had a wonderful article written by Jenny Norenberg on a topic that really struck a chord with me - the challenges and excitement about being young, educated, and having your whole life ahead of you as well as its relation to the generations of women before us. Having the opportunity to spend so much time with my own grandma, I realized how similar we are in so many aspects, even though everything else in the world is so very different. This trip was so very special, a true unique gift and opportunity to look introspectively and to look forward to what the future may bring.