Apple Bonkers

Out of Curiosity

2009-07-10T02:37:26Z

Does anyone out there ever look at this page anymore? Admittedly there hasn't been anything here to look at for quite a while - most of my musings these days come in status outbursts on Facebook. Just wondering.

Extending hands, hoping for unclenched fists

2009-01-21T02:52:25Z

"Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
- Barack Obama, 1/20/09

I was stunned to hear the President of the United States say something like this today. Really, I almost couldn't believe my ears. I guess I am more used to hearing Presidents use phrases like "Evil Empire" and "Axis of Evil" and "you're either with us or against us." Today, I was not alone in seeing the world as one world - and in the midst of all the world's troubles, I am overwhelmed with hope. I want it to last. I'm prepared to put my own efforts into making it last.

I've never experienced a day like this before. My mother on the phone this evening told me I was getting a taste of what it was like in a time before me, when Americans knew the inspiration of leaders like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I heard a new amazement in her voice, that her children were actually experiencing the kind of power those leaders once inspired. I think she thought she'd never see that happen for her kids (my sister and brother-in-law were somewhere out there on the Mall - I can't wait to hear their stories). I sure wouldn't have believed it myself, even four years ago. Our nation has been through a terrible, dark time. It's still in one. But today I fervently believe what I have often questioned in recent times - and I know the American spirit will prevail.

I took the morning off from work today to attend a community viewing of the Inauguration at the Mexican Heritage Center. The event was the brilliant brainchild of an African-American gentleman (I'm trying to Google his name now but I can't find it quickly) who related an anecdote about telling one of his fellow African-Americans about the Mexican Heritage Center, a wonderful community center in San Jose, and asking if she'd been there. She had replied, "Well - no, I didn't think that was for us." I was tempted to raise my hand and share with the auditorium my own anecdote, about how I once performed in the building in a Chinese play. And, of course, there were people of all races and cultural backgrounds in the auditorium today. Clearly, the Mexican Heritage Center is for everyone!

The hundreds of us present cheered at the sight of the sheer enormity of the walls and walls of people in D.C. when the giant TV screen was turned on. I couldn't helped but be moved by the massive example of a peaceful assembly. I could feel kindness and regard emanating from all those people. If that's a corny thing to say, I don't care. I know that's what I felt.

When Obama arrived on the scene, we engaged in a standing ovation for a man who was on the other side of the country and certainly couldn't see what we were doing. We cheered, we applauded, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who teared up. We stood for Biden's oath and we stood for Obama's oath. So much standing and sitting and standing again I began to feel like I was at Mass!

We watched the ceremonies up until the poem by Elizabeth Alexander. The TV was turned off and our organizer returned to the stage and said "Wow." I think he spoke for everyone in the building. He soon thereafter introduced Joyce Randolph, whom he called "our own Aretha Franklin" who led the crowd in "America the Beautiful." She was indeed fabulous like Aretha, living proof of the rich talent that exists in so many corners of the country. We held hands and strangers hugged strangers when the song was done.

Then we broke up in small groups that met in various rooms in the building - some groups met in the classroom; mine met in the theater lobby. Our group facilitator led us in discussion of two questions (here I paraphrase): "What did Obama's inaugural speech mean to you, and what do you think it means for America?" and "What are the possibilities you see in serving the community?" Our small group was reflective of the large group in terms of its diversity in age, race, and gender. We discussed a great spectrum of issues, and came up with an action item for everyone: "Get to Know Your Neighbors." We reconvened into the big group and representatives from each of the twelve of so small groups spent a few minutes sharing thoughts.

I have felt deep cynicism and sorrow in my life, on global, national, and personal levels. But I have never for one second, ever lost the belief I have in the incredible potential for goodness and strength that exists in human beings, and today I saw that potential brim to the surface, in the people around me, in the million or so on the National Mall, in the new leader of the Free World. Whatever happens from here on out, I will always know what I witnessed today.

Around noon Pacific Time, when this ingenious event in San Jose came to a close, Joyce Randolph took the stage again. She led us in another song. This time, it was "We Shall Overcome." Halfway through, the man next to me turned to me and warned me he was going to yell out: "Everybody hold hands." Everybody did. And, finally, Joyce brought to us one final verse:

We have overcome,
We have overcome,
We have overcome, today.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We have overcome, today.

An open letter to Andrew Pugno, General Counsel of the Yes on 8 campaign:

2008-11-08T05:05:16Z

You said: “It is time that the opponents of traditional marriage respect the voters’ decision.”

We are not opponents of traditional marriage. We are proponents of marriage equality. And we will fight for equality for as long as we live.

applebonkers @ 2008-10-29T21:57:00

2008-10-30T04:57:47Z

Happy Birthday Steven!

Best Campaign Video Ever

2008-09-27T17:59:53Z

http://uncaged.yesonprop2.com/

All Animals Deserve Humane Treatment

2008-09-23T04:57:51Z

I'm tired, and my writing may not be at its most structured (or even at its least structured), but some of today's thoughts are below. There are likely to be typos that I'm too worn out to find and fix. And I'm ranting a bit, I'll admit. But I only rant when I care.

Here's a scan of the leaflet I passed out at the farmer's market yesterday. It was my first leaf-letting experience. I was scared about how people would react, but at a Prop 2 gathering I attended one of the speakers said to think about how you weren't campaigning for yourself, but for the animals, and that thought definitely helped me feel brave enough to spread the message. And fortunately, pretty much the worst thing anyone did to me was ignore me. Lots of people seems to really applaud what I was doing, and that felt good.

I've been studying the opposition's Web site a bit (the group calls itself SAFE: Safe and Affordable Fresh Eggs) and the deceptions there are pretty boggling. Most campaign materials for anything or anyone (at best) stretch or "garnish" the truth . . . I'll admit even the sides I'm on do that (Sarah Palin didn't try to coerce the Wasilla librarian into censoring that list of books, and she isn't trying to stop evolution from being taught in schools. Don't worry, I still don't want her in the White House).

But for a group like this to claim that they have the animals' best interests at heart is just - - - well, doesn't the slightest grain of truth matter to them? If they want to claim that Prop 2 will raise egg prices, fine. Perhaps they will go up by fractions of pennies, but IHMO the easing of lifetimes of suffering is well worth that. They want to argue that outdoor access for chickens puts them in contact with wild birds and increases risk of avian flu? Okay, but, while I could stop at pointing out that Prop 2 would phase out the use of battery cages by 2015 but doesn't mandate outdoor access, I also hardly think cramming chickens in cages so small and so close together that they are forced to defecate on each other sends a reassuring message about the priority factory farms place on public health.

Of all the "No on 2" arguments, though, the one that really gets me is that theirs is a coalition that cares about animal welfare. They might actually believe their other arguments, but I can't imagine they could believe this claim. Case in point: the No on 2 Web site lists the groups that support under different categories, one of which is "ANIMAL WELFARE INTERESTS & VETERINARY SERVICES." There aren't many groups under that heading (unsurprisingly, there are far more vets and welfare groups listed on the Yes on 2 site), but I checked out the Web sites of the groups that are, and here's a typical example:

Sportsmen’s & Animal Owner’s Voting Alliance, which describes itself as "a nationwide, nonpartisan group of volunteers seeking to elect politicians who will oppose the 'Animal Rightist' (AR) threat to our rights as Americans." It uses the term "Animal Rightist" and the abbreviation "AR" so often throughout its site it starts to seem like a twisted slur, and it lists politicians in all 50 states who support pro-animal legislation as problems. This is an animal welfare interest group how?

Also, I invite someone from the No on 2 campaign to tell me exactly how many of the businesses listed under the "FAMILY FARMS & BUSINESSES" category are actually family farms. I do recognize quite a few names under that heading as belonging to factory farms - names I recognize from past animal cruelty investigations.

I don't see anything extreme about ensuring that living, breathing creatures can live their lives with enough space to turn around. Happily, I think the majority of Californians will agree with me on Nov. 4. But that doesn't mean these dishonest tactics don't upset me, not when how we treat our fellow earthlings is at stake.

Maybe Wayne Pacelle of the HSUS makes it clearer than I am right now:
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/09/prop-2-support.html

Pete

2008-09-15T05:45:34Z

I was saddened and shocked to learn of the death of Pete Camejo this weekend. I believe he was in politics because he truly, deeply, simply wanted to make the world a better place. It's so regrettable to lose such a voice in times like these. May his ideals live on..

http://www.votecamejo.com/

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

2008-09-07T22:53:51Z

On September 7, 1968, the story began . . .

What you are looking at is my backbone and my life support. Just as true today as it ever was.

All I Want Is Some Truth

2008-09-02T05:10:06Z

Weekend Assignment #231: Over the years we've had a number of oddball candidates for public office, from cartoon characters to a live pig, from comedians to tv stars to an ex-wrestler. But it's only in recent years that a candidate who doesn't fit the usual profile can run for office and actually expect to win. Who is the most unusual political candidate you have ever supported, either seriously or in jest?

Extra Credit: Present politicians excepted. have you ever regretted voting for a candidate, in light of later events?

Hmmmm . . . at first thought, at least, this one's a bit of a stumper. I've never supported a political candidate in jest . . . it's simply never occurred to me to do that. I've a feeling it was a good deal more common to do that sort of thing before I was of voting age . . . why that would be, I have no idea, but there it is. Then again, the California recall that brought us the Governator was really just a few years ago, and given what a circus that was, I may have to take the first part of this paragraph back. Still, even then, I didn't voice any support for Gary Coleman, the Porn Star, the Sumo Wrestler, or any of another 130+ candidates. I quite seriously voted against the recall, and quite seriously voted for Pete Camejo should the recall happen against my wishes. Obviously, things went really well on both counts for me there (not).

I've definitely supported candidates whom some people around me thought were real weirdos, especially on the local (i.e., City Council) level, but I just thought they were right. And courageous enough to stand for their real principles. Go weirdos!

As a member of the Green Party, I cast one of the votes that selected Cynthia McKinney as our party's official 2008 Presidential Candidate. I suppose she could be considered an unusual candidate for being both African-American and female, but those aren't good reasons to be considered unusual. Although I'm glad to see her make it this far, I do fully intend to vote for the Democratic ticket in the general election, largely because the only realistic alternative is far too frightening. Even though I live in a blue state and could most likely get away with voting for McKinney without risking anything for Obama anyway, strange things happen in this state sometimes (see above).

I'm kind of glad I didn't have to choose between Hillary Clinton and Obama, because, frankly, I couldn't. Now that that's been decided for me I am, like Hillary, behind Obama all the way.

Extra Credit:

Honestly, no, I've never regretted voting for a candidate. Usually, my candidate hasn't won anyway, so there's nothing to regret. I could write about the one time I voted for a Republican, but that was such a freezing day in hell I wasn't able to make it to the polls (ha!). Narrowing it down to Presidential elections, the first one I was (barely) eligible to vote in was Bill Clinton vs. Bush Sr. in 1992, and I'm glad my candidate won. In 1996, I voted for Ralph Nader because it was already abundantly clear that Clinton was going to take that one over Dole, so I don't regret voting my conscience in that one. In 2000 I voted for Gore and words cannot begin to express how strongly I feel that one should have worked out my way. In 2004 I voted for Kerry. Not that he's my favorite guy in the world, but I was/am very dismayed to see the Bush administration last four more long years.

On another note, which doesn't really fit the question but I'll write about it anyway, I expressed mild disappointment that Barack Obama picked yet another middle-aged white man to be his running mate. In most regards, Joe Biden seems like an acceptable choice, but I couldn't help thinking: after Hillary's concession, we have to go right back to the old boy's club? I thought that cinched it. It didn't even occur to me that John McCain would pick a woman for his running mate. He picked one with some of the scariest political stances I've ever seen, certainly not a woman who is any friend to the environmental and animal rights issues I deeply care about, and the idea of McCain winning the White House just became about a billion times more ominous to me. I clearly need to be more careful what I wish for.

The world is watching . . . something

2008-08-25T04:23:28Z

Weekend Assignment #230: Have you been watching the Olympics? If so, what have you particularly enjoyed? If not, then what, if anything, would entice you to watch?

Extra Credit: Is there a sport not in the Olympics that ought to be there?

Um, the Olympics have been happening?

OK, actually it isn't quite that bad. I know the Olympics began on 8/8/08 and ended today. Having been in Beijing myself two years ago, I even made a few first-hand observations of the city's gargantuan efforts to prepare itself for them. However, although the Olympics happened neatly within the break I had between summer semester and fall semester (which starts tomorrow! - of course, I've still been working), my awareness of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing basically boils down to this:

There was a very expensive opening ceremony in which a little girl with straight teeth sang, and it was later revealed that it was a little girl with crooked teeth who was doing the actual singing, and there was an American guy named Michael Phelps who was a rather big deal, and he swam, and he has a mother.

I might have watched some of the Olympics if I were more inclined to watch things on television in general, and if I wasn't spending my brief break attending to the run of the play Proof at Santa Clara Players, where I'm on the Board, celebrating my birthday with my friends, celebrating my birthday with my family (actually I did see about five minutes of a women's track meet at my parents' house last Saturday), checking out the
Frida Kahlo exhibit at the San Francisco MOMA, checking out the Santa Cruz White Album Ensemble at San Jose's free Music in the Park series, going out to a nature preserve to watch bats at sunset, and savoring the sublime luxury of actually getting to read a novel for fun.

All things considered, I think I'm happy with the way I spent my break.

A Song in My Head

2008-08-01T02:31:07Z

Weekend Assignment #226: Is there a song that you're particularly enjoying at the moment, that's on heavy rotation on your iPod, the CD player in your car, or just in your head? If so, what is it? If not, what was the last song you were really into?

Extra Credit: What song, if any, has been playing in your head today, and you really wish it would stop now?

Ha. Do I ever not have a song in my head? My friend told me once that he'd run across some article about earworms and three sectors of the population that were particularly susceptible to them: women, musicians, and people who worry. For me, that's a triple whammy. I am also frequently singing or humming whatever's in my head, hopefully not too annoyingly.

I'm not playing anything in heavy rotation at the moment. There's been lots of things in my head, but since The Police concert I saw on July 14, the Grammy for "Most Incessant" has been going to "King of Pain." I have stood here before inside the pouring rain, with the world turning circles running 'round my brain (and you see, I keep giving it to other people!) Actually I think I'd just about exorcised it by today but then I heard it on the radio at Erik's Deli at lunch time.

Just to go off on a little tangent, I want to say I managed an entire weekend at Disneyland with hearing "It's A Small World (After All)" even once. But when I returned to work on Tuesday, guess how one of my co-workers greeted me (loudly)?

I did hear a lot of other songs at Disneyland, quite a few of them repeatedly, and several of them did get stuck in my head. The most bizarre was the theme-parky version of "California Girls" (and by the way, no, the girls do not ALL look so tan).

Finally, I'd like to share that one of my favorite karaoke (or strumming on the guitar) songs is "Breathe (2 am)" by Anna Nalick, whose Wreck of the Day album is mostly wonderful. Unfortunately about half the karaoke songbooks I encounter don't have it (but at least half of them do!) Singsnap.com does have it, though, so I can share it with you.

Silly me

2008-07-17T05:54:56Z

Weekend Assignment #224: What's the worst idea you ever had? Amuse us with a story of a cunning plan that produced less than stellar results. (If your worst idea was positively traumatic, you can tell of your unamusing disaster, or downgrade to a more benign bad idea you had.)

Extra Credit: Have you a mad scheme that's still in the planning stages?

I have had some spectacularly bad ideas in my time, but they aren't amusing, and they're outside the realm of what I write about in this blog. I believe my very first post on this blog stated I wasn't going to air my dirty laundry here. I'll just say my worst ideas have had to do with wasting too much effort on certain members of the opposite sex, and leave it at that.

So, here's the story I'll use instead, which I was reminded of by Karen's retelling of spraypainting the interior of her car:

When I was a kid, maybe about 10 or 11, I decided I was going to paint my bedroom dresser white . . . with whiteout. To this day that dresser still sports some white squiggles on the top drawer, evidence of the process I undertook before I gave up. Now, I didn't ruin the dresser, or affect its longevity in any way, so I suppose it wasn't really that much of a bad idea. It was definitely a weird idea, though.

As far as the extra credit goes, Karen mentions that she's flying to California at the end of the month to meet up with two friends from her online life. One of them she's met for two hours once, and the other she hasn't met at all. I'm the one she's met for two hours before, two years ago when I was in Arizona for my sister's wedding. So I'm doing the same thing as Karen is. Except I'm not flying to California, because I'm already there, but I will be driving down to the southern part of it. And I'll be meeting Sara for the first time too. I will be bringing one highly enthusiastic and one semi-reluctant parent with me, as the highly enthusiastic one has been itching to go back to Disneyland for quite some time. So, I have no doubt it will be an interesting time.

Phones . . . meh

2008-07-04T00:54:50Z

Weekend Assignment #222: What do you use a phone for? Do you strictly use it to make calls and pick up messages, or do you take advantage of other technology bundled with phones these days? Which features do you use all the time, which others would you use if they were available and cheap, and which would you not bother with even it they were free?

Extra Credit: Do you still use your land line to make and receive calls from friends or family?

I didn't have a cell phone at all until about a year ago. Yes, I am a member of Generation X. Yes, from 2000 - 2002 I worked for a company that dealt solely in mobile phone applications. I do not like phones. But I finally decided I disliked certain situations, like trying to track down a pay phone when my tire blew out on the way to rehearsal, even more. So I broke down and got a simple pay-as-you-go phone. It doesn't make sense to me to pay a monthly bill for something I use so seldomly (I don't have cable television, either, and I'm not planning on doing anything about it when the digital switchover thingy happens. I won't much miss my TV). So . . . my phone has some silly games on it, and rudimentary Web access that would eat away at my minutes like sulfuric access, if it worked, which I suspect it doesn't. I think I've texted from my phone about five times.

Extra Credit:

Yes! I use the land line far more frequently than my cell phone. Not that I use it all that much either. I prefer conversations to be face-to-face, and if that's not possible, I'm far more likely to communicate by e-mail or IM. It just seems more efficient to me (of course, I type unusually fast!). Also, I think another reason that I like e-mail and IM over the phone is that the person you're talking to via e-mail or IM can't interrupt you. :) You can get your complete thought out.

I'm also on the phone a great deal at work, too, and that's certainly a contributing factor to it being one of the last things I want to do when I get to be not-at-work.

Drink, Drink, This Town is So Great

2008-06-27T02:14:30Z

Readers with a more than passing familiarity with They Might Be Giants will now have a relentless catchy tune in their heads. Sorry.

Weekend Assignment #221: What do you like to drink? Do you prefer Coke, or Pepsi, or neither? Do you start your days at Starbucks, or end your days with a nice cup of herbal tea? Are you a connoisseur of beer, or do you like to keep a pitcher of lemonade on hand? Do you carry a bottle of water around, and refill it as you go? Tell us about your favorites!

Extra Credit: Have you ever invented your own drink sensation?

I am lagging a bit on weekend assignments. I'm doing this one at the last minute, and I still need to make up last week's at some point. But summer session in graduate school is tough, so I'm going to cut myself just the teensiest little bit of slack. I do hope to start getting more on top of these assignments again, though.

So, drinks. As far as alcoholic ones, I like fruity adult beverages with vodka in them, like cosmopolitans and fruit martinis (I just learned from Wikipedia that martini purists insist that martinis must have gin in them, not vodka, but whatever. I like vodka). I also like an occasional glass of wine, not that I know all sorts of things about it like, say, Frasier and Niles. I started out preferring red but at some point, for some reason, I started to favor chardonnay. I also like the "hard" versions of cider and lemonade.

I'm not much into beer at all, and to me Bud and Miller are synonyms for "grody." If I ever drink beer at a pub, it's usually a stout, and I'm usually only drinking it to feel like I'm drinking beer in a pub. It's very rare that I want to feel that way, but it happens.

On to non-alcoholic:

With meals, I mostly just have water, and sometimes tea (especially if the meal is Chinese). At work, I drink water and/or tea throughout the day. I used to never drink coffee, but being a working grad student has changed that slightly.

I've always only drunk soda somewhat rarely, but ever since my mom subscribed me to the magazine Prevention that's changed to next to never. I will still, once in very blue moon, treat myself to a Cherry Coke . . . it just tastes so good.

When I was a kid, I drank tons and tons of milk. Now I'm an adult vegetarian with some leanings toward veganism, so I almost never have milk anymore. Quite a change in habit! I do usually have soymilk on hand to put on my cereal, and enjoy the soy version of chocolate milk from time to time.

Extra Credit:

It's odd what can prompt minor memories from years ago. Thinking about this extra credit led me to recall an incident from 15 years ago or more, when I was in high school. I put horseradish in my root beer to prove to someone I wasn't a hypocrite. How that was supposed to prove anything, let alone my non-hypocrisy, is not a part of the memory I seem to have retained.

Not cars. Trains, please!

2008-06-09T23:19:43Z

Weekend Assignment #219: What is your favorite form of transportation, and why? You can choose any means of traveling by land, sea or air, with just one catch: it has to currently exist in the real world, or have existed in the past. No TARDIS, no Star Trek transporter, no flying DeLoreans, all right?

Extra Credit: What's the most unusual form of transportation you've ever taken?

Judging by the replies to this assignment I've read so far, my opinion is not a majority one. My answer to this question is really very much, extremely, way totally not a car. I hate the confined space, the way a car gets so hot if it's left in the sun too long and touching the steering wheel is painful, the high gas prices, the eating, guilty feeling I have every time I drive my car that I'm not helping the environment any, and well, the very real possibility of crashing into other cars. Also, I can't read and drive at the same very effectively, nor do I think it would be wise of me to try to work on that skill.

The concept of "cool cars" leaves me cold. Unless its coolness factor has to do with being fuel-efficient or safe, I just don't care.

Now, trains, I think, are marvelous. When I traveled by train to Vancouver last fall, I think the train journey was the best part of the trip. The Pacific Northwest out a train's window is truly one of the wonders of the world: thank the Good Lord for trees and bodies of water! On a train you don't have to worry about keeping your eyes on the road - you really can just focus on drinking in the beauty.

I also got in quite a bit of New Yorker reading on the train journey, along with more creative writing than I'd managed to do in a long time. I'm tempted to jump on a train again to get myself writing!

It's also fun to go to the dining car at meal time and meet your fellow travelers, although admittedly the extra cost of this is sometimes prohibitive. To me, the social factor makes it worth it. I thoroughly enjoy meeting others "on the road."

The most fun I've ever had on trains were on sleeper cars. How often can you spend the night on a real bed while still moving toward your destination? Back in college, on a study abroard program in London, a girlfriend and I took a weekend trip to Scotland on a sleeper car on the train, after stocking up on Hooch's hard lemonade, junk food, and British women's magazines. We had fun trying to translate the magazines into American (did you know that the English call runs in nylons "ladders"?). Now, I normally try to avoid junk food, as well as magazines of the quality we read on that trip, but that was a very special occasion.

I also rode in a sleeper car from Quebec to New Brunswick, from there to catch a bus to Prince Edward Island, and from Shanghai to the northern city of Tianjin during my tour of China with a Chinese theater group. Our performing troupe included a professional violinist. Waking up on that train in the early morning to the sound of her music accompanying the sunrise is one of my very favorite memories.

Extra credit:

My answer to this was going to be cable cars in San Francisco, but then I remembered I'd hopped on one of those bicycle rickshaw things the last time I was in New York City. Bicycle rickshaws are probably more common around the world than cable cars are, but for a Bay Area native, the bicycle rickshaw wins.

Sarah Just Wants to Have Fun

2008-06-02T04:15:51Z

Weekend Assignment #218: What do you do to have fun? Since you're reading this blog, let's assume that one of your leisure activities is blogging and reading blogs; we don't need to rehash that one, nor the subject of books, which we covered just recently. What else do you do for fun? Are you a runner, a hiker, a birdwatcher, a surfer? Or do you prefer to lie on a beach? Is cooking a joy rather than a chore? What do you enjoy doing, when you're not doing the usual stuff?

Extra Credit: What fun thing (no restrictions) do you plan to do next?

OK, for me, acting's joining reading and writing on the "no need to rehash" list. Besides, I don't do those three things for fun (although they are), I do them so as not to be a complete wreck.

Since I am, fortunately, not a complete wreck, I am pretty freakin' good at having fun in all sorts of ways. I like to try anything that might be fun and if it is, I'll probably do it again. Lots more times.

Here's some of the fun things I've done in the past month or so:

1. Went to see The Cure in concert (three hours and 37 songs of fun, although it would have been slightly more fun for me if they'd listened to my telepathic message and played "The Lovecats.")
2. Went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Extra-short spoiler-free review: it was definitely enjoyable. Don't even try to compare it with its predecessors.
3. Did a crossword puzzle.
4. Saw an awesome live production of Man of La Mancha, and by no means was it my first one! ;)
5. Played my guitar.
6. Went out to karaoke bars with friends and sung my little heart out.
7. Walked in the park.
8. Met friends for dinner.
9. Danced (and watched dancing).
10. Went for a bike ride.

What fun thing do I plan to do next? I think maybe I'll go for a swim tomorrow. I'm going to Disneyland in July. I'm hoping to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in October (obviously I think travel is fun). Maybe I'll go to California Extreme again in next month (a local annual convention where scores of classic video games are display and on "endless" free play). Maybe I'll even try to paint my cat! The possibilities are endless. . .

Career? What's that?

2008-05-26T05:48:14Z

Weekend Assignment #217: What's the best piece of career advice you were ever given?

Extra Credit: What's the worst piece of career advice you were ever given?

Hmmmm. I'm having a hard time coming up with an answer for this one. Maybe because I'm hoping my best piece of career advice is yet to come.

But I've actually been looking at a particular on-the-job fault of mine through a microscope this week, and have maybe realized something, but it's not the result of anyone's advice. I find I can get myself, and others, and projects, in trouble by not admitting that I think I have too much work to do. I think I have a bit of a "superwoman complex," or whatever you would want to call it . . . not that I think I'm Superwoman, but I think I should constantly try to be. When I'm asked for help by co-workers, even if I have a zillion demands on me already, it's often impossible for me to say no, and I think the main reason is that I don't want to be seen as someone who isn't a team player. In six years I have gleaned quite a bit of knowledge about how the organization I work for operates in many different capacities, and excepting our IT administrator, I have the most advanced computer skills on the staff. I get asked a lot of questions. I pitch in so much that I fear I'll be resented any time I don't. And I don't want to be seen as a complainer. But I think I should be aware by now that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

So, I think my advice to myself this week was, "You need to make it clear when you're being asked to do too much." That's probably not the best career advice I've ever been given, but I think it was a personal breakthrough for me. Because toward the end of the week I actually did start to tell people when they were adding too much to my load, and we collaboratively found ways to reduce that load, so that I could get more of my work done. I think this revelation is not only good for my sanity but my productivity as well.

The extra credit is going to be easier. I once mentioned to someone that I loved to travel, and then he said I'd be perfect for the military in that regard. Now, granted, I've never put it to the test, but I'm fairly certain I would be both miserable and useless in the military. If they would even take me.

A career assessment test I took as a sophomore in high school opined that going into military was the single worst career decision I could possibly make. That same test told me the best-suited career choice for me would be librarianship. Seventeen years later, I'm thinking that was a pretty smart test. I just wish I'd listened to it sooner.

Fire Fire Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

2008-05-20T03:21:54Z

Tell us a story or anecdote that involves fire in some way. It can be a forest fire, a house fire, a campfire, logs in the fireplace, or even a lit match, a tale of comfort or destruction. Whatever comes to mind, if it's interesting and fire plays a role, we want to read about it!

Extra Credit: Is the area where you live subject to dangerous wildfires?

I don't know that I have all that much interesting to say about my experience with fire. I think I'll knock on wood on that count, too. A strand of my hair caught on fire for one second at a beach fire when I was in college, but someone next to me quickly put it out. So that's the whole story there.

The one time I remember firefighters coming to the scene of the fire was circa 1984, and for me, the third grade. A laundry hamper a little too close to the furnace had caught on fire - my mother smelled burning plastic coming from the master bedroom as she watched a performance of King Lear on public television in the living room. It's funny, the details you remember. I think she put out the fire herself, but had my older sister call 911 anyway, and I remember standing out in the front yard with my mom and sister and her parakeet and our dog (I don't know where my dad was, but he wasn't home that night) while the firefighters went in to investigate. I also remember our dog Sesame going back into the house, making me worry, and then watching a fireman carry her back out of the house again.

Years later in the mid-90's, I was home from college and Northern California was experiencing record wind speeds. Never in my life had it been that windy as it was that winter, and it hasn't been that windy since. Anyway, one stormy night, I thought it made for the perfect atmosphere to curl up in bed and read King Lear. That night, one of the big, sturdy pine trees, one that had stood tall and thick in the front yard for longer than I'd been alive, fell through the living room roof. No one was hurt. Our living room just suddenly looked like a forest.

Because of these two incidents, I have often wondered whether it is actually King Lear, and not, in fact, the Scottish play that is cursed. Of course, I realize that if one decides to read anything in record winds, all bets are probably off.

Extra Credit: Yep, "California wildfire" is by no means an unheard-of phrase. I have never been close enough to a wildfire for it to pose any risk to my personal safety, but I have worried about wildfires close enough to almost reach loved ones, most memorably the Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991.

I dare you to watch this movie and not smile

2008-05-13T05:54:29Z

Weekend Assignment #215: Review a film. Any film. Got something interesting to say about Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903)? I'd love to read it. Metropolis (1927)? Why not? A Night in Casablanca (1946)? Fine. The Seventh Seal (1957)? Er, okay! Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)? You'll get away with it. Speed Racer (2008)? Go for it. From Hollywood to Ballywood to Hong Kong, from Kubrick to Kurasawa, it's all on the W.A. marquee. But there's one catch: the film should not be on your personal list of favorites; nor should it be a film you despise.

Extra Credit: Is there a film due out this summer that you plan to go see? If so, what is it?

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and I got together with my mom, dad, and grandma for brunch and a movie. The movie my mom chose was Young@Heart. She thought it was something all four of us would enjoy, and she was right. I'm a bit hesitant to write much about it because I don't want to inadvertently give away anything that should be a surprise, but my desire to get more people to see it overrules my hesitation on that count.

The movie is a documentary about a Massachusetts-based chorus called Young@Heart. The average age in this chorus is 80. Their 58-year old choir director Bob has them learn, rehearse, and perform songs by James Brown, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Talking Heads, Coldplay, The Clash, The Ramones, Sinead O' Connor, Sonic Youth, and more. The film's director, Stephen Walker, caught them while they were on a tour of Europe and liked them so much he decided to travel to America so he could follow them around with a camera.

Some comments:
* My grandma said this was the best movie she's seen in "years and years."
* There was more than one moment watching this movie when I found myself beaming
and crying at exactly the same time.
* What a wonderful, wonderful thing it is that people can sing.
* Some of the best moments in this movie are shots of audience reactions at
Young@Heart's live performances.
* Something I find greatly unfortunate in this world is that there are so many people
who think they have to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets to see a
production starring celebrities earning millions of dollars in theaters with thousands
of seats to see a great performance. Here's Exhibit A in the case against
that terrible myth. Someday soon maybe I'll share Exhibits B-Z here too. . . a list
I could compile in my sleep. But I digress. Well, no, I don't really digress -
what I mean to say is: if Young@Heart ever comes to your city, go. Go to community
and college theater. Go to open mic nights. You'll gather some of the most
enduring memories of your life.
* I have nothing bad to say about this movie.

I think I've reached the point where I'm going to stop talking about this movie. I know this is a pretty vague movie review, but that's honestly because I don't want to spoil it.

Extra credit: I already have tickets for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I feel a bit odd about being an adult at the same time an Indiana Jones movie is opening. That's just never happened before. I already saw Iron Man and thought it was OK. If not for Robert Downey Jr., I would have found it really, really boring.

I'm sure I'll see more movies this summer, too. I like movies.

Catching Up

2008-05-12T06:57:23Z

Weekend Assignment #214: Sooner or later, pretty much everyone makes one or more major changes in their lives, sometimes several at once. We leave home, go off to college, get married, get divorced, change jobs, change careers, have kids, move to another house or another state, etc., etc. These things can be very stressful, but we do them in the hope of being better off in some way. Tell us of one change you voluntarily made in your life at some point, that worked out really well.

Extra Credit: Tell us of a little tiny change that also went well!

This is actually last weekend's weekend assignment, but I gave myself a bit of an extension, without asking Karen's permission first. Since the most recent life change I initiated was becoming a graduate student, I've been a little bit busy. My first semester is wrapping up in the coming week, and the reason I didn't get to this assignment before last Thursday is because I was hard at work on a 17-page research paper for my "Information and Society" class that was due on midnight on Wednesday. I slept much less than usual last week! I held my breath when I turned in my paper on the American Library Association's response to the USA Patriot Act, because who ever knows how the professor is going to react to your paper? I was thrilled to find out on Friday that my paper earned all points possible for the assignment. I'm winding down the semester with a 97% in one class and a 99% in the other. It's working out well so far. I find the work and the reading interesting, I enjoy the virtual interaction with classmates dispersed across the country, I feel like my brain is engaged with something I care about . . . in a nutshell, I couldn't be happier that I made this decision.

Now I still have a long way to go before I can declare the whole thing "worked out really well." I still have to complete 36 more units, which is probably going to take me the next two years. And the ultimate goal is a career that brings personal fulfillment to me . . . that seems kind of far out there in the future too. But for now, I'm enjoying myself (although if I went back in time and said that to my Tuesday night self, who was producing much mental sweat in the process of trying to get her paper organized, she might shoot me).

As for a little tiny change that worked out well (and I'm defining "change" as "new discovery" and "worked out well" as "is making me happy"), I recently discovered http://www.singsnap.com, with which I can indulge my penchant for karaoke during study breaks. I certainly don't have the most robust voice in the world, but no one could ever accuse me of not having fun with it. Wanna listen to me sing along with myself?

Tomorrow, I plan to respond to this weekend's assignment by reviewing a movie all about singing!

Knowing That I Loved My Books - Prospero, Act I, scene ii, The Tempest, William Shakespeare

2008-04-28T20:24:03Z

Weekend Assignment #213: While it may be difficult to choose your favorite book of all time, there's probably a certain genre or category of books you prefer over other kinds. Do you love a mystery, or would you rather read about dragons? Are you thirsty for a good vampire tale, or is science fiction more your style? Do you mostly stick with the classics, or look for the latest spy novel? Are you a biography buff? Do a lot of your books have the word "Dummies" in the title? Do you like to read about real-world politics, science, history or sports, or would you rather escape the real world with a good romance? Tell us! And while you're at it, tell us your second favorite category of books.

Extra Credit: Do you ever loan out books to friends or family?

Oh boy, what a delicious question for an English major and budding librarian!

I would actually find it much more difficult to choose a favorite genre or category than a favorite book of all time, a question I can easily answer, and will get to later in this entry. My tastes in fiction to do not tend to lean toward one genre or another. I like a good story, period. For me, that mostly means the story contains characters that I can remember and care about (The Da Vinci Code failed for me on this front, while the Harry Potter series is a smashing success . . . sometimes I still lie awake worrying about my Hagrid! (Yes, I'm exaggerating because I like the effect)). Anything that can make me laugh is also always welcome here. A quick survey of my fiction shelves may give a good idea of my literary tastes. Here's a list of authors who appear three or more times in my personal library, and of course this leaves out a lot of "ones and twosies":

Douglas Adams, Jane Austen (I'm only missing Mansfield Park to complete my collection; I ought to fix that), Peter Carey, Henry James, Steve Martin, L.M. Montgomery, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, and (of course) William Shakespeare. My father built a shelf for me one Christmas containing a 1901 book set of all of his works: the plays, the sonnets, the longer poems, everything . . . and the quote that is the title of the entry is carved in the wood. These books aren't very practical to use, as trying to separate the pages from one another pretty much doesn't do anything but tear them, but it's a fun thing to have. If I actually want to read Shakespeare, I have the Riverside Shakespeare from my college days and various paperbacks I have accumulated over the years.

Now, as far as my non-fiction preferences, I like reading about anything that interests me, which includes almost (but not entirely) everything. My non-fiction shelves are pretty much arranged by category (I was born to be a librarian!), and those categories include, but are not limited to:

* Vegetarian cookbooks, which I really need to use more often.
* Books about writers
* Books about writing
* Books about the theater
* Scripts
* Books about cats
* Books about religion
* Books about philosophy
* Short stories (yes, these are really fiction but for space's sake they ended up here)
* Biographies (examples: I own biographies of Dr. Seuss and Sarah Bernhardt)
* Travel books (I have a slew of Lonely Planet and Rough Guides . . . which I
really enjoy reading even if I don't get to every place in them. I also have that book
1,000 Places to See Before You Die. At age 33, I've seen about 80 of them,
I think, which means maybe I'll get to about 24% of them if I live to be 100.
* Books about music (mostly rock music)
* Poetry
* Some left-wing political stuff that I probably would have gotten in trouble for
owning if I'd been around for the McCarthy era
* Literary anthologies I've saved from college (yes, mostly fiction)
* Computer books on things like HTML, Java, MS Word, Perl, UNIX, desktop
publishing, etc., sit in a shelf at the bottom of my computer desk
* French, Spanish, and Chinese Dictionaries
* Various reference works (dictionaries, special encyclopedias, etc.)

Now, as for the "favorite book of all time" question: it is Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I remember reading somewhere, perhaps it was a book called History of Literature that it "contains almost everything a novel can hold," and indeed it is even more immense than its +1200 page length would suggest. Everything a novel can hold can include flaws, yes, and this book's had its share of attacks for its plot contrivances, sentimentality, and overly drawn characters. But this is a book with power, one that has inspired people from all classes to become things, following in Jean Valjean's footsteps on his path to being a good person. Is there anything greater than that a novel can do? This is a piece of art that presents, before its readers, the magnitude of compassion toward all men, women, and children, especially in a world that is hard.

I also enjoy Les Miserables as a treasure box, where I'll find scores of personalities, mundane places made amazing (like the sewers of Paris), French history, glimpses into religious life, and so much more. Abridged adaptations often leave out the long passages on things like the battle at Waterloo, argot, etc, but even in these digressions I tend to find new ideas every time I look at them. This book is a gift.

Yes, I love the "world's most popular musical," but it can't match the experience (or should I say multitude of experiences) of reading the book. In case you haven't noticed, I recommend it.

PS I got so wrapped up in thinking about Les Miserables that I almost forgot about the extra credit! I never actually offer to lend out my books, but when I asked, I never say no. This frequently results in my never seeing the book again, but if it's a good book, I suppose it's a donation toward a worthy cause. :)

It's Poetry in Motion!

2008-04-20T22:24:22Z

Weekend Assignment #212: It's National Poetry Month in the United States, but poetry itself is a worldwide phenomenon, existing in many styles. Let's celebrate the form. How? By writing a poem, of course! It can be silly or serious, haiku, limerick, rhymed verse, blank verse, free verse, two lines long or fifty, or anything in between. All I ask is that it be a new, original poem, not something you wrote in high school and trot out occasionally.

Extra Credit: Do you have a favorite poet?

First of all, a huge thanks to Karen for prompting me to do a bit of creative writing today, an interest and (I hope) talent I all too often neglect, and work, school, and theater are all well and good, but are no excuses not to be writing. I had no idea what was going to come out when I sat down to write a new poem today. There were no ideas in my head clamoring to get out. So, after staring at a blank page for several minutes, here's what ended up happening:

I'm getting paid to throw mirrors away
I'm doing this work very well.
I quietly walk through this city all day
With nothing to pitch, buy, or sell.

So many people rush by on the street,
Their eyes all on goals I can't see.
As they focus their minds on invisible things,
I'm thankful they don't notice me.

Soon their reflections will all disappear
And they won't know who they have to blame.
All I need for reward is the dough I take home.
Why would I dare also want fame?

My boss says it's all for the good of the whole
We're making a friendlier town.
Neighbors will look at each other again -
or might they all mostly look down?

I only make one mistake on this job
But I make it over and over again:
When I'm handling mirrors that must be destroyed,
I'm tempted to see who I am.

Now, as for my favorite poet? Well, as someone who majored in English and meant it, there may just be too many possible answers to this question. John Keats was a wonderful poet, almost impossibly wonderful, how could such things as his poems come out of a regular old human being? Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Coleridge, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Dylan Thomas . . . well, suffice it to say, I like a lot of poets.

The true honest answer, to the question, though (and I hope it's not cheating that I have two favorite poets - well, if you can count a rock band as one poet) is: my very favorite poets are Shakespeare and The Beatles. You could probably ask me a million "Do you have a favorite _____?" questions and my answer would be Shakespeare and The Beatles.

I never fail to feel a sensation down my spine when I read or hear these words, no matter how often it's been:

What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason!
How infinite in faculty!
in form, in moving, how express and admirable!
in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world!
the paragon of animals!

And as for The Beatles, the lyrics of songs like Strawberry Fields Forever, The Fool on the Hill, It's All Too Much, and many, many others, are always popping into my head, refining my perspectives and echoing the ideas and impressions I gain with the chords they strike.

Since I slipped popular music into this assignment, somehow I feel obliged to also give a nod to Paul Simon, whom I have an immense appreciation for as a songwriter and highly poetical lyricist. In honor of National Poetry Week, here's a link to Paul and Art singing Richard Cory, a direct marriage of a classic American poem and contemporary music.

On a final note, I started to sing the poem I wrote today to myself, to see what kind of tune would come out, and I found it sounded a lot like Billy Joel's "Innocent Man." Odd, because I probably haven't heard that song in four years or more, and I'm not particularly big on Billy Joel in general.

How Does Your Garden Grow (that is, if it grows at all)?

2008-04-13T22:28:40Z

Weekend Assignment #211: How are your gardening skills? Do you plant flowers and trees and even shrubberies, or do you settle for weeds and concrete? Do houseplants die in your care, or grow and prosper?

Extra Credit: Is there someone you know who is better at this gardening stuff than you are?

Living in an apartment complex where none of the outdoor space is actually available for my private personal use, this is a bit hard to know. I'd probably do okay with houseplants if the cat didn't eat them. I do have a plant at work that seems to still be going strong for the five or so years I've had it, thriving even after transport from one office space to another. I just water it a few times a week, that's all. Doesn't appear to be a particularly demanding plant.

As for the extra credit, ha ha ha, that's got to be the easiest extra credit for me to earn in the history of ever. As the offspring of the people who founded this community gardening organization , and a horticulture teacher, I sure as heck do know people who are better at this gardening stuff than I am. How many times has my dad answered the phone saying that mom's out working in the garden, or vice versa? With this pedigree, I'm a little embarrassed that I know as little about gardening as I do. But, hey, there's still the future. I did help out at the Community Gardens as Appleseeds table at the Whole Foods Earth Day event yesterday, giving away sunflower seeds to children and telling them how to plant them, so there's something I did for the cause.

Extending the weekend just a bit is never a bad thing. . .

2008-04-08T01:00:56Z

Weekend Assignment #210: It's been 40 years since the Mountaintop speech, and even longer since the great speeches of John F Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and others. Are the days of great oratory behind us, or have you drawn inspiration from some recent public speaker? If so, what was the speech? Do you remember any actual quotes from it?

Extra Credit: Have you ever given a speech, other than in a classroom?

All right, well, I didn't get to the weekend assignment until Monday night, but I'll hope I'll be forgiven. Over the weekend, I gave a presentation (it was for school, so I don't think I can use it for extra credit, even though it wasn't in a classroom), finished and turned in a paper and a 24-slide PowerPoint file, attended a party thrown by Californians for Humane Farms to celebrate their initiative qualifying for the November ballot, rehearsed for the New Play Reading event taking place tomorrow night, and was, out of the blue, served a "termination of tenancy" notice by my property manager because for some unknown reason she thought I did something that I wasn't at all aware I did until she told me I'd done it, and that's because I hadn't. She rescinded the notice pretty much immediately, but this is the latest in an unpleasant series of incidents that are beginning to make me rather unhappy. So, for all these reasons, I didn't find the time or, mostly, the energy to complete the weekend assignment until now.

Anyway . . .

Reading the other blog entries in response to this assignment, it seems that I am not alone am finding this a challenging one. I'm not sure if that really means that oratory is dead, or it just means that speeches are hard to remember, or what. I also watch very little television, so whatever public figures say, I'm far more likely to read in print than catch on the TV. I'm glad we have YouTube these days, so I can go back and listen to speeches I missed, like Barack Obama's March 18 speech on race relations, which I tried to listen to on the radio that morning, but didn't because he started late, and I had to start work. I've been meaning to YouTube it ever since, but haven't found a good time to spend 40 minutes doing so. So I'm actually listening to it right now. Thanks, Karen, for prompting that. Am I impressed by it? Well, he seems to be saying things that are true . . . obviously true. He's saying things that he needs to say. I find it worthwhile. Do find it electrifying or inspirational? I can't say I do.

I also must say I was exceedingly unimpressed by the last time I heard our current President make a speech on the radio . . . in fact, I was so unimpressed I was moved to comment on how unimpressed I was on this blog, just a few entries back.

I'm not sure I actually followed the specifications of this assignment, but heck, at least it got me to write on my blog, right? As far as the extra credit goes, I've given many, many
"please turn off your cell phones; there will be one 15-intermission" kinds of speeches, but I think that's not the sort of thing we have in mind here. I make 30-second announcements to a roomful of Realtors quite regularly. And Madame Pernelle from Tartuffe and Elizabeth from Six Degrees of Separation gave speeches that couldn't have happened without my help, because at the time, I was playing them.

As far as the last weekend assignment, well, the only thing that was true about that was that I attempting to unclutter my apartment recently. Oh, and that I have friends that have laughed at me millions of times.

Weekend Asssignment for April Fool's

2008-03-31T06:19:36Z

"Weekend Assignment #209: Tell us a story about yourself, something that is plausible but definitely, outrageously false, while containing a kernel of truth. Since we don't want to create any work for Snopes.com, begin your tale with the words, "This is not true," and don't say anything defamatory about any companies, products, celebrities or politicians."

This is not true:
I was attempting to "unclutter" the apartment not too long ago, and came across an old video tape I don't remember ever actually owning, but I doubt someone actually broke into my place and left it there. It is labelled "Alice and the Squirrels" in green felt pen. It looks like a child's handwriting, but not mine. I would've played it for myself to figure out what on earth it was, but I no longer have a working VCR, just a cheap DVD player. If I get around to it, I will get a friend who still has VHS-playing capabilities to play it, and I'll pray that nothing terribly shocking or embarassing is on it. It could be some bad skit I made when I was 12, or worse. So, I have to pick a friend carefully. Not that the people I can think of to ask to do this haven't already laughed at me 20 million times.