Monday Night Randomness

We're still plagued by those pesky little 6-legged vultures. I would say "ants" but then Allan would make his "no uncles?" joke. Although the last time he did it, he was rebuffed by Todd correcting him, rather indignantly: "No, not A-U-N-T. Ants! A-N-T!" as if his Daddy was the biggest doofball in the world. Which can be rather accurate, but that's for another day of musing :-) The strange thing about these ants is that I can never detect a trail. Most of the time, with ant infestations, you can usually trace them back to where they came from. Just follow the trail. If you leave out an especially choice tidbit of food, the trail is thick and nicely visible. Find the nest, apply ant spray, and voila! Not these ants. They seem to appear out of nowhere, and leave no apparent trail. Even when we've left food out and dozens of ants are swarmed around, eating contentedly, that's all there is-- bunch of ants surrounding the food, and nowhere else. No incoming or outgoing trail to be detected. Stranger still is their behavior ON the food-- they just SIT there, motionless! Most swarming ants I've seen are, well, swarming. Moving. Wiggling. Picking up food and carrying it back. Showing signs of LIFE. They've also taken to appearing in the bathroom sink, no matter how much I've scrubbed it. It's bizarre.

In other animal news, today I caught my first glimpse of live snails here in the apartment complex. Usually all I run into around here are empty, crushed shells. Apparently last night rain brought them out in droves, and I spotted two of them crawling slowly across the pavement. One had almost reached its destination, but the other still had a long way to go. So I picked him up and gently moved him to the other side of the walkway, in the direction he was headed. Poor, hapless creature must've freaked out, as he retracted when I picked him up. Chalk up one less snail that got crunched underfoot today. I'm sure that when I have my own garden someday, I probably won't find snails as cute, but I still can't help feel sorry for them :-)

Tonight Allan tried out the voice recognition feature on his phone. Or, more accurately, I did. He set up an email to me, switched on the mic, and handed the phone to me. This is what I said:

I like turtles. Turtles say "ribbit"
I like dogs, too. Dogs say "arf, arf"
And seals say <insert barking seal noise here. I can't think of the appropriate letters to express the sound>


This is what was transcribed out of it:
I like turtles turtles favorite i like dogs too dont hate and he thinks

Yeah... needs a little tweaking, methinks ;-)

A Story Without the Letter "L"

A recent Plinky prompt: A short story without the letter "L"

It's definitely harder than it looks, and I couldn't think of a decent storyline (watching out for those pesky Ls is distracting!), so I just rewrote a classic fairy tale, with a twist I got from a picture somewhere (if only I could find it!)

Here goes:

Once upon a time there was a frog, who made a nearby pond his habitat. The pond was in the midst of the forest, and the frog enjoyed basking in the sun atop his green pad, and zapping bugs for food. One day, a pretty person of the XX-chromosome persuasion sat at the edge of the pond, tossing an amber sphere into the air. She wore a saddened expression on her face and threw the toy up and down in an absentminded fashion. In a sudden moment, the sphere escaped her grasp and dropped into the pond. She gasped in dismay and watched her favorite toy sink to the bottom of the pond. The frog heard her cries and hopped over to see what was wrong. Once she imparted what had happened, the frog dove to the bottom of the pond and retrieved the amber orb. She was so overjoyed she picked up the frog and kissed him. That's when she noticed the bright hues on the frog-- red, azure and saffron. She started to experience some strange sensations-- dizziness, then nausea, then her vision started to go dark. As she dropped to the ground her ending thoughts were of her kin and of the gorgeous but dangerous frog who had rescued her toy... at the expense of her very being. The poisonous frog gazed at her in a serene manner, took up the honey-hued orb and dove down into the water, adding it to his amassment of toys gathered from imprudent princesses who acted before thinking. The End.

Whew! Let's just say I'm grateful the prompt didn't call for a story lacking the letter "E"! Eep! ;-)

Four Days On, Four Days Off...

I could get used to that sort of work schedule ;-)

Last week I took Friday off because the little man didn't have school that day, and we thought it would be better for him to spend the day doing fun things with a parent rather than sit in the office all day, glued to the computer. Which meant I had a 4-day work week last week, followed by a 4-day weekend, and now am starting another 4-day work week. Like I said, I could get used to this ;-)

Friday morning started with some Open House trips, where we traipsed around Goleta peeking at some of the newest listings. We came across a really nice condo in San Antonio Village, which really got me re-thinking my preference for a single-family home over a condo. I still do prefer the former, but finding out about some nice selections out there has made me rethink ruling condos out altogether. After a leisurely lunch back home, we headed off to the zoo. But first, we broke down one of Todd's diaper boxes and applied some surfboard wax to it, so he could use it as an ultra-slick sled on the little Astroturf hill in the play area of the zoo. I got the idea from Amal's husband, who told us about a friend of theirs who waxed boxes for his kids to zoom around in on similar hills near their house. I'm not sure if the wax made a difference, or if the flattened box just zipped fast because it was new and still had the glossy outer surface, but Todd sure did fly down those hills! So fast that once the sled stopped at the bottom, the momentum kept carrying him and he pitched forward, off the sled, every time. It was great fun!

Saturday was cleaning day, and after getting home from karate lessons and shopping, we rested up a bit before heading out to Joe and Tabitha's for dinner and a board game (Ticket to Ride), while Todd amused himself on their Wii.

Sunday brought Valentine's Day. I'm not a very big romantic. Flowers are a waste to me-- they just wilt and die in a week or two. I rarely wear jewelry (I stopped wearing my wedding ring about 6 months after we got married). Chocolate is okay, but ever since being spoiled in Europe, I don't much like American chocolate anymore. I'm the type who much prefers sensible, practical gifts to frivolous ones (except for stuffed animals). So we trooped out to our favorite restaurant-- Brummi's, where we were joined by two other couples from our small group. We had a lot of fun, and since all of us had been married for at least a few years, we mused that quiet, romantic dinners by ourselves on Valentine's Day were unnecessary, since we do that everyday, anyway! Let's do something different and actually celebrate with good company instead! :-) The food, as always, was to die for, and we enjoyed a fun evening out.

Monday we all slept in and enjoyed the warm weather-- the three of us made a picnic lunch and ate on the patio of the clubhouse in our apartment complex. It was warm enough to go swimming afterward, and I finally enjoyed some much-needed exercise!

Apparently the Olympics started in Vancouver this weekend as well, though I was blissfully unaware of it until I read Tabitha's tweet. Never mind that Canadian Jenna had already tweeted a whole bunch of opening-ceremony-related ones before that! Don't ask me why I didn't make that connection. Oh, and Chinese New Year, too. What is it now? Tiger? Rawr! I guess you could say we sort of celebrated, albeit unknowingly-- by buying Chinese food at Pick Up Stix for Sunday's lunch :-D

All in all, the long weekend was a pleasant mix of rest & relaxation and going out and doing fun things. And coming back in to a short work week? Icing on the cake ;-)That's what I call an enjoyable weekend!

And how was your weekend?

The Mommy Survey

Haven't done one of these quizzes/surveys in a while (I don't count the hearing test ;-)) and now that all 4 of the babies within our small group are out of the womb (talk about mini baby boom between November and now!) the air seems full of talk of babies and first-time motherhood. Spied this on someone else's blog somewhere and thought it would be fun to do, too:

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Nope

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? Initially, a bit stunned, then we gladly looked forward to it.

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 26, a lot younger than the 30s I expected to be in when I started having kids (if I even decided to have any!)

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Went to the doctor after I was feeling weak and tired. Took blood and urine tests, and it turned out I was already anemic, and this thing called pregnancy was exacerbating it.

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Allan, of course

7.. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes, and we did

8. DUE DATE? June 4, 2004

9.. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not at all, fortunately. I had a bit of tiredness the first couple months (see #5), but that was it.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Ramen with Spam. To this day it remains one of my favorite dishes. I don't indulge too often because it's not healthful, but it sure is tasty! :-9

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing, actually. Pregnancy and hormones didn't really affect me much except for the expanding tummy.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Nope. I was hoping for a boy (teenage girls are difficult-- I know, I was one!)

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? around 25 pounds

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yup, thrown by my friend Sara and all our CS grad student colleagues at UCSB. It was even hosted at the Geekhouse!

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? How is this different from #1? It was a surprise, no doubt.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? None at all, it was the most routine, uneventful thing ever.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I always have trouble answering this question. I don't know when labor starts. If you're talking when contractions started (though they were mild and far apart), then 30 hours. If you're talking from the time the contractions shortened enough to the point that we went to the hospital, then it's more like 14 hours. And even then it was more or less bearable (meds helped, though!), so if you're talking about the really "bad" stuff where I'm cussing my husband out, then only a few hours.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Allan

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Allan

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yup. I had 2 doses of Fentanyl so I could rest a little throughout the night (arrived at the hospital at 11pm) and got a spinal during my final push.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7lbs 3oz

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 20, 2004 -- exactly 2 weeks before his due date.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Todd Allan

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 5 years and some change, hard to believe!

The Ups and Downs of Dyslexia

Boys are special... especially husbands!

This evening, Allan was working on a lesson plan for tomorrow, when he'll visit the middle schoolers at Todd's school and teach them some basics of algorithms-- namely, sorting. The perfect prop for sorting? Playing cards, of course!

He was sitting on the sofa, sorting out some cards and making notes on the process. He left a nice, neat row of cards, in sorted order, on the coffee table when he left to go do his workout. Me? I never even had time to go near the sofa/coffee table, I was busy putting Todd to bed and then sacking out in front of the computer for a few minutes before he returned...

...the computer that sits on the desk on the opposite side of the coffee table as the sofa (this is important).

When Allan returned from his workout, he and I chatted at the computer desk for a few minutes, whereupon his gaze soon fell on the coffee table. He mused: "you were sorting the cards, weren't you?" Puzzled, I glanced at the neat row and shook my head. They were already sorted before he left, I explained. I never touched them. I couldn't understand why he didn't remember doing that before he left.

"But... then why are they facing this way!?" sputtered Allan, a split second too late before he realized his error.

For as you see, ladies and gentlemen, playing cards can be read both right side up and upside down. So while he sat on the sofa and laid out the cards on the coffee table, they appeared to be "facing" him because he could read right-side-up numbers. And when he stood on the other side of the coffee table by the computer desk, he was again viewing right-side-up numerals. He thought I'd rearranged the cards so they were facing the "other way"!

Yup. I married me a special man, didn't I. Doesn't speak much for my own sanity or intelligence, having married the guy, but hey-- he's good for a few laughs. And who knew that dyslexia ran not only right/left but up/down, too!

For Love of Animals (aka People Suck!)

This blog post has been well over a year in the making. It's never been far from my mind, but I've never taken the time to actually sit down and sort out the thoughts in my head. Oh, I've posted bits and pieces here and there. So let's take an older blog post of mine as the starting point:

(and yes, I know I'm prone to linking to older blog posts for some context, and I know people are loathe to click on them, but this time-- please do read them. There are thoughts there complement my thoughts here, and I didn't want to make this too long by repeating myself)

First off, my thoughts after visiting an Asian supermarket in Southern California-- markets which typically house lots of live animals meant for consumption. These poor creatures are treated accordingly, and it breaks my heart: http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2007/11/asian-delicacies.html

Secondly, my thoughts on my visit to Indonesia in October 2008. This blog post focused on the plight of that country's poor, which was bad enough: http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2008/11/rich-vs-poor-in-third-world-country.html

Equally depressing (if not more so) was a combination of the two: wanton disregard for the well-being of live animals meant for consumption in an Asian country.

During our 12-hour layover in Taiwan on the way from the US to Indonesia, we wandered around one of those open-air markets. It's about as you woud imagine-- very crowded, full of vendors hawking their wares and loudly trying to drum up business. A bit depressing and yet interesting at the same time. The "stalls" were full of all sorts of fruits and vegetables you wouldn't ordinarily find in the States. But then something really caught my attention. I was wandering along the street, taking in the sights and sounds and mentally converting posted prices back into dollars, when I was splashed with water.

I looked down and saw a man sorting out shallow wooden boxes full of fish. What I had thought were gleaming, freshly-caught, *dead* fish were actually still alive, and flopped about desperately. My initial disgust at getting the filthy water splashed in my face paled in comparison to the feeling of revulsion that grew as I watched the hapless animals flop about, suffocating. It only got worse. As I made my way along this part of the street, I saw other marine animals for sale: turtles, crabs, frogs. All still alive. All very much unhappy in their crowded nets. Stacked thoughtlessly atop each other, squished so close they had little room to move, let alone breathe freely. The sight broke my heart, and I turned away, having completely lost any interest in seeing the rest of the market.

If you've read my blog post that I linked to above, you'll know that this sort of thing isn't restricted to Asian (or other) countries-- they bring it here to the United States, and it is equally deplorable here-- maybe even more so, since we live in a culture that more or less values animal life.

And as I stated in that blog post, I have no problem with consumption of animals-- I'm no vegetarian, myself, after all, and if the animal can be raised and killed humanely and without suffering, that's fine. What I *do* have a problem with is the terrible conditions under which these animals are made to suffer as they await purchase and consumption. And often times, the slaughtering process is just as vile and pain-inducing.

All this brings me to the declaration I've often made: that I like animals much more than I like people. Animals may kill each other too, but they only kill for food or in self-defense. They don't subject each other to wanton cruelty just because they can. They don't exact suffering on other creatures. They don't torture smaller creatures for fun. They do what they have to in order to survive, and nothing more. This is why I am saddened when a sea turtle dies at the jaws of a hungry shark, but shrug my shoulders because that's the cycle of nature-- yet I am enraged beyond comprehension when a sea turtle dies at the cruel hands of man. There's a video out there of humans slaughtering turtles that have come ashore to lay eggs or just get some sun. I cannot bear to press the play button-- the preview shot in the video player shows a seashore stained dark red with blood. It is enough to turn my stomach. The last time I hit the play button on such a video, it showed dogs being skinned alive for their fur.

Whether it's deplorable farm conditions, heartless slaughter for fur, food or shell, outright torture and abuse, or neglect of house pets, all kinds of animal suffering at human hands makes me so angry I cannot help but loathe humanity as a whole. Humans heap such suffering on fellow human beings, as well, but somehow it seems worse when it's helpless animals.

Because of this, I often feel as if I am at odds with the whole Christian notion of "love thy neighbor" and commands to do good for your fellow man. I don't dispute the importance of it, and I don't mean to downplay the nobility of that command, nor the harsh reality of human suffering and abuse the world over, but I often feel like the plight of animals gets brushed aside or even forgotten in the process. No matter what country. Even this one. And it really gets my goat when animal lovers try to do good things and raise money for good causes (such as helping stranded animals in Haiti or rescuing the cold-stunned sea turtles off the Eastern coast of the US) only to be sneered at by so-called humanitarians that think this is a waste of money, that insist this money is better spent on rescuing humans. Hey-- you have your cause, I have mine. Just because I choose a particular one to donate my time and money to doesn't mean I don't care about the other plights of the world.

Still, whether its animal abuse, human abuse, environmental abuse, or what have you, one factor still remains common: Human beings suck. Period. Now you see why I'm so anti-social ;-P

A Letter to My Blog

Dear Blog,

Ah, how I miss you so. You sit there, looking so shiny and pretty and tempting. Thoughts float around in my mind, sometimes taking root and taking shape, sometimes only for a fleeting moment. Each time, the desire to come here and post them arises. And each time, something more pressing takes my time away, and by the time I find a few minutes to visit you in peace, the moment has often passed. I don't want to come to you without my heart fully in it, you know? I know I vowed to try to spend more time with you, but isn't quality more important than quantity? Rest assured that I miss you just as much as you miss me.

I want to write about the books I've been reading lately. I want to write about how much fun it is to file taxes... and yet how depressing it can be once I've tallied up the final total. I want to write about how much more my loathing of humanity has been reinforced, and how my love for animals deepens. I want to write about aggravating things at work and school. I want to write about silly things, funny things, sad things, thoughtful things.

And yet Father Time hasn't been kind enough to allow me the chance. Especially when microblogging sites makes it easy to share bite-sized updates without too much thought. Still, I wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten you. Much as I love Tumblr and Twitter, you and your kind have always been my first love. You're always in the back of my mind somewhere. And when I hear about something funny or read something that gets my dander up or experience something interesting, you're always the first thing I think of.

If it makes you feel better, Todd's diary hasn't been getting much love lately, either, and I don't even NEED to be in the right mood to write there! :-)

I know you'll always be there. And you know that I'm here. Here's to seeing you around, blog :-)

Love,
Me