Love your neighbor, Simpsons-style

Some years ago I gave my friend Wayne a book for his birthday. It was called "The Gospel According to the Simpsons". Between the time that I purchased it from our university bookstore and the time I presented it to him, I read it (sorry, Wayne). And was pleasantly surprised. Who would've thought that nuggets of spiritual wisdom could be found in such a profane cartoon? But when you dig a little deeper, you find that deep down, the Simpson characters aren't as evil as they are sometimes made out to be. Moreover, many of the episodes subtly embody the essence of Biblical teachings in modern, everyday settings-- probably getting the point across far better than an outdated translation of the Bible could.

Take Homer, for instance. The quintessential bumbling fool. As many times as he goofs up, when it comes to serious matters, he does not stray. Though he has been tempted many times, he never cheats on his wife. When he's gone too far, he tries to make amends. And hell-raising Bart? How about that sincere prayer he recited the day before a dreaded exam that could decide whether he would be held back or not? It may have been a little rough around the edges, and contained none of the pious words you sometimes hear in chants and liturgies, but it came straight from the heart, which is by far the most important element in prayer. And to top it off? When the next day his prayers were answered and a freak snowstorm canceled school, he actually followed through his end of the bargain, fighting the temptation to play outdoors while he studied.

A few weeks ago an episode came out called "No Loan Again, Naturally" A brief synopsis: the Simpsons are unable to meet their mortgage payments when their interest rate skyrockets (sound familiar?) and their house is foreclosed and auctioned off. Feeling sorry for the Simpsons, their "Jesus freak" neighbor Flanders buys the house and leases it back to them for whatever they can afford till they get back on their feet. Rather than being grateful, however, the Simpsons take advantage of Flanders' generosity, forcing him to evict them. As he reviews the application of potential leasers, a Christian couple whose idea of fun makes Flanders look like a party animal, he finds himself reminiscing about his irreverent and irrelegious former neighbors-- with fondness. And he realizes that they are the ones he wants to live next to. After all, he says, you are only a saint when you're among sinners.

Now, some people might interpret that as Flanders elevating himself above non-Christians, but I actually think it's the opposite. His statement summarizes the whole of Jesus' teachings: "Love your neighbor". In Jesus' time, he was criticized by the religious leaders of his day-- they scoffed at him when he ate and drank and interacted with the most sordid of characters-- tax collectors (today's IRS agents :-D), prostitutes, rough-talking blue-collar workers, and *gasp* Gentiles! In modern times, self-righteous, so-called Christians do the same-- they plant a very obvious divide between "us" and "them", and heaven forbid anyone should cross that divide!

They are missing the point. How are they suppose to embody the love that Jesus did, unless they reach out to others who are not within their "circle"? It's easy to love people like you-- even the Mafia don takes care of his own. But loving those who are different? That takes some real selflessness. And humility. I read the perfect analogy in a book somewhere (the title and author escape me at the moment, my apologies): "Church is not a museum for saints. It's a hospital for sinners". Jesus himself came to earth to minister to the needy, not to waste time with pious and hypocritical religious leaders.

Sadly, some of today's Christians are little different from the religious leaders of Jesus' day. It is unfortunate that the term "Christian" has such negative connotations today because of such church-going, Bible-thumping, proselytizing religious folk. Isn't it sad that in a culture where "tolerance" is valued, and it is unacceptable to bash anyone for their religious beliefs (or lack thereof), Christianity is the exception? Then it's open season. But... given the current "face" that the general public sees when they think of Christians, I can hardly blame them. I know I sure wouldn't want some self-righteous person treating me with disdain instead of respect. With hostility instead of love. With condemnation instead of acceptance. With judgment when it is not their place to judge.

Now, there are a lot of genuine, faithful believers out there. And they have done a lot of good in this world, no question. On the other hand, there's also been a lot of bloodshed, and the battles continue today (albeit a little less bloody in modern times). Seems like the good ones get drowned out by a few bad apples. And I think that's a shame. Just think-- if more of the Bible-thumpers would adhere to the simple command of "Love your neighbor", maybe the world would be a little more peaceful. Flanders came to understand that. And if Flanders can, so can anyone else ;-) Right?

Voltron, Defender of the Universe

Does anyone remember that show (the one with the 5 lions)? It first aired nearly 25 years ago, in the fall of 1984. I was 7 years old, and remember being glued to the TV set, watching it. It was my favorite show. I loved the lions. The characters were cool. I even had a crush on one of them. I wrote my own stories about them, and, since we couldn't afford the actual lion action figures that were popular in the toy stores then, I made my own out of paper.

Soon I grew up, and all but forgot about Voltron. I perked up a little when I heard rumors of a Voltron movie in the works sometime in the near future, but then forgot about that, too.

And then... Hulu, which continuously adds new movies and TV shows to its archives, made Voltron available. It was regular-Hulu-watcher Allan who first noticed it, and casually mentioned it to me, knowing that I was a fan as a child.

Interested, I clicked on it, and haven't looked back since. What a trip down memory lane! I never saw the first few episodes of the show-- the important ones that establish the background story, and now I finally understand it. The scenes where the individual lions combine to form Voltron were always the same, and brought back a flood of memories when I saw it again for the first time in 25 years.

To be honest, it was kind of amusing to watch it now, through grown-up eyes. The acting isn't great, the animations typical Japanese anime (which I loathe), and the writing cheesy. But the fond memories of how much I loved the show as a child, and the excitement of getting to relive it all over again, more than compensated for any "reality, bubble-bursting" factors. I still think it's a cool show.

Anyone else remember the show? Anyone else watch it? What are your favorite childhood shows?

Here's the Hulu link, btw:

http://www.hulu.com/voltron-defender-of-the-universe

Quiz mosaic

Lots to blog about, like ruminations on one of the more recent Simpsons episodes, and my excitement at finding out that Hulu is now hosting one of my all-time childhood favorite cartoons-- Voltron. But for now, I couldn't resist doing a fun little quiz-- it's just your run-of-the-mill questions, and most of you who are reading this know all my answers anyway, but I thought it would be fun to post because of the coolness of the answers: a photo mosaic!

I've decided to leave off my written answers to the questions and let you deduce them from the mosaic-- although even that will be pretty straightforward, as most of the pictures speak for themselves quite obviously :-)

1. What is your name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?



How about you?

EDIT: I forgot to post the instructions with the link to the mosaic generator. Sorry about that!

DIRECTIONS:
- Go to Google Image search.
- Type in your answer to each question.
- Choose a picture from the first three pages.
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.
- Save the image for use in this entry.
- Post it! :-)

Stricter traffic laws...

... just means more opportunities for law-breakers and idiot drivers to abound.

While returning to work after dropping Todd off at after-school care, I found myself blocked by an inattentive lady slowly pulling up to a red light (I was trying to exit out of a parking lot onto the street, common courtesy dictates that if you're stopping at a red light, you leave room for people exiting from the side, right?) As I watched her glide in front of me, I noticed that her attention was occupied by what appeared to be a pen. Okay, I've been guilty of jotting down shopping lists while stopped at red lights, so I was slightly irritated but not too mad. The light turns quickly anyway, so I wouldn't have long to wait.

But when the light did turn green and she started driving off, I noticed that it wasn't a pen at all-- it was a knitting needle. Sure enough, she yanked her handiwork up in the air so she could put her hand on the steering wheel. Seriously!? Knitting while driving!? I was stunned, to say the least.

As I made my left turn out of the parking lot, I noticed a motorcycle cop exiting the parking lot across the street from me. As we crossed paths, I saw that he'd turned his lights on, hot on someone's tail. With delicious glee I hoped that he, too, had seen the knitting lady and was chasing her down to at least give her a tongue-wagging! Now that would be justice :-)

As if that wasn't bad enough, though, knitting lady driver just got one-upped. Check out this lovely little news tidbit about a woman breastfeeding her kid... while driving... and talking on her cell phone (which is illegal now)... in the rain!!

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/02/27/ddn022709breastfeedweb.html

Like I said-- stricter laws may enhance safety, but they also seem to bring out idiot drivers in droves (ha!). You just can't win!

Been far too long...

... since I've updated this! Okay, a little over 2 weeks may not be much by most standards, but in my small corner of the blog world, it's practically ages. I think the last time my blog was neglected for this long was when I was in Indonesia. Which reminds me, I still have one more post to write about some of the sights and sounds of the country.

But for now, a few brief updates.

It started right after my last blog post, but the Friday (the 6th) was when I REALLY came down with a nasty bout of the flu. Fever, chills, aches and nausea-- the whole kaboodle. Ironically, no congestion or cough, at least not until AFTER the fever and chills subsided. Anyway, I was knocked out of commission for 4 days, and was lucky enough that the weekend comprised half of it, reducing the amount of days I had to take off from work. Thank heavens for Veggie Tales, Winnie the Pooh and Professor Fizzwizzle (yes, I ended up buying the download-- well worth the money, though the whole family is now addicted ;-) )!

Todd came down with a fever himself that weekend, and my mom drove up on Monday (the 9th) with some victuals I could stomach, and to pick up Todd. She had planned to pick him up on Thursday (the 12th) anyway, since Todd got 4 days off for the President's Day weekend. So, he just got an extended weekend :-D

Illnesses aside, the Todd-free week was well-timed, because the following day, the 10th, we released our long-awaited product for sale to the public (it had been in Beta testing for nearly 2 years). Release night went rather smoothly. We usually start at 10pm and finish in the wee hours of the morning (typically 2-3am) unless something goes horribly wrong. But that night, we actually started at 6pm. The 4-hour head start proved well worth it, as most of us were done before midnight. I got to enjoy a normal sleep after all.

The next day was another rare treat-- we developers got to spend time in the customer care department, sitting in with customer service reps (CSRs) and listening in while they handled support phone calls. This was about as close to the customers as we would actually get, and it was neat seeing not only what things are like for our customers, but what it was like for the people in the front lines, fielding their questions.

The entire week was full of festivities, too. Day after release we all enjoyed pastries for breakfast instead of our usual bagels on Wednesdays. We also got fleece blankets (the "s(ch)wag" I referred to in my Facebook status) with the GoToAssist Express logo emblazoned on it. Came in handy for keeping Todd warm in the chilly nights that ensued. Drinks and debauchery (okay, not really) at Happy Hour on Thursday night. And Friday afternoon was champagne toasts and a chocolate fountain in which to dip a variety of goods-- strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels, potato chips, bananas... all in all, good stuff! What a way to end the week and start a long weekend!

I also got new glasses! For the first time in my life, my prescription has not changed significantly since my last checkup-- which was 6 years ago, to boot! My left eye is still the same and my right eye has only worsened by 1/4 diopter. Took me a while to find suitable frames, but I eventually found a pair that was similar in size and shape to my original ones, but only have a frame over the top half of the lenses, and are overall much lighter. Took a bit of adjustment, but I'm happy with them now. Pictures shall be forthcoming soon!

That was my past couple weeks in a nutshell. How about you?

Drumming means you have a job

In case any of you were wondering what mine and Allan's Facebook statuses on Monday meant, well, we spent Monday morning at a hotel conference hall for our company's annual summit, AKA the "All Hands Meeting". Many sales reps flew in from out of state. We enjoyed free breakfast before sauntering into the conference hall, where I promptly stopped in my tracks and wondered if this was the correct room, since every chair was adorned with a bongo drum. After the usual presentations and spiels about how we did last year and where we're going this year, the fun started. Drummers from the Drum Cafe performed some African drumming for us and then had each of us participate with the bongo drums we found on our seats at the beginning. It was supposed to be a whole exercise in communication and teamwork, but honestly, I was having too much fun beating the bejesus out of my drum at an upbeat tempo to really notice the main message. After getting all worked up, we exited for our free lunch, where Allan promptly noticed bruising on his thumbs from all the exuberant drumming. Hehehehe...

As for the title of my post... well, just like many other companies are doing in the face of the souring economy, ours decided to trim jobs in an effort to reduce costs and remain profitable. So last Thursday and Friday, we lost about 10% of our workforce. There was a subdued atmosphere on Thursday as we waited with bated breath and gnashed tooth to find out if any of us would get the dreaded visit from the manager/HR/whoever was bringing down the ax. I was getting an eerie sense of deja vu, as most of you will recall what happened in October 2007. At last, Thursday ended, the announcement came that all the US-based layoffs had been completed, and Allan and I were still there, breathing with a sigh of relief. Back to work :-)

In other news-- life is... well, life is going smoothly. Todd still enjoys school. Not thrilled about after-school care, so every once in a while when one of us is having a slow day, work-wise, we'll stay home with him in the afternoon and work remotely. Little man is also slowly starting to warm to karate, now that he's starting to get the hang of it, he doesn't loathe practice so much. I'm still in the choir at church, although, if I thought our numbers were small before, they're dwindling even more! First day back after winter break, there were only 4 of us. Interestingly enough, all the parts were there, so if all else fails, we could make a good quartet. Allan's making headway with his degree, and has been keeping busy on nights and weekends! Go Allan! :-)

Not much else in the way of updates... we're just grateful to still have our jobs and be where we are. Moving onward, now!

And how have you been?

Let's create stuff

The meme, copy-and-pasted:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- No guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done sometime this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story, a CD, something blinky or shiny. I may draw or sculpt something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost to your own journal. We can all make stuff!

Side note from Helly:
I spied this on Steve's LJ. At first I resisted the urge to comment, because I didn't think I could come up with 5 things to send to potential responders to my own blog after I posted it... but c'mon. It's Steve! I just HAD to know what kind of strange and morbid things he might concoct, so I joined in. And here I am. Comment if you want to play, too :-)

Big Brother is watching

In a recent email to Jenna, I realized I didn't have much in the way of updates because everything pertinent in my life has already been published on my Facebook status and/or on Twitter. Such Big Brother transparency the internet provides these days, I mused.

But it's a little more obvious on Twitter. I don't use it a whole lot, and only follow 2 people and a couple of websites, but it's kinda fun nonetheless. Here's where it got a bit spooky:

Before Christmas, as I was doing online shopping and using kaboodle.com to keep track of my shopping lists, I put up a status about how much I loved Kaboodle. That same day, kaboodledotcom started following my feed. A few weeks later I put up a comment about the joys of shopping from the comfort of your living room. That's when shopping_chic started following me. How bizarre, I thought.

Then there's today. And my current status proclaiming how much I enjoy receiving Borders coupons in my email. Within hours, I had a new follower: PromoCodedotorg.

Makes me wonder about those bots circling the web, looking for related keywords in order to advertise themselves. Considering that each time, I received a new follower within at most a day of posting my status, it's pretty efficient. Marketing at its finest, hey!

Stay at home vs working world

Writer's block hits. So I resort to a canned "blog idea" to get the juices flowing. First up on the list?

Is it worth it to place children in daycare or save that money and keep them home?

Wow. This one currently hits a little close to home. Most of you know our current situation. Allan and I both work full-time, Todd spends the mornings in kindergarten and then we cart him off to after-school care at the Boys and Girls Club. Weekends provide a much-welcome respite for all of us. We've settled into a daily routine, but it's clear that Todd isn't entirely happy being away from us for so long.

Last week, I stayed home one day, sick. It wasn't too severe, and by afternoon I was feeling well enough to do a little bit of work from home (hooray for working for a company that makes it easy to work remotely). I decided to let Todd stay home with me after school. He was sooooo excited at the prospect, that he practically shoved Allan out the door after lunch, when normally he's clamoring for just one more hug and kiss goodbye. Although I had to divide my time and attention between my work and the little man, it was obvious he enjoyed being home, even if had to play by himself a lot of the time.

The next few days afterward, Todd kept begging for me to stay home with him after school. He even promised that he wouldn't bother me and would let me work in peace. My heart broke, especially when he started sobbing :-( If my workload had been lighter and filled with non-time-critical things that I could easily take care of at night, I would have indulged him. Alas, I couldn't, and I felt sooo bad for my little man.

So-- to answer that question, I believe that's a no-brainer. Hands-down, it's better to stay at home and devote your time and attention to your child. It is one thing for the young ones to spend a few hours a day at preschool or kiddie gyms or whatever, to gain exposure to other kids and learn to socialize. It's all part of the learning process. But the entire day? No matter how caring and attentive a day care may be, it could never match the genuine love and attention from a parent. Kids pick up on that. And I believe it has a great effect on their well being.

Ideally, one parent would earn money and one parent would stay home full time. Unfortunately, in this day and age it isn't always feasible. Especially with the rising cost of... well, everything, from college to houses. Especially here in Santa Barbara.

We are extremely fortunate that our work, home, Todd's school and the Boys and Girls Club are all in very close proximity to each other, enabling us to at least provide a break in the middle of the day as Todd spends lunchtime with us at home. We are also very blessed to live relatively close to my parents, who are willing to take Todd on during school breaks and holidays. A bunch of little things to mitigate circumstances that, in my opinion, aren't quite ideal. And count my blessings that we ARE able to mitigate it somewhat!

Update on puff paint grippy socks

Okay, so I totally flaked out and neglected to blog it till Jenna reminded me, so here is an update on my Facebook status of Dec 16, in which I crowed about trying to make non-skid socks for Todd using puffy paint :-) In a nutshell, it was a success!

I finally got a chance to try out the socks during Todd's karate lesson last week. Here's what I wound up doing:

I spent less than $1.50 on a tiny 1oz bottle of 3-D paint at Michael's. Then I took Todd's feet and traced them over some thick, sturdy cardboard, cutting out two foot-shaped patterns. I stuffed these patterns inside some old socks to stretch them out properly, and then dabbed paint on the soles. Dots, stripes, dashes-- they all work. And a letter "T" for Todd on the heel, for added fluorish :-)

Let them sit and dry for 24 hours, and they were ready to be used! They held up quite well! I even saw Todd picking at it while seated, and it held firm.

This was the exact bottle I have (just different color):



The funny thing is that now Todd doesn't actually mind going barefoot, so that little art project was all for naught. But you know what? Better to have spent less than $2 on a bottle of paint I could use for something else, than spend $15 for specially-made grippy socks that would just gather dust in the recesses of the dresser, right? Or worse yet, $50 for shoes that he will merely outgrow before the year is over.

My inspiration came from a fellow mother's blog, complete with pictures of her handiwork: http://babymasonjar.blogspot.com/2007/11/grip-y-socks.html
According to her, they held up pretty well, surviving several washes, and by the time they started to wear out, her son had outgrown the socks, anyway.

All in all, it seems like it bodes well for those of you willing to give it a try :-) I'd love to hear how you fare with them!

16 Weird and Random Things about me

I spied this going around on Facebook, and though I wasn't explicitly tagged, I thought it might be fun to do, anyway. I've done something similar in the past, and had a hard time coming up with 10 random facts (let alone 16!) but surprisingly, this wasn't too hard.

Here's the Facebook blurb: Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 others to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(ever the rule breaker, I doubt I'll come up with 16 people to tag... we'll see when this posts on Facebook, though)

And of course, if you're reading this outside of Facebook, feel free to tag yourself and blog it on your own blog, or in the comments section here.

1. I have no middle name.

2. Unlike most other Chinese names, mine does not actually have a meaning attached to it.

3. I can't stand coconut, ginger or carbonated beverages (which is why I don't generally drink soda or beer)

4. I have an unhealthy and obsessive love affair with spreadsheets.

5. I've only ever had 2 stuffed alligators as a child. Their names were Allen and Harvey. My husband's name? Allan Harvey.

6. When I wear velour clothes, I can't stop rubbing the velvety softness between my fingers.

7. I have been known to eat plain sugar as a snack (I used to munch on sugar cubes at Amgen)

8. I am less Asian than my Caucasian husband.

9. I sleep with stuffed animals and still believe they come to life when I'm not around.

10. I'm mildly OCD about washing my hands and sanitizing surfaces.

11. I sing tenor.

12. My favorite animals include frogs, Rottweilers, killer whales, stingrays and sea turtles.

13. When I was in the military, I drove my Humvee around the woods of Germany before I got my license.

14. I attended the same high school and university as my grandmother-in-law.

15. I don't mind ruined endings, and get pissed off at people who deliberately withhold an ending even if I explicitly ask for it to be ruined.

16. Sometimes I think I love and care about animals more than I do people. People can be so cruel and inhumane :-(

Friday Five -- Books

Been a while since I've done one of these. Today's subject? Books and reading!

1. Do you enjoy reading?
2. What is the first book you remember reading?
3. Who is your favourite author?
4. What is your favourite book?
5. What is the last book you read and the first you'll read next?

1. Of course. Nothing beats curling up on a nice comfy bed or sofa with a cup of hot tea in one hand and a good book in the other. Especially on cold nights, wrapped up in a warm blankie.

2. In Germany there are these little children's books, about 10cm x 10cm, called Pixi books. I think they had something similar (spelled "Pixie") in Canada and the UK. An example: http://www.pixibuch.de/katalog_0024.html I had several of these, and remember enjoying reading the little stories, most about animals. In fact, when I went to Germany twice as an adult, I picked up several of the newere ones for Todd. I don't know if it counts as "reading" per se, because most of the time, I was simply reciting from memory from the countless times my mom read the stories to me. If you're talking truly reading, then one of my earliest memories is "Charlotte's Web". I loved it so much my first-grade teacher let me have her copy, and even signed it for me :-)

3. For fiction, I enjoy Amy Tan, John Grisham and Michael Crichton. For non-fiction, I'd have to say C.S. Lewis.

4. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. The movie is equally good. Surprising, considering most movies adapted from books don't stick well to the original story. Close runner up is the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They say books transport you to different times and different worlds, and I still have fond memories of feeling like I was out in the pioneer West with the Ingalls family, watching everything unfold.

5. Blargh, it's been a while since I finished a book, though I try to read every night. Last one was "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. Fascinating read! Next up? Well, I'm multitasking, so it's several at once (and may also explain why it takes so long to finish a single book :-P) One is "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. Another is "The Case for Christ" by former atheist journalist Lee Strobel. And since it's the start of a brand new year, it's the perfect time to adhere to one of those "read the Bible in one year" plans, since I've only ever read it piecemeal before. I'm already a few days behind :-/

How about you?

Not One Sparrow

I think I have found my pet (excuse the pun, you'll see why in a moment) cause.

It comes as no surprise to most of you that I love animals. More so than people, I daresay ;-P While I rail against human suffering, animal suffering is especially heartbreaking. And so it again comes as no surprise that when I want to find a cause to donate to or volunteer my time with, it will be animal-related. Problem is, which one? There are so many! I can't stretch myself too thin, but how do I pick which one(s) I want to get involved in? I've looked. But the majority of the organizations out there seem to be devoted to a particular subset of animals. House pets. Farm animals. Endangered wildlife. They're all important to me.

A second issue that stymied me was that of humanitarianism. In the Christian sphere especially, there is great emphasis on compassion, love and ministering to the needs of your fellow man. And while I do believe in that, I was left wondering: where do animals fit in? If I spent a lot of time and resources toward animal welfare projects, would I feel guilty about not spending that time and energy towards human welfare? Just as there was a wide range of animal causes to choose from, there is an even wider range of humanitarian causes, all equally worthy, in my eyes.

Then I came across this website, thanks to a colleague having become a fan of it on Facebook: Not One Sparrow

As I read more about the motivation behind it, the causes behind which its founder rallies, and most importantly, a spiritual perspective on concern for animals, I was deeply moved. Not One Sparrow answered every question I had and spoke to my main concerns (as explained above). Most importantly, it really resonated with me. Never have I felt so uplifted by a cause. Never have I felt more than piqued curiosity or sympathetic interest in a cause, no matter how noble. At the same time, I didn't feel the sense of inadequacy that must daunt us all when undertaking an active role in a cause we believe in: "Can I really make a difference?"

I firmly believe that the earth and its wonderful array of creatures are God's gift to us (just think of your favorite animal, marvel at its unique characteristics and beauty, and tell me it's not an amazing, well-thought-out creation), and that it is our responsibility to take care of them and use them wisely and respectfully. Sadly, the rampant abuse of both our natural resources and animals makes it clear that man has been more than negligent in this responsibility. And this is something I sincerely wish to rectify.

Of course, I have only just stumbled upon this site. What I hope to be able to contribute concretely remains to be seen. I look forward to it, whatever it may be.

Allan summed it up nicely when he referred to me as so: "Helly's not a tree-hugger. She's a turtle-hugger!" Indeed. God loves even the tiniest of sparrows. Why shouldn't we, also?

Days of Yore

I've officially abandoned Myspace in favor of Facebook for quite some time now. But it wasn't just because Facebook possessed all kinds of neat features that Myspace didn't. It's because unlike Myspace, the majority of my Facebook friends are people I know in my offline life. And the majority of THOSE are old high school classmates. People I haven't seen in over 15 years. People with whom I've enjoyed reconnecting. Of the classmates I've added so far, roughly half were at the 10-year reunion (which had a rather small attendance). So I'm hoping the 20-year reunion will have a bigger turnout, at least twice as big :-D

Last night I spent some time chatting with an old classmate I've known since junior high-- so, going on 20 years now. Of course, we never really talked back then. Hell, I'm surprised he (along with many others I've added to my friends list) even remembered me! But talking about our perceptions of each other back then was interesting. I'd always viewed him as one of the cool kids, talented and stylish and in with the "popular" crowd-- he was on the Homecoming court and voted for multiple most/bests senior year! I offer our yearbook as proof ;-) Despite that, he apparently saw things a bit differently then :-P
And me? I was the loner, the outcast. I was the girl who didn't go to senior prom because the guy she finally worked up the nerve to ask to go with her said "no". Oh, I had my little group of friends I hung out with every day-- we weren't popular, we weren't "in", we didn't blend in with any of the other stereotypical cliques. We were the band of "misfits". But he didn't see that, either. He saw me in a much more positive light than I would ever have.

Which all just makes me wonder exactly how we all really viewed each other in those days.

Still, I have to say that my high school experience was fairly pleasant. If anything, it was my time in junior high that was a bit more trying. Probably because kids were still at the age when they were blatant and merciless about teasing others who were different. And I, with my boyish short hair, overbite, zero sense of fashion, compounded by my shy and reclusive nature, made an easy target. Fortunately I have a pretty thick skin (to my detriment at times, though), and I managed to survive adolescence and teenhood intact :-)

Anyway... that's in the past. We've all since grown up and moved on. But it's amazing how one little chat can bring back a lot of memories. Now I'm REALLY looking forward to the next reunion. Although I guess with everyone active on Facebook, we'll be all caught up on each others' lives before then, anyway! ;-)

How about you? What were your high school days like?

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year! First blog post of 2009. I managed to stay awake past midnight this time ;-) Funny how when it's a normal day I have no problem staying up till 1:00am or so, but when I actually WANT to stay up late, I'm yawning long before.

We wrapped up 2008 by dressing up and splurging on a nice dinner out at a seafood restaurant. The meal itself was okay, but the dessert was unique and delicious-- flash fried strawberries! The dough tasted like a cross between crullers and churros, and strawberries... well, 'nuff said ;-)

And then we traveled the world to greet the new year. Started off with the demolition of a cool domino setup that must have taken hours, if not days, to set up.

Then we headed to Times Square in New York City to count down with our fellow Americans, watch the ball drop and see the Clintons dance and other couples embrace. It looked COLD out there!

Finally, we headed for warmer climes to see some world-class fireworks in Sydney, Australia. Fireworks are by far my favorite part of the celebration.

Amazing, isn't it-- how easy it is to wander around the world from the comfort of your own home. Traveling the globe-- now THAT's a New Year celebration!

And with the click of a mouse button, I found myself back in my living room, clad in my warm flannel and fleece pajamas, ready to greet the first day of the new year. After a good night's sleep, that is... starting... now :-) G'nite! :-)