Painted Toes

Which are the prettier toes?



or...



When Todd spied my painted toenails when I went to LA last weekend, he immediately queried:

"Why are your toenails painted!?"

Upon further scrutiny, he then declared his judgment:

"It doesn't look nice!"

This from the boy who, a day earlier, was clamoring to have his own nails painted!!

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/409241892)

Clothing woes

I hate shopping for clothing sometimes. It's not so bad when I'm looking for standard fare like shirts, shorts and skirts. Shoes aren't generally a problem, though my wide feet precludes some selections. Pants can be interesting, because my legs are pretty long. But nowadays having "tall" length in pants isn't uncommon, so sticking with Bongo or Gloria Vanderbilt usually suffices.

In other words, when it comes to casual, everyday wear, I'm pretty much covered (no pun intended, as you shall see).

The trouble comes when I try to go for something a little fancier-- either a fancy top to go with a skirt, or an outright dress. Something I can wear to semi-formal events. Granted, such events only come about once a year or so, but it's nice to be prepared. These days, such tops and dresses seem to be solely designed for women with cleavage. They are either low cut (i.e. too low for me) or they are designed to be worn without bras. Neither option, of course, is feasible for someone like me.

Just once I'd like to be able to pore over the dress rack of our local department store and quickly be able to find something I can actually wear. On the rare times I find something that suits my body type, it's inevitably the wrong size. I think I had to go through hundreds, maybe even a thousand dresses before I finally found the quintessential "little black dress" that actually fits me! Lovely odds-- 1 in a 1000? That's a lot of perusing.

Oh, and don't get me started on swimsuits. Those are even harder to come by-- again, everything out there is designed for women with at least moderate chest sizes. We're going on a campout for 4th of July weekend, and I still have not found a decent one-piece. Looks like I may have to resort to wearing my bikini (which I can't comfortably swim in) with a T-shirt on top of it.

I say-- down with all the cleavage-showing clothing! Or at least... balance it out a little with stuff that better suits those of us less well-endowed! :-P

How about you? What clothing woe do you have to deal with?


(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/408463471)

Economic Stimulus

After reading Wayne blog about getting his check sometime ago, I started wondering when (even if) we were going to ours. Today the notice came to expect a check this coming week. The following conversation ensued:

Allan: What shall we do with it?

Helly: Put it towards the deposit on our new apartment (the check we'll get covers about 2/3 of a month's rent at the new place)!

Allan: But that's not going to help the economy!

Indeed. How many other people are going to use that money to pay down debt or save it or use it for purposes other than its intended use: purchases leading to economic stimulation?

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/408074085)

How many times...

... can Allan repeat the same mistake?

Well, let's see... earlier today, he ran a quick errand: get some cash from our joint checking account so he could pay a holding deposit on a new apartment we plan to move into soon. The items needed? His debit card and an ATM machine. Any ATM machine, in fact. Simple, no?

Off he drove. Stopped at the first one. Inserted card. Punched in PIN. And was promptly greeted with "Card ineligible for this service" or something like that. Hmm... odd. A little different from the usual "Card not valid" or "Invalid PIN" messages you tend to get at ATM machines. But hey, ATM machines act oddly sometimes, so he shrugged it off and trooped off in search of another machine. Repeat the above steps. Receive the same error message.

Scratching his head, he went to yet ANOTHER machine and again got the same results. Thoroughly fed up, he finally pulled out his debit card for his own private account and finally managed to get some cash that way. Off he went on his errand.

When he returned, he briefly explained that our ATM card wasn't working. That's strange, I thought. Just a couple weeks ago I managed to use my card just fine to withdraw cash. I figured maybe he just had an expired card, as that's happened before. I pulled out my card to compare expiration dates. And Allan obligingly pulled out his.... credit card! That's right, the *credit* card issued to us by the same bank with which we keep our joint checking and savings accounts! And last time I checked, those particular cards weren't eligible for cash ATM withdrawals (a good thing, of course!)

Lesson learned? A credit card is not the same thing as a debit card. They don't even look the same! One is plain green the other is blue with silver trim. Funnier still? That Allan managed to run around and hit nearly every ATM machine near our house before giving up... and still didn't realize his error till he got back!

Time to pull out that special helmet of his from storage...

Triple digit dollars...

... for a tank of gas? Not unheard of these days.

I have come to realize that the Chevron station down the street from where I live posts THE most expensive gas prices in all of Santa Barbara. And I realized that I love snapping pictures of it everytime I pass by and the prices have gone up another outrageous notch.

Here I was shaking my head in amazement when gas was approaching-- gasp! $4 a gallon in May 2007:



A year later, May 2008:



And just a few short weeks later, here is the sign today. June 2008:



What I love most is the dyslexia (or is it mere impatience? Disgust?) of whoever changes the numbers. In the May 2007 pic, the "3" in the bottom price (super unleaded) is upside down. And in the above pic, the "1" in the bottom price is backward.

I guess, when you're paying through the nose at the pump, you might as well have a small chuckle while you're at it, eh? When your gas bill for filling up your tank approaches the triple digits, you know it's time to start looking for alternatives...

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/406576152)

On Friendships

At long last I finally saw Sex and the City. We went on Friday night, after work. Had a quick dinner and caught the 6:30 showing, which was still fairly full! As mentioned earlier, I had always enjoyed the TV show, even though I don't consider myself a die-hard fanatic. I expected to enjoy the movie but nothing more. Like Jenna, however, I found myself enjoying it a LOT more than I anticipated! I can definitely see how some people would go back to the theaters and watch it again!

I thought the most interesting part of the movie was the way some of the characters developed a bit from their usual personalities in the TV show (again, this is coming from someone who's watched maybe only 1/4 of all the episodes). Like Charlotte getting feisty in defending her jilted friend. And Miranda revealing that underneath that cynical, hard-nosed persona she does have a soft heart after all. And Samantha-- doing her best to keep from straying!

That, then, got me thinking about the brief commentary between me and Jenna on the previous entries, about how the show's characters as a whole pretty much encompass the entire spectrum of personalities. The average person would find it hard to identify with just ONE character, but it's easy for us to find elements of ourselves amongst 2 or 3 of the women. For me, it's Carrie's cautious optimism. Miranda's drive. Charlotte's innocent outlook (shut up) on life, and her fashion style.

The other day, while watching "Friends" on TV, the ensuing discussion about who our favorite character was got me thinking about WHY we had our individual favorites-- and I think it mostly has to do with how much we can relate to the character. How much of ourselves (that we don't hate) we see in him/her. And the same thing happens: there is more than one. Invariably, I'll say: "My favorite is X. But I also like Y. And then there's Z!" and before you know it I've rattled off more than half the cast. I love Chandler's style of humor and down-to-earthness (is that a word??). I am Monica's twin when it comes to obsessing over order and cleanliness. I can relate to Phoebe's bluntness and Ross's geekish tendencies. A single favorite is hard to name because I can relate to different parts of so many.

And... I guess it's that way in real life, too. Your friends are hardly your clones. You have a few things in common, but some things different as well. Ultimately, the differences are a good thing-- it'd get pretty boring hanging out with a bunch of your "twins", wouldn't it? I think about that in terms of those of you who are reading this blog right now. At first, our one thing in common was the thing that we had in common with hundreds, thousands of other people-- Grab.com or UCSB. Gradually we came to discover more. Similar interests/hobbies. Tastes in music and movies. Circumstances. Goals. Philosophies.

Then the differences also became apparent. I don't like cats. Some of you own them. I hate hiking, camping and anything outdoorsy. Some of you live for it. I favor country music. Precious few of you do. I'm too weary for the heavy-drinking scene. Some of you could still drink me under the table. We have different outlooks on lifestyles, family, work, and money. And despite the differences, we get along as well as the women of "Sex and the City" and the sextet of "Friends". Our similarities bring us together, our differences keep the friendships interesting. That really brings out the positive meaning of "diversity", doesn't it?

Just as an afterthought... we could have our very own sitcom/soap opera just based on our lives together! The stories we could tell! What should we call our show? ;-)

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/404486978)

Sex and the City

On Friday, the much-anticipated "Sex and the City" movie premiered. I had intended to see it on opening night, but tickets ran out FAST. I guess it's just as well, since it probably would've meant an overcrowded theater, which I'm not partial to. I am by no means an ardent follower of the former HBO series, but I do enjoy catching re-runs every now and then, when they air on the CW channel or on TBS.

Allan and I made plans to see it on Saturday, but we had too much to do, between extra work, cleaning the apartment, and running all sorts of errands, so we made plans to catch it on Sunday afternoon. I even treated myself to some new nail polish while shopping on Saturday, so that, in true Carrie Bradshaw fashion, I could paint my toenails and step out in my high-heeled sandals.

Unfortunately, we slept in later than planned this morning, and had to catch the later Sunday service, which led to a chain of events that ended in us skipping the movie today. After church, we met up with some other members (one of my former labmates at school, his fiancee, and their friends) and having lunch together. We were really enjoying the conversation and camaraderie, so by the time we finished our meal, it was too late to catch the next showing. So we opted for some shopping instead. Ties for Allan and a dress for me (for his upcoming 20-year reunion this summer). To my utter joy and surprise, I managed to find a gorgeous black dress that would be perfect for any occasion-- formal or casual! It is rare for me to find actual dresses that fit me, but I lucked out today :-)

I had hoped to blog this after I watched the movie, but I figured I had enough to ramble about for now ;-) So I leave you with one little blogthings quiz (been ages since I posted one)-- very apt! And I like my results-- of the 4 vixens, I think Kristin Davis is the prettiest, and her character is definitely the sweetest!

You Are Most Like Charlotte!

You are the ultimate romantic idealist
You've been hurt before, but that hasn't caused you to give up on love.
If anything, your resolve to fall in love is stronger than ever.
And it's this feminine optimism that men find most appealing about you.


Romantic prediction: That guy you are seeing (or crushing on)?

Could be very serious - if you play your cards right!

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

 (originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/401755494)

Mock the Stupid

A long time ago, Jenna got me hooked onto the "mock the stupid" LiveJournal community. For those who don't know, LJ communities are basically public blogs that anyone (well, any LJ member) can post in and comment on. Message board forums in blog style, I guess. I was catching up on some entries today, when one caught my eye-- mostly because it reminded me of Lisa's recent blog post chronicling stupid things she's heard at work.

I thought you all might appreciate these gems. The original post had this (regarding a health class where the instructor was teaching about tourniquets (and yes, she cautioned the class that it's no longer recommended)):

a girl decided to ask:
"So, if you can stop severe bleeding in your limbs using a tourniquet... could you tie a tourniquet around your neck to stop severe bleeding from your head??"

Apparently she was dead (haha) serious. That spawned a slew of tongue-in-cheek comments, of which the nursing-related ones were most hilarious. Observe:

--When my Nana trained as a nurse, the hospital she trained in had a tradition where each group of student nurses, upon arriving for their first surgical rotation were asked to go and get a neck tourniquet. She said that in nearly every group there was at least one student who fell for it.

--I usually send them for a box of fallopian tubes.

--A lab tech tried to get me to go to his mate in the stores for a 'long weight' once. Luckily it dawned on me before I was out the door so I could ask him if he wanted some tartan paint with it!

--Similar to the old high school football team tradition of sending the rookies out the look for the line of scrimmage.

Breaking Up is Hard To Do

... one of my favorite Neil Sedaka songs.

And usually, quite true. Either you're breaking someone's heart, or someone is breaking your heart, or maybe the feeling is mutual but you have to untangle your former lives together... no matter what, it is usually far from easy.

But Facebook changes the game. As you can tell, even divorce is now as easy as a click of your mouse button:



Who'd a thunk it could be that simple? Forget overcharging lawyers and endless paperwork and fees... Facebook provides the no-frills solution. That really takes "technology making our lives easier" to a whole new level!



(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/396631488)

I Hate Mondays, today more than ever!

I don't do mornings. I don't do Mondays. So Monday mornings provide that extra double-whammy that I don't appreciate.

This craptacular morning started out last night-- when I awoke before 4am and then couldn't get back to sleep for a a couple hours. Makes for an extra-grouchy Helly in the morning. But okay, it's not the first time I've had a sleep-deprived night, and I usually manage to get by.

Then I got into work this morning. I noticed that the walls had been painted. It's actually very pretty-- the smaller rooms each have an accent wall, and upstairs, where it's a big open sea of space filled with cubicles, all of the supporting columns are painted pretty pastel colors. What boggles my mind is why the company would bother wasting the time, effort and money on this endeavor when we're gonna be moving out of this building in another year or so anyway!!

So I settled down in my cube, grabbed a teabag and my mug and went to the water dispenser to get some hot water. Only problem? There WAS no hot water. Apparently the painters had to move the water coolers to get to the walls and when they plugged them back in, they forgot to switch the hot water back on!! So I went to the kitchen and used the hot water dispenser attached to the coffee machine. Which is usually okay... except this one must've had some cross-contamination going with the coffee filter, because now my tea tastes like friggin' old COFFEE!!

Next, I logged into my computer and fired up the first thing I always do-- my email. Only one new message. For a meeting invite. Okay, that was expected. I knew I'd be shelling out a few hours either today or tomorrow for a planning meeting. Closer inspection, however, revealed that the meeting is to last All. Day. Long. From 9:45am to 5pm. The only break we get is from 2-3pm and that's only because there's another department-wide bi-weekly meeting scheduled for that time. I mean, seriously!? WTF!?

Now, there's a whole side story to why this meeting is so long in the first place, but I'll save it for another rant. I think I shall wait out the day to see how the ensuing meeting goes, before I blog about how this snafu came about.

So yeah. This takes the cake in terms of Monday morning blahs. On top of it all the weather got crappy again-- cloudy and dreary and gloomy and chilly. Bah! Tomorrow HAS to get better... right??

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/393274857)

Fill 'er up

Allan fondly recalls the days when his grandmother would hand the gas station attendant a $5 bill to fill up the tank of their car-- you know, the pre-self-service days. While he refuses to acknowledge this as a testatment to how old he is, this anecdote does provide a striking contrast to the gas station experience today.

I spied this on Jenny's blog on her Jenkat site (have you visited it? www.jenkat.com) and had to laugh. So very apt nowadays! I present you with the value of a $5 at a gas station today:



This next shot was taken at our corner gas station last week. Santa Barbara is not known for cheap prices-- in anything. Gas is no exception. Thankfully, this station is one of THE most expensive stations in my neck of the woods, and just a few miles away regular unleaded can be purchased for just under $4 a gallon. Still...!!!

What's in a name, Part 2

I don't know exactly how this came about but I was having a conversation with Lisa and the topic turned to names. Next thing we knew we spouted off all sorts of funny name-related anecdotes. I mused that we could take the transcript of that IM and title it "What's in a name?"

As the conversation progressed, I thought-- well, why not?

A few highlights:

It was Allan who started it all (isn't that just like him-- always starting something!). He's got a rather unique spelling of his name-- most people go by "Alan", some by "Allen". His version is the rarest of them all. Ironically, it's the (originally) British spelling and yet I understand that, like in the US, "Alan" is more common than "Allan" over in the UK.

Then we got to talking about alternate spellings of common names, like "Aimee" for "Amy", which must've been popular around the time I was born, because I went to school with more Aimees than I can remember!

One of my favorite "One Big Happy" cartoons involves a punk teenage babysitter showing up at the door, proudly proclaiming her name and emphasizing its strange spelling: "My name is Typhanni".

When I was a little girl I was enchanted by the name "Kyril". Never mind that I never actually heard of anyone with that name. But "Carol" or "Karen" or even "Kyra" just seemed too ordinary. Later on I settled for a more conventional "Elizabeth".

I know a girl named Jenniper, whose name is a cross between Jennifer and Juniper. Poor girl is always having to emphasis the "p", just like I have to emphasize the "H" in my name, which most people want to say/write as "Kelly".

I also knew a girl named Jennifer Ann. One day she decided that "Jenny" wasn't glamorous enough, so she legally changed it to "Gabriella" ("Ella" for short). But then there was the problem of what to do with her middle name-- keep it as is, make a new one, what? So she decided on a middle ground: she smushed the letters of her original name together and became Gabriella Jenniann. I remember calling her at home once. She wasn't in, I talked to her parents and left a message. The thing I remember to this day was the fact that I referred to her as "Ella" while her parents kept saying "Jenny". Guess they weren't too thrilled with her changing the name they picked out for her?


How about nicknames?

Allan's immediate family calls him "Al" most of the time-- a name I can't stand. It sounds too greasy and seems more like the name of a Mafia don than an ordinary husband and father. Lisa's daughter has the opposite problem: Family uses the given Jessica, "Jess" to everyone else.

One of my uncles (who grew up and lives in Asia) didn't realize that "Charlie" is a nickname for "Charles", and so basically the same name. In his desire to give his sons English names, he named one Charlie and the other Charles.

And terms of endearment?

Well, Allan and I very rarely refer to each other by name-- it's always "Sweetie". We've gotten so used to it that the last time we visited with his family, Allan kept accidentally calling his sister "Sweetie"! I don't know who was more grossed out-- him or Debbie ;-)

How about you? Any interesting name-related tidbits to share, whether anecdotal or from real life?

The Birthday Paradox (plus Friday Five)

Have you ever heard of the birthday paradox? It is a statistical problem with a surprising solution. Given a room full of X people, how large must X be in order to achieve a 50:50 chance of finding 2 people with the same birthday? The answer is surprisingly small: 23.

But I think I throw that statistic out of whack. Of all my friends and acquaintances (both offline and online), I know not one, not two, but THREE people who share my birthday. Even more amazingly? TWO of them were born the exact same YEAR as me. One of them is Nine from Germany, a Myspace friend. The other is Francois, whom I know through the Geekhouse at UCSB. In fact, we once tried to figure out who was older, in terms of hours. I think Francois won. And then there's Justin, who's a year younger than me. Now, the funny thing is that the three of us (me, Francois and Justin) learned about out our shared birthday during a cocktail party at the Geekhouse. Those aren't large affairs. There are typically only around 25 people at such shindigs. So, here we are, in a house with JUST the right amount of people to fulfill the birthday paradox... and we ended up with a 100% chance of finding 3 of us. Neat, isn't it?

Anyway, without further ado, here is today's Friday Five. And just to keep this post from getting too long, I shall join the rest of you in answering them on the comments.

p.s. if you're experiencing deja vu, it's because I recycled some of the questions from a birthday-themed Friday Five that I did a couple years ago on Grab. Ah, sue me-- it's been long enough that most of us will have forgotten what the others originally wrote ;-)

1. How many candles were on your last birthday cake? And when is your birthday?

2. Does anyone else (famous and/or in your own life) share your birthday?

3. Do you think your astrological sign fits you pretty well? Why or why not?

4. Surprise parties: love 'em or hate 'em?

5. What do you want for your next birthday?

BONUS QUESTION:

6. Other than your loving partner (heh), from whom would you most like to receive a birthday kiss?

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/389226471)

Nobody NEEDS to see the space shuttle!

I just finished sorting out a few bills tonight, writing some checks for things that I can't pay online and/or with credit card. You know, the "old fashioned" way ;-)

Amongst my checks was a donation to Todd's preschool. They recently merged with another church in the community, putting pressure on the space and resources they have to accommodate everyone for their activities-- the preschool, the after-school youth groups, the church itself, etc... and so, the fundraising begins.

I am reminded that in a very short time Todd will be in elementary school and coming home with boxes of chocolate he's supposed to sell. It will be easy in our household-- we'll just fork out some dough for donations, rather than force Todd to go door-to-door, pestering the neighbors. And of course, there is the question of WHAT exactly the donation is for, which plays a big role in just how enthusiastically we'll contribute :-P

Have you ever seen the George Lopez show? If not, it's an American sitcom featuring comedian George Lopez as the head of his typical Mexican-American middle class household. One episode dealt with his young son selling yet another batch of candy bars to raise money for some such deal deemed important by the school. Or maybe it was just the PTA. At any rate, when George discovered that the money was going towards a trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch the space shuttle launch, he put his foot down. As he put it, he has no problem donating money to things kids actually need for a proper education. Books, computers, etc... all fall within that realm. But a fancy field trip? When kids could learn just as much about space through books and videos? Hardly a basic necessity, and enough is enough! Worse yet, the parents that couldn't (or wouldn't) contribute were looked down upon, either as being poor or being unsupportive. The highlight of the show was George's argument with the head of the PTA, trying to convince her that while seeing it up close is neat, "nobody (actually) NEEDS to see a space shuttle launch!"

So far Todd's school needs have been pretty basic and we feel the money's going to good causes. But I still wonder what lies ahead, and what sorts of programs we'll be duped into supporting at his future schools. I am most certainly not looking forward to weeding it all out. I'm with George Lopez-- I have no problem shelling out cash or other resources to ensure Todd and the kids get a good education, but I'm a little more reserved about paying for the frills and fringe benefits that nobody really NEEDS.

Whoever thought childhood education could turn into such a political machine? I wonder how many other such "PTA heads" I'll run into myself!

Any advice or horror stories from battle-weary parents who've been there and done that?

Adam's Accountat @ Home

This blog post is dedicated to Kendra :-) You'll see why in a sec.

Anyone ever read the comic strip "Adam @ Home" by Brian Basset? It used to be called just plain "Adam" until he revamped it with a focus on Adam working from home. For those of you out of the loop: as the title suggests, Adam, father of 3, works from home, enabling him to look after the kids while his wife works at a conventional office. Naturally this gives him a totally different perspective from the rest of us, on "the workplace". Observe:

A couple weeks before income tax filings were due in the U.S., here were the strips that were featured on Adam @ Home:













Now, why does this remind me of Kendra? Because she, like Adam, works from home and because she, like the other guy in the pink slippers, works in the accounting field!

So... Kenzie, does that mean you find yourself sitting on both sides of that table, when it comes time to doing your taxes? ;-)

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/387050214)