Las Vegas 2010

We had such a blast going to Las Vegas the week before Christmas last year, that we decided to do it again this year. Despite the rain, it was a terrific time to travel. There was NO traffic along the I-15, even as we went past the Strip!

We left Santa Barbara on Sunday morning, made a few stops along the way in Camarillo and Oxnard for some shopping, and arrived at our hotel room in the Golden Nugget in record time. First thing we did was hit up the Firefly tapas restaurant at the Plaza Hotel, a mere 2-minute walk from our hotel. We discovered it during our summer trip with friends earlier this year, and enjoyed it so much, we HAD to go again. Last time, we were seated in the lounge area, this time, we got there early enough to try for seating in the main restaurant area. We got a booth overlooking Fremont Street-- here's a shot of it, complete with the lights up top, from our booth:



Afterward, we hit up the Rush Lounge, another great discovery from our summer visit :-) This time, the regular performers were there-- Frankie Moreno and his band. The music was original and quite good-- all sorts of different styles, but the best part was the off-color humor that Frankie and his brother Tony offered up between songs. The highlight of the evening? A discussion of eggnog that spawned this memorable quote from Tony:

"You can even put it (eggnog) in your condom when you need to fake an orgasm!"

Here's a shot of Frankie (on the piano) and Tony (on the bass):

The next day, we decided to check out the pool area of our hotel, voted one of Vegas's top pools. The main attraction? It's shark tank. You read that right-- a huge shark tank right in the middle of the pool. You get great views of it from almost all the restaurants in the hotel, the pool and lounge area itself surrounds the tank, and you can climb up to the second floor-- where there is not only a smaller, adults-only infinity pool, but the entrance to the water slide-- which goes right THROUGH the tank, so you're sliding right alongside the sharks :-) There was also a really nice bar (the H2O) area with fire pits and a nice, warm jacuzzi. Only the heated small pool and the jacuzzi were open during our trip, though, or I would have totally made several trips down the slide to see the sharks :-) Here is a shot of them (the plastic tube is the slide):

After a delicious lunch at the GN buffet, we headed down to the south end of the Strip to the Luxor, where we toured the Bodies exhibition. It was really fascinating to see the insides of our bodies at work with real life preserved human models. They even showcased artificial joints, various diseased organs (like the blackened, emphysema and cancer-riddled lungs of smokers) and even fetuses at various stages of development.

We wandered around Mandalay Place, the shopping/dining area between Luxor and Mandalay Bay, where I gagged trying to browse a Lush store, and where we enjoyed Happy Hour at the Minus 5 Lodge/Lounge. We only sat in the lodge part of it-- I didn't realize until we were leaving that there WAS an actual refrigerated bar area behind the lodge-- brrr!

That night, we waited about 1.5 hours in line for the Carnival World buffet at the Rio. I was worried that by the time we got in, I wouldn't be hungry any more, but we timed it just right-- I was famished by the time we got our seats. And the buffet? Well worth the wait! It must've been 10 miles long, and showcased just about every cuisine from every country you can imagine! We had planned to hit up the Rio's iBar afterward for a drink, but were simply too stuffed and bloated after dinner, so we just went back to our room and crashed on our beds, watching cable TV.

The next morning, I took a dip in the jacuzzi, even though it was drizzling and the temperature had dropped to about the low 50s. The water was nice and warm, and I energized myself with a bit of water aerobics-- whew! What a way to wake up and work up a sweat! Here's a shot Allan took of me-- you can make out part of the H2O bar in the background, and the nice comfy (albeit wet!) seating:

We then headed back down to the Strip to hit up Harrah's for their buffet for lunch (with our 2-for-1 coupon), and to catch the Mac King Comedy Magic Show. We had gotten free tickets to it during our August trip. We were too busy and tired to redeem it then, but since it was still valid now, we decided that this was the perfect time for it. All we had to pay was $10 apiece for a drink ticket-- and we basically enjoyed a free show with our drink purchase! Mac King was pretty funny as well-- a bit like Bob Saget, he was able to tell some rather adult jokes that only the adults would get-- it was obscure enough to fly over the heads of the children in the audience.

Lunch left us so full that we opted for a light dinner at the Carson Street Cafe in our hotel, after another trip to the Rush Lounge to redeem our 2-for-1 drink coupon :-) Next day was brunch at the GN buffet again, and then homeward bound we were!

It rained during our entire trip, but it wasn't a torrential downpour like it was in southern California. During the times we were outdoors, the rain was light. And though it was cold outside, it wasn't so cold that we needed jackets everywhere we went. In fact, we ditched our coats after the first day, opting instead to carry small umbrellas that easily fit in my purse. Most of the time we were only outdoors for brief periods of time-- long enough to go from one destination to the other. This, for instance, is what I typically wore (this is a shot of me in front of the Golden Nugget, after we enjoyed the Fremont Light Show, the end of which was holiday-themed and set to Andy Williams's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year")

As I've probably mentioned numerous times before, December right before Christmas is one of the best times to hit Las Vegas. The crowds are much thinner and you don't have to worry about being trampled or encountering human traffic jams in popular spots like the Strip or downtown along Fremont Street. Everything is beautifully decked out in holiday decorations, and the music everywhere (like the Bellagio fountain accompaniment, or the Fremont light show, or shopping centers and restaurants) is likewise Christmas-themed. The fact that it rained this year was a bonus: first, it meant warmer temperatures (well, at least during the first half of our trip), second, it meant higher humidity (desert dryness can be a bitch, especially in the cold winter) and third, it meant even fewer people than you'd normally find in December :-)

We've also found what's probably our favorite hotel thus far (and between the two of us, we've stayed in about 8 different hotels-- on the Strip, off Strip, and downtown): the Golden Nugget. It's centrally located right in downtown Vegas, and it feels like one of the more upscale hotels, yet its rooms are inexpensive-- we, of course, stayed in the cheapest rooms they had (at $39/night), and even they were large, spacious, well-insulated and newly renovated. The hotel itself has some interesting shows (some of which I plan to see next time), the Rush Lounge is an awesome place to hang out for drinks, relaxation and enjoying live entertainment, the buffet is inexpensive and really delicious, and of course-- you can't beat the awesome pool area!

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2607043&id=3605072

Viva Las Vegas-- here's to next year! :-)

What's in a Dream Home?

Many people (want to) pursue the dream of home ownership. Just how easy that dream is to attain depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is your own personal preference for what you want in a home. I blogged last month about the insane cost of housing in Santa Barbara, and how it drives some people to live 30-40 miles away, either north in Buellton, or south in Ventura, where housing is more affordable.

For the past year or so, Allan and I have been investigating several different options for home ownership, and have been keeping an eye on the market, seeing what kinds of homes sell for what prices. We've visited many open houses and kept tabs on how much those homes ended up selling for, giving us a good idea of whether a given home's price is too high, too low, or just right.

Throughout the course of this, we've started developing our own ideas of what we'd like in a home. And every time we visit a home that has a particular feature I find neat, I add it and prioritize it in my list of things I'd like in a dream home.

So what does my dream home consist of?

At a minimum, 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. Size-wise, something in the 1400-1700 sq ft range. Larger homes, I've found, are not only less energy-efficient (too much space to heat/cool!) but also more work to clean.

A laundry room, whether inside the home or in an attached garage. That leaves some condo units around here out of the realm of possibility :-)

Speaking of garages-- a garage isn't so important to me, I'll be happy with a carport connected to the house, as long as I have some shelter to protect me from the elements as I go from my car to the house.

I want a small yard. I'm not a fan of yardwork, and don't really want to have to worry about maintaining a large lawn or trees. But I do want enough of a small plot of land so that I can plant a little vegetable garden. And maybe have space for a clothesline. I would love to not have to use the dryer anymore-- saves energy and saves the clothes!

What about the interior?

We prefer homes that have larger bedrooms and smaller common living spaces. Having a separate living room and family room is a waste of space, in my opinion. We don't entertain much, and so have no need for two separate rooms like that. I'd much rather have that space go into roomier bedrooms, where we can set up nice little niches: a bed, a desk, a recliner of some sort, and voila! Cozy little home office, one for each member of the family :-)

I also like openness in the main living areas of the house. The apartments in Willow Springs are great for that-- the kitchen looks into both the living room and dining room (both of which are connected as well), so that even if I'm puttering around in the kitchen, I can still see the TV when doing dishes, or keep an eye on Todd working at the dining table. So, if possible, I'd prefer such a layout instead of having the kitchen closed and walled off from the living room.

I don't want windows on or around the front door (unless they are up high and small). Too easy for someone to just break in, and if I just want to quietly sneak a look through the burglar hole when someone comes knocking, so I can "screen" the visit, a window would reveal my presence and defeat the purpose of that :-P

Skylights are cool ways to let more natural light into the interior, but my goodness are they an eyesore when they start collecting dirt! No thank you!

Other considerations:

I'm not a fan of two-story homes and would prefer a single-story home if possible, but that's not a deal-breaker, either. I'll happily take a house that is reasonably priced and contains most of the features described above, if its only "flaw" is that it has two floors :-)

One of the things I like about our apartment complex is our proximity to other neighbors. I feel safer knowing that there are other people nearby. Living in an isolated area, or away from the view of most of my neighbors, can be a bit creepy. So I wouldn't want to live in a home that was too isolated from the rest of the neighborhood.

So, there you have it. My own preferences in what I'd like in a home, summed up in a not-so-small nutshell ;-)

What about you? What do you like in a home?

Day 30 of NaBloPoMo! (a look back)

Well! I wasn't sure if I'd make it this far, but I did! I managed to post every single day for an entire month as part of NaBloPoMo. My very first effort at it. Given that November is probably not a very good month to do it (with the holidays-- I imagine only December would be worst), I'm actually quite pleased that I was able to keep it up every day.

Now, I will admit that there were a couple of days when I had to pre-write a post the day before, and then schedule it to be posted the next day, simply because I knew I would not be anywhere with Internet access all day long. That was fraught with its own frustrations, as apparently Wordpress does not actually post your blog entry at the time you specify. No, it waits until someone visits your blog before it kicks off the cron job that posts the scheduled entry!

Still, posting every single day (sometimes even twice a day, as explained above), proved to be quite a challenge. I found myself becoming more alert to things around me-- from things people posted online to things that happened in the offline world (I don't like using the term "in real life", or "IRL", as the popular acronym goes. That implies that the people I interact with online are somehow not "real". And that's simply not true!) I found myself keeping my eyes and ears peeled for any interesting tidbit, and then expanding it in my mind to see if I could dedicate a whole blog post to it. It's happened a few times. Like a visit to Todd's pediatrician. Or when I saw links to NUD or to Costco's funeral section on FB. Or coming away from a particularly frustrating interview session. It was amazing to me how ordinary, mundane little things that I would ordinarily forget within the hour could develop into topics that I could craft into a post.

So, I'm pleased that there was rarely a shortage of topics, even if inspiration sometimes didn't hit until about 11:00pm, with only an hour to spare ;-)

I'm pleased that there were really only 2 times when I resorted to an "I can't think of anything to post, and I'm pressed for time so I'll just throw in some stuff" post, and even though they were both diary-like in nature (a weekend recap, and some random tidbits), at least there was something unique to tell. Like my first venture into cutting my own hair! O.O

I'm especially pleased that I was able to throw in some deeper, more meaningful posts-- a departure from my usual blatherings or rants about less important things like Paypal's sucky user experience ;-)
I had not intended to create a mini-series of sorts, but my posts on loving thy neighbor in the context of "Christian" views on homosexuality (and yes, those quotation marks are intentional) evolved from a variety of sources that all seemed to happen simultaneously: the link to the post on the little boy dressed as Daphne, a friend decrying passive discrimination, and an interesting lunchtime conversation with a friend from church. I am sure that this won't be the last time I'll be writing on such a topic.

In short, I had a great time with NaBloPoMo. It was a lot of work, but it is exhilarating to make it to the finish line. I am not sure if I will be doing it again in future years. Work and family keep me too busy to even *think* about posting, most days, and I've sacrificed what little personal time I have in the evenings, to do this. It's not really worth it when hardly anyone reads the posts regularly, anyway. But it was nice to get the creative juices flowing and keep them flowing for an extended period. I hope to be able to continue this trend on a smaller scale-- certainly not every day, but maybe a couple times a week. And I hope I continue to be able to keep an eye out for interesting tidbits that I can transform into blog posts.

In the meantime... Happy end of November! Here's to a wonderful holiday season and continued fruitfulness in the blogging world!

Better to have loved and lost, or...?

There's the age-old adage: "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all". Some people agree with it, some people disagree with it. I personally think it all depends on the context.

First, there are a number of ways this "loss of love" could have occurred. Perhaps one partner died. And even then, perhaps he/she died of old age after many years of being together. Or perhaps the surviving spouse is left a young widow(er). Perhaps one was unceremoniously dumped. Perhaps they just grew up, grew apart, and went amicably on their separate ways.

And whether or not I agree with that statement really depends on those factors, on the circumstances of the separation.

Death? Perhaps I would agree. Especially in old age. At some point it is inevitable, and even if it happened unexpectedly at a younger age, it's one of those things that just happens in life (or end of life, as the case may be) that you can't really predict, and that you have to be prepared for. Just as you have to be prepared for the ups and downs that make up a normal marriage. So, as heartbreaking as a partner's death may be, this adage does paint a picture of the brighter times together and the love shared in life.

A bad breakup? I would probably disagree. It sounds so cliche, and if those words were offered to me as comfort, I doubt I'd find much solace in them. I mean, I just got dumped, I really don't need pithy philosophical sayings to heal the hurt. And maybe, just maybe, a bad breakup is indicative of the fact that I'm just better off without him, in which case the adage is false-- it's better to be rid of him, and not having known him at all might have spared me this heartache.

Then there are relationships that dissolve amicably. I'm a pretty firm believer that only in rare cases can a pair of exes remain friends. Unless the breakup was 100% mutual and due largely to *both* partners growing up/apart mutually, one party is always going to have more emotional baggage than the other, and that isn't conduce to a healthy friendship. Maybe one secretly wants more (usually the dumped one) than friendship. Or maybe there's underlying feelings of hostility over the breakup that always linger. In any event, since this separation is less emotionally-charged, the adage becomes something of a practical viewpoint: what have I gained in that relationship? What have I learned, and how have I grown? And if the answer is "nothing", then it evidently made no difference at all if I even knew the other person or not. And if it's something positive, then yes, maybe it was better to have loved and "lost", though I don't really think you could call it a "lost" love, could you?

So yeah. That old saying is one of those that I generally don't agree with, except in certain circumstances. But maybe that's because I'm not an overly emotional person myself, and so I don't really get the whole emotional scene that accompanies relationships and their inevitable roller coasters, or the fallout when they end.

Of course, given how often I try to sell my husband, who knows what tune I'd be singing once I found a serious buyer and the transaction was finalized ;-)

Why me, God?

Today's "One Big Happy" cartoon really seemed to fit in well with the season of thanksgiving and being grateful for what you have. Insane Black Friday (weekend) crowds notwithstanding, of course ;-)

Here's little Ruthie spouting off another of her funny "the things kids say!" type of nuggets that makes the comic endearing:



Really makes you think, doesn't it? Too often people turn to God only when things are going wrong with their lives. Sometimes they seek his help because they have nowhere else to turn. Sometimes they realize they can't get comfort through anything else in this material world. And sometimes they simply lash out in anger, cursing God or blaming him for the troubles in their lives. No matter the reaction, it seems like they only think of him when they need something. Frankly, sometimes it takes a catastrophic event to turn an otherwise stoic's heart toward God to gain a little perspective.

Much rarer, however, is turning to God with a grateful heart the rest of the time. Taking inventory of your life and, as Ruthie does in the comic above, realizing how fortunate you are compared to a lot of other people in this world. And thanking God when things go *well* with your life-- not just when you achieve a big milestone (such as passing an important exam, or getting a much-coveted job, or finding out you're pregnant when you've been trying for years), but when things are otherwise humming along smoothly in your life.

The Thanksgiving holiday is, these days, often a time for people to reflect on what they have to be thankful for. I will fully admit that most days, I don't really stop to think about all that's going well for me, because I just take it for granted. The Thanksgiving-themed list I outlined earlier this week contains a lot of things that are just part of my day-to-day existence, and therefore easy to simply take for granted.

How much more perspective we would gain on our lives, the next time we're commiserating about little things, if we would just pause and think about our life the way Ruthie does. And then, when we're asking "Why me, God?" it's not with a tone of anguish, but with a tone of reverence and awe.

Why me, God? Why me, indeed...

Happy Birthday, G-Man!

Okay, so it's one day late. I haven't blogged about our karaoke exploits lately, because-- eh, what's there to write about? We came, we sang, we had fun.

Last night at Old Town Tavern was special, in a couple of different ways.

First off, it was the DJ's birthday! His name is Gary, aka G-Man, and he was featured in one of Tabitha's Project 365 photos the last time we went out for karaoke:



Gary is pretty awesome all around. He has a huge selection of songs, is very encouraging to everyone, and even chimes in in accompaniment while someone is singing. He's very friendly and treats everyone, especially the regulars, like a personal friend.

In honor of his birthday, they served yummy chocolate cake and small appetizers. The whole bar chimed in to sing Happy Birthday to him at one point in the evening. And every so often, he'd get birthday shout-outs from whomever was on stage, at the end of their songs. I thought it was pretty admirable of him to be working 1) the day after Thanksgiving and 2) on his own birthday! Which, of course, falls on Thanksgiving every several years. Better than being on Christmas, I suppose?

I thought I overheard him tell someone he was born in 1951, and if that is true-- wow. He definitely doesn't look that old.

The evening was notable for a second reason: I finally dragged our friend Kartik up on stage. Ever since we started going to OTT for karaoke regularly, he's been hooked on country music, as Tabitha and I sing quite a bit of it. A volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity, where the redneck foreman blasted country music as they worked, helped too. So, he's been wanting to perform Craig Morgan's "A Little Bit of Life" for quite some time. I wanted to get him on stage for at least one song last night, especially since his best friend was visiting from the Bay Area. Unfortunately, we discovered very little overlap between our musical tastes. He didn't know any Beatles, Elvis, ABBA or even Christmas tunes! I didn't know Pink Floyd or Michael Jackson. I wasn't sure I knew the Craig Morgan song well enough, but at least it was familiar enough to me, and we listened to it on his phone a couple of times, and basically "crammed" for it. We got called up sooner than we expected, and Kartik did great! He wasn't as nervous as expected, and now that he's broken his karaoke cherry, the prospect of doing other songs later on will be a lot less daunting.

All in all, a fun-filled evening. Celebrating G-Man's birthday, enjoying cake and listening to some of the other regulars (like Jenny and Cathy-- both very good!) and finally getting Kartik on stage, opening the way to more of his singing in the future! :-)

Black Friday... at home!

While hoards of crazy shoppers duke it out in the wee, ungodly hours of the morning to catch Black Friday sales, I opted to sleep in. And sleep in I did! I went to bed relatively late (nearly 2:00am), and didn't get up until about 10:45 this morning. I opened up today's and yesterday's copies of the LA Times and browsed through the fat pile of sales fliers in the Thursday edition, all advertising their Black Friday sales, start times (Wal-Mart at midnight, most other stores at 4:00am) and coupons. There were a few interesting items that caught my fancy, I'll admit. But honestly? Nothing worth the hassle of waking up at ungodly hours and braving traffic and horrendous, self-absorbed crowds. There's nothing I need so badly that I'd be willing to do that for a few pieces of discounted merchandise. Besides, stores have sales all the time, I can be sure to catch good prices on things I need/want anytime during the year.

Some of the best times to shop incredible bargains and avoid crowds? The days immediately following a holiday. I picked up my costume for Halloween next year, at 75% off, a few days after Halloween this year. The days following Christmas are the best time to pick up needed items such as decorations and giftwrap, and store them for use next year. Great bargains on candy can be had the day after Valentine's Day and Halloween. As evidenced by my purchase of Twilight-themed Sweethearts, who cares if there are hearts or ghosts and ghouls on the packaging? Candy and chocolate are all the same inside! And more everyday stuff like clothing? End of the season. I get the nicest sweaters for a couple of dollars apiece just before summer begins, and the cutest shorts, skirts and tank-tops as the weather begins to turn nippy and winter arrives. Even Black Friday can't beat some of those off-season bargains! :-D

So, I've been enjoying a quiet Friday at home. Did a little cleaning, washed the bedding, and settled down on my chaise to do some reading. Figured I'd do a quick post before I got comfortable. Then tonight is dinner with friends at Red Pepper (a terrific, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves some of the best Chinese food in all of Santa Barbara-- their onion pancakes are a must-have!) followed by a trip to Old Town Tavern down the street. With any luck, the normal Friday-night crowds will be greatly reduced in number tonight, given that it's the middle of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tomorrow I head back down to LA to pick up the little man, who got to enjoy his long Thanksgiving break with my parents. Gonna stop by Walmart on the way, and hope that the post-Thanksgiving crowds will have subsided by then. This economy has apparently given rise to many stores extending their Black Friday sales through the rest of the weekend, and even longer, in the hopes of encouraging shoppers to continue to come in and spend!

Which reminds me, it's time I started thinking about Christmas shopping... thank goodness for online purchasing! ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving

This is going to be pretty cliche, as *everybody* writes "what are you thankful for?" types of posts on their blogs and on Facebook this time of year. But in the general spirit of things, I thought I might as well follow suit. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

1. Living in paradise. Year round mild weather that rarely ever gets too hot or too cold. Plenty of sunshine (June gloom aside), and close proximity to both beaches and mountains.

2. Having a good job that pays enough to be able to live in said paradise. I know that some jobs do not. I'm especially thankful that my job is flexible enough that I can work from home when Todd is sick, or bring him to the office with me after school some days.

3. A comfortable and sturdy roof over my head, hot and clean running water, and a warm bed to sleep in. When you hear of the plight of so many of the world's poor, it really puts things in perspective.

4. A husband who is my best friend. We get along in so many aspects of our lives, from our hobbies to our attitudes about the important things in life. And where we don't agree, the disagreement is actually complementary. Very harmonious :-)

5. A happy, healthy child. As with the roof over my head, when I hear of children suffering, whether it's due to starvation in a third world country or abuse/neglect in this country, it breaks my heart.

6. Having the fortune and privilege of living in a country where true freedom is known. Where gender and racial inequalities, while still not perfectly addressed, are not nearly as prevalent as in other countries. Where you are truly free to pursue your dreams and be what you wish to be.

7. The Internet! :-D What better, faster way to keep in touch with friends all over the country; all over the world!?

8. God. For all the blessings, some of which are listed above, I've received. Thank you.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

Accents

Accents are a fascinating thing. They are most apparent when non-native speakers learn a new language. Not having grown up with the nuances of pronunciation, their way of pronouncing things is inevitably different from that of native speakers.

More fascinating are the regional differences within one single country with one main language. Like the United States and its variations of English pronunciation according to various native residents' accents.

Then there is me. Like most Asian kids of my generation, our parents were born and raised in an Asian country, and we grew up in the US (whether we were born here or immigrated here at a very young age). As a result, households are often a mish-mash of accents, with the parents speaking accented English and the kids speaking perfect American English. I'm sure that's true of all immigrant families, not just Asians.

When I was about 8 years old, my school held a speech contest. My mother and I worked on my speech, and I spent countless hours practicing its delivery. I distinctly remember my mom emphasizing my pronunciation (and enunciation) during our practice sessions. Even though she herself couldn't speak with an American accent, she could detect it and note when something didn't sound right. Consequently, I adopted an American accent and since then, I've had 2 accents: the one I share with my parents, and the American one for everyone else. A bit of an oddity, to be sure, but I bounce between the two "worlds" with relative ease.

Here's where it gets interesting. This past summer, my cousin, his wife and their daughter (same age as Todd) came to visit us. Allan, Todd and I rented a van and took them to some of the sights like Sea World and Universal Studios. We had a great time, and they enjoyed meeting Todd and Allan (I had already met them 2 years earlier, when we went to Indonesia). After they returned home, my mom, somewhat amused, relayed something they had told her: they had an easier time understanding Allan than they did me! My mom even agreed with their assessment, telling me that she'd always noticed that I seemed to roll my "R"s more heavily than most Americans-- something she has mentioned occasionally before. I was puzzled, because I couldn't detect anything unusual with my own accent. And probably most Americans wouldn't either, but I guess to people for whom English is not their native language, it's more readily apparent.

Until now. What's changed now? Todd started talking more and more. Listening to him, I realized that he rolled his "R"s more strongly than most Americans. Clearly he picked that up from me. I now understood what my mom was talking about.

So I started wondering why I spoke the way I did. And I think it's a byproduct of my tongue overcompensating for not speaking with my parents' accent in public. I liken it to deep cuts-- when your body heals and generates new skin, it overcompensates and creates more skin than originally was there. And so, in an effort to "correct" my accent, I overcorrected. It makes even more sense when you think of it in the context of what makes my American accent distinct (and difficult for foreigners to follow, apparently): the "R". Asians are notorious for being unable to pronounce this letter. My parents less so because their native language does contain an "R" sound, but it's flatter. It's less trilling than the German "R" sound, and less rolling than the American "R" sound. So perhaps one of the ways I changed my accent was to attack the way I rolled my tongue to make the right "R" sound... only between German and English, I somehow attacked it with a little too much fervor ;-)

I had never thought of this before-- well, why would I, when I was never aware of what I was doing in the first place? But now I've got a little mimic to mirror the way I've been talking back at me.

Fascinating, isn't it-- the way people adapt and adjust and compensate. Sometimes it's not enough, sometimes it's too much, and sometimes... sometimes it's just right :-)

Know your own stuff

Interview processes vary from company to company, and even from department to department within a company. But no matter what the process, I honestly think the best way to prepare is to really know the stuff you've learned and claim to know on your resume. Oh sure, you can prep for behavioral interview questions such as "What do you perceive as your weakness", but by and large, I would figure that the interviewer is largely interested in your job-specific skills, experience and what you can bring to the job.

So where do they first get wind of your experience? From your resume, of course. Which means that no matter what sort of question an interviewer throws at you from their pool of potential questions, the one thing you can be solidly sure of is the material on your own resume. Which YOU wrote. Which speaks to YOUR experiences.

Let me backtrack a little. Our department's interview process is fairly straightforward-- start out with a phone screen, and if you make that cut, come on site for in-person interviews. Now obviously, since we're a tech group, we're really mainly interested in technical knowledge and look for proficiency in specific skills outlined in the job descriptions. Fairly straightforward, no? Either you know X programming language well or you don't. And if you don't, that becomes apparent in the interview, which runs the gamut from answering basic conceptual questions to outright writing coding examples. Nothing outside the norm from usual tech company practices.

Candidates come from a variety of backgrounds, and will thus respond in a variety of ways, depending on their experiences. Even an ideal candidate can miss a question or two on occasion, and still show enough potential to bring on-site, even hire. It's not a game of seeing how many questions they get right, it's a matter of evaluating their problem-solving approaches and their ability to pick up concepts unfamiliar to them (which happens. Nobody knows everything about everything).

Still, in my mind, there is one way a candidate can raise a red flag to me, that *does* have to do with answering questions right or wrong. As I mentioned earlier, your resume is the one tool you have complete control over-- you decide what goes into it, you craft the descriptions of your job responsibilities to convey what you intend to the recruiter, you know better than anyone else what you've learned and what your proficiencies are.

So why, oh why, when an interviewer asks you a simple question about something on your resume (sometimes just as an icebreaker), is it so difficult to answer? Why do you hem and haw when asked to provide details about a recent school project? Why do you make us practically pull teeth in order to get anything deeper than high-level details of a particular job responsibility? If you can't even speak to your own resume intelligently, if you can't even articulate what exact skills you gained/utilized in a particular project, that doesn't really bode well for the rest of your technical knowledge. Because if nothing else, if you can't answer a single question from our list, the least you should be able to do is know the stuff on your resume well. Right? Right!? It's YOUR resume!!

It's not that hard! The mind. It boggles...

On Giving Back

'tis the season for people to be charitable and, even in these tough economic times, give back to their communities, whether it be donating money to favorite charities, donating food to the local food banks, or volunteering time with their favorite causes. Something about the season brings charitable good to the forefront of people's minds.

Our company is pretty big on giving back to the community. Every year, they match your donations to non-profit organizations, dollar for dollar, up to $1000 per individual, per year. Every year, each employee gets a free volunteer day, where they can take the day off (without cutting into accrued PTO) to do volunteer work. Earlier this year, we used our volunteer day to participate in Disney's give-a-day, get-a-day program. Not so much volunteering in the true sense of the word, since we did get "paid" with free Disney tickets, but it was fun helping out our church's preschool, running errands and cleaning up. This year, the company gave everyone a second free volunteer day in October, to be used with specified local non-profit organizations.

I wound up volunteering for Life Chronicles, an organization that makes video recordings of people wishing to leave their loved ones a last message. The service is employed not only by the terminally ill, but by the elderly who wish to document their memories, or soldiers who are about to be deployed to a war zone and aren't sure if they'll return, or mothers who give their babies up for adoption, leaving a message for the child to view when he/she grows up. I gathered with a group of co-workers in one of our conference rooms, and we set about transcribing DVDs.

Let me tell you-- transcription is hard work! I'm not exactly the world's slowest typist, but often times I had to repeatedly rewind the DVD to try to understand something that wasn't spoken clearly (names of people/places were the worst!). I had to pause to create sections with timestamps, as individual, topical sections do not become apparent until after you've heard/read everything. I managed to get through 2 DVDs during the day.

The first DVD was of an elderly lady with Parkinson's, recounting memories of her childhood, growing up on the farm, and raising her daughter (who also has Parkinson's). There were some funny moments, and it was largely autobiographical in nature.
The second DVD was of a woman who was battling cancer and did not face a good prognosis. She wanted to leave behind some nuggets of wisdom to her children, grandchildren, siblings and nieces/nephews. Some were basic: stay in school, stay away from drugs, get a good job and be independent (mostly for her baby granddaughter). Some touched more poignantly on her current situation: this family is prone to cancer, get yourself checked out early and often! Some were insights borne of years of experience: don't waste energy holding onto grudges, focus that energy on something more positive instead. It made you realize that when you're facing the end of your life very soon, the really important things become clear. It is sad that it takes a lifetime for many people to realize that, and I hope that she made an impact on her family long after she departed this earth.

I worked steadily for 5 hours, transcribing the two 1-hour-long DVDs. By the end of it, my shoulders were aching, my eyes were watering and crossed, and my ears yearned for fresh air after being oppressed by headphones for so long. But in another way, I felt good. It felt good to contribute in some small way to a larger project, a project that is important to a lot of people, a project that leaves behind a loving and lasting legacy for many loved ones.

I hope to instill this sense of helping and volunteerism in Todd. Perhaps one day, when he's older, we can go as a family to DAWG (Santa Barbara's local dog shelter) and volunteer from time to time there. I live too far away from any coastal areas that serve my biggest animal love, sea turtles, but I happily donate to the organizations that do help the turtles. Todd has already developed a love of animals. Let's see if we can turn this compassion into some good for the community :-)

Canker Sores

Why does it seem as if the smallest, slightest injuries are the ones that are most painful? Or at least, cause pain that is disproportionate to the severity of the injury? Papercuts sting to no end. And canker sores! If they are *just* in the right location of your mouth where they receive a lot of "traffic", you're gonna be talking funny for a while.

I usually only get them if I'm careless with my toothbrushing-- if the toothbrush slips and slams into my gum. The gum canker sores aren't quite so bad as the inner mouth ones, because at least gums don't rub against your teeth. So they really only hurt when food collides with them. But hey-- I'm not eating 24/7, right?

More perplexing are the ones that develop on the inside of your mouth, where constant rubbing against your teeth causes steady, endless irritation. Sometimes they appear when I accidentally bite my cheek. But often times, they seem to materialize out of nowhere. Really strange!

Regardless of where they are, upon the onset of symptoms, I usually sigh and resign myself to about 2 weeks of discomfort. It's a long two weeks! I've tried rinsing with salt water, which alleviates the pain momentarily (for about 5 minutes), but does nothing to speed up healing. I've tried mouthwash, which stings but then numbs, as well. Still takes 2 weeks to heal. Then one time, while brushing my teeth, I accidentally raked my toothbrush right across the canker sore. Hard. My mouth exploded in pain, and it actually bled! But surprisingly, THIS, of all things, seemed to speed up healing. Unfortunately, it's too painful an endeavor for me to ever do it again to myself, at least on purpose. Believe me, I've tried. But I just can't bring myself to do it.

So, all I can do is wait. And do a saltwater rinse for temporary pain relief if need be.

What are your remedies, home or store-bought, for canker sores? Do you do anything that helps ease the pain for longer periods of time? Any secrets to shortening those wretched couple weeks of pain? ;-P

All Turtles go to Heaven

One of the requirements of this school year is to do 4 book reports, with the books chosen from a list his teacher has provided. Some of the titles are old classics I enjoyed as a child, such as the book he did his first report on, Little House in the Big Woods. But most are new to me, so I've been checking them out of the library and pre-screening them. Some of the choices were from the "Fudge" series by Judy Blume. I figured I would start with the first one, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". The copy I got featured an adorable drawing of a little turtle on the cover, which, of course, won me over:



The story was amusing enough, and if you haven't read it as a child, it's basically told from the point of view of 9-year-old Peter and his (mis)adventures with his lively, rambunctious, naughty little brother, Fudge (age 2), who gets into all sorts of trouble. At the end of the story, Fudge's mishap consists of swallowing Peter's little turtle. Despite this, he suffers no ill effects and crows with happiness and pride at this feat. Hope against all hope, but it takes a couple days for the turtle to pass through Fudge's system, and of course it doesn't come out alive :-( Peter did get a dog to "replace" the turtle, and he named it Turtle, to remember his original pet by. Still, the ending made me sad and frustrated enough to put the book back down on the dining table and decide not to give it to Todd to read for a book report.

Now, on weekend mornings, Todd typically awakens before us, so the night before, I set out things for him-- his breakfast, his robe, some books to read on the couch with a blanket, and instructions on what to do. Today was the same-- except that instead of getting a book from the coffee table by the couch, Todd spied "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" as he sat at the dining table, eating. So he picked it up and began to read it. By the time I got out of bed, he was about 2/3 of the way through it. I held my breath and wondered what would happen once he got to the end, knowing how much he loves turtles and how cute he thought the turtle on the cover was (I think that's what caught his attention). Well, here's what transpired:

"Oh, I don't believe it!" he said.

"What?" I inquired.

"I don't believe Fudge swallowed the turtle", he replied, not so much an exclamation as a declaration.

When I asked him why, he elaborated further: "if he really did swallow it, he'd be sad and sick!"

"Who? Fudge or the turtle?" I wanted to clarify.

"Fudge! Fudge would be sad and sick, but he's happy. The turtle would just be... dead!"

Todd said this so matter-of-factly, as if he were presenting simple, hard evidence in front of a court:
If a boy swallowed a turtle, he'd be sick. Fudge is not sick. Ergo, he could not have swallowed the turtle.
I have to admit, it made sense, but that only heightened my sense of dread as he approached the pages that confirmed the outcome.

My dread was for naught, though, because he finished the book, shut it, and told me in that same straightforward manner: "A dog named Turtle! That's cute!" He was even amused at the idea. Slightly encouraged, I asked him if he wanted to use that book for his next book report. He thought for a moment before vetoing the idea. Naturally, I asked why-- was it because he didn't like the story? His reply?

"Oh, I liked the story. But I think the rest of my class will cry".

Awww. I haven't decided if he really does think it will make others sad, or if that's just his way of projecting his own feelings about the story without having to admit that it made HIM sad. Either way... time to find another book for the next book report!

Mononucleosis

The Epstein-Barr virus, which is responsible for causing mononucleosis, can be adorable... in plush form ;-) Just take a look to the left!

I came down with a case of it about 14 years ago. At first the student health clinic misdiagnosed me with strep throat (as a very sore throat and fever are symptoms of both diseases), and prescribed me a hefty dose of amoxicillin for it. A day or two later, I developed a rash all over my body, and concluded that I was allergic to amoxicillin. When I didn't get better, they examined me again and discovered I actually had mononucleosis! It took about a week or two to recover, and they explained that once you've got it, you always carry it. On the plus side, it means I'll never get it again. On the down side, nobody really knows how long you're actually contagious for, or if the virus takes dormant/active forms periodically during my life, rendering me contagious when it's "active"? Who knows.

Fast forward a few years and my then-boyfriend came down with a case of it. It had been about 3-4 years since I recovered, and we wondered if I had been the one who infected him. Again with the unknown.

Fast forward even more years to last week, when Todd came down with a fever that just would not go away. After several days of it, I took him to one of the pediatricians at Children's Medical Center, who suspected strep throat... except the swab she took came back negative. When a week had gone by and he still had a fever, I again returned to the clinic, this time visiting a different doctor, who suspected mono and conducted his exam accordingly. Took a quick blood test, which confirmed that Todd did indeed have mono (when I told Allan about it later, he immediately pointed an accusing finger at me :-P).

It was at this point that I mentioned to the doctor about how I had been given amoxicillin when I had mono, which is when I learned that I was mildly allergic to it. He paused a moment, and then told me: "No, you're probably not allergic. When people who have mono take amoxicillin, they develop a rash, and often *think* they are allergic, but it's the mono + amoxicillin". That was news to me. I didn't know you weren't supposed to mix the two, and that if you did have a bacterial infection alongside the mono, you should be prescribed something like erythromycin, and not a -cillin family antibiotic. And when I thought about it, it made sense. Most drug allergies manifest themselves in the form of anaphylaxis, or hives, or swelling. I had none of those. The rash I had did not itch. And considering the dosage I was on was really high (500mg, 3x a day, if I recall correctly), you would think a true allergy, even a mild one, would show more severe symptoms than an all-body, non-itching rash.

Anyway, I learned something new that day. The symptoms of strep throat and mono are similar, and if you ever find yourself with a really sore throat and persistent fever that just wipes you out, make sure it isn't mono you have before starting on antibiotics! And if you must have mono or any other kind of disease... better to have the plush kind :-D

Coffins from Costco, or Postmortem Bling?

A friend posted on FB about an interesting find he came across while browsing the costco.com website: a "funeral" section, stocked with coffins and other funeral-related essentials. How about that! When Costco aims to be a one-stop shopping place, with its gas stations and fast food and electronics in addition to food and household items, they're really rounding things out with funeral accessories! I'm not sure how Costco's prices stack up against normal "retail" prices of caskets at your average funeral home, but I guess if you really find yourself in the market for one, and if a comparable coffin goes for price difference of at least $50, then it's worth a year's membership just for the casket ;-)

Of course, Costco sells traditional, run-of-the-mill funeral items: caskets, urns, flower stands. Stuff you'd typically find at your local mortuary. But that's assuming that you're going to choose traditional burial or cremation for yourself or for your loved one. But what if you don't want to go with the norm?

Back in January 2006, I spotted an article in the current issue of Popular Science that dealt with the various alternatives of body disposal (besides cremation and burial) available to the public. One environmentally-friendly option is dipping the body into a vat of liquid nitrogen, which essentially freeze-dries it and makes it so brittle that one zap of vibration shatters it into a pile of powder. This powder is then put into a potato-starch box and buried in the ground, where everything disintegrates within a year, returning nutrients to the soil. Pretty eco-conscious, not to mention cost effective (at $1000, about the same cost as cremation, and much less than the $8000 average price tag for conventional funerals and burials). And as they say... ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Very fitting, no?

But wait, it gets better (this is copied verbatim from the article):

LifeGem in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, has perfected a flashier type of after-death alchemy: transforming cremated remains into man-made diamonds. Technicians extract pure carbon from the ashes, then place the carbon into a diamond press that exerts intense heat (about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures of up to 50,000 atmospheres for several days. The rough diamond that results-- which will be naturally colored yellow or orange but can, through processing, be made blue with trace amounts of the element boron-- can be faceted and polished just like an ordinary stone. In addition to choosing the color, you can specify the size of your LifeGem, from 0.2 to 1 carat. At $20,000 for a 1-carat blue diamond, though, it's a fair bit more expensive than a typical cremation, which costs around $1000 (small yellow gemstones start at $2700). Total turnaround time: six to nine months.

LifeGems have attracted a devoted following of thousands who prefer their deceased loved ones around their fingers, not underfoot. "The diamonds are tangible, they're beautiful, and they can be handed down", says the company's CFO, Mike Herro. "Family members say we've made their difficult situation a little bit better".

How's that for an icebreaker at a party-- stumped for something to say? Just show off your jewelry and explain how that's Grandma on your finger or Great Aunt Millie around your neck.

And in case you're wondering why I'm quoting an article that's almost 5 years old, it's because I did blog about it on my Grab.com blog back when that issue of the magazine came out. No doubt LifeGem was a fledgling company back then. I looked them up, and it appears that they are still around. Wonder how business is doing. Given the fact that nothing in life is certain but taxes and death, I suppose they'll always have a steady supply of customers, if people are quirky enough to consider it ;-)

Me? I actually like the sound of the more eco-friendly options. If nothing else, it saves money AND space. I always wondered what would happen when cemeteries ran out of room to landscape more burial plots or build more mausoleums.

How about you? What are post-life options would you consider?