Archive for February, 2009

I was perusing around the internet today when I found this article in The Inquirer about an EXPLODING APPLE.

It’s funny because I remember the panic with Dell computers exploding.  Later on, there was a story about someone dying because a cell phone exploding.

Although it’s interesting to learn about how large the flames were and how scary it was, I still can’t help but wonder two things …

Does anybody know WHY this happens?  And why aren’t we panicking more over the fact that electronics are spontaneously combusting?!

I was walking up the hill today, and while my calves were burning on the upward incline I couldn’t help but take in the sights around me while music was playing my ears.  The cars drove by and people up and down the sidewalks were strolling to their next destination, and I contentedly walked to the beat.

No, I’m not hearing things - it’s all thanks to my iPod, which is another thing that I’m thankful for.

I realize it sounds silly, but I’ve always loved walking along to songs not only because it’s been an easy way to let my mind drift into daydreams, but because there’s something about it that fuels the imagination.  Scenes pop in my head when the music moves from a happy tune to a somber song.

True, I’ve always walked with music and I even remember carrying around my clunky CD player when I made my way to and from classes back in college.  Having the same 18 or so songs to cycle through was fine enough, but then the dawn of the mp3 player arrived.  Suddenly, a whole plethora of tunes and soundtracks were available.  I could flip the song with a click of a button or a turn of a wheel.  I no longer have dig through my bag and struggle with changing the track.

Sometimes I think walking to the tune of the song in your head is often the easiest way to clear it of the stress, insecurities, and concerns in the world.  And it definitely makes the morning and evening commute a whole lot nicer.

I was at work today when a few friends of mine emailed me about their upcoming trips to San Francisco.  Giddy with excitement, I took a few moments to respond to their questions about scheduling and whether or not they would have a place to stay.  Another friend, coincidentally, also emailed me HIS itinerary for his flight arriving this weekend.  I couldn’t help but think that I was not only thankful for friends (obviously) that are like a breath of fresh air …but I’m thankful for EMAIL.

As cheesy as it sounds (not that this whole 40 days of Thankful-ness isn’t wrapped up in verbal velveeta ANYWAY) email is just an example of how lucky we are these days because it makes staying in touch so easy.  Although there are times in my life where I wish I could cut ties and start afresh, especially when I get weary and frustrated, I find myself uplifted at the simple emails from friends.

I can’t fathom a past where people had to really say goodbye.  Imagine packing up everything you know and moving across the country.  Although letters were exchanged, they seem few and far between.  Though I imagine the words from the one you care about long ago are sweetened that much more by the distance, I would take our ease and convenience of a simple email anyday.

In a way, email doesn’t have to be impersonal.  After all, my inbox is constantly bombarded with self-made spam from all the lists that I sign up for, or all the updates from my “social networking tools” that once in awhile, a paragraph or two from a friend is like a little snippet of familiarity and happiness.  It’s nice to be able to get that little tidbit of real substance when we’re all easily swept away in the frenzy and ADD of the digital life.

Thank you, EMAIL.

It’s hard to believe that once again the season of Lent looms upon us.  When I think back to all the different things that I’ve given up in the past, I noticed that most of the indulgences related to food.  Chocolate, cookies, junk food in general, sodas - the list goes on.  Although these things were admittedly difficult to give up given how much I love them, it didn’t really enrich me as a person.  Sure, it was a rough 40 days and 40 nights - but I didn’t really feel a sense of utter loss or enrichment.

This made me think of something that I heard a priest say a long time ago.  Many of us often think that Lent is a time of suffering.  Of course, it IS symbolic of 40 days and 40 nights spent in the desert by the one and only Son of God and that can’t be too fun…but what if instead of giving something up, we did something that improved ourselves?

What if we made it our goal to exercise 40 days and 40 nights?  What if we took the time out of each day to tell somebody we love how much we appreciate them?  What if, in this time that we were supposed to give up something we actually just gave up a bad habit and our lives were able to change because of that?

So what am I going to do for these next 40 days and 40 nights starting on Ash Wednesday?

I think, for starters, every day I’m going to think of one thing that I’m thankful for.  It sounds easy, but sometimes in the whole rush and hustle of every day, we tend to forget all the good things, no matter how big or small.

One thing I’ve always wanted to improve about myself is to finally feel secure about who I am, flaws and all - and to also not take things for granted.  Whether it’s a stranger who held a door open for me or a friend that sent me a link because they thought I’d get a good laugh, I think it’s good to appreciate the things we have and tend to overlook.

Although it’s going to be tough (and EXTREMELY self-indulgent, I know), I’m going to try to put it here.  Yes, I do feel for sorry for you one or two poor readers.  But rest assured, dear friends, that I’ll also be putting in some of my other “normal” rantings, articles, doodles, and the like.

I hope for all of you out there who celebrate Lent as well have a very fulfilling time.

I went to Chipotle today for lunch, which turned out to be around a mere $6.00.  I ended up eating half of my meal and I was quite proud that I could save my food, eat the rest of it for dinner and basically pay ONLY $6.00 for the whole day on food.

Then I had to walk home in the rain because I forgot my umbrella and my MUNI pass up the hill.  Soaked, tired, and aching from snowboarding this past weekend and trudging up the hill, I came home…

…and realized I forgot my food.

Welcome to my tiny pity party!  Hats are encouraged.

Someone sent me a link today and I thought it was pretty interesting: Trapcall, a service that helps unblock blocked numbers.

Most of the time I don’t pick up blocked numbers.  At any rate, this is how Trapcall works - when a call comes in that’s blocked, it’s sent to the Trapcall servers, then unblocked and sent back.  The best part is that the person calling only hears the ringing tone, and doesn’t know that you’re busy digging up their digits.  There are no downloads or anything, and it works on any phone with ALMOST any service.

At first I didn’t think this service would be that important.  After all, I’ve picked up and ignored blocked calls before, and usually I do my sifting through voicemail (as my mom always said, if it’s THAT important then most likely someone will spend ten seconds asking me to call them back). However, it was pointed out to me that sometimes as a safety measure it’s a good thing to always know who is calling.  For example, if you have one of those persistent stalkers, it would make life much easier if you knew exactly which numbers to block.

Ironically, if you’re a Trapcall customer and you want block you number, they offer something called a SpoofCard.  You enter in a PIN and you can alter what someone sees on their Caller ID, as well as change your voice.  Huh.  Sounds like the perfect tool for a stalker, no?

I can’t put my finger on it, but it almost feels like a store that sells pest control and bags of roaches at the same time.

If anybody has tried this, let me know.  I can definitely imagine a million scenarios where Spoof Card can be abused…better hurry up and get your pranking out of the way before they really make this service illegal!

I love days off.

I think I love them more because, unlike the idyllic school days, holidays come in tiny pieces like an extra day off here and there.  Although it probably would have been more beneficial to me in the long run if I took these days off to be productive, it’s hard not to languidly laze about and soak up the fact that usually the hours would be preoccupied by another obligation.

At any rate, this past weekend was Valentine’s Day.  Although I wasn’t really wrapped up in this Hallmark created holiday this year (I threw out my Christmas tree, if that tells you how up to speed I am) I couldn’t help but still think that, despite the grievances that people have against this fake commercialized day, there is something interesting about it to me.  Sure, being kind and loving someone on a RANDOM day out of the 365 sans Christmas, New Years, Birthdays and Anniversaries is nice, but this is one day that actually, blatantly says LOVE someone.  Sure, the message is misconstrued in the corporate greed - but hey, a day that encourages some love can’t be all bad.  

Sometimes, it feels like we all need a little reminder.

At any rate, I decided to resurrect something I wrote last year - partly because my thoughts within a year haven’t changed much, and partly to assuage the guilt I feel for lollygagging away my day off (even though it feels SO GOOD).

Of all the holidays that many people celebrate, Valentine’s Day, in a strange way, hasn’t really bothered me as much as I usually let on.

Like many people, I like to think reminisce about the old-fashioned elementary school way of celebrating Valentine’s Day, where everybody was ensured a store-bought card with a classmate’s sloppy John Hancock scrawled on the back.  If you were really lucky, you had some generous friends that also attached a piece of chocolate or a box of chalky candy with messages like “UR NICE” printed on the front.  

But soon, the obligatory classmate cards stopped and people started actually starting hating Valentine’s Day.

Maybe it’s because you were the only one who didn’t get a carnation gram in high school.  Maybe it’s because you had to shell out a few hundred dollars for plant gonads, balloons and chocolates that will soon be discarded the next day.  Or, maybe you’re one of the folks who just hate the very fact that Valentine’s Day screams “we need a good reason to buy crap for others to show them you love them.”  

Valentine’s Day, in so many ways, is like a less fun, less meaningful, and much gushier Christmas (and in many places, much colder to boot).

So what is to like about Valentine’s Day?  

Maybe it’s the novelty of receiving flowers or chocolates - that, as horrendous as it is to admit, is fun.  Maybe it’s the fact the TV specials and episodes always have some funny reference to how this overtly commercialized holiday does nothing but cause trouble and pain for husbands/boyfriends across the nation.  And of course, it did make me laugh when I literally saw a line of men trailing out a street florist’s stand. 

But something about seeing random people walk about with flowers in their arms and beaming when someone hands them balloons really makes you think about love.

 The very thought of giving to show that you love someone is so interesting.  

Something about it, as a sender and a receiver, immediately creates a warm, happy relationship.  For the most part, of course.  I know there are plenty of times where giving is not so easy, nor is it very fun.  Likewise, receiving thoughtless gifts or (as odd as it sounds) passive aggressive or critical gifts like a gym membership probably deteriorates a relationship.

At any rate, it makes me happy when I receive flowers, or chocolates - or really, anything at all.  I know I shouldn’t care about material objects, but it really is material proof that someone, at some moment in time, thought of me.  And here it is, the proof.  I’d like to think that when I give gifts, the receiver knows that they are important enough in my life for me to think of them during the process of picking out, wrapping, and sending the gift.

At least, most of the time that’s how it goes.  I won’t speak for people with personal shoppers.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend.  I brought up on a whim about unrequited love – and how something like that really is special.  It’s not so important to the person being loved, really, but it’s very special to be able to experience unrequited love, even when it can be painful.

Giving a gift is a little like that – at least, I think it can be that way.  I know a lot of people give gifts and expect something in return, but to think of the feeling of giving a gift for no reason other than to express love, concern, compassion, or care – that’s a little like unrequited love, isn’t it?  You’re putting something out there, without the intention of receiving anything back (at least, hopefully).

True unrequited love is probably the hardest but the most beautiful sort of love.  Like the unrequited love of a mother, who loves her child more than a child can really understand (most of the time).  Of course, there are too many instances where mothers don’t love their children and love themselves much much more, but you understand my point.  Unrequited love is the type of love where you know nothing will be returned, but despite this sad fact, you can’t help how much you care about another human being. 

Have I experienced unrequited love?  

Ok, maybe not love.  But definitely unrequited feelings of fancy.  

One too many times, I think.  

Ah, but unrequited love.  Some things are never to be, yet those feelings are nonetheless as valid as any.  

For me, I am happy that I have within me the capacity to love someone, and love others, even when I know that it will not be returned.  I am very lucky that I do have lots of people in my life that do care about making me smile and making me happy. 

Yikes, so it’s been ages (i.e. more than a week) since my last post.  Many apologies to the one or two people out there who have come back to my site, saw no updates, then cursed my name.  And thanks to those who still ended up coming back despite the week long repose.

At any rate, in the midst of my normal everyday routine of allocating my time between work, sleep, necessary hygenic tasks, eating, and then killing time - I noticed a TON of chatter about the latest Amazon Kindle.  Whether it was gushing about the sleek technology or merely surmising that it’s not necessary in life, I couldn’t help but think how interesting the whole concept is of an electronic book reader (that READS to you).

First of all, my initial reaction to the Kindle was doubt.  Although I know some people may call me a Luddite, I just don’t see it completely replacing the same experience of reading a book.  I love flipping through pages to track my progress.  One of my favorite memories as a child was flipping through the large picture books at the libarary, completely engrossed in the intricacy of the drawings (anybody else remember that book about alliteration featuring animals?  No?  OK fine).

These sorts of experiences, no matter how much people can innovate and invent, don’t completely mimic the same tactile feelings.  After all, digital cameras have been around for awhile, but I know that there are still people who prefer the printed version of their loved ones’ faces.

I think the most interesting thing about the Kindle is the mere fact that it’s just another example of how everything is modernizing in the world.  Things are becoming more automated, and people are given more options that they can carry around.  We can download music no matter where we are, and there are directories at the mall that help you not only FIND stores but maps out which route is the quickest way to reach your destination.

Cars can park themselves, and some cars don’t even need keys.  Heck, with Google Latitude, we can even check out where people and meet up with them if they happen to be in our vicinity.

Despite the fact that I love books, I wouldn’t be surprised if things like the Kindle can one day actually roll up in your pocket like a book and provide that “tactile” page feeling.  Maybe it can be expanded to let you zoom in on all the intricate pictures in those picture books.

Personally speaking, I just can’t wait for more future technology to arrive so I can give it a try.  Especially that Minority Report computer thingy where windows seem to hover in the air.  Or light sabers.

You know, whichever comes first.

Admittedly, I’m a nerd.  I’ve always had a bit of an addiction to anime, manga, and cute things that usually originate from Japan (but have no purpose other than to be cute and waste my money).  One thing that I was VERY addicted to (much like many of my friends and acquaintances) was the anime Naruto.

So how did I beat this debilitating tendency to binge on episodes and forsake the continuity of my circadian rhythm?

In a nutshell, the anime got a little boring and I never took the time to read the manga.  So my addiction stopped.

Until now.

Thanks to a friend who introduced me to www.onemanga.com, and, to make things worse, downloading the newest Naruto Shippuden episodes…I find myself trying very hard to fight back the little seed of addiction that was planted inside me years ago.

This does not bode well for my sleep habits and social life.