7.28.2005

bowl-o-rama



i've so many photographs to post! it is thursday, 10 pm, and i am finally blogging again after a brief hiatus. this past week has been whirlwind of fun and entertainment, what with having my nephew reeko around. (by the way, he's NOT 15, he's 17 - where did i get 15 from?!)

what i'll do is post a few images up at a time so i'm not on the computer all night. i decided to have a bit more fun as well with some of these images. check out that header image! i'm trying out new things and playing with my wacom tablet & pen. i love it!


anthony - throwing down on the 13 pounder


[anthony & i had quite a bit o' fun with reeko - going to orlando, the crappy belz/prime outlets, eating out for every meal, animal kingdom, new world brewery & ant's shows, bowling, willy wonka movie, anthony calling out from work, video games galore... ]



me (not to brag, but guess who got the highest score, yo!) (ok, ok, i brag)


[reeko has permanently etched that new willy wonka song in my brain. "willy wonka, willy wonka!"]



reeko


[$19 cds at the 'music for less' outlet store in orlando. what the!?]



rosie - yes, she owns her own bowling shoes


[had fun sneaking reeko into new world brewery for ant's show, which was quite stupendous, as always. we got to meet up with ramon & alexis (who are now way out in new meh-hee-co).]



sarah


[i am so excited for 'the march of the penguins.']



saad - ouch!

[i have officially registered for classes! i will be taking modern chem and human anatomy & physiology. stop the excitment, know.]



rachel - yay! a new friend! rachel rocks.

[in all my life, i have never sweated as i did sweat that day in disney's animal kingdom.]

7.17.2005

tornado sighting!

this weekend i went down to visit my parents and pick up my cousin reeko who will be staying with us for a week. the weather was really rather nice for most of the ride, until suddenly we were thrust into crazy-dark-double-rainbow land. we could totally see the front of clouds coming towards us and the very visible line that separated the nice clear skies from the darkly ominous weather approaching (in writing that, i had weird deja vu of 'the phantom tollbooth' - maybe it was the idea of a long road, i remember long roads in that book).

anyways, to make the first part of the story short: lots of rain, lots of lightning, lots of thunder. the skies cleared. the heavens sang. we approached a bridge. and i saw a waterspout.

it was so tiny! so thin and wispy! naturally, like the common folk we are, we pulled over to gawk and take many many bad pictures with our camera phones (plural).

and yes, anthony and i have the exact same camera.

so we watch and watch, and it's sooo cool. we can see how the water's being churned up by the spout and... and... hm... looks like it's getting bigger. maybe we'd better, you know, get a move on.

we drive on and through the rearview mirror and the back window, we notice that it's growing like crazy! like 4 times the size! *clickclickclick* go the camera phones, but there's no way we're stopping now. it's looking rather... intimidating and adrenal gland triggering.

further shortening the story: our exit is closed, we get off at the next one and have to go back towards the (now) tornado. we freak a little, but then realize it's pinching itself off from the bottom and leaving the stricken earth.

insane, eh? here's a photo, though not taken by myself. i got it from this website and it was taken by a certain sarah coward (i have no idea who she is, but wanted to give due credit).



and here's another site with better photos.

and that, was my exciting weekend.

oh yea, i also saw charlie and the chocolate factory. could the songs have sucked ANY more? *big sigh*

7.14.2005

corporate culture defines

last night anthony and i went to our local borders. talked to some old coworkers and picked up the latest copy of adbusters.

"adbusters is for everyone concerned with the erosion of our physical, cultural and mental environments by commercial forces. always insightful and often provocative, this renegade ad-free magazine offers alternative news and commentary from around the world, dealing with issues from unsustainable consumption, to genetically modified foods, to disinformation in the media." - adbusters website

quite a good publication that i rather enjoy, but i hadn't read many of them recently - sometimes they can be quite depressing - i end up losing more of my (already shrinking) faith in humanity rather than charging up my angry activist battery.

in any case, this last issue dealt with children and education and the school system. how we've become afraid of natural births, our school systems are becoming homogenized and learning is rote memorization. advertising in schools. etc. they have some wonderful examples of community schools and home schooling parents that are inspiring. i guess i find this interesting because one of my close friends is baking a little bun in the oven - brings the idea of having a child closer to home and what i would want to do with my children. i think this issue of adbusters is quite thought provoking in regards to education and advertising (in schools and in daily life).

oh yes, and here's a great little piece from daniel shorr on npr regarding the rove debacle.

7.11.2005

moving it along, moving it along

finally, anthony & i have gotten our butts in gear and applied to take classes at the community college. anthony to finish up a degree and i, well, want to get another. *laugh* (as i write this, my cat thomas keeps standing up on his hind legs trying to piggy back me - he is so freaking cute!) we've been hemming and hawing for a while and today at work i printed out all the transcript requests i need and faxed them to the appropriate departments - and then tomorrow anthony and i are going to just apply in person at the campus near us. it's pretty much the only place that offers night classes and what's even better is that our jobs will pay for it! well, 90% if i get an 'a' or a 'b,' but still. quite a deal. though if i take 2 classes... going to school every day after work is going to be super crappy... but i'll be moving along. which is what i need.

this weekend i stayed home and was quite the homebody. though to the naked eye it may appear that i lounged about on the computer the whole time, discerning students may note that i have completely organized my digital music collection. we're talking song names, artists, albums (mostly) and genres! yes, i am a nerd. yes, i am slightly ocd.

my next goal (which will perhaps be hampered by this "school" thing) is to organize my photographs and get my website in gear. also to use adobe album to add tags to my photos - this way i can easily find anything i need. unless i get too crazy and start adding too many specific tags... my organizational skills leave much to be desired.

7.06.2005

4th!

july 4th found us at the house holding a small bbq with our cute new grill! we had practiced a few nights prior with basa fillets and corn - incredible! grilled corn is amazingly delicious... mmm.... grilled corn... we also had sesame-ginger marinated tuna, veggie hot dogs & riblets, fruit salad, macaroni salad, italian potato salad & spice cake.

::question:: why is the summer considered grilling season?
::answer:: i have no earthly idea.
it is so ungodly hot out - why would you want to stand over flaming, glowing coals? i would think that winter would be the best season, or at least fall when the weather is cooler.


anthony - sweltering in the heat. brian - behind him at the grill - i'm not sure what he's trying to say with his facial expression... note the strange kudzu-like overgrowth in our tiny "backyard."


anthony & my mom on the porch.


anthony, vincent & brian. vince came up from cape coral! i was so excited to see him! :) note the even better view of the overgrowth.


brian - the beginning of the end.


this is jen, absolutely appalled that she has lost the thumb war (her claim to fame is that she can dislodge her thumb from its joint, making her thumb war queen). [update: apparently, brian, in his drunkeness, CHEATED at thumb war and must now be disqualified.]


reeko, my 15 yr old cousin from hong kong. [update: he's 17 and my nephew. maybe.]

so anyways, reeko is here in the states visiting for the first time. i wish i could take him to the rocky mountains or maybe chicago or new york. a larger city or something equally as impressive as hong kong. : ) right now he's mainly staying on pine island in the fort myers/cape coral area. the pros of this area over hong kong is the lack of smoggy pollution and the fact that you can see so many stars in the evening - there's hardly any light pollution either. the cons being... well, there's nothing there. a teeny old mall and the edison/ford estates. fishing. a barnes & noble. movie theater. beaches. ... ... i think that's about it. well, beaches might be nice, but with the hurricane season fast approaching...! maybe not.

he also plays the drums, which is cool, since anthony and brian took him out to their practice space and they jammed for a while, at least, until the 2 white boys were eaten up by mosquitoes. *laugh*