Food allergies *updated*

Finished with round 2 and updating...

A while back I had food allergy testing done (back in 2005/2006)... around that time, i was reacting to everything.. hives all over my lips, rashing/bumps, feeling generally fatigued, body just felt irritated... (eventually if i have a few days of bad allergy, it triggers a migraine) so i had testing done... i came out highly allergic to a whole bunch of foods.. which made it impossible to figure out which ones to avoid... eventually over the last 5 years, i've been slowly feeling food allergies return, foods i'm avoiding don't seem to matter, and it's hard for me to figure out again what i'm reacting to (it's hard when what you're eating has like 10 ingredients)... So i got allergy testing again and got some interesting results.

The whole allergy testing process is simple. Over 2 visits, they took 120 different foods and pin pricked it on my back in addition to a histamine and control to compare it to. They score it from 0-4. A 4 pretty much looks like a large mosquito bite.
0 no reaction
1-2 mild/moderate allergy (don't eat alot of, but OK)
3-4 highly allergic.. avoid...

Here's my list:
Highly allergic: cucumber++, peanut, tomato, sunflower seeds, squash, asparagus (no matter, i dont like them anyway), black walnuts, cabbage, currant, beans (kidney++, lima, mung, navy, pinto), raspberry, cayenne pepper, malt (no more beer :/ ), paprika, parsley, and safflower seed
Moderate: barley, string bean, almond, lime, mustard greens, plum, bell pepper, caraway seed, cumin
Mild: (i dont have to worry about these, but i find it amusing that my body reacted to them mildly) lettuce, onion, pecan, rice, rye, english walnut, hops, carrot, pumpkin
Nonreactive: cantaloupe, cashew, chicken, celery+, chocolate, crab, egg white/yolk, yeast, lobster, milk, orange, pork, potato, shrimp, soy bean, wheat, apple, banana, beef, brazilnut, buck wheat, cod fish, corn+, grape, crapefruit, lake perch, lamb, mackerel, mushroom, oat, oyster, pea, peach+, pear, pineapple, salmon, scallops, strawberry, sweet potato, tuna, watermelon, apricot, avocado, beet, broccoli, cherry, date, duck, hazelnut, goat milk, honeydew+, lemon, radish, spinach, sugar beet, tapioca, turkey, turnip, blueberry+, cranberry, olive, clam, coconut, cinnamon, clove, coffee, garlic+, ginger, mustard, nutmeg, black pepper, sesame+, tea, thyme, vanilla.
**I put a plus next to foods i used to be highly allergic to in 2005/6 in the first testing.. i may want to be careful with these foods..

I'm glad i can at least eat cashews, which are my favorite nut.. i thought i was allergic to all nuts... it's a bit confusing tho seeing that i'm allergic to some and not all of them.. there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason to the list.. other than avoiding beans (but then soy beans are OK)... and i dont seem to be allergic to any meat products...

Comparing to my old list.. seems like there's been a few switcheroos... 24 foods i was either highly or moderately allergic to are now in my nonreactive list... however, 20 foods i was not allergic to before have jumped into both my moderate and highly allergic list.. i lost 6 in my highly allergic list, but gained 5... so i haven't really "improved"... oh well..

THAT'S NOT MY JOB

This is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.
Somebody got angry because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody knew that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Somebody wouldn't do it.
And Everybody blamed Somebody because Nobody actually asked Anybody.

Few thoughts for the week...

1. I love my job!

2. Love when I call my voicemail at work and get "You have no messages"

3. So excited about getting my two sphynx cats tomorrow.

That is all.... the simple pleasures in life.

Yummy, note to self...

Cake balls

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate frosting
1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored confectioners coating

Directions

Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended.
Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.
Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 124 | Total Fat: 5.2g | Cholesterol: < 1mg

Additional notes: by LEXI70
#1) Bake cake as directed. #2) Let the cake COOL for at least a half hour! Don't mix in the frosting while HOT! You will get a gooey, albeit yummy, mess! #3) I used a handmixer to mix the cake and frosting. I used a dark chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting. #4) Put this mixture in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 3 hours but I did it overnight and it was perfect. #5) Using your hands, roll the balls bite size. I used a foil covered cookie sheet because I was out of wax paper. Wax paper is preferred. #6) Stick the balls in the freezer for an hour. #7) Melt up whatever chocolate you prefer (i buy my chocolate at a mennonite bulk foods store as I can't stand that melting bark stuff they sell at the grocery, yuck!!) 8) Using a toothpick, pick up the balls and dip in the chocolate. Using a second toothpick in the other hand help the ball slid off the toothpick. NOTE:If your balls fall off the toothpick into the chocolate they are not frozen enough. 9) Place in refrigerator to set. 10) Enjoy, these are SUPERB!!!!!!!!

Interesting Reddit post I want to think more about....

As of recently I've been a bit occupied by Reddit... though mainly because people have some interesting well thought out commentary about anything from the ridiculous to interesting political/social issues... here is one I want to note and think more about....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&src=twt&twt=nytimesnational
"Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected" from the New York Times

Here's an interesting comment someone had posted:
This a million times over. I get so tired of talking about "black america" with most people because it's generally dealing with endless white guilt on one side or veiled (if not blunt) racism on the other. Between the political correctness from the left and the superiority complexes, that offer no solutions just angered blame, of the right I really wonder how this is supposed to be fixed. And this is ignoring the entire fact that we as a society can legislate all day and still not fix the home.
IMO -- the government could do the following thing:
end the drug war that disproportionate targets blacks. the anti-system attitude that permeates black culture comes from a deep resentment that those who control the schools are the same ones that control the prisons and that we're setting them up for a life behind bars anyways, so what does it matter if they try?
start voucher programs for schools, but exempt religious schools from receiving vouchers. let parents, engaged parents anyways, put their kids (and the money for that kid) in the best place for that kid. If it's a public school or a private one. Make them compete for money. ( Ctrl-F voucher: i have been schooled on this point )
Also -- weaken, not end - but weaken what it means for a teacher to have tenure. It's one thing to be protected by teaching material unpopular with the people -- it's quite another to have immunity from being fired no matter how much you are an awful fucking teacher. And furthermore, at a national and state level -- school funding should be treated like military funding. This is not something we cut back on. Ever. In fact, we should cut our military to fund our schools. More books means less bullets anyways.
in areas with higher percentage of a minority group, an elective history course that focuses on the accomplishments of their racial heritage could probably do wonders rather than just not getting around to black people in history until we talk about them as property. We never mention their mathematical accomplishments, any of the kingdoms that existed on that continent, art, culture, nothing.
if the average income level of a certain area is relatively low -- gun shops and liquor stores should be banned from setting up shop within 5 to 10 miles of that area. I would also limit the amount of fast food allowed in that area as well.
end racial profiling.
end lottery tickets as a government program.
welfare to work programs should not "bus" parents, especially single parents away more than 30-45 min from their home.
government housing should not ever ever ever be done in one isolated location. Whoever's genius idea this was (in every nation) to put all the poor, desperate, angry, and disenfranchised together was a moron.
But outside of this -- we have a HUGE cultural problem. it's the black's fault, it's the white liberal's fault and it's the white conservative's fault. And i blame corporate america too, to top it all off.
Conservatives i blame from their endless racism. (Teapartiers i'm looking at you). When half the country is calling Obama a Lou Tribesman, doubting his birth certificate, calling him a Muslim (as if that matters), the message is very clear. Whitey wants their country back from that nigger. Why as a teen would i want to participate in this society in a positive way? When you read that police departments fight to keep racial profiling on as a legal alternative, when schools grade papers harsher if you have a "black" sounding name, when colleges are less likely to accept applications with "black" sounding names, when jobs are less likely to hire people with "black" sounding names -- why should you try? The WHOLE DAMNED SYSTEM IS AGAINST YOU.
And this doesn't even touch on the fact that the black responses to this reality is for more and more made up ridiculous names to be given to children as a ways and means of maintaining an isolated cultural identity away from mainstream america. A boyfriend of a friend of mine, post 9/11, named his kid "Koran". He wasn't Muslim. His uncle had found Islam in prison and he respected it, so in 2002 he thought it was a fantastic idea to name his son Koran on behlaf of his uncle's new faith. Nervermind this guy didn't have a home and had 2 kids by 2 different baby mamas and spent his entire paychecks on fly clothes and bar tabs.
The so-called "ghetto" names that have become so prominent amongst african americans are an intentional thumb nosing at mainstream culture. It's like neither side wants to fucking give. One side keeps self de-segregating themselves and the other keeps pushing them away and the whole thing has become this endless cycle.
Or how about rap music. Is there decent hip hop out there? Sure. Is it mainstream? Virtually none of it. I'm not one to "blame art" generally. I grew up listening to death metal and gangster rap myself, watching lots of porn and horror movies. But i had a supportive and involved family. I was emotionally stable. I got both attention, love and discipline at home (for better or worse). I had a support network to give me the stability and maturity i needed to enjoy these things safely. I'm not easily influenced and i'm not impressionable. Many kids aren't so lucky.
And by "decent hiphop" i'm not talking about skill here. Rap through the 70s and 80s, and even golden era early 90s had a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints. From Latifa's Unity, to Public Enemy, to the frustrations of the ghetto explained by NWA and Ice-T. There were spiritual songs, dance songs, gangster rap songs, silly songs, etc.. and i'm talking about the shit ON THE RADIO and MTV. Shock of gangster rap IMO was a good thing, at first. It kept all those part of the great white flight from ignoring the conditions and effects of poverty in lower income areas by attracting their teens from pumping that shit on their stereo's in their bedroom. But once hip hop started taking off the wide horizons once held by the art form in the limelight began to change. White businessmen and corporations dealing in an ever competitive market were looking for "sure things". In the pop world this means more artists like Britney. In the rap world it means more shock, more more more. More violence, more sex, more glarmousization of poverty, more pointless materialism (i'm looking at you Cash Money, Nelly, 50, No Limit) more offensive anything, more misogyny, more homophobia, more more more. And anyone who thinks there isn't a HUGE overlap in cultural identity between the hip hop subculture and african americans is fucking deluded. You got Bill Cosby out there, who might be a bit of a fuddy duddy, trying to do GOOD THINGs.. and what's mainstream hiphop's response? Millionaire rappers who haven't lived in the "hood" in 2 decades like Ice Cube openly mock him and his efforts with lyrics like this:
I'ma keep it real, man, fuck how they feel, man
If your feelin' ill, man, go, take a pill
I'ma keep this steel, man, straight at your grill, man
You can tell opra, nigger, you can tell Bill
But Mr. Cosby, this ain't a hobby
Niggas, this the ghetto, just like sowheto
Where niggas want to hurt you, there's no rehearsal
There's no commercial when you're turning purple
Turn on the radio, it's not even about rapping anymore. It's about Superman YOOOOOUUUU and Lil John screaming whatever the fuck it is about skeet and sweaty balls. People make fun of redneck culture for being anti-intellectual uncultured garbage, and i'm sorry -- but redneck culture ain't got shit on modern day mainstream hip hop which by comparison seems to worship animalistic stupidty. Same fucking thing for reggaeton too.
Then we got the issue of the vast amount of broken homes, the effects of religion, the resentment they have towards whites, the entitlement attitudes they have because of whites, their intentions to have a inclusive culture that's separate from mainstream American culture - completely butchering the English language.
There are so many fucking issues regarding African American culture i can't wrap my head around it all. And i can't think of a single cultural power in this nation that doesn't bare some responsibility -- white, blacks, liberals, conservatives, the media, and religion.
When you got Rush race baiting to the majority of old white men day in and day out, a broken black home, black being sold as "cool" creating endless pipe dreams for people that will never make it, and DeadPrez telling you it's all whitey's fault, and then the cops pull you over for no other reason than you look suspicious -- i have no idea where to start fixing that. How do you even have an honest conversation about shit like this? I can't count the times i haven't marched step in line with liberals about this and got called Archie Bunker in the process. If we can't have a dialogue, we can't fix it.

Follow up to Hair donation blog

(refer to previous post here: http://www.elatedpenguin.com/2010/02/hair-donation.html)
Alrighty, donating my long locks to http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/ They request a minimum of 8" and I've got about 9-10" to spare.

I'm going to go with a haircut something like these:







Wish me luck, hope it looks good.

Military and Federal Employee Discounts

Found the following information:

Military and Federal Employee Discounts
April 12, 2010 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military, Veteran Benefits

Military and Federal Employee Discounts:All these businesses offer military discounts; all you have to do is ask.
Restaurants
 Arby’s  A&W  Back Yard Burgers  Burger King  Captain D’s  Chick-Fil-A  Cotton Patch  Denny’s  Dunkin’ Donuts  IHOP (20 percent discount with military identification)  Java Cafe
 KFC  Long John Silver  Pancho’s Mexican Buffet  Pizza Hut  Quizno’s  Sizzler  Sonic  Taco Bell  Whataburger
Services
 AT&T  California Cryobank  Geico  Jiffy Lube  Meineke  Sears Portrait Studio
Travel and Leisure
 Blockbuster  Movie theaters  Ripley’s attractions and
museums  Professional Sports teams
Products
 Apple Computers  AutoZone  Barnhill’s  Bass Pro Shop  Bath and Body Works  Big 10 Tires  The Buckle  Champs Sports  Copeland’s Sports  Dell  The Discovery Channel Store  Dress Barn  The Finish Line  Foot Action  Footlocker  Gadzooks  GNC  Goody’s  Great Party  Happy Harry’s  Hot Topic  Jockey  Lerner  Michael’s  NAPA Auto Parts  New York & Company  Pac Sun  Payless Shoes  Play It Again Sports  Pure Beauty  Quizno’s  Sally Beauty Supply  Spencer’s Gifts  Suncoast  Timberland Outlets  Wilson’s Leather
Cell Phone Service Discount
All Federal employees are able to get a 15% discount on their personal cell phones by calling their carrier and mentioning the “Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 – Discount to Federal Employees Past and Present.”
Cingular – 800-319-6393
Sprint – 877-812-1223
T-Mobile – 866-646-4688
Nextel – 800-639-6111
Verizon – 800-865-1825
You will need to know the military member’s supervisor’s name, phone number, and full address, so that his/her military status can be verified.

2010 Elections

Here's how I voted on the following propositions and positions.

Prop. 19 THC - Yes
Prop. 20 Expand powers to redistricting commission - No
Prop. 21 Vehicle license fee- Yes
Prop. 22 State prohibited from borrowing funds- NO
Prop. 23 Suspension Greenhouse gas law- NO
Prop. 24 Repeal of big business tax breaks- Yes
Prop. 25 Simple majority - Yes
Prop. 26 2/3 vote required- NO
Prop. 27 Eliminate redisctricting commission- NO

I generally vote democratic for the various positions. The republican line-up is terrible as it is... And after careful consideration, most of my views are quite left leaning, so I dont tend to agree with republicans on the various issues anyway...

There you go.

Ecofriendly women time

Link

History...

I dont know nearly enough about my ethnic history as I should... in fact, i'm thinking now i should seek out some sort of korean history course and gain more awareness of the issues my grandmother and mother grew up around...

I got a little taste the other day talking to my mom about what kind of stories my grandmother and grandfather would tell her. Apparently, my grandfather didn't share much of anything, which is common for those who served in the military in time of war.

My mom shared with me that my grandmother was in her 20s when north korea invaded and she had to flee Seoul because they lived about 1 hour from the border... she had to go without my grandfather, as he was sent off to war. He was in the airforce and i guess pretty high in the ranks (which put her at greater danger), but it seems my mom doesn't know exactly what his role was... My grandmother on the otherhand apparently loves to tell the story of how she had to go on foot, traveling for months... with only the belongings she had to carry, including my mom in her belly. With her she had taken a genealogy book that had everything dating back to a korean general in our lineage... alas, over the months of travel, it was lost. What my mom does remember is that we came from a line of Lees... And I guess Lees also were split into families.. and we came from Hamim or something..

My mom also told me about what it was like for my grandmother growing up during the japan invasion... being only allowed to speak japanese... and stories they would hear about how the japanese would kill and bring back body/face parts in boxes back to their country as trophies... i've heard alot of other horrific things about the japanese invasion including sex slaves, concentration camps and such... and the country's denial of having done these things.

I'm going to look into some classes...

Blast from the past...

I seem to be reminded every once in a while, whenever i see the name Dixon, of a strange incident that happened while I was in college...

basically, someone had emailed my boyfriend at the time, several emails telling him that they are aware of his relationship with the "mongoloid" and to break off the relationship immediately or we would be sorry. the reason this was most alarming was because I'm generally not a PDA (public display of affection) type of girl.. and we weren't that sort of couple.. so in public, you would likely not have known that we were more than friends. So, we could only deduce that the person who wrote these emails knew him and I well enough to know that we were together... in the emails this person spouted off something about white supremecy and had some website (that i can't seem to remember right now.. something like White Thunder or Storm... stormfront?)... and continued to make threats if my bf and i didn't break up. OH, and the guy identified himself as Willie Dixon. we actually got the FBI involved, and all they could determine was that the emails were sent from the UCSD campus... fortunately, we weren't too affected by it, didn't break up from that incident.. and didn't experience any actions of his threats...

it was weird tho... and i'm reminded whenever i see the last name Dixon...

BOO!!! on Costco and CP

About a month ago, I had emailed Costco and a company called CP because of a concern regarding one of the products they carry. They haven't replied back, so I'm blogging a big
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
on them.

There is a soup they carry that is so yummy, but beware, the ingredients they use are on the GreenPeace seafood RED list and are not sustainable and therefore you should NOT buy this product.

I have also emailed Greenpeace to encourage them to focus their efforts/influence on to Costco... Their influence pushed Trader Joe's to carry sustainable seafood, so I thought I'd shoot them an email about the product.

I will be making more trips to Trader Joes and encourage you to do the same...seeing that Costco does not carry the same ethics/values as I do. Be wary of seafood products at Costco, because I'm guessing they dont care too much about how what products they are carrying impacts the earth.

So, the product, in particular, is Shrimp Wonton Soup with Noodles by CP (http://www.cpthaithai.com/home/products_cp_08.html)
The shrimp that is listed in the ingredients (Litopenaeus vannamei), is also known as "whiteleg shrimp." It is on the red list and is not sustainable. The methods to capture this species involves trawling which accidentally catches and kills more than 1.8 million tons of marine life each year, including turtles, sharks and other animals and account for more than 25% of the world's wasted catch. In addition, the heavy weight of the trawl nets cause habitat distruction.

Interesting revelations on Domestic Partnership vs. Marriage

First, some ramblings:
So.. Until recently, I never realized the religious conotations to marriage. I guess I had not really thought about it before and had always seen it as something that had more to do with legally and publicly (among friends/family) binding a relationship. I figured, the only reason that many people got married in churches was because their religion was important to them and they wanted their marriage to be connected to a religious ceremony; never put two and two together that the marriage itself was actually a religious ceremony... (not sure why i didn't see it before)

I had always intended to get married, but not for any religious reasons, it was more for legality and making sure all rights as a married couple and as parents were available; and of course a celebration of love to share with family/friends.

This has increased my confusion as to how we are still allowing religious values to dictate our laws in the United States?? Because it's only a religious reason why gay marriage is not recognized, right?

Anyway, having decided I was going to wait until same-sex marriage is legal to get married myself... I've started doing more research into options that are available for same sex partnerships such as domestic partnerships (so i can do the same). It looks like domestic partnership in California affords most of the same rights as marriage does.. for example: health decisions, health insurance plans, trust/wills, survivor pension benefits, obligation to file taxes as married couple, can take each other's surnames, property rights, parental rights. There are some differences listed in the website, but not incredibly significant...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_partnership_in_California


interestingly, to have a domestic partnership, you have to be same-sex or one partner has to be over 62... meaning.. I, in a opposite sex relationship cannot register for a domestic partnership...

of course I'm still going to do what I can to support equal rights for same sex couples, but it at this point, looking at all the information, doesn't make sense for me to wait to get married, seeing that domestic partnership in california affords almost all the same rights for any average 18+ couple living together... and I don't have any alternative to marraige... of course there is meaning in the terminology (marriage vs domestic partnership) and it is an unfair "seperate but equal" sort of situation, but seeing that domestic partnership covers most rights that marriage does, and it's not even an option for me (unless I realize something about myself that i didn't know!)... i'm going to recind my claim to wait until same-sex marriage...

I'm open to hearing other views on this...

Paragard

Information

getting older

it's not the first time i heard from someone older that they predict that as i get older i'll become more conservative and go back to christianity...

i have to say.. i'm more liberal and athiest than i've ever been...

Celebrations

an idea just occurred to me.... i think when i have a kid, i'm going to research as many holidays from different cultures/religions and try to have some sort of special dinner on those days and spend time telling them about the celebration/history/culture.. and do that every year on those days...

i'm not religious and i'm not very attached to too many of those sorts of celebrations... though i think it's important to foster family traditions...

my family celebrates christmas and thanksgiving... and i do like to celebrate the new year... I'm going to need to figure out some fun family traditions for the rest of the year....

Did you know?? re: Animal Suicide...

There are many stories of animal suicide that date back centuries

Whether it's a grieving dog, a depressed horse or even a whale mysteriously beaching itself, there is a long history of animals behaving suicidally, behavior that can help explain human suicide, says newly published research.

The idea that animals could actually be very good models for human suicide started to take root in the 20th century, said Edmund Ramsden, one of the study's authors.

If animals can be deliberately self-destructive, they could also then help us to better understand the same behaviors in humans, argue the study's authors, Ramsden, of the University of Exeter in the U.K. and Duncan Wilson of the University of Manchester.

"You begin to challenge the definition of suicide. The body and mind are so damaged by stress and so it leads to self destruction. It's not necessarily even a choice," he said.

There are many stories of animal suicide dating back centuries.

In 1845, for example, the Illustrated London News reported a "Singular Case of Suicide" involving a "fine, handsome and valuable black dog, of the Newfoundland species." The dog had for days been acting less lively than usual, but then was seen "to throw himself in the water and endeavor to sink by preserving perfect stillness of the legs and feet."

The dog was rescued and tied up. But as soon as he was released he entered the water again and tried to sink himself. This occurred several times until at last the dog appeared to tire and "by dint of keeping his head determinedly under water for a few minutes, succeeded at last in obtaining his object, for when taken out this time he was indeed dead."

Such anecdotes tend to reflect the values of the societies they are from, said Ramsden.

In the 19th century animal suicides were often seen as acts of abuse,
madness, love or loyalty — the same causes then given for human suicides.

In earlier times, such qualities were denied, but animals were still used to help define suicide.

"For (St.) Augustine and (Thomas) Aquinas it goes against natural law and so goes against God's law," Ramsden told Discovery News. They called on the lack of suicide in Nature as proof that people should not kill themselves."...suicide is contrary to the inclination of nature," Aquinas wrote.

But Aquinas couldn't have been more wrong, says psychologist Thomas Joiner of Florida State University and author of the newly-published book "Myths of Suicide."

"It's incredible how actually pervasive it is in nature," said Joiner.

Organisms of all sorts are known to self-destruct in one way or another, usually in order to protect their relatives — and so to save their genes.

"If you take the statement: 'My death will be worth more than my life,' that plays out in all sorts of organisms," said Joiner. "That calculation is the same, whether it's written in the genes or English."

Pea aphids, for instance, when threatened by a lady bug can explode themselves, scattering and protecting their brethren and sometimes even killing the lady bug.

They are literally tiny suicide bombers, Joiner told Discovery News.The big difference is that in modern humans that calculation can go wrong. There are some acts of suicide that do save lives. But most of the millions or so human suicides each year worldwide benefit no one, Joiner explained.

They are acts that perhaps used to serve a purpose in early human
societies, he said, but have lost their function in the modern world.

As a result, some scientists believed that animals could actually be very good models for human suicide, said Ramsden.

This idea started to take root in the 20th century, he said."It becomes reversed, in a sense," said Ramsden. Animal and human suicides are no longer seen as willful acts but as responses to conditions.

What that suicidal Newfoundland was telling us, then, is not so much that animals and humans think alike, but that it is, as Joiner said "...a fatal consequence of biologically-based and extremely serious illness."

Discovery Channel
Wed., March. 10, 2010

Doing my part..

... well in little bits that is....

So there is this soup i really love from costco, that is so easy to prepare (microwave) and tastes really good... unfortunately, they use a type of shrimp that Ive recently discovered is on the RED list and is not sustainable.

I've emailed the company and told them that i will no longer purchase the product and will discourage family/friends from doing so as well...

...there you go....

LAX Parking research

I used to use Red Rabbit parking which was awesome.. it was something like $5/day and they were super nice and reliable.. but they've been closed since like 2007...

So i've done some more research.. and am blogging it for future reference (and your benefit!)...

First, if you're on the westside, rather than going all the way to LAX, you can have someone local drop you off near UCLA for FlyAway:
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/FlyAway%20PAMPHLET_Jan%202010.pdf
There's free wifi, it's $5 for the ride to and from UCLA/LAX. The schedule is something to pay particular attention to tho.

If you need to park somewhere, you can check out prices here:
http://www.parkrideflyusa.com/

And after looking at a few billion yelp reviews for several different companies, I've decided that this one is good and cheap:
AirPark LAX
9800 La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(866) 575-7275
www.airpark-lax.com
ROOFTOP SPECIAL OFFER $5.95 (plus tax) which comes out to $6.50/day
DAILY [covered] PARKING RATE $7.95 (plus tax) which comes out to about $8.70/day
You can book online and not worry about having cash.
4/5 stars on yelp.com

endangered sushi/fish!

So, Monterey Bay Aquarium does a great website on endangered fish... so initially i figured that scavenger fish like shrimp were not endangered and not a problem, but apprently it's not just overfishing that's an issue, but the method of fishing. So apparently the fishing practice of shrimp trawling accidentally catches and kills animals like turtles, sharks, etc in the process... also farmed fish (other than not being healthy for you because most often the fish are treated with antibiotics because of the crowded conditions and disease problems... apparently these farms produce alot of polution as well...)

Good news is that as a general rule, the U.S. has strict fishing standards, so if at the very least you find out if the fish is imported or from the states you can feel some added assurance that it may be a little less harmful for the ecosystem.

So I was really excited to see that wild alaskan salmon is on the "best choice"/green list and is OK to eat.. YAY for me cuz i love salmon!
Others that are OK: US shrimp/ebi (avoid imported shrimp), scallops are good, imitation crab is OK, blue/king/snow/dungeness crab is good, albacore tuna from US is good, squid good, uni (california & canada), striped bass, lobster (mexico, US), mahi mahi (us), tilapia (US or centr amer), white seabass, whitefish (lake)

Other things that I"m not particularly interested in, but you may be: Pacific sole is ok (but not sole from other areas), us farmed abalone, us farmed catfish, caviar (us), clams, pacific halibut, farmed mussels, oysters, sardines

tuna/toro (yellowfin, blue fin, & bigeye) and cod had alot of specifics about some to avoid and some that are OK, so you'll wanna check the guide

Avoid: yellowtail, farmed salmon, freshwater eel/unagi, uni (maine), chilean bass, farmed salmon, shark,

Heres the website if you wanna search for specific fish:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

Assumptions about regret

So, recently i've heard from two people that are under the assumption that I regret having made the decision to quit my job and go traveling. I've only heard this particular 'assumption' from 2 different sources, so I'm hoping that it's actually not something that alot of friends/colleagues are thinking because it is not true...

I can look at it in two ways..
1. why a statement like that bothers me, because who cares what other people think
2. look at it subjectively and understand why they would assume something like that (where that person is coming from)

So #1... this bothered me quite a bit for a couple days... for someone to know me and understand what an experience like this was for me and how incredible and enriching the traveling and volunteering was for me; that i would even have the thoughts that this was not worth trouble and that if given another chance i'd decide not to do the same thing. ... This bothers me because i feel a statement like this is belittling of these amazing experiences i've had and I would hope these two people would know me better than that and would know that was not true... There were/are definitely challenges (some unexpected) to what i did.. and i dont deny that at all. It was difficult to come back in the economy as it is and no doubt it's been a challenge to find a permanent position in what i want to do (mental health social work)... but that's all part of making a decision like that... there was alot of thought and planning that went into this and there isn't any other way I would have gone about it and am very happy and content with where my life is right now. Where I sit, I have alot of options, just a different set of options than what would be ideal for maybe someone else. For example.. i can decide to travel again (and since i'm on contract, i can do that and not feel obligated to the position).. since i'm still in the job market, i've even turned down several job interviews/offers because it's not quite what i want to do (and i'm in a place in my life where i can still do that) i'm not in a hurry to fulfill this idea of what "success" is for other people's.. i actually feel like i've accomplished quite a bit in my life already (and living in another country is on that list). If i felt like traveling for another year without working (or just doing volunteer work) I can still do that because of what i have done previously (and money is not a major concern)... so i dont regret anything i've done in my life because i'm where i am because of it and great opportunities have been opened up for because i've been open to looking them...

So #2... so, really it's all about perspective.. so i've explained above why in my perspective and my experience i dont regret having made these decisions in my life... but rather than getting angry at other people for thinking this of me and personalizing it, i can try and understand why they are thinking this and what their perspective of the situation is.
i'm assuming (and of course all of this stemmed out of assumptions of me, so i do this lightly as I dont know exactly and don't want to make the same mistakes) their general sense of "success" (particularly with the two folks who had the 'regret' assumption of me) is having a stable job with job security, paying into retirement, good salary/benefits, marriage/family, buying a house, etc etc etc... so I can understand that for someone who holds this value, that choosing to lose this aspect (or not pursue it at this time) can seem rash, unreasonable, irresponsible... being on this road myself when i was younger has kept me from making decisions to travel in my earlier years, so i can understand the fear and concerns when you have "success" (or are on the road to it and it's clear ahead) and don't want to lose it... so i can understand this can provoke feelings of anxiety & regret.. if this was all that was important to you. particularly if you have not had the fortune of traveling or knowing the enrichment that traveling provides, you may have a limited capacity to incorporate the benefits of it and see it as a means to 'success' or that it in itself is something that should be a life goal... Also, it is easy to project our own feelings onto other people, particularly if the feelings are strong within ourselves... if someone were to see my situation and think to themself that they would have regretted these decisions, than that's their issue that says something about them and not me
Another, less attractive way to view it is some level of jealousy.. if that person does have the capacity to see the benefits of traveling and volunteering and maybe feels a wish to do this themselves but doesn't feel they are up for the challenge that it would bring and therefore is deciding not to despite strong feelings of wanting to, may resort to feeling jealous and deciding to tell people that they think i regret these decisions in order to belittle the whole experience when talking to others...

EDIT/Additional note: I forgot to note, but i think i've said it before in a past post that quite the opposite of regretting the decision, this is one of the best decisions i've made in my life.

Liz Visits!

So my dear friend Liz, whom I met in Peru (she's the director of the program I volunteered for) came to visit the last week of December through New Years!

She's originally from England and had not spent time in Los Angeles, so we did some touristy stuff and some non touristy stuff.

Sorry, I dont have many interesting stories, because i'm feeling exhausted today :P Though I'll have pictures up and this was mainly just to journal what we did.. i've already forgotten some details... oops.

Dec 29 Tues.. Hollywood walk (the stars and hand/foot prints in front of Mann Theatre), ate at Pure Luck Restaurant in Hollywood (a vegan restaurant highly recommended)
Dec 30 W.. Disneyland in the rain!.. Left for Moontribe (dance party/gathering in the desert under the full moon)
Dec 31 Th.. Moontriiiibe
Jan 1 F... Return from Moontribe... I think we went to a taco shop (Sky Taco.. amazing, but expensive, tacos)
Jan 2 Sa... Venice beach..
Jan 3 Su... La Brea Tar Pits and then dinner with another 2 previous S.K.I.P. and peace corp volunteers at Hama Sushi in Venice... then LAX to go back to Peru.

We spent quite a bit of time out in the Mojave desert over new years, but it was very much a highlight of the visit. Disneyland was alright; it was somewhat sprinkling, so that cut the crowd to about 1/3, which was still quite crowded.. still 20-70 minute lines... we were able to go on matterhorn, space mountain, pirates of the carribean, thunder mountain, and i think one other... Liz really enjoyed the tar pits as well..

Lunch

I'm sooo lazy when it comes to cooking.
I'm sooo lazy when it comes to waking up in the morning.

These two things make it very hard for me to figure out a good lunch to bring to work.

So I found this website, which has great ideas and links to other great ideas :)

http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2008/05/brown-bag-brigade-your-one-stop-shop.html

For now, I bring 2 slices bread, slice cheese, sliced tomato, orange, banana, and yogurt. I usually eat the orange and yogurt after work as a snack to get me through exercising till dinner. :) I'm guessing that'll get boring soon.

Any other ideas???

Karma

I don't believe in Karma.

... at least not in the sense of the word that is often used in Western society. That direct cause and effect that if you do something evil/bad that something bad will happen to you... or that if you do good in the world, your life will be good. In addition, I find that this sort of thinking is very individualistic and can lead to selfish thinking because basically the motive behind doing something good is carried with personal gain rather than wanting to benefit the collective, regardless of what will happen to you...

That's not to say that i dont believe in positivity spreading positivity (and negativity spreading negativity). Though I believe this on a grander scale. It is possible that the good deeds you do will eventually come back, but in my beliefs you may never see it in your lifetime because acts of kindness (or other types of energies) create a ripple effect that sort of flows along a continuum and get dispersed among everything living...

I feel it could do more for the world to think more collectively and decide to do good things because it would benefit every living thing on a whole without wondering how it will benefit ourself individually...

On another note, i dont believe in jinxes, needing to knock on wood for anything, nor do i feel we need to say "bless you" when someone sneezes... however sometimes i'll say 'bless you' as a form of courtesy/politeness since other people seem to think it's rude if it's not said.
Jinxes & knocking on wood: I dont believe that just the act of saying something about what you want or don't want to happen will affect the likelyhood of it happening.
Bless you: I dont think that people are being invaded by evil spirits when they sneeze and need to be blessed by me (of all people) in order to rid of this. I dont believe that saying bless you would even remotely save you from getting the black plague if that was a current risk.

Hair donation

So, I was inspired by my friend, Cassanna, who is growing her hair to donate to be made into a wig for children who need it and I started doing some research and there seems to be quite a few charities out there that do the hair donation..

After several hours of researching, I've decided I want to donate to this one: http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/
I found that some of the organizations donate only to alopecia and/or cancer, which are the major causes of hair loss in children, but the Children With Hairloss gives wigs also for burn victims and other medical causes...
It seems to have a good reputation too, http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=7092 and it looks like alot of people have reported having received their hair pieces for their kids from this org very easily and fast (with Locks of Love having a reputation of a long waitlist).. which is understandable from what i've been reading with Locks of Love, they've gotten so much publicity, they're getting bombarded with tons of donations and apparently don't have alot of staff so wait lists are long...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06locks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://badhairday.typepad.com/bad_hair_day/2006/07/locks_of_love_i.html
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=21;t=001082;p=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locks_of_Love


it's understandable that not all the hair donated will be usable for wigs, but it seems that Locks of Love are not using all the usable hair either cuz they get too many donations.. it seems like they get too many donations and are selling the hair for cash instead, which isn't necessarily bad because they are funding research and such, but then the original intention of making wigs to donate for kids is not being focused on... so it's not like they're a total scam or anything, i think they're just getting too big... and it seems alot of their money is going towards public relations and promotion....


There's some other organizations:
http://www.pantene.com/en-US/beautiful_lengths.jspx ---Hillary Swank donated to them and did this whole campaign thing... i didn't find any controversial info about them
http://www.wigsforkids.org/ -- seems to be a good org.. i didn't see any controversial info about them...
http://www.clf4kids.org/donate_hair.html

Zion

Hope to put some pictures and stories up about Brentt and my trip to Zion National Park, UT. I would say it was the 2nd most beautiful place i've ever been to (1st being the amazon jungle)... so i've gotta post some pictures...

soon to come

Cat!

So, I've had pet cats for the past 10 years of my life and during a few years in high school. I had to find homes for my 2 cats when I left for Peru, and was planning to take them back when I returned... but it looks like my allergies are so severe that I can't have them back. I went to go visit my ex's cats and my right eye was nearly swollen shut and i had large thick hives on my arms. I'm starting to get used to the dogs and cats of friends, but it's uncomfortable and I usually end up taking allergy pills (which i'm just not keen on popping pills all the time)... and considering the food allergies i already have, its just every taxing physically to deal with the allergic reactions of both animals and food....

tho i still love cats and miss having a pet to play with!

Generally cats that are hairless have less hair for their saliva to stick on to, and it's the saliva that i'm allergic to. So, i did some research on a variety of cats that tend to provoke less allergic reactions... Sphynx, Devon Rex, and Cornish Rex... and Siberian cats have hair but less of the allergen in their saliva...

So, when brentt and i move back in together, i'm in search of a rescue cat of one of these breeds :) if you have any leads let me know :)

(oh and apparently there are genetically engineered cats that are 100% allergy free, but not only is this super expensive, and promoting the breeding industry instead of rescuing cats.. but it also seems a bit on the strange side)

Life decisions: Future travel

Originally I had planned to go out for 1.5-2 years of traveling with a brief 2-3 months of stay in the states. Part 1 was to be Peru and then Part 2 was the rest of south america and central america.. well as you can see things have changed a bit...

So I did go on part 1. Spent an amazing time in Peru . When I came back, I decided that instead of leaving right after the summer, I wanted to stay through the holidays since I missed the holidays last year and didn't feel like missing another year.

Then as i'm doing my job search and realizing it is much harder than what I originally planned (tho, this was probably the worst time for me to come back, and I really should have just taken off again instead of tackling the job market and finding a permanent job). So, being in a bit of panic to find a job and wanting to keep it (and not quitting again so i dont have to go through this again next year).. I'm thinking that once I get a permanent job, I will likely not quit and do my overseas travels within the paid vacation time that I have accrued. So, I still want to travel and see many other worlds, but it just wont be in the extended amount of time i originally planned for....

However, what i've been thinking in the past week... is that if i'm still in a contract position (meaning not permanent) in a few months and if I dont get this one job that I really want and applied for... I may consider just going back out again.... maybe apply for doctors without borders and see if i get in this time (last time I didn't get the job because I didn't have enough experience working in a developing country)... maybe travel without doing volunteer work.. who knows...

Life decisions: Marriage

I've made a decision to wait to get married when same-sex marriage is legal. Not much to explain here other than everyone deserving equal rights.

Superiority is a huge peeve of mine. I dont see how anyone can think that they deserve anything more than anyone else. And this spills into alot of different areas... immigration, education, health insurance, etc etc.. I hate this whole protestant work value where people think that you just need to work hard and you can get what you need... That's incredibly ignorant and narrow minded... Of course hard work is important, but I think luck has alot more to do with it. Lucky enough to be born in the united states.. lucky to be born a privledged color.. lucky to be born in a certain socioeconomic class.. having positive role models...adequate nutrition growing up.. having safety.. access to good education .. lucky to have resources others dont have access to... those things have nothing to do with how hard you work or that you deserved those luxuries over other people...

Life decisions: Children

So, I'm not exactly sure what prompted me to start thinking of major life issues like marriage and such... i think maybe being unemployed gave me alot of time on my hands to just think... and then when i don't exercise I tend to have all this unused energy, so I get ideas and start doing intense research on them... which can be good or bad sometimes hehe.. :)
(bad, only in the sense that i can waste alot of time on the internet!)

So, I've given alot of thought to children. I've always seen myself as a mother, have always really loved babies and wanted to work with kids.. i always saw myself as having 2 kids by age 27.. .. but now at 30.. alot has happened in my life... experiences that have changed my perspective, ethics, and future outlook... With everything going on in the world, particularly with global warming, i dont feel it's really a good time to be bringing someone into the world because I feel that quite a bit of hardship seems to be a possibility within their lifetime...

in a general sense, i feel like having a kid is a selfish thing to do, selfish in the sense that obviously the baby is not being asked to be born so the decision is 100% the parents... so making a decision to bring a baby into the world, knowing things are going downhill environmentally (among other world issues)... is starting to go against some changing ethics I’m having on this issue….

Also (a bit of a tangent), it really peeves me when people complain about their kids and say something like "I carried him in my womb for 9 months and had 2 days of intense labor and this is the thanks i get" or other such child caregiving complaints.. but it's like.. ummm they did not ask to be born, this entirely your decision and your obligation.. not that we should give our kids the royal treatment and they should definitely treat parents with respect, but babies don't necessarily owe parents for just being born and taken care of during childhood and to make the decision to have a kid should not be taken lightly and people should take full responsibility for every part it…

Also, I feel like there are so many children who are in the foster/adoption system who are in need of parents and rather than populating the world with more kids, why not adopt one that is already here and in need.

That all being said… I still have my own biological urges to have my own child. There is also something to be said about having a child that was born of the love between two people and a beautiful thing to see your own child that is a mix between you and your significant other.. and as my mother recently reminded me that there are wonderful experiences to be had in life and it’s not all about greenhouse effects and negative politics..

So I’ve come to a compromise that I feel sits well with my own ethics and wishes both ways… I would like to have one biological child (if I still can when I plan to) and adopt one child. I did quite a bit of research on the process of adoption and I’m thinking I might go the foster route with the intent of adoption. I have a friend who was a foster care social worker for 5 years and having been involved in the process she also plans to go that route. I’m thinking that around the time I have my own baby, I’ll adopt a toddler, maybe 2 or 3 y/o.. they’ll be companions growing up and the adopted child will already feel like part of the family having a new sister/brother.

Alright...

So i've been neglecting my blog, but I've decided I want to continue using it. It's an interesting balance of having facebook and doing short little 'status' updates there.. but really I started this blog to keep a journal of sorts of my various thoughts and adventures and I dont do that sort of thing on facebook, so keep posted for updates on various things like having children (no i'm not pregnant), pets, recent trip to Zion, goals in my career, and future travel, ....etc....

Stay tuned!!!

Will be returning to the blog once again... for my past year's adventures, you'll want to go to my travel blog ...

I'm back in the states 23rd of July and will start using this side again :)... that is, till I go out traveling again... :)

My dear Spiegelman makes news again!!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/18/technology/yahoomusic.fortune/index.htm

Yahoo Music wants to top the charts again
The former No. 1 music site taps classic rock as part of its comeback strategy.

By Devin Leonard, senior writer

NOVEMBER 19, 2008: 7:31 AM ET



NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) Music isn't necessarily the first place where you'd expect to find hordes of Grateful Dead and Black Sabbath fans.

But David Skye, a new blogger on Yahoo Music, elicited hundreds of passionate comments last month when he listed the top 10 rock and roll bootlegs of all time. His picks were unauthorized live albums by classic acts like The Dead, Black Sabbath, Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd, all of whom were rocking long before anybody imagined listening to music on a PC.

That is exactly what Yahoo Music chief Michael Spiegelman wants to hear. He is trying to revamp Yahoo's music site, and he's fairly certain classic rock can help. "The youth market is a very important part of the audience we serve, but we also have a lot of people in their 30s, 40s or 50s," he said. "They are passionate about music. But they are not necessarily waiting for the new Rihanna track."

Yahoo Music needs to do more to keep its users - both young and old - from decamping to competing sites. As recently as October 2007, Yahoo Music was the Internet's largest music destination with 22 million monthly users, according to comScore. A year later, Yahoo has lost 18% of that audience and has fallen behind AOL Music (TWX,Fortune 500) and MySpace (NWS, Fortune 500) Music.

Part of the problem is the ongoing turmoil at Yahoo as the company has struggled with a hostile takeover bid by Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and a shareholder revolt led by Carl Icahn. On Monday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang himself announced that he is stepping down from his post and returning to his old job as a "Chief Yahoo."

There has also been an employee exodus from Yahoo Music. In 2007, Dave Goldberg, then head of Yahoo Music, abruptly departed to join a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Benchmark Capital. His successor, Ian Rogers, jumped ship early this year to run TopSpin Media, a much-buzzed-about startup that helps artists market their music directly to fans.

"I think [Yahoo Music] just lost direction with Dave Goldberg departing," said Ted Cohen, managing partner of TAG Strategic, a digital media consultancy. "Then Ian took over. I think Ian just got tired of raging against the machine to move forward."

Spiegelman, who joined Yahoo Music in 2003, is trying to recover lost ground. He has closed the company's music download service, which was never a strong competitor to iTunes. "We don't necessarily want to be in the business of selling tracks," Spiegelman said. "We want to be connecting you with other users and providing you with perspective."

Instead of selling songs, Yahoo is trying to build a diverse community of music fans. That involves redesigning the site, adding concert information, music blogs and video playlists.

Under Spiegelman, Yahoo Music is also targeting older fans whom he says might be turned off by youth-oriented music destinations like MySpace and iMeem.

That makes perfect sense to David Dorn, senior vice president of new media at Warner Music's (WMG) Rhino Entertainment. Dorn has provided Yahoo Music with exclusive tracks and videos by so-called legacy bands like the Dead and Led Zeppelin.

He has prodded Yahoo to do more outreach to classic rock fans: "There's nothing wrong with the new Katy Perry single," Dorn said. "But there's a big audience there that has to be served."

Along with posting unearthed tracks and video, Spiegelman is also beefing up the editorial content devoted to classic rock on Yahoo Music. New partners include GetBack.com, a music-oriented web site targeted at people in their mid-thirties and older. GetBack is responsible for the much-discussed ten best bootlegs post.

Baby boomers rhapsodized about the choices of GetBack.com's David Skye. Meanwhile, younger music fans protested his failure to include more current hit makers such as rapper Lil' Wayne . But not all of the Yahoo users in this demographic were dissatisfied. "Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, they rock no matter what - and I am 11 yrs old," wrote one pre-teen classic rock fan.

"Where can I download these?" asked another.

Shawn Amos, director of content for GetBack.com, said that is just the kind of varied response he's looking for. "We are discovering a generational fault line that exists on Yahoo, and we've been trying to stir that up," he said.

Indeed, GetBack.com's writers have also blogged about what Miley Cyrus could learn from older female rockers like Pat Benatar and Chrissie H ynd e and cheekily noted the stylistic debt that younger bands like Radiohead and Coldplay owe to the graying members of U2.

Will Spiegelman reverse the slide at Yahoo Music with these changes? It's too soon to say. "They've had a checkered history when it comes to music," cautioned Mike McGuire, vice president of media research at research firm Gartner.

But McGuire said the changes at Yahoo Music "make sense." What's more, he said the music site still is still a force to be reckoned with because of its enormous audience.

Spiegelman is quick to note that the Yahoo Music redesign is just beginning. He said Yahoo will add more features early next year.

"They gave us a presentation a few months back," said Jesse Ervin, director of online marketing for EMI Music's catalogue, which includes the Beatles, the Beach Boys and The Band. "It looks exciting. We can change and update our artist pages, just like on MySpace and Facebook."

It's unlikely that Yahoo would have given record companies such access to the site a few years back. But that was when Yahoo Music was No. 1. Now, to paraphrase Lennon and McCartney, it needs a little help from its friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoki

First Verse:
산토끼 토끼야 어디를 가느냐
깡총깡총 뛰면서 어디를 가느냐
Second Verse:
산고개 고개를 나혼자 넘어서
토실토실 알밤을 주워서 올테야


This brings back many memories! :)

hey guys!
you have alot of reading to do!!!!! I just updated the blog with all my various thoughts.....
theres like 10 different stories...

go!

So, as far as any Peru related adventures, I will be posting here (click here)
random youtube videos and such i'll probably come back and post them here...
one more day and i'm off!!

Went to Google Analytics again to see what sort of random keywords people have used to eventually end up at my website.. here are some of the interesting ones: (oh and there were about a 100 searching for LAX parking)

dazzle border collie
kerry_brown4uall@yahoo.com
david john
mark rxx
pretty lizxxxx (my first name) gems
"i also have a reliable shipping company that have shipped a pet for me in the past and they are capable of handling the shipping."
"irredento urbanita"
"mark loves lamp"
"ross blanchard" 2008
anime nose
arm muscles hurt after allergy shot
dating frends in brasil
dream i was infected by worms
eat tilefish
eligarden before and after pictures
eligarden natural snail extract
george michael
how often has christmas and new years fallen on a tuesday or a thursday
how to deal with penguins smelly farts
i am the ghost christmas past
janelle is andys gf
jay leno
mediaeater
metro lyrics and gracenote
mullets
naked "our camp" "burning man"
orbinski
recipe roast penguin
steven hawkings
weird blurry blind spot
what does mean: we don't know for sure whether words save lives, but we know for sure that silence kills, said dr james orbinski
what eats a eastern redbud

Don't eat foie gras
and don't watch this video if you're squeemish...

Had an interesting burningman this year... it went super fast because I felt like I didn't quite unwind until Thursday, so it really only felt like I had a 4 day long burningman rather than 7... not surprisingly considering various factors (leaving to Peru, being on the emergency services mental health branch) it was a bit hard to let go of things on my mind... the last two years @ burningman it took me about 2 days to just totally shake off any sort of past/future worries and be absolutely in the present and just enjoy being out there... it was harder this year... (and for that reason I unfortunately think I won't be doing the emergency services stuff for at least a few more years).. on the other hand, I really liked being on the mh team... the people on the team are amazing and i just am awe-inspired by them... it fed my curiousity of what happens behind the scenes at burningman... i got to eat a yummy meal every day in an air-conditioned tent (huge luxury out there, especially considering i have a hard time eating when it's hot)... discussing various 'cases' and helping people out there was really neat... it's unfortunate that sexual assault and domestic violence occurs out there, but it's nice to be a part of helping people through it... so like i said, at the same time, it was hard to really 'let go' because of it.. and it's a real 'bummer' on your 'vacation' to be dealing with that sort of stuff.. i think in the slightly distant future i may be willing to take on such a responsibility and time commitment, but i think for the next few years i'm not ready..

so lets see... if you've read any news articles, you'd probably heard about the two huge sand storms that happened monday and saturday... monday's seems to be the worst i've ever experienced (though i've only gone two years prior).. the playa was not so great this year either with the sandiness... in the years past, we'd be zooming along the playa, i'd have a camera in one hand taking pictures as art cars drove by and we'd see tons of art installations.. this year they seemed to be not even 1/3rd of the art and you needed both hands to just keep from falling off your bike and to push through the sand ....it was literally biking through sand... the heat wasn't so bad (apparently because of the storms)... and the whole week was much easier to tolerate since having a/e's RV to get some relief from the weather

it's like visiting another country for a week :) i feel like it really re-sorts my life and priorities being out there somehow... not exactly sure what exactly it is that does that.. maybe the extreme whether.. being exposed to so many things that are not in 'real life'.. who knows... but whatever it is, i think that's what gets me going every year... well that and alot of other things...

here are some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frunkus/sets/72157607115386746/

There are people out there that are just born to travel... I'm not one of those people and it often feels like I'm about to live the life of one... I'm very excited and looking forward to the experience, but it is very much out of my comfort zone...

Apparently a few others have the same sort of anxiety as I do about traveling...

Though, strangely motivational, there's this one demotivational poster I saw a while back (can't seem to find it on a google search)... that says something like: If you can do something that thousands of other people have done, with available tools and resources, then you can do anything.... yeah, not everyone quits their stable nice-paying job with benefits and up and leaves the country.. but there are alot of people who have done it...

Cuzco, Peru, 11,000 feet

so i made a joke in spanish class last week and no one got it....
we were talking about kitchen stuff and food and it came to the topic of the knife and cutting and the teacher was like... so what do we cut?.. (and of course all of this is in spanish) and people are saying steak... tomatoes... . and i yelled out 'queso!'... and no one seemed to get it .. hah.. oh well

I've had a *GREAT* birthday weekend so far! It started out with going out to the Getty (well this wasn't officially part of my birthday, it was more the A/LizXXXX weekly gathering, but it was the start of my weekend)... from the folks we invited out, there was maybe 12 (more or less) of us picnic'ing and walking around looking at cool art. Then Saturday was off to Deep Creek Hot Springs for the start of "Britta/LizXXXX birthday weekend" where we had a FANTASTIC time.. my original expectation was that i was happy if it was at least britta, michael, brentt and I (I already knew A/E couldn't go)... but it turned out there was about 20 people in our group who drove out there and did the 25 min hike to frolic in the hot springs and probably about 10-15 in our group that camped out that night... it was so awesome cuz a friend brought out a telescope (a huge, high-tech sort of one).. and we saw nebuli, galaxies, jupiter/moons, stars... etc... quite amazing and what a treat! It was just so nice sleeping under the stars.... Sunday was then going to Woodley Park for another GreenSector park party.... it feels like a while since i've gone out dancing so this was loads of fun.
Today we went to Sushi-Zo for Omakase and i think that was the best sushi i've ever had in my life... everything was just so amazingly fresh and just melted in your mouth. I do wish I liked wasabi better... since almost every piece had some in it already, but it was superb nonetheless... and the whole omakase experience was really nice :)

Tomorrow I'm going down for dinner with my mom, brentt, A and E... we're going to go for korean food.. and then later that night I'm off to Technique @ Zanzibar (flyer is previously posted)... Can't get any better than DUBSTEP on my birthday... hurray!!

Next on the agenda... moontribe, moving, then burningman.

EARTHQUAKE!!

Strange tho cuz the map says Diamond Bar which is way far from the Westside where i am...

Night of my birthday:

This is my 2nd Monday unemployed... last week being my first week unemployed... I believe the last time I was unemployed was in high school at some point... although there were times, it was only part-time, i've been working since I could drive...
So quitting my job is quite a big deal... So I was expecting my first week of unemployment to be very surreal and empty... wondering what I would do to fill the hours... I thought I'd get bored or even freak out that I'm supposed to be doing something...

but not really at all...

I can't remember having this little stress in my life! AND IT"S AWESOME :)
Other than worrying about money (which i do when i'm employed anyway, so that's not different)... I'm pretty much enjoying having no deadlines.. no presentations... no alarm clock in the morning... not being restricted to "after 5pm"... no Monday morning stress... lunches at home.... PJs all day....

SO NICE :)

I had to look this up because I didn't think it was real.. but apparently Butte County High School's Mascot really is the Pirates...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butte_County_High_School

Yay!!

So I applied to be a volunteer for Burning Man's Emergency Service Department in the Mental Health Branch... just spoke with the coordinator and I'll be doing it this year! :) Basically to get an idea of what i'll be doing... here are the reports from services provided years back.....

The Mental Health Branch responded to 43 calls in 2007, which is a 30% increase over the total calls for service in 2006. The breakdown by case type includes 17 psychiatric clients, five domestic violence -related cases, 10 sexual assault cases and four 'Legal 2000' evaluations (to determine if there is a danger to self or to others as a result of a mental illness). Additionally there were seven other calls for evaluations or client follow-up. The Mental Health support team was deployed one time, in response to the suicide.

The Mental Health Branch responded to 33 calls in 2006, which is just one more than the total calls for service from the previous year. The breakdown by case type includes 17 psychiatric clients, 3 domestic-violence related cases, 4 sexual assault cases, 3 Legal 2000 evaluations (to determine if there is a danger to self or to others as a result of a mental illness). Additionally there were 6 other calls for evaluations or client follow-up. The Mental Health Support team was not needed for deployment to any critical incidents in 2006.

2005: The Mental Health Branch (MHB) consists of 17 highly trained and dedicated psychiatric and mental health professionals. The MHB responds to needs for psychiatric services on the playa, performs crisis intervention for sexual assault and domestic violence victims, and provides victim advocacy to local agencies, such as law enforcement and local hospitals. The Branch responded to a high number of critical incidents in 2003 by forming a separate team to perform several mental health support functions. This Mental Health Support team is designated to respond to any significant event in direct support of the on-duty MHB teams, much like many county mental health resources would respond to a school shooting or other tragic event.

All MHB team members carry pagers and are on call even when off-duty in case of a critical incident or unexpectedly high call volume. During duty shifts they work in pairs on a 24-hour on-call basis. During the peak of the event a minimum of two teams are available at all times to ensure service to participants who are in need.

For those of you out there still racking your brain to figure out a birthday gift for me.... :)

I've updated my wishlist with things I'll need for traveling..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/U1LQ2CEVCU4F


.......tho you're cuttin' it real close if you're getting something to be mailed....

I'm unemployed now!! With only 2 months to go till i'm out of the country :P

sooooo weird......

Killer Caterpillars

Had a horrible full fledged migraine today.. I've been prone to migraines for as long as i can remember, but i generally got away with the half-face skin pain + headache sort of deal and occasionally feeling a bit nauseous and taking tylenol and going on with my day feeling better...

well today, i woke up and *fortunately* i had already arranged for comp time this morning and wasn't due for work till 1pm... this was just totally coincidence and i did not plan it this way... so i wake up and turn on the TV (did i mention the cable got turned on recently, yay, heh)... and i start noticing.. woah, that chick's chin is melded into her neck.. how strange.. and then the next person goes on and i'm thinking what's wrong with their faces?? i blink and take a second look and realize i have a strange blur in my vision.. a mild headache had already started by this time... i take the next 5 minutes or so trying to think of why my eyes would be blurred.. it was sort of like when you stare at the sun or bright light and you have a blind spot for a while.. my blind spot was somewhat blurry and somewhat like colorful blocks on a channel on TV that isn't in service... after about 20 minutes or so, i thought it went away, but actually it moved further up in my vision... (it was right smack in the middle at first, and it moved to the top)... which seemed better... except that it started to cover a larger area... and i started to get really nauseous.... and the actual head-ache was getting worse... i didn't really have a choice to not go into work today because they had my going away party planned.. .. .as i stepped outside i was quite blinded by the light.. and i just figured.. ok i'm gonna need to work around this blurriness and drive 7 miles to work.. fortunately the drive was unremarkable and i was in the parking lot in no time.. walking through the hospital was interesting because it was taking me a least a minute to recognize people and i must have looked weird as i was squinting through the hallways (no squinty asian eye jokes!)..

oh.. and by this time i already had some aspirin and an iced tea to see if either would help the migraine and they didn't... i asked one of the doctors and he gave me a tylenol.. which helped a bit, but i was still very out of it... which was unfortunate because i wanted to be totally alert and present during the going away party of mine.

incidentally that went off really nicely. my coworker put it on and it was really pretty and thoughtful with beautiful flowers and yummy food... i was really happy with so many people stopping by and saying such nice things (though it gets me really embarrassed when its in front of everyone!)... anyway, it's nice to feel appreciated...

tonight i rest and hopefully tomorrow my migraine will be gone.

dammit, i was thinking about something in the car that i wanted to blog about and now i forgot. lame

oh wait.. so maybe i should mention that my last day of work is July 18th!!!!!!!!!!

This still gives me that curious feeling

Ok, I totally think brentt looks like this guy... no??

i just got a call on my government cellphone from this car warranty fraud company!!! shity thing is, my boss called at the same time and i need to answer it and hang up on the fraud company :(

I was totally gonna be like, this is a goverment agency you called and this is a federal offense, this call is being recorded and you will be investigated... or something.. hah...
oh well :( hopefully they'll call again...

My friend is FAMOUS! :)

"It made sense to refocus our energy."

AND in this wired article, he's in the 6th picture down ...

and more!!!... oh lame.. that one you need a subscription:
LYRICS SITES: WHAT'S MY LINE?
July 05, 2008
Authorized Lyrics Sites Struggle To Grow
ANTONY BRUNO
More than a year after the introduction of lyric licensing programs, several online music services that implemented them are reporting mixed feelings about their results.
On one hand, there's a great demand among music fans for accurate lyrics. According to Internet research firm Hitwise, music lyrics in June ranked as the 31st most searched-for topic on U.S. search engines. That's rather high, considering all the subjects one could possibly search for on the Web.
The problem is that not enough of those searches are leading fans to authorized lyrics sources, provided by companies like Gracenote and LyricFind—which struck all the necessary agreements with publishes in order to outsource their catalog to others.
"We've had what we call modest success," says Michael Spiegleman, senior director of Yahoo Music, the first company to adopt Gracenote's lyrics content more than a year ago. "It provides a fairly decent level of traffic, but it didn't take off quite to the extent that we originally projected."
So-called "rogue" lyrics sites—which display song lyrics without any permission from, or payment to, the publishers that hold the copyrights—still dominate the field. Because they've been around longer, they rank higher in Internet search results and therefore benefit from the majority of traffic.
"The fact is, we don't rank that highly," says Howie Fung, senior product manager for Rhapsody.com, which licenses the LyricFind service. "There are so many illegal sites out there that it's kind of tough to break through the rankings, so that hasn't worked out as well as we would have liked."
In fact, fewer fans are visiting music services after searching for lyrics online. According to Hitwise, traffic to music services as a result of a lyrics search fell from 79% in 2006 to 68% last year, while the same traffic to social networking services rose from 5% to 9%.
As a result, authorized lyrics providers would like publishers to put more pressure on rogue sites so the playing field can be leveled.
"They would be helping themselves by putting a little bit more focus on that area," Gracenote VP of business development Ross Blanchard says. "That would benefit the entire ecosystem."
According to the National Music Publishers' Assn., the organization has sent cease-and-desist notices to more than 50 unauthorized lyrics sites, but at this time doesn't have any plans for more aggressive legal action. Of those, 12 have shut down and 32 have removed at least some material. Only one, MetroLyrics, has converted to a fully authorized site by joining the Gracenote program this February.
And in line with the current better-to-ask-for-forgiveness-than-permission business model that seems to be the raison d'etre in the digital music biz, MetroLyrics has thrived as a result. Its years operating as an unauthorized service gives it the history needed to rank high in any lyrics search results, and its newfound respectability has attracted new advertisers. According to CEO Alan Juristoviski, the company's advertising CPMs have doubled since December, and traffic has grown from 14 million monthly visitors to 22 million.
But gaining the attention of potential new customers through search engine results was only half the reason services like Yahoo Music and Rhapsody incorporated lyrics. They also want to enhance the music experience for users, but find lyrics a difficult and expensive way to do so.
Today, lyrics are limited to a "search by" option—where users can find a given song in a service's catalog by typing in a few lines in the event they don't know the name of the artist or track. But digital retailers ultimately want to let users access lyrics while streaming a song without having to open a separate browser window, or even include lyrics in the metadata of a digital download so fans can read them on their MP3 player.
The current lyrics licensing scheme Gracenote offers allows users to only view lyrics, not cut and paste them into savable formats. Incorporating rights to stream or download lyrics would carry additional licensing costs and require the development time needed to implement it.
"Unfortunately, that's how the licensing works," Spiegleman says. "There would be additional, very high costs involved."
So do retailers then raise the price of all downloads? Let users choose between lyrics-enabled tracks at a higher price? Increase subscription fees in return for more interactivity?
Gracenote senior VP of sales and marketing Jim Hollingsworth says such capabilities represent phase two of Gracenote's lyrics program, but he didn't provide a timeline for when that may roll out. He acknowledges the pricing challenges, but says absorbing such costs rather than passing them on to customers would pay dividends in terms of customer acquisition and retention.
"Adding to the cost model in a very margin-thin environment is difficult," he says, "but a better experience draws more people in."
But that message may prove a tough sell to services already disappointed in the results of phase one.

I have skype now.... if you wanna talk to me while i'm in peru, i suggest you get skype! Computer to computer is free. I'm not planning to make many international cell phone calls. I'm on there as elatedpenguin.

NEW FINES START JULY 1,ca
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008.......... BE CAREFUL
*NEW FINES START JULY 1, 2008.......... BE CAREFUL
1. Carpool lane --- 1st time $1068.50 starting 7/1/08 (The $271 posted
on the highway is out-dated)
Don't do it again because 2nd time is going to be double. 3rd
time triple, and 4th time license suspended.
2. Incorrect lane change --- $380. Don't cross the lane on solid lines
or at intersections.
3. Block intersection --- $485
4. Driving on the shoulder --- $450
5. Cell phone use in the construction zone. --- Double fine (2 times
$285) as of 07/01/08.
AND all Cell phones must be 'hands free' while driving.
6. Passengers over 18 not in their seatbelts ---- both passengers and
drivers get tickets
7. Speeders --- allowance only drive 3 miles above the limit.
8. DUI = JAIL (Stays on your driving record for 10 years!)
9. As of 07/01/08 cell phone use must be 'hands free' while driving.
Fine is $285.
They will be watching closely --- easy money for police department.

Went camping all last week and had an aweeeeeeeesome time. We were up near Owens River about an hour from Mammoth (where we also went on Friday/Saturday after a week of camping). The campgrounds has a small stream running through it and we had an awesome spot right under some trees with a shade structure that someone graciously offered to us (and helped to set up). It was just a great week with great people and great music.

You can check out a few pictures on my flickr link on the left.

I'm not a fan of fast food, but i am a fan of free stuff....
http://www.jackinthebox.com/twofreetacosday/

Neat

I recommend going to the Museum of Jurrasic Technology. We went there on Sunday and spent about 3 hours or so just walking around, having tea/cookies, and watching the interesting movie clips there... I can't really describe what's there, you just have to go see it. You won't be disappointed. Come with friends so you can discuss the exhibits.

On Saturday, saw Jay Leno drive by on his little buggie at Franklin Canyon Park. He honked at us and I gave him a confused "you look familiar" look... Also at the park we saw turtles, ducks, a coyote, frogs, and koi. It's a really nice 'escape' thats just in Beverly Hills (hard to believe)....

So I am doing alot better, some minor sinus problems and sensitivity on the left side of my face, but no other symptoms.. I've been exercising and back in "normal life" mode... :)

Going camping next week! Tues-Friday on VACATION!

5 . Fevers and feeling sick after specific vaccines:
Yellow fever vaccine may cause headaches, a slight fever, muscle aches and tiredness in about 5% of persons, starting 3-7 days after vaccination.

Reactions to yellow fever vaccine are generally mild. Vaccine recipients have reported mild headaches, myalgia, low-grade fevers, or other minor symptoms that may begin within days after vaccination and last 5-10 days.

Still feeling very exhausted for some reason. Phlegmy too... Nose keeps bleeding...

had my toenail surgery today..
was tempted to record it, but i thought that would be too much..

so for those who want to see what sort of surgery it is, there's plenty of them on youtube.
like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byp7Dx04RoE

Cute:

When Should I See a Doctor For A Sore Throat?
Whenever a sore throat is severe, persists longer than the usual five- to seven- day duration of a cold or flu, and is not associated with an avoidable allergy or irritation, you should seek medical attention. The following signs and symptoms should alert you to see your physician:

Severe and prolonged sore throat
Difficulty breathing
Difficulty swallowing
Difficulty opening the mouth
Joint pain
Earache
Rash
Fever (over 101°)
Blood in saliva or phlegm
Frequently recurring sore throat
Lump in neck
Hoarseness lasting over two weeks

My right ankle is made out of jelly apparently... I just fell on level ground (i.e. nothing there to trip on, just my own feet) the same way i did 2 weeks ago, reopening the same wound that was almost completely healed.

i'm also heatin' up with a nasty sore throat and post nasal drip..

Ugh i'm feeling really shitty today

GURNING/ˈɡɜːnɪŋ/
The pulling of grotesque faces.

This British term — much better known in Britain and Commonwealth countries than in the US — has at times been applied to the pulling of faces as a competitive activity. A surviving example is that in the Lake District, where the Egremont Crab-Apple Fair has an annual contest, which they call the World Championship Gurning Competition and which they say dates back to 1266. There is also an Australian national competition that I know of, and there may be others, too.

At one time, such face-pulling contests were a common entertainment at fairs and gatherings around Britain (before the days of radio and television you had to get your fun where you could). The rules at Egremont are simple: competitors put their heads through a horse collar and then have a set time in which to contort their faces into the most gruesome, scary or daft expressions possible. False teeth may be left in or taken out, or even turned upside down if desired. The winner is the person who gets the most audience applause.

The word seems to have been originally Scottish, in the form girn, which — appropriately enough — may have been a contorted form of grin. It has had several meanings, of which the oldest — from medieval times — is still current in Scots and Irish dialect, and which is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as: “to show the teeth in rage, pain, disappointment, etc; to snarl as a dog; to complain persistently; to be fretful or peevish”. These days only the losers in the World Championship Gurning Competition do much of that.

had several nightmares last night... one involved being in a room and there were these human sized monsters and they were making this "nyeah nyeah" sound and coming at me with claw hands.. it woke me out of my sleep.. and then i had a dream where i was working in a building for a good month and the management tell us there was asbestos in and on everything in the building... and then i had an anxiety dream that i was lost on the first floor of the hospital i work at (strangely there was a shopping mall).. and was totally late for a *really* important meeting (which I really did have a *very important* meeting today, that i wasn't late for)...

I'm attributing these extra nightmares/anxiety to:
1. floating/increasing anxiety about leaving the country
2. stress at work (lots of demands, high profile position, etc etc)
3. haven't been able to exercise due to recovering from vaccination
4. vaccinations and other strange body things
5. recent car accident (minor, but inconvenient and had to return the car today due to a problem with dashboard lights)
6. other things that bother, but i won't mention...

i'm vaccinated. Refer to travel blog for more info :)

interesting:

Got an ant farm today! I'm really excited :)



oh, and i got in a car accident... i, nor brentt, nor the other driver was hurt...
just an inconvenience, extra stress, and i need to save more money to make up for the costs... one less thousand to have for traveling...