Okay, I have a WEIRD memory that pops up every so often, about something I know I saw once in TV. Maybe someone can help identify it? I hope I haven't talked about this before, because it sounds like I've said this before. If I have, please tell me. ^_^;;;

( Stuff and beans? )

Anyone have any ideas?

Felt like making a quick post before I really should go to sleep.

Finalyl started reading another one of Jane Lindskold's novels, "Child of a Rainless Year." I'm only about 1/4 of the way through, but I can recognize her writing style somehow. It's first person again, like the previous novel of hers that I read, "Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls" (by the way, Besu, you can keep that book ^_^ ). It's a lot bigger, though, on par with the size of her Wolf's series novels.

"Child" is set in modern times, in New Mexico. One thing I've noticed is that she tends to put a lot of "filler." Like this one scene in which the main character, Mira, is driving her truck and she has to ask the house caretaker where the garage is. I know it makes sense in the overall story -- Mira doesn't know her way around the place, after all, so it's only natural she'd ask for directions -- but at the same time, it seemed unnecessary. I feel like Lindskold could have easily summarized the scene rather than having full dialogue and action.

The Wolf's series (which was in third person) seemed to have far less extraneous exposition. Even when she would describe things like semi-everyday life, the storytelling seemed to flow much better.

One impression that I'm getting about "Child" is that it's very sad. Mira's life isn't exactly sad, her childhood was overall quite happy after a certain point. There's a theme of something missing in your life, like how something was missing from Mira's adopted mother's life, how something was missing from Mira's life when her real mother disappeared, and how she's feeling it now that she's returned to her real childhood home. The story talks a lot about the past, about things that happened in the past. And now, in many ways, Mira is returning to the past, trying to find something, to find whatever has been missing all this time, and possibly trying to solve her mother's disappearance. All that, I think, is making me melancholy. It reminds me of myself, and I think that's probably what's caught my attention.

I'm hoping the ending doesn't disappoint me like "Brother" did.

So Ryusen shows me one of those videos that's apparently quite a trend online, of taking that infamous "Hitler goes insane" scene from "Downfall" and putting your own dumb subtitles on it. So he shows me one making fun of the iPhone 4's antenna problems. I turn up the volume and I hear this really nice, somber piano music playing along with the scene. And I thought, wow, man, you know, dumb subtitles aside, this is a pretty powerful scene, especially since the music heightens the dramatic tension.

The video ends and the music keeps playing. I close the tab, the music is still there. I'm thinking that I accidentally left the video playing in another tab because I had clicked on the link twice, so I switch to that tab and close it. Music's still playing. Then I think to myself, hey waitaminute... I have a suspicion I know what it is, so I navigate to another tab. And indeed it is. The music that was actually playing was background music on Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII site!

I had to crack up. That was just so funny, how the music seemed so apt for that scene. Hehehe...I've been spoiled on it now.

Okay, sleep.

Was about to write but then fatigue suddenly took over REALLY fast. Must be fallout from recent events. Plus I gotta scrounge up something more substantial to eat than just cereal.

Hey Xoth, can you identify all the works of art in here? ^_~

"70 Million" by Hold Your Horses, official video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erbd9cZpxps

I have absolutely no idea what the song is trying to say. ^_~

As I type this, it's about 3 hours until the expected first tsunami wave hits (about 11 am Hawaii time). We're not in an inundation zone, so we're hunkering down with water and such. Will update later.

In Case 5 in the Miles Edgeworth Investigations game. New sidekick here is Kay Faraday, 17. So Miles and Kay are investigating a burned room:

Miles: It's the charred remains of a ceiling fan.

Kay: Oh! I've seen a few of these before! They spin around and around, and play music!

Miles: ...I believe you're thinking of a musical mobile for babies.

Kay: Yes, that's it!

Miles: But they're nothing alike.

Kay: they're totally alike! They spin those babies right round, like a record!

.....Please don't tell me they're going to use Dead Or Alive songs in this game now. ^_~

...Read this blog. It's a transcript of an English guy's mumblings when he's asleep. It's one of the most hilarious things I've ever read because it's so nonsensical. Other times he comes up with some pretty darn good witticisms. Be warned, it has a lot of swearing:

http://www.sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com

Some thoughts while I was reading yesterday's paper at breakfast today (couldn't find it yesterday so I'm catching up):

- So Maui has banned all plastic bags from store registers and activists are urging Oahu to do the same. What do you MEAN, "one-use bags"? What are the pet owners gonna shove their animal's wastes in? What am I going to use to bag up horrendous-smelling trash? (And no, tall kitchen bags do not count.) What am I going to use to line my rubbish bins with? (Ditto previous note. We have several smaller trash bins.)

The move is toward so-called "reusable" bags like those totes that grocery stores sell. Anyone ever thought about how much more water we'll all use if we switch to reusable, washable items? Bags like that, you can't just throw in your dishwasher or washing machine to take advantage of your current water use. No, you're very likely going to have to use running water in the sink or garden hose or bathtub to get those things clean. I suppose you could try sponging them off, but in all my experience, a sponge-down just doesn't get it as clean as a thorough wash.

Not that I'm NOT advocating the use of reusable bags. But a complete ban on "one-use" plastic baggies is also unreasonable. I'd rather go with Kauai's ban on non-biodegradable bags, although THAT will also bring up the question of what to make such bags out of. Corn is already a highly precious commodity -- and corn itself takes a lot of resources to grow -- so corn-based biodegradable items are getting to be less economical in more ways than one.

- Our state is an IDIOT. 'Nuff said. >=/

Now back to what I was supposed to be doing today.

So we're talking video games and I realized that I actually have a lot of games that I gave up on at the final dungeon or final boss.

- Dragon Warrior 2: The last castle is surrounded by mountains, with just a sliver open for you to pass through. And, of course, the town that you start from is located on the FARTHEST possible side away from that passage. Trying to get to that damn castle, fighting through all those random battles, was so perilous that I gave up after about the 4th time I had to return to town.

- Lunar: Silver Star Story: I didn't realize that the dragon was going to TOTALLY ABANDON my party at the last castle. And I guess my party hadn't leveled up enough. But even with that, SSS is the kind of game in which the enemies level along with you, so I don't know if it would have made a difference in the end. After I was close to death in the last castle, I gave up.

- Legend of Zelda 2: I never did manage to find my way through the final level. I went around in circles for the longest time before finally giving up.

- Zelda Oracle of Ages: TWO FULL LIFE BARS, including the ONE heal potion that I'm allowed, and I can't defeat the last boss. I took her on three times to no avail. I think I'm too impulsive and don't move carefully enough. I was on the verge of defeating her the last time I played before I got too careless. So I haven't COMPLETELY given up, but I am taking a very long hiatus.

- Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: That stupid card battle system is just NOT my strong point. I don't know how far I'm actually at from the end, but I was dying over and over again on the 10th floor by the time I gave up.

Well, I'm tired. Food calls.

From a product email I got:

Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner
Cleans your shower with the daily touch of a button.
The dual sprayer spins 360 degrees, cleaning all four walls of your shower.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't showers usually have only 3 walls? 'Cause the last one is normally the curtain or the door. Well, if you have an actual door, then yeah, it might be helpful...and I suppose if you wanted to spray your curtain... I just hope that it allows you time to close the "fourth wall" and get out of way...

No thanks to Ryusen!

Oh yeah, there's a huge image under the cut so might want to be careful. Lemme tool around with the dimensions a bit...

( 'Pick one at random.' Hehehehehe. Hehehehehehehehehehe... )

Ow...stomach...and sides...hurt...from laughing...too much...

Meanwhile, Layton is SUPPOSED to be out today. I REALLY hope there's a store on the island that'll have it in stock before I go to work....Hahahaha yeah right.

I DETEST VERMIN IN MY HOUSE!
( DAMN YOU )
In case you can't see what exactly is in my wonderfully blurry picture (didn't put it on macro setting), THAT IS A &^$#&&*)&* MOUSE. AGAIN. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we have rodents every so often, but every time we get rid of them I'm happy until THE NEXT ONE SHOWS ITS BEADY LITTLE EYES. this time, I actually saw it scamper from the dining room into the living room, where I semi-trapped it in the space between a tissue box and the wall, but hell if that thing stayed there long enough for me to grab the crab net and TRAP THE DAMN THING.

Now I gotta buy glue traps. And the hell of is it that I don't even know where the thing's pathway is. And based on previous experience, mice have made their nests in various parts of our house so lord knows where THIS one put its nest.

And this is one reason why I advocate minimalist furnishings. Fewer things for rodents to hide under/behind/between/in.

Got this from a coworker. I especially cracked up at the Maruchan Ramen part because of the combo of the image and what was being said at the time. You'll see it ^_~ :

http://bit.ly/DZvsB

I'm clearing out old work emails and I come upon one talking about some company's campaign to support Dress For Success, which is a program that collects donations of new or gently used work attire to give to needy women. I deleted the email already so I can't remember what exactly I was reading, but I did click on the link for the campaign's website.

...Okay, I'm really dang tired so I'll skip the embellishments. Turns out that the company sponsoring this campaign is Allergan. And in order to have Allergan donate $2 on your behalf to Dress for Success....you have to enroll in the Botox Cosmetic Benefits Program. Good for the first 25,000 people who sign up.

WTF?

Okay, I'll grant that companies who run campaigns like this want something in return. But hell if I'm going to sign up for a Botox program.

After doing a song meme, I started browsing through that site that had all the Monkees song lyrics and going to random songs. And man, I gotta get me all the Monkees' songs.

Daddy's Song
By The Monkees
Sung by Davy Jones

Years ago I knew a man
He was my mother's biggest fan
We used to walk beside the sea
And he'd tell me how life would be
When I grew up to be a man

Years ago we used to play
He used to laugh when I ran away
But when I fell and hurt my knee
He would run to comfort me
And the pain would go away

Years ago I knew a boy
He was his daddy's pride and joy
But when the daddy went away
It was such a rainy day
That he brought out all his toys

Now the mama did explain
Trying to take away the pain
But he just couldn't understand
That his father was not a man
And it all was just a game

The years have passed and so have I
Making it hard for me to cry
And if and when I have a son
Let it all be said and done
Let the sadness pass him by

One of the more recent comments that got flagged went something like "why don't you pick up a book and learn to be part of the human race!" These people crack me up. You know, aside from the fact that they're being so mean as $h!t because they really have nothing better to do.

If you're wondering why I have my "happy" icon, it's 'cause things are getting messed up all over the place that's it's just funny now instead of stressful. Plus I just realized that I overwrote a file that I had made changes to and now I gotta figure out what I did and restore things. Plus I'm really tired and sleepy and out of it. Hahahaha. I'm almost forgetting I'm working tonight. Man I can't wait for that extra day off tomorrow.

This popped into my head all of sudden a few days ago on tangent with certain other things I was thinking about. The first line is exactly appropriate. ^_~ Celine Dion's funny. Several songs of hers apply to very opposite situations.

Nothing Broken But My Heart
Celine Dion

I've been over you for some time now, baby
I don't miss your kiss like before now now
Anymore now
If you ask me how I'm doing, I'm fine
All I needed was a little time

So if you think that I still need you baby
I really don't know why

Oh baby, since you left me
You might think that my world's been torn apart
But if you see me
Baby, you'll see that nothing's broken
Nothing is broken but my heart

You won't find no tears in my eyes now, baby
If you think I'm sad that you're gone now
Then you're wrong now
If you ask, I'll say I'm happy I'm free
Tell you that's the way I wanna be

And all those nights we shared together, baby
Well, they don't mean a thing

Oh baby, since you left me
You might think that my world's been torn apart
But if you see me
Baby, you'll see that nothing's broken
Nothing is broken but my heart

So if you think that I still need you baby
I don't think about you
I'm happy now without you, oh

Baby, since you left me
You might think that my world's been torn apart
But if you see me
Baby, you'll see that nothing's broken
Nothing is broken but my heart

Baby, since you left me
You might think that my world's been torn apart
But if you see me
Baby, you'll see that nothing's broken
Nothing is broken but my heart

You might think, you might think my world's been torn apart
Ooh baby
Nothing's broken
Nothing is broken but my heart
Nothing is broken but my heart

Realized that this song could apply to me in a somewhat different matter than was presented in the movie. Especially the first few verses.

Journey to the Past
From "Anastasia"

Heart, don't fail me now
Courage, don't desert me
Don't turn back now that we're here

People always say life is full of choices
No one ever mentions fear
Or how the world can seem so vast
On a journey to the past

Somewhere down this road
I know someone's waiting
Years of dreams just can't be wrong

Arms will open wide
I'll be safe and wanted
Finally home, where I belong

Well, starting now I'm learning fast
On this journey to the past

Home, love, family
There was once a time I must have had them too
Home, love, family
I will never be complete until I find you

One step at a time
One hope, then another
Who knows where this road may go

Back to who I was
On to find my future
Things my heart still needs to know

Yes, let this be a sign
Let this road be mine
Let it lead me to my past
And bring me home at last

So after about only, what, 10 years, I finally made my first friends-chosen recipe: Zucchini Salad with Tomatoes and Basil Vinaigrette. Pictures and ramblings!

( Fooood. )

The verdict? I'm not sure I like the vinaigrette. It was too, well, vinegary. Yes, I know, obviously. Very sour and no sweetness. I could've sworn I've tasted vinaigrettes that weren't so acidic and had a tad more sweetness to them, but maybe I'm just dreaming. I do like steamed veggies though, so I'll have to remember to use that method of cooking more often.

And delayed fitness report! I've been going on the treadmill regularly. Went up to 4 days a week last week and added in some jogging intervals. Today, I did my first cardio interval workout in a series that's meant to increase my stamina. I managed to do 3 partial intervials. But at the end, the usual curse of my left foot struck: I started getting blisters (already!) on the usual toes. This really annoys me. I hope it heals up by Wednesday.

I have yet to look at this more carefully, but it's just darn cool hehe.

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/the_periodic_and_final_fantastic_table_of_elements.php

The instant you see what I mean, you might want to close the window.

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/wp-content/gallery/misc-images-xvii/skygirl-dakimakura-raep-guide-mit-melonpan-4.jpg

Courtesy of Jlist's Twitter feed. Yeah.

Maintained 30 mins on Wednesday and Friday. On Friday, I bumped my speed up a tad to 3.1 mph and my feet felt fine, for the most part. Had some strange pain in the ankle area of my left foot, which has always been a little iffy ever since I sprained it years ago. I guess I'm aggravating something.

I think I'll keep my speed at 3.1 because next week is when I add an extra day to my workout week. I think I'll also weigh in next week, although I don't expect to have lost anything...I haven't been very good with dietary restrictions, heh. Let's see how things go ^_^

Went up to 30 minutes on my treadmill today. Plus got extra cardio by lifting and hauling boxes yesterday and today. And I'm STILL not done with that, heh.

Starting next week, I think I'll increase my cardio to 4 times a week. That does mean working out two days in a row. I'll see how my body handles it after the first time and take things from there.

I am ashamed to say that only now did it occur to me to ask: If you wish that I do NOT toss Little Honking Camel(tm) confetti at special occasions as I usually do, please let me know in this post (comments are being screened). I understand and won't be offended and apologize for past behavior if I've done so before. If you don't understand what all this is about, don't worry.