Is Anybody There?

Dear Cyberspace,
   I am going to start blogging again.  But, I haven't decided whether to continue using this blog or to start from scratch.  So...I thought I would shout out, "hello world!" and see if I still get comments here.  =)  Feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Good To Be Back

After three weeks traveling around Australia and New Zealand...I'm pooped. I love traveling, but I don't know how people can travel for months/years without heading back home to recuperate. Perhaps it would have been less strenuous if I had spent the time laying on a beach, but I wanted to see as much as I could in a short span of time.

Both countries were lovely places to visit and I hope I return someday...especially since I didn't get to see the Great Barrier Reef or the South Island of New Zealand.

I'll post some pictures in the next few days, but for now I'm just going to deal with jet lag and try to clean up the house before a couple friends show up tomorrow for USC's homecoming weekend. Fun times. =)

Maneuvering Around Oz

I have a few minutes before heading out for the day, so I thought I'd throw out a quick update.

I arrived in Melbourne, along with my mom, last Friday morning and have been touring parts of Victoria and South Australia for the past week.

After walking around Melbourne's City Centre and environs for a few days, I rented a car and drove the Great Ocean Road. If you're ever in the area, it's a beautiful drive...especially around the Twelve Apostles region around Port Campbell.

Since we were already halfway to Adelaide by the end of the Great Ocean Road...we kept on going. We spent the night in the small coastal town of Robe. I thought it was really pretty and wouldn't have minded if we spent more time there. Alas...we had to trudge along, so that we could catch our flight to Kangaroo Island.

While we were on the island, we took a guided tour to check out some of the cute fairy penguins that live along the coast of Penneshaw. I also managed to drive around the whole entire thing...heading to Seal Bay, the Koala Walk and Flinders National Park to view Admiral's Arch and the Remarkable Rocks. I'll try to post pictures as soon as I can. ;) (Oh...and we didn't see any wild kangaroos while we were on the island...but then again...I made it a habit not to drive between dusk and dawn.)

Now we're back in Adelaide to see the city sights before heading over to New South Wales...I'll see if I can check back again later (and maybe add some links). =)

Quarter System

Apparently, I tend to update this blog on a quarterly basis.  For those of you still keeping tabs on me (via rss feeds or bookmarks), in a nutshell…here’s what I’ve been up to the last quarter:

Mid June – I took my bi-annual trip to NYC, for the purpose of seeing six shows in four days.  Ah…theatre bliss…  =)

Late June to Mid July – I headed to Southeast Asia.  I spent most of my time in Thailand, but did manage a couple days in Malaysia and a couple days in Singapore…oh…and about an hour and a half in Indonesia.  ;)

Late July – Spent a few days in Albuquerque for my sorority’s annual convention.  I did also manage to head to Old Town and the Turquoise Trail, which was all pretty cool.

Mid August – I spent a long weekend in Northern California to visit with a friend.  Of course, I managed to take in a show…and eat…a lot.

So…here I am, back at my desk…ready to stay put.  At least…for a few more days.  ;)

Done Playing Hooky

So...it's been quite a while since I ventured on to this blog. I've been distracted by the likes of facebook and twitter - where's it's much easier to send a one-line message than write out a substantial post.

While I'm still going to be facebooking/tweeting/twittering (whatever monikers you prefer)...I will also chronicle more events going on in my life. I have a good feeling about some potential collaborations coming down the pike...and I have some trips set up for the remainder of 2009.

Let's hope this will be as exciting for you as it is for me. ;)

Just Call Me Jack...

You know the phrase...jack of all trades, master of none.

Well...I hope the latter is not the case, but lately...I find myself picking up new hobbies.

This past Fall, I decided to take a jewelry class at the local community college. I've managed to make 2 pair of earrings, 1 copper bracelet (which I can't really wear, unless I wanted a green wrist), a silver ring and a pendant. I'm now in my second semester of the course...stuck on a filed ring that doesn't seem to want to take shape. I have class later tonight...so let's hope the continued filing doesn't drive me mad for another session. ;)

In addition to the jewelry...it seems I've picked up crocheting. Last month, I went to a friend's baby shower...and at one point, crochet hooks and balls of yarn were passed about. I learned how to crochet a single stitch...and there's been no going back ever since.

I'll try to post some pictures of my "crafty" escapades later this week. For now...I need to get back to writing some lyrics...

Yay Troy!

For the second time in the past four years, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy. Soon...USC football alum, Troy Polamalu, will be sporting a new championship ring. But win or lose...he still pulled off one of the better commercials of the super bowl:


For those of you who aren't aware of what makes this commercial so great...here is the 1979 commercial it was based on:


Congrats, Troy. You rock! =)

Gift It Forward

I saw a post on one of my friend's blogs. I'm not sure if I made her cut, but I thought I'd extend the offer to any blog readers that I have left. Here's the same post verbatim:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be wood. Possibly metal. Perhaps a picture. Or I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well. We all can make stuff.

Let me know if you're interested! =)

The Awesomeness That Is "LOST"

Image via WikipediaBarring a few episodes from season 3, Lost continues to be a riveting show. I forgot how frustrating it gets to have to wait a whole week for a new episode though.

I'm so excited that the new season FINALLY started and can't wait until next week. Yay!

Here, There and Everywhere (Well...Mostly California)

After much deliberation (again), I finally settled on 10 Places To Visit. Of course...half of this list is different from what I originally had, before my computer decided to reboot itself. Ah well...

Channel Islands
The Cloisters
Descanso Gardens
Joshua Tree
Long Beach Museum of Art
MOCA
Museum of Tolerance
Redwood National and State Parks
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary

List? What List?

So it's now seven days into the new year...and still no 101 in 1001 list. What happened?

I fell victim to the generic problem with computers. My computer decided to reboot without provocation...and I hadn't saved what I was working on. In this case...it was the remainder of my 101 list. Shame on me for filling out my list in a text pad application instead on something with an auto-save or auto-restore feature.

While I try to remember most of my entries, here's what I think I had for my 10 cities to visit:

Birmingham, Alabama
Charleston, South Carolina
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
London, England
New Orleans, Louisiana
Paris, France
Sydney, Australia
Taos, New Mexico
Temecula, California
Yuba City, California

Mmm...

Well...I had hoped to fill out even more items on my list by now. But, I guess I'll have to come up with the other 51 things by tomorrow. At least I have the list of foods and restaurants squared away:

10 Foods/Restaurants To Try

41. Basta Pasta
42. Canter's Deli
43. Chomp
44. Father's Office
45. Five Guys
46. The Gypsy Den Cafe
47. Mashti Malone's Ice Cream
48. Philippe's
49. terducken
50. Three Drunken Goats

Where I Stand...

Okay...I really do want to get started on my 101 (tasks) in 1001 (days) list...and I'm really making January 1 the hard deadline to start this thing. But, not including today...that leaves 3 days to fill out my list. This is what I have from my previous posts...

10 Things To Organize

1. CDs - catalog, import them to an external hard drive and store them in one place
2. DVDs - catalog and store in one place
3. VHS Tapes - throw out the warped tapes and digitize any personal videos
4. Budget - go through old receipts and figure out my spending habits
5. Closet - toss or donate old clothes
6. Digital Photos - find them all and store them in one place
7. Printed Photos and Negatives - digitize and store in one place
8. Theatre Window Cards - find them, store them in one place and start hanging them up
9. Magnets - find all the magnets I've collected in my travels and trips to the theatre and display them in one place
10. Garage - clean out the garage

10 Things To Photograph

11. 100 strangers
12. hummingbird
13. rainbow
14. meteor shower
15. lady bug
16. a pretty good self portrait
17. a cool underwater shot
18. a nifty looking tattoo
19. autumn landscape/tree scape
20. puppy

10 Movies To Watch

21. Citizen Kane
22. Lawrence Of Arabia
23. Vertigo
24. A Star Is Born
25. All That Jazz
26. Moulin Rouge
27. 2001: A Space Odyssey
28. Ben-Hur
29. Grey Gardens
30. Our Town

10 Books To Read

31. The Bible (in chronological order)
32. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
33. The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
34. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
35. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
36. North and South by John Jakes
37. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
38. Silas Marner by George Eliot
39. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein by Frederick Nolan
40. Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur

So that means I have 3 days to come up with 61 more things. No problem! ;) But...if you happen to read this blog in the next 3 days...I could sure use some help filling out the list. Here's what I anticipate the rest of the categories to be:

10 Cities To Visit
10 Foods/Restaurants To Try
10 Festivals/Events To Attend
10 Places To Visit (museums, botanical gardens, etc.)
10 Things To Make
10 Things To Try - I haven't thought this last one through...so I may change it to something like "10 Miscellaneous Things" that don't fit in a previous category.

Wish me luck! =)

Mele Kalikimaka

I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a great day celebrating Christ's birth and spending time with family! =)

Home Sweet Home

After a week and a half in Hawaii...I finally made it back home. I know there's no snow storms or anything of the like to complain about, but it is much cooler here in SoCal than when I departed. When the shuttle driver drove us home from the airport, he even pointed out the frost on the roofs of the houses in our neighborhood. Brrr...

And now begins the task of catching up on mail, emails, lyrics, posting pictures and running random errands...especially before Christmas. I'm tired just thinking about it. ;) Ah well...better get cracking...

North, South, East, West

Well...I headed East for a weekend in November and promptly neglected my blog. Now, I'm West of home (in Hawaii) and trying to start it back up again. Aside from lack of internet the next few days, I'm trying to keep up with writing. I'm also trying to fill up my 101 tasks before the end of the year, so that I can start on the list by January 1st. Let's see if all these things come to fruition. ;)

As far as Oahu goes...it's been pretty fun the past day and a half...despite the torrential rains and flash flood warnings. =P I just hope it lets up soon so that I can actually tour the island before we leave...at the very least...I need to visit one of those shrimp trucks I've heard so much about. Oh...and the Honolulu marathon starts in about 5 hours...so I hope the rains let up for the poor souls trying to run over 26 miles.

Alright...I must bid you all adieu before my internet connection runs out...maybe I'll buy more internet time tomorrow. Until next time...aloha. =)

Pretending To Be A Bookworm

Alright...so I'm not doing to well on the daily blogging thing. Can I blame it on being preoccupied with the election?

Next up in my attempt to come up with 101 tasks to do in 1001 days is my list of books to read...

10 Books To Read
The Bible (in chronological order)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
North and South by John Jakes
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein by Frederick Nolan
Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur

Again...nothing is set in stone until the list is complete...so if you think there's another book I should crack open and read...let me know.

Tomorrow (I hope)...10 things to make. =)

Time To Butter The Popcorn

Alright...it's been a few days. But, for the record, I wasn't feeling well on Wednesday and Thursday...and spent Thursday through today going to homecoming-related activities. Oh...and in the process I watched USC shut out a third team this season (56-0). This time it was poor Washington University. Hopefully they'll win at least one game before the year it out.

Anyway...after looking at several AFI lists...and my Netflix queue...here is what I came up with for the 10 movies I need to see within a span of 1001 days:

Citizen Kane
Lawrence Of Arabia
Vertigo
A Star Is Born
All That Jazz
Moulin Rouge
2001: A Space Odyssey
Ben-Hur
Grey Gardens
Our Town

Next list of 10...books to read...

Point and Shoot

Since it's nearing midnight, I don't have much time to chit-chat...but here's my next list of 10:

10 Things To Photograph

• 100 strangers
• hummingbird
• rainbow
• meteor shower
• lady bug
• a pretty good self portrait
• a cool underwater shot
• a nifty looking tattoo
• autumn landscape/tree scape
• puppy

These things aren't set in stone until I have the complete 101 list...so let me know if you think of something better. ;)

Tomorrow...10 movies to watch...

C'est La Vie

Well...Sunday, I was suppose to post 10 things to photograph...but a couple of things happened...

At the last minute, I needed to pick up a friend at the airport. Since she was famished, we went to dinner after I got her at LAX...and I didn't get home until about a half hour ago...and Sunday is long gone. =P

The other thing that happened was a friend and I went to the South Coast Botanic Garden. The two things that I was planning to adding to the photograph list were a picture of a hummingbird and one of a butterfly. The hummingbirds at the garden still proved elusive to me, but I did manage a few shots of some butterflies...including the two included in this post.

While I did take pictures of some butterflies, I'm not completely happy with them...so I'm debating on whether or not to keep them on the list. I'll revisit this later in the week...but here's my paltry list of things to photograph thus far:

10 Things To Photograph

• 100 strangers
• hummingbird
• rainbow
  
• meteor shower
  
• butterfly?
• ?
• ?
• ?
• ?
• ?

Any helping filling out the list would be much appreciated. ;)