I'm Back!

Hi!

I'm back! Ok, I mean yes another post after basically a year (happy 2024 >.> ), but more importantly, I'm back in Chicago!

Cut. It. Out.

Hi. 

Wondering if folks get the reference in the title...

It's been a while. Life has changed quite a bit - a hyperbolic understatement to say in the least.

But as is always the case, the earth keeps rotating, the wheel keeps turning, the sun will rise again, and our hair will keep growing...

... and growing.

So today I thought I'd talk about it. Again ^_^.

Work it

Hi.

I've been meaning to post about a few crochet/knit projects I've been working on, including one I just finished yesterday, that just needs to be blocked, finished, etc... finally - it took quite a bit of reworking, possibly due to the fact that I'm still a bit of a noob at knitting... But I figured I should add in the last project and make sure I complete all the finishing touches on the projects before I post them. Personally it's been hilarious because I have been working on items for winter over the course of April thru August... well at least they'll be ready for this upcoming winter? :P

Regardless, the yarning projects are only one of several things I've picked up lately in addition to the list of items I've had on my list to accomplish since I've had a bit more time on my hands since June...  which of course has included things I hadn't meant to do, like (re)binging a few beloved television series (i.e. Veronica Mars, Psych, Chuck, Korean dramas on Netflix, Totally Spies - yes. Totally Spies. It's so bad... I blame Amazon prime video for that one). But unemployment of course has some downsides, so lately I have been determined to work on one of my wayside personal goals: getting back in shape.

Fireflies

Hi.

Happy 2016!

It's about that time when things start to settle in for the winter weather - as in it actually feels like winter - and if you've made any resolutions, you discover if you'll actually end up sticking with them. Of course, if you've been with me for long, you know how I feel about resolutions - but that doesn't mean that I don't have some goals for myself during this upcoming year. And don't worry, I'll get into it sure enough ^_^.

But first let's get a little philosophical?

And I'm back

Hi. Hello. Yello. Hola.

I'm back! I've officially moved (not officially unpacked...) to my new cute downtown Chicago apartment and I'm excited! I mean sure, the past weekend and this I've been stuck unpacking and working and all that... but my new place is more my size and I've got plans to start exploring more - it definitely helps that it's not basically dead outside by 9 or 10pm ^_^.

[potential pictures for sharing on the horizon?]

Good habits

Hi.

I've written before how I don't really agree with the idea of "resolutions" for the new year - but being the new year, it totally works to transition and talk about the "good habits" I've been working on to be healthy.

Let's keep in mind though that these are not resolutions, and began before the new year ^_^.

Happy 2015

Hi.

So it turns out, when you are visiting folks, or folks are visiting you, it's actually quite difficult to get the chance to sit down and type out posts. I mean, I think I knew that already, but now I remember that again.

It's basically like you end up spending time with everyone - which can be an activity in and of itself - so by the time you get the chance to take a break, you just want to relax. Which of course does not result in any blogging :P

But here's to a happy new year (with the boat load of work that will need to be done along with it) and to the posts and updates that will be coming! (I swear I have a few old ones I wanted to post but hadn't gotten the chance to finish for sharing and a few new ones that came along with the new year!)


And now back to work...

Looking back

Hi.

As we come to the end of the year (and the start of the fourth year of this blog), I decided to take a casual glance at some of the aspects of my blog, commenting, re-read older posts, viewing stats and the like. What's always interesting is what I rediscover about why I made certain decisions on formatting or posting styles and in fact what I've written about in the past.

A big thing I noticed, is that I didn't always write these monstrously long posts (or at least what it seems like). Sure my formatting was a bit atrocious - really packed paragraphs that didn't really lend well to reading conversational pieces - but the actual content did not seem to drag on.

It makes sense that when I started the blog, there was a larger range of topics I wanted to talk about (fresh ideas, new attempt, etc). But now, I have a more defined post format - which isn't a good or bad thing, just less spontaneous in nature - and I became more personally reflective after the first couple months. It is also getting easier to tie subjects together.

I rediscovered why I introduce every post with "Hi." and I can say that maybe that reasoning no longer applies as much: I'm getting better at making introductions to each post for sure.

I realize that I did explain the original title Eclipsed [blogged under the post Powerful Words] but did not do the same for Spelunking. So at some point I might rectify that - unless I change the name yet again ^_^.

Looking back, it's hard to say what my favorite posts were - I think the joy of it really comes from seeing that others have read them and knowing that they enjoyed reading them or synced with them, mainly when they comment on the posts. *hint hint nudge nudge - I'm telling you guys to comment more :P*

As an attempt at interacting with my readers - I ask you to tell me what your favorite posts were or what posts synced the most with you!


And now some Florence:


Just a quick update: I realize with working during the week, I don't always get a chance to sit down and write (but it might be easier with a little gadget I've picked up so we'll see about that ^_^). So I think I'll save the posts up and post them all together on Sundays - you know if there are any posts at all to put up :P.

A slightly unfortunate thing will be that they are listed in the reverse order that I post them. So I'll try not to reference them too heavily or I'll just reorganize the order they go up by changing the time stamps ^_^.

Special

Hi.

Happy October!!!! So work has been a real grind fest (which meant I didn't have the time to try to regain the Brewfest Kodo Dragon mount >.< ... I guess I'll have to wait till next year... speaking of which, I think I might be lost if I play WoW again, waaaaay too much has changed........ anyway....)

So finally, I've gotten the chance to post a thing or two!

Ok, so first things first, a few updates:

1. I've joined a co-ed outdoor soccer team! It's fun, I get out of the house, and I get to hang out with a bunch of people I wouldn't have hung out with otherwise. Unfortunately, our team doesn't have consistent attendance, and since we need a minimum of 3 girls on the field for a team of 8, invariably we play under-staffed and I always have to stay on the field.
   
   So ok, that's not exactly horrible, but it would be nice to occasionally get a break during some of the more running-intensive games we play. Or the games when I get beat up a little more than usual... I still stand by my sole purchase of shin guards over cleats, considering the potential bruising I have avoided. But when it rains, and the field has little grass, I very much wish I had gotten the cleats. But since the "season" is almost done, it doesn't exactly make much sense to get them now.
   
   It is nice that I'm finally not being overlooked as a player on the field. It means that though I was an awesome mid-fielder, I am truly shining on D, which means I do get passed the ball, and I am recognized on the field as a contributing team mate. It is astonishing how long it can take to get through to certain egoistic males...
   
   So despite the long commute and a few other kinks, it's a lot of fun!
   
   
2. I think I need to start keeping track of the wines I have been drinking lately. There's this awesome store a few blocks from my place that has a selection from all over the world. And since some of them are very affordable, I end up curious and trying a lot of different blends and grapes.
   
   Since I've been thinking about doing so for a while, I've already taken snapshots of the bottles so that I might remember what I have consumed. Unfortunately, a lot of the labels are not in English, so I end up only remembering whether it was a red or white wine instead of which name is the grape and which name is the winery/castle/brand.
   
   
3. As we move on into the last part of the year, I'm very excited for Codeduck who is moving onto the next step in what is the saga that is life. And I can't wait to go and see her new digs - and go wine tasting and food eating and trail blazing and a whole lot of stuff!!!!! WooHOOOOOO! Haha, ok, I really am excited for her, not just you know to visit her :P.
   
   
4. On a slightly different note, boys are stupid. Ok, that really wasn't an update, since it's more of a known fact, but it had to be restated.
   
   In a previous post, I had mentioned taking a hands off position with respect to a certain guy. After a bit of figuring things out, I realized that I might as well go full throttle at the start. So if things bomb, I can say that I tried everything I could; therefore, it's really not on me that things didn't pan out.
   
   Of course, guys are stupid, so progress has stagnated to a halt. And to bother to get into the details is waaaaaay more effort than is whole thing is worth.
   So moving forward with said groom quest, I go forth with the mantra, If they want to talk to you, they will talk to you. And considering experience and who I've heard this from, a very wise mantra indeed.
   
   
5. I am currently discovering a new line of curly hair care and I'm really excited to try it out. I've been trying to grow my hair out and taking care of said hair is a gargantuan task - especially considering that I want to my hair to be luxurious in its length. So here's to hoping for the best!

And I think that is all for the life updates, so continue on for the actual post!

We live on a floating shell

Hi.

Hello.

Hi.

During the hours I spend at work in front of a system just taking measurements or doing repetitive analysis, I had started to get very annoyed at any and every station of music I'd been listening to. Then, realizing that I have been slacking on keeping up to date with the piling lists of podcasts on my computer ('Wait wait don't tell me', 'Science Friday audio', 'Science Friday video'... yes there clearly is a theme), I figured that I could use that time catching up. And since I was catching up, I figured I might as well share the ones that catch my attention in the mean time.

Of course sometimes I can't listen to podcasts, because I need to use my brain for what I'm working on... sometimes I can't multitask... it's horribly sad, and obviously a sign of a decaying mind... sigh...

Regardless, here's the first for you all to enjoy

Listen HERE

(in case you're wondering how long I've not kept up to date, well, let's just say the dates correlate to late 2012... in my defense, I was a lot better with the videos - until I wasn't obviously)

Worming through

Hi.

I need to go out dancing. I can feel it. But I have priorities, i.e. leisure reading. Seriously.

A side note: I realize, that I really must update my current music playlists - I feel tired of quite a few songs on my latest playlist. But there's only 12 songs so far (I usually build up to 25-30 songs), and there are still a few songs I'd like to carry over. Usually, I like to leave those be - since I invariably get tired of them sooner than the rest. Even if I carry them over to the newer list, I don't like the fact that they're in 2 playlists. Don't ask, I just don't like it. And then there's a part of me that realizes that I'd be on my 13th playlist, and well, that's a lot of playlists on top of the rest of them... But I needs my new songs man... I needs them...

So if you care to provide an opinion, don't be shy.

Now onto the post.

New Vibes

Hellllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo!

It's been like - like ages! Hahaha. Well, I've been itching to get things restarted, in part because I realize I should give what I've been doing the past year the attention it deserves, and well, I have more shoes ^_^. Though before we move on, I'd like to take a moment of silence to honor the dearly departed:

Sigh... it's so beautiful... I wish you were in my budget... seen and gone in a day... ok, I need to get over these shoes and another pair I found last week...

So, right. Onto the words.

Celebrate!

Hi.

THE SHOES ARE COMPLETELY UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Basically I got off my lazy ass, took the rest of the pictures, gathered the rest of the data, and posted them all. So just follow the neon green "new" signs to find the latest updates!
[Let me know if you think it's a good method for indicating the newest additions to the collection!]

And for those of you waiting for another serious post, I do see plans for another this month, and maybe even a few more :D.

Summer cleaning

Hi.

So it finally happened. We cleared out the shoes in the garage. Meaning, all un-used, dust collecting pairs of shoes were removed for disposal or donation. And though all of my shoes did not necessarily fit into the space not taken up by my mother's shoes, I am pleased to announce that now all of my shoes are where shoes should belong - i.e. not sitting under my closet or rusticating in the remains of my belongings while living on my own. (Though this is not including the shoes I keep in my closet because they are precious little things that should never be exposed to the harsh climate of the garage).

By the way, our shoe closet looks kinda amazing now.

I might just take a picture to show you.

But that's not the best thing either.
I've finished posting all the shoes I had cataloged waaaaaaaay back when I first updated Shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(All the quick links are actually links!)

Yes, it is a momentous day it is.

Now all that's left is to catalog and post the shoes I bought in that time... Which shouldn't be too many really...... At least I don't think so...

But moving on... in other news, I've been a bit of a crocheting demon. I might want to brag and share a bit. I might even be cocky enough to say I might actually end up working on and finishing one of my oldest projects... fingers crossed!

And cuz I want to share it, here's a cute little song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSbXsFE3l8

Rekindled

Hi.

Hey-lo my dears. After so many months of boring dull humdrum, things are getting a little exciting. Not only do I have an opportunity to dance again (for the special 4th of July weekend pujas) but I've also been asked to play the piano accompaniment for a groom's reception serenade!

I mean, of course there's practice to be done (including hours of finger exercises ahead), but I'm really excited!

Now I just have to sit tight and get ready for full speed ahead tomorrow morning... Or maybe take an early start - 1am sounds good to me :P.

Ahhhhhhh so excited!!!!!

Question mark?

Hi.

So here's the deal, I know I will be posting about my "conclusions" for your reading pleasure, but I had a question for you all as to how I should present them.

Would you like me to post each conclusion as I finish writing them, or would you like them all in one long haul?

Comment and let me know!

Realize

Hi.

There come moments in your life when you reach conclusions that affect your sense of the world - your sense of your own being. You can call them epiphanies, and on occasion I might agree with you.

But what I refer to are the thoughts that bring you to certain crossroads, whereupon you find satisfaction or strive to gain it. These aren't necessarily major life decisions. It could be the actual enactment of a resolution to say change your wardrobe or to hold to a dietary guideline. It could also be realizing that you are truly happy without a high ranked job position or the recognition of what you truly believe in.

I think it is freeing.

Our brains are very astonishing organs, and have the capacity for multitasking that we probably never think to realize - probably because we end up thinking so much in general (not that we necessarily think upon profound philosophy and research). But when we reach one of those conclusions, it almost seems as though we have collected and unified thousands of insignificant thoughts and observations into a single bodied summation. By doing so, we are relieving our brains of the strain caused by having such thoughts occurring regularly.

In the same way, any actions we take also relieve that strain. Sure physiologically, actions are achieved through "labor" which requires the effort of the muscles and so releases hormones that soothe the neurons. But I mean actions are relieving because an action is a way of manifesting our thoughts, or transmitting them into the external world. And by doing so, we are removing the "weight" of them from our minds.

Therefore, through either method, we are able to reach a calm or balance within the realm of our minds.

Of course there is nothing scientific about these conjectures - in fact I could simply have forced this theory by fitting the supporting arguments to suit my need. After all this is my own understanding (having come to certain conclusions of my own), and you are all so kind to even acknowledge their existence (in case you missed it, I am saying thank you for reading, I appreciate it).

But I have no doubt that what ever conclusions or resolutions have occurred, I do note that a sense of relief. After all, they do say that stress affects the body's physiology, and any decrease in the harmful brand is only a good thing. And though the manifestations of stress can be observed, how stress affects them is a complex and not very well understood mechanism (it's not as if the complexities of stress we experience in our lives can be simply observed in an experimental setting - there are too many variables!).

So until the time when stress can be quantified and qualified, I shall remain happy with my theory. Because in the end, me being happy with this theory means I am more inclined to share, and in this case, it definitely means sharing my own conclusions. And this little blurb here, is my wonderfully long segue into those.

Obviously though, there is more than one, and as it is, I am currently reaching the end of a series of thoughts. So as you might guess, these conclusions will appear in a separate post. But fear not, you will know them when you see them, and this time I won't lead you on with a second attempt at introduction. You'll just get it raw ^_^.


So anyways, too-da-loo for now. I'll leave you with a cheesy sorta song, which really just has a keyword in its title, but hey feel free to make inferences on how the lyrics might be applied to the content of this post (I might already be... argh, my brain...). Tschuss!

P.S.: I might actually be in the mood to write thanks to having just finished reading The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. An integral part of the text is a repeating motif of biographic writings - journals or personal diaries if you will - all with a prophetic kind of voice to them, as they believed or came to understand their own martyr-like roles. It's a great series, and I definitely recommend it as an awesome read.

Spring Cleaning

Hi.

So recently (like 4 days ago) my mother announced her plan to clear out the basement storage. Now, that doesn't sound too bad, it'll probably be just a bit of sorting through items and reorganizing the remaining items - simple.

But no. This closet is a walk-in space, roughly the size of a large dorm room, with shelves built along the walls, big enough to hold suitcases. And they go so high that even our step stool might not be enough to reach the back of the top rows.

So, this, is not a little bit of spring cleaning. It is a gargantuan endeavor. Maybe that's why we're starting so early... We can only hope to be done by spring. :P

And as I sorted through the things that were out of sight, and therefore, out of mind, I found myself discovering and rediscovering myself, my parents, and a few other things here and there. [Ok, that was a really deep/profound kind of statement, but I don't intend it to be... it raises expectations :P]

And of course, as I start to think, there is of course that urge to write. At first it started with one little episode I wanted to share. And then as I sat down, I realized there is more than one story - more than one group of little tangents that occur to me that can't be defined under one title, one heading. Well ok, technically it can be under one title. I could keep this title of "Spring Cleaning" and have several mini posts with individual titles within this post (like a certain post that I've been working on). But here's the thing. I'm too impatient to wait long enough to get all the stories out and post them all at once, or to post them in little chunks. Ok, wait, that actually might be a good idea...

Right. So, in light of the fact that I get impatient and want to post what I've written the minute I'm done writing it, for now, I'll just be posting things individually (basically I could have the first little post almost ready to put in along with this one, but I don't have the patience to wait to finish writing it and postpone posting this one). But in the future I may chose to group a few together and put them up. [Let's just leave room for any potential option shall we?]

Anyway, now that I've succeeded in making this several sentences too long, thanks to my side commentary... I finally conclude my introduction to the new series of posts born from the efforts of a little spring cleaning.

More shoe?

Hi.

Due to the interesting coincidence that all my friends have gone on lovely ski/snowboarding trips, and are pretty much incommunicado, I was bored, at home, and stuck with nothing to do.

I tried my hand at gaming, crocheting, reading, eating - but nothing really stuck. So well, I finished updating another section of Shoes!!! [I didn't finish all the retired ones... I was getting impatient, and I had just finished the retired for the Flats before starting on the Heels.]

So, there! Take that people who were stuck on a mountain with nothing to do in all that snow... Ok, I'm still incredibly jealous... I wanna go snowboarding..... T.T

Ok, well updated the shoe inventory, but didn't actually write a new post - meh - just look at it already...

Lovely

Hi.

I think I found my song. Not just a song on repeat - but MY song.
You might guess who it's by if you know me. It isn't one of those obscure bands/singers kinda thing - though maybe it is ^_^.
It has everything that makes is a me song.

And well, if that's a good enough answer for you,

or you're not patient enough to wait for the song,

(I sympathize, cuz I thought I would just  post the first part),

click here to go straight to the song.

But for the rest of you, please excuse this interruption, and read on ^_^.

So, where was I? Ah yes, everything for a me song...