In my most elitist voice possible, I told myself I wouldn't watch this cartoon, this American imitation of anime... But I've heard too many good things about it from people to resist. The epic nature of the story and the integration of magic into the world were also very appealing.
It definitely exceeded my expectations and is a very fun anime to watch! I love the background music they use, and it's interesting how they integrate a myriad of Asian cultures into the cultures of the Avatar world. I'm on episode 310 and will probably finish by the end of this week. :) I'll probably end up trying to integrate some of the symbols into my knitting. XD
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Figs & Pluots
On Friday, I went to the Farmer's Market in downtown LA with some of my coworkers. I bought some pluots and a basket of figs. Even though we have farmer's markets downtown nearly every day of the week, I rarely actually by produce there. These fruits though...they're soooo good! I should have started buying fruits there a long time ago.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
my kitteh is teh awesome!!11!
She is being much more social now. She'll run around and explore the apartment, jumping up onto things and rubbing everything. She'll rarely run under the bed, and when she does, she comes right back out. Right this moment, she is sprawled on our rug, sitting on a plastic bag, licking herself. Before, she avoided stepping on the rug. It's funny, but she really likes the plastic bag. She deliberately sits on it. It also seems like she has certain modes. Sometimes she's in a very determined "I must mark everything with my scent"-mode where any attempt at engaging is completely ignored. Sometimes she's in a "Oh YEAH, rub me there, that feels sooo good"-mode where she closes her eyes and lets you know where you need to rub her.
Cat!
Cat! Cat! I got a kitty cat!
My aunt's friend was going to get rid of her because after she had a baby the cat would pee on the baby's things. My aunt couldn't bear to let her friend take the less than 1 year old kitten to the pound where it could be put down in a couple days.
Unfortunately my aunt Jennifer already had a cat - a very territorial and aggressive cat who would chase the new kitten until the kitten would constantly hide under the bed. Whenever my aunt left her apartment, she had to keep the kitten in her son Hauson's room so that the other cat would not be able to chase her around. She asked if I would take the kitty so that it could live in a better environment. I was ecstatic but I knew it wasn't only my decision to make. To my surprise, Lawrence agreed! :D Granted, we have her for 2 weeks as a trial period. At the end of 2 weeks, we (Lawrence) may decide not to keep her.
Yesterday we brought her home to our apartment. While we were bringing up her stuff from my aunt's car, we let her loose in the apartment. After we brought everything in, we started looking for her and she was nowhere to be found. We looked in all the closets, under the bed, under the couch, we were seriously starting to get scared. I even walked down the hallway in case she got loose without us noticing. Nowhere. I tried to stay optimistic and decided to clean up stuff a bit in the hopes of finding her behind something. I tried to pick up a plastic bag that had a towel in it...and lo and behold...the kitty was hiding in the bag, underneath the towel. :)
After finding her, she left her bag to find a new hiding place. Eventually she settled on the space underneath our bed, in the process picking up all the dust and hair that had accumulated there. It was impossible to get her to come out from under the bed so Lawrence took a nap and I worked on the computer. Eventually though, she came out on her own....only to run and hide in the closet. Luckily she's easier to reach in the closet than under the bed, so I picked her up and put her in the bathroom. Apparently cats need a safe secluded place when they move to a new place, so I put her travel carrier in the bathroom and urged her into it.
We picked up Phillip and went out for dinner. We also stopped by Petco to get some things for the cat - a poop scooper, some canned cat food, some cat treats, and some catnip. When we got home, we all crowded into the bathroom to play with the kitty but none of those things had any effect. She ignored everything! Maybe she still needed to settle in? By the end of the night however, she seemed much more at home. She would still try to get under the bed (we blocked it off) and into the closet (we closed the closet door). She would jump up onto the bed and she even sat on Lawrence's chest.
Early in the morning, I grogily woke to see her sleeping with us on the bed. When I actually got up to get ready for work, she was gone. I found that part of our barricade to the space under the bed was disturbed and I could hear her little bell tinkling under the bed. I wonder if she's running under there because she still feels insecure in our apartment, or does she just need a safe dark place? Is she still traumatized from the other cat chasing her around? I hope she will eventually stay out in the open and we will not need the barricades.
My aunt's friend was going to get rid of her because after she had a baby the cat would pee on the baby's things. My aunt couldn't bear to let her friend take the less than 1 year old kitten to the pound where it could be put down in a couple days.Unfortunately my aunt Jennifer already had a cat - a very territorial and aggressive cat who would chase the new kitten until the kitten would constantly hide under the bed. Whenever my aunt left her apartment, she had to keep the kitten in her son Hauson's room so that the other cat would not be able to chase her around. She asked if I would take the kitty so that it could live in a better environment. I was ecstatic but I knew it wasn't only my decision to make. To my surprise, Lawrence agreed! :D Granted, we have her for 2 weeks as a trial period. At the end of 2 weeks, we (Lawrence) may decide not to keep her.
Yesterday we brought her home to our apartment. While we were bringing up her stuff from my aunt's car, we let her loose in the apartment. After we brought everything in, we started looking for her and she was nowhere to be found. We looked in all the closets, under the bed, under the couch, we were seriously starting to get scared. I even walked down the hallway in case she got loose without us noticing. Nowhere. I tried to stay optimistic and decided to clean up stuff a bit in the hopes of finding her behind something. I tried to pick up a plastic bag that had a towel in it...and lo and behold...the kitty was hiding in the bag, underneath the towel. :)
After finding her, she left her bag to find a new hiding place. Eventually she settled on the space underneath our bed, in the process picking up all the dust and hair that had accumulated there. It was impossible to get her to come out from under the bed so Lawrence took a nap and I worked on the computer. Eventually though, she came out on her own....only to run and hide in the closet. Luckily she's easier to reach in the closet than under the bed, so I picked her up and put her in the bathroom. Apparently cats need a safe secluded place when they move to a new place, so I put her travel carrier in the bathroom and urged her into it.
We picked up Phillip and went out for dinner. We also stopped by Petco to get some things for the cat - a poop scooper, some canned cat food, some cat treats, and some catnip. When we got home, we all crowded into the bathroom to play with the kitty but none of those things had any effect. She ignored everything! Maybe she still needed to settle in? By the end of the night however, she seemed much more at home. She would still try to get under the bed (we blocked it off) and into the closet (we closed the closet door). She would jump up onto the bed and she even sat on Lawrence's chest.
Early in the morning, I grogily woke to see her sleeping with us on the bed. When I actually got up to get ready for work, she was gone. I found that part of our barricade to the space under the bed was disturbed and I could hear her little bell tinkling under the bed. I wonder if she's running under there because she still feels insecure in our apartment, or does she just need a safe dark place? Is she still traumatized from the other cat chasing her around? I hope she will eventually stay out in the open and we will not need the barricades.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
DDR
Caroline & Carmel's wedding is going to be in November. I need to lose weight because she asked me to be a bridesmaid and I don't want to be embarrassed standing up there in front of Lawrence's entire family. O_o
Part of my exercising regimen will be playing DDR. I work up a really good sweat and get super tired playing for 1 hr. It's perfect as cardio because each song is roughly 2-3 minutes long, and you get a short break in between to catch your breath (or you can play nonstop mode and play through 3-8 songs with NO break in between). If you get better at the songs, you can increase your intensity by playing harder songs, or playing the songs on "Heavy" instead of "Standard". If even heavy gets too easy for you, Stepmania lets you choose a setting that will automatically insert additional steps to make it SUPER hard for you.
Playing DDR also involves a lot of different skills. You need to concentrate, for one thing. Every time my mind wanders, I know instantly because I start missing steps. On the hard songs, it is essential that you read ahead so you know what's coming up, even while your feet are pressing arrows for the current steps. You need to be able to strategize and plan which foot to use so that further down your feet will be in the proper position to press a different series of arrows. Some songs require you to focus on a complicated beat. Some songs have a lot of back and forth footwork that really tires your calves. Some songs have a lot of jumping for the double-arrow-presses, and that can really tire your thighs.
I love the dance and trance/techno songs. In fact, looking up some of the artists led me to find more songs to put in my mp3 collection. Here are the trance songs I play as a nonstop course (Trancendence from DDR Max 2 for PS2):
i feel... [Akira Yamaoka]
Tomorrow Perfume [DJ Taka]
The Shining Polaris [L.E.D. feat. Sana]
Drifting Away [Lange feat. Skye]
Will I [Ian Van Dahl]
Heaven [DJ Sammy]
Ghosts (Vincent de Moor Original Mix) [Tenth Planet]
Take Me Away (Into the Night) [4 Strings]
So Deep (Perfect Sphere Remix) [Silvertear]
Lovin' You (Rob Searle Club Mix) [Vinyl Baby]
Part of my exercising regimen will be playing DDR. I work up a really good sweat and get super tired playing for 1 hr. It's perfect as cardio because each song is roughly 2-3 minutes long, and you get a short break in between to catch your breath (or you can play nonstop mode and play through 3-8 songs with NO break in between). If you get better at the songs, you can increase your intensity by playing harder songs, or playing the songs on "Heavy" instead of "Standard". If even heavy gets too easy for you, Stepmania lets you choose a setting that will automatically insert additional steps to make it SUPER hard for you.
Playing DDR also involves a lot of different skills. You need to concentrate, for one thing. Every time my mind wanders, I know instantly because I start missing steps. On the hard songs, it is essential that you read ahead so you know what's coming up, even while your feet are pressing arrows for the current steps. You need to be able to strategize and plan which foot to use so that further down your feet will be in the proper position to press a different series of arrows. Some songs require you to focus on a complicated beat. Some songs have a lot of back and forth footwork that really tires your calves. Some songs have a lot of jumping for the double-arrow-presses, and that can really tire your thighs.
I love the dance and trance/techno songs. In fact, looking up some of the artists led me to find more songs to put in my mp3 collection. Here are the trance songs I play as a nonstop course (Trancendence from DDR Max 2 for PS2):
i feel... [Akira Yamaoka]
Tomorrow Perfume [DJ Taka]
The Shining Polaris [L.E.D. feat. Sana]
Drifting Away [Lange feat. Skye]
Will I [Ian Van Dahl]
Heaven [DJ Sammy]
Ghosts (Vincent de Moor Original Mix) [Tenth Planet]
Take Me Away (Into the Night) [4 Strings]
So Deep (Perfect Sphere Remix) [Silvertear]
Lovin' You (Rob Searle Club Mix) [Vinyl Baby]
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
attencion deficit
I'm beginning to feel disappointed in myself. I've read about others noticing the phenomenon as well. I feel like I've got an inability to pay attention to just one thing for large amounts of time. I try to read articles, and if they're too long I feel like I shouldn't bother. I need to force myself to read to the end. I want to pick up some good science fiction or fantasy books to read, but the thought of spending all that time reading when I could be knitting or on the internet makes me avoid books. I haven't even read the last Harry Potter book yet! I haven't read the 6th of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books either! Is this a result of my knitting obsession, or is it the internet? Perhaps it started with World of Warcraft. Maybe I'm just not in a reading mood, and I'll just have to wait until my interests cycle back to reading again.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
filming
The interesting thing about working in downtown LA is that they're always filming something. On my way back from lunch today, I watched for a few minutes as they filmed a CSI:NY scene outside my building. I don't watch CSI, so to me it would have been way more cool if they were filming something like Law & Order SVU, but it's still neat.
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