Browse Category: life

Feel-Good Movies

hulagirls

I renewed our Netflix subscription last month and I’ve been doing some catching up. I’m not sure I ever mentioned this but I once belonged to a hula halau (Dance Troupe) in Torrance. It was a great way to unwind after work, was actually a good workout, and was just plain fun. Well, when the foreign film “Hula Girls” came out it intrigued me and I finally got to see it. It’s based on a true story and featured a small group of coal mining daughters who went against the wishes of their parents to learn hula and helped rebuild their dying economy. The Hawaiian Center still exists today and it’s a thriving oasis for tourists who want to escape the cold.

runfatboyrun

The second movie I just saw was “Run Fatboy Run“. It’s about a lazy hack of a guy who tries to win his true love back by proving he could finish something in life. That something happened to be a marathon, which was what her fiance happened to be training for.  I’m not really doing the plot much justice but it was rather funny and entertaining. With my Half Marathon coming up in April, this movie was a great way to keep me going.

Coincidentally, I just found out that a running friend of mine has joined a halau up here in the Bay Area and I might be checking it out soon.  It’s funny how both running and hula have crossed paths again.

23 Futures in my Hands

We make decisions all day and everyday.  What am I going to eat for dinner today?  Do I take BART or drive to work?  The ginger cookie or chocolate chip with nuts?  Well, this morning I woke up early and participated in a round of interviews for prospective students for my graduate program.  Initially, it was a little weird being on the other side of the table but I got the hang of it and it made me really appreciate the process and importance of school interviews.  When we were all done with the morning, we had chosen 9 out of the 23 candidates for the program with recommendations for some of the “maybes” to come back next year.  It’s interesting to see how lower GPAs can be off-set by life experience and the interview and how you can’t judge a person solely by just one component.  It’s already an awesome experience to influence a student as a teacher but it’s an unfamiliar feeling that I have about determining whether or not someone can start a new careeer in the fall.  Is this what parenting is like?

Numb and Late

44

Today marks an historic day for us but I feel like I missed the party.  There were a ton of parties and gatherings today as if it was another national holiday.  Everyone around me was giddy with excitement for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and I had to go to work.  Don’t get me wrong, I know that plenty of people went to work today but they also sat at their computers watching it all happen live.  For me, the day came and went and the only part I saw all day was about 5 minutes of the parade as I was in an isolation room.  It was kinda hard to appreciate what was going on with a mask, gown, and booties on as I was on my hands and knees with a baby.

I came home this afternoon feeling a little numb and melancholy.  I’m not sure why.  The only thing I could think of was a similar feeling that I had on the fateful day of the 9/11.  I was working at Rancho as an intern and pretty much isolated from all the news coverage and emotion.  It wasn’t until I got home that I was able to actually able to take in what had happened that day.  So, today I had the same funny feeling.

I’m a person who appreciates tradition and ceremonial events and I couldn’t help get choked up during Bush’s final address last Friday and was inspired by all the pomp and circumstance of today’s events.  One of my favorite traditions is how the outgoing president leaves a confidential letter to the incoming president on the desk of the oval office.  It was in a manila envelope with a small post-it note with the number “44” written on it.  That’s cool.

44_closeup

And so we have a new president.  I’m ok with it.  I just hope that it will satisfy my SF neighbors and co-workers for a while.  Congratulations, President Obama.  You have a lot of work to do.

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year!

I actually got the day off today so I decided to update my theme for the new year.  Last night we went out to Jillian’s for some drinks and dancing.  They were raffling off diamond necklaces but I didn’t win.  This morning I watched the Rose Parade on TV while I tidied up the house.  It’s great to have a random day off in the middle of a work week.

As I contemplate the events of 2008, I must say that I’ve been pretty lucky.  The economy really took a nose dive but I wasn’t directly affected.  In fact, my job is steady as ever and I got an unexpected albeit small bonus check when I got back from Christmas break.  I’m still trying to shake this cough and squeaky voice but the health of me and my entire family is stable.  Mommy retired earlier this past year and Johnny got engaged.  I got to ski in Utah for the first time and sailed in the Caribbean Sea too.

Here are the Best, Worst, Faves, and Not-So-Favorites of 2008:

Best Summer Festival: Fillmore St. Jazz Festival

Worst Summer Festival: Festival of Sail (or Festival of Fail)

Biggest Accomplishment: Learning to sail without getting seasick

Biggest Disappointment: American Airlines

Most Surprising Meal: Luce

Most Disappointing Meal: Michael Mina

Favorite Outing: Nike Women’s Half Marathon with Joy and Brother

Least Favorite Outing: Trying to get back to the hotel from Snowbird…2 buses, a light rail, and shuttle.

Coolest Moment: When a sea turtle popped his head up out the water just 2 feet in front of me in Hawaii

Yuckiest Moment: Catching Fifth’s Disease back in February

Worst Moment: When I realized that I had double-booked myself for two weddings on the same day.  Oops.

snoopysnowcone

Favorite Christmas Gift: Snoopy Snow Cone Machine from Joy and Brother

Worst Christmas Gift: None.  They were all appreciated.  Thanks!!!

Certified

This afternoon, we had our make-up session to complete Basic Keelboat Sailing II.  There was more wind today that made it much easier to understand the maneuvers.  We also got a much nicer 27-foot boat with a genoa, which was pretty neato.

The focus of today’s lesson was going through the Man Overboard Drill that involved throwing over a life jacket (our man overboard), making a figure-8 and sailing past the “man” with just the right speed and angle to pick it up out of the water.  In addition to today, we had to demonstrate a bunch of maneuvers to get checked off by our instructor and then we went back to the office and took the certification test.  Jes and I both passed the written test so we are officially certified in Basic Keelboat Sailing and can take out 20-foot sail boats on our own.

The next step is Basic Coastal Cruising, which is another weekend of lessons and another test.  Jes is going to take this one without me (to save money) and we should soon be able to take a larger boat out on the water on our own.  Yay!

Here are the photos from all three days.

All done!

Yay, the election is over.  I can now walk through the streets of San Francisco without the barrage of Obama this and Prop 8 that.  Hopefully Prop 3 will pass so the hospital will get some desperately needed funding.  It’s sad when I’m supposed to be doing feeding therapy and we don’t have any food.  Parents are having to bring food or I end up buying babyfood at Target.

But I digress…This truly is an historic day for us as a country but I hope that there will be more to it than just a sigh of relief in the coming months.  Growing up near the “Orange Curtain” and now living in SF has given me two very one-sided views of the world and I know that a lot of people voted strictly along party lines and not because they necessarily believed in their candidate.  Yes, we’re in debt.  Yes, we are in war.  Yes, President Bush sucks.  Let’s get over it and talk about something else.  I would like to see a happier, more optimistic world that prefers to debate about which is the best Halloween candy.  I’d like to live in a community where I don’t have to go to work with grumpy liberals who constantly complain about our healthcare system and economy.  I like all of the people I work with but when politics come up at lunchtime, I just have to pick up my things and finish my lunch elsewhere.  Most would say that I’m a passenger in life and I tend to go wherever the car takes me.  Nevertheless, I would like to be able to stare out the window and enjoy the ride as well.