Saturday Sanity

Trivia #1:
So we were watching The Manhattan Project the other night. The movie itself is pretty straightforward - very dated and not lacking in some plot holes relating to a high school kid who steals some high grade plutonium and makes an atomic bomb.

But, his girlfriend... there was something familiar about her... her smile, her teeth, her voice... tired of being puzzled, I looked her up on imdb. Turns out she's a younger and blonde Miranda (Cynthia Nixon, SatC). Kinda cool that *i* "called it [usually it's Kosh who catches things like this!].

Then, because his mother too was vaguely familiar, I looked *her* up too. Heh. That took me back 15 years! Turns out she was Ann Kelsey on L.A. Law! I used to watch that show religiously in my high school days :-)

Trivia #2:
Finally made it though all the tapes of Da Vinci's Inquest Kosh had recorded for me. WGN had cycled through it, so the final episode (where DaVinci announced his candidacy for Mayor) was followed by Episode 4 (the euthanasia one). I was struck by the fact that Maria who works in the morgue during the latter part of the series looked and sounded suspiciously like that euthanasia "victim" in Episode 4! So that called for another imdb / tv.com digging session: and it turns out Ms Alisen Down appeared as different characters in Season 1 and Season 2 before making it as Dr Maria Donato. Heh. Another bit of trivia I'm feeling proud at having uncovered :-)

On to other news:
eh? *what* other news? LOL! It's the weekend, we're vegetating. Yay! Probably post a meme tomorrow.

Ciao!

Wednesday Waddles

Guess who's feeling large today? :-( nvm, just ordered this from amazon.com, should be here in two days, then I can get a handle [haha] on just how bad the fat% on me is, then get a more useful target defined.

yeah.

Anyways - thought I'd share a little bit of trivia I came across today:

We've all seen those court scenes on tv, where witnesses called to the stand swear that they will tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".

Did anyone stop and think it through why it would be specified so, well, specifically?

1. "the truth" : understood lah - not supposed to lie lah

2. "the whole truth" : you can lie by omission mah! Then again, is it the onus of the lawyers to ask the correct probing question? Otherwise, well, "you don't ask, I don't tell" maaah!

3. "nothing but the truth" : You could answer a question truthfully but mix it with an untruthful statement. After all, the best lie is one that is founded in truth!

Heh.

Next on the agenda:
- meditation
- litterbox
- shower etc
- head out on some errands [there's a brand new Wal-Mart that finally opened its doors *today* in Chicago - am wondering if it's going to be crowded... cos I might wanna check it out, just because, you know, it's Wal-Mart. Kinda miss it. Target just doesn't do it for me! Except for their USD 1 Zone bars!!]

Tuesday Travels

Okay so it looks like blogger is having problems today. So tried blogging via flickr rather than risk my blood going upstairs! But flickr had problems talking to blogger! Aarrggghhh! Now back to blogger!!

Travel Tales #1:

One of the big news yesterday/today was that whoohoo, chances are slimmer that we'd be needing to fly in the buff [see pic! scary, eh?]! At least for the near future lah, seeing as the TSA has relaxed its NO LIQUIDS ruling, and is now allowing *some* liquids back on carry-on in planes. Yay.


Travel Tales #2:
I was looking through my old old Malaysian passports. Dunno about other countries, but Malaysia specifies countries a Malaysian is NOT allowed to travel to on the passport.

It was interesting to see the changes over the years:

1984: Albania, China, Cuba, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Israel, North Korea, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, South Africa.

1989: China, Cuba, Israel, North Korea, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, South Africa.

1994: Israel & South Africa

1999: Israel

2003: Israel

[Pity I don't have my 1974-issued passport with me: wonder how long THAT list was!]
[ And, well, I wonder if Israel will *ever* be struck from the no-go list.... a slightly amusing thing about that: it seems that many Malaysians who perform their Umrah [a mini-Haj] do have Israel on their itinerary! I've heard that they are snuck in to see some sights then snuck out again - without getting their passports stamped lah otherwise big trouble with Malaysia mah! Heh. Go fig.]

/Travel Tales

Monday Mutterings

Muttering #1:

So a priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar.

The bartender looks up and snarls "What is this, some kind of joke?"

Muttering #2:

What *is* it with some bloggers jumping out of things recently?? My heart fell down to tummy go boom when Karl jumped out of a plane to mark his 40th birthday - the actual dare was to bungee jump but he couldn't find such a service provider over at his neck o' the woods. Then Kenny, on holiday in NZ [*home* of bungee jumping, for those who didn't know], did his first bungee, all caught on video too. Gotta love the aaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhh when he jumps off the platform! Why am I muttering about this? Because a big part of me has always wanted to do something like this,,, and I wonder if I ever will...

Muttering #3:

That last post took *so* much out of me [i know, i didn't *have* to hunt down the pix and all then spend another hour playing with them so that they'd appear on the post...] that it was all I could do to finally hit publish and say to hell with it I ain't tinkering with it anymore! So I hadn't taken the time to step back and analyse my choices.

While there were a total of only 8 out of 25 [or 26] females in my list, if you keep in mind the fact that the list was created as the thoughts flowed, so they are in order of "appearance"... FIVE of the first EIGHT characters are female. And their characteristics = quirky, tough, spiritual.

Take a step back and look at the overall list, other common characteristics pop up: tough gets expanded to include "bad boy" / "abrasive" / "brooding" / "flawed"; and I seem to also admire characters who are "holding her/his own" in challenging situations.

Draw your own conclusions. :-)

Muttering #4:

A while ago I'd said I wanted to weigh less [in lbs] than my IQ. Two ways to go about that - get smarter, or lose weight, LOL! Anyways, so yesterday I sat down and figured out that *if* I steadily lost about 2 lbs a week every week starting this week, I would be juuuuuuuuuust about my current IQ come the first week of Jan 2007. Note, of course, that this would be quite a challenge considering it encompasses not just the "danger period" of Thanxgiving/Xmas but also it's going to be wintertime. Cold = sluggish, & all too easy to hibernate!

Anyways - I will be working on some fat sheddage over the next few months. Because that's the *real* target - fat loss, not so much the weight loss. I used to keep track of my Lean Body Mass a long long time ago during my Zone days. There's got to be an easier way to get such measurements tho. Dunno how accurate one of these really is... but then again, consistency is just as important - so long I'd see a downward trend in fat content / upward trent in LBM, that would show I'm on the right track, eh?

Especially when the weighing scale in the bathroom is really really really questionable!

Hmmm, so when to start?

Well, we had a surface discussion last night; will discuss more with Kosh later this evening. So perhaps tomorrow I'll get moving [literally!] on this.

Cheers!

... i was hoping I'd be Willow ...

Courtesy of Ms. Q @ Whirled Peas, yesterday I was pointed to where I could find the answer to this burning question:
Am I a Nerd, a Geek, or a Dork?

And it turns out... I am...

Pure Nerd
52 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 30% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.
The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Heh.

*then* I noticed another quiz!! something to do with Buffy characters ... i *was* hoping I'd be Willow ... but I got her lover instead:

Tara Maclay
45% amorality, 45% passion, 81% spirituality, 63% selflessness

What a woman! (Or man, as it may be...)

Tara is a moral, centered, spiritual and selfless person... rather, I suspect, like you. People like this make those around them love them.

Congratulations! (and stay away from windows, just in case)

Link: The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test written by donathos on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

[LYNNE's NOTE: stay away from windows? You mean stay away from stray bullets that come through windows, right? Not the Bill Gates-type windows, right? LOL!]

Anyways... so this reminded me of a meme I'd seen recently over at Dave2's. Joss Whedon has even been a participant, people! Wow! :-)


25 Favorite Television Characters
The rules:
* Does not have to be a show currently airing
* No puppets or cartoons [awww maaaaan! no Wakko??!!]
* No reality show people
* All characters must be regulars on the show
* No mini-series

Lynne's lame attempt, in no particular order [i.e. numbered just so I know if/when I reach 25]:

1. Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Alyson Hannigan)

A quirky, sweet person - I like how she talks, how she chooses to say things [sure, that's actually Joss Whedon's writing, but still...], and the fact that she's a witch! And that she turns to the dark side at the death of Tara - even cooler!!


2. Phoebe Buffay (F.R.I.E.N.D.S.; Lisa Kudrow)

She was the quirky one, with the Smelly Cat song, and just so confident of herself, oblivious that she was one frikkin strange lady to others. I *so* relate to her!


3. Delenn (Babylon5; Mira Furlan)
Deeply spiritual, with an excellent perspective on life, the universe and everything. I'd certainly like to study under her if only the Minbari were for real.


4. G'Kar (Babylon 5; the late Andreas Katsulas)
Sure, the knee-jerk spats with Mollari early in the series were irritating... but he went through so much pain and suffering and yet was able to emerge a better, more centered Narn in touch with the universe. What an inspiration!


5. Lt Cmdr / Cmdr / Gen Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5; Claudia Christian)

I liked her tough stoic character - it more than balanced the all-too-often over-the-top hot air and actions by Capt John Sheridan!


6. Spike (Buffy/Angel; James Marsters)

What is it about "bad boys" and British accents? But more than that - it's that tough guy persona housing a sensitive soul. He pulls off the "brooding vampire in black" *so* much better than Angel!


7. Dr Gregory House (House, MD; Hugh Laurie)

A doctor who cuts through the crap, doesn't mince his words, and says things I could only *dream* about ever uttering myself! My hero!


8. "Jo" (The Facts of Life; Nancy McKeon)

Ah, the tomboy character I *so* related to!!


9. MacGyver (MacGyver; Richard Dean Anderson)

How could he *not* be a favourite? A handyman good guy, who proved episode after episode that you do *not* have to resolve to guns and violence to overcome "evil". And boy what a handyman!!


10. Nasir the assassin (Robin of Sherwood; Mark Ryan)

While everyone else [especially Will Scarlet!] was yelling and screaming in a fight, Nasir would calmly go about his business, dispatching enemies calmly with his twin scimitars. He was just so different from the rest of the Merry Men!


11. Will Scarlet (Robin of Sherwood; Ray Winstone)
He was the tough guy who provided the comic relief. My 2nd fave after Nasir.


12. Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties; Michael J. Fox)

One of my first major crushes - it was eye-opening to see a family that was relatively normal/laid-back have a son who's so unlike the rest of the family!


13. Dominic DaVinci (DaVinci's Inquest; Nicholas Campbell)

A flawed character - gruff, abrasive, yet he has his heart in the right place. Fighting a seemingly losing battle against his boss, the cops, the mayor and the system to bring about radical but much needed changes to Vancouver.


14. "Howling Mad" Murdock (The A-Team; Dwight Schultz)

Sure, I liked Dirk Benedict / Faceman for no real reason other than he was cute. But Murdock?! He was howling mad [duh!] and so different!


15. Bodie (The Professionals; Lewis Collins)

He was the dark and broody one, with *so* much better hair than Doyle! Don't remember much else about him tho.


16. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (ST:TNG; Patrick Stewart)

A supposedly French dude with a British accent and shiny head - but that smile.... and how he says "Engage!" and "Make it so." : there is something about his voice... wait, the character itself? Heh. Well there must be *something* about him that had Q coming back to taunt him oh so often, eh?


17. Ham Tyler (V; Michael Ironside);

I know I had started rebelling against the typical blond hair/blue eyes hero, and related more to anti-heroes - like this character in V.


18. David Banner (The Incredible Hulk; Bill Bixby)

Gotta admire a man who keeps on going, keeps on hoping he'll be able to master the monster within, even tho episode after episode he's proven wrong. The ending of the show - the haunting music playing while he walks down the road, attempting to hitch a ride - gave me the shivers when Stewie mimicked this in a Family Guy episode.


19. Heath Barkley (The Big Valley; Lee Majors)

Not only does the bastard son succeed in gaining his place among the legitimate children of Mr Barkley over at the Barkley Ranch, but he holds his own too.


20. Denise Huxtable (The Cosby Show; Lisa Bonet)

The rebel of the family; the different one; she went her own way, made her own mistakes, made her own life - my kind of gal!


21. Mrs King (Scarecrow & Mrs King; Kate Jackson)

A little bit zany, with that distinctive husky voice, and holding her own paired with Scarecrow the *real* secret agent.


22. K.I.T.T. (Knight Rider; William Daniels [voice])

I liked the cylon-like moving red light; I liked that he didn't put up with much nonsense from Michael Knight!


23. Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess; Lucy Lawless)

Hey, a sistah more than holding her own against brawn and magic? Rock on!


24. Caine (Kung Fu; David Carradine)

The young grasshopper, all growed up and helping out people in trouble, reluctant to put his deadly skills to use unless absolutely necessary. A man I so admire.


25. Kevin Arnold (The Wonder Years; Fred Savage)
I really liked following the details of his life - and that whole narration / "hearing his thoughts" was really endearing to me


26. Vincent (Beauty and the Beast; Ron Perlman)

What can I say? A beautiful soul stuck in the body of a monster who has to hide in the undergroud pipes/sewer system of New York. Wish he wasn't so enthralled by Linda Hamilton tho.

NOTES:

Yes, I did 26 cos didn't know if anyone would cry fowl foul at K.I.T.T.'s inclusion :-) And yes, I was starting to scrape the barrel by the time I hit #16! btw, I tried hard not to list my childhood crushes - not unless there was more to the crush than just "omg he's so cute!". So that eliminated AT LEAST:
- Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica; Dirk Benedict)
- Robin of Loxley/Robin Hood (RObin of Sherwood; Michael Praed)
- Officer Bruce Nelson (CHiPs; Bruce Penhall)

Sorry about the messiness of the pix - oh, pix taken from either imdb or tv.com.

.. and on that note... have a good weekend y'all!

long overdue...

Kosh and I are waaaaaay too much alike when it comes to procrastination... but here you go... the fruit of my labours of the past few daze days:

The (pseudo) (scrapbook-like) Wedding Announcement!!



please forgive the green ovals
I *am* still clinging to some anonymity, after all!

Some of you may soon be receiving a slightly different image,
*with* real names and *without* green ovals,
and some even with the actual wedding date, LOL!
So keep an eye out in your e-mail inbox, k?
[update: this applies only to people i know-know]

Scrapbook Credits:

• TNChick for kinda getting me started
• Christine Smith’s Superstar Sampler Kit from The Digi Chick Boutique
• 1-computer-stationery.com’s Wedding Stationery Papers # 13 & 14

And I might as well put all those Wedding-related posts in one place:

• In less than a month's time it will be all over
• NOBODY puts baby in a corner!
• Good News
• Personal Shopper
• T minus Two
• T minus One
• T minus Half
• T minus Zero
• T plus ...
  
• ... and the bride wore black!

T plus ...

Previously: T minus Two, One, Half & Zero!

T plus One
Brunch at 10am-ish, hosted yet again by SIL and family - we invdaded their home three days in a row, and they still seem glad to have all of us, LOL! Kosh's parents leave soon after.

Nothing "solid" planned from after this brunch - had toyed with the idea of going on a boat cruise in Chicago itself, but my brother did request a shopping trip [his suitcase had been filled with chocolate bribes, now empty!] to take advantage of the better prices of clothes compared to Switzerland. So took him and the folks to Farm & Fleet. Yes, Farm & Fleet. My brother did say he wouldn't mind some flannel shirts and jeans, so tell me where else would one go? LOL! I picked myself up a pair of carpenter jeans: not that I do any carpentering, but I just like the idea of having those extra pockets and hoops, teeheehee! :-)

Thanfully, F&F fulfilled all the shopping requirements. The tired parents requested a sit-down & tea, so found a Baker's Square where we proceeded to have lemon merangue pie [mother] and apple pie a la mode [everyone else. Bro & I shared; father had one all to himself!!].

Dropped everyone off at the hotel, returned to SIL's; ended up picking bro back up and having pizza dinner at SIL's. Also booked/paid boat trip for the next day online. Then dropped bro back at hotel, and Kosh&I headed back into Chicago, back to the apartment. The cat had been alone for essentially three nights - we *had* to go back and make sure she wasn't spazzing and/or leaving us presents all over the apartment!

T plus Two
Crappy weather greeted us. Drove all the way to the hotel to pick up parents; then all five squeezed into the car and drove back into Chicago, to Navy Pier, and hung around waiting for the boat tour to start.

I knew that the weather was going to be crappy - just *how* crappy was the question. So we decided to just do the Chicago Skyline Tour [30 mins] where the boat goes out into the lake, rather than the Architectural Tour where the boat would also head into the river and you get a better look at the buildings and get a bit more of a history and [what else] architecture lesson.

And how crappy *was* it?
v.e.r.y.
Compare that with the pix KApgar took about a week earlier!

Had some chezborger chezborger chezborger; no fries, chips; no coke, pepsi at the Billy Goat at Navy Pier itself.

Next on agenda: getting parents to their new hotel where they would stay for another 3 nights. It's on South Michigan Avenue, not far from Navy Pier. But we managed to find ourselves on *lower* michigan avenue or something - took us *quite* a while to emerge back into daylight *and* somewhere we could head back east without going back under! What an experience! But we get there. Get them checked in.

Then leave them in order to drive my brother to ORD.

Yup, it was quite the packed schedule!

Got brother to the airport with plenty of time to spare [my extra-extra buffers hadn't gotten used!], but dumped him there anyway. He later text messaged me saying ORD's Terminal 5 was probably one of the most boringest places he'd been. Poor thing!

So Kosh and I *finally* had some time to ourselves... so did we do anything special? I really can't recall! I think we both just needed vegetation time, so it was probably cuddling in front of tv for us that evening.


T plus Three
Kosh at work, and on call, urgh.
Parents out of my hair for the day - they took an all-day tour of the city [still crappy weather, btw].

T plus Four
Weather still crappy. Pick parents up around 1pm. Lunch. They visit apartment. Bored. Weather clears up a bit, so take them for a walk to a nearby supermarket for some basic shopping, just for the sake of doing something. Back to apartment. Bored. Watch mindless tv. Kohs is very very late leaving work. Maybe that will drive it home to them how we just can't plan much around his schedule. He finally gets home, hang out for a little while, then head to a nearby Mexican place for a light dinner. Drive them back to hotel.

T plus Five
Weather slightly better, but still crappy. Pick checked-out parents up around 1215n, and drive them to ORD, stopping by the Oasis for them to have a light lunch. Drop them off around 2pm. The event is now o.v.e.r., thank gawd!

T plus Six
Weather totally turns around - bright, warm & sunny. Whoohooo! Even Chicago is celebrating! LOL!

T plus ... [omg it's been about two weeks already??!]

• Finally got hold of some Thank You cards, but not written let alone sent them out yet.
• Finally got somewhere with my scrapbook-like wedding announcement - almost ready for distribution via email.
• Finally finish the "event narration" for the blog, so regular blogging can continue, whoohoooo! And all just in time for... the fasting month! That starts Saturday or Sunday, depending on moon sightings and such.

And on that note? Narration o.v.e.r! Back to regular programming in the next post!

Ciao!

T minus Zero!

Previously: T minus Two, One & Half, we were carpooling to the Courthouse.

Getting into the building

Perhaps we neglected to inform the parents about the fact that we would all be subject to scans & searches, kinda like getting on a plane, because, well, we were going to a Courthouse: you know, the kind where there are judges and accuseds and lawyers? Someone's belt and another's Swiss Pen knife caused problems and had to be taken to the car. Geeeez, yes, a pen knife. Brought to a courthouse. Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

Getting the courtroom

So Kosh and I hike it over to the administration office while the rest of the group is still going through the metal detectors, seeing as it's juuuuuuuuuuuust exactly the appointment time.

No one at the office/desk.

We wait around, and *still* no one.

I start to freak a bit, wondering if they would actually turn us back because we hadn't arrived 15mins prior to the appointment as recommended! Then there *is* someone there, we check-in, and are told to wait in the hallway till we get called.

By this time, the rest of the group has found their way up, & wonder of wonders, someone wants to whip out his camera while waiting. Despite our earlier admonishments that no photos allowed except in the courtroom itself, with permission granted by the judge! Glad we nipped that in the bud - wouldn't have been good to get married *and* bail out a relative on the same day, eh? LOL!

At this point, Kosh distributed a rose each to the mothers, and the dozen for me* were handed to a nephew for safekeeping. The oldest nephew was given the task of safeguarding our rings. [* Yes, a dozen roses for me. Very sweet of him, and it "met with the approval" of the group... proving that most people do not want to believe that he didn't have to do the flowers thing for me [I am so *not* a {stereo}typical "girl", you'd think "people" would "get" that by now], and even if he did, simple stuff like carnations would have done just as well [they *are* yummilicious, and roses overrated, after all!]]

Anyways.

Then these two uniformed guards [technically they were bailiffs, I suppose] called our names [well, they called Kosh's name and attempted mine, LOL!], and we filed into a nearby courtroom.

T itself

• "Witnesses" took their seats in the jury box.
• Kosh and I stood at the podium where the judge would stand facing us.
• Permission was granted by the bailiffs for phto-taking - and wow, I felt like a celebrity! There were four cameras in use, and trying to keep a smile PLUS look at the correct direction at the correct time? Quite a challenge!
• Judge comes in, we start the whole thing. Of course, he totally f*cks up my name - anyone surprised?
• At the end of the ceremony, we are pronounced husband and wife, a piece of paper is signed, and there you have it.
• Of course, the judge also totally blew it for me when just after the pronouncement, he looks over to the jury box and invites two people to be witnesses to this joyous event. This, after being told many times by the court administrator that "no witnesses required"! I suppose the judge assumed we'd arranged for witnesses since we'd brought quite the crowd with us, just as he assumed he could pronounce my name without checking with me before starting the ceremony! And since I'd already blithely brushed off my parents' question about having designated witnesses, again, I'm made to look like I didn't know what I was talking about. F*ck the judge, man! [In fact, the witnesses sign on the section that is not official, and not part of the record. So it's true, witnesses not required. Would be nice to know in advance that the judge will still *invite* witnesses tho! Grrrrr!] So yeah. I was actually *mad* at the judge right then, but had to just swallow that in order to go on and do the official signing thing a few minutes later.

He then left the room, I got handed over the roses [they'd been in the safekeeping of a nephew all this time] and we were again the subject of numerous photos, with just about every combination you can think up [her parents / his parents / the parents / the siblings...] except with the nephews. An unfortunate oversight.

The bailiffs were plenty patient with us but seemed very happy to see our backs as we filed out the courtroom.

T plus next few hours

Outside, it was *so* hot there was no way for any pix cos we'd all be squinty-eyed! So we headed back to the SIL's place.

Champagne & toasts.

Kosh and I wanted more pix in the garden, and proceeded to strike a few poses. [Good thing we insisted! These pix came out well! The ones in the courtroom came out crappy with poor lighting!]

Then it was time for dinner.

But despite my planning for things up till "T", I'd overlooked some stuff I'd need for after "T"... so we still had to hash out some details in order to get the 9 adults in 2 vehicles to the restaurant from SIL's place and from hotel. Bad enough that start time for the next day's brunch was made into an issue *rolls eyes*.

Anyways. So we manage to all make it to the restaurant in one piece. Dinner itself was quite nice, tho the place was a bit too noisy/crowded than anticipated. Food was good, drinks quite good, but the service was, well, okay at first, but I think we waited over half an hour for our dessert?!

The older folks called it a day soon after, leaving me, Kosh and my brother to stay on and catch the 60's band that was going to play that night. They were okay lah - a better sound system [esp a mic for one of the singers] would have made for a much better set. Was nice to hear the Dave Clark Five's "Because" again tho - I sang along to that and a few others that I recognised :-)

We'd arranged for the hotel shuttle to pick us up at 1030pm again - hit the hay [hey!!] soon after

[But guess what? The restaurant closed its doors permanently the next day! Like all unannounced and leaving another party who'd essentially reserved the whole place totally screwed! Glad we didn't get that glitch thrown at us!!]

Next post? The *final* installment of the T series (thank gawd!)
Stay tuned!
Regular programming will continue after this.

T minus Half: the "transformation"

[continuation from T minus Two & One]

I have an 11am appointment for hair and make-up.

She's a bit late.

We haven't ever met before; haven't had a trial run.

So we discuss some hairstyle possibilities, then she gets to work blowdrying, then lightly curling, then pinning things up. Taking down. Pinning up another way. Down. Up. etc etc etc.

Spent almost 3 hours with her.

Probably 2hr 50mins on hair, and 10mins a hurried application of foundation/concealer, blusher, light eyeshadow, matte powder. I so do NOT like make-up! But I figured it was a necessary evil for this one day [one ouwld want to be a glowing bride, not a shiny one, eh?], but even then, I did not want to be all dolled-up and unrecognizable. She still put on more than I would have liked. Maybe it was just choice of products? Eh. Whatever.

We'd pretty much come head on to the end of my allocated buffers - I had to throw her $$ at her while I hurried to add on the other stuff like belt, earrings, necklace, bracelet and throw on my boots too!

Then we rushed off to do the carpooling thing: 9 adults & 3 kids in 3 vehicles heading to the County COurthouse.

So you wanna see the "transformation?
>>>>>>

And you've already seen this:


[Hey, Dariush, does the "after" photo meet your challenge of posting an "artsy [photo] that doesn't really ID who [I am]"?]

Next post - "T" itself! Stay tuned!

Filler: Quizzes

This one was t.o.u.g.h!! But looks like I did quite well...

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

Wonder if i got them all right? Gave me a headache, though! I don't like thinking so carefully and logically!

... and maybe because my brain was so fried, I *so* failed this one!!

You Scored 30% Correct

You know some 80s stuff Like that Paula Abdul was a star back then But you're not sure who Suzie Q was And you don't know what Samantha Fox was really famous for!

How Much Do You Know About 80s Music?

I'm so ashamed! sob sob!!

but indignant too! I know sam fox was more famous for her chestal appendages than her singing. but, well, I somehow associate Suzie Q with Prince & the Revolution [and vaguely with CCR], but looks like I'm waaaay off - can anyone help? [btw - i retook it, changed some answers after reading more carefully... and *still* scored 30%, LMAO!]

Then there's this other quiz ... but I won't reveal my result [but I *will* tell ya it had a skull, LMAO!] - why don't you go see what you get? The quiz is here. Created by Dave2.

T minus One

[The boring countdown to the wedding continues...]

The day before the wedding:

Brother:

He arrived about 24hrs after my parents. Had already provided information for him to take the airport shuttle to the hotel. Was puzzled about why he was so quiet: turns out that his phone needed to be manually switched to whatever frequency/system used here in the U.S., so it took him a while to realise that, then to play around and figure out how to do that switching. But once that was achieved - yahooo! Technology is a wonderful thing, when it works!

Kosh:

Remember the whole crisis about him having/not having the necessary days off? Well, at T minus One, he was working, but one he got off work, he'd be off for THREE WHOLE DAYS! But... had no idea *when* he'd actually be able to leave the hospital.

This was the only major uncertainty of the whole weekend.

And boy oh boy.. what an uncertainty!! Even tho he did manage to leave slightly earlier than feared, he still needed to pack [I'd suggested he pack the night before, but that's too much advance planning for him! And he was on call too anyway, sh*tty schedule and all... so I tried to pack for him, but, there was only so much I could do...]! Finally got all our sh*t together, hopped into the car, got onto the highway.

Except that the highway was a parking lot.

No kidding.

I expected heavy traffic and all... but I did *not* expect a parking lot.

So we ended up paralleling the highway on sideroads, dealing with loads of traffic lights, desperately reading the roadmap to figure out our best route...

Finally made it back to the highway further along, and it was clear! Of course, reaching that place took us over an hour for what should have been like a 20min journey.

Ugh!

Arrived at the hotel. Greeted my parents and brother in lobby - they'd been waiting for over 30mins [but were aware of our tardiness, thanx to my brother being sms-able!]. Checked-in, dumped stuff in room, then hopped on the pre-booked hotel shuttle to get us to Kosh's sister's place.

Sure, we could have driven, but we both intended to imbibe in acheyhol, and since the hotel provided free shuttle service within the area, we took full advantage of it!


Meet & Greet:

Kosh's sis and hubby hosted a great bbq steak dinner accompanied by mucho of the acheyhol and plenty of the conversation. This also happens to be the first time the Naraneks and the H's meet: everyone seemed to survive the encounter. Amazing!

The hotel shuttle picked us back up at 1030pm. I was not even buzzing, so headed down to the hotel bar for another round of drinks. Eh. Not outstanding. But even tho my day the next day was only scheduled to start at 11am, there was going to have to be major coordination among all the parties involved... so headed up and hit the hay [hey!!] anyway.

Bored out of your skulls yet?? I have another three or so posts to go!

T minus two: the parents

[long overdue, probably boring. Will try to make it short and snappy!]


So, things really started happening two days before the wedding.

That's when my parents arrived.

... silence

Funny thing is - they didn't send me *any* text messages updating me on their progress, despite stopovers in Amsterdam *and* Detroit. Thaaaaaaanx. So I couldn't inform them that I was probably going to pick them up curbside, so please make your way outside once you emerge. Great.

Nvm, I thought, I'd text them as I got close to ORD anyway, so that they wouldn't have to spend time waiting outside.

No reply.

By the time I reached ORD it was well after their arrival time [in my mind I kept adding 30mins for immigration/ customs/ agriculture out of habit, but their international arrival was over in Detroit!], and since I'd not heard back from them, and didn't catch sight of them on the curbside of the terminal, I had to go park the car.

Then had to make my way through a huge maze to get from the parking to the relevant terminal. Dazed from the maze, I got to the correct baggage claim area, but dazedly hopped on an up escalator [which leads to the check-in/departure area], only to hear my name being called out from behind me: I turn around to see a parent yelling my name at the bottom of the escalator, waving at me.

... "lost"

I nod and hold out my hand in a "wait" to indicate I've seen it, continue up [I'm not going to down and up escalator, okay?] and then search for a way back down to the baggage claim area. It seems I didn't notice a down escalator closeby, for I ended up walking the other way for quite a ways, finally finding some elevators to take me back down one floor.

... I walk back to where I'd been spotted.

... aaaaaand find a parent. Just the one.

The other one, who'd spotted me? Nowhere to be found.

Ugh.

Turns out it had spotted the nearby down escalators, and had stood there waiting for me. For like 20mins. Even tho it was so close to the up escalators, so if I were to have spotted them and taken them back down, I'd have been there in 2 mins. I'd like to think that after 5 mins of waiting, if I'd been in its shoes, I would have turned around and joined the other parent and waited. Sheeesh.

Anyways - so Phase One Part One was officially underway.

Oh - and the lack of text message replies? Turns out I'd overlooked the fact that both parents, even though subscribed to international roaming, had PHONES that were not compatible with the U.S. telecommunication system. So, they could text message my brother from Amsterdam [why they didn't text *me* from Amsterdam, who knows], but were totally uncontactable in the U.S. Totally overlooked that little detail! Heh. Good thing we managed to meet up despite that glitch, eh?

Anyways.

So we head to the car, and I drive them to their hotel.

... liquids

Enroute, I am told that my mother had had to lose all her toiletries in Amsterdam before boarding the plane to Detroit. Discarded because they were in her carry-on luggage. Despite my telling her that liquids were NOT ALLOWED on carry-ons!

Okay, to be fair - I'd recommended that she check with the TSA website and/or the airline before doing the final packing, to make sure the most current information is obtained. She decided to go with the airline: it seems that she was told that "Oh no, no worries, all that no liquids on carry-on thing is just for planes to the U.S. from Heathrow/UK". What a load of bull. Which unfortunately my mother swallowed.

All I could say was for her to complain and seek compensation for the toiletries lost as a result of wrong advice dispensed by the airlines personnel. No use questioning her on what she was thinking, eh?? Or not thinking??

Aaaaanyways.

... *rolls eyes*

So, got them to the hotel, checked them in, hung out while they freshened up, joined them for dinner, where they proceeded to amaze me at how oblivious they seem to be over how to address things that are so "sensitive" in Malaysia, which I am bypassing by being in the U.S.... [am keeping this vague on purpose]. Suffice to say they should know better. Should being the key word here. *sigh*

But you know what? Things going as expected. How greatly cynical is that? Haha.

... crawl

Bade them goodnight, and drove back, but I got caught on I-90 due to roadworks: since I wasn't too familiar with the Chicago roads I chose to stick with it rather than risk getting lost in the 'burbs.

Finally got back exhausted.

Good thing my day the next day wouldn't need to start till late!

... zzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZzzzzZZzzzz!

the big four oh

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARL!

[yes yes I owe updates on Kosh&my wedding. later. but in the meantime, my thanx to all the well-wishers who dropped by with comments / emails / text messages - special thanx to Sunny & Rail who made it a point to text me on the day itself, and getting it right despite the 13-hr time difference! cheers!]

... and the bride wore black!

... not *just* black lah...



.. got some green, maaaaah!



... and silver, loh!



.... and boots, oh my!


Yup, I managed to be myself despite being in a dress, LOL!



"... two become one ..."
Two Three sets of three threads, intertwined, form our rings.

Whether you think of them as representing the trinity of "me, myself and I", "id, ego and super-ego", or even "past, present and future", each set of these threads symbolise Kosh and I as the unique individuals that we are and always will be.

With our union, these entwined threads symbolise our lives now joined to form two parts of a greater whole: we draw and lend strength from/to each other, our joys and sorrows shared alike.

We are still two, yet we are also one.


Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present...
Dr Kosh & Mrs Lynne Naranek!
[NOTE: boring details on some of last week's goings-on will follow]

Filler: The Hitchhikers

[from my email inbox a while ago]

An elderly man walked into a confessional booth. The following conversation ensued:

Man: "I am 82 years old, and have a wonderful wife of 60 years, many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitchhiking. For some reason, they thought I was kind of interesting. One thing led to another, and we ended up at a motel, where I had sex with each of them twice."

Priest: "Are you sorry for your sins?"

Man: "What sins?"

Priest: "What kind of a Catholic are you?"

Man: "I'm Jewish."

Priest: "Why are you telling me all this?"

Man: "I'm telling everybody!"

Yes folks, it's 6am as I type this - Kosh has already stumbled off to work, and I'm unable to get back to sleep. Yay. Catching up on blogs time, whoohooo!

Bits & Pieces

Things slowly getting back to normal. Announcement & pix to follow soon.

In the meantime, noteworthy things from the past week or so:

1. Tales from Preggersville!

Tale #1: Overheard in Chicago's "happy fat"

Tale #2: Moxie's laughter & bladder mismatch

2. The eyewitness video of 9/11 - released 5 years later. I think listening to people seeing it unfold, hearing their reactions, and us the viewer thinking "you ain't seen nothing yet! another plane's gonna hit! then one tower's gonna fall. Then the other!" makes watching this all too painful. The collapse of the second tower, and the resulting billowing of ash/smoke/dust - wow.

3. Another example of why the human race might be better off dead. Are Steve Irwin "fans" "taking revenge" on sting rays?? Read about it at KApgar's place. My lack of faith in humanity is restored. Go, world!

And on that note... I think I'll curl up to my Coke Zero and Disc#2 of the Animaniacs Season One DVD [yup, Kosh got that for me, whoohooo!]: I want my mindless amusement right now.

Ciao.

so, true or not??

Earlier this year, Veya had kept me updated about some drama unfolding on-air: some hubby was a successful caller to get a free bouquet of flowers, and he dedicated them to this girl; it so happened that his wife was listening, and that girl the flowers were being dedicated to? Not the wife. [i wrote a little about it here]

Then today, I received in my inbox a supposed on-air conversation between a radio DJ, an Indian wife, and her Indian husband - taking place in the u.s. It sounded exactly like the scenario Veya had told me, that I immediately smelled a rat. Especially since the husband's dedication message was quite over the top [thanking "sharon" for teaching him all those new/different positions]. {can't find an existing version online, so can't point you there, sorry!}

But then again, you never know - maybe that *was* a genuine situation - the last names and other identifying information were beeped out of that soundclip I'd received, after all...

But anyway - decided to check out snopes to see if there was anything behind this tale... and it turns out that a girlfriend found out in this manner that her boyfriend was actually married! [see here][Includes link to the original on-air discovery]

So, is the "Indian Radio" soundclip I received genuine, or just a publicity stunt of a radio station, or perhaps taken from a comedy show somewhere? And what about what Veya heard on Malaysian radio in April?

Eh.

Do I *really* care?

No, not really. But I would like to be able to confidently say "yeah, it's funny but don't believe it, it's a fake" or "yeah, and did you know it's so totally true?!" if ever this subject comes up in conversation... because I'd like to know one way or another, whether I'm perpetuating a false tale or not!!

Another way to say "You reap what you sow"

[H/T: Ron Allan]

Building Your House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Build wisely!

- Author Unknown

There's so much I could elaborate on, using the above as a springboard, but, not in the mood.

So, go ahead and pretend I've written a paragraph or ten of witty yet thought-provoking perspectives on how this relates to reaping what you sow, the sins of the father, and other tales.

Cheers!

we tend to see the forest and forget the trees

Everyone knows what today is.

The 5th year anniversary of 9/11.

Please, take a step back and spare a minute or two just to meditate on how the world changed 5 years ago.

In some cases, for the better - but in most cases, things changed for the worse.

With the time difference and all, events were unfolding on Sept 11th 2001 at night in Malaysia - I remember getting a call from my then-bf saying to "... quickly turn on the tv, World War 3 has started!" and I was then among the many who were watching the tv screen, scarcely believing that what was onscreen was happening in real life and not some horridly realistic special effect of some tv show.

Even worse: at that time, KTN and CLB were in a train from Singapore to KL. They had finally managed to coordinate their schedules to come visit me over at my side of the world, 6 years after we graduated from U of I together. During their overnight journey, they knew "something" had happened, but news in the train was scarce.

Upon their arrival at the train station early morning on Sept 12th [Malaysian time], I made sure we did the happy greetings first before breaking the news to them, and handing over the local newspapers so they would know what had happened.

Being the messenger - THAT is my memory of 9/11.
And the fact that on Sept 12th, around 9am, the PETRONAS Twin Towers were evacuated due to some prank bomb threat. I don't think they ever found who was behind that prank. Pity. Because people like that prankster? They need to be filtered out of the gene pool sooner rather than later.

Anyways...

Before signing off for today, I would like to highlight the 2996 project, established by D. C. Roe, to pay tribute to the victims of 9/11. Please explore the list of tributes here. [have tissues handy]

A whole forest of people died five years ago today - please take the time to *see* the trees that make up the forest.

Peace.

Tatooine Art?

or rather, a-tatooine we will go, a-tatooine we will go, hey ho the derry-o a-tatooine we will go...

[H/T: Ganga over at Dextrous Doings]

So, if ever I was allowed to unleash my twisted creative talent onto an unsuspecting tattoo victim, I might just decide to do this:


But, I gotta say... this particular tattoo has stayed pretty much branded into my mind ever since a session of Trivial Pursuit 90's edition:

Anyone know who sports a similar tattooed message, and what it *used* to say?

You can create your own too - check out Crusty Demons Tattoo Parlour and have fun sans needles!

Maybe Lorena Bobbit works for a mamak shop? and other rambling thoughts

Karl [and other enquiring minds] - I'd describe the t- sheets as "warm and comfy", but not overpoweringly suffocating the way flannel sheets are. I suppose compared to flannel, t-sheets are cooling. Definitely comfy! Yes, they get a bit warped when washed, just like regular tee's. And a drawback to the specific brand we ended up buying three sets of is that the pillowcases don't have "flaps" on them, so the ends of the pillows might stick out a bit. But hey, overall, I'm happy with them. :-)

Cat - somehow, Kosh had the day kinda free yesterday, so we took the cat to a vet, where Kosh agreed to put the cat through its Senior Ageing Wellness Program or whatever, which essentially means you pay mucho dinero for blood tests & urine analysis targetted for elderly cats [I think she's 8 or 10 years old]. Except that they couldn't extract her urine - it seems she has a tiny bladder that would not suffer being poked by a needle too well. So we were given an aluminium pan, fake litter [which looks like sillica gel balls, but is totally opposite - these do NOT absorb liquid] and told to get the cat to pee in that, then get a full syringe worth of pee, and bring that back over to them. Yeah. Not really sure how to set it up such that she will actually "go" there, all we could come up with was to put that aluminium pan right there in her litter box, on the existing litter. Takes up maybe 75% of the surface area. Rolled up other rugs that she might decide to "go" on instead. But. Guess what? It's been over 15hours - she ain't peed yet. Anywhere. I need to get that sample to them before we leave town this afternoon! Arrrrgggghhhhh!!

Torpedo Soup - something "discovered" in 2001 by me, my then-bf and KTN & CLB who were visiting Malaysia for the first [and so far, only] time. More details here, triggered by ToniXe. If you *still* don't know what it is [especially with the title of this post as a major clue - different species, same organ], well, I suppose you can drop me a comment and I'll tell ya how blur you are, how's that? teeheehee!

Exercise - huh? what's that??? heehehee no lah, not that bad lah... but I *was* "absent" from the gym for almost a week, then the past two days saw me doing 35 min then 40 mins at Level 2 then Level 4 on the elliptical thingy. Yesterday I burned over 400 cals (which covers two zone bars, lol!), whoohooo! This weekend, exercise is pretty much shot tho. I need to up the frequency, followed by duration, of these sessions. Don't feel like doing any of that today though. Heeehehehee!

Cheers!

Slow Blogging Day: Brain Twister

BRAIN TWISTER:

See if you can figure out what these words have in common .....

Assess
Banana
Dresser
Grammar
Potato
Revive
Uneven
Voodoo

Yup, those eight words really do have something in common.... can you figure out what?










Oh, c'mon..... you can do it.....







Give up?








Okayyyyyy.....








Answer:

In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

... if it makes you feel any better - *i* didn't get it....

more cat tales

Random Cat Tales, Part Deux

From ~Nov 2005: I had been getting lots of lap-time with the psycho kitty while Kosh was away on his rotations in St Louis and Iowa. And the cat seemed to be *so* passed out on my lap that sometimes I'd momentarily panic wondering if she’s breathing anymore, then I'd have to stop what I’m doing (usually sudoku or reading or watching tv) and just watch her to make sure there *was* movement in her chestal area.

From ~ 1999 or so: Here’s a tail tale of a stray male cat that was strutting its stuff, when some friends and I were at this outdoor stall in the Ampang Point area (before the crackdown on not allowing mamak shops to put extra tables & chairs on the pavement & road at night to accommodate their customers). I noticed the male cat exploring, sniffing at peoples’ legs, looking for food… then… I saw that arching of his back and wiggle of his tail: he had “marked” someone’s leg!! The guy didn’t realize what was going on since he was wearing jeans so didn’t feel the spray… but man oh man I bet he would figure it out soon enough once the smell hits him LOL!

From a few days ago [maybe last Friday?]:

So week after I got back to the U.S., on one of our random shopping trips, Kosh was looking for a cat bed for the kitty to sleep in. After all, the poor cat was having to make do with hardwood floors compared to the previous apartment in urbana that was fully carpeted! I thought it was a bit on the small side, but the kitty seemed to like it well enough: often you could find her all curled up snugly in it - very the cute :-)

Then. One fateful day. perhaps last Friday. I looked up as she got into the kitty bed, did a half-squat, and, well, I could have sworn she was peeing! In her bed! Not quite believing my eyes, I nudged Kosh and brough his attention to the cat. Oh boy did he get mad! Yep, the cat was indeed a-peein in its bed. We didn't feel like salvaging it, so out into the trash it went.

Perhaps she was objecting to the kittly litter not having been cleaned out [i'd planned to do it the day before, and forgot...]? Or is she having a UTI? She's due for her annual check-up and shots anyway, so we'll find out soon enough [once we find a reasonably-priced vet in the area!!]

And on a related note: she's had a tendency to occasionally pee on the bathroom rug too! So we keep the bathroom door closed. But it's such a poorly ventilated room that she shower curtain seems to be blossoming as a result. Grrrrr!

This morning:
I heard the ugly sounds of her coughing up yet another hairball - tracked her down just as the slimy hairball was ejected: she was right by the bedroom/bathroom doors. Then, she slunk off and jumped onto the bed. Slunk off. Now, usually she seems much better after puking, so to have her slinking off had me uneasy. So I followed her into the room.. only to see her start heaving again. On the bed. So i yell at her incoherently, grab her and throw her off the bed onto the floor, where she ejects some little bit of fluid before running off. Again, I follow her, and find her under the table, looking at me with this hurt and "pity me!" look on her face. Gave her a little lecture on NOT puking on the bed, then went about cleaning up her mess.

Kinda pissed me off, especially considering earlier in the day, I'd sat with her and gave her 100% of my attention stroking and petting the cat till she was purring loudly - probably like 10mins of nothing-but-kitty time. And I get rewarded a few hours later with puke. Thaaaaaaaaanx! :p

* * *

This whole hairball thing - I'd always "heard" about it when reading all those books based in the Western World. In Malaysia, at one point in my life I had two cats, and as far as I know, hairballs were never a part of their life! Now, in theory, hairballs have nothing to do with the length of a cat's fur, but most cats in malaysia are short-haired, so I wonder if that has something to do with it? All I do know is that this kitty of Kosh's ours pukes waaaay too often for my liking.

Also, like I'd mentioned before - the Malaysian cats that I know do not drink from the faucet. I still find it amusing that cats on this side of the world/hemisphere demand running water to drink from.

Anyone with explanations for this Asian vs Western feline difference?

match & mix!

The holiday weekend wasn't too productive, but it certainly provided a combined quality *and* quantity time catch-up for Kosh & I :-)

Now, about those t-sheets: Yes, Neil, they *do* get all creased when washed. In fact, I'd call them "warped" - which is what happens to regular tee's anyway, so I did expect that. And I figure it's a minor setback to the major comfy-ness :-) So we went to the store yesterday, and saw a whole lot more color options to choose from [lavender, yelow, grey, sky blue, ...]! In the end we went with two: a maroon [not "red", so not an x-mas combo with the olive green we have], and the khaki [there was a lighter/tan one, but the slightly darker khaki was better]. And they match each other too, so we have THREE to mix and match with, whoohoooooo!!

On Sunday, Kosh and I went out looking for a place to have brunch on the nearby eatery street. I'd originally requested we look for a place that served crepes, but, well, none of that kinda thing on that street [and we needed to be closeby since Kosh was on call]. There's one brunch place that was overflowing with customers waiting to be seated - figured we'd try that some other time. So then headed to what is essentially a bar that [from a sign in the window] serves breakfast. The breakfast itself was not outstanding - heck, I was drowning my omelette in ketchup in order to get some taste :-( BUT BUT BUT the bonus of having eaten there?? We had the opportunity to observe a real-life Cliff Clavin! There were three guys at the bar [at 1030am], and the tv screen in front of them were playing some music video channel... and "Cliff" was spouting all sorts of music-related miscellaneous information about the bands [not necessarily what was on screen]: so the drummer from Rush lost his wife and daughter int he span of a few months; the Rolling Stones are in good financial shape because their finances are managed by ol' Mick himself, who happens to have a degree in economics; and oh so many more. And hey, I do NOT listen in to conversations, and we were seated in a booth away from the bar, but we still managed to bask in the glory that is Cliff. Lol! He wasn't in a Post Office uniform tho.

In other news - the Crocodile Hunter is dead - killed while doing what he loved: what better way to go? May he rest in peace.

And on another note: the clock counting down to madness and mayhem is ticking faster and louder.

Be prepared for sporadic posts - should be back to normal in a week or so.

Cheers!

We accept the love we think we deserve

ponder upon that, dear readers.

* * * *

... on another note: H/T Dawn for finding this page featuring some amazing paper sculptures [my fave on that page is Down the River]. There's more of Mr Callesen's work here [check out Holding on to Myself]. I am totally blown away by this. Would love to see him at work! Or to own something of his! It's really really really amazing!! Have I mentioned that I am really really totally blown away? I don't usually gush, after all, do I?

* * * *

This weekend is kinda weird - Kosh is now in a different rotation/section within the hospital, and is on what they call home call: so he's not needed at the hospital, but needs to be page-able, contactable, and of course, able to get his butt to the hospital within a reasonable amount of time if needed. So it's kind of a limbo state: free to be at home/do stuff, but shouldn't be committed anything, so no movies, not going out to eat, etc etc etc. That's okay, he needs to be doing stuff at home anyway, but still - it's a bit of a weird setup.

And yes, until the powers-that-be reached down and rearranged his schedule, this was how he would have had to be next weekend. Which would not have been workable since we're going to be about 1.5hrs away from the hospital!

Still very glad everything seemed to fall into place.

In less than a week I am gonna be mizzuz naranek!

Madness and mayhem for the next week or so.

Yay!

tales of the metatarsal

From here, item # 113.

So this was one of those summers between 1990 & 1995, when I was back in KL during summer break.

We're usually running around barefoot in the house.

So that fateful day I ran up the stairs like I'd done a thousand million times before, but somehow my right foot slipped off of the edge of a step, yet still took the full brunt of my weight anyway; I kinda fell forward, and almost passed out from the sharp pain in my foot.

I kinda lay there, stunned, blinking to clear the black/grey clouds outta my eyes; swallowing hard to clear that roaring in my ears...

The pain seemed gone, but the aftereffects were still there - I felt weak and queasy.

I limped gingerly back down the stairs, to the couch, and lay down, elevating the foot.

I remember my brother was also back for the summer: he asked if I was okay, I said yes, but certainly didn't feel like going out [I'd run up the stairs to change cos the mother was on the way back from work, was going to pick us up to go out for lunch], so just kinda immersed myself in not giving in to the faintiness.

By the time they got back from lunch, the worst of my queasiness was over.

And my foot didn't really hurt much when I put my weight on it - just a slight twinge/whisper of something.

So of course it was assumed by parties-I-shall-not-name that all was alright, and that i was just trying to milk attention from the whole thing. I couldn't really protest either, because, well, i *wasn't* in pain... and I couldn't quite articulate my gut feeling that all was NOT alright. [That entire scenario was all-too-common an occurance - my inability to articulate in the face of sneering dismissal]

So, over the course of the next week or so, I limped around the house to the exasperation of unnamed family member(s); we went on vacation to an island [Pulau Tioman, i think] and had to walk around quite a bit; I drove on the trip back because it wasn't fair to exclude myself from driving duty when everyone in the car knew how to drive and should shoulder the burden.

Soon, I was going to be flying back to the U.S.

I *still* felt something was not quite right.

I finally talked my parents into giving permission to go to the doctor.

Went to the doctor.

And even the doctor pooh-poohed my concern, saying "Aiyah, you probably just bruised your bone or something... but nevermind, I'll have an X-ray done just to be sure"

Got the X-ray done.

Waited to be re-called to the doc's office to go over the results.

I get called in...

... ... ... only to get THOROUGHLY SCOLDED for walking around with a broken foot.

Scolded.

Me.

This coming from someone who tried to make it out like she was doing me a HUGE favor for ordering an unnecessary X-ray just to please me.

Yeah.

Anyways, turned out that one of those pesky metatarsals was broken, but not quite all the way - there was this long diagonal wavy-edged wedge of space that should have been bone.

But since I was flying off in a day or two, the doc didn't want to put me in a cast [was that really a reason? Or she didn't want to deal with me since it was almost knock-off time?? who knows...]... so she bandaged my foot instead, advised me to keep my weight off of it, and to go see a doctor once I was back in the U.S.

So there I was, with this huge bandaged foot that of course could not fit into the shoe I'd been wearing.

And the plan had been for me to take the bus back home.

Not with that bandaged foot I wasn't! I couldn't really walk with it - but neither was I issued a crutch that would have enabled me to get around without setting the foot down.

So I called the house, managed to get hold of my brother, *and* a car was available, so a while later he swung by to pick me up. The family was in quite a dither at having dismissed my now-proven-genuine concerns about my injury. An old pair of large moccasin-type shoes was dug up so that one shoe could be used to "house" the bandaged foot. No crutches were in the family inventory, but a cane was also dug up so that I could put *some* weight off my foot.

I think I was [and still am] justified in making them feel bad about it. Muaahahahaahahaaa!!

A few days after all that excitement, I left for the U.S. limping into the plane with a bandaged foot. Did I have mis-matched footwear to accomodate the bandaged appendage? I suppose so, but I don't remember ... i *know* there's a picture or two taken at the airport, so i suppose one day, when I'm back in KL, if I remember I can look it up and inform all of you who are curious about such things. And we'd also be able to confirm if it was my left or right foot that was broken because I can't remember for sure - I *think* the right is right so I'm going with that for this tale. Minor detail. Carry on, carry on...

Anyways. Moving on..

so I get to the U.S. ... I end up at the university's medical center, and at first they were going to refer me to a proper hospital for treatment, but then after calling over for advice, i was told that essentially there was no real way to treat that injury [i.e. setting it in a cast was of no use]. So I got this big blue wraparound shoe thing for the foot to keep the sole flat, and a pair of crutches,,,, and a few days after THAT started the fall semester. On crutches.

Yay.

The first day of school was wet/rainy, and the rubber things on the bottom of the crutches weren't doing a good non-slip job - I remember slipping and sliding along slippery floors almost crying with frustration and wanting to hurl those damned things away.

On other days, I actually enjoyed hopping around on them crutches. It wasn't an attention-getting thing - I just liked the swing/rhythm of movement! I was actually disappointed when, after an x-ray check-up, it seemed the bone was knitting well enough but there were signs of osteoporosis because i wasn't *using* the foot, so I was essentially ordered to stop with the crutching and start with the walking.

It was weird to walk-walk again after so long...

But I did, and all is now well.

Although, sometimes, I do get a twinge in my foot, and I wonder if it's the site of the knitted metatarsal reminding me that it's there.

If ever I have a reason to x-ray my foot in the future, I will surely want to see how it looks now, over 12 years later.

Lesson Learnt: Well, it was yet another nail in the "The Parents Are Always Right" coffin. So if ever you do suffer a fall, please go get it checked out. And others who dismiss you? Don't care who THEY are, dismiss THEM!!

Cheers!