So, What are we gonna do tomorrow night Brain?

hey congratulations grandpa Jay.

Glee, whats tv patrol? So sorry to hear about your uncle. My Grandmoter died last year and she was partially blind due to Glaucoma(blood pressure in the eye).She moved back to the Philippines two years ago after my grandfather died. She was much happier in PI since all her friends were there. She got to go out and exercise, shop and go to the beauty parlor. I think your uncle would get better care here in the US but as far as happiness, nothing beats being with people you know.

Its two weeks before my sisters wedding and my brother in law still hasnt ordered the tuxedo's auurgh..

I just received word that my sister's former roomate Frances has a part in Aida the Disney musical in Broadway. Woohoo!!! If you guys want good seats for this play its good that you know someone that is part of it because they can get you good seating. Full price seating but great seats!!!. Okay enough plugging, I gotta get my own tickets too. Dot wants to see it with me and her cousin Kathy.



I saw in the news that another volcano is erupting in Italy. Wow, is this a sign of worse things to come?



Net

Congratulations!

Alyssa Mae Ricketts, our first granddaughter, was born at 5:50 pm today... 9 lbs. 1oz., 22". She's a real cutie, and looks lots like Jess (her mom, our daughter).

God is good. All the time.

Jay

I was watching the Filipino news program TV Patrol, and I saw the Mayon Volcano erupting. Dang, that's one huge mf! I'm fortunate not have any family members living near that area.



I just got word that my father's brother died from a stroke. He was the only one who did not come to America. I felt sad for him because I think they did not give him a chance most likely because he's blind. I think if he were here, he would have had a lot more opportunities because the government can help provide all sorts of aid for blind people. Then again, I should not judge. I really don't know what his life was like back in P.I.



My poor sister. She has been suffereing from sinus pressure. The doctors don't know why her sinuses won't drain properly. She's going to undergo a cat scan Saturday. I hope it's not anything serious. She's suffering from so much pain she basically stopped taking pain relievers because they don't work.



Nothing exciting is going on today--I'm just going shoe shopping to match my dress. My mother reserved for all four of us to attend my godbrother's wedding Saturday. (Of course, my sister can't go--she has the cat scan.) I wish I did not have to go. But it would be rude not to go since my mom already RSVPed. I just don't know the groom and his family that well. I would feel like I was crashing a formal event.



I went to the Waves of the Word: Movements of Poetry (a benefit for APIA Youth Poetry) Wednesday night. That was da bomb! If you ever get the chance to see the Chicago spokenword group I Was Born With Two Tongues or NYC's spokenword/music crew FEEDBACK, check them out ! I think they do tours and benefits. California, esp. the Bay Area, has its gems: 8th Wonder. All three groups are a must see.

Good morning, everyone!  Portland is bugging again so we won't be able to publish for the time being.  Everything should be okay in the next 24-48 hours.  Just be patient and keep blogging anyway.



Hey, did you guys hear about Mayon Volcano?  It's been errupting sporadically for the past two months and after a two week lull, I heard it errupted again!  I'm so glad that my family is far from that area.  If you guys still have family in the Philippines who happen to live close to the volcano, I hope they are well.  You might try to get in touch with them just to make sure everything is okay.

We have a bunch of insomniacs here, myself included. Waiting to yawn...

POP! Fizzzz...Glug,Glug...Ahhhh!!! Cant Sleep so I figured I have a soda pop. Geesh its so Hot in the Naked City... Oh Look a naked man walking the street. =)


Ill try to get some shut eyes. Are you sure Clerks wasnt in a video store? I gotta rent that thing again.


Net

Those dead-end jobs are commonly known as McJobs.

A photo next to my REAL name?! Heaven forbid! NOPE, I'm not sending. You cannot make me!


**sticks out tongue** pbbbbblt...

You're right..  There was a small reference to the video store..  But for the most part everything happened at the convenience store.  As far as level of achievement, though, they're all the same to me.  Convenience store, video store..  You can even throw in fast food joints, if you want to.



"It's not the size of the diamond that matters; it's the size of the heart of the giver."  I agree.  I couldn't have put it any better!



And YOU ARE going to send me a picture to but next to your name!



If anyone is wondering why this post is at four in the freakin' morning..  I'm having one of those days again..  I woke up, crying, from a really bad dream and now I'm afraid to go back to sleep.

Weddings, marriages, engagements, brides maids, grooms men....ACK! I have set perception. I see the topic of wedding everywhere: videos, on TV, men's confessions of propsosal jitters on the web, people talking about their sisters getting married in online diaries, etc. I'm nervous just being a bridesmaid. So far, I'm the only person who volunteered to help the maid of honor with the bridal shower. My sister had the most difficult time finding fabric for the bridesmaid dresses. She had to deal with so much rudeness at the fabric store, and the other store she went to got robbed. Speaking of engagement rings, my sister's was a half carat in a platinum ring. My mom estimates a thousand. My engagement ring was cubic zirconium (sp?). No one noticed, not even me. My ex-fiance admitted it to me years after the fact.



Vince, I can empathize with your situation. I would be nervous too. Then again, I don't have any pressure to propose to anyone soon. Last time I suggested marriage to my significant other--she kinda laughed. Anyway, Vince don't worry. I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever you give her simply because it's coming from you and it's you she loves. Well, that and the fact that she would probably be so excited about your proposal she would overlook the size. It's not the size of the diamond that matters; it's the size of the heart of the giver.



Ching, I was hoping you would narrow it down for me--otherwise a blurb can easily become a long meandering personal essay. *sigh* oh well. I'll think of something. I bet you are dying for a photo of me. LOL tough titties...ain't gonna happen.



Regarding OD, happy reading, Ching. Some of it maybe redundant cuz you already know my life story; you can skip those entries if you want. As for the rest of you, if you want my diarist name, just send me an e-mail at gleetv@yahoo.com (those who write why they need to read my drivel will get the quickest response).



I heard Berlin and Depeche Mode were gonna be in the Bay Area. Maybe they already played. I cannot keep up with everything.



A video store? I thought Clerks took place in a convenience store, at least that's how I remember it. I'm going to have to rent it again. When I first saw it, I was watching it with the sexiest guy who was not the least interested with me much to my frustration and chagrin.

Don't take it personally, Vince.  Blogger and Portland are just temperamental sometimes.  It'll get published by the next person.

Ching, how come the web page isnt publishing my recent post. It doesnt even come up as a page now... =(



I hope you can fix it soon. anyway I am feeling a little better now that I have had my dose of liquid crack(coffee). TTYL



~Net

I got the email, Glee!  Printed some entries to read already..  The info that you were asking about is on my previous post.  As far as what I want on your blurbs..  You all have total creative freedom.  Write/say whatever you don't mind the rest of the world knowing about you!



We didn't have any money, Net, so my engagement ring cost hardly anything..  I cherish it nonetheless.  To me, it's the thought that counts..  Besides, I wasn't even expecting an engagement ring at all..  So it was a pleasant surprise.



Brian used to work at a video store!  That's probably one of the reasons that he enjoyed Clerks so much.

I haven't been to any concerts this summer. Missed a few that I wanted to see... Berlin, Dido, Depeche Mode and of course RadioHead. See these concerts esp. RadioHead when it comes to your town.



~Net

I have been so depressed lately. Been worrying about popping the question to Dot. I has dawned to me that my sister is getting married in a few weeks and this is putting some pressure to me about propossing to Dot. In all my wonder years, I have been told to set the example, and now sister is showing me a thing or two. Im the eldest of all my siblings and I should be setting examples! Augh!! Good Grief!! Whats a man suppose to do? Dot has also been hinting that she prefers an engagement ring that's worth ten grand!! Looking at my money market account, if I withdraw ten grand that leaves me with nothing. You are the weakest link, goodbye.

My branch manager now is also putting the pressure on me and my co-worker Mike. We have to set the example to the rest of the crew. Either shape up or ship out! he says. Well, Paul, I say to myself, If you really want to make a difference, why dont you do it?

Note to self... Getting too personal on Blogger. Just keep it to yourself and hit the stairmaster in the gym....




~NET



PS Yet to see Final Fantasy. I will give my review later this week. CLerkS was unusual but if you dont get the sarcasm, try thinking of yourself working in a video store with nothing else to do. I think it shows the realism of people that I know.

Oh, Ching, you got M A I L

If you have scanned pics, you can just send those to me via email (ching@digitalrice.com)..  If you have photos that need to be scanned, you can mail them to:

Chingay Offline

2305 Farmstead Street

Wichita, KS 67220

Where do we send?

-j-

Haven't received any pictures or blurbs, yet..  Still waiting..

I read about Hedwig and the Angry Inch in last month's (actually the July one, I'm thinking last month because I already have the August issue) Elle magazine.  It got rave reviews.  Brian and I both want to see it, but I will doubt that we will be so lucky considering where we live.  It probably won't make it to the theaters here, so we will have to wait for it to come out on DVD rentals.



OPEN DIARY: Give us your diarist name!

The indie movie I really want to watch is Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Does anyone have vampire movies that they recommend? I'm trying to create a filmography of vampire movies.

I watched all four movies you mentioned. I like them all with the exception of Clerks. I only liked the cadence of the banter of one of the clerks, and, yes, those scenes are unforgettable. But I didn't think it was funny--just weird.



Charlie's Angels was indeed goofy. I thought it was funny. I also loved the soundtrack cuz the music reminded me of my youth. I can't believe I used to listen to Motley Crue. I also love dance movies. Gladys has the Save the Last Dance DVD. We love the audition scene (the music for that was great! the R&B mixed with the orchestra music--nice blend of classical and soul). I even watched an Australian foreign film about a ballroom dancer who wanted to win a tournament so badly and a Japanese foreign film about a man who took ballroom dance because he was lonely. Yes, I'm corny.



I could not send you an URL with my section if I wanted to. The only way you can read it is if you press "random" and by luck you find it OR you know my dairist name OR you know the age I put down OR you know the location I put down OR you know the name of my diary OR they feature it on the "recent entries" OR I'm the Editor's Choice (most unlikely).

Mall Rats is good.  It flopped on the box office when it came out and the critics hated it, but Brian and I are big Kevin Smith fans..  We've seen each and every one in that series: Clerks, Mall Rats, Chasing Amy and Dogma.  It all kind of ties in with various references in the movie.  I even got Brian the comic book, Chasing Dogma, that tells how Silent Bob and Jay got from where they were in Chasing Amy to the spot where they just happened to be in Dogma.



Charlie's Angels was really goofy.  One shouldn't take it seriously..  A lot of people who do, end up thinking it's retarded..  It was meant to be a funny movie (to me, anyhow).  I thought it was funny!  One of my favorite parts is the dream dance sequence.  I'm really into dancing movies: Save the Last Dance, Dance With Me, etc.  I loved that dress!  I actually got myself some underoos(I can't wear them now because they shrank), just because they looked cute on Cameron Diaz!  You all know how impressionable I am!



I want the URL to get to your section of opendiary!!!  Come on, Glee!

You want the full URL? http://www.opendiary.com

I finally saw Final Fantasy yesterday. WOW! The animation was great! Talk about detail--every strand of hair, every wrinkle. The captain looked like Ben Affleck (sp?) though.



Guy Pearce stars in Memento. I don't know who he is so I don't know if that if information would be of any help. Still, go see it!



My sister Gladys bought many DVDS which I had the opportunity to view at least a few. Let's see...


Mall Rats

Power Puff Girls

Cinema Paradiso (excellent! Don't watch the dub in English. The Italian priest sounded like he was a Jewish rabbi from NYC.)

Camille Claudel (also, excellent)

Charlie's Angels (entertaining. I also liked the special segment in which they described their training for the martial arts stunts.)

Say Anything ( i love this movie! I just like John Cussack sp?--I cannot spell anyone's names lately)



I missed Dido when she played in the Shoreline Amphitheatre in the South Bay Area. I decided not to go, but sometimes I feel like kicking myself for not going. I did go to Ani DiFranco in Berkeley, which is only 30 minutes drive from my home city. This was the fifth Ani concert I've seen. She opts for smaller venues than the collesiums and giant stadiums. She is very funny and personable when she talks to the crowd. She is very experimental with her music. For example, a spokenword piece in her CD can be incredibly rocked out in one concert or have a funky bassline in the next concert. Her older songs don't have a brass section, but in a concert she would have trumpet players and other horns playing. Her roots are in folk music--the grassroots political music. If it weren't for her blend of rock, R&B, funk, and jazz combined with lyrics that either captured the complexities of love relationships, fought against big music industry, and constantly questioned the governement; well, I'd just say "another dyke with a guitar--yech, phooey!" Now, I see a mighty mite on stage who challenged the big guns on her own terms and won.

Whatever you do, do not watch the English dubbed version on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  It's hard to take the film seriously with the semi-acceptable English dubbing.  The translations are so raw, it ends up sounding silly.  After watching it dubbed, I appreciated that they showed the subtitled version of the film in the theaters.

Our rentals lately:

Fantasia 2000

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

and then we bought a bunch of used rentals:

After Hours

A Boy and His Dog

Peggy Sue Got Married

After the Fox

...and one more I can't remember right now.

For a while, we were buying up movies all over the place - but they really need to be rewatchable. We've got a bunch of stuff we'll probably never watch again:

Bird on the Wire

Vacation

His Girl Friday

Liebestraume

The Fisher King

etc.

All the stuff we bought this time hits the rewatch mark. And Fantasia 2000, though not as good as the 1940 one, is certainly one worth seeing a few times. Crouching, though? Probably not.

Daf

Who's in Memento?  Our recent rentals were: Sugar & Spice, Double Take and Saving Silverman..  Don't look at me, Brian picked them out!

Better yet, we'll put pictures ~~ along with the blurbs.  I need pictures from everyone.

I haven't been to any good concerts lately..  I love both Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks..  That must have been an amazing show!  I've never seen either of them perform live.  I can imagine what it must've been like, though..  Noone special has been through Wichita recently.  Vanilla Ice (yck!) performed at Rita's just a couple of days ago.  I'm not that desperate to go to a concert.  So I passed.  The last concert Brian and I went to was a while back..  Godsmack, Stained, Cold and Systematic.



How does everyone like the new layout?  I forget who designed it, but it was one of the winning entries in Blogger's Template Design Contest.  By the way, you all need to give me blurbs about you that we can put on the members column to the right..  It's kind of bare right now.

I'm playing with one of the new templates on Blogger.. If it's buggin' -- it could be one of three things.. Portland sucks, I messed up somehow or Porland sucks.

Note - tried posting this yesterday - firewall probs. Here goes again...

Present!

I should be a grandfather by next week...
Jessica's as big as a house.

Work's a bitch - mandatory overtime now
through September. Found out today that we're rehiring a friend
of mine (who left for greener pastures, then got laid off), and
she'll be working for me. So that's cool.

I don't wanna know my score. It's one of
the few things ALL the voices in my head agree on. <g>

Two concerts in the last two weeks -
Stevie Nicks with Sheryl Crow (opening act Jeffrey Gaines), and
Wynonna and her band. Stevie was Stevie - no surprises, really -
good band, fun crowd, she and Sheryl work real well together.
Wynonna was excellent! Covered a lot of different styles - blues,
R&B, rock, gospel, pop-jazz, contemporary Cbristian- not
really much country, though there's this "country feel"
that's different from other styles (more emphasis on 1 & 3,
backbeat a little stiffer - if you care about that stuff) - and
that was prevalent throughout. She sang covers of Fab
Thunderbirds, Avalon, Joni Mitchell. Had a gospel trio behind her
that was excellent, plus a real good band.

Either show's worth checking out. Sheryl
Crow's coming back to Michigan without Stevie in a couple of
weeks - I love her stuff, but her voice isn't all there live (not
just the show we saw - I heard a live CD later, had the same
impression). So we'll probably skip it.

Anyone else see any good concerts?

Daf (= Jay)

I want to know your diarist name..  Give us the full URL!

If you get a chance watch the movie Memento. The movie got my head spinning way after it was done. It's like a who-dunnit with a twist and a razor edge.

Thank you for clarifying that for me. You would think I would know who Perverse Angel and Brian are by now, wouldn't you? hee. Brian used to be Dark Angel. A bit of Ching trivia.



I cannot view the picture. Your link leads me to a page that says "Forbidden." It says I need a "local referer." I have no idea what that is.



I heard that Final Fantasy had some really bad scriptwriting in terms of dialogue. But, like you, I'm really interested in the animation. I'm gonna grab the bargain matinee tomorrow.



If you must know what has been keeping me busy, I joined a diary community at www.opendiary.com. If you are nice, maybe I'll give you my diarist name.

Daf = Jay.  Perverse Angel = Cherrie = Ching.  Ching + Brian = Together Forever.



I'd forgotten how much I love doing social math.  I can't see the picture either.  I know what the problem is, though..  That image is stored on the Yahoo! server.  Yahoo! and GeoCities no longer allow you to link to anything stored on their servers.  You can see it as long as you go directly to the source, or it's linked from a website on Yahoo! or GeoCities.  Click here if want to see the photo.



Final Fantasy is great!  You have to go see it.  It's the future of animated films.

Please don't hold those results against me; those ARE my good qualities. just kiddin'



No, no, no. We should NOT have this constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage. I was just trying so hard to sound impartial earlier just so people could check out the issue and the site themselves. However, I'm not impartial. If this amendment passes, it will be part of the U.S. Constitution thus nullifying any state or local laws that permit same-sex marriage or civil unions--some say it may have a negative impact on domestic partnership rights/benefits. Married couples have benefits: health insurance, medical visitation rights, medical decisions involving a sick spouse, custody rights, adoption rights, inheritance/possessions, etc. Same-sex partners cannot have those rights without having a legal union to legitamize their relationship. Okay, I'm done with my ranting and raving.



Hi, Ching, I'm glad the party went well. You flips sure know how to party in Wichita. My girlfriend is Vietnamese, and she observed Filipino families are fun-loving people. I have yet to see FINAL FANTASY.



I have never seen a VCD before. I have seen a VCR/5-disc changer DVD player and a FM radio/VCR/TV. So, once again I'm baffled. Hmmm...speaking of baffled. I cannot view the pic with Dot. Probably something wrong with my computer. *sigh* oh well. I feel like such an airhead. I cannot keep your names straight. Net = Vince, right? Net + Dot, right? Daf ? Where is Daf?



ARGH! I can't think straight!

My results are in:


Paranoid: Low

Schizoid: Low

Schizotypal: High

Antisocial: Moderate

Borderline: Very High

Histrionic: High

Narcissistic: Moderate

Avoidant: Very High

Dependent: Very High

Obsessive-Compulsive: High

My results are the effect of years of deprivation and self denial...er ah, actually I got tired on a few of the questions and answered them randomly.

Here's a picture of me and dot. This was taken a year ago.




VCD's can be played on DVD players if you purchased the combination vcd/cd/dvd player. I bought mine at Best Buys. Anyone going to the Philippines? I wants me some VCD's

Your results are pretty bad, Vince!  And I thought I was messed up!  Can you play VCDs in regular DVD players?  Just curious.

VCD's are Videos on CD's duh...Mumsie says its popular in Asia. She says that people buy it more than DVD's. I watched the VCD but the quality of DVD isnt there. eh. its okay. I guess youre paying for viewing movies in a more portable media.
Gonna try the Personality Test now...

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Moderate
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	High
Antisocial:	High
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Very High
Narcissistic:	Very High
Avoidant:	High
Dependent:	Very High
Obsessive-Compulsive:	High

I think I screwed up the data. got lazy and chose random answers on a few questions

~Net

I took the Personality Disorder Test and these were my results..

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	High
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Moderate
Antisocial:	Moderate
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Moderate
Narcissistic:	Moderate
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
-- Click Here To Take The Test --

What is this VCD thing?

Friday the 13th came and went for sure!! For those of you who are not in the know, Dorothy is my girlfriend. We've been going out for almost a year and a half- WoohoOoo!! Why should we ban same sex marriage? Whats gonna happen to that same sex marriage town up in New England if this amendment passes?

Mumsie is back from the Philippines and guess what she bought for a dollar? a Video CD of Cast Away... aint that grand?

Friday the 13th came and went without any glitches.  We saw Final Fantasy yesterday afternoon.  Has anybody else seen it?  Pretty amazing animation ~~ you can see strands of hair!  The characters looked so real!  It more like a movie-movie, instead of an animated film.  The story was okay.  Not really all that spectacular, but the spectacular job they did on the animation made up for it (to me, anyhow).



We (Dave, Donna, Brian and I) attended Logan's birthday party at my parents house last night.  There were a lot of guests.  Logan came away with so much stuff!  He is going to be one spoiled little boy.  I can already see it!  The rocking horse was a big hit!  Logan loved it!  I was really pleased about that.



Mom is having a second party for those who were unable to attend Friday night on Sunday.  That's how it is here in Wichita.  The members of the Filipino community are so sensitive.  You have to make everyone happy.  No one must feel left out.  Otherwise, you're done for!

I hope everyone gone through their Friday the 13th with no ill effects.

Yeah, Daf, after you're done tinkering with the software, ask the question: Who's Dottie? Inquiring minds want to know.

They are trying to create a constitutional ammendment banning same-sex marriage. Vote on this issue (and other issues) on www.vote.com


http://www.vote.com/vote/32824774/index.phtml?cat=4075633

Sounds like Daf will be pretty busy playing with his new software for a while.  Should we expect you to be MIA for a month or so?



By the way, Vince, who's Dottie?

Ballers... Shot Callers;

Bloggers... Web Cloggers.

Works for my, my peeps.

Okay, I'll stop now. Used to drive me crazy when Dad would try to use "groovy" in a sentence, or wear bellbottoms.

My new copy of Acid (v. 3.0) is here! I've been trying out the new features - MIDI looping, loop snipping, track envelopes, project-level archiving, buncha new loops... very nice.

Daf

Web Cloggers sound too close to Bloggers. What about Artificial Negligence, or Nullified Notes. oops..Note to self: Refrain from leaving personal notes in Group Blog.

I'll buy into whatever name you might choose. Anyone care to second motion Web Cloggers?
~~Net

Note to self...Must take out the garbage. The cabinet it's in is starting to stink.
Another note to self... Must find a place that will pick up old clothes.
Last note to self... Give Dottie a kiss when she returns on Sunday

That's pretty funny, Glee!



Well..  Well..  Well..  Guess who can't sleep?  You guessed it!  I've been tossing and turning all night.  I'm actually amazed that I didn't wake Brian up as I got off the bed.  I hope he doesn't wake up from the keyboard noise.  He's kind of a light sleeper.  Thank God that the computer is now in a different room!



I've got lots of stuff planned for today.  Two loads of laundry, one load of Dryel, dishes (hopefully only one load), got to the bank to do a change of address (yes, I've been procrastinating), pick up paycheck and book from Pat (lady on my team at work) to Jodi Anderson (lady on Brian's team at his work that used to work at Spiegel) that I left at work (I forgot it as I was leaving the other day and I forgot it again yesterday ~~> Can anyone say Gingkoba?), go to Walmart to get refill on birth control, stop by Brian's work to bring the previously mentioned book (if I remember), watch Thirteen Days with Brian, go to Brian's parents' house to help assemble Logan's present and for supper, meet Misty (with new dance partner, Jorge) at swing club, return movies (Monkey Bone, Down to Earth and Thirteen Days ~~> I'm telling you, between movie rentals and new movies, Brian and I watch about five movies a week!)..  I think that's everything.  As forgetful as I am, I can't help but feel like I omitted something.  Oh, well..  Perhaps it wasn't that important.

Ani rocked! I had to go to the concert all by my lonsesome, but I still had fun.

Jann Arden appeared on the Regis and Kelly show and she said a blonde joke: "There are two blondes, each one on the other side of the street. One blonde yelled, 'How do I get to the other side?' The other blonde responded, 'You ARE on the other side.'"

Welcome, Net!  Sorry about the bugs and kinks..  Beggars can't be choosers, you know?  I can't afford a PAY service, so we'll have to just be patient with the outages.



Thank you for coming!



How is everyone?

July 9th is National Blonde Day

Have fun with a blonde today

Q What do you call a bee inside a blonde's head?
A A Space Invader!! HA!

Attention... attention. Netpanday is now a member!!

ok

here goes

<BR><BR> creates your line breaks.  The more you do it, the more line breaks you'll get.

I am always having a hard time keeping up with your contact info. Thanks for the new e-mail addresses. I'm going to the Ani DiFranco concert tonight1 Yay! I showed my sister the photos from the archives of one of your other blogger groups--SMEAGHE TODAY maybe it. (What does SMEAGHE stand for?) You probably beat me in chess too. I might have a chance with Scrabble. However, my SAT vocabulary might not help me. I need those obscure short words to put me in the lead, and that's what I lack. But I kick gluteus maximus when it comes to air hockey and pinball. How do I create line breaks with this thing so my paragraphs don't run together into one?

I really like "Web Cloggers," too!  I submitted our blog to BlogHop already ~~ under that name.



Yes, Brian and I bought a Scrabble set recently.  He got tired of me beating him at Chess!  Ha.  Ha.  We would've played Monopoly, but Brian's grandma hates it.  I asked her once, "Why?  But I heard that you're so good at it!"  She finds it boring because she always wins.



I have some close up shots of my hair from the back and from the side.  They're in the archives of SMEAGHE TODAY.  Is that where your sister saw it?  Or is she just basing her opinion on the portrait below?  The portrait really doesn't do it justice.  I loved what the hair stylist did to my hair!



The email address that you should use is ching@digitalrice.com or ching@liquid2k.com.  Brian and I are thinking of getting a cable modem.  We are sick of our slow-ass connection.  I think, with his promotion and everything, we'll be able to wing it. =)

Okay, okay, The Spark people are the closest to the truth than I like to admit. I'm the one in denial. I think Ching has some idea about my slut ranking. I told her the number on my tally sheet, and she was in some sorta shock. I just think it's weird that I would be gayer than the typical lesbian. I thought it would be more likee I'm straighther than the typical lesbian. Some people (including my girlfriend) think I walk like a guy and think like a guy. And I feel like I'm in drag in a dress.


Speaking of dresses, I'm going to be one of the nine bridesmaids at my younger sister's wedding. My sister got engaged in April on her birthday. When will I get married? When it becomes legal in California. BTW, my sister really liked your hairdo for the Filipino ball, and she and I never saw a dark barong before.


I did not see fireworks, but I heard them go off. Then again, they sounded like gun shots so I stayed at home that night. I think the only highlight of the 4th of July is having a long lost friend drop by and she came out to me.


What's with the Scrabble games, Ching? You just bought a new set? When my girlfriend visited me, we played Monopoly four times in a two week period. Before I met her, I would play one Monopoly game every decade or so. I really believe you get to see the true colors of person once you play Monopoly with them. I watched my sweet, innocent girlfriend turn into a greedy, ambitious, little cheater.


The movies I saw this summer were Shrek and Tomb Raider. Both movies I enjoyed immensely. My sister and her fiance were disappointed with A.I. to say the least. He said, "Speilberg owes me 8 bucks." I've been wanting to watch Memento for a while now. And I can't wait for Final Fantasy.


Ching, what is your main e-mail address?


I thing Web Cloggers is the best name (that I suggested--I'm sure someone else could come up with something better). It goes with your slogan about the basis of your chingay sites.

Love is always a wonderful thing [blush].

I took the gender test - 86% male - and there weren't even any questions about fantasy baseball! Also took the sex text - it says one more person, and I'll be in love.

I really only see that happening if (a) Kim finally gets sick of my sh*t, or (b) I outlive her.

I quit at two tests - they block the spark from here - I had to go through SafeWeb to get there.

Daf

This is our portrait, taken at the 14th Annual Filipino Dinner-Dance.  We both look stiff, but it looks great considering the photographer only took one shot. ;-)



I saw What Women Want in the theatres with Brian when it first came out.  It was actually his idea.  Looking back, I'm not so surprised that TheSpark.com guessed he was a woman.  I really like it.  It was pretty funny.  We were actually contemplating on buying the DVD the last time we were at Hollywood Video.  They're having a huge sale.

>> and then, um, well, you know...

We did some of that last night, too!  *giggles*  It was make up for the other day.  I was being really moody and grumpy (my only guess is that it was PMS, but it came kind of early).  Everything was pissing me off.  We were over at Brian's parents' house.  We were sitting in our lawn chairs on the driveway watching the neighbors blow up fireworks.  I was feeling neglected so I ignored him the rest of the evening..  But we made up already. =)



By the way, TheSpark.com says that I am 33% gay: 2% gayer than average.

Web Cloggers sounds good!

Our 4th of July:

Played a 9am mass. Kim was supposed to come, but has been having food reaction problems lately. So she stayed home, and we canceled a long-distance shopping trip we had planned.

Did some shopping closer to home, rented What Women Want (pretty good, not great), did some gardening, surfed a little, tweaked a couple of songs I'd been working on (maybe I'll post an mp3 when they're closer to ready).

I drop my vegetarian routine for major holidays - so we did some burgers on the barbie, had a few beers, watched our movie, and then, um, well, you know...

Didn't see our kids all day! Sad in a way, but made for a peaceful day. Our counselor said (Wednesday night) that she doesn't think we need to come anymore - we worked through the "partnership" issues, sounds like we're to a point where we can handle whatever curves life (and especially life in the form of the kids) throws at us next.

Knock on wood, the garden actually looks good this year - first time! We put down some really good soil this year, I'm sure that helped.

Daf

I kind of like Web Cloggers, but we'll leave it open for other suggestions.  If there are no other suggestions that are better than Web Cloggers by the 20th of this month then that will be the name of our blog.  What do you guys think?



Speaking of tests, Brian took the Gender Test and TheSpark said he was a woman.  83% sure, to boot!  I took the test and it guessed me to be a woman also.  So basically, Brian and I are a lesbian couple.  Kidding!  It's really not that accurate I suppose.  Perhaps not enough people have taken the test.



We had a barbecue at our house yesterday to celebrate the Fourth of July.  It was a small one.  We were expecting just Brian's parents, Brian and I.  Brian's mom canceled because she wasn't feeling good.  Earlier that afternoon we (Donna, Dave, Kevin, Brian and I) had all gone to watch A.I. (it reminded me of Bicentennial Man, but I liked Bicentennial Man better because it actually made me cry ~~ Brian says A.I. would've made me cry, I just wasn't in the mood for it).  I think the heat may have gotten to her.  It was really hot out yesterday.  It was affecting my mood: I was being sorta grumpy.



Instead, Brian's granparents (Clark and Betty) and his dad came.  Brian grilled some pork chops and we had corn on the cob and mashed potatoes.  We also had some cantaloupe and watermelon.  Brian and Dave (his dad) opted to skip the fruits and go for Nesté Crunch ice cream bars instead.  Dinner was really delicious.  Brian and I are getting good use out of his grill.  I don't regret buying it for him.



We played a game of Scrabble to kill time because it was still bright outside.  I won.  After Scrabble it was dark enough to start blowing up fireworks.  We had quite a few: mostly sparklers, nothing illegal (except for the free firecrackers that the store was giving away).  It was a lot of fun.  I think Brian's grandparents really enjoyed themselves.  How did you guys spend your holiday?

Hi, everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. I received a surprised visit from a friend. My summer has a running theme: getting reacquainted with friends. BTW, Ching, thank you for the invitation. I'm new to this so I hope it works out.

I revisited the spark.com website. I remember taking the purity test a months ago, but I cannot remember my score. I scored 52% slutty on the slut test (with the worldwide average being 46%). For the Gay Test I'm 56% gay (the typical lesbian is 39%). And according to spark's Gender Test, statistically my gender is male. Spark is inaccurate. And I think the people who run that site dislike Canadians.

Names? Web Cloggers, Net Hoggers, Ching's Loggers

I prefer not to have the word "blog" in the title.  Any other ideas?



By the way, Glee should be here soon.  I just resent out her invitation to the correct email address.

How about:

Blog-Blog-Bo-Bog (Banana-fana-fo-fog)

Bloglings

Blognoids

Bloggers' Cramp

There were more, but they were even worse.

Daf

It's not your fault, Daf.  Your <TAGS> were correct.  Yahoo! and GeoCities just don't like to share their non-HTML content.  It does not allow external hosts to access image and sound files.  Sorry!



In case I forget: Happy Fourth of July!



By the way, you guys need to help me come up with a name for our 'blog.

Let's try this:

If it worked, it's a picture of our back yard from a couple of years ago. If not, I guess it's an indication of how little I really know about HTML.

Daf

Yahoo has all kinds of fantasy sports, Ching - I think I saw about 30 on their list. Baseball's the only one that trips my trigger, though.

Hey, I forgot to tell you - AIM magazine (a publication of World Library Press, who makes the little missalettes that you see in a bunch of Catholic churches) wants me to write an article about my teen choir. 1500 words, $250. I'm excited and nervous - probably why I haven't written it yet, or even started. Deadline's a couple of months from now, so there's plenty of time (famous last words?).

As far as my "published composer" status, that still hasn't hasppened yet, either - contract's signed, but no other info. GIA (the publisher) told me it could be 18 months - it's been 16 so far.

See ya,

Daf

Jen is doing okay, Pia.  She has her own place (a crummy apartment with no air-conditioning unit only God knows where -- she gave Mom the address after she moved there, but Mom wasn't paying attention or didn't care, probably a little of both, so we don't know where it is).  Mom was pretty upset and Dad was really angry at first, but they got over it.  Jen has been pulling antics like these ever since I can remember.  Mom and Dad are used to it now, sad to say.  Matt takes care of Logan for the most part.  Mom and Karen, Matt's mom, take turns baby-sitting throughout the week.



Your fantasy baseball team sounds interesting, Daf.  I'm glad that it's doing well.  I'm not much of a sports fan, much less a baseball fan.  I don't know what anything is.  It's interesting, though!  Don't they have fantasy football and fantasy basketball, too?

Gosh Ching! What happened to Jen?! From the way it sounded, it seemed inevitable that she and Matt would break up. So who has the baby now? I hope they are both okay. I can only imagine how horrible your parents feel. It is difficult when you still have to worry about your grown children. Anyhoo goodluck! I hope you had a chance to talk to her. Maybe you can talk some sense into her.

My Fantasy Life

Well, there are fantasies, and there are fantasies. But here's a surprise one for me - fantasy baseball.

A 'net acquaintance of mine was putting a league together, and asked me to join. I spend way too much time surfing anyhow, and wanted to tell him "no". But baseball was always "my" sport, so I decided to give it a try.

When I was a kid, we used to play something like this - my best friend Bobby had a board game with a bunch of circular "cards" with a big hole in the middle. Around the outside of the circle was the player's name, accompanied by lines marking off a pie graph version of his stats. So, for example, Mickey Mantle would have a big section of home runs, along with a HUGE slice for strikeouts whereas PeeWee Reese had a much smaller homer slice, but also a lot fewer strikeouts, and bigger slices for singles and doubles. I forget the name of THAT game - it certainly didn't have the word "fantasy" in it.

Fast forward 35 years. Nobody has games with spinners anymore - there's probably even an electronic version of Hi-Ho-CherryO - and we're not stuck with stats-from-the-past. So fantasy baseball, or at least this flavor, involves putting a team together, and then pulling their stats every night - best stats wins - but it's the league founder who determines the points. So he decided, for example, that you don't get anything for being walked, and that pitchers don't lose anything for taking a loss or allowing runs.

So at first, I had no idea who to draft - so I went for an all-Hispanic/Asian team. Because of the way the draft went, I didn't get all my picks, but had what I thought was a pretty good team. Pretty soon, though, I was "floundering" (ironic, in that "Flounders" was the name of my team) around 6th or 7th place, out of a league of 8 teams. So something had to change.

Nobody had drafted any rookies, so I went out and got the hot ones. and a few cold-career/hot-season guys. But I couldn't get past 6th place.

But then I got the secret - it was the starting pitchers. You get points for innings pitched, strikeouts, wins, complete games, shutouts. But you only get 3 starting pitcher slots, plus 2 relievers and 3 utility pitchers. Starters only pitch every 5 days or so - so how do you maximize your pitchers' innings? You (1) load your bench with starters, and (2) make as many of your guys combined relievers / starters as possible. (1) lets you swap scheduled starters in every time it's their turn - this is way more productive than keeping hitters on the bench - 'cos you're hoping your hitters are playing every day anyhow. (2) Lets you put any pitcher anywhere - so you can have a scheduled starter in a reliever's spot. Guys with this designation (combined starter / reliever) tend to be last year's relievers, who've been promoted to this year's starters.

So you're thinking, "nice theory, Daf, but how does it play out?" It took about 4 weeks, maybe 5, to move from 6th place to first. The Flounders are smokin'! Two weeks in first place, and pulling away.

This is just so cool, 'cos I always wanted to win at baseball, and never could. First baseman, average glove, no hit. Even in my old "spinner" game, I usually lost, 'cos Bobby was such a baseball geek.

So, for the moment anyway, the Flounders rule! All the rest of you teams (especially the naughtybeavers, for picking such a tasteless and obvious name), eat Flounder dust!

Daf

face="verdana, arial, helvetica">Didn't know you were out of school, Ching. Still at Spiegel's?

I haven't been writing much.  Busy with work.  I'm thinking of going back to school next year.  I hope to finally get my degree someday. =)