I admit that I’m a crybaby. I prefer not to watch anything if I know it will be sad. I think I got worse once I got married. Such an emotional experience for me and I turned into a faucet whenever I was moved by anything. I admit to two things about this video 1) I don’t like to watch reality tv for the manipulation factor, however I like the talent of singing and dancing so will fast forward to avoid personal story I’ve also limited the intake of these types of shows to one at most. 2) this one caught me off guard because I didn’t realize till the end that they interwove the story into the entire piece, that being said, I didn’t mind too much because it has to be one of the most genuine and relatable performances I’ve seen from one of these shows. I was so happy for him and it made me feel good to see a person like him succeed.

So I have spent too much time on Youtube this past 36 hours (probably three hours worth of watching) but it has inspired me to try a different approach to my blog. I know videos and random excerpts are the new norm and I’ve decided to link some of my favorites here to share as I find the ones that stand out or mean the most to me at the moment.

This weekend of youtube started because I was going through old cds I had made and happened upon the Rent song, “Seasons of Love” featuring Stevie Wonder. He is one of my favorite musicians for all the obvious reasons. And it reminded me of one of my favorite Stevie Wonder performances, a live duet I found on youtube a few years ago with Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett, “For Once in My Life,” for Tony Bennett’s Birthday Bash. And that’s when I went down the youtube rabbit hole and started to click on those cursed recommended videos.

I really like Stevie Wonder and I was curious about a video captioned with him surprising a singer named Ahsan in studio about a year ago. Mostly because who would be granted such an honor to have Stevie Wonder pay them a visit. I immediately liked the singer’s voice when he started to sing, “Ribbon in the Sky,” and when Stevie Wonder appeared my respect for both only became greater.

And now for the kicker, Ahsan was about 14 years old when he met Stevie Wonder. Great story for forever.

I discovered a comic strip character that I really like. Her name is Aunty Acid by Ged Backland. She reminds me a lot of Sophie, another acerbic-witted woman comic strip character, but with a tinge more softness on occasion.

Some of my recent favorites are below, the final pick also had a little pidgin (language) tinge, which made her a front runner for me.

So I bought the Nokia Lumia 1020 for the camera feature and I haven’t been disappointed yet. I like gadgets that have a niche, the best camera definitely appealed to me and it holds up spectacularly. Here are some pics of my cat, Kili, with a fun app called strange camera and one of the Nokia camera apps.

Happy New Year, Everyone.

This year I open with retrospection.

I don’t want to be a person that focuses on the negative so when I start to feel like all I may be doing is complaining, I don’t like to write.

Things aren’t bad most times so why focus more time and effort on it? Yes, easier said than done.

So how did I get here, or rather, what informed my choice of action or inaction?
My family. I’ve spent an impressive amount of time in 2013 avoiding my mom, spending time with my grandmother on my dad’s side, visiting with my dad who now lives in Thailand, and meeting my new niece in Georgia.
My work, went back to work with an old company and spent a lot of time growing but wanting to quit at the same time. I continue to love the people there and always will.

It was a good time in general and time to start anew, with family and work.

Hi, Everyone. 

It’s been a while because I’m uninteresting. So I figured I’d just do a general update of things that I’m looking forward to in the next few months:

1) Debuting a form for Improvaganza.

2) Partnering with OTS Improv for Improvaganza, Hawaii’s Festival of Improv.

3) Putting a fundraising dinner event for work firmly in my rearview mirror. 

4) Finding an Executive Director at the organization that I work for. If you know of anyone that’s interested. http://www.jobtarget.com/c/job.cfm?job=14547061&vnet=0&site_id=10746

5) Seeing my first NFL football game and it’s of my husband’s favorite team.

6) Meeting my first niece of four months old (when we see her). (Biggest highlight!)

7) Traveling to Las Vegas and Georgia.

I think that’s most of it. 

The extent of stupid ….
Ugh, it is so irritating how reliant people are to their phones at the cost of any type of spatial awareness. Today at Starbucks I had to say, excuse me, to a woman just standing in front of the cafe doors after we got our coffee. She was just standing there looking at her phone. Now how important was it for her to be reading whatever it was that she was reading? I’m assuming if it was life or death, she shouldn’t be at Starbucks in the first place.

It’s been a busy 2013. I have also been sick twice this year already.  Flu season has been the worse for me and quite a few people I know also.
The best thing has been hearing about different cure-alls.
Squire told me he heard that drinking a beer is good for the phlegm.
Here are some of the others that I’ve heard too:
For night time coughs, squeeze a lemon and add a scoop of honey, heat and drink before bed.
Another variation, add some water and whisky.
Vicks vapo-rub on the chest and below the nose.
Scarves and stay away from a/c.
Massages.
Lemon and li hing is also a favorite.

Just the ones off the top of my head.

I only remember having one (the one about the human body) but I found nine at a thrift store today and had to buy them. Be prepared to be wowed by some random trivia and facts from my nine new classic books (in no particular order).

About 300 years ago, some European women wore shoes with platforms up to 30 inches high!

How is a spacecraft steered?
This is usually done by turning the main rockets that are at the bottom of the spacecraft. To turn the spaceship just a little, special small rockets on the sides are fired.

Doctors use stethoscopes to listen to lungs, intestines, arteries, and veins as well as hearts.

What is the fastest animal?
The fastest of all animals is a bird called the swift. The spine-tailed swift can fly at a speed of more than 100 miles an hour. (The fastest land animal is the cheetah. It can run at more than 60 miles an hour.

(In the 80’s) Instead of celebrating their real birthdays, all people in the country of Bhutan become a year older on New Year’s Day!

What does the word “schooner” mean?
The name “schooner” comes from a game that was popular when the schooner was first designed in 1713. Young boys used to throw flat stones in the bay and watch them skip along. They called this game “scooning.” (“Scoon” is a Scottish word for “glide.”) People say that when one of the new sailing boats first appeared, someone shouted, “See how she scoons!”

Why is the egg an Easter symbol?
In many of the world’s cultures the egg stands for new life. An egg looks like a stone or a rock. But it is from an egg that new life bursts forth. The egg is a reminder for Christians of the resurrection of Jesus.

How did dinosaurs get such strange names?
The long, hard-to-pronounce names of dinosaurs all come from Greek words. Greek and Latin are the two languages the earliest scientists used. When modern scientists discover an animal or plant, they still give it a Greek or Latin name. When dinosaurs were discovered, scientists gave them Greek names that described what each dinosaur was like.

And those are my new books! Thank you “Charlie Brown’s Encylopedias” for the memories and the new bits of info that I didn’t know before.