(See my 9/29/05 post)

I bought the package of 5 massages, and I only have one more left! Call / e-mail me if you want it! You'd be doing my friend Thi a favor while indulging in 1.5 hours of relaxation for $36!

If there's enough demand, it'd be no problem for me to get another package to satisfy all of our massage-at-a-killer-deal needs. (No, I am not making any money off of this.) So just lemme know, people! Oh, and psst - massage definitely goes good with acupuncture too.

Update: massage package all gone. Thanks, guys!

It really annoys me when people can't just tell me straight up that they don't want to do something with me. I know it most likely isn't personal, so just say so. It saves me the trouble of continuously asking, and I'll know to never ask again.

Must be an Asian thing.

I need to get me a snack. I'm getting crabby.

I am like, SUCH a nerd. I was so so curious, so I bought their DIY LCD Video Projector guide (I have to wonder how many have forked over the $20 out of pure curiosity as well!). I'll let you all know if / when the project materializes. I only have basic skills at best from junior high shop class, so I wonder if they're sufficient. I *could* just get Home Depot to do all the dirty work, but being the proud little girl that I am (not to mention cheap), the project would be much more fulfilling if I get down in there and put my sweat and [hopefully not] blood into every aspect of the project. (Hmm, I suppose this also shows how I'm a control freak and anal. Ah well.)

The homemade projector ends up looking like a big ugly box. The only things that comfort me is that it'll be functional and relatively inexpensive, and that Hello Kitty stickers CAN be purchased to help remedy the ugly factor.

Randomly bumped into this piece called "Unlucky in Love?" while searching for geeky laptop upgrades. Dammit. It rings so true. I need to stop living in denial.

Just what I need before going to bed.

Still hung up, but refreshingly and delightfully not hung over.

Saturday was Carol's surprise birthday party. With Alan's fake eVite and everyone's fake no's and excuses as to why we couldn't be there, we got her good.

I did not emerge unscathed, however. How does one get carpet burns on their elbows at a party? Let's see here:

First you go to a restaurant and order some uh, special drinks, depending on your gender, or whatever you feel like imbibing:

(No evidence was collected of the incriminating x-rated Britney Spears karaoke lapdance I did on Carol, muahahahaha)

Go back to Alan's place, where more drinks are had, and people are starting to get so drunk they are passing out under pool tables:



And then, suddenly it makes a whole lot of sense to start having a competition to see whose head can fit under the coffee table!



Then people realize I'm laughing the loudest and demand that I give it a try - I decided to see how far I could fit starting legs first. My tailbone arch was my limiting factor. This would be my source of carpet burns ...



Random: Engrish of the night. These wedding invites were made in Taiwan. I think if you say it in the right tone, with the right breathlessness, it could be romantic.

I call myself a commitment-phobe.

Today one of my friends called me adventurous.

Hahaha. Two sides of the same thing.

I like her description better.

I haven't been blogging lately. Maybe that's why I'm feeling all off. I've been crazy-busy lately, which is exhausting, but it sure beats sitting around on my azz wondering if I'm gonna be able to make rent this month.

Update on the battle against the clogged sink (9/30/05 post): thanks for all your feedback! This is what I did:

1) Tried to poke through the clog with chopsticks. The chopsticks were not long enough.
2) Used a plunger. That sent nasty water splashing everywhere, but did not work.
3) Got discouraged, and busy, so my procrastinating nature took over. Avoided the issue (ie. brushed teeth in bathtub) and hoped it would go away just as mysteriously as it had appeared.
4) Could no longer avoid the issue as the sink started filling up by itself with water (coming out of the drain - EWWWW). But yes, as a professional procrastinator, I of course found a way to continue avoiding it - I just scooped buckets of water of it out (these sinks don't seem to have drain holes) and emptied it out so it wouldn't overflow.
5) Finally decided sink was too gross to continue ignoring. Borrowed a book from parents called "Basic Plumbing: The Complete Beginner's Guide" by Time Life. Yup. That describes me. Saw a picture on the page of dude using plunger. I was like, "That doesn't work", so got discouraged again and didn't do anything.
6) Tonight I came home and the sink had EMPTIED ITSELF OUT!! Doing nothing had WORKED!!

But then I tested it out by turning on the faucet and it was the same ol' thing.
7) I finally decided to READ the text beside the pretty picture describing how to do it, and discovered that there is actually a RIGHT way to plunge so it's most effective. ("Make sure there is enough water in the sink to cover the base of the plunger cup. Spread petroleum jelly on the cup's rim. Lower the plunger at an angle and compress the cup to push out air. Then seat it over the drain. Without breaking the seal, pump the plunger up and down 10 times, then quickly pull it away. If the drain stays clogged after several attempts, try an auger (below).")

So I went at it. And boy was it gross. After my first attempt the sink filled with brown vomit-like chunks. But I persevered. And finally ...

I WON.

And there you have it. A story of trial and tribulation, of hopes and dreams, of losses and disappointment and success ... all in the name of unclogging my sink.

[bows]

PS - I didn't have petroleum jelly for the plunger cup, but I can see how that would be helpful.

Happy birthday to my favorite male cousin in North America, Andrew (not to be confused with Andrew, the Bachelor. Go Andy, iss yo berfday, go Andy, iss yo berfday ...

(from my blog post back on 5-19-03)

AND, miraculously, he's still single, ladies! How can you resist that stunning, sparkling smile? That sincere, warm gaze? Hahah OK, I'm shutting up now, before I really ruin his chances of meeting a nice, non-crazy girl ...

Andy's done some pretty cool things in his short time on this planet thus far. In previous lives, he's been a hardcore stunt inline skater dude, and an inline skating T-shirt designer. And now he's an orthodontist on the sunny shores of San Diego.

My fondest memories of hanging out with him have to be when we were bored as kids and would try to translate popular kids' cartoons' theme songs into Chinese literally and crack ourselves up doing it. If you know any Asian language, I highly suggest you try this. It is highly amusing ... haha, but then again, I am easily amused. It was probably Andy's idea - he's always been good at making up fun games to pass the time. Love ya, boy!

I dig on staring at the progress bar as things install themselves. You know the Windows automatic installer thingy, where it says, "You may continue working on whatever while your updates are installing, to see details click on this here tray icon" or something to that effect? Well, I HAVE to click it. I can't just sit there and continue on with my merry life and just let it do its thang in the background. I'll click it. Double-click, even triple-click, just to make sure that progress bar pops up. Some programs just show it by default, which is fine by me. And then my eyes kinda glaze over as I start getting mesmerized by its millimeter-by-millimeter progress, as my computer goes crunch, crunch, crunch ...

Yup, I'm anal. Perhaps this is a minor symptom of N.A.D.D.? (I somehow found this by way of Alex King's blog.)

C'mon, there's gotta be other progress-bar-lovers out there! Or at least other computer users with anal-ish tendencies! Um, right?

Last night was a blur of drinking and barfing. I think I must continue to get completely wasted once every 2 years to remind me how not fun it is to get completely wasted. And how my alcohol tolerance is slowly waning, probably due to aging, which is not a bad thing.

Very thankful to all my friends who took care of me last night. I called them up today, embarrassed and apologetic and grateful, and each retold bits and pieces from last night, much of which I had no recollection. That is probably the most amusing part of the whole fiasco - the weird things I said or did while totally not in control of my faculties.

I'm gonna stay dry for a good long while.

Wow. Not a single photo from last night. At least not from my camera. I don't remember any other cameras going off after I reached critical saturation - but then again, I don't remember a whole lot to begin with. Hahaha, anyone have pics from last night?

- edit: I was reminded that I'm currently on a get-wasted-once-a-year schedule.

Hi everyone. I have a question about simple home maintenance, and am openly ashamed that I don't know how to do this at this late stage in my life:

My sink is clogged - the water drains out really disgustingly slowly. I can't see the problem looking from above. How do I unclog my sink?

I hate these kinds of tasks, but it's presently pretty darned grody, so I really need to deal with it. There's just something about wads of loose hair not attached to people's heads / bodies that utterly grosses me out and makes me nauseous. The only thing worse is loose wads of hair encrusted with stagnant waste water. [SHUDDER]

Oh yes, and environmentally-friendly methods would be preferred to chemical ones. But if liberal dousing with "Hair Monsters B Gone" is what it takes, so be it.

Thanks in advance!

Update: Thanks for all your feedback! Please see my 10/08/05 post for details on how I battled the clog monster!

My girl Thi (pronounced "tee"), a physical therapist, has long been generously giving great massages to her friends (me included), but just recently decided to add registered massage therapist (RMT) to her credentials. She needs 50 hours of internship, so hey people, get a feel-good massage AND help my friend out! The skinny:

1 hr massage is $30 (usually $50-60)
1.5 hour is $45 (usually $60-75)

Special package is buy 4 get 1 free [can share with others!]

Says Thi: "i recommend the 1.5hour if you really want total body work, or if your neck or back needs extra time, or if you really like foot rubs "

The school is near Harwin/59. Starting Oct. 1, her schedule:

Wednesdays 10am-5pm
Saturdays 10am-6pm
Sundays 1pm-6pm

Personal testimonial - Thi is excellent. She combines her theoretical and practical expertise in everything she does, with massage being no exception. Friends, let me know if you want in on a package of 1.5 hour massages. If you wanna go solo, shoot me off an e-mail and I'll give you Thi's phone number.

Foot rubs sound GOOOOOOOD. I miss them frequent visits to the foot reflexologists in China, yo ...

Is an overdose of cuteness bad for me?

Well, if it is, I don't care. I'm lovin' it.

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

(A) Happy and Nana passed out on the couch.
(B) Perking up at the slightest sound. And then promptly passing out again. Lazy butts.
(C) Happy hogs the remotes.
(D) Good thing I had this ferocious guard dog to keep me safe during the whole Hurricane Rita hullaballoo.

Here's the latest (and last) "Really Important News"! (Windows Media Video, 1min 47secs, 6.5MB) Actually all the scary stuff happened last night, and I was too chicken to go outside and do any filming, so you'll have to settle for this lame footage.

The storm has passed, and there was no damage except for my neighborhood's power going out. Thank goodness for us, but too bad for the people who got hit and will get hit by Rita ...

And so ... I am over at Eddy's hanging out and leeching off of his electricity and air conditioning and internet connection. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had a hot dinner, nor a cool place to hang out, nor been able to refrigerate my food, nor been able to complete my Really Important News, which we all know is uh, really important.