Googling "free simple html editor" today brought up Arachnophilia in the results. It sounded familiar ... turns out it was the same software that I had used many years ago (probably circa 2000). Even with major updates to the software, the site hadn't changed much; the words "Arachnophilia is CareWare" still remained at the top of the page. I'd forgotten what that meant, guessing it was some variation upon shareware, like postcardware or something. Reading further for clarification, I came across a paragraph that I'd always kept with me, but as usual had forgotten the source:

So here is my deal: stop whining for an hour, a day, a week, your choice, and you will have earned your copy of Arachnophilia. Say encouraging words to young people, make them feel welcome on the planet Earth (many do not). Show by example that we don't need all we have in order to be happy and productive.

The selective bolding is by me, showing the words that resonated with me so long ago and helped shape who I am by just a little bit. Common sense, for sure, but to actually put it into practice? Not so easy. At the time when I read this, it made me question if I'd ever been made to feel welcome on this planet. A very touchy subject for me, since people have made fun of me since the beginning of time, and then on top of that my whole sense of identity was hurled into a black hole of confusion while living in China. (I've come out of that hole since, yay!) But even so, with careful thinking, the answer was ... yes. To the teachers, mentors, and peers who consciously made and make the effort to make me feel comfortable in a sea of derision, jealousy, insecurity, and negativity, thank you. And I guess that's why it stuck. And then the thought that followed was: well, if people were kind enough to do it for me, then I hope I can be that person to someone else. Yeah, I think I saw that movie Pay it Forward around that time too.

So this seems like a lot of strange mush to have written regarding some html editor, but it's really not about the html editor at all. I thank Paul Lutus for his hard work on it of course, but more so for positively influencing my thoughts and actions for the last 10 years ever since I read his words.

Oh, and I did download and use Arachnophilia. Perfect fit for my needs today. :)

Highlight of my weekend: we made ice cream from scratch (save milking cows and harvesting eggs from chickens)! But first, my favorite shot of the weekend:

Yes, Sammy the pomeranian got a "lion cut" for the first time. This dog is incredibly cute, and is still incredibly cute, but his new haircut made me laugh out loud. And then for some reason watching him poo just made me crack up uncontrollably. Sorry Sammy! :)

After a lot of hard work in the blazing heat (mostly thanks to Uncle Charlie and Jason!), we finally got our ice cream. It was SOOOOO good!!!!

[ see the rest of the pictures! ]

Oh, and let's not forget the video clips. This is the first of the short series of videos that we took, from the Round Top parade, from ice cream making, and from playing with sparklers at night. By putting your mouse over the video you can click on the thumbnail on the right to go to the next video.

Congratulations, Violeta and Karthik!

So, instead of the regular ol' rehearsal dinner, we were instead asked to come out for a dance rehearsal. For what? A surprise short dance routine that interrupted their first dance:

(link)

My date to the wedding was pretty cool. He accompanied me the whole day (I'm talkin' 15 hrs here) and he even slow danced with me in the middle of the room while there was a mass exodus going on behind us.

Wedding by Violeta + Karthik
Makeup by Jen Ma
Hair by Andrea Schutter
Dress by David's Bridal
Pleasant Companionship by Tree Frog
Attitude by me. :)

I've gotten back into table tennis recently, and on top of that I've just met someone who went to college with Whitney Ping, and so I thought I'd bring back this poll from 2001 since I was reminded how I was once mistaken for her. If you do a quick search for her online, you'll learn she's an Olympic table tennis player (I enjoyed this article). For anyone who ever thought I was decently good, let me put this in perspective: I know without a doubt she could whump my rump left-handed and possibly blindfolded. She says she practiced 5 hours a day while training full-time in Sweden; I can barely get through 2 hours playing recreationally without feeling like I'm 70 and have knocked my back out.

[ vote ] [ see results ]

Personally, I don't think I look like her, even after scanning through more recent pictures.

(Today's blog post title was brought to you by AllLookSame.com. I was forwarded this site a long time ago and never took the test, but the name of the site just stuck in my head.)

... a total stranger takes a picture of you without your knowledge almost 10 years ago and then posts it on a website with other weird photos that are made fun of.

I'd never heard of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com until Henry pointed it out to me (um, thanks?!). HAHahhahah oh man. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this on the website. Not exactly work safe (depends on your industry, I guess), so beware when you click through the photo to the site.

So I guess I should explain what is going on here. :) Old Calgary buds Reema and Winnie were showing me around San Francisco - had to be between 1999 and 2002, while I was an acupuncture student in Cali - and took me to the Palace of Fine Arts. So we were walking around taking pictures and there, on the green, was this dude posing for a professional photographer. Before my friends could stop me, I ran over and asked if I could have a pic with this guy, thinking that this was too hilarious! I still have the original pic where me and this dude are facing the camera; it's a bit strange to know that someone secretly took a pic of us from the side, and has hoarded it until now!

I remember asking him why he was taking pics there; I can't for the life of me remember his answer. I believe he said his name was "Blaire"; I never remembered to look for him on the internet after that.

Not that this REALLY explains anything except for my penchant for wanting to take pictures of everything I encounter. Be sure to read the caption and the comments underneath; so funny! Man. Yep. The Internet "big-time". Thanks(?!?!) AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com!

Tree Frog updated our California album with a couple of videos, and I just had to share the one of my nephew (or technically my 1st cousin once removed, but that sounds so ... distant and drawn out). Apologies for my shrill and explosive goat-like laughter, so please watch your volume dials. :)

[ Link to the video - I couldn't figure out how to turn off autoplay :( ]
(Translation: "Is this Connor? Is this Connor? Yes, this is Connor! This is Connor!")

Man, I love that goofy grin of his. :D

I've gotten them before, but here's one I got today:

Clicking through, it's even more "ugh":

 

Well anyway, if any of you single ladies out there want to hit up 22-year-old Humphrey in Kenya, please feel free to do so. Oh, and if anyone calls me "Princess" in real life, please don't be surprised if I sock you in the face!

There was massive raining last night. This morning, friends' status updates indicated that many were staying home from work / school due to flooding. I opened my door, looked outside, and everything looked fine to me. I saw some people in the parking lot with car trouble, and some shaking out their car mats. I thought to myself, "Wow. They must've left their windows open last night. That sucks!" Then I got to my car and saw this behind the driver's seat:

D'oh! And my windows were not accidentally left open last night!!

Driving to work, all the water sloshed forward. Yippee. At least my car still works.

Eddy has offered to go with me to find a carwash with a wetvac. My first time using a wetvac, hooray!

Whoa ... who are these hardcore fans of iHaTePiNk.com who were spotted in California last weekend ... ?

Yup, I cut my hair short right before I went. That 10" will be off to Locks of Love shortly. I'd been wanting to chop it off for some time now, and I finally had enough hair! :D If you can't tell, I'm the one in the light pink shirt, and with the bluetooth headset in my ear (D'oh! Forgot it was even in there!!). :P To my left is my lovely cousin Min; she and hubby Peter (and adorable son Connor) were so kind to have us at their beautiful home for the weekend. The shirts were her idea, a random gift she totally surprised me with one day in the mail.

Thanks to Tree Frog for doing a fabulous job of sifting thru the tons of pics and coming up with a summary of our brief time in California. [ see the photos! ]