Rash

The problem with self-diagnosing is that I'm wrong 99.99% of the time. I don't even know why I bother, I'm no doctor. I refuse to take medication if I can help it. I can spend more than an hour in the pharmacy aisles looking at all the medicine and not knowing what they are for; frankly, overwhelmed by my own ignorance.

One of my coworkers who I have been working closely with came back from Brazil with chicken pox. That was the diagnosis from her doctor. For two days prior we tried to come up with what it could be. A spider bite? Tick bite?

Within a few days I developed a rash and the itchiness began. Coincidence? But thanks to all those wonderful internet sites I concluded I did not have chicken pox. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something. I didn't know what and I was trying to figure it out. New shampoo? Bodywash? Soap? Laundry soap? Pistacchios? I washed everything in fragrance free, color free, sensitive skin detergent. That took me hours.

I reached my itchiness threshhold this morning. I could no longer take it and worst of all, it was spreading. It turns out I have a skin infection. A skin infection! Not hives, not an allergic reaction. Antibiotics and an anti-itch cream is my salvation...I hope. My doc asked me if I had cats? Nope, no cats. She concluded that there must have been bacteria in my nails, I scratched and that was the beginning. How disgusting is that?! There is bacteria everywhere. I ride public transport for goodness sake. Trying to keep the paranoia in check.

Oscars

Disappointing. Chris Rock was the saving grace of the show and even that did not seem to be enough.

I'm not a musician. I like Beyonce's songs, but damn those renditions sucked! And the Banderas/Santana collaboration, spare me. That performance sucked as well and maybe even a bit more. Someone tell Santana not to chew gum while on stage.

I entered two Oscar pools and lost both. Funny thing is I got 10 selections right on each ballot even though I made different choices for each. Atleast I'm consistent. ;)

Let's hope this coming movie year is a good one.

Movie Marathon Saturday

That's what I'm officially calling today. Somewhere along the line I have dropped the ball on my movie watching habit. Part of the reason is the turnaround time it takes for a movie to make its DVD release. It's quick. Quick enough for me to wait them out.

Finding Neverland
This movie was magical for me. It displayed the power of imagination, which in this day and age seems all but gone specially for kids mired in video games.

It was a beautiful visual trip just like The Phantom of the Opera was. And Johnny Depp, don't even get me started. He's beautiful.

Maria Full of Grace
I'll support a Spanish language movie any day. But I did not find this movie over the top. It was good, but I didn't think it was great. The movie did make me gag though while watching Moreno's character practice how she was going to get those pellets down.

Don Fernando is the real deal. A real pillar of the community who has sent bodies back to their home country after an untimely death. My hats off to him.

The evils of money were well captured. I'd like to see a movie of third world country individuals selling their organs to people with money in first world countries.

I liked hearing all the Usted form of speaking. It sounds nice and different. I usually save it for my elders or strangers.

Ray
All the hype surrounding this movie was close to becoming over-hype. It was good. To see the struggles of a person and then overcome them is always a good to see. Determination and passion: characteristics of the greats.

I've always wondered what it's like to do drugs. Thank goodness for that something in me that fears traveling down that road.

The Aviator (movie)

I had no desire to see The Aviator. As the movie was starting, I still had no desire to watch it. Just goes to show me not to judge a movie by its movie poster or my own preconceptions. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Watching the mental demise of Howard Hughes was sad yet riveting. DiCaprio is cursed (or blessed) with a young face, so my friends could not get over that aspect. Who cares. I think he did a great job. The passion of Hughes was admirable.

There were two scenes of mind over matter that sealed the deal for me. 1) When Alan Alda's character purposely places the thumb pring on the glass and 2) the hearings where he had to drag himself out of his mental state and present himself before the world. Any movie that makes me want to read is worthy of my vote. I'll have to pick up a Hughes biography one of these days.

I've known the Hughes name for almost as long as I've known my own. My mother worked 22+ years for Hughes Aircraft. All the kids, of the people who worked there, would eagerly wait for those yearly (sometimes longer) visits where they allowed the "public" to even enter the premises. Then we'd get to see the cool satellites and demos. It was a WOW experience. I sent my resume to Hughes Aircraft (if in name only) while I was still a student. I didn't get past the second interview. ;)

The Spruce Goose. All those years in Long Beach, CA and I never went to see it. I went to see the Queen Mary, but not the Spruce Goose which was her neighbor! Now I wish I had.

Memphis, Tennessee (MEM)

Coming back home the route was OKC-MEM-SFO. A guy caught my attention on the second leg of my flight. [This was good, because it was proof the old ticker is still alive!] The internal dialogue started: Do I talk to him? How do people flirt? What would M do? hahahha Ridiculous! All I could manage were a few smiles. At baggage claim he was on the other side of the carrousel. He smiled. Next thing I knew he was standing to my left. Another smile exchange. Neither of us said a word. My bag was next on the carrousel and I was out of there.

Straight to work facing 342 new emails. Keep in mind, Monday was a holiday. I had a meeting from 4 - 5pm that I set up. Me? Setting up a meeting for the day I got back from vacation. I must not have been feeling well when I did that.

It was great seeing my family and friend. Now I need to stop neglecting my friends in L.A. ;)

Minneapolis, MN (MSP)

I had to reserve a door-to-door van to get me to SFO by 5am. The driver picked up three other passengers on the way. Two of them were going to the East coast to attend a funeral. Whatever doubts I was having about traveling were quickly wiped away. You just never know what life has in store for you.

To date, there are no direct flights to OKC. The first leg was SFO-MSP. I was the only 'person of color' on this flight. This has never happened before! It felt extremely weird. Walking to my connecting flight (MSP-OKC) all I saw were white people. If there was any doubt it was quickly cleared, I was not in California anymore.

During the first leg of my trip nobody talked unless they were traveling together, which is normal. On the second leg, people were chatting each other up. Smiling. Helping fellow travelers stow their luggage. Further affirmation that Midwesterners are extremely nice.

This trip was suppose to be a surprise. In the end it was not. Oh well.

Break

I bought a last minute ticket to go visit my family. I will be there for a couple of days enough to get a break and enjoy being with my loved ones.

The three main reasons for going are:
1) celebrate my mother's birthday (by default see my father and brother)
2) see my uncle who recently had a heart attack
3) see my friend who might be leaving the States permanently

Grammys

I love Norah Jones' demeanor. The girl is cool in a quiet way.

Alicia Keys performance had me singing loud and missing quite a few notes.

Gwen Stefani was pure energy just like in the No Doubt concert I went to back in the 90s.

Laura Branigan passed away in 2004?! Branigan was the first English record I ever bought back in 1982! Gloria was my song.

Tickle

You know that feeling you get when you are about to get sick and there is no getting out of it? I'm there. Yesterday I had a tickle in my throat, which has graduated to a scratchy throat and low energy.

I don't want to be sick. I was sick in November for goodness sake. (Excuse my whining)

Stitches

I made it to Santa Clara for the yearly knitting convention. Yarn is expensive, I still don't know why I initially thought knitting was a cheap hobby. I had a sensory overload, so many beautiful colors and so soft to the touch. I saw a couple of men knitting, which reminded me to check my generalizations at the door. Then there were the other men, the men whose wives or girlfriends dragged them there. Poor guys, I felt for them, but it is Valentine's weekend and you have to keep the women happy. ;)

Getting to Santa Clara gave me a headache. Yahoo gave me incomplete directions. I was lost for two hours! Two hours is a long time to be lost and traveling between Milpitas and San Jose in hot weather. I finally stopped at a Borders to look at a map. I realized I was always a bit too south of my final destination. Oh well.

My project is a baby hat for a friend who is expecting in May. It's an exquisite hand-dyed, angora and merino yarn.

Ash Wednesday 2005

It's early this year! Hoping I have a spiritual (re)awakening.

I got my yearly review today. It was good except for one item. My boss and some of my teammates believe I am "dis-engaged" in meetings. I wholeheartedly disagree, but if more than one person has come to this conclusion I need to work on something to make them realize I pay attention to some of the boring crap I have to sit through.

Fell

I was rushing around this morning in an attempt to make it to my morning meeting in time. I had decided to leave the window open all day, and then thought not to because it was such a beautiful day my downstairs neighbor might decide to BBQ. All that smoke usually makes it into my apartment if I leave the window open. Yuk!

Coming back from closing the living room window, my foot got caught on a basket whose temporary residence is my living room floor. I came an inch from one of the following: a black eye, a broken nose or some broken teeth. My face almost caught the corner of a table. Almost doesn't count. For those few seconds, everything was s-l-o-w motion.

My right knee is banged up pretty bad. My left leg is in pain. I had to start yoga type breathing in order not to cry. And to top it all of, I was late to the meeting.

The Secret Lives of Dentists (movie)

I enjoyed this movie because it was a slice of life view, albeit not under the best circumstances. Premise: A married couple, both dentists, with three children and the added drama of infidelity on the wife's part.

Campbell Scott's character, David Hurst, sees what seems to be his wife kissing another man. For the duration of the movie, he does not question her. He fears he will lose her so he keeps his doubts to himself.

Can you imagine having this gnawing feeling that your spouse is cheating on you and not say anything? Not ask questions. Not react for fear of losing that person. If that was me, the fear of losing my spouse would be what would make me seek a confrontation. Here's to never having to find out how I would react in such a situation.

Hotel Rwanda (movie)

1994. Where the hell was I and what was consuming all of my attention? Let see, I worked full-time and was a full-time student. Any time left over, which was limited, was devoted to school work, family, friends and a boyfriend. Is this an excuse for not knowing about the genocide in Rwanda? Of course not.

This movie educated me on the atrocities that took place in Rwanda. There were many scenes that made my jaw drop, but one in particular I could not even dream up in my worst nightmare. Paul thinking they had driven off the road only to discover they were driving over bodies.

There were few dry eyes in the theatre. I could hear the sniffling of my fellow movie patrons. Even though this happened in the past, there is a feeling of helplessness. In the past, I have often been torn as to where to devote my help. Do I focus on the people in my country, where plenty need some form of help? Or should the focus be outside of the country. I have limited funds I can donate. In the end, my hope is that it all evens out somehow. With some people finding their passion in local causes and others in international causes. Is it unrealistic to have this simple wish.

Surprise

I was enjoying a quick coffee. (Me, coffee? Who would have thought.) All of a sudden I hear someone call my name. This lady comes over and hugs me. It was too fast, I didn't have a chance to step back and ask, Who are you? It turned out to be a friend of mine who I had not seen in over a year maybe even two. That was a nice surprise.