JOURNAL: Blonde.

I went to my running friend Robin's house after work today to get my hair done. We were able to get it lighter than it's ever been before. I went home, took a shower, and shaved off my still-black mustache and chin-pubes (i.e. "goatee"). Here's the picture:

It's way past my bedtime.

(non-sequitar) I finally got my Woot launch shirt. I like it.

MUSIC: "Beautiful Disaster" by Jon McLaughlin

Video clip:

"Beautiful Disaster" by Jon McLaughlin.

She loves her mama's lemonade,
Hates the sounds that goodbyes make.
She prays one day she'll find someone to need her.
She swears that there's no difference,
Between the lies and complements.
It's all the same if everybody leaves her.

And every magazine tells her she's not good enough,
The pictures that she sees make her cry.

And she would change everything, everything just ask her.
Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,
And she just needs someone to take her home.

She's giving boys what they want, tries to act so nonchalant,
Afraid they'll see that she's lost her direction.
She never stays the same for long,
Assuming that she'll get it wrong.
Perfect only in her imperfection.

She's not a drama queen,
She doesn't want to feel this way, only seventeen but tired.

She would change everything for happy ever after.
Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,
But she just needs someone to take her home.

Cuz she's just the way she is, but no one's told her that's ok.

And she would change everything, everything just ask her.
Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

And she would change everything for happy ever after.
Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

But she just needs someone to take her home
And just needs someone to take her home.

JOURNAL: Home ALL DAY

I've been home ALL DAY today. I mowed the lawn, ironed all my clothes, finished watching satc, sorted home office papers, and just finished dinner. Anyways, I came across the shirt I had bought from Banana Republic (Outlet). It was kind of expensive, but I had bought it as a treat to myself and for days like today. I slipped it on my shoulders, and I felt (and looked) better.

I needed that positive reinforcement. I need to stop worrying all the time about... (you name it) and just let life happen.

FOOD: Eggs Hashed

I found a new food love... hash browns and scrambled eggs (first cook the potatoes, then add the eggs):
I know that it looks very yellow-ish, but just top with a little ketchup and Mmmmm, it's really good!

This weekend, I was inspired by Fravel and made some turtle brownies:
They're all gone now.

HOUSE: Auto Insurance

I just saved $135/6-months on auto insurance by switching to Progressive Direct Insurance, and this is also with better coverage. Soon I will officially be done with Allstate, who earlier in the year put me in a panic when they dropped my home insurance policy (and ended up saving money there too). Anyways, just wanted to note that I was pro-active today. Woo Hoo. Oh, and I ran 2.2 miles with Fravel early this morning before my near-full day of work at the office. Plus I folded my laundry. And cooked breakfast for dinner. And washed the dishes. My life is so exciting. It's time for bed.

JOURNAL: Excel Charting

Saw a link on lifehacker.com on how to make an in-cell bar chart in Excel. Basically, it's just to use the REPT(text,number_times) function -- e.g. for cell B3, I used: =REPT("|",B2)

RUN: Running Zone Race Series Brochure

The brochure for the 2007-08 Running Zone Race Series was in my mailbox yesterday. I brought it in but didn't look at it until this morning. Holy crap, I'm on the front of it! Woo!
Click on the image above for the PDF version of the entire brochure. Now I've gotta stop by the store to grab a few extra to send to mom, dad, and some others. Woo!

MUSIC: "Umbrella" by Rihanna

"Umbrella" by Rihanna. Here you go.

Video clip:

DISNEY: EpcotFilms/WDWMagic Post

On Saturday, my friend Billy and I went to Epcot to take first-hand pictures of the wand removal and Soarin' queue, and to checkout all of the World Showcase films.

Here's a picture of the work being done on Spaceship Earth. I'm glad that the icon is going back au naturale:

The first headed towards the Land Pavilion, to Soarin'. We went Standby (55 minutes) and saw the new, huge screens that had interactive games to occupy (and tire out) the people in the queue. Billy and I really got into it, waving our arms over our heads, clapping our hands, leaning left/right; it was a really good workout... and a really good way of getting slapped in the face. Anyways, the 55-minute wait still felt like 55 minutes. Here's a screenshot:

After that, we were toured the World Showcase (clockwise):
      Mexico -- skipped because we've ridden the new Gran Fiesta ride a number of times already.
      Norway -- rode the Maelstrom then watched the exit film.
      China -- ate Orange Chicken at the Lotus Blossom Cafe then watched Reflections of China.
      Germany -- drank a pint of Beck's Premier.
      Italy -- oogled the guy working the Kidscot area.
      USA -- skipped because Irene&Masayo and I watched/slept-through it during our last visit.
      Japan -- ate honeydew (me) and tangerine (Billy) Kaki Gori, and a pack of dried snow peas.
      Morocco -- looked around the marketplace then oogled the desserts.
      France -- ate a chocolate croissant then watched Impressions of France.
      United Kingdom -- sniffed the fish and chips then toured the shops.
      Canada -- watched the O Canada film.

By that time, it had started raining... hard. We found shelter at Innoventions. There were also a number of fun interactive stations there. One thing we did was the "Where's the Fire?" game. Paired up, we go to virtual rooms and use flashlights to find fire hazards and score points. It was fun.

After an hour or two the rain stopped, and we got in line for Test Track's post-weather reopening. We rode it single-riders and I ended up in the car ahead of Billy. And my car was also the last car that was allowed past the barrier test before it was stopped again for inclement weather (HA!). They did send Billy's car through. We headed to Universe of Energy next for the 37-minute show -- it's been a while since we've been on it, and we just needed a sit-down, slow-moving ride.

Anyways, it was getting late, so we headed out of the park. It was still raining a bit. On our way out, we spotted a sign still up for the discontinued "Leave a Legacy". I snapped a picture to post on the WDWMagic message boards. Here's a screenshot:

That was a great visit to the park. It was a much-needed diversion. It should hold me over til the next time visit in a couple weeks when my mom's over to visit. :)

RUN: 4.6 miles, @37 minutes, Streets of Orlando

Running in Orlando was exactly what I needed -- a nice change of pace with all of the trees, lakes, and paths. After I was done, I guesstimated my distance to be 4 2/3. I was within a tenth-of-a-mile correct, thinking that I was running 7:30 miles. Here's where I ran:

After the run, I had my friend take a picture of me dripping all over her floors:
I can't wait to run there again. There's so many running routes to choose from. That's what is so great about city-running.

EVENT: July Woot-Off

My weekend started yesterday (Thursday) with a Woot-Off that continued into today (Friday). If you don't know what Woot is or what a Woot-Off is, check out its entry at wikipedia.

Anyways, having accomplished much all that I've wanted to do today , I sat myself in front of the computer, and I've been here ever since, watching Sex and the City on the tv beside my desk (now done with Season 4). So I was there to catch the end of this month's W-O. Before, they offered the much coveted Bags of Crap, Woot Monkeys, or Woot Monkey T-Shirts, but this month, they offered this:

I wasn't exactly sure if I needed to buy a $10 t-shirt, but I figured that one day it'll be a collector's item (umm... in nerd-world). No, really... I just wanted to come home one day to be surprised by a package lying by my front door.

Yeah, so I went to http://shirt.woot.com and bought one (1) medium. A couple minutes later the shirt sold out!:

They were only giving away 500 shirts, and I got one! (I rule!)

FOOD: Home-made Fruit Cocktails

So I woke up at 11:30am this morning...

I managed to make a trip to Wal-Mart to return a couple items then order a set of tires for the car, then came home and mowed the lawn and trimmed it awhile the sprinklers were running (pretty cool). It was fot outside, and I was wearing long sleeves and long pants. And I managed to get cleaned up (i.e. showered) within 30 minutes of my re-entry into the house (i.e. bizarro-productivity).

And while in the mood, I sliced and balled up a honeydew and made some fruit fusion cups for later. Here's my creative side coming through:

Fruit Cocktail (ABOVE, LEFT): honeydew melon balls, pineapple chunks, raspberries, sliced kiwi in enriched orange juice -- the neatly color-layered fruit delight.

Fresh Triple (ABOVE, CENTER): honeydew melon balls, sliced kiwi, raspberries straight up -- simple, sweet collection with small bursts of tart.

Drink Mix (ABOVE, RIGHT): pineapple chunks, raspberries in enriched orange and pineapple juice -- just add guava juice and it's yesterday.

Tangy Balls (ABOVE): honeydew melon balls, pineapple chunks, in pineapple juice -- tarting up some just-sweet melon balls.

Now, if I only had some mint...

MOVIE: Hairspray

"I'm both pleased and scared to be here."
Last night, Chuck and I went to go see the midnight showing of Hairspray up at the Rave.

The windows of the building were dressed up, as was the hallway leading up to the theatre. There was a good number of people, all of them pretty young (20s and under), and some of them were also dressed up, to the 9s... or the 60s depending on how you look at it.

I went in my pajamas and sleeveless with loads of hairspray keeping my hair up. Chuck and I worried about being about to stay up, but the movie was filled with energy and very worthwhile watching.

For one thing, the casting was great -- Travolta in drag was Ever so entertaining, and I thought that Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron were standouts as Pinky Pingleton and Link Larkin (respectively). But the real standout was how you could feel the love and spirit the entire cast and crew put into this movie. There were some cameos by some of the cast of the original (non-musical) movie -- Jerry Stiller, Ricki Lake, and John Waters among others.

I told Chuck that he was now officially gay (he Did buy my ticket). He laughed.

Anyways, here are a couple pictures from last night. Picture #1 (left) is of Chuck sporting a Tracy Turnblad bob (sort-of) just outside our screen, and Picture #B (right) is of me and my 007 (sort of).
[note: the pictures are blurry because they were taken using my camera and we didn't have enough time to figure out the auto-focus before the crowds appeared]

MUSIC: "31 Today" by Aimee Mann

"31 Today" a new song by Aimee Mann guest starring comedian Morgan Murphy and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.

Video clip:

I <3 Aimee.

RUN: 7? miles @1 hour-ish, home <--> suntree blvd.

I had enough hours built up this week to leave just a early today. But my sole on-the-way-home task was to pick up one (1) lottery ticket.

You see, there were no big winner(s) for the last FL lottery jackpot, so the grand prize now stands at $33 million. In times like these, my friend Nga goes around the office collecting dimes for our office lotto pool -- the logic is that one ticket has just about the same chance of winning as a hundred (100) tickets in the $5/person office pool.

So here's the ticket with a couple areas strategically blanked out:Anyways, it was thunderstorming hard at work, but the closer I got to home, the more the sun was shining above the heavy clouds. And after a couple hours, I figured that I really should run since it's been a couple days.

There was an arc of sunshine slowly pushing the dark clouds away, so there was a good hope for no lightning. I put on my knee brace, long running shorts, a flimsy reflective singlet, and brought the ipod.

There was a recent news story of a man running with an iPod who got struck by lightning -- my nightmare realized -- but apparently, I am slow to learn from others mistakes or even from my own neuroses (I really wanted to listen to some Netcot podcasts and Aimee Mann while I ran.

Here's this evening's sweaty kitchen pic:(Yeah, I realize that I look "special".)

Anyways, I went 7 miles... ran the first 4, ran-walked the next 2 1/2, and walked the last 1/2 home. It wasn't hot outside, but my body was over-heating. It'll just take some time to build up my endurance and get better.

VIDEO: SYTYCD S3, Sabra & Dominic, Jive

Week 5: Dominic Sandoval and Sabra Johnson dance the Jive:

Video clip:

FAMILY: Mom is dog-sitting.

This week, my mom is up in Baltimore taking care of my nephews while my sister is out-of-town for a regatta. Here's part of the gchat I had with mom tonight: [NOTE: I forgot to ask Mom how she was.]

me: MOM!

how are the doggies?

MOM: I am fine here with the boys. They are very good. They behaved and also know that I am the only one who will give them food!!!

The only problem is that they poop a lot if I feed them...I can still see carrots!!

So I will feed them less, less poop, less to pick up. Good strategy, right?

me: what about the watermelon? what happens if they have a lot of watermelon?

you feed them less and they may love you less (HA!)

MOM: Ha! Now I see. Maybe the watermelon is the one that make them pee a lot?

Who cares? They cannot take care of me when I grow old and senile!!

me: HA!

You can find yesterday's report here. Mom should definitely do television!

FOOD: Tuna Salad, Smoothie, Soup, Noodles.

No running tonight. Instead, I cooked.

I was tired of trying to figure out where to get my next meal at work, so I decided to be more pro-active (+ I wanted to use up a lot of food that was around the kitchen).
-----
SMOOTHIE
[strawberry yogurt, handful of frozen strawberries, handful of pineapple chunks, and handful of ice cubes].

TORTILLA/CORN SOUP
[chicken broth, whole kernel corn, cream-style corn, frozen peas, scrambled eggs, a couple of tortillas, cornstarch and water, scallions, salt, and pepper].

TUNA SALAD
[two pouches and one can of tuna, a glob of mayonnaise, some sweet relish, and a sprinkle of pepper].

NOODLES
[box of angel hair pasta and water].

-----
Sense of accomplishment. Woo!

RUN: ~3.6 miles @27:30, Home <--> The Avenue

Yesterday after work I ran. I ran before it got dark and possibly lightningy. It wasn't as hot as Sunday, but the fact of the matter was that I'm still out of shape. I basically ran half-a-mile, then stretched, ran another half-a-mile, then stretched again, and continue this pattern for another two-and-a-half miles. Here is the pic:

RUN/WALK: 4 miles, WM <--> Viera High

Ran in hot. Better than lightning. Long pants s'okay. With water. Little shade. Had to walk some. Not good at writing words tonight. Here pictures (second picture was after addt. yard work):

JOURNAL: Who gets these?

Yesterday I got a large envelope from some community college about their culinary arts degree program, and attached to it was this handy-dandy envelope from the postman:
Seriously... to both of them. I didn't feel like fighting it, but I did call the college to let them know what happened; the lady on the other end apologized, and I told them that I'd take care of it this time.

So I put two dimes, two nickles, and a penny in the envelope and placed it in the mailbox. It felt like elementary school.

VIDEO: SYTYCD S3, Sara & Pasha, West Coast Swing

Week 4: Pasha Kovalev and Sara Von Gillern dance the West Coast Swing choreography by Benji Schwimmer

Video clip:

RUN: 2 miles @ slow. Home <--> WM. Catching Up.

Two things that I'm not liking lately are 1) lots of sun, and 2) lightning. Both are good reasons Not to run, but the Need to run was getting too great, so after work, I went to run while it was "between the two scaries" outside... bright but also with partial cloud cover and about to rain but in the "maybe God's getting ready to beat his wife (again)" sort-of-way.

Anyways, I ran. 2 miles. With water. And it really felt like I had forgotten how to run. It's such that I really can't believe that I used to run sub-7-minute miles. My legs (knees in particular -- no jokes Cori) quickly start to hurt, and it's a struggle to run more than a couple minutes at a time (what's up?!). But I got out there.

...

As posted, I had been on hi8us from the blog for about a week. It's been nice not to be particularly glued to the computer organizing/posting pictures and agonizing over typing words. But I also felt as though I was losing a short segment of my chronology. So, my goal for the month is to try to find a good balance of splash and substance.

And on that note, here are just a few pictures from the past couple weeks:
[this should also make up for the recent (quick-and-easy/lazy) video posts]

Running (I'm getting chubby, all the while still looking decent *shrug*)

7/05/07                      7/06/07                      7/12/07
Food (using up what's laying around the kitchen)
Projects (more hanging up of stuff)

Friends(July 4th at Universal with Cori, Marty, and Tiffany) (Watching Harry Potter at Cyn's with Dan and Beth)(Toastmaster Training in Orlando with Nga)
Pets (my nephews and nieces)Ollie and Sam

Caleah and Zeus

StinkyPants and Nala

Miscellaneous (...)Bling City Grills

Guitar Hero


Lizard Hitch-Hiker


Sense of Accomplishment