ChangeLog
Mon, Apr 17 08:23:39 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: I finished the socks last night. They came out okay.
It is way too warm outside to wear them nowadays. I guess they
will have to wait until fall for a trial run.
* Friends: A couple of people in my knitting group gave me
presents last Wednesday. Carrie gave me a purple hat and bootie
set. I think it is the same pattern as the one Julie gave me.
It is such a cute pattern. Kathy gave me a purple hat she knit
out of this really soft yarn. So very, very soft. Mmmm...
* Food: On Friday, Nathan and I met Raffi and Jessica for dinner
at Zocalo in Arlington. The staff there was very friendly, even
offering me a bench to sit in, water, and some chips and salsa
while we waited for our friends. The food was also excellent.
I had the chilis rellenos de pollo mole. It was definitely the
best chilis rellenos I have ever had. Jessica also surprised us
with a gift of a hat. It was her first knitting project in years!
How cool is that?
* Health: My hips are starting to get really sore. Sleeping is
definitely getting harder and harder to do. I guess this is all
practice for the real thing. =)
Wed, Apr 05 08:32:28 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Last Wednesday, at my knitting group, two of the
members gave and our proto-family member gifts. Nicole gave me a
beautiful lacy blanket. It is a wonderful rich purple colour and
very soft. Julie gave me a fantastic hat and booties set. She
has pictures of them here. She used a beautiful yellow yarn (I
think it is this one).
I have been working on trying to complete the collar of the
sweater during the knitting group, but working on the socks
everywhere else.
* Entertainment: This past weekend, Nathan and I went and saw the
first two days of the World Curling Championship. I was a touch
apprehensive that two full days of curling might be a bit much,
but it was a lot of fun. I hope Nathan thought so too. It was
interesting watching the different styles. The Swedes have got to
be the most flexible curlers ever! One of Nathan's coworkers used
to be on the Danish national curling team; he joined us for some
of the matches and was very helpful in explaining what was going
on. I learned a lot about curling.
* Random: Our tickets at the curling event were seats 16 and 17 in
row 17. How random is that?
* Food: The other day, I was perusing my copy of Weekend Knitting
(I had received it as a Christmas gift). In it is a recipe for a
very rich hot chocolate. I mentioned to Nathan that it sounded
really good. Last night, he decided to go out and get the
ingredients to make it for me. He is the sweetest man ever!
* Food: Mmmmm... dumplings...
* Weather: It is snowing. In April. Of course, if it were a
blizzard, I would probably have to go to the hospital. Since it
is melting as soon as it touches the ground, I think I am safe for
today.
Sun, Mar 26 11:12:57 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Characters: Nathan and I were reminiscing about Officer Bird
earlier. Officer Bird was a parrot on PBS that taught bits of
road safety. I tried to do a quick web search but was unable to
find any mention of him. I still occasionally sing the jingle in
my head. "That's the word... from Officer Bird... that's the word
for the day...."
* Consumerism: I went to the mall the other day. In a row, they
had a Gap, a Gap Kids, a paper store, and a Baby Gap. I started
giggling to myself. The paper store is a Gap gap!
Sat, Mar 25 15:34:46 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: A little gloomy today, but still relatively nice.
Apparently there is a chance of snow showers this evening. That
does not sound as nice.
* Book: I finally finished the two-volume history of the twentieth
century. The book actually ends in 1996, which prompted me to ask
Nathan about the state of various countries. I learned some
interesting words while reading this book, including
"internecine", "panoply", and "pettifogging".
* Family: Nathan has been wonderfully supportive recently. That
is not to say he was not before that, but he has gone beyond the
call of duty.
* Food: We had dumplings for lunch today. Yum!
Tue, Mar 21 12:24:14 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Seasons: Happy spring!
Fri, Mar 17 10:25:40 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: Nathan is in pollen country right now. Hopefully his
allergies are not acting up. I will fret about him until he gets
back.
* Convenience: My garage door opener stopped working today. I
hope it is the battery. Luckily, I had the keys that opened the
back door with me so that I could get in. Now I need to get to
the store tomorrow to get a replacement. It is a weird size;
hopefully the local stores will have it.
* Knitting: I picked up the socks again tonight and have started
on the heel flap. I am going to have to read up on how to turn
the heel while working on both socks at the same time. My mind
cannot figure that out on its own.
* Shapes: One of the first shirts I bought to accommodate my new
shape is now very tight. Somehow I never expected that to
happen.
Thu, Mar 16 14:09:54 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Privileges: I went into the ladies' room yesterday. An employee
gestured me toward the handicapped stall. It would never have
occurred to me to use it. Then, at my knitting group, one of the
knitters offered me her comfy chair. These chairs are coveted, as
the other chairs are hard. I was very touched.
Tue, Mar 14 11:26:38 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: It's a beautiful day outside today. At least it is
right now. It was really misty and dreary this morning.
* Service: I love the fact that our garbage people leaves our
empty garbage cans upside down so they do not catch rain or snow.
None of our previous garbage people did that. What service!
Thu, Mar 09 17:19:12 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: The other day, I saw some people ice fishing. I was
very surprised as the weather has been relatively warm lately and
I the center of the lake was not iced over. But they seemed
perfectly content. I bet they will not be out again until next
winter though. The weather is supposed to be upwards of 60
degrees Fahrenheit the next few days.
Wed, Mar 08 23:20:46 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: I attempted to cable without a needle today. I did
not think I would have much luck as I am a really tight knitter.
Either I was right or my pessimistic attitude did me in. I
recovered the stitches, but there is no way I am able to cable
without a needle. Good to know.
* Food: We made Beef Bourgignon for dinner tonight. It was very
good. We halved the recipe from the New York Times cookbook as we
thought ten servings would probably do us and our arteries in.
* Book: Still reading book on the history of the 20th century. I
am up to the 1950s in China. I should be able to finish it before
having to go to the hospital. There still is quite a bit left,
but we will see!
* Family: Speaking of China, Nathan got his wallet wet the other
day. He spread out all the contents to let it dry. I was amused
to remember that he has a card in his wallet listing all the
dynasties of China. He is such a history buff.
Tue, Mar 07 14:26:36 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Stupidity: I locked myself out of the house today. Luckily
Nathan was accessible by phone and I was able to go to his office
and pick up his spare. I felt like an idiot.
* Friends: Met Helene for lunch today. That was fun. We always
seem to end up eating Quizno's. I also got to meet her little
puppy. So cute! She is less than three pounds. So tiny!
* Family: Apparently, Nathan was unaware of his
finger-snapping-stair-climbing habit. I was following him up the
stairs today and caught him doing it. When I pointed it out to
him, he got very weirded out.
Mon, Mar 06 12:26:58 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Watched the Oscars last night at Jacob's Oscar
Party. We played the predict the winners game. I got lucky and
picked 11 winners. Not too bad a showing.
Sun, Mar 05 14:10:51 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: We went and saw The Pink Panther last night. It
was enjoyably inane. Nathan laughed out loud multiple times. It
was good to hear him relax.
Fri, Mar 03 15:51:24 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Recycling: I noticed today that our local supermarket has a bin
for recycling plastic bags. Thank goodness! I have never seen
one of those bins in the area and have always wondered why not.
The people who bag my groceries love to put one or two items max
per bag, making our pile of plastic bags humongous. We use them
as trash bags, but our rate of outgoing bags is much lower than
the rate of incoming bags. Next time I go to the market, I will
be able to get our bag pile to a manageable size!
* Family: When Nathan goes up stairs without carrying anything, he
has a tendency to snap his fingers. I wonder why he does it.
Thu, Mar 02 12:06:06 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Safety: Nathan and I got to go inside a fire house last evening.
And we got free pieces of pool noodles too! Most importantly, we
got peace of mind in knowing that we did something right. All
thanks to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Nathan had attempted to install the car seat himself and thought
he had done a decent job. The seat seemed relatively stable.
However, the nice fireman tightened it at least a couple more
inches. He also taught us how to use the car seat. It was much
more informative than the instruction booklet. All in all,
definitely a good use of half an hour.
Wed, Mar 01 09:20:44 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Etiquette: I answered the phone yesterday. On the other end was
obviously a telemarketer. As I was not in the mood to try and
brush someone off, I told them that the person they were asking
for was not available and offered to take a message.
Surprisingly, the person on the other end left one. She left a
toll-free phone number and a request for me to call back.
However, she did not leave a name or a context for this phone
call. And she expects me to call back?
* Knitting: I found the second sleeve on the Tara sweater on the
couch the other day with a few stitches off the needle. That
depressed me enough that I stopped working on it for a few days.
In the interim, I did not do much knitting. I started a pair of
baby booties. They sure are turning out cute.
* Food: When Nathan goes to get some comfort food to stick in the
freezer, he comes home with frozen burritos. I get frozen steamed
buns and dumplings. We are going to need to get a bigger freezer
in our next fridge.
Mon, Feb 27 13:49:52 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: We went to a potluck last night. My contribution? Olives
from the supermarket olive bar. Lame, I know. But popular!
Nathan made a cake. From scratch. He made the cake on the cover
of this book. It was really delicious. I "helped" by buying the
ingredients, beating the eggs, and staying out of the way. He
even made the chocolate curls and decorated the top. I was really
impressed. Still am. Hmmm... maybe I need some cake...
Thu, Feb 23 14:52:08 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I had some butternut squash, mushrooms, and cottage cheese
to use up the other day. Obviously I needed to make lasagna. It
actually turned out better than I had hoped. The mushrooms an
butternut squash gave off a lot of liquid though. Perhaps it
would have turned out better if I had not cooked the noodles first
and had let them cook in the pan.
* Knitting: The front, back, and one sleeve is done. One more
sleeve and a collar to go. Then comes the sucky putting it
together part. I just do not enjoy sewing pieces together.
The excitement of a finished garment does not get me over my
aversion to a sewing needle.
* Coffee: I miss coffee. I know I said that we had coffee this
past weekend, but mine was really a hot chocolate. There is a tie
between coffee and fresh mozzarella as to which I miss the most.
Yummm... carrot juice... (okay, I'm easily distracted).
Mon, Feb 20 12:19:10 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Biathlon has got to be the coolest sport ever!
Nathan agrees with me, except when he pronounces "coolest", it
somehow comes out to sound like "craziest".
* Knitting: I was right; chart B is a bit off. The guts of the
chart is correct, but the edges are off. The knot is knit on a
broken rib pattern instead of reverse stockinette. When stitches
are crossed to leave the knot, they need to be reestablished in
the broken rib pattern. The chart has the polarity of these
stitches wrong. It took me a while to figure out that was what
was supposed to happen, so some of my edge stitches are backward.
I fixed the ones at the top, but the ones on the sides are going
to stay that way. Truthfully, these stitches are hard to find
even when I am looking for them, so I am not worried.
* Coffee: We went to Starbuck's yesterday for coffee. They are
starting a Crossword Contest. Nathan and I finished it relatively
quickly; it is a lot easier than the standard New York Times
Crossword. I still prefer cryptic crosswords though. I guess I
just like playing with words. =)
Fri, Feb 17 20:07:15 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Working from another chart in the pattern for the
sweater. I wonder if there is an error in this one. Should I
follow it and see what happens? Searching for errata on the
internet is proving fruitless.
Thu, Feb 16 10:49:35 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: I have been working on the sweater from the yarn that
was bought in Ireland. I am using the Tara pattern from Alice
Starmore's The Celtic Collection. So far, I have found two errors in the
pattern. One of them was in the chart. Apparently I completely
ignored it the first time around. The second time, I saw it and
wondered if I made a mistake, realized that if I had followed the
chart bad things would have happened, and thanked my knitting
instincts. *whew*!
No, I have not finished the socks. I am about to start the heel
on them, but am procrastinating making a decision. The pattern
says to make the pattern seam in the back, but because I am doing
the socks at the same time on two circular needles, it would be
easier to have the pattern seam on the side. Does it matter?
Would anyone every notice? I am guessing not, but the thought
still worries me. Just a touch.
Sat, Feb 11 10:56:28 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: Apparently my ribs are not happy with expansion. Silly
ribs.
* Entertainment: We watched the Torino opening ceremonies last
night. I loved the parts where they used people in coloured
costumes as pixels to create pictures and animations. So what if
the dpi was ridiculously low. It was cool!
Thu, Feb 09 00:03:40 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: I have almost reknitted the yarn that I tore out for
the socks. I hope I have enough yarn with this gauge. Worrying
about yarn amounts is the main reason I had been knitting mostly
toe-up socks for awhile.
* Food: Nathan suggested we make a rice salad for our Super Bowl
party. I was dubious, as I had never heard of such a concoction.
Apparently it is a British thing, as the recipe we found was in a
British cookbook for picnics. It was yummy! I am definitely a
convert. We finished it and I made more the next day. Nathan is
amused and thinks it is a great way to get me to eat my
vegetables.
* Entertainment: The Olympics are coming! That will give me lots
of knitting time. And I was just lamenting the end of football
season. I checked the schedule for the opening ceremonies. It
begins at 8PM Torino time. It is being shown on television
at 8PM local time. I guess that gives them plenty of time to
censor out the naughty bits.
Fri, Feb 03 12:00:14 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Cooking: Chocolate! I was really tired last night and was
unable to make the chocolate cake that we need for tonight.
Nathan was wonderful and made it. The main problem with baking,
of course, is that the kitchen gets covered in chocolate. Because
I fell asleep early last night, it is my job to clean it up. Go,
me!
* Art: Nathan bought me a calendar of vintage posters for
Christmas. The poster for February has three hats on it. Quite
stylish! I assume the ad is for these hats. The poster for
January has a picture of the Michelin Man bowling.
* Knitting: I need to start unworking on the socks. What was I
thinking? Knitting the smaller size with the recommended needles
when I knit so tightly. There is no way that these socks in their
current state would go over the heel. No one (other than
Cinderella's stepsister) could possibly fit in them. Oh well. At
least ripping out is therapeutic.
Thu, Feb 02 14:24:49 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Rodents: Apparently the groundhog saw his shadow. Considering
the springlike weather we have had for the past month or so, does
that mean that the seasons are shifting?
* Knitting: I have been working on the socks. They are growing
faster than I expected. Nathan remarked that it seems I like
knitting them at the same time and that he doubted I would ever do
them singly again. We will have to see. I have yet to reach the
heel. As for the baby sweater, it has not been touched in almost
a week. I think I need to have a "finishing day" to wrap up these
projects.
Tue, Jan 31 11:53:48 2006 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* List: It has been a long time. I figure I would start off with
a list of things I have learned since I have last posted:
- a cheese stick is 2/3 of a serving of calcium
- bellybuttons are actually mutable
- a step beyond nice hard nails are brittle ones
- my high school spent money to find me (and other "missing"
alums) in order to send us updates and reqests for donations
* Knitting: Somehow I have become more of a process knitter. I
found myself happily ripping out multiple projects because they
were not coming out exactly as I wanted. There were no feelings
of regret or frustration. At some point, I have realized that
undoing is really part of the process of going forward. Good to
know. I am currently working on a pair of socks and learning to
knit them at the same time on two circular needles. It has not
been particularly difficult, but I also have not gotten to the
heel. I have heard rumors that that is when things start getting
difficult. Of course, the pattern I am using (the Jaywalker
pattern) utilizes a heel flap. It has been ages since I have knit
socks using anything other than a short-row heel. That will be a
challenge in of itself!
I also started swatching for a sweater using yarn we bought in
Ireland during the GUADEC in Dublin. I am using the Tara pattern
in the Celtic Collection by Alice Starmore. The sizes are
flummoxing me. A medium fits bust size 36-38 inches and yet has a
circumference of 52 inches. That is more ease than I would
expect. We will see. I have plenty of yarn.
* Finishing: I have two more buttons to put on a baby sweater and
then it is done. It has sat on the couch for almost a week now
waiting for me to do it. I guess I am just not motivated to work
on it now that all the knitting is done.
* Reading: I complained recently that my education was completely
lacking in 20th century history. Nathan handed me a two-volume
book on just this topic. I am about to embark on the second world
war. I think I am learning a lot, but the book really assumes you
know a lot of overview. There are many terms that are just
mentioned in passing. I guess it would be a fine textbook with a
class where the teacher would go over all these terms to make sure
you understand. Oh well. It's a start.
* Family: Nathan is a bit down as his parents' dog (Rusty) passed
away this weekend. He was a very sweet dog and is already greatly
missed.
* Family++: Errr... yeah... there is that too.
Wed, Jul 20 23:23:07 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: We bought some apricots the other day. Nathan was loathe
to pay for apricots as he grew up with an apricot tree in his
backyard. I, however, do not remember having a fresh apricot.
Dried apricots, apricot jam, and pluots, yes, but not the fruit
itself. That convinced him that we needed to buy a couple of
them. They are fuzzy like peaches but taste completely
different. I don't think pluots taste anything like apricots.
Sat, Jul 16 16:46:35 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book: Guess where we were last night? Let's just say Nathan is
currently almost halfway through Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince. There were lots of kids there. I overheard some very
amusing conversations. There were a bunch of girls pitying their
friend who couldn't be there and wouldn't be able to get a copy of
the book until 5PM today. I am still amazed that a $30 book was
selling for less than $17 on the first day.
* Knitting: I got quite a lot of knitting done while waiting on
line. Or lines. There were quite a few of them. Heck, Nathan
got on a line one time without knowing what it was for. Probably
a good thing he got off it though; I really don't think he wanted
his fortune read.
* Food: Nathan made a really good fruit tart the other day. His
crust was amazing! I am in awe.
* Health: Not getting much sleep nowadays. With staying up late
for the party last night and getting up early to watch cycling,
there just has not been enough time. Maybe I should use my PVR
more often.
* Bookworm: Nathan tricked me into learning a bit of Python so
that I could make Bookworm more robust. Maybe I can convince him
to create a way to view the data more easily.
Wed, Jul 06 01:33:17 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Gee... the last two nights, we watched Star Wars 5 and
6. We are a compulsive bunch.
* Celebrations: We went to the annual town July 4th celebration
earlier tonight. Yes, our town calls it the "July 4th
celebration" instead of the "Independence Day celebration" even
though it always takes place on July 5th. Maybe I should start
celebrating Christmas in March. Anyway, there was a wonderful
fireworks display. It was beautiful! The whole thing was a lot
of fun. I even got to share some fried dough with Nathan.
* Knitting: Cast off the shawl this evening while watching Return
of the Jedi. The i-cord is finished. Yea! Now I need to figure
out where to block it. And, more importantly, what big project to
start next.
* Reading: Been borrowing junk books from the library. Summertime
means brain candy!
* Sleep: Between getting up early to watch bicycling and staying
up late to watch Star Wars, I have not been getting enough sleep.
My throat has been irritated all day. I am hoping it is allergies
and not me getting sick.
Mon, Jul 04 20:06:50 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: We watched Star Wars 4 last night. I had forgotten that
Mark Hamill was relatively short. And then I was curious if
Mr. Jones was brought back to play the voice in #3. Apparently he
was. I think his voice has changed a bit in the intervening
years.
* Space: Since we were up anyway, or maybe Nathan surreptitiously
planned it that way, we watched the probe crash into the planet.
That was pretty cool. The CNN commentator's questions to their
science expert were pretty stupid though. Could the crash knock
the orbit of the comet so that it would crash into the Earth?
Ugh...
* Entertainment: Obviously, we had to wake up early this morning
to catch the Tour de France. This, of course, explains the
multitude of naps both Nathan and I ended up taking today. The
finish today was quite exciting.
* Family (Jester): We took him on to the rail trail today. We
walked for about an hour. Forty minutes or so out, then the bugs
appeared as the breeze died and we double-timed it back. I think
my knee is going to be unhappy with that tomorrow.
Sun, Jul 03 01:47:46 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: I borrowed a movie from the library the other day.
Because of the upcoming holiday, I thought it might be nice to get
something patriotic. Having already seen 1776 and Independence
Day, I opted for The Quiet American. Boy, was I in for a
surprise. It was still an enjoyable movie though.
* Book: Finished Shadow of the Wind last night. Other than a
rather cheap literary device, it was a good book. Apparently
Nathan made me read the book just so he could vent to me about
this device. I guess it wasn't one of his more altruistic
moments.
* Knitting: Worked on an afghan for a bit while watching the
movie. It has been way too hot to work on in a while, but it was
really nice and cool tonight. Have not picked up the shawl in a
couple of days. I really should finish that so that I could block
it. I have an extra skein of the yarn, too. What should I do
with it?
* Family (Nathan): He needed new shoes. We went to a shoe store
and he tried a few pairs on. He debated between two pairs and I
convinced him that he did not have to be serial shoe wearer; that
it was okay to buy two pairs of shoes at the same time. I think
the bit that convinced him was that it would mean not having to go
shoe shopping again for a much longer time.
* Consumerism: Speaking of shopping, we bought some computer
speakers for me. Unfortunately, the music came out staticky.
There may be a problem with the drivers for the sound card. Suck!
I wonder if this means my old speakers were actually okay after
all.
Fri, Jul 01 00:47:48 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Time: Wow. 2005 is officially half over. Well, I guess
technically it isn't, but half the months are over. Now I'm
almost curious enough to do the math and figure out when it
actually is. Or google it. Or check my Evolution calendar.
Okay, combination of checking my Evolution calendar and using the
Google calculater, the year will be halfway over at noon on
Saturday.
* Food: Went to Bertucci's for the second time in two days.
Yesterday I went with a group but didn't know that we were going
and had already eaten. All I ordered was a lemonade. Tonight I
went with Nathan and we had dinner and dessert. The waitress was
very friendly. The tiramisu made me very happy.
* Family (Nathan): He was a bit glum tonight which is why I
suggested going out for dinner. Then we came home and I whomped
him at darts. Hey, it is not my fault he wanted a couple of beers
with dinner. Current score: 8-6 Unfortunately for me, it seems
that the more practice we get, the more likely he is to win.
* Knitting: Still working on the i-cord. I started singing silly
songs today about how I've gone a million miles of i-cord but
there's still a million to go-woah-woah... Okay, I'm really glad
no one was around to hear it. I have never thought of finishing
an edge with attached i-cord before; I really like the look of
it. Maybe I will have to try it on more projects.
Thu, Jun 30 00:21:53 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Started the I-cord bit. Finally got to see the shawl
stretched out. It is not as big as it is supposed to be which
stands to reason, as I ended up using much less yardage. But I
swatched! I really, really did! Sometimes I wonder why I
bother.
* Family (Nathan): Very forgiving of my faults today. Have I
mentioned lately that he rocks?
* Reading: I read about 100 pages of Shadow of the Wind in a
waiting room today. I'm so glad I remembered to bring my book!
* Summer: Another sign of summer--ever pervasive road
construction. I got detoured twice on my way home tonight. What
a bad night to have forgotten my cell phone! At least I had a map
in the car. Not that I needed it, but it was good to know that it
was there.
* Words: Huh... is that word usage correct? I know one detours
around blockages. Can one be detoured by a blockage? Maybe the
word I am looking for is inconvenienced. Although saying that I
was inconvenienced by a blockage sounds so... second grade
humourish. (And yes, I know that "humourish" is not in the
dictionary.)
Tue, Jun 28 16:09:46 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Reading: Currently reading Shadow of the Wind as per Nathan's
recommendation. It is due back to the library on Saturday; I
didn't start it until this past weekend as it was checked out by
Nathan. I wonder how hard it would be for him to return it and
check it out myself. Or maybe I could convince him to renew it
for me. It's not like he is going to want to check out 50 more
books.
* Knitting: Got a few more repeats done on the edging. I'm inches
away! Then it's i-cord galore!
Mon, Jun 27 23:20:11 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Summer: My body recognizes that it is officially summer. I can
wear my wedding ring without my engagement ring and I do not have
to worry about it falling off. Engagement ring still fits, but it
is starting to get a bit tight.
* Crosswords: Having almost no luck on Saturday's crossword. Past
the halfway point on Sunday's though.
* Speakers: For years now, I have been hooking my computer to my
all-in-one audio system. The speakers in this system are starting
to get staticky. I really cannot stand white noise. Nathan and I
went speaker shopping this weekend. So many choices! I am a bit
overwhelmed at the options. I do know that I don't want to spend
too much money on it. But I do want to listen to music with them
too, so tinny $20 speakers are inadequate. That leaves... a lot
of options.
* Knitting: Still working on the edging of the shawl. I want to
finish it soon so I can block the shawl and see how it looks as a
FO! (And so I can start on something else without feeling
guilty.) One edge repeat a day is going to take another week and
a half though. I need more time to knit! =)
* Family (Jester): He seems to like the Bangles a lot more than
Don Mclean.
Sun, Jun 26 23:47:12 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Acronyms: Does any discipline have more acronyms than project
management?
* Family (Nathan): He has been attempting to clean out his
office. I wish him the best of luck. He is going to need it.
* Weather: It was really very warm today. It was even a bit
humid. But I was not going to complain. The humidity levels here
are nothing compared to North Carolina.
* Food: Yum. There's nothing quite like fries with a Frosty. So
much better than ketchup. It's fries! With calcium!
Fri, Jun 24 23:29:25 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Ruts: It's a Friday night. Know what that means? It means
there's a better than even chance that we end up at Barnes and
Noble. We even bought a couple of books.
* Authors: As we were checking out, there was a stand full of
suggested beach reading for women. My jaw dropped as I saw this
"book. Not because the cover was pink. Not because it looked like
it would rot my brain. Not because there was an entire stand of
book covers that varied only in the shade of pastel. But because
I recognized the author's name as belonging to an editor from the
Sandman series of graphic novels. I remember she wrote one of the
stories in a subsequent series as well. I guess she decided to
change her audience.
Fri, Jun 24 01:02:44 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Friends: Went into Cambridge for dinner tonight at the Elephant
Walk as the Deans are leaving on Monday for parts unknown. Well,
South Carolina is not exactly unknown to them, but it is to me. I
never ventured further south than Charlotte when we lived in North
Carolina. I hope they have lots of luck on their drive down and
in their new positions.
* Food: The food was good. I really liked the chocolate cake. I
wish I had room to eat more of it. I ordered some green tea in
order to settle my stomach a bit. It was really neat; the leaves
had been rolled into balls. However, the water seemed barely
lukewarm. That was a bit of a disappointment.
* Nathan: He still rocks!
Tue, Jun 21 20:33:12 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: Nearing the summer solstice. I guess I'm going to have
to get used to the heat.
* Family (Jester): Bandanna still on. He may be a Carolina dog,
but he does not seem to enjoy the heat either. He lies sprawled
every time I see him. But he can still run around outside. I
think he prefers the heat to the snow. Silly dog.
* Food: Trader Joe's sweet potato fries are okay. Not as good as
some others, but it sure comes in handy.
Sun, Jun 19 23:59:59 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Saw Howl's Moving Castle. Unfortunately, we showed up
late and missed the first ten minutes. I felt like I spent the
rest of the movie trying to catch up. I don't think I was ever
really able to do so.
* Culture: Went to the MFA again today. Saw the quilt exhibit
again with Nathan. He seemed to like it too. I guess I
underestimated him. The museum itself was very crowded. I guess
it must be a common destination for dad's day.
* Food: Enjoyed some mango ice cream with hot fudge at Tosci's
tonight. They have really yummy hot fudge. It is probably a good
thing we don't live closer to them.
* Family (Jester): He got a patriotic bandanna from the groomer.
He looks so cute with it on. I think we will leave it on him for
a few days.
Sat, Jun 18 16:02:58 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: We spent the weekend with my in-laws in Cape Ann. The
weather was probably the most exciting aspect of the trip. Of
course, that is preferable, as it was a loafing vacation. We did
go out and do things, but we tried to keep it low-key. We saw a
few lighthouses, a couple of museums, and a lot of seagulls.
Mostly of the greater black-backed variety. We also had quite a
bit of seafood. My brother-in-law grills a mean lobster.
* Knitting: I did half the edging on the shawl. The lighting did
not allow me to work on it at night. Somehow I was still able to
read, though.
* Reading: Finished two books while lounging around. A Sheri
Tepper book and a short book called The Clothes They Stood Up In.
Both were very enjoyable and great for vacation reading.
* Signs: I saw a few signs of note this past week. The most
memorable was "Ice Cream Pizza!" seen in a window of a food shop.
I have to admit being intrigued. Couldn't get Nathan to stop the
car though.
* Family: I got an email from my cousin today. I haven't heard
from her in years! Gosh... I remember sneaking her her first
taste of soda. Somehow I don't think she remembers that.
Fri, Jun 10 19:40:54 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Woohoo! I finished the body of the shawl. Went to
the yarn store to pick up some DPNs and bumped into one of the
fellow students in the fair isle bag class that I took. We
chatted a bit. She's currently working on socks on 000 needles.
That's just scary. Anyway, I bought the needles and did one
repeat of the edging. A bazillion more to go!
* ChangeLog: Had a really hard time getting this on the server
last night. I had to get Nathan to poke at it. Then I got to
poke at it. Can I say I'm not a fan of python?
* Paprikash: I have never tried any, but it's definitely a great
word. I've been using it lately just at random times. Today,
Nathan asked me what it meant. It is rare that I know a word he
does not. Is it bad that these words are mostly food related? I
find it odd, however, that neither of the online dictionaries I
tried had the word in them. Maybe I need to find a better
online dictionary.
* Rules: Nathan and I have been playing darts lately. I have a
bit of trouble reaching the top half of the board. I find it a
tad easier when I'm wearing heels. It gives me the two inches I
need to hit the 20. I have no idea if that is against the rules.
Nathan thinks not. I should look it up sometime
Fri, Jun 10 01:56:37 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: What I wouldn't give for a cup of tea...
* Family (Nathan): Have I mentioned recently how sweet he is?
Especially since he's offering to get me a cup of tea.
* Knitting: So close! I am four rows away from completing the
body of the shawl. I skimmed ahead in the directions and realized
I need a set of DPNs for the edging. I don't actually own any
size 5(US) DPNs. Actually, before this project, I didn't own any
size 5 needles at all. Somehow I have never needed them. I think
I own every other size but that one. I guess it just isn't all
that popular. Although, I was looking at another shawl that I was
interested in making, and that uses size 5 needles as well.
* Family (Jester): Trying to teach him how to shake. He hasn't
quite grasped the concept yet.
* Weather: There was a wonderful thunderstorm last night. I got a
bit wet (Jester got a lot more wet) but we didn't lose power. The
rain was nice. There were no bugs during the storm. Of course,
with all that water, more bugs will be coming. I just wish they
would stop thinking of me as prey.
Wed, Jun 01 22:38:25 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Luck: Mine has been relatively bad this week. Almost nothing
I've done has gone smoothly. Often it entailed pointing out a
fact or two to the other person and waiting for things to be
fixed. Or things have happened that were unexpected in a bad
way. Like the car dealer finding a cracked gasket when I got an
oil change. Of course, this could be _good_ luck, as if they
hadn't caught it (or if I'd gone to a drive-thru oil change
place), oil would've leaked into the spark plugs. So maybe my
luck is just a mixed bag, as usual, and I'm just extra cranky.
* Consumerism: Shhhh... don't tell Nathan. I was so cranky that I
went to the yarn store. They were having a sale on Fiber Trends
patterns. And the yarn to make whatever pattern one chooses. So
I splurged. Hey! It's lace weight yarn. Sure, it is more
expensive by weight, but there's much more yardage. It'll take
me much longer to knit that amount. Yeah, I know. I'm currently
working on a shawl. And it isn't close to being done. This new
shawl yarn won't even touch my swift for at least another month.
But I'm buying into a dream!
* Dreams: I was really tired earlier and ended up taking an hour
nap. I had the most realistic dreams. Dreamt I was awake in bed
and Nathan came home. I knew he wasn't there, and that it had to
be a dream. I fought my way towards consciousness to verify there
really wasn't a stranger there (though Jester would've let me know
right quick) but then realized how stupid I was being. So I just
drifted back to enjoy his presence inside my head.
* Luck (part2): So, just for the record, my luck got a lot better
after spending money at the yarn store.
Tue, May 31 21:44:37 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Sleep: Barely seven hours. I don't understand it.
* Family (Nathan): Got to hear his voice. That was nice. He
sounded grumpy. But hopefully not at me.
* Knitting: Two-thirds done with the body of the shawl. Of
course, the written instructions for the shawl has only three
lines of text for the body of the shawl (mostly saying "refer to
chart"). The rest of the many lines of text on the page is for
the edging. So, maybe I'm close to halfway done with the shawl?
* News: I read this today. One in four? That just baffles me.
How can anyone think that is a good idea?
Mon, May 30 22:34:06 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* State: Even more tired. Staying up late and getting up early
are not things that should be done regularly. At least not by me.
* Consumerism: I went to the supermarket the other day and bought
a pack of coffee drinks. There are four cans in this pack. As it
is not a carbonated beverage, there is no bottle return on them.
However, the supermarket charged me a $.05 bottle deposit. This
is the second time I have noticed them doing so. Unfortunately, I
have only noticed after getting home. I was all set to send them
an email of complaint, but could not find an email address for
them. And $.05 is not enough for me to remember to bring the
receipt next time I go to the store.
* Knitting: I joined the yarn. Currently, there's 349 stitches on
the needle. The problem with knitting lace is that I won't know
for certain if I've made a mistake until I finish and stretch it
out. This makes me a bit nervous. Knitting on blind faith!
* Network: The DNS has been up and down all day. So frustrating!
Makes me want to collate a list of commonly used IP addresses just
in case. Case in point? # of failed attempts to upload this to
the server: 3
Sun, May 29 19:44:34 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Consumerism: I'm completely taken aback at the fact that
amazon.com not only sells home-use defillibrators, they had it up
top as an advertisement for me as I was looking up a book. What
are they saying? Do my book choices have me pegged as someone who
could potentially have a heart problem? Sometimes I wonder just
what kind of information they're collecting about me.
* State: Really tired today. Stayed up very late (late enough for
it to be early) to chat with Nathan. Glad to hear he made it
safely to Germany.
* Topics: The topic above refers to my mental state and not to the
German state, as is shown by my mental tangents.
* Stupidity: Lesson learned: don't mess with a database when
you're tired. Sigh... This is so not cool. Maybe we should've
been backing it up on a regular basis. Did I mention "not cool"?
* Computer: But my desktop background image is still making me
laugh.
* Internet: Huh. DNS is down. Today is not my day. Hence it is
time to fight fire with fire! Or at least, ice cream. And Pride
and Prejudice.
Sat, May 28 23:57:57 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Words: Did you know "filler" is a currency? It's a Hungarian
equivalent to the penny. And considering how unwieldy my wallet
gets with all those pennies, "filler" seems to be a very
appropriate term.
* Family (Andrew): I talked to my cousing Andrew briefly on the
phone the other day. I have not had any contact with him in
almost a decade. Way too long! I don't think I'd even recognize
him. Sad... Need to convince him to come visit. =)
* Family (Jester): I think he's lost weight. Or maybe he just
blew his winter coat. Regardless, he is mopey. I guess he misses
Nathan too.
* Knitting: Currently working a shawl. I have just finished the
first skein and am staring at it too scared to continue. All the
previous joining methods I've used isn't going to work; this is
lace weight yarn. I know I should use the russian join, but
haven't gotten up the courage to do it yet. In the interim, I'm
finishing off projects that have been laying around for a while.
* Entertainment: I'm looking at the DVDs for the BBC version of
Pride and Prejudice. I haven't watched them yet, at least not
this copy of them. I'm trying to delay it as much as I can. It's
a five hour commitment, after all. I don't understand how people
could've watched it on TV when it first aired; how in the world
could the have survived between episodes? I'd have probably
picked up the book and read it after every show. Addicted? Me?
There are worse cravings.
* Computer: I've finally ordered a new one. My old one died a
while back. At least Nathan said it did. He refuses to figure
out the problem, anyway. I've been borrowing his computer for a
while now, but he wants it back! My new computer should arrive
any-day-now. I wonder if it'll be quieter than his? *smirk*
* Computer (part 2): Meanwhile, I've changed my desktop background
image. I've had the same one for some time now and felt the need
for a change. I found a great shot of the cat from Shrek 2.
Every time I minimize a window now, I laugh. It's great! Heck,
I'm giggling just thinking about it!
Tue, Apr 19 17:37:02 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): Apparently he missed me while I was gone. Good
to know. =)
* Family (Nathan): He just rocks! He got me the sweetest early
anniversary present.
* Knitting: The New Hampshire trip was a lot of fun! I bought
more yarn than I need. I think my imagination needs more work. I
met a bunch of my internet buddies. People are always different
in real life than how I expect from their emails. I worked on my
bag while I was there. Not surprisingly, I made some mistakes and
had to undo some of my work. At the end of the trip, I had gotten
about four inches done. Not that great, but not too shabby
either. I have a week to finish and block it.
Thu, Apr 14 22:49:50 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): Yea! He's a bona fide American citizen now. I
still don't think he can sing "Proud to be an American" without
laughing though.
* Waiting: One of the biggest difficulties of the day was waiting
over four hours in a stark room. The family next to me had a
four year old girl. She was very energetic. Her mother told her
she had to be good. Her response? "That's no fun!"
* Writing: My GPG article came out with the latest issue of
Red Hat Magazine today. Tammy wrote me to let me know that Wil
Wheaton had linked to it from his blog. Woohoo! Apparently he
thinks it is a good introductory article (which was my goal) and
that I'm not a hot chick. My ego doesn't know what to do with
that one.
* Knitting: I'm off to a knitting retreat with some of my Internet
knitting buddies. Federico referred to it as the "Kill Bill-style
knitting retreat at the Shaolin Knitting Temple". Now I'll
actually have to watch that movie.
Tue, Apr 05 21:56:40 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Infrastructure: Apparently "safe" means "the sky is falling".
Hey! Maybe it is a tie-in for the new Chicken Little movie.
* Food: Nathan bought me noodles for dinner tonight. Yum! My
favorite kind of comfort food.
* Knitting: Went to class tonight. It's full of overachievers! I
did my homework plus a few extra rows, but I still am the one with
the least done. The teacher gave a hard limit to homework
tonight. I guess that means I won't be behind at all next week!
Fair Isle is harder than I thought it would be. I'm still having
a bit of trouble keeping tension on the purl side. Hopefully by
the time the bag is finished, I'll have gotten the hang of it.
Mon, Apr 04 18:19:31 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): He bought me a cannoli the other day. I think
I'm in love. Oh wait--I am!
* Family (Jester): He is _so_ happy that there is exposed (dead)
grass for him to roll around in.
* Webstuff: I've been trying to get my webpage finished so that I
can make it live. At the rate I'm going, it'll never get to a
state where I feel comfortable with it out there. What to do?
* Reading: Technically I'm still reading Baudolino. In practice,
I'm out of practice. I haven't picked up a book in about a week.
Darn that Wario!
* Knitting: Whee! I'm past the first Fair Isle section on the
bag. I still don't have the hang of holding two yarns in one
hand, but I'm getting there! And here's where I admit to tinking
a lot because the back wasn't coming out as neatly as I would
like. I take it into class tomorrow; we'll see what the teacher
thinks!
* Punctuation: Notice the complete lack of ellipsis? I'm really
trying!
Fri, Mar 25 16:40:01 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Wow! Somehow, my bracket is now in the 17th spot
on the Yahoo! site. I picked all four winners last night. Now I
am tied with 29 other people and listed on the "Overall Leaders"
page. Whodathunk? I would be very surprised, however, if this
isn't the peak of my bracket, as I cannot get more than three of
the four games today. Nathan is still really amused. He keeps
telling me there is no way I'll ever get this high a score again.
* Surprise: I got a Easter basket from my secret pal yesterday.
Lots of chocolate! And other fun Easter surprises, including a
bear dressed up as a bunny. So cute!
* Book: I finished Dispatches the other day. It was surprisingly
hard to read. Between the vivid imagery and the run-on sentences,
it was difficult to parse. It was also difficult to put down.
* Book (part 2): Started Baudolino last night. Speaking of hard
to read, the first chapter gave me a headache! Misspellings I can
handle; lack of punctuation I cannot. It looks like the rest of
the book does not contain this style. *whew*! Now as long as he
doesn't start talking about doves...
* Family (Nathan): He still rocks. Not that that was ever in
question...
* Punctuation: I really need to stop using ellipses so often.
Maybe that will be my new season's resolution.
Wed, Mar 23 22:18:34 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Nintendo: Woohoo! I did it! The domdaniel (aka "the pit of
despair") has been overcome! And Bonetail gave me... 1XP? Huh?
Is that supposed to make me feel like a weakling for needing so
many items to beat it? Sigh...
* News: This article made me laugh. I couldn't get this song out
of my head. *giggle*
* Food: I have never been fond of chicken pot pie. It always
seemed like chicken soup in a pastry shell. And I am not a big
fan of chicken soup. Towards pie crust, I am more ambivalent.
Tonight Nathan bought home a chicken pot pie for dinner. He
explained that he always eats it with ketchup. That is something
I never even considered. I wonder how it would taste with oyster
sauce?
Mon, Mar 21 19:04:44 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: I thought when UConn lost yesterday that my
ranking would go down. But no! My bracket is now ranked 514 on
the Yahoo! site. Now if only Louisville can keep it going until
the finals...
* Shopping: Went to the grocery store with Nathan yesterday to
pick up a few items. He was waylaid by the cheese section. We
ended up leaving the store with a some St. Andre. He was so
excited. I think it may be his favorite cheese.
* Food: The reason we went to the grocery store was to pick up
enough ingredients to make another black forest cake. Oh, yummy
yummy! Nathan did a great job this time of splitting the cake
into three layers. It is definitely better than the last
attempt.
* Food (part 2): While waiting for our dinner to finish cooking,
we each had a slice of toast. Nathan used the last of the jam
from making the cake while I used some strawberry ancho jam. I
also put some of the aforementioned St. Andre on top. It was
really tasty. Nathan was just a tad jealous.
* Nintendo: Nathan started Prince of Persia 2 yesterday evening.
I miss the prince's happy-go-lucky attitude from the first one.
And he's going to die! It is fated. And we all know there is no
way to avoid your fate, even in video games... really? Are you
sure? Okay. I'll take your word for it.
* Knitting: Well, more like the concept thereof instead of actual
production. I went to the yarn store today. I had signed up for
a Fair Isle class that starts next week. My one and only attempt
at Fair Isle was pretty bad, although Nathan insists he still
likes the hat. Anyway, I went to the store today to pick out
colours for the project in the class. I had a hard time. I am
not at all experienced in colour selection. I ended up picking
out eight colours from the Brown Sheep Nature Spun line: Lullaby,
Storm, Roasted Coffee, Pink Please, Scarlet, Mountain Purple,
Alpine Violet, and Royal Purple. And somehow a ball of Noro
Kureyon (#40, if you're interested) landed in my bag too. Nathan
laughed when he saw it; he has seen me petting it in the yarn
store before.
Sat, Mar 19 23:52:56 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Nathan is a bit miffed at me. I picked Utah and
West Virginia to win today. Of course I also picked Gonzaga and
Boston College, but I think he did too. I wonder if I could get
that nickel to pick lottery numbers...
* Food: We had cabbage with sour cream as a side dish tonight.
I have never had that combination before, but the Joy of Cooking
had an interesting recipe. Nathan liked it; I thought perhaps
younger, more tender cabbage was required for such a recipe. But
for dessert, Nathan made ice cream sandwiches! Ben and Jerry's
Cherry Garcia ice cream sandwiched between two pizzelle cookies.
They were so good. Nathan rocks.
* Shopping: I'm looking for a new desktop computer as my old one
has had motherboard problems for years. Presently, I am borrowing
Nathan's computer (Hear the Silence!) but he is going to need it
back at some point. Not really sure what I need, which is why
I haven't dealt yet. I spent some time browsing Dell's website
today. If I got one of those, it would match my monitor.
* Family (Ricky): He IM'ed me today, but I was busy downstairs
making dinner and watching basketball. Oh well. I guess it
wasn't important enough for him to call.
* Knitting: I finished the edging on a tank top tonight while
watching the game. It had sat in that state for over half a
year. Now there is room in my knitting basket to start yet
another project... Or I could try and finish some other stuff
first. Depends how virtuous I am feeling.
Fri, Mar 18 23:47:10 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Every year about this time, Nathan laments that
he forgot to make a bracket for the NCAA tournament. This year, I
made sure he remembered. Just for the heck of it, I filled one
out too. So far, I've picked three losers, which I guess isn't so
bad as I had no idea what I was doing. I picked with a
combination of high seed and nickel flip. It's a lot like going
to the race track. I'm cheering for a team to win without really
caring how they do it.
* Shopping: Nathan needed a book this evening. He called three
Barnes and Noble stores in the area before he found one that had
it in stock. He was complaining about the lack of competency in
the staff though. Only one of the stores actually checked the
computer to see if they had the book in stock before checking the
shelves. I tagged along and got a skim decaf raspberry mocha. It
was pretty good, except it wasn't very hot.
* Reading: I finished the Narnia series. As expected, I almost
threw the book against the wall with the ending. "Yea! Y'all
died!" Hello? Is that supposed to be uplifting? I kept thinking
about how poor Susan would need to go to a gazillion funerals.
* Reading (part 2): Currently reading Dispatches by Michael Herr.
I got this book way back when for a humanities class but never did
more than skim through it. I haven't gotten really far into it
yet, but from what I can see so far, the writing is a bit
disjointed. I guess war can do that to you.
* Knitting: Well, sort of. I spent some time today getting my
patterns in order. Does that count?
Wed, Mar 16 18:13:11 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I was having a really bad day today. Nathan took me to
Friendly's for ice cream. I have always been a sucker for their
peanut butter cup sundae with chocolate ice cream. Who wouldn't
be cheered up by that? I have yet to find any other ice cream
place that serves as good a peanut butter topping as Friendly's.
* Shopping: Nathan mentioned in the car yesterday that he learned
that many of the most wished-for items on the Amazon.com wishlists
are or are related to iPods. That made me feel delinquent. I
feel the urge to find some iPod accessories for my wishlist!
Tue, Mar 15 22:20:29 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Traditions: Pizza-library night once more devolved to just pizza
night as we were too tired (and entrenched in the Sunday
crossword) to go out. As for the pizza, I ordered it with my
usual accompaniment: extra sauce. I like my pizzas to have lots
of sauce. But this pizza place made pizza stew! There was so
much sauce that it was hard to eat without making a mess. Sort of
like sloppy joe pizza.
* Nintendo: Nathan had a bad day, so I tried to placate him by
going further in the pit of 100 trials. And promptly died. So
much for cheering him up.
Mon, Mar 14 22:04:51 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Mood: I was in such a good mood yesterday. While walking the
dog we climbed over a snowbank and went into the woods. Good
thing we were wearing wool socks, as our feet got pretty wet from
all the sinking.
* Nintendo: Still haven't finished the pit of 100 trials. I get
to 90 and always feel unprepared to go further. Nathan seems to
be getting frustrated with me.
* Shopping: I went to Costco today and realized after a bit that
everything in my cart was green. Must be a St. Patrick's Day vibe
or something.
* Book: Started The Last Battle. That ape is really obnoxious.
I remember not liking the ending when I first read this book.
Maybe that is why my reading is slowing down a bit.
* Family (Nathan): He's pretty hosed right now. He is going to be
up late tonight. I think I'll make him some tea. It may be the
night to pull out that blackcurrant tea.
* Spam: In the last week or so, I've been getting a ridiculous
amount of spam about Costa Rican real estate. I feel like I am
missing some context here. Why Costa Rica? Why not Guatamala?
Sat, Mar 12 23:52:05 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): His half-birthday today. He always makes such
a big deal of _my_ half-birthday that I decided to make him a
cake. White cake mix with a strawberry-kiwi compote to go between
the layers. The kiwi part will keep me from having too much at
once.
* Weather: Hey, snow! What a novelty! The snow plow dude didn't
get to our driveway until just now, so we weren't able to go out
at all today. We spent the evening by the fire. Nathan coded,
read, napped, and coded. I knitted. Jester napped. All in all,
a nice low-key evening.
* Bookworm: Woohoo! I can start entering books again.
Apparently, the crash I kept hitting was caused by my initiating
the search procedure with a Ctrl-S. Which is what Nathan told me
to use in the backwhen. Today he told me that I was one of the
very few people to use Ctrl-S as that is, like, so 2004. So now I
can enter books as long as I can retrain myself. I sense hours of
frustration coming...
Fri, Mar 11 21:45:10 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Dreams: I dreamt that Nathan and I were at a restaurant with a
few other people. I ordered some breakfast even though I wasn't
hungry to be polite. Nathan decided he would pass on food. My
food arrived. It was a huge bowl of food! I tried to eat it, but
there was no way I could finish it all. I kept hoping Nathan
would help me out, but he didn't. I woke up feeling completely
and utterly stuffed.
* Family (Nathan): He is watching the Duke game right now. I gave
up after two minutes. I can't help it; I was getting bored.
* Book: Started The Silver Chair last night. I think I have read
it before, but I don't recognize it yet. I could have
misremembered. Regardless, I get to experience reading to for the
first time.
* News: It completely baffles me that Martha Stewart is able
to prolong the poncho craze. I never made any as I didn't care
for them. Although, I guess if I had made one, I may have to hide
it now...
* Knitting: My mother-in-law bought me a swift and a ball winder
for Christmas. So much fun! I've been balling up my yarn over
and over again. I knit a bit of it, then reball it so that it is
more compact. Probably not the best for the yarn, but oh-so-fun!
Thu, Mar 10 22:18:06 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): He rocks! Amongst the many reasons is the one
currently most prevalent: he made me tea! And he's cute too...
* Knitting: I finished the scarf last night at the party. Except
for working in the ends. I finished a matching hat
today. Except for working in the ends. I have a couple of other
projects in my knitting basket finished. Except for the seaming
and working in the ends. Maybe this weekend I will bite the
bullet and actually finish off these projects.
* Crossword: Nathan got a subscription to the crossword puzzles in
the Times (of London). We have been having a lot of fun on them.
It usually takes us a few days to complete one. We aren't that
good. But it is still a lot of fun!
* Book: Currently reading through C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. I
had read a few of them out of order when I was much younger but
never read them all. My wonderful in-laws bought me a set for
Christmas and I have been going through them. They are pretty
quick reads. I am almost through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
I have to say, Dawn Treader is quite an ominous name for a ship.
I think I would avoid getting aboard any vessel with such a
name.
Apparently Disney is turning the first book (or the second one,
chronologically) into a movie. I wonder who will play the part of
the wardrobe?
Wed, Mar 09 16:58:45 2005 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: I went to the dentist today. Who knew gingivitis can be
hormonal? And I've been ordered to use Listerine regularly.
Accept no substitutes. Seriously. That's what he said.
* Family (Ricky): I had a fun chat with him today. It's been a
while since I've been able to catch him. He's a busy guy! Of
course, he's the one who tends to guilt me into updating this
thing. I wonder what kind of breakfast he can get at 4PM...
* Family (Jester): Our neighbours got a puppy for Christmas.
Jester still isn't sure what to think of him. They haven't had
too much contact yet. Need to schedule Jester for another rabies
shot soon. I still don't know why this state mandates 3-year
rabies shots yearly. Isn't over vaccination bad for the dogs?
* Knitting: I'm working on a hat and scarf set right now for a
secret pal. The cool part? I got the yarn as part of a swap with
someone from New Zealand. It is beautiful yarn. And the
colours fits my secret pal very well, too! Serendipitous, yes?
* Food: I can't get over the takoyaki I had in Japan. I've never
experienced anything like that before. And the vendor! There
were two guys working the cart, one doing the cooking, and the
other attracting customers. Nathan and I were fascinated, but
weren't sure what they were making. The guy trying to get
customers didn't know enough English to tell us what they were.
But! He told us "yummy, yummy!" How could we resist? Well, I
couldn't. Nathan was more taken with the chocolate covered banana
vendor cart ten feet over.
* Aggregators: I just spent the last week resesarching news
aggregators. I think I've found another addiction...
* Party: GNOME release party tonight. I think I'll bring my
knitting.
Thu, Nov 04 16:14:26 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: The pain in my shoulder is starting to go away. I am
still trying to rest it, though, because in the last few days, the
shoulder would hurt more as it got later in the day. So I figure
I should make sure I do not make it worse by overworking it
again.
Sun, Oct 31 19:46:01 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Boo: Hallo, Mr. Ween! Hope you have a good day! I am all
dressed up as the Easter bunny and our candy is being given out in
plastic eggs in a basket. I wonder if I should leave one out just
so they are not all in that one basket.
* Heath: Bah... My shoulder is still sore. I think I will try
resting my right arm for a few days and see if it helps.
* Family (Jester): He is really not liking the holiday.
Especially as it entails us keeping him inside and away from the
front door. I will give him extra treats tonight.
* Entertainment: Sad to see that Denver lost again today. And
Nathan is sad to see the Patriots' streak end.
* RTotD: For some reason, I am craving salt. Maybe I should make
myself some popcorn later.
Thu, Oct 28 17:32:28 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Huh. I guess the Red Sox won the World Series.
Maybe now I can get to bed at a decent hour. *yawn*
* Knitting: I finished a vest recently. It is a Wool in the Woods
kit which I made a bit longer. Luckily, I had enough yarn. I got
a bit nervous near the end, but had about a couple of yards of
yarn to spare. I made a buttonhole for the vest, but I wasn't
sure I really wanted to add the button. After wearing it around
for a few days, and asking the opinion of a few people, I've
decided to forego the button. Someone even suggested using a
pretty pin if I ever want to wear it closed. Nah... I am not
really a broach type of girl.
The next project is a pair of socks. I know, I _have_ a pair of
socks already on needles. And I recently found a pair of
half-finished socks in my yarn bin that I last saw about five
years ago. But who can question inspiration?
* Health: Ugh... My shoulder has been bothering me for the last
couple of days. I think I slept on it funny the other night, and
it is really tight. The worst part is that it keeps me from
sleeping well. I am a side sleeper. It doesn't matter which side
I am on, gravity compresses the shoulder enough to make it hurt.
* Family: My cousin Timothy needled me to update my Changelog. It
always surprises me when people care. =)
Fri, Sep 10 13:28:34 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Sleep: I was woken up this morning by a noisy mosquito
triangulating a landing pattern above my head. Bah, hum-bug.
* Family (Nathan): I have been fielding questions as to what
Nathan wants for his birthday. Shopping for him is difficult. It
is sort of funny; he thinks _I_ am more difficult. He's wrong,
of course. I really scraped the bottom of the barrel last year.
It is probably a good thing he is out of town right now; I am
really bad at waiting until the actual day to give gifts. If he
were home, I would be continually antsy until I broke down and
handed him his present.
Tue, Sep 07 16:56:41 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I went into a Starbucks today. The lady behind the
counter was friendly, courteous, and more helpful than I could
ever have expected. She went beyond the call of duty. With
employees like that, I would not be surprised if they take over
the world.
* Routines: When I drove to the library today, I parked a bit
further than necessary to get shade from a tree. It occurred to
me as I was doing it that it felt like a novel experience. Took
me a few seconds to realize that it _was_ a novel experience. We
usually go to the library after Nathan comes home from work.
Which means that all the spots are usually shaded. By the Earth.
Mon, Sep 06 18:20:46 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I ordered mashed sweet potatoes as a side dish at a
restaurant recently. The waitress asked if I wanted gravy with
that.
* Shopping: At the pet store today, the woman asked if I wanted to
round up my purchase price and donate the difference to help the
pets in Florida. Assumedly those hurt/displaced by the
hurricane. She looked a bit sheepish asking. How could I say no?
It would have been churlish to begrudge them those two cents.
* Tennis: Go Lindsay!
Thu, Sep 02 21:51:07 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): Someone has been feeding him cheese. Now
everytime I pull some out of the refrigerater, he smells it and
trots over, tail wagging.
* Food: Branston pickle. Yum. I wonder if there is any way to
cook with it. Although pickle and cheddar makes me happy enough.
* Food (part 2): For some reason, we do not seem to have acquired
as many condiments in the last year as I had expected. I guess
our refrigerater door is not built to handle it.
* Family (Nathan): Snap!
Mon, Aug 30 20:48:06 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Senses: All paperback dictionaries have the same smell. Flip
one open and I remember the vocabulary lists back in grade
school.
Sun, Aug 29 23:10:24 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Dreams: In keeping with strange dreams, last night, I dreamt
that we were attending a wedding. We were staying in a hotel room
with a personal monorail station. This monorail took us to a food
court where Nathan kept insisting on getting an Orange Julius.
* Entertainment: We played mini-golf yesterday with Brain, Raffi,
and Ben. Followed by ice cream. Watching Brian eat that brownie
ice cream sundae with whip cream was probably the most
entertaining part of the day.
Wed, Aug 25 13:34:51 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Dreams: Last night, I dreamt I was in a house with a Jewish
friend. No one I know in the real world, but was I even myself?
Anyway, this friend was grilling a pastrami and cheddar sandwich
and trying to convince me that pastrami is a dairy thereby making
this sandwich kosher. Of course, the pastrami wasn't melting and
my friend was very consternated.
* Entertainment: Watching a lot of the Olympics recently. So what
else is new? But trying to avoid finding out the results before
seeing the coverage means that I have been avoiding all news
outlets. Which means I feel completely out of it as far as world
events.
Thu, Jul 08 10:30:42 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Words: "Widow" is a woman, "widower" is a man. Is this the only
instance where the word for the man is longer than the one for the
woman?
Sat, Jun 26 18:26:56 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: My parents are visiting. They brought lots of
* Food: including a jackfruit. Watching my mom carve one was
pretty amazing. It is awfully sticky. It tastes very fragrant.
Unfortunately, with a bit of that and a few lychees (which they
also brought) my throat is feeling quite uncomfortable. I took a
Benedryl to try and feel better. I hope it doesn't make me too
drowsy.
* Nap: Oops... it made me drowsy.
* History: Westford was full of people wearing colonial garb
today. And we past by a green full of tents. It kept bringing to
mind a book I had read recently. That was a fun read.
Mon, Jun 14 19:23:51 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Clementimes: It's hard to eat just one. But three is too
much. At least for me. Maybe if I try and find ones that aren't
quite so sweet...
Wed, May 12 15:09:16 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Shopping: We bought new lampshades the other day for the
bedroom. One of them had died relatively recently. Nathan always
believes he doesn't have an opinion until I actually reach for
something. Then he realizes he does care after all. And my
choice is definitely not what he wants. Which is fine, but had he
said that to begin with, choosing the right one would be so much
easier. Sigh... Now we just need to figure out what to get for
outdoor furniture.
* Garden: My rosemary plant seems to have this white dust on it.
I am worried that it is some type of mold or something. I
probably over-watered it. I'm letting it dry out now and
hopefully it will recover. In the interim, more dill has
sprouted. I wonder how hard it would be to make dill pickles...
Sun, May 09 10:53:44 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Words: Yesterday, I was having trouble coming up with the word I
wanted. I said "intermediate" and realized right away that was
not it. I quickly realized the word I wanted was "immediate".
Which made me wonder if the words were related etymologically even
though they have such different connotations. Turns out they do.
* Family (Nathan): is reading this over my shoulder. I guess he
is too impatient to wait for me to post this.
Sat, May 08 19:04:40 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Garden: Planted a bunch of marigolds outside today. Jester
started sniffing at them. I told him to leave them alone and he
did, but he might trample them before they grow. We will have to
see. Gardening is hard on the knees.
Mon, May 03 15:03:49 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book: I finished The Eyre Affair yesterday. It was really a fun
romp through literature. Makes me feel ignorant for never having
read Chuzzlewit or anything by Henry Fielding. I am still
debating whether it is the type of book Nathan would like or not.
Of course, he's never read Jane Eyre. (Yes, I am trying to rectify
the situation.)
* Spring: All the trees have leaves now. Spring green is
everywhere! I am not fond of the colour anywhere but in nature,
but at this time of year, it is definitely a happy thing.
Although it does bring back memories of the gold dust (aka pine
pollen) that was everywhere when we lived in North Carolina.
* RTotD: Nathan and I had reached a conversational lull last night
when I said the first thing that came to my head--Opportunity only
knocks if the door is closed. Nathan started laughing and said it
sounded like a fortune cookie. Which begs the question--if you
put a fortune cookie to your ear, would it make a sound like a
conch shell?
Sun, May 02 15:24:33 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Friends: Federico stayed with us last night. We went mallin'
first though and he was able to find a dress for Oralia. Nathan
bought me a lullabye CD. Very soothing.
* Family (Jester): I'm sitting here watching him chew his rawhide
strip. He is enjoying it a lot. I had given it to him this
morning and he had spent hours looking at us trying to convince us
to let him outside so he could bury it. Silly dog. We are trying
to limit his romping time outside so that he doesn't hurt his knee
more.
* Family (Nathan): He's taking the day off today. We were going
to spend it gardening, but we're both at low energy levels. He
has had a very busy couple of weeks and needs the time off. And
more sleep!
Fri, Apr 30 11:02:41 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Music: The Bangles still sound like the Bangles.
* Family: I just got word that my uncle is in the hospital. He
had been undergoing tests and they think it is Hodgkin's Disease.
My knowledge of this disease was all gotten from watching soap
operas as a teenager. I'm not sure the internet is any better.
But what I've seen on the internet looks very hopeful.
Thu, Apr 29 22:56:01 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: Four years! I wasn't really able to come up with fruits
and flowers, but I tried!
* Food: We went out for sushi tonight to celebrate. The
restaurant gave us a free dessert too! Fried bananas with maple
syrup. Quite tasty. Nathan took away my miso soup. Wasn't that
sweet of him?
* Music: Nathan bought me the new Bangles CD. I haven't listened
to it yet. I hope I like it!
Wed, Apr 28 13:36:34 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): He's home! Unfortunately, he's also
exhausted. What he needs is a weekend away. Oh wait...
* Shopping: Large eggs, large white eggs, and medium eggs are all
the same price today. Obviously I didn't get the medium eggs. I
still really don't know what the difference between white and
brown eggs are. Other than the shell colour, of course.
* Shopping (part 2): People give me amusing smiles when I buy 10
bottles of Powerade. I'm glad I can make them happy!
* Food: I tried liverwurst for the first time today. Not bad, but
there was too much of it.
Sun, Apr 25 20:28:24 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): He is limping. I'm worried about his knee.
But how do you get a hyperactive dog to rest his knee? Without
keeping him sedated, that is.
* Music: I love Christmas music. It is always so cheery!
Wed, Apr 21 21:58:35 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book: I borrowed a knitting pattern book on Christmas
stockings. The librarian wondered if I was really late or really,
really early. I like to think I was just whimsical. And it gave
me an excuse (not that I need one) to listen to Christmas music.
Mon, Apr 19 14:53:14 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Garden: I raked a bit more today. A lot of leaves! And the
wind would gust every once in a while. At times it seems like a
Sisyphean task. Ah well.
* Book: Started The Da Vinci Code recently. Everyone is part of a
conspiracy! My suspension of disbelief is tottering in the
wind. I wonder if the book is described as "fast-paced" because
the chapters are so short. That just makes the book seem too
choppy to me.
* Food: I was proofreading a cookbook at pgdp today and came
across a recipe for vinegar pie. I'm intrigued! I am tempted to
try it sometime. I wonder if Nathan will feel adventurous twoards
it too.
* Movie: Saw Shadow of a Doubt last night. I enjoyed it but was
too tired to see any of the DVD extras. Oh well.
Sat, Apr 17 19:55:32 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Went to Chick-Fil-A today. I really like their chicken
strips, but their sauces leave a lot to be desired. Still
enjoyable though.
* Garden: We raked a bit today. There's a lot of leaves out
there. We got a lot that had been blown to the sides of the
house.
* Shopping: Bought a pot of purple pansies today. They usurped
the spider plant's hanger. Need to either put up a few more
hangers or something. In the interim, Nathan hung the spider
plant on the hook out in the yard where the previous owners had
placed a swingset for their children. Also got a Anacyclus
depressus because of its name. We just couldn't resist. I
wonder if it will grow its own little red hats...
Fri, Apr 16 10:18:19 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: We went for Mexican food with the Blizzards last night.
It was really yummy. And the company was good too. Although the
waitress looked really taken aback when I asked for beverage
suggestions. I guess she is used to customers who know what they
want.
* Weather: It is sunny outside! Wow! Exciting! Maybe this
weekend we'll take the dog out frolicking. He'd definitely enjoy
that. Although that does make me wonder. What would an
unenjoyable frolic be like?
* RTotD: Nathan was listening to baseball last night. I asked him
if there were such a thing as a switch pitcher or if it is against
the rules. If one existed, would they be allowed to keep two
different mitts on the mound with them?
Thu, Apr 15 16:40:13 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Computer: For some strange reason, Epiphany thought my printer
was filled with A4 paper. I'm not even sure where I would A4
paper around here.
* Plants: The basil is really growing. They weren't kidding when
they labeled the package "easy to grow". On the other hand, none
of the lavendar has sprouted. Nathan thinks the seeds were bad.
The marigolds are also doing well. I hope the weather will stay
warm so I can plant them outside in a couple of weeks.
* Food: I made fishball curry with noodles last night. We had
bought some frozen fishballs from the Chinese market a while back
and I really wanted them in a curry. Nathan seemed to enjoy it.
Next time, I should really buy some ginger. Except I can never
use it up before it goes bad.
* Food (part 2): Speaking of food, we bought some Yakult at Porter
Square the other day. Nathan went and grabbed four bars. I think
he likes it as much as I do. =)
* Food (part 3): All this talk of food is getting me hungry. Or
maybe I forgot to eat lunch. Time to raid the kitchen!
Tue, Apr 13 21:49:34 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book: I finished The Spectator Bird yesterday. I enjoyed it a
lot. There were many clever sentences that made me laught out
loud. Time to put it in Nathan's queue.
* Food: Went to Bertucci's tonight. Ordered a Shrimp Bella Napoli
pizza. It is now my favorite Bertucci's pizza.
Sat, Apr 10 20:23:15 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: My brother-in-law came to visit on Thursday. We went to
Salem and wandered around. It was a lot of fun even though we
did not end up going into any witch places. They were all aimed
for a slightly younger audience.
* Food: While in Salem, Nathan decided he wanted to buy some maple
candy. Unfortunately, the candy store was out. I should figure
out where to get him some.
* Relaxing: The last few days have been beautiful! Warm and sunny
with a slight breeze. We walked on the Esplanade yesterday and
had a great time. Then we went to Bartley's and had burgers.
Nathan had a Bill Clinton while I had a Mitt Romney. Yum!
Wed, Apr 07 19:09:19 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Last night Nathan was tired, so library-pizza night turned
into pizza night. We made one ourselves using a ready-made
crust. We had heard that Australians sometimes put egg on their
pizza. This idea intrigued us and we attempted to do it.
Unfortunately, we had no idea what we were doing and by the time
the egg was cooked, the rest of the pizza was pretty dried out.
But we agree that we like it in theory and will try again in the
future.
* RTotD: Have you ever had something happen like grabbing a
handful of hangers to hang up laundry and realizing at the end
that you grabbed just the right number? What a coincidence! So
have I!
Sat, Apr 03 21:14:25 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Computer: My hard drive is dying (dead?) Nathan has patched it
up for the interim. As he is extremely unhappy with my
motherboard (and has been ever since he got it in the back-when)
and has never been able to get my CD-Rom to work, he is
considering getting me a new computer. Now if only I knew what I
wanted.
Wed, Mar 31 16:27:48 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Nathan and I were at the library last night checking
out books when the librarian told me my sweater was pretty. I
thanked her and smiled at Nathan. She saw that and asked if he
bought it for me. Slightly taken aback, I told her that he hadn't
and that I had made it. She seemed surprised and asked if I knit
a lot. I said no, as I know many people who knit more than me,
but Nathan murmered that I definitely did knit a lot. The other
librarian came over at this point and the two of them made
impressed noises. It definitely made my day.
* House: Smells of paint! If it weren't pouring outside, I'd open
the windows to air it out.
Tue, Mar 30 13:32:05 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (The Island of the Day Before): I read a chapter last night
about the significance of doves. It really did not have that much
bearing on the story. The author just sort of rambled on a bit.
It read like a paper on Doves: Their Symbolism Throughout History
and the Relevance Today.
* Nature: There is a grey squirrel in a tree outside. Jester is
barking madly at it. The squirrel is sitting still on his branch
fluttering his tail. This is the first grey squirrel I have seen
around here. And it looks like Jester just chased it off of our
property.
Mon, Mar 29 15:21:53 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Herbs: Oooh! A few thyme plants have made their appearance. So
exciting! I hope I didn't accidently mix up the seeds...
* Food: Cheddar. Extra sharp. Yum. Who says you can't have
cheese for a meal?
* AisleRiot: I found this page today. How very weird! I wish I
knew what it said.
Sun, Mar 28 15:46:49 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book: The other day, Nathan and I got into a disagreement over
which character in Green Eggs and Ham was Sam. I ended up doing
hand puppets and reciting the relevant passage to him. In a
parking lot. We got a couple of stares. But I was right. =)
* Herbs: A couple of the dill plants have sprouted! And the lid
has to come off the baby's breath as the sprouts have started
banging against the ceiling.
Sat, Mar 27 15:53:17 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Nathan made a couple of cheddar and tomato sandwiches for
lunch today. He melted his and left mine unmelted. Guess who
made a mess? Sigh... i really need to learn to not drop
tomatoes...
* Emacs: What's the difference between Ctrl-Down and Alt-Down? Or
is that M-Down? They both seem to do the same thing.
* Music: Listening to Billy Joel earlier. Realized there were
references that I knew just because I grew up on Long Island.
Makes me wonder what I miss in all the other songs. Of course,
last night, Nathan and I discussed who Robert Ford was.
* Nature: Nathan, Jester, and I went for a walk today. The only
trees that are green are the pine trees in a distance. I
mentioned it looked sort of Bob Ross-esque. Nathan had no idea
what I was talking about. We had had that discussion before though
and I knew I had forced him to watch an episode. Eventually he
remembered. I guess they did not show Bob Ross as much in
California.
Fri, Mar 26 13:16:16 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): When he barks, his ears pull back. I guess he
finds himself loud too.
* Words: I saw my name in print today. Excitement galore!
* Herbs: Most of the baby's breath has sprouted. I planted a lot
more of that than the herbs. Maybe I should get another flat of
herbs going. The other seeds haven't sprouted yet, but they have
longer germination times. And if I keep using long words, I may
be able to convince myself I know what I am doing.
Thu, Mar 25 22:11:33 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Herbs: The basil sprouted! As did the baby's breath. I know
that's not an herb, but I planted it at the same time, so it will
have to do. Whatever that is supposed to mean.
* Books: I was leafing through a couple of our paperbacks today
and realized I never finished reading the Xanth series. Probably
because the library in Chapel Hill never seemed to have them. Of
course, I don't think I remember it very well either. Speaking of
series, I really should read that latest Wheel of Time book
sometime. Not the prequel, the last one sequentially. I think it
is still in a box somewhere though.
* Organization: I wish I knew the Dewey Decimal system better.
For instance, what is the difference between 813.52 and 813.54?
* Book: Picked up The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco last
night. Read a couple of chapters. I feel large chunks of it
going over my head. I hope I just remember to duck.
Mon, Mar 22 11:30:07 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): Got a chance to chat with my brother (over IM,
anyway) this morning. A bit weird, as neither of us are morning
people. Anyway, I hope he has fun in aerobics class!
* Weather: It is a beautiful day outside. Still a bit on the
chilly side, but the sky is a beautiful blue. It is also pretty
gusty. The trees are swaying quite a bit.
* Food: I am eating mini Pocky sticks. They are so cute! Each of
them is about three inches long.
* RTotD: Speaking of food, my little herb garden in the plastic
"greenhouses" looks a lot like take-out sushi.
Sun, Mar 21 16:24:51 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Herbs: We went and bought seeds and planter pellets yesterday
and I spent the evening playing with seeds. I hope something
grows! I haven't grown anything from seed since middle school.
Except, of course, for the arguments with Nathan about the
pronounciation of the word "herb". Okay, that's fun too.
* Books: My silly list of books that I have read has grown to
341. Nowhere near a complete list, but it is a respectable
beginning. I am still slowly unpacking books from our move. It
has been half a year since we moved, but I have been trying to
enter them into Bookworm as I go, so it has been slow. Anyway, as
I enter the books into Bookworm, I enter them into my list as well
if it is appropriate. I am trying to decide whether to add books
that I started but did not want to finish. There aren't too many
books that would fit in that category, but it really depends on
the reasoning behind the list. I will need to think about that a
bit.
* Music: We were at Border's yesterday and they had a Christmas CD
on sale for $1. It is a compilation of country music stars and I
am not a fan of country music, but I figure it _is_ Christmas
music (of which I am a big fan) and how can I go wrong with $1? I
have not had a chance to listen to it yet; we will see! (or hear,
as the case happens to be =)
Sat, Mar 20 15:06:40 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Words: I wonder if there is a word for the opposite of
"percolate". It would be a very useful word.
Fri, Mar 19 19:40:15 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): It has been a long week for him, mostly because
he worked all through last weekend (pulling a couple of
all-nighters too!) Hopefully he will be able to catch up on sleep
this weekend.
* Words: I misheard Nathan tonight and thought he said he was
"going to put down [his] palimpsest". He thought I was nuts to
have pulled that word out of nowhere. I looked it up and proved
to him that it _is_ a word. It even has a interesting
definition. Perhaps I should make it my word of the day...
Thu, Mar 18 17:55:10 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Dreams: I had a weird dream where I was taking orgo again.
Sigh...
* Health: The scratch on my arm is itching like crazy. Argh!
* Food: Making chicken broth right now. The smell is driving
Jester bonkers. He is pretty riled up over it.
Tue, Mar 16 17:12:11 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: I was wrong.
Tue, Mar 16 13:43:11 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: It's snowing! The weather says it will be snowing all
week. I doubt it will stick though.
* Time: My internal clock is a bit screwed up. Nathan pulled an
all-nighter this weekend working against the clock. He was so
hosed that I stayed up with him to make sure he was eating and
plied with caffeine. It has been years since we had done this. I
slept well last night. =)
Mon, Mar 15 17:54:49 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: I noticed this morning that I had scratched the inside
of my arm. Even though it is a relatively sensitive area, I have
no recollection of how this scratch happened. I am mystified.
Fri, Mar 12 16:00:17 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* View: When I looked outside my window this morning, the ground
was clear, but the trees were dusted with snow. It was very
pretty but odd as well.
* Movie (The Importance of Being Ernest): That was definitely a
fun movie. Watching with headphones takes some getting used to
though.
* Music: Currently listening to "Deck the Halls". I love holiday
music.
* Family (Nathan): He bought me chocolate today. What a man!
Thu, Mar 11 14:48:23 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment (Once Upon a Mattress): I finally read the liner
notes. And it actually makes more sense. I had not realized
there were so many characters from just listening to the music.
Now that I _know_ who the different characters are, I can hear the
difference in the voices.
* Book (Possession): I started this book last night. It kept
quoting this poet which I assumed did not exist, but then
curiousity got the better of me and I searched for him on the
internet. And found out that the book had been made into a movie
a couple of years ago. How very strange!
* Food: Parsnip chips are yummy.
Wed, Mar 10 15:54:18 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: I borrowed Once Upon a Mattress from the
library. I have never heard this musical before. Nathan was
amused at my choice, as usual. I have been listening to it all
day. It is fun, but the sound is badly mixed. There are parts I
can't really hear. And I'm still sort of confused how the whole
thing turns out. I guess I should listen to it a few more times.
Or read the liner notes.
* Organization: I was browsing through the library and pulled out
a book that I eventually realized I had read before. So I decided
that it was time to compile a list of books I have read. This
list will by no means be complete, but I will attempt to add books
I do read and add books I remember having read. That way I will
be able to keep track of what I have read. Until I forget to
update it.
Tue, Mar 09 16:50:40 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: It is snowing again! It snowed yesterday as well. The
ground is covered again in white. But at least it is a clean, new
white.
* Book (Six Moon Dance): I read this book yesterday. I have read
books by the author before. They tend to discuss gender issues.
This book was no exception. Or, more specifically, this book was
exceptional in its delving of gender issues. But it never seemed
to take itself seriously, either.
Sun, Mar 07 16:35:40 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: We went on a walk in the woods today. Jester even got
to go off leash for a bit. The snow has almost disappeared.
There are still muddy patches in places, but, on the whole, it was
a beautiful day to be out. Unfortunately, it was so sunny that I
had a headache before I got back home.
* Beverages: I am currently sipping a box of guava juice. Yum. I
wish the straws in these box drinks were easier to deal with.
About half the time the straw gets wrinkled and/or cracked before
I can get it out of the wrapper. Maybe I am just inept.
* Entertainment: Nathan tried to get me to play Metroid Fusion.
It's a bit more complicated than most games I've played. Too much
to do with timing. I have the feeling I won't be able to finish
it.
Sat, Mar 06 15:20:11 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: Woohoo! I've wrapped the levels in xkobo again.
Currently on level 508. I wonder just how fast it can shoot at
me...
* Entertainment (Movie): Nathan dragged me out to see Starsky &
Hutch last night. It was a funny movie. Twelve hours later, I
barely remember why. But I enjoyed it while it lasted. There
were a lot of ads though. I would have prefered more trailers
instead. But then again, I really like watching trailers. The
best parts of a movie, distilled to 90 seconds (or however long
they are supposed to be, I don't really know.)
* Food: Made sticky rice balls for breakfast today. Nathan seemed
to like them. Google doesn't seem to know about them. Maybe I
just do not know how to do an adequate Google search.
* Shopping: Went to Costco and bought some boxes of Kleenex. As
we seem to be going through them with our colds, we figured we
would populate the house (and cars) with boxes so we wouldn't have
to run around looking for the lone box. Anyway, I realized
afterwards that it was 3-ply. I guess maybe 3-ply is becoming
standard. I wonder if it is more ecological that way because
people may need less tissues if they are thicker.
* Beverages: Bought a six-pack of San Pellegrino Limonata at
Trader Joe's. It is a lot like Sunkist Lemon, which isn't
available in this country. It has a bit of a bitter twist while
Sunkist Lemon is sweeter. Now if only there were a suitable
alternative to Schweppes Cream Soda.
Fri, Mar 05 15:45:58 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I always eat pizza that has been rewarmed in the microwave
from the crust side in. Otherwise the crust gets hard before I
get there. Nathan thinks I am weird. But he eats his pizza
folded up with the point on top of the crust. I have no idea why
he thinks that is a good way to eat pizza. He can be so silly
sometimes.
* Health: My cough is still lingering. My mom tells me to boil
some lemon and Coke and drink it. Too bad I don't have any lemons
in the house. I _do_ have lemon juice from concentrate, though.
But somehow I don't think it will have the same effect.
Thu, Mar 04 15:44:04 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (Jacob Have I Loved): I never read this book growing up.
Sorting through our boxes of books, I came across this one last
night and ended up reading it. It was a much angrier book than
Bridge to Terabithia but nowhere near as sad.
* Family (Nathan): He is working almost nonstop nowadays. Being
hosed and sick at the same time is really bad combination.
* Family (Jester): I think he is happy the snow is disappearing.
He can lie down on the grass in the sun again. Simple
pleasures...
* RTotD: Oooh! It's March 4th! The date that is also a command.
I wonder if any battles ever started on this date. Wikipedia does
not have any listed, but who knows? It sounds like an auspicious
day to me.
Wed, Mar 03 16:24:08 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (Sophie's World): Nathan has been telling me about this
book for years. I found it in the library today and have started
reading it. As I have not studied philosophy at any length, I
hope to find it enlightening. I think I will enjoy it.
* Phrasology: Hmmm... it seems that thinking about Nathan in the
above paragraph has led me to use his word structures. As long as
I don't get comma-itis, I'll be fine.
* Health: Nathan and I still have lingering coughs. And I have a
very sore nose. But the weather was so nice today I opened a
bunch of windows. I like fresh air.
Wed, Mar 03 01:32:32 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: Blah. I've had a horrid cold for about a week. I got
it from Nathan. I hope I don't give it back to him. I'm sure he
doesn't want it back.
* Quantity: I have been using 4-ply tissues recently. I don't
know whether to call it extravagant or ridiculous. All I know was
that it came in small little packets that fit in my pocketbook.
* People: I was watching the Oscars Sunday night when one of my
middle school teachers flashed across the screen. I was pretty
floored.
* Book (Trading Up): I have been reading this book on and off for
a while. Sort of interesting, but it feels like a book to read in
order to sooth my conscience about spending lots of money. I
actually went and looked at the washer and dryer combo they
mentioned in the book. The dials had more increments than I have
pairs of shoes. I'm not kidding. I think all those choices would
just give me a headache. I have enough trouble sorting my laundry
into the choices I already have. I guess that implies that I can
use the $2000 I saved from not getting that washer/dryer towards
something I do want, say, a cruise to Alaska. Or something.
Thu, Feb 19 03:02:14 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Sauce: I made white sauce with evaporated milk the other day.
Nathan's reaction: "You can do that?!?!!" Of course I didn't tell
him I had never done it before. It's good to experiment, no?
* Family (Jester): The silly dog always tries so hard to be good.
The best way he knows to be good is to sit. So when he does
something wrong and tell him so, he'll get out of the way and park
his butt. Picture of innocence, I tell you.
* Friends: Been playing around on Orkut lately. Not too sure
whether I have many of the type of friends who would join such a
network, but who knows? Nathan sure does. =)
* Family (Nathan): Speaking of which, he's such a trooper! I was
craving Indian food today, so he took me out. Yummm... Not to
mention he's been battling the mail monster for the last few
days. Soon I will be able to read my email again.
* Knitting: I realized tonight that I had misread the pattern I
was using. That's what I get for knitting while watching Nathan
play Metroid. Gotta frog about 10 rows. Not too bad, but a
momentum stopper nonetheless.
* Words: Nathan was talking about dovecotes earlier today. Except
I thought he was saying /dev/cot. And I had no idea what he was
talking about. Once I realized the actual word, I wondered what
pigeons had to do with anything. Turns out he didn't know what a
dovecote was. It is so rare that I know a word he doesn't.
*preen*
* RTotD: Speaking of dovecotes, why in the world do they house
pigeons and not doves? Did they used to house doves and gradually
was switched over as people domesticated pigeons? If so, why did
people keep doves around to begin with? Are doves and pigeons
related? They are both sort of pudgy birds... Woah! A quick
search at wikipedia shows that doves _are_ pigeons. Whodathunk?
Fri, Jan 02 08:25:37 2004 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: I saw a full rainbow today, arched over the I-280.
Very bright. Even saw glimpses of inverted rainbow.
Fri, Nov 14 16:19:50 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Revelation: Beef curry is a beef stew with different spices. At
least I think it is. I will have to try this out sometime soon.
* RTotD: Lala makes a better paperweight than Kiki.
Wed, Nov 05 14:59:18 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: Why does it always rain when I want to go grocery
shopping? I take that back. Why does it always rain when I need
to go grocery shopping?
* Hair: My hair has always been ramrod straight. In school, my
friends would try to tie knots in it, but the knots would work
themselves out relatively quickly. To my surprise, the ends of
my hair is now wavy! Nathan pointed this out to me. How weird!
Mon, Oct 27 00:34:42 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Friends (Julie): Julie is staying with us for a few days. Yea!
So much fun!
Sat, Oct 25 03:58:22 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): It does not matter what time I climb into bed
(I am a bit of an insomniac) -- Nathan always turns over to hand
me my bear and give me a hug. And he doesn't even remember it in
the morning!
* Music: Speaking of which, I have Teddy Bear Picnic stuck in my
head right now.
Thu, Oct 23 13:35:46 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: I woke up this morning and there was snow on the
ground! It was not a lot and it melted relatively soon, but the
first snow of the season always makes me happy. In a couple of
months, I am not going to be quite so thrilled, but in the
meanwhile, excitement galore!
* Deja vu: I was cupping a cup of steaming hot tea today and since
I was wearing my glasses, the right lens fogged up.
Thu, Oct 23 00:20:40 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Tools: I used a wrench as a hammer last night and it was okay.
* Poem: I was unaware that Cooleridge had two versions of The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner. I never saw the first version before.
The second one seems to flow better, but that may be because I am
used to the latter one.
Wed, Oct 22 00:12:04 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Nathan was right. I guess I will have to be good and
abstain from now on.
* Categorization: I wish I knew more about Dewey Decimal Numbers.
As far as I can tell, American fiction from the 19th century is
labeled 813.52, 20th century is 813.54, and 21st century is
813.6. If this is true, what about earlier and later centuries?
There has to be limits.
* Bookworm: Nathan is walking Federico through Bookworm.
Exciting!
* Food: At the library, there is a basket to put food donations.
Every week, there is baby food in there. It would never have
occurred to me to donate baby food.
* RTotD: N is for Neville who died of ennui!
Mon, Oct 20 20:35:21 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* History: Picking up random tidbits as I leaf through some
history books. Bookworm is good for you!
* Computer: I got my keyboard back! Nathan borrowed it for a bit
to set up his own computer. The blue LEDs are quite eery.
* RTotD: Hot chocolate and gin do not go well together.
Fri, Oct 17 22:14:35 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Packages: Nathan got three packages delivered today via FedEx.
The FedEx guy is great! He offered to slide the heavy box into
the house so I would not have to lift it. And he smiled! Talk
about service! If I had package shipping needs, FedEx would be
the company I would use! Too bad for them that I don't though.
* Words: I was listening to the traffic reports on the radio and
they mentioned "leaf-peeping". During my time away from New
England, I had completely forgotten that phrase. I am glad to
know it again.
Thu, Oct 16 23:28:06 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Nathan made lime-ade tonight. It was pretty yummy. He
used the toy we got in Mexico. It worked pretty well.
* Sleep: Shh... Don't tell Nathan. I took a nap today. I have
been feeling very tired recently.
* Computer: It is either conspiring against me or wanting to make
butter.
Thu, Oct 16 00:21:58 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Trees: The leaves are falling! Even scarier, the limbs are
falling too! Thump!
* Food: I had tea with jam and bread today.
Tue, Oct 14 23:43:22 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Rituals: Nathan didn't want to get pizza tonight. Oh well.
* Bookworm: I messed up while entering some books and have to do
some SQL stuff to get it to work. Too bad we have not unpacked
our SQL books yet...
* RTotD: Six pixels tall is so much clearer than four pixels tall!
Mon, Oct 13 23:36:37 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: I woke up today feeling dizzy. After a while, I just
felt a bit light-headed.
* Computer: I have had six desktops set for almost a decade.
Today I realized that it was getting too jumbled and finally caved
into having eight. Now I just have to figure out how to change my
keyboard shortcuts.
* Monkey: I was picking up in my room and had just picked up my
monkey-in-a-can courtesy of HelixCode (when that was their name,
anyway) when my music player (set on random) starts playing Monkey
by George Michael. First line of which asks me why I couldn't set
my monkey free. I tried! I opened it up, but the monkey didn't
want to leave the cozy confines of the can.
* Knitting: I have not had any time to knit at all in the last few
days because of Bookworm. But! Because of it, I have unearthed a
few of my knitting books. Not the one with the pattern I want
yet, but some of my reference guides. I can stop feeling quite so
lost.
* RTotD: I was reading my sorority magazine today and learned that
they are now offering internet service. They started offering
credit cards before everyone else did. I wonder if this means
that soon every special interest group will have their own ISP.
Mon, Oct 13 00:19:20 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Bookworm: I now know how to spell Saskatchewan with my eyes
closed.
* Weather: It was very rainy today. I wonder if that will cause
the leaves to fall faster.
* RTotD: If people only hear what they want to hear, the world
must be full of mascohists.
Sun, Oct 12 01:26:29 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Nature: Nathan dragged me on a walk today. Actually, Jester
dragged him most of the way, or, at least he would have if he was
not wearing his Halti. The leaves were beautiful as was the
pond. We were walking for about an hour and only saw two people.
* Bookworm: I looked at the changelog for it today. I do not know
what a "kwarg" is, but it sounds like a forest animal. Maybe I
will see one next time we go walking.
* Destressing: I lit a smelly candle. I am happy.
* RTotD: Blue Pikmin don't fight very well. Maybe that's why they
are blue.
Fri, Oct 10 18:06:04 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Pasta: After yesterdays entry, I almost erred and bought ziti
without lines! Thankfully, someone else reached over my head to
get the ziti with lines and I corrected my mistake.
* Glasses: There was a baby in a stroller wearing glasses staring
at me in the supermarket today. I did not know they made frames
so small!
* Family (Jester): He is snoring right now. How cute!
* Colours: As I drove home today, my eyes feasted on the full
force of fall foliage. Well, not really. I think it will peak in
a week or so. I hope it will still be pretty when Julie visits.
* Friend (Julie): Speaking of which, she wants to go apple
picking! I have never done it before. Maybe it will be fun! I
hope there are still apples in trees when she shows up too!
* Family (Nathan): He is telling everyone I am impatient! Am not!
Just because he is dragging his feet on Bookworm does not mean I
am impatient!
* Book (The Book of Color): This book by Julia Blackburn was very
short but very difficult to read. The descriptions were
wonderful, but I am still not sure whether the narrator exists or
is a figment of the madman's imagination.
* RTotD: I just looked up the word "figment". It is one of my
favorite words. As it means something that is made up, does that
mean "figment of his imagination" is a redundancy? Can it just be
referred to as "his figment"? What do figs stewed with mint taste
like anyway?
Thu, Oct 09 21:42:41 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting (cravings): Maybe it is the weather, but I have been
wanting to start a sweater for a few days. I know what I want to
make, but the pattern is in in a book trapped in a box somewhere.
And no, the library does not have a copy of the book.
* Coins: I sorted through our can of loose change today. There
were a lot of them. Nathan is not very good at using up his
change. I kept out the state quarters (one each) and noticed we
actually have quite a few of them. No Delaware though. I think
that probably is not a coincidence.
* RTotD: Is there ever a reason to want ziti without lines?
Wed, Oct 08 23:00:26 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Collecting: I surprise myself often when I realize I gravitate
towards stationary stores and buy paper that appeals to me. I am
not a great correspondent (although I am working on that) and have
plenty of paper already. It dawned on me today that when I was
little, I had a collection of cute pads of paper. I cherished
them and would only grudgingly use them. Wow! I am guessing
Nathan knew this all along and never told me. But sometimes
connections like that just go off in my head and I am bewildered.
* Knitting (sock): I finished the heel on the sock while watching
the cubs last night. I hadn't realized the pattern on the leg
includes bobbles. That has me a bit perturbed. I'll try it out
and see how it comes out.
* Knitting (doily): I put it down about a month ago because I
realized I had made a mistake. Undoing it back to the error is
taking a long time. I got about a third of the way back today.
Very frustrating.
* Music: Listening to They Might Be Giants. I have had them stuck
in my head for a day or so. I am hoping listening to them will
get them unstuck and on their way.
* RTotD: If Peter Pan never grew up, does that mean he will
forever be stymied by childproof caps?
Wed, Oct 08 01:10:22 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Mail: I have had to resubscribe to my "Sent" folder four times
so far this month. This is getting ridiculous.
* Computer: I reinstalled Frozen Bubble today. What was I
thinking?
* Entertainment: Speaking of which, I finally beat level 400 in
xkobo. Onwards!
* Family (Nathan): He was feeling very tired this evening. And
yet he forged on ahead and spent a few hours battling Bookworm.
Of course he was watching baseball as well...
* RTotD: Why does tea continue to darken even after the tea leaves
are removed?
Mon, Oct 06 20:44:20 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Bird: I saw a bluebird today.
* Lists: I made a list of good things that have happened in the
past week. It made me feel very lucky. Especially as I didn't
make a list of bad things. =)
* Entertainment: Nathan is going to be switching channels like
crazy again tonight. I am sure he's happy there isn't more
overlap between football and baseball.
* Family (Ricky): I've been trying to IM him for a while but he
won't respond. I wonder if he is ignoring me...
* Book (Shadow's End): I finished this Sheri Tepper book today.
It was enjoyable until the end where it got a bit too preachy for
my tastes. Of course, I should have expected it, as I have read a
few of her other books. But how can I resist a female science
fiction author? (Even though the library had this book labeled as
"fantasy") My favorite book of hers is Beauty, which is to be
expected as I am a sucker for fairy tales.
* RTotD: I always read before turning off the light at night. It
is my insurance to make sure I never stop reading. But it is
pretty funny. Often it will take me the same amount of time to
read the first third of the book as the last two thirds.
Anticipation must be related to acceleration. Or something.
Sun, Oct 05 19:31:29 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Nathan calls them elephant ears. I call the butterfly
biscuits. Regardless, they're my favorite! My parents brought us
some (along with a lot of other junk food) and they are almost
gone. My tummy isn't feeling well...
* Entertainment: Nathan was all tense today switching between the
Patriot's game and the Red Sox. It was pretty exciting when they
both won. He kept mumbling about picture in picture. But he
managed to catch the exciting bits. Unfortunately the Broncos
lost. Oh well...
* Family (Nathan): Ask him about his thermomobile the next time
you get a hold of him.
* RTotD: Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair. What is a
pie without a crust? A crumble? A cobbler? Stewed fruit? Jam?
Maybe I should try making it sometime. I'm not very good at
making pie crusts.
Sat, Oct 04 23:40:27 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: We went to the Elephant Walk tonight. It was yummy.
Yummy. Yummy. (That's for the tuna and avocado, the steamed
seafood, and the fruit crepes.) Unfortunately my dad got sick.
* Cars: Apparently there are some things about which I know more
than Nathan. Scary...
* Family (Jester): He seems to have given off a good impression to
my parents. Good dog!
* Entertainment: The Red Sox won. I guess that's a big deal or
something.
* Friend (Julie): She's coming to visit! Woohoo! It is going to
be so much fun! I hope she remembers to bring her knitting. Of
course, if she forgets, we could always get her more...
* House: We rearranged some furniture today. Alway an exciting
process. Unless you are a dog. Then it is outright terrifying.
* RTotD: What is the shelf life of a stuffed animal? Assumedly,
at some point, they get too shopworn. Do they get returned to the
factory for an airbath?
Fri, Oct 03 22:03:37 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: I had a fortune cookie tonight which told me it was time
to try something new. I was prety happy to note that the cookie
wasn't stale and, therefore, was new.
* Family (Nathan): He is the bestest!
* Clothes: I put on a pair of socks today that I had made right
before summer. As the weather was warm, I had not worn them until
today. Nathan complemented me on them. He sure knows how to get
his hugs!
* RTotD: I wonder how hard it would be to train Jester to come get
me when the kettle goes off...
Thu, Oct 02 18:20:14 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Differences: Two articles on the same thing (one on CNN and the
other on BBC) show completely different pictures. The ones on CNN
are look dessicated but whole while BBC shows cracked but yummy
ones. Ooh... time to make some tea and wish we had some of them
in the house!
* Reminiscing: Thinking of Jane yesterday made me wonder about
other people from my high school. I missed my reunion this year
because I was moving. Scarily enough, I missed the one five years
ago because of the same reason! I hope this doesn't mean I will
move again in five years. Anyway, doing a web search for my high
school (Woodmere Academy) comes up with a relatively boring web
site (but still more informative than mine!) and about a zillion
Newsday articles, mostly about sports.
* Preen: I spelt "reminiscing" correctly on the first try!
* RTotD: When rice krispy treats first became popular, there were
two kinds of recipes -- the marshmallow one and the peanut butter
one. Nowadays, the only one people know is the marshmallow kind.
Unfortunately I find those too sweet. If only the peanut butter
ones could make a comeback! Oh yummm...
Wed, Oct 01 17:54:38 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): He saw a chipmunk today. His body got all
tense like he was about to pounce. Too bad there was a window in
the way.
* Geekstuff: I was thinking about making a database to store my
yarn and knitting projects. Then I saw how long it was taking
Nathan to finish the front end to Bookworm. I got scared. I
think I just lost all my geekpoints. Oh well.
* Music: Currently listening the the Paris cast version of Les
Miserable. I have to say it is very surreal. I recognize the
names... My French teacher would be disappointed in me.
* Memories: Speaking of high school French, I found the rose
quartz crystal pendant that Jane gave me in high school for my
birthday. I wonder how she is doing. I haven't heard from her
for a long time now.
* RTotD: My parents' refrigerator does not attract refrigerator
magnets. I guess it is good for people who do not care to use
their appliances as bulletin boards. I wonder if there is a
history of refrigerator magnets somewhere...
Tue, Sep 30 20:54:29 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Entertainment: I'm stuck on level 400 in xkobo. Argh... those
mines get me every time.
* Spam: I got a piece of spam today with a link saying "Cease all
future here". I didn't realize spam could be so deadly!
* Family (Jester): He hates the vacuum cleaner. He really hates
the vacuum cleaner. Right now he is hiding in the attic.
* Computer: I upgraded gaim to 0.70. I can message my friends on
the Yahoo network again!
* Lameness: I still don't understand why having a sprained ankle
causees my toes to tingle.
* Library: Tuesday night is library (and pizza) night! When I
went online to renew a book, I realized they have my address
wrong. Except this didn't happen until after we got back from the
library. I will have to remember to tell them next time. I
wonder if Nathan's address is wrong too...
* RTotD: The pizza parlor had some really weird pizzas on their
menu. I wonder at what point a pizza ceases to be a pizza and
becomes something else, like an open-face sandwich.
Tue, Sep 30 00:44:50 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: We got home really late last night from the airport
and I was very tired. Today I couldn't find the sock I started
and started panicking. Nathan eventually found it under the seat
in the car. *whew*! He deserves a hug for that one!
* Television: We watched Monday Night Football this evening while
I worked on the sock and Nathan juggled IRC with email and working
on Bookworm. We saw Soldier's Field from the Sears Tower the
other day and it was exciting to be able to recognize the
skyline (Okay, it doesn't take a lot to make me happy).
* Bookworm: Speaking of which, I really hope it is usable soon.
All our books are still in boxes. It is driving me nuts!
* Lameness: My ankle doesn't really hurt much. It is just pins
and needly all over my foot.
* Car: The minivan is making funny sounds. Argh...
* Food: While in Chicago, I had a German pancake. It was very
lemony and yummy. Nathan didn't care for it; he thought it tasted
too raw. I like trying new foods. I guess we were lucky I tried
it instead of him!
* Netflix: Netflix has a new feature where you can find out why
they have recommended a movie to you. I am a bit dubious. My top
recommendation is based on poor ratings that I have given to five
other movies. Just because I dislike movies that others have
disliked does not necessarily mean that we would like the same
movies. At least that is what I grasped from my high school logic
class.
* RTotD: We have only owned this house for less than two months.
Yet being away for much of this month made me homesick. It was
really weird. I am glad to be home. When I went to take a shower
today, it took me a few seconds to remember how to use the
controls. Maybe that just means that the user interface needs
work...
Mon, Sep 29 01:23:11 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Rite: Nicole and Todd's wedding was wonderful. Congratulations!
* Friends: There's nothing like a celebration to meet up with old
friends. We met Brian and Delphine (okay, so we see them on a
fairly regular basis), Justin Cave (I still can't stop calling him
"jocave"), Eric and Christina (We didn't realize just how much we
had missed them until we saw them again), Martha and Nadia (They
were part of the wedding party, so we did not get to spend as much
time with them as we would have liked), Nicole (She was the party
getting married, so we barely got to spend any time with her, as
it should be), and Raeghan and Paul (They spent some time out of
their hectic lives to drive out of their way to visit with us).
So much fun!
* Tourism: I went up the Sears Tower! That was very touristy and
yet somehow fun. It must have been the company. Nathan and I
went with Brian and Delphine and it was great being silly
together. Then we ate pizza in Chicago. Next we spent way too
much in a department store. But it was a huge store! After that,
we walked through the rain to Navy Pier where Delphine proceeded
to stuff her own bear whom she named Pierre.
* Lameness: Being the klutz that I am, I sprained my left ankle
and landed on my behind leaving the Graessle's place. As a
friendly reminder, spraining an ankle right before going to an
airport is to be avoided at all cost.
* Airport Meetings: We had a bit of time at the airport after
checking in and before our plane boarded. We decided to try and
hunt down Brian and Delphine because we knew which flight they
were taking. On the way, we bumped into Martha as well. Who said
you can't have fun in an airport? We caught up on gossip and the
time passed much quicker.
* Knitting: I brought the sock-in-the-making that I mentioned last
time with me. At the moment, there is about three inches done.
Every time I pulled it out during this trip, people remarked on
it. Most of the comments revolved around what I was making,
whether it was going to be full-sized, how small my needles were,
and how these people didn't have the patience to finish anything
that "big". Well, I didn't finish either, but the airplane ride
went by much faster because of it. It is coming out pretty well.
I like the way the yarn is knitting up. I can't wait until I get
to the patterning section beyond the heel.
* RTotD: Ever since I started traveling by air with Nathan, I have
sat in the seat next to the one next to the window. Sometimes
this is the aisle seat, but more often than not, it is the middle
seat. I personally prefer to sit on the aisle, but Nathan likes
the window seat and sitting next to him is more important to me
than the inconvenience of having to step over someone to use the
restroom.
Thu, Sep 25 13:41:30 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* ChangeLog: Nathan spent a ridiculous amount of time last night
to make this ChangeLog available in rss format. Hah! I still
think it is a ludicrous concept. I have no idea who would find
that even remotely interesting. I guess he did it as a proof of
concept for me. Or something.
* Knitting: I figured I would start another pair of socks, but
keep having trouble with the silly figure 8 cast on. I guess I
could always do them cuff down, or use another cast on method, but
I don't like giving up. Somehow I always seem to end up one
stitch short. Anyway, I am trying out this pattern. All my socks
up to now have had ribbed legs so I figured it was time to branch
out. No, not literally. I still only have one appendage at the
end of each limb. And my socks are not going to be quite so
colorful either.
* Health: I seem to have an earache. I didn't notice it until I
started sipping a Coke. The carbonation and temperature (it was
from the refrigerater) seem to aggravate it. I wonder if it is
allergy related. I feel fine otherwise.
* RTotD: Lots of mushrooms in our yard this year from all the
rain. They seem to sprout overnight. I wonder if the chipmunks
eat them. I hope something does...and it better not be more
fungus!
Wed, Sep 24 22:46:00 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (Left in the Care Of): I borrowed this book from the
library. It is a suspense novel based in Hong Kong. I kept
running across references in teh book of places I have been. I
enjoyed the book all the more because of it. A couple of weeks
ago, I had borrowed a fantasy novel based in Dublin. That was
exciting for exactly the same reason. I wonder if I should start
looking for books based on their location.
* Lameness: My cousins sent me an invitation to join the
Friendster network, so I joined. I figured that way I could keep
in better touch with them. Of course, I now feel really lame as I
would feel uncomfortable spamming my friends to ask them to join.
So on the network, I have all of two friends. Both of whom I am
related to. Sigh...
* Coffee: I had a cup of GFIC French Vanilla today. I have not
had coffee in a while and it was definitely a good part of the
day.
* Cough remedies: A mailing list I am on is discussing various
cough remedies. I am contemplating the onion and sugar one for
Nathan. He might become a tad miffed, though, so maybe I will
just stick with tea and honey.
* Sanrio: Who says Hello Kitty can't be serious? I have always
been more of a fan of My Melody and Kiki and Lala though. I
wonder what causes they can push...
* Postcards: So, like a bazillion other people, I collect
postcards. I am in the midst of deciding how to sort them. Time
to spend some money and buy some pretty boxes, I guess.
* Food: We cooked some chicken tonight. After Nathan cut it up
into pieces, I proceeded to coat it in corn starch. Nathan
thought I was being weird again. But he liked it nonetheless.
And I told him it was a pretty normal thing to do.
* RTotD: Our mailperson likes to put packages that are too big to
put inside the mailbox into plastic bags and hang them off of our
mailbox. I wonder what she would do if there were two boxes. Or
more. Our poor mailbox may end up looking like it had chicken
pox!
Mon, Sep 22 23:08:57 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* hello: hello? Is there anyone out there? I've totally
forgotten how to do this... Well, in my defense, Nathan completely
changed the system around and had neglected to inform me of the
changes and their ramifications. Well, it wasn't totally his
fault... I guess my life was either too boring to relate or too
exciting to remember to put down. A medley of both, really. And
if that sounds like a lame excuse, well, okay. You're probably
right.
* Headwear: I dusted off my Denver Bronco's cap and put it on
tonight. Woohoo! GO Denver!!!
* Advertisement: I was at the airport the other day and saw the
Clinique counter at the duty free shop. They had a banner
proclaiming their products as "100% Fragrance Free". Directly
below this banner was an advertisement for Clinique Happy.
Available as a spray or a lotion.
* Angst: Having moved into the commonwealth of Massachusetts a
little while back, our unpacking has stalled. We (or the moving
people) seem to have misplaced the little pegs that the glass
shelves rest upon in the living room. We are completely unable to
come up with replacements. The only ones I have found at Home
Depot are flat. I am afraid if we use those, I will bump into the
glass (being the klutz that I am) and knock it down along with
everything on it. I know the ones we used to have were brackets
so that the glass could not be moved easily. Ugh... I wonder how
hard it would be to kludge a solution. Heck, I wonder how hard it
would be to even come up with a kludgeable solution.
* Family (Nathan): His cough is back. =(
* Life goals: I saw some pyramids! (Although I think I told
Nathan I wanted to _see_ pyramids, not _climb_ them...)
* Knitting: I have been working on this for a few days.
Unfortunately, I have made an error. It is going to take a bit of
undoing to figure it all out. Sigh...
* SPAM: My spam filter has gotten very long. A long time ago, I
had multiple spam filters. Then I realized that some mails were
being caught multiple times. I was unhappy to realize that I was
aiding in the procreation of spam (even if it is only into my junk
folder), so I conglomerated the files into one to prevent this
from happening. A side effect is that it takes upwards of half a
minute for the filter to open for me to edit it nowadays. I
wonder if this is when someone tells me I need a faster
computer...
* Family (Nathan): He put down what I gave him for his birthday on
to his ChangeLog. Now everyone will know how lame I am...
* RTotD: I was happy to see Yakult in Mexico. I was amused to see
Maggi sauce in Mexico. I was excited to see Berocca by Roche in
Mexico. I am sad that neither Yakult nor Berocca have been found
by me locally. (Nathan was sad to see Wal*Mart in Mexico)
Sat, Apr 12 23:02:42 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Coffee: After Nathan so skillfully dismantled our coffee maker,
we decided to purchase a new one. As we don't really have the
funds to get a good one, we decided to get a relatively good
French press coffee maker and try it out. It seems to be working
pretty well.
* Family (Jester): The dog is really being bitten by bugs. We are
pretty diligent in applying Frontline, but he is still pretty
uncomfortable. Poor thing...
* Food: Nathan made pasta for dinner tonight. He melted anchovies
in butter for the sauce. I didn't know anchovies could melt!
That's pretty cool. I wonder if they have high oil content or
something.
* Food: I bought a pomelo today. I haven't had one in years.
Excitement galore!
* Movie: I like musicals. But we saw "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"
yesterday. Or, at least, we tried to watch it. It was pretty
bad. We had a very hard time trying to discern what the lead
actress was saying or singing. Being unable to understand her
made it extremely hard to figure out what was going on.
* RTotD: Studies show that doing studies invariably produce
results. These results often indicate the need for more study.
This vicious cycle can only be broken when resources are depleted.
Sun, Mar 30 01:55:11 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): Wow! It's been more than a month and Ricky has
not sent me a friendly reminder to update my changelog. That
slacker...
* Family (Nathan): He's making me a glass of Nesquik. Sigh... the
good old days when it used to be Nestle Quik. So much easier to
say. More syllables, yes, but it made so much more sense.
* Entertainment: Nathan borrowed Sports Night from a friend and
we've been watching it all night. It's pretty funny.
* Mail: I found my first credit card offer today. I received it
in 1984. For an American Express Gold Card. I was in fourth
grade!
* Knitting: I've finished a lot of projects lately. Whew! Now
I'm trying to figure out what to start next. So many options!
* Food: Wow! This ex-Nestle Quik is really good! Quenches that
thirst right quick!
* RTotD: My brain's flubbed...
Fri, Feb 14 11:26:04 2003 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: Nathan is teaching Jester new tricks. Don't know who's
intelligence is being tested here.
* Entertainment: What's a more romantic end to a Valentine's Day
than to watch the Laker's win on TV? Is that question rhetorical,
satirical, or ironical?
* Knitting: I finally finished an afghan out of Lion Brand
Homespun the other day. 15 skeins. It only took
me... ummm... let's just say it took a while. I am currently
trying to make sock #2. I have a lot of sock #1's. Trying to
rectify that situation.
* Entertainment: Nathan bought me Animal Crossing recently. I
really like fishing in the game. Whodathunk?
* Environment: We are considering moving to Eastern
Massachusetts. I think I would feel much more comfortable moving
back to the northeast. Thinking about all the things that would
need to be done gives me a headache though.
* RTotD: I have heard that drinking ice water helps you lose
weight because your body has to burn calories to warm up the water
to room temperature. Does that mean that food that a cold ham and
cheese sandwich is less caloric than the same sandwich lightly
toasted?
Thu, Nov 21 15:05:25 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Sky: Went on a walk last night a bit after midnight. Looked up
and saw the most amazing thing. The full moon was almost directly
overhead and it was surrounded by this circle that looked like a
pastel rainbow. Came home and searched Mr. Internet and learned
that it was a lunar halo. Wow. It was even cooler than the
meteor shower! Nathan enjoyed it a lot too. Jester was much more
interested in sniffing around than looking up though.
* Knitting: I'm trying to decide when to start the ribbing on my
sock. Decisions, decisions...
* Family (Ricky): He called me yesterday from a rest stop. That
was a fun conversation. Then he called me later to ask if we
could tape Dawson's Creek for him. Unfortunately our VCR is not
set to record, only to play. So I could not help him.
* Knitting (part 2): Speaking of my brother, I realized I had
forgotten to take a picture of the scarf I gave him for his
birthday. Oh well.
* Shopping: Finally found Wisk laundry detergent again. They are
now in blue containers making it much harder to find. Red is
always easier to spot. Perhaps that explains my penchant for red
jackets.
Tue, Nov 19 08:19:12 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Meteors: Woke up really early this morning to drive out and see
the meteor shower. We went near the lake hoping for some clear
dark swatch of sky. Unfortunately, it was intermittently foggy.
There was a clear triangular patch of sky directly overhead so we
set out our beach chairs and shared our lemon blueberry muffins.
Yummy! Got to love boxed muffin mixes. Truthfully, I think I
would make muffins from scratch if they sold canned blueberries.
But they don't and fresh blueberries are too big for muffins. At
least they are in my book. I wonder how hard it is to make
poppyseed muffins from scratch.
* Coffee: Stopped by Cafe Driade afterwards and had a really good
cappuccino. Unfortunately, they do not have orange flavor syrup.
But almond... Yummy! And as it was 7AM, I got it caffeinated.
* Knitting: I worked on my Regia blue striped sock at the coffee
house. This sock has mostly been doctor's office knitting, so
good coffee associations are good.
* Knitting (part 2): The other night, Nathan wanted to read by the
fire. All the knitting projects I had were mindless straight knit
stitch knitting which would cause me to try and start
conversations with Nathan which would bother him and keep him from
being able to read. So I did the obvious thing. I started a new
project. This is what it will hopefully look like. The pattern
is translated from German. For fits and giggles, I went to the
original site in German and tried using the Google translator.
Boy did that not work.
* Family (Jester): It is much colder nowadays than it has been.
The temperature hovers around in the 50's during the day and it is
near the freezing point at night. Jester is not so keen on
staying outside. I don't blame him. I let him out yesterday
during the day and he kept laying down in sunlit areas and moving
when the shadows came. I hope he gets his winter coat soon.
* RTotD: I had to look up three words while writing this entry.
Twice for spelling and once for meaning. Not that I have used the
third one in this entry. I suppose I could put it here and
thereby contradict myself. On the way back from coffee we noticed
that there was frost on our lawn. I wondered aloud what hoarfrost
was. So I looked it up. Considering the amount of fog that was
around here a few hours ago, I bet that was what it was.
Sun, Nov 17 14:48:52 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): I've gotten two pre-needle needles and three
needles from my brother to update this changelog. He's a
persistant fellow, isn't he.
* Family (Nathan): He is currently recovering from too much
doctorin'. On the whole though, I think he is doing better than
he was a month ago. His spirits are more difficult to judge
though. But we went to the local electronics store and
pre-ordered the new Metroid game for him yesterday. That made him
happy. Simple pleasures... =)
* Health: My jaw has been bothering me lately. I know it is
stress-related as it used to bother me all the time in college
and, well, life is more stressful now than it has been in a
while. It only ever hurts when I take my first bite of food or if
I press it when it is tender (which is only for a small period of
time after my first bite of food). The obvious solution is to
stop eating. Of course it doesn't help that I anticipate it and
tense up as I take my first bite of food...
* Family (Jester): He is such a good dog! We really lucked out
when we got him. He is so earnest.
* Trees: The local trees all changed color within the past two
weeks. A bit later in the season than I expected, but pretty
nonetheless. The tree in front of our house (yes, there is only
one) looked as if it were on fire. Now comes the sucky bit when
the leaves need to be raked up and removed. Of course, I have the
excuse that it has been raining for the past few days. But that
excuse is not going to last forever.
* Weather: Speaking of the rain, I hope it means that the drought
is almost over. We have had so much rain in the last month that
all water restrictions were lifted. The before and after pictures
on the OWASA website were pretty drastic.
* Entertainment: Nathan set up Rhythmbox on my computer so I can
listen to music while in the back room. Now if only my computer
fan were quieter.
* Shopping: I have not been able to find Wisk laundry detergent
recently. I have looked in a few different places and no luck.
I hope they have not discontinued their product line as I have
been using this detergent for years.
* Shopping: Speaking of which, I saw Christas wrapped Hershey's
Hugs at the supermarket the other day. This is the first time I
have seen Hugs being sold in this state. Hopefully they will
continue selling them after the season is over as I really enjoy
making brownies with them.
* RTotD: I remember someone in college saying that brownies had to
have peanut butter in them because otherwise they were
"blackies". I wonder where he got such a strange idea.
Wed, Oct 09 01:29:04 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (White Oleander): Put this book on my queue months and
months back when the book was on sale. Started reading it a
couple days ago. I wonder if I'll finish it before the movie
comes out on Friday? Probably not.
* Coffee: Had some awful coffee tonight at Border's. I should
know better. I have never had a good drink there. But I got to
knit on my sock while watching Nathan and Christian play go.
* Entertainment: I downloaded xkobo the other day. I had
forgotten how good that game is. I am currently stuck on level
46. The levels are getting pretty darn hard. Need to hone those
reflexes!
* House: I cleaned the kitchen cabinet doors today. I hadn't
realized they were dirty, but wow! They're squeaky clean now. I
wonder how long that will last...
* RTotD: Many stores seem to have loyalty cards now. I guess they
are supposed to get you to shop there more but I just end up with
big bulging wallet. And key chains. The other option, of course,
is to pay full price all the time. Given the options, I prefer
the punch cards because they tend to be thinner and disposable.
But I guess then the burden of proof is on my side and not
theirs.
Sat, Oct 05 00:30:08 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Watched baseball this evening. Well, a baseball musical
anyways. A fun, light movie.
* Book (Winter Rose): Finished this book the other night. The
plot was a bit silly, but the book was beautiful. Wonderful
descriptions. I haven't read a fantasy novel in a long time
though which may have a bit to do with it.
* Food: Cooked chicken for dinner tonight. The dog was extremely
intrigued. I think he really likes the smell of soy sauce. I did
not let him taste any, of course. Don't want to spoil him too
much.
* Movie: Currently watching Apollo 13 on television. Reminds me
of when it was showing at school and I asked Nathan to remind me
so I would not miss it. The silly dork emailed me a reminder. Of
course I did not get it until the next day.
* RTotD: Who ever came up with the idea of bumper stickers? Why
is it "okay" to graffiti a car and not, say, a house? And why
are they relegated to the bumper anyway? Maybe someone should
start marketing "gutter stickers" for people to attach to their
rain gutters.
Tue, Oct 01 22:18:11 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Eating agar agar right now. In an almond medium. Yummy!
* Yarn: Some alpaca yarn came in the mail for me today. It looks
so soft and delicious! Now to figure out what to do with it...
* Family (Jester): He seems to not be up to snuff. Nathan came
home today and Jester did not notice. Usually, he hears the
car coming up the driveway and is at the door with tail
a-waggin'. Today, Nathan was inside and Jester still had not
budged.
* House: Oh! It is time again to do the mad dash around the house
changing all the calendars to the next month. That excitement is
only second to changing all the clocks for daylight savings time.
* Coffee: Have not had any in about a week. But we opened up a
can of coconut milk to make dinner (fish balls and noodles in
curry) so we may just have to make some later. Knowing me, it
will have to be decaf.
* What I Learned on My Fall Vacation:
1) Elk are huge
2) Bison are even more huge
3) Sulfur smells bad even when you are having a good time
4) Walking sticks are very useful...
5) ... especially when they have monopod capabilities
6) The drought in Wyoming seems worse than the drought here
7) The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is pretty darned grand
8) Always bring your knitting on a car ride even if it is just
to the post office because it might turn out to be much
longer.
9) Plastic cups cannot hold hot chocolate
10) Wearing sunglasses in the back seat of a car makes me tired.
* Passports: I got a National Park passport while on vacation.
Nathan had kept telling me about them and how much fun he had so
he got me one. Now I need to find out where I can get more
cancellation stamps.
* RTotD: I was trying to figure out what kinds of everyday food I
grew up with in New York is missing around here. So far I have
come up with knishes. Especially the ones with meat stuffed
inside. I used to get those in Boston. Sprinkle some
Worcestershire sauce on it and call it dinner. I wonder how hard
they would be to make.
Sun, Sep 01 22:19:49 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Words: Nathan handed me an article in The Economist to read.
The article used the word "ageing". I was unaware of that
alternate spelling. Is it another US/UK dichotomy?
* Coffee: We went to a coffee house this evening. I was not sure
I wanted or even if I wanted anything, but was willing to be
tempted by a flavor syrup. However, they did not have a list of
what was available, so I was not tempted and did not order
anything. When I told Nathan later, he thought I was being shy
and not asking. I just did not want a drink enough to ask. If
they had a list out I probably would have ordered something.
Their loss, not mine.
* Tennis: Very little tennis today as there was rain in New York.
The station kept playing classic games from previous US Opens. I
found it pretty entertaining.
* Yarn: I realize I do not have enough of the right color yarn to
finish edging (or would that be edgeing?) the squares of my
afghan. As it is unlikely that I would be able to find any more
in the same dye lot, I have decided to alternatge colors. It will
be a checkerboard effect. I hope it turns out well. Now I just
have to figure out what color to use and buy the yarn.
* Family (Nathan): His cough medicine is giving him headaches.
Sigh...
* Education: I learned today that Jamaica is directly south of
Cuba, that Egypt is seven times the size of New York, and that
South Africa is larger than Texas. I really need to work on
getting relative sizes of things in my head.
* RTotD: I wonder why there are no big indoor tennis tournaments.
Then they would not have to worry about adverse weather conditions
or even wind. Perhaps indoor stadiums would be too expensive to
build/temperature control/etc.
Sun, Sep 01 05:56:24 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (John Adams): Read the biography that was so poplular last
year. Learned a lot about the second president. Learned a lot
more about other people too. Finally finished with books acquired
during Christmas of last year.
* Bird: A hummingbird kept trying to fly into our house today via
the closed glass sliding door. I have not seen too many
hummingbirds from that angle before. It was quite entertaining.
* Bookworm: Nathan has been way too hosed to do any work on it.
So sad.
* Family (Nathan): His cough may finally be getting better. The
doctor gave him some cough syrup which seems to be working
wonders.
* RTotD: In tenth grade, my english teacher had an assignment
where we had to each find a fiction book we probably would never
have read and read it. I had no idea what to pick and she
suggested Watership Down. I was sorting through our bookshelves
yesterday and realized we have three copies of the book.
Sun, Aug 18 21:27:54 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): He visited last weekend! It was so much fun.
We went miniature golfing (I beat him by 2 strokes!) and to an art
museum and to malls and... oh! And it was his birthday yesterday!
Happy belated birthday!
* Movie (PowerPuff Girls): Saw this at the $1.50 movie theatre
today. Had it been showing last weekend, we would have gone with
Ricky. But, alas, he missed it. It was very punny, so I enjoyed
it. Even the little kid behind us who kept asking her mom to
explain the jokes.
* Book (Quincunx): I love that word! The book is enjoyable so
far, but I am only halfway through it. I do tend to get annoyed
at books where the author likes to pile on the trials and
tribulations, but this book seems to be very readable even though
that is the case.
* Bookworm: Nathan and I keep discussing the details and
fine-tuning the database. At this point, I just want to be able
to use it for my books! My gnumeric file has gotten way too
unwieldy (and crashes gnumeric) making the library a bit of a
mess. Keeping my fingers crossed that the front end will be
finished soon.
* Family (Nathan): He's still coughing. It has been almost two
months. The doctor says he is coughing because his throat is
bruised from coughing. Cyclical ailments suck.
* RTotD: When one only gets to go to a restaurant very rarely,
should one always get their favorite dish (because it has been so
long since one has gotten it) or get something else on the menu
that they like (and have not gotten for even much longer)?
Dilemmas...
Mon, Aug 05 02:51:06 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): He says he's goimg to visit next week. Yea!
* Health: It's been over a month and my sprained ankle is still
really easy to hurt. I can walk normally now, but if I forget and
bend over, the torque on my ankle hurts it. Blah.
* Book (Lempriere's Dictionary): I started reading this book
yesterday. It is really good so far. I tried to read a chapter
today until I realized that it lasted over 100 pages. I didn't
have the time to finish it. But I am definitely enjoying this
book a lot more than the last one I read.
* Book (Tropic of Cancer): Speaking of which, I don't think I
grokked this book. The author wrote near the beginning that he
did not believe in editing out things he has already written
because it is usually what gets erased that intrigues him more. I
figured this was a clue as to how I was supposed to read this
book. I never looked back. If in reading a page I missed a line,
I did not allow myself to go back. It seemed appropriate.
* Coffee: We went to Caribou Coffee today. I had a mint
condition. Yummm... Mint, chocolate, and coffee in one handy
cup. How refreshing! I really need to remember to order it skim
and decaf in the future though.
* Calendar: My beautiful calendar (a Christmas present from
Nathan) has a strong guy juggling elephants for this month. I
love it!
* Bookworm: We spent the weekend working on it. Mostly Nathan
worked, I just sat next to him while he was doing it. Well, I
helped a bit and then discussed various aspects with him. He has
forbidden me from adding more books to the database until the GUI
is done.
* Family (Jester): We had to get him a new collar yesterday. His
old one was too tight and somehow had rubbed his neck really raw.
It hadn't seemed so tight last time we took it off. Oh well. The
new one is much larger and will accomodate him if his neck grows
any more. Not that he has grown in a while, but who knows?
* Family (Jester part 2): He just came in the room and nosed his
head under my elbow to get attention. He is such a sweet dog.
* RTotD: Speaking of Jester, whenever we walk him together, he
tends to really enjoy walking right between us. I wonder why he
does that. He seems to enjoy that a lot more than sniffing the
grass on the side, although he does that a little too.
Mon, Jul 15 23:44:19 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: Argh... still coughing sporadically. And I have a
headache. Sigh...
* Family (Jester): He has been feeling especially needy these last
couple of days. I assume that is the case because he keeps
following me from room to room and plopping right by my feet. Or
maybe he's afraid I will steal all his toys.
* Food: I love summer! Well, the fruits of the season, anyways.
Cherries, peaches, plums... I'm sure there are more that I have
forgotten to list.
* Movie (All About Eve): I watched it today. It was a very good
movie. It is really weird... as I was watching it I kept thinking
of all these other things I have seen before that must have gotten
ideas from it.
* Book: Reading "Guns, Germs and Steel". As my usual reading time
is right before bedtime, I am having a little trouble getting as
much out of it as I would like. It is a really good book; I just
have to remember to try reading it a little earlier in the day.
* RTotD: What are so special about donut peaches? They have a
smaller meat/skin ratio, so in order to be marketable, there must
be something remarkable about them, right?
Mon, Jul 08 00:35:55 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: This cough just won't go away. Sigh...
* Family (Nathan): He is getting better in the sense that he is
closer time-wise to when he will be fully well again. This bug is
nasty.
* Family (Jester): His nose seems to be a bit drippy. I hope he
is not getting sick too.
* Books: Building a new database for them! No more relying on
spreadsheets that should never be used for a database to begin
with! Now if only Nathan can finish creating the GUI for easy
data entry. It is going to take a while to populate it though.
* Food: Yummy Cadbury Fingers! I am not usually keen on milk
chocolate, but Cadbury Fingers are spiced with wonderful memories.
* RTotD: Perl hackers are really odd.
Thu, Jul 04 21:57:11 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* ChangeLog: My brother needled me about my not-very-changeable
changelog. Oops.
* Television: Watched the Boston Pops July 4th celebration
tonight. I was surprised none of the major networks was carrying
it and was very sad until I found it on A&E. I'm watching the
fireworks over the Esplanade now as they play the beef song.
Nathan had to leave the room as he really dislikes this song. I
was also very surprised that Keith Lockhart was wearing the French
flag around his waist.
* Health: I'm almost better. Truly I am. Just because I get
lightheaded every time I exert myself doesn't mean I'm not on the
mend. At the rate I'm going, I'll be all better in a couple of
weeks.
* Health (part 2): We went to the Carrboro celebrations by the
town hall today. And I was a klutz. I turned my ankle. I picked
the right place to do it though. I had three policemen around me
and offering their help before I even landed on the ground. They
were very nice and helpful. They got my ankle all wrapped up in
ice and stayed with me while Nathan got the car. I still feel
really stupid though.
* Television: They're playing "New York, New York" in
Boston?!?!!!
* What I Learned on My Summer Vacation:
1) Everybody likes White Russians
2) Everybody likes fireworks
3) People from Ohio refuse to go to the Wright Brothers
monument in Kitty Hawk.
4) Weather forecasters have a harder time forecasting weather
on the cape.
5) Large sea swells look remarkably like computer generated
mountains.
6) Deck chairs are surprisingly uncomfortable.
7) Houses on stilts rock with the wind.
8) A rocking house can lead to nightmares of seasickness if one
has been seasick recently.
9) The nearest place to buy fireworks that shoot up is South
Carolina.
10) The Food Lion out there is manned by foreigners who don't
know what hush puppies are.
* Family (Jester): He was outside when a firecracker went off
somewhere nearby. He ran right to the door. I think it freaked
him out a little. He is fine now.
* Family (Nathan): Hopefully he will be better soon. It would be
bad if he were sick all through this long weekend.
* RTotD: In Hong Kong, popcorn is a sweet snack. Not as sweet as
caramel corn, but a lighter taste. I wonder how other countries
like their popcorn.
Mon, Jun 17 13:15:02 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* News: This makes me sad.
* Family (Ricky): I had a nice chat with my brother online. He
seems to be doing well enough. With two months off soon, maybe
he will be able to visit us.
* Thoughts: Upon further reflection, it is not the British accent
in my head that is odd but the British inflection.
* Family (Catherine): I have not seen my cousing Catherine in
many years. Ricky sent me a link to Catherine's photos online.
*sniff* She's all grown up!
* Family (Jester): I finally got around to putting Jester's name
tag on his collar. I was never quite sure what belonged on the
tag, but I figured if he ever got lost I would want as much
information on him as possible. Drat. I should have put down a
cell phone number (as if he were lost, we would probably be out
looking.)
* Family (Nathan): Just got a phone call that he is back on land
safe and sound. Woohoo!
* Overheard: A father telling his daugher (around six years old,
maybe?) that she was a dodo bird. It was a mean-spirited comment
and made me sad.
* RTotD: I was looking up the word "estate" in dictionary and
learned that there is a definition for "first estate", "second
estate", "third estate", and "fourth estate". I wonder where
these terms come from.
Thu, Jun 13 16:17:09 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (Blind Assassin): I finished this book by Margaret Atwood
yesterday. It was very enjoyable. I don't read very many novels
based in Canada.
* Book (Rebel Angels): I started this book last night and was
quite taken aback by the fact that it takes place in Canada as
well. It is rather an odd coincidence.
* Family (Jester): He is completely out of heartworm medication.
I need to remember to go and get him some tomorrow. Don't want
him getting sick!
* Car: Took the Saturn in for a checkup. Found out it needed a
new resonator or it would not pass the emissions test. So we got
a new resonator. Don't want to be blamed for harming the
environment more than necessary! I asked what the resonator was
and was told it was a sort of pre-muffler. I envisioned a silk
scarf that one wears under the scratchy wool one. I don't think
that's what they meant. So I just nodded sagely. At least I hope
it was sagely and not uncomprehendingly. Not that it really
matters. They gave me a cookie anyway.
* Book (Rebel Angels part 2): The book keeps referencing a John
Aubrey. I had to wait until I got home to look him up.
Apparently he wrote a well-known book called "Lives of Eminent
Men". I have yet to find out who was included in his book.
* Friend (Karin Bilich): I heard from Karin (a friend from high
school) via email. We had lost contact and she sent the email to
a plethora of email addresses, all but one of which has been
deactivated. Seeing those addresses brought back some memories,
as did her email. Apparently she just went to her ten year
reunion and decided to look me up. Speaking of which, I wonder if
my brother made it to his five year reunion. I think I'll email
him and ask.
* Thoughts: I think I've been watching too much BBC. I've started
thinking in British English although I have yet to speak it. Not
that my tongue can wrap around it anyways.
* RTotD: Are there any creatures on Earth with more than two eyes?
Fri, May 31 15:03:39 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Changelog: I was interupted by someone who wanted their laptop
back. Oh well. So it goes.
* Health: The dentist told me my teeth are fine. I do not have
to worry about my teeth for another six months. Woohoo!
* Food: I had some leftover pork roast and tortillas for dinner
last night. It was highly reminiscent of Peking duck. The pork
had been cooked with an orange glaze which I associate more with
duck than with pork in the first place. It was pretty yummy.
Even Nathan ended up making one for himself.
* Mail: An email list I am on has been talking about socks
lately. I just couldn't resist. I'm starting on a pair now when
I should be doing a ton of other things. Sigh...
* RTotD: Why exactly do dentists polish teeth? Doesn't that
remove some of the enamel? Or does it try and even it out? Just
how thick is enamel on teeth anyway? While I am at it, why do
people wax their cars? I know it makes it nice and shiny, but
most cars are painted with shiny paint anyway. Does it actually
help reduce scratches?
Wed, May 29 23:10:45 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Schedule: I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow. I want it
over for another six months.
* Family (Jester): Jester is over two years old now. From what I
have read, he should be fully matured both physically and
mentally. He is still very energetic like a puppy and is very
sweet-natured. We are so very lucky to have adopted such a
wonderful dog.
*
Wed, May 22 00:32:35 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Book (What If? 2): I'm a little more than halfway through this
book. Some of the scenarios seem a little far-fetched, but I
guess the laws of probability decided on our current history. The
format of the book is extremely inconsistent stemming from the
different contributors' styles. Some assume the reader knows
nothing about the actual events and goes into detail about what
actually happened and tacking on a very small what if paragraph at
the end. Others give a short blurb describing the actual events
and then narrate alternative history as if it actually had
happened that way. I think the book would have been a lot better
had the contributors been told in advance what format their
entries had to take.
* Television: There has been a lot of sports on our television set
lately. With the Lakers and the Hurricanes, Nathan is watching a
game almost every night. And wonder of wonders, the Hurricanes
won tonight. Even the dog looked amazed...
* RTotD: In some restaurants my parents took me to when I was a
kid, the waiters would sometimes serve hot tea in water glasses.
I never thought anything of it. But nowadays, if I drink anything
warm out of a drinking glass instead of a mug, it is considered
odd. Nevermind that paper coffee cups look more like glasses than
mugs.
Thu, May 02 23:18:00 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Friend (Anna): I got email from my big sis the other day. I had
not heard from her in a very long time, so it was a very pleasant
surprise.
* Friend (Raeghan): Speaking of which, I haven't heard from
Raeghan since her wedding in October. I really need to be infamy
and send her a note to see how she is doing.
* Food: I tried to make meatballs today. They kept falling
apart. There must be some secret to making meatballs that I am
not privy to. Must do more research.
* RTotD: Jester does not know the difference between a CD and a DVD.
Wed, May 01 00:48:10 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* ChangeLog: It's been a while since I've been unlame. Not to say
that I'm really lame -- that's Nathan's jurisdiction. Hopefully,
he'll be better soon. Oh wait! I seem to have changed topics.
* Family (Nathan): See above.
* ChangeLog (part 2): I need to remember to do this more. This
being adding a ChangeLog entry and not rambling incoherently.
* Family (Nathan part 2): Like I said, he's limping a lot
lately which makes me sad. But he _is_ getting a bit better.
Hopefully he isn't just imagining the lack of major pain.
* Family (Jester): He's two years old! That officially makes him
an adult dog! Woohoo! He's less wrinkly in the face than when we
first adopted him, but he's still really cute!
* Family (Nathan part 3): I was just reading some of the entries
below and realized that we haven't had lemon squares in a long
time. Maybe I should convince Nathan to make them again.
* Food: I made a cake today, but it is still in the process of
absorbing all its juices. Or something like that. Berries,
sugar, Chambord, and white bread. How easy is that? Of course,
we haven't tried it yet, so have no idea how it tastes.
* RTotD: Well, all streaks must end and as I currently have
nothing more to share about Nathan I feel I must depart. Not that
this is exactly a random thought, but at least it isn't a riddle
without a punchline.
Mon, Jan 21 19:38:30 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Lesson: Do not attempt to catch falling knives. Ouch! And I
can't even knit. I guess this is a sign I should catch up on my
reading.
* Book (The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes): I think I am
enjoying this book. Reading it before bedtime may not be the way
to go though as I feel that I am missing quite a few references.
* RTotD: Why are bagless vacuums so popular nowadays? I thought
the point was to contain all that dust. Maybe I am just too
sensitive to clouds of dust. Maybe people should do a study to
see if bagless vacuums are more popular in places with higher air
pollution.
Sun, Jan 13 00:35:33 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Yummy lemon squares made by my wonderful husband. Yea!
* Family (Nathan): Did I mention he made yummy lemon bars?
* Scrabble: A great idea for a game. Decorating a room in a
Scrabble motif seems a little obsessive.
* Family (Jester): He seems to have finally gained back the weight
he lost over the holidays. More treats for the dog!
* Football: The Jets lost. Go Patriots!
* Restaurants: Talked to my brother about various chain
restaurants he frequents. A whole slew of them do not exist
around here. No CPK, no Friday's, no IHOP. Well, none within
decent driving distance, anyways. Sigh...
* Art: Sigh...
* Television: Those new Taco Bell commercials really annoy me.
Is their target audience amoral cheapskates?
* RTotD: I remember seeing a romance science fiction novel in the
bookstore once. I wonder why there aren't more crossover books.
Well, I guess a diet cookbook is really both self-help and
cookbook. The book I would really like to see is a romantic
science fiction mystery.
Fri, Jan 11 23:31:47 2002 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Art: John Singer Sargent. There is a painting at the MFA in
Boston of which I always forget the name and the artist. I figure
I would write it down here and then I would be able to look it up
in the future. So. Note to self -- John Singer Sargent, The
Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.
* Art: Minimum wage art! Nathan bought me a wonderful piece of
minimum wage art tonight. Now I have to decide where to put it.
* Pet Peeve: It really bothers me when people say they're doing
something "one last time". What they really mean is one _more_
time. After all, no one is ever sure what the future will bring.
And it costs so little to be optimistic.
* Weather: Silly weather. Oscillations are for yoyos. It was so
warm today and after being so cold last week. It is enough to
drive a person to buy another closet just to keep both warm and
cold weathered wardrobes accessible.
* Watch: My watch keeps losing time. I hope it is just the
battery that needs replacing. I really like this watch.
* Book (Miss Garnet's Angel): I bought this book in England and
just around to reading it. I rather enjoyed reading about this
woman traipsing about in Venice.
* RTotD: I wonder how supermarkets decide whether a specific type
of produce is sold by unit or by weight. Why is lettuce by the
head and cabbage by weight? I wonder if there is a supermarket
manual full of guidelines somewhere or if it is completely
arbitrary.
Mon, Dec 10 11:39:13 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Ricky): He sent me some pictures that he has taken on
his cross-country trip. I need to remember to ask him if I could
post some of them.
* News: I find it disturbing that this article on BBC is linking
left-handedness with brain damage.
* Movie (Sleepless in Seattle): It was on TV last night and we
watched it. I feel the need to watch "An Affair to Remember"
after watching all those women so choked up over it.
* Christmas: Only 15 more days! Woohoo!
* Family (Jester): He's getting itchy paws and itchy base-of-tail
again. I would call them fall allergies except they are occurring
so late.
* RTotD: I wonder why Schweppes does not market their cream soda
in this country.
Sun, Dec 09 02:16:51 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Drink (Hot Chocolate): Warm. Chocolate. Yum.
* Christmas: Couldn't resist buying a toy for the local toy drive
for kids who wouldn't otherwise have gifts. I got to keep a
teddy bear cut-out to hang on my tree. I coloured it when I got
home.
* Music (80's): All I Need is a Miracle.
* Family (Ricky): Chatted with him today. He's going to be in
St. Louis soon. Maybe I should ask him to take some pictures of
the arch for me.
* Friend (Julie): She's behind on her labwork because of OSHA!
And I used to think they were the good guys. Now they're the good
guys once removed.
* RTotD: I wonder how someone ever decided to put marshmallows
into hot chocolate. It seems such an odd combination! It's like
adding candy canes to ice cream. Who would eat such a thing? Oh
wait...
Thu, Nov 29 00:06:35 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie (The Music Man): Ron Howard as a little kid! What a fun
movie! Ye Gawds!
* Food (Parsnips): Yum! Where have they been all these years?
* RTotD: I was remembering how when I was in nursery school, the
teacher started reciting this nursery rhyme and everyone joined in
because every one of us had had that rhyme recited to us all our
young lives. And I happily recited along with everyone else.
Until the last bit. Apparently, my grandmother had decided that
the real version was too morbid and had put a happier ending to
it. Boy, was I mortified. Everyone else knew the real version.
It's like changing Jack and Jill to:
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack came home and used the phone
To talk and ask after his mother
Well, I guess it kept some nightmares away.
Tue, Nov 27 01:09:15 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Travel (New York): Spent Thanksgiving there. Saw my parents.
Saw my cousin. Saw Nathan's former roommate. Cooked a turkey.
Ate aforementioned turkey. Ate other meals. Froze all
leftovers. Wonder when they'll see the light of day.
* Book (Tailor of Panama): Finally finished it! I am glad that is
over. The book just never got interesting for me.
* Food: Chinese pork jerky is so much better than anything western
equivalent. Stocked up on some while home. Yum!
* RTotD: Driving in driving rain makes driving difficult. I guess
that's destructive interference?
Tue, Nov 20 01:27:16 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family: I got an email from my cousin Catherine this past
weekend. She was inquiring about my web page! I wonder how she
found it...
* House: Heater is broken. At least it will cost less than the
roof to fix.
* Family (Nathan): He's working on his web page. And putting uyp
pictures so that people can see them. Weirdness...
* Book (Sister Carrie): I finished this book last week. I enjoyed
it much more than I thought I would. It had a preface stating it
was the first American novel of the twentieth century. I wonder
how true that is.
* Book (The Tailor of Panama): I'm having trouble grokking this
book. Heck, I'm having trouble finishing it. But I _will_
perservere!
* Skills: I learned how to drill a hole in a wall! Woohoo!
Before you know it, I'll be a whiz at this kind of stuff!
Er... maybe not.
* Food: I couldn't pass by a box of White Castle hamburgers at the
grocery store the other day. It has been almost a decade since I
had one last. Ooh... I think I'll have one now. Gotta be those
five holes...
* RTotD: Those bags of grain that people buy to nuke and use as a
heating pad -- assumedly they work because of the water content in
the grain. Do the grains dry out as they get older? If so, then
they wouldn't heat up as much, right? What am I missing?
Sat, Nov 10 00:24:30 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* House: Today I gave the vacuum cleaner a haircut. The things I
do when my net connection is down...
* Family (Jester): He killed another of his cat toys. Well,
assuming a lobotomy would kill a stuffed cat.
* RTotD: Trying to figure out if "I gotta give my vacuum cleaner a
haircut" is better or worse than "I have to shave my cat" on the
excuse meter.
Sat, Sep 29 00:00:00 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Guile: I have not had the opportunity to move this changelog
addendum back to my puter yet. So I'm sneaking this in while
Nathan is otherwise occupied.
* Breakfast: Bacon waffles are heavy! Especially with the corn
meal. I feel like I have a brick in my stomach.
* Family (Jester): I am so glad he is a happy and healthy dog. We
had a lost dog in our backyard a couple of days ago (we found the
owners and he is home now) who had epilepsy. The seizures were so
painful to watch. Hopefully, he will have his medication retooled
to keep him from hurting himself.
* Book (A Patchwork Planet): The first Anne Tyler book I have ever
read. It was pretty good, although it was very predictable. But
that's okay. It was one of those books where the journey made the
whole story worthwhile.
* Movie (Croupier): That was a good movie. Much better than I
expected. The sound was very low on the DVD, though. I had to
turn the volume on the TV much higher than I usually do.
* Television: Sadness. I was watching the season premiere of the
Mole when I realised that Dark Angel is on at the exact same
time. They used to both be on Tuesday nights but at different
times. Now there is nothing to watch on Tuesdays. Makes me
almost want a Tivo.
* Badminton: I saw a couple of kids play badminton yesterday. I
have not played in years! I miss it. Too bad my birthday isn't
coming up. Oh well.
* RTotD: In English, sequences are written with first, next, then,
and finally. What exactly is one supposed to do when there are
more than four items in the sequence? Repeating the "next" and
"then" creates very laborious sentences that do not scan well.
Maybe new words need to be created...
Sun, Sep 29 00:00:00 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Wedding: to love and to cherish. Weddings are always so
sentimentally wonderful! Emotionally draining and all that.
Beautiful church, sweet ceremony, extraordinary weather. What
more could you wish for?
* Breakfast: English breakfasts are wonderful! During this trip I
have learned about marmite, wheatabix (sp?), and brown sauce! Oh
yum! What culinary delights! How jealous I am! Corn flakes and
milk will never be quite as satisfying again!
* Camera: The silly thing about having to keep the camera open
when downloading pictures is that if the battery runs out, one
cannot close the camera without changing the battery. And
camera batteries, already relatively obscure, are very hard to
come by on Sunday mornings. A pity really.
* Relations: Saw a lot of Nathan's maternal relations yesterday.
Met a few I have never had the opportunity to see before. Such a
friendly and wonderful family!
* Races: The wedding reception was at the racetrack. I have not
been to a racetrack in ages! Not that there were any horses out
or anything, but just the ambience!
* British Museum: We went and visited on Friday. The statues and
tablets they have are amazing! I was quite awed by the Rosetta
Stone. We also spent some time in the library at the center of
the museum. It was quite nice and I spent a bit of time reading a
book about architecture. The alarm sounded while we were there
and they closed all the exhibits. We were not sure it was an
alarm though, as it sounded a lot like the start of a public
announcement, only more repetitive.
* Book (The Keys of Egypt): Went to multiple bookstores and ended
up buying this book. It is an interesting book about the man who
eventually unlocked the secrets of Heiroglyphics. Fascinating
topic. After seeing the Rosetta Stone, I was unable to resist
purchasing the book. Well, it didn't hurt that it was on sale!
* RTotD: I must be having a good time. The abundance of
exclamation points used during the last few days definitely points
to that conclusion. Perhaps I should act in a more restrained
manner in the future. Something to keep in mind, anyway.
Thu, Sep 20 00:00:00 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Love: is letting people off first! That's the lesson I have
been missing all these years. Thanks, British Underground!
* Air Travel: I understand that airline restrictions have gotten
tougher and hence more time needs be allowed at the airport. But
when the airline has canceled over half its flights, lines tend to
be pretty short (or in my case, nonexistant). Less than ten
minutes to go through check-in and security meant over three hours
at the airport before take-off.
* Consumerism (airport): I felt bad for the stores/restaurants in
the terminal. Most of them were closed and the ones that were
open did not have a lot of business. This, of course, has to do
with the dearth of passengers. However, many of the people who
_were_ flying spent a little something. I bought a large root
beer so that I could spend some time on their more-comfortable
bench reading and a candy bar when I got rather sleepy. Less than
three dollars worth of sales.
* Airport TV: As usual, the airport waiting areas had CNN airport
TV showing non-stop. Considering how hard airlines work to avoid
mentioning flight disasters in on-flight movies and such, it was a
bit surprising that the television sets were on. After all, they
were still showing almost non-stop coverage of the attack last
Tuesday. Well, they also showed market reports, but those, of
course, still kept mentioning last Tuesday as the cause of the
market trends. A news station couldn't very well avoid such a
large topic, but I would have thought the airport would have
turned off those television sets so as to not cause passengers
undue stress.
* Airplane (777): My first flight in a 777! I like this plane.
The ride was rather comfortable with regards to turbelence.
American Airlines had outfitted the planes with rather more leg
room than I expected, which is always a pleasant surprise.
Because of the individual TV screens located on the seatback in
front of you, the tray tables were folded in half before stowed.
I always find that to be rather unfortunate because those folds
never really lie flat causing mid-flight bouts of solitaire to be
rather harder than it has to be.
* Airplane (tension): I have to admit I was rather more tense
during this flight than I have ever been. When, in the middle of
the flight safety video, the captain came on the PA and announced
that we had to return to the gate (we were on the runway), I was a
bit nervous. Turns out that the mechanics wanted to be sure that
the engine could be turned off and restarted. At least that is
what the captain told us after it happened. And then I was
watching the wings of the airplane flex up and down. I know that
the wingtips has a vertical flex range of at least a few feet, but
it was still a bit nerve-wracking nonetheless.
* Airplane (comfort): Luckily for me (but unluckily for the
airline) the plane was only about a third full. The man who
originally had the seat next to me was allowed to move to an empty
row. The extra space was welcome. But it is still rather
uncomfortable to sleep on planes.
* Airplane (fluid dynamics): My window was directly above the
airplane wing. Flying through the mists on approach to the
airport, the plane cut the vapors and I saw them eddy behind the
wing. Almost as if I were watching it in a wind tunnel.
* Peanuts (honey-roasted): It has been a long time since I have
had honey-roasted peanuts aboard an airplane. They were not as
good as the Eagle brand nuts that United used to give out
oh-so-long ago, but they still made me happy.
* Airport (Gatwick): I was at Gatwick for a few hours waiting for
Nathan's flight to come in. I was able to open my luggage and
grab my knitting to keep me awake. This airport definitely had
more hustle-bustle than RDU.
* Lodgings: Wow! This hotel that Nathan booked had booked us for
the night is very colourful! The decor looks straight out of an
IKEA catalog. Our ceiling fan has three different-coloured blades,
each a colour of summer pool drink glasses.
* Family: Met my cousin Timothy for dinner tonight. Pleasant
dinner, pleasant company, great carpaccio. He even drove us back
to our hotel!
* Sleep: It is now 5:00 AM. I am unable to sleep any more. How
very sad. I blame it all on the nap I took unwittingly in the
afternoon. I will have to imbibe caffeine during the day to stay
awake.
* Consumerism (London): Bought some necessities for Nathan to wear
at the wedding this weekend. Also bought some yarn. From a
department store! Now why don't department stores in the US have
yarn? Whee!
* RTotD: Is it bad to end sentence fragments with a preposition?
Or is it just whole sentences? Just trying to be grammatically
correct.
Thu, Sep 13 02:42:11 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* News: Like almost everyone in the United States and many around
the world, I have spent the last few days numb. People in public
places are sombre and quiet. I grew up in New York. Not in the
city itself, but nearby on Long Island. Almost every year, our
class would take a field trip to the two of the Twin Towers. Feel
our ears pop as the elevator rushed up. Marvel at the view. Eat
bad hamburgers from the food service. Go up on the roof. See New
Jersey on a clear day. Laugh at those who were afraid of
heights. Chatter with friends on the way home. Never again.
* Coping: Trying to get on with life. Jester isn't quite sure why
I keep calling him over for petting, but he isn't complaining.
Lots of spontaneous hugs and touches as if to reassure that we're
still here. Doing busy-work so I don't have to think about it.
* Family (Nathan): I'm afraid that it wasn't a very happy birthday
for him. I'll have to remember to try and make it up to him at a
later date.
* RTotD: No random thoughts. Am completely unable to think about
anything else. Sorry.
Mon, Sep 10 00:25:57 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Well, sort of. I guess blocking is to knitting like
documentation is to code. Hrm... I need less nerdy
analogies... Anyways, I blocked the shawl today. It grew! I ran
out of pins, but I think it will be okay. I had an amusing time
trying to wet the shawl in order to block it. I stuck it under
the faucet and watched as the water beaded off of it. I forgot
that wool repels water. I ended up having to submerge it in order
to get it wet. Then it got very heavy. It is pretty much dry
now, but I figure I will wait until tomorrow to remove all the
pins. Wheee!!! I won't jump for joy again; it was too
embarassing last time landing on my bum.
* Food: Nutella! On toast!
* Tennis: The men's US Open final just was not as interesting as
any of the men's quarterfinals this year. Makes me glad we have
cable.
* Book (American Gods): Finished it early this morning. I was
nearly done and couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed this
book. The rules of the gods were wonderfully consistant in their
own way.
* Family (Nathan): Two days until his birthday!
* RTotD: I have never liked candy corn. I find it too sweet. But
there has to be a reason why they are striped yellow, orange, and
white. Those colours don't even go particularly well today. It
is about as garish as most school colours!
Sun, Sep 09 03:32:27 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Knitting: Jumping for joy on pseudo-paper is not quite as
pleasing as in real life. As I have already done the latter...
O ___\O \ / O/____
|< / \ | \ \ O
/ \ /O\ \/__/\
I have always been a klutz... Anyways, the shawl is done. Well,
almost. It needs to be blocked. I guess that is like saying a
cake is done except for the baking, but I can still be excited,
can't I?
* Animals: Found an escaped dog while walking Jester this
evening. He did not have a tag; only a choke collar. He was a
very sweet dog and easy to go up to. He was relatively busy
marking his new territory. Nathan brought him to a house which
had a different dog barking frantically. Turns out both dogs had
somehow managed to free themselves. The owner was very relieved.
I am glad the dog was safe. Then when we got home, there was a
very cute little kitten on our front yard looking lost. The
kitten didn't have a collar or any other markings, so Christian
took him home and will contact the pound on the morrow. That cat
had the softest fur...
* Gadgets: Bought some kitchen gadgets that we have been
contemplating for awhile. Replaced our broken egg slicer. We got
a pretty normal one. There was this really cool one though that
could slice your egg or section it into sixths. I broke our last
one using it to slice mushrooms. (Hey, it was much faster than
doing it by hand. How was I to know that mushrooms are that much
tougher than eggs?)
* Coffee: Went to Cafe Driade tonight for the first time this
year. We used to go there much more often when Federico was in
town. I had an almond latte. It is sort of sad that latte's are
my main source of calcium.
* Conversation: Had an amusing discussion on television
commercials. I tried to remember my favorite commercial of all
time, but there are so many that I could not do it. One of my
favorite ad campaigns was the CocaCola one that they had at the
1996 summer Olympics. That one was very cool.
* RTotD: We discussed this one beer commercial that we liked. Of
course, none of us could remember what beer the commercial was
actually for. Does that make the commercial a successful one? If
a commercial caused someone to use more of that type of product
but necessarily that brand, is it still considered a success?
Sat, Sep 08 03:26:13 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Went to the Inside Scoop tonight with Nathan. We shared a
large cherry ice cream. We had not shared ice cream like that in
years, mostly because of differing tastes. But how can you say
know to cherry ice cream? Hmmm... that phrase keeps bouncing
around in my head like it comes from a song, but I can't figure
out what. Oh well.
* Movie: Tried to watch Il Postino tonight. Unfortunately, the
DVD seems to be scratched; the movie kept skipping. Ugh! We are
probably going to go rent another copy tomorrow.
* Family (Jester): He got very rowdy during the movie tonight. He
is usually pretty calm when we're watching TV, but tonight he
decided his Kong was way too fun to keep to himself. He kept
trying to toss it onto my lap so he could grab it again. I took
it away from him, but then he started whining. Silly dog. Now
that we're no longer watching the movie, he is fast asleep in his
bunker. Figures.
* Knitting: Finished knitting the edging on the shawl. I'll try
and sew up the edges tomorrow when I am more alert. This is so
exciting!
* RTotD: What happens to books that bargain book stores cannot
sell? I mean, if Buck a Book can't get it off their shelves, do
the books get sent to foster homes? Are they thrown into junk
heaps or burned? I guess that they are probably easier to get rid
of than expired pharmaceuticals.
Thu, Sep 06 23:35:37 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Tennis: Sitting here watching Roddick and Hewitt play. Exciting
game. Nathan is going to be sad he missed it. I caught a bit of
the earlier match (the mixed doubles finals). I realized that I
really don't know anything about doubles tennis. For example,
what in the world is poaching?
* Family (Jester): Silly dog knows he is not allowed to bark
inside the house. A fire truck drove by with sirens blaring a
couple blocks away. Jester started whining a bit. It was pretty
apparent he wanted to let loose and bark up a storm. His
restraint was amazing. And then he decided howling wasn't barking
and he could do that. So he started howling. I figured I would
let him. I didn't want him to burst from holding all that inside.
* Knitting: Been working on a shawl. The end is in sight! Almost
done with the edging. A couple more days and it will be ready to
be blocked. So exciting!
* Book (American Gods): Been reading this book the last few days.
Only about a hundred pages into it. I am really enjoying the
book, but wish that I knew more mythology so that I would be able
to recognize more of the characters.
* RTotD: Other than football and hockey, are there any sports that
don't use a round ball? Badminton, too, I guess. I think it
would be cool if there were a sport using a cube. You'd have to
be very careful whenever you struck it because angles would
matter. Who knows? It might be interesting.
Thu, Sep 06 00:43:11 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Tennis: Sadness. Both people I wanted to win lost in the
quarterfinals. Oh well. Not that that means I will stop
watching.
* Friend (Raffi): He's alive! Have not heard from him in over a
month. And then he called! How very exciting.
* Food: Banana Nut Crunch was on sale at the supermarket the other
day. Yummmm.....
* RTotD: Why do tennis commentators try to interest the viewing
public in things other than the current match? If only I could
mute them and still be able to hear what is going on on the
court.
Tue, Sep 04 01:19:07 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: My head only hurts now when I move! I guess its telling
me that it wants me to become a couch potato...
* Tennis: Patrick Rafter lost today. That made me sad. I wanted
to see him play Agassi again.
* Coffee: Nathan makes strong coffee. Apparently he loads the
coffee grinder heavier than I do. Oops!
* Book (Cold Mountain): I finished Cold Mountain by Charles
Frazier this morning. It makes me want to visit the mountains. I
thought the ending was a bit predictable, but then I reconsidered.
There is a relatively fine line between predictable and
far-fetched. It really is hard to do something unexpected and
still have the characters remain in character. Maybe I just need
to read books with no character development. Like that physics
textbook I never got around to actually opening...
* Books: I have a lot of books on my to-be-read list. Most of
them have been crossed off, but I think my rate of additions is
higher than my reading speed would allow. And I keep reading
books that have not even made it on to my list yet.
* RTotD: My experience with jump rope rhymes are that they tend to
be nonsense verses. But where do they come from? And how are
they related to nursery rhymes? I suppose if a nursery rhyme has
a nice beat to it, it can be used as a jump rope rhyme as well.
There must be a better term for it than "jump rope rhyme"...
Sun, Sep 02 19:34:21 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: I've been sick all week. Well, I was sick, then I
thought I was better except for the headache that wouldn't go
away, then I got sick again. I'm almost all recovered except for
a very sore throat and the ever present headache. I can't wait
for my throat to get better so I can have coffee again...
* Television: Can't stay away from the TV nowadays.
Too... much... tennis... Of course, when the US Open is finished,
I'll go through withdrawal.
* Radio: Heard an interview on the radio today with the guy from
the Nike dribbling ads. It was pretty interesting. Impressive,
really.
* Family (Nathan): I seem to have gotten him sick. Oops...
* Family (Jester): He's decided that barking is fun. Trying to
teach him to restrain himself is hard. He's so energetic! And so
sweet!
* House: It's gotten really messy with two sick people and a dog
without opposable thumbs. Need to get back in gear!
* RTotD: Dreaming while fever-ish can be amusing. Imagine a
football game played with battlebots. Now if I had been watching
ice skating that day as well...
Sun, May 20 22:31:29 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Ice cream! Went to the Inside Scoop tonight and got some
yummy ice cream. Nathan got a Kahlua milkshake with a shot of
espresso. That was very very yummy too! Wasn't it sweet of him
to let me try it?
* Movie: Saw Tombstone last night. Val Kilmer is very funny in
that movie.
* House: We went on a cleaning spree today. So much to do! The
battle against entropy is fierce and difficult, but we will fight
for every last inch! Or something.
* RTotD: Don't you hate it when something goes horribly wrong and
you realize after a while that it is a bad dream so you try and
wake up but you can't because it isn't a dream after all? At
least you have your health...
Sat, May 19 01:03:30 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Calendar: I know, it's been over a month. I was never very good
at keeping journals when I was growing up. Like almost everyone
in my junior high school, I wrote all my entries the night before
they were due. I can't help it if I'm egocentric enough to
believe my life is average...
* Movie: Actually didn't watch one tonight. But I've seen quite a
few lately, does that count? Very few in an actual theatre, but
its cheaper that way.
* Family (Jester): The poor thing seems to be very allergic to
fleas. He's bitten his tail raw again. Hasn't happened since end
of last summer, so it is definitely a seasonal thing. But he is
so cute when he contorts his body to scratch his neck!
* Television: Watched the Raptors beat the 76ers tonight. The
players are playing such high intensity ball!
* RTotD: Giant slugs don't make good pets. Or pet toys.
Especially not in dreams. I should learn to control my dreams a
bit. I wonder if it is hard to learn. I figure if I can do that,
then sleep (which I have to do anyways) could become a cheap form
of entertainment! Woohoo!
Sun, Apr 08 00:59:03 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): He's still alive! I finally heard from him
after three days of silence. It's good to know he's okay even if
he's not enjoying the food.
* Family (Jester): Boy, did he have a great day! Two walks, one
on the Bolin Creek Trail. I gave him some peanut butter too. And
he got his belly rubbed a lot!
* Friend (Christian): He moved into the area a month ago. He came
over today and we walked Jester together and watched a movie. It
was pretty interesting trying to see who we could remember from
the way-back-when.
* Friend (Julie): She's finally getting over being sick!
And there was great rejoicing!
* Movies: Saw The Scottsboro Tragedy on PBS the other day. It was
pretty interesting. Watched The Astronaut's Wife. That was
pretty bad. Rented Patch Adams today. It was a pretty decent
movie. And I only got choked up. Didn't shed any tears.
* RTotD: Why in the world can one ping an ftp site that one cannot
connect to? That seems really weird to me.
Tue, Apr 03 03:25:57 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* House (roof): It's supposed to rain tomorrow. ('It' being the
sky, I think.) I guess I will be spending all day moving towels
around.
* Friends (Julie): Her condition has been updated to strep. Last
I heard, she was making herself chicken soup. The silver lining,
of course, is that I get to talk to her more often as she is not
going to lab as much while she is sick.
* House (bathroom): Nathan caulked the bathtub today. He's
getting to be quite good with that caulking gun.
* Health: I had a really bad headache today. It just wouldn't
stop. I couldn't do anything. Hopefully it will go away soon.
* RTotD: When I was little, every time I was in pain (which was
relatively often as I had JRA) my mom would ask me what kind of
pain it was. I didn't know, it just hurt! She would then try and
give me a multiple choice selection which included sharp, dull,
throbbing, sour, and bitter. I still don't know what all those
adjectives mean with regards to pain.
Sat, Mar 31 02:14:36 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* House (roof): Well, the roof didn't leak today. Probably
because it didn't rain. Maybe if I praise it lots it will get the
idea and not leak when it DOES rain. Nah... I can't even train my
dog.
* House (bathroom): Removing cracked grout is a pain in my lower
back! Nathan was smart and got out his Dremel tool today. So
much faster!
* Friends (Justin): It's good to know he's alive and well, albeit
snowed under yet again.
* Movie: We saw The Red Violin tonight. It was a pretty enjoyable
movie. I never knew that in the old days you needed to play the
violin in order to eat cheese.
* RTotD: I was thinking that people eat coffee beans covered in
chocolate but once they are ground up no one likes them anymore.
Its sort of like the vegetable matter you get after running
vegetables through a juicer.
Thu, Mar 29 04:05:29 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Coffee: I don't think I have ever had coffee that was worse than
the stuff I had tonight. I guess the woman behind the counter
didn't know what she was doing. It was a very sad thing.
* Bliss: Bliss for sale for only $1! Well, $1.06 after tax, but
still, what a bargain! Too bad that the bliss turned out to be a
dried out macaroon.
* Book: Reading For Whom the Bell Tolls as per Nathan's request.
The book is remarkably easy to read. I have Nathan reading
Watership Down. I should reread that sometime...
* Friends (Julie): Poor Julie is all congested with a cold. I
hope she feels better soon. In the interim, she should be getting
some knitting done.
* House: The roof is going to be expensive to fix. Ouch.
* Movie: I saw some propaganda piece on TV tonight. Did they
really used to believe that there is no bacteria in Antarctica?
How silly!
* RTotD: All my Helix Code monkeys are obsolete! I keep meaning
to make a barrel to put them in.
Wed, Mar 21 03:30:45 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Saw My Fair Lady tonight. What a blast! I haven't seen
such a fun movie in a long time.
* Books: Reading Neuromancer at Nathan's request. I have a long
queue of books to read so I'm trying to get through this one as
fast as I can. Haven't been able to get the feel of the book yet,
though.
* Knitting: Argh! Ran out of yarn on my current project. Need
to tink back so I can add more of a different yarn so it doesn't
look too weird. And I was hoping to finish it today, too. Oh
well. I sorta thought it might happen, but I figured since it was
a kit they had planned correctly. Boy was I wrong. I should
listen to my instincts more often.
* Family (Jester): We have been giving him peanut butter as treats
lately. Choosy moms choose Jif...
* House: The roof is leaking! Nathan is going to look at the roof
tomorrow morning; hopefully fixing it won't be too expensive. At
least it isn't in our library.
* RTotD: Why don't they sell sweet popcorn in this country? In
Hong Kong, all the popcorn is sweet. None of this salty, buttery
stuff. Okay, I'll admit that I actually like the salty, buttery
stuff. But I still miss the sweet popcorn. It's not as sweet as
caramel corn. I'm not sure what its made of though so I can't
replicate it. Sigh...
Sat, Mar 10 03:20:05 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Och! Got stuck on an undo function for a new game,
so didn't even commit anything to CVS today. Also need to work on
the web page this weekend. But the new gnome-games module is
out. That's cause for celebration. Until, of course, the bug
reports start rolling in...
* Dreams: Been having very vivid dreams the last couple of nights.
I really don't know much about dreams, but I remember more of mine
than Nathan does of his. I wonder how much an average person
remembers. Probably somewhere between the two of us. But that's
just me being egocentric -- thinking of my experiences as average.
* Family (Nathan): He's making progress on the Moonlight Sonata.
One of these days he'll be able to play it without stopping.
* RTotD: Nothing is going to take off soon. It sounds just like a
jet engine.
Fri, Mar 09 03:57:11 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Guess what? Yup, two more games. Nathan really
seems to like Fortress.
* Calendar: For some reason, I thought it was Friday today. And I
was going to take it easy and knit and not do anything on my
computer. But then I realized it wasn't Friday, and ended up
working on AisleRiot.
* Books: Made a bn.com order last night. I need to read faster!
* Mail: Got two yarn catalogs in the mail today, both from Canada.
I don't remember requesting them; maybe Canadian yarn stores all
share a mailing list or something.
* Family (Jester): We put another dose of Frontline on him today.
He was so hard to get still. He felt very sorry for himself. We
took him out on a walk immediately afterwards. That seemed to
cheer him up. The moon was so full and bright that we could see
very well. But the colors were a bit funny. Probably because of
the streetlights. There were these really pretty flowers on the
walk that Nathan thought were Dahlias. I really should learn to
recognize more flowers.
* Food: Made guacamole for the first time tonight. I had never
skinned a tomato before. I never realized you could do it with
the back of a knife. Pretty nifty.
* RTotD: Pink polka-dotted snakes are evil.
Wed, Mar 07 02:46:47 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Two more games (I'm starting to sound repetitive) and
work on the web-page. Nathan is helping me with some scripts to
get it working. Should be up to date soon.
* Book: Started reading a biography last night. Didn't get far at
all. I spent about 20 minutes trying to parse the family trees in
the beginning of the book.
* Strawberries: My friend Andita sent me some bath beads for my
birthday. I made the whole bathroom smell like strawberries.
* RTotD: I have a Kiki doll sitting on my monitor. Nathan bought
him for me last time he went to California. Unfortunately he
couldn't find Lala, so poor Kiki is on his own. It seems very odd
that he would be sold singly. I always thought they came
together.
Tue, Mar 06 03:19:14 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Two more games (including one I made up). More work
on website. While trying to organize our papers, Nathan and I
found some notes I made three years ago on AisleRiot including a
list of games I should write. It was sort of interesting to see
which ones I have written and how many I have yet to write.
* Neighborhood: A tree that had been very tilted in a neighbor's
yard finally fell yesterday. Today was filled with the sound of a
chainsaw.
* Weather: The horrible weather we were supposed to have today
didn't happen. The day was relatively beautiful. Isn't that
great?
* Book: Read another Inspector Morse book. They are such
great junk reading. And yet they contain vocabulary words I
haven't seen since high school. What memories...
* RTotD: I remember when I was in high school and they taught us
all about databases and spreadsheets in computer class. I always
thought that the line between them was sort of blurry. Now I am
using a spreadsheet as a database and wishing there were a way to
search it. Oh well. I guess there is a difference after all.
Sat, Mar 03 00:56:53 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Worked some more on both games and the web page
today. Nathan's working on the new card library. As soon as he is
done, we can start working on the next version of AisleRiot. How
very exciting!
* ChangeLog: I seem to have lost an entry. Weird...
* Spring: We're up to seven daffodils! So bright and cheery.
* Calendar: I remembered to change my calendar to March today.
The new picture isn't colorful, but it is very calming. I like it
a lot.
* RTotD: Why does the bark on birch trees peel? It can't be very
efficient. There must be a reason for it.
Wed, Feb 28 02:31:58 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Another 5 new games! At this rate, there will be a
a lot of games in the next gnome-games release (whenever that will
be). The web page is coming along as well. I impressed myself
with the number of emacs buffers I had on my screen at the same
time.
* Television: Argh! The Mole left us hanging. They are milking
the show for all its worth (and some it isn't). I wonder what
Anderson Cooper's friends and family call him. It must be weird
having two last names.
* Sleep: I had a hard time trying to sleep last night. At one
point I was drifting off and thought I saw a sign behind my
eyelids. I concentrated to try and see what the sign saw and all
that extra thinking woke me up. I have got to ignore signs on the
way to dreamland. They always seem to be detours that wrap into
dead ends.
* RTotD: Today was Faschingsdienstag, according to my calendar. I
wish it would tell me which country that is celebrated in. Oh
well. The only country it seems to mark is U.S., which would be
the only one I know.
Tue, Feb 27 02:50:55 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Worked some more on the AisleRiot web site.
Laborious, it is. But I also wrote 5 new games today. That is a
record for me.
* Food: Had my first slice of pecan pie tonight. It was sweeter
than I expected, but still very good. What culinary mystery shall
I indulge in next?
* RTotD: Who decided that the length of a snooze cycle should be 9
minutes? I know that is not always the case as I have a travel
alarm clock that snooze cycles at 4 minutes, but 9 minutes seems
to be the standard. Did they do research on sleepers?
Mon, Feb 26 04:27:07 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Wrote Labyrinth today (and learned how to spell that
word). That makes 42 games so far. Whee! Had to stop as the
select game dialog would have gone off the screen with more games
at 1024x768. On another note, have started working on a web-page
for AisleRiot. It is still in bits and pieces, so I have my work
cut out for me. On still another note, I have no idea what games
people actually like in AisleRiot and what types of games they
want more of. Everything, I guess, what else?
* Home: Spent too much time on AisleRiot this week; we definitely
need to put some work into cleaning up on the home front. Spent a
few hours this evening doing a few things, but there is a lot more
to do!
* RTotD: Nathan debunked the Johnny Appleseed myth for me
yesterday. I guess at least he meant well.
Sun, Feb 25 04:34:56 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Wrote Poker solitaire today. That is one hard game
to win. It helps to take out the shuffle function for debugging
purposes.
* Family (Nathan): Working on the AisleRiot back-end for the last
week or so. He hasn't gotten a chance to code for fun in awhile
so this is a good thing, I guess. I hope his hands hold up.
* Home: The new bench came yesterday. Nathan put it together and
now I have some place to sit when trying to put on my shoes!
* Food: Saw some girl scouts sell cookies at the mall today.
Bought a box of tagalongs, which I had mistakenly been calling
tagalogs for years. But they are good!
* RTotD: Girl scouts sell cookies to make money. What do boy
scouts do? Do they sell candy? Or do they have huge endowments
that allow them to be financially worry-free?
Sat, Feb 24 03:48:48 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Since it is still February, I figured it was
appropriate to write up a game called Valentine. Unfortunately
the game is pretty insipid. Maybe people will want to play it
while killing time. Who knows?
* Family (Jester): Found a tick on him tonight. Nathan grabbed
the oil, but that didn't seem to do anything, so he used tweezers
and pulled it out. What a mean little critter! Jester was so
scared, especially since Nathan grabbed a few hairs as well.
Hopefully he doesn't have any more.
* RTotD: I had two pens explode on me today. How do they explode
when they are sitting horizontally on my desk? I guess it is an
air pressure thing, as we have been turning our heat on and off,
but it is pretty weird nonetheless.
Fri, Feb 23 02:05:35 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: Frozen rain and sleet fell last night causing our
backyard to be covered in white stuff. Hopefully the daffodils
will survive.
* Family (Jester): Really didn't like the white stuff on the
ground. Scared him, actually. He even tried to lick it a bit,
but ran right back to the door and wanted to be let in.
* AisleRiot: Wrote seahaven yesterday, but with the white stuff on
the ground, thought that today was not a coding day. So no new
work on it today. But five new games so far this week isn't too
shabby either.
* Knitting: That's what I spent the day doing. It felt right with
the weather. Very relaxing. At least for most of the day.
* Health: Had a really bad headache this evening. I took some
acetaminophen for it and it went away eventually, but it made me
bad company. What Nathan has to put up with...
* Book: Finished The Neverending Story yesterday. I had forgotten
how much I liked it when I was a kid. Still do, in fact.
* RTotD: I was playing solitaire on my computer the other day. To
be more exact, I was playing Royal Flush (the most brain-dead game
I know) on my laptop. More specifically, I was using my laptop as
a flat surface. I decided I needed a bigger laptop or smaller
cards. Sigh...
Wed, Feb 21 01:39:08 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Television: Tuesday night is TV night around here!
Double-header of The Mole and Dark Angel -- junk TV at its best.
* AisleRiot: The hint function for Lady Jane was pretty hairy.
But it is done! And a few more games too. Everyone wants more
solitaire games...
* Family (Jester): He's going completely bonkers over something
outside. We aren't sure what it is, but he keeps running around
and staring out the window. Silly puppy.
* Spring: There are now three (3) daffodils outside! Makes me
reminisce about the days when yellow was my favorite color. That
was years ago.
* Friends (Raffi): He went to the CocaCola museum! I am so
jealous.
* RTotD: How does one (never mind a woodchuck) chuck wood anyways?
Does that mean throw it over your shoulder?
Sun, Feb 18 21:27:41 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Gave up waiting for Nathan to finish his new
AisleRiot implementation and wrote a new game. Haven't done that
in way too long. Fixed some bugs too. Now I should write the
hint function for Lady Jane. That has been on my todo list for
too long.
* Book: Been rereading The Neverending Story. Poor Bastian!
* Family (Jester): Nathan and I took Jester for a walk yesterday
down the Bolin Creek Trail. He seemed to like it a lot. We
turned around before the bit where it abuts the kennel. Usually
the whining of the dogs there scares him.
* RTotD: Didn't Woody get scarred in the first Toy Story? I
couldn't see the mark in the sequel. Oh well.
Sat, Feb 17 04:17:23 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Food: Had lamb at the Carolina Coffee Shop tonight. I haven't
had lamb in a long time. Should definitely have it more often.
* Movie: Saw Toy Story 2 for the first time tonight. It was
surprisingly funny! Reminds me of why I never wanted a Barbie
Doll.
* Book: Read a silly historical mystery last night. Those things
read fast! I wasn't feeling well and the easy-to-follow plot was
a great distraction.
* Spring: So I know it is still winter, but the first daffodil
flowered in our backyard. I noticed it today and it made me very
happy. You'd never think that yellow was one of my least favorite
colors.
* RTotD: Why do soap bars have those hard knobs in them that do
not wear down with the rest of the bar? Is it part of the
original ingredients that didn't melt? Or is it junk that fell
into the soap vat?
Thu, Feb 15 02:54:08 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Nathan): For Valentine's Day, Nathan took me out to
dinner at four eleven west. I ate too much food, but it was all
yummy. And the Cosmopolitan was good too.
* Electronics: Nathan has gotten it into his head that we would
like a DVD player. Last time he got a thought like this into his
head, we got a digital camera. We went and looked at them at the
store this evening. It taught me enough to know that I do not
know anything about DVD players. I should do some research first.
* Friends (Raffi): Boomer sent me a V-day gift of chocolate in the
mail. What a sweety! I was afraid when he verified my address
that I would wake up to a battlebot barreling through the living
room wall!
* RTotD: What is it with chocolates and Valentine's Day? I
remember when I was in Boston, Legal Sea Foods would have an
oyster special for Valentine's Day and other restaurants would
have other specials, but every restaurant has a special chocolate
dessert for today.
Wed, Feb 14 02:34:52 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): Cate and Zola came by today and we let the dogs
run free in the back yard for about 45 minutes. They completely
tired each other out! It was so much fun watching the two puppies
tear around the yard. Jester was so subdued and tired for the
rest of the day. Woohoo!
* RTotD: The dogs were chasing each other with their tails almost
straight into the air. It reminded me of those little race car
places that you put some money in a box and drive a car around
remotely. Do they exist anymore? I always wanted to play with
one when I was a kid but never felt I could afford it. Sigh...
Tue, Feb 13 02:20:36 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Weather: The ice storm last night was very pretty to listen to.
Of course it was all melted by morning, which is a
very-good-thing(TM) as traffic could have gotten snarly. It is
currently misting quite a bit. Very easy to get soaked without
realizing you are even getting wet.
* Family (Jester): Been whining a bit all day. He wanted to be
outside to run around and play, but he didn't like the
precipitation. It was driving him nuts. Cabin fever seems to get
him very quickly. On another note, he really wanted to run after a
rabbit on our walk this evening, but his Halti kept him close.
* Family (Nathan): He's exhausted after working all weekend. And
his work week has just begun! He's still working now at this late
hour. Hopefully soon it will be done Done DONE!!!
* RTotD: Leaves to rake, leaves to make, and that's just for
starters! My todo list is getting too long.
Mon, Feb 12 04:03:22 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): Got him a Halti yesterday. This ingenious
device prevents him from pulling on walks. Now I won't be worried
about him dashing into the street in front of a car when I walk
him anymore! He is not quite sure what to make of it though. We
put it on him for a while just inside our humble abode so he could
get used to it. He panicked and kept trying to get it off. But
once we took him outside with it, he calmed down.
* Family (Nathan): He has been working all weekend. Practically
nonstop. I've been here keeping him company and doing lots of
little odd jobs on my computer that I've been meaning to do for
some time.
* Book: Spent all night reading an Inspector Morse mystery. Those
books are compelling! And the first time since high school that I
have seen the word "boustrophedon" in print. Made me happy.
* Library: One of the odd jobs I have been doing is organizing our
book collection (egotistically referred to as our "library").
Being completely whimsical (bordering on ridiculous), we had
decided some time ago that these books should be in Dewey Decimal
order. I spent a long time yesterday categorizing books. At
least 2 hours was spent fruitlessly trying to figure out how
"Tracing EMFs in Building Wiring and Grounding" by Karl Riley
should be categorized. I have been entering the book information
in a gnumeric spreadsheet as I go along. I wish there were a
database that I could use, but I couldn't find one. So this is a
bad compromise as I would really like it to be searchable.
* Library (acquisition): We went to Barnes and Noble today. Nathan
needed a book to for reference. I have been feeling sick all
weekend and my thrifty and practical defenses were down. I ended
up buying three books. And this after confronting books all
weekend!
* RTotD: I have been completely unable to find Hershey's Hugs in
the area. I have looked in multiple supermarkets and anywhere
else I can think of where Hershey's Kisses are sold. I hope they
are not discontinuing them. I really liked to put them in my
brownies.
Sat, Feb 10 04:04:31 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* AisleRiot: Spent too much time playing it today instead of being
productive. Drat its addictiveness.
* Food: Had a discussion on food colours which degenerated to what
the difference was between purple and blue with a bit of red in
it.
* Family (Jester): He's getting strong! He pulls a lot when we
walk him. Need to get a halter so he doesn't hurt his trachea.
* Family (Nathan): Still hosed. And on a Friday too. Hopefully
he'll get at least one day of rest this weekend. He needs it. At
least he has some Diet Pepsi to tide him over.
* Book: Finished a biography on Benjamin Franklin. That guy did
everything! Not bad for a runaway.
* RTotD: The days of the week were named after the Norse gods and
the planets the Roman gods. What other religions pervade our
language?
Fri, Feb 09 03:30:28 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Family (Jester): He made a mess today. Nathan gave him a
cleaning and now we're waiting for him to dry so we can go to
bed. *Yawn*
* Family (Nathan): Came home tired, cranky, and still had to deal
with the dog. At least his sweater is now done. And it fits,
too! (It was supposed to be a Christmas present. So I suck...)
* AisleRiot: Was told I need to update the docs for it. I'll look
at it tomorrow, as my brain is more fried than the sushi we had
yesterday. Should get Nathan to work on that new card library he
keeps talking about so I can write more games.
* RTotD: I wonder when we need to seed our lawn. This gardening
business is more difficult than I had imagined.
Thu, Feb 08 03:16:07 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Health: Went to the dentist today and got my teeth cleaned and
polished. No cavities! Yea!!!
* Food: Had deep-fried sushi for the first time ever. Must be a
local innovation. Don't think I'll be having it again soon.
As a side note, I haven't had deep-fried ice cream in years. Now
THAT was good.
* RTotD: When I was a kid, the dentist gave me a choice of flavors
for the polish. I guess I'm too old for that now. Oh well.
Wed, Feb 07 03:26:05 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Nathan wanted to watch something brainless, so we rented
The Thirteenth Warrior (otherwise known as The 13th Warrior).
Brainless it was. Wow, was it insipid. It didn't make sense. Of
course, I wasn't exactly paying it my full attention, but I should
still be able to understand it. Makes me very glad we didn't
waste $15 to see it in the theater.
* Dream: Last night I dreamt that my grandma made me tea. It was
really peaceful. I should drink tea more often.
* RTotD: How DOES one kill a bear? Better yet, WHY does one kill
a bear? I can't imagine bear meat being particularly tasty. But
then again, with enough marinade, anything is possible.
Tue, Feb 06 02:04:00 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* Movie: Saw Fight Club last night with Nathan. He'd seen it
before and really wanted me to see it with him. A bit gory in
parts, but not too bad. Sort of weird, though. When I was
younger I could watch any amount of gore and it didn't bother
me. I knew it was all fake. I guess my imagination finally
caught up.
* Family (Jester): Seems like he has gotten used to eating his new
kibble. I found him with his head stuck in the bag trying to get
at the stuff at the bottom. Silly dog.
* Coffee: Well, we were going to have coffee, but it got late
before it was supposed to, so Nathan made some steamed milk with
chocolate. Yummm...
* Mail: Unfortunately, I got an email that crashes my evolution if
I open it. If only I could figure out how to delete it without
having to open it first.
* RTotD: When did ellipsis become so popular? I admit to
overusing it myself, but I'm not the only one.
Sun, Feb 04 19:40:27 2001 Rosanna Yuen <zana@webwynk.net>
* ChangeLog: Well. Here I am. I've been badgered by Federico to
start a changelog. Wonders of technology -- he moves far, far
away and when he wants to find out how I'm doing, instead of
calling on the phone, mailing a letter, or even writing an email,
he convinces me through a third party to start a changelog. I
guess it is better than phone tag.
* House: Went to Ecko and bought a bench this morning to go by the
door. It will take a couple of months for it to arrive, but when
it does, it will be another battle won against unnecessarily high
centers of gravity.
* Family (Jester): Feeling quite sorry for himself after we put
the anti-flea stuff on him today. Poor thing.
* Family (Nathan): Working on the weekend, poor thing. At least
he hasn't had to pull all-nighters yet (though he's come close a
few times).
* Coffee: Sipping a mocha right now from the Open Eye Cafe. It's
pretty good. Too bad parking there is almost impossible.
* Computer: Nathan installed a new CD-Rom into my 'puter this
morning. I'd accidentally broken the tray awhiles back and had
been paranoid about scratching my CD's, so now I can listen to
Christmas music again!
* RTotD: Why do badgers get such a bad rap? I wonder if people
who keep them as pets (I assume these people exist) get offended.