Random Musings...
Friday, August 29, 2003
I just realized that the cast lists are going up today at 3pm. No going home early to me.
I am glad not to have to frantically search these cast lists for my name, though.
Posted at 1:35 PM
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Well, only one other office bitch showed up today, as usual. She notified me this morning that she has an afternoon doctor's appointment, so she wouldn't be back after lunch. She left at 1:00. Yeah, likely story. The day before a long weekend? I'm not buying it.
So, I'm thinking that if I'm all by myself at 4pm and the phone isn't ringing, I am allowed to go home early. Traffic is going to be brutal today heading to Orlando! I need any jump start I can get!
Posted at 1:25 PM
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Posted at 12:32 PM
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Thursday, August 28, 2003
Wouldn't it be cool if I could pretend like I was a faculty member and have posted office hours?
You are only allowed to come by my office between 1:35 and 3:20 on MWF and between 10:50 and 11:35 on TR.
Anyone who tries to pester me outside of that time will be met by, "I'm sorry, you'll have to return during my posted office hours or make an appointment. Thank you."
Posted at 3:17 PM
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An interesting proposition was just given to me. One of the professors came up to me and asked me what I had in mind for my theatre training. She suggested that I ask permission to take some advanced theatre classes with the department. That's interesting. What should I do? I'm worried that they'll grant me permission to just sit in and participate in their classes, then I'll leave this job. Would I keep showing up to the class??
Posted at 2:36 PM
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Last night I was watching a special report on the Mars thing and how it's the closest it's ever been to Earth in over 60,000 years. I've seen it several times in the sky, and it certainly is impressive! Anyway, they had a guest scientist on talking about it. He had in his hand an actual rock from Mars. He explained that this rock was broken off of Mars's surface thousands of years ago by a meteor. This tiny piece (looked maybe three inches across) then made its way through space until it got sucked into the Earth's gravity and fell onto our surface. They know this is exactly what happened because they analyzed the gases trapped inside the rock, and they are identical to the gas composition of Mars.
My question is this: Where are the people who come up with this stuff??? Who comes up with how to analyze gases? Who knows how to find out the gas composition of Mars?? They're showing all these images of Rovers on Mars making all these analyses. My question is WHERE ARE THESE SMART PEOPLE??? WHERE ARE THEY HIDING?? I deal with so many idiots. Sooooooo many idiots. I assumed working at a University that I'd be working with a more intellectual crowd. Idiots. The vast majority of them. I get frustrated enough having to waste my time explaining a simple concept to them for the billionth time. How do these super-geniuses feel having to share the planet with the lot of us?? It hit my last night how truly remarkable it is that human beings have such a huge range of intellectual capacity. There are people who can find out exactly how old this rock from Mars is, and yet, I have to explain to the same few faculty members repeatedly why the schedule that reads "Spring 2004" across the top can not be applied to this current Fall 2003 schedule.
And yes, I realize the irony of posting this after my previous post. Bite me.
Posted at 1:51 PM
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I am brain dead.
Someone just called and said, "Hi, I'd like to speak to Rosalie, please."
I went into automatic and said, "Sure, one moment, please," and hit the transfer button. As I was trying to look up the extension, it dawned on me that I am Rosalie.
Can I go home?
Posted at 11:44 AM
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Maybe the Follow Your Dreams cliche is followed by an * I never noticed.
Should I follow all dreams, most dreams, some dreams, or selected dreams?
Can you really have everything? Maybe I'm just being a spoiled brat realizing for the first time that not everything can work out for me. How do I discern what things I should work on, and what things I should accept?
Posted at 10:40 AM
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Melancholy. That's me lately.
I hate being this way. I'm so mopy and whiny. I just sit on the couch. Yesterday, I kept trying to fight these urges to cry, even into the night. Boo for depression.
Considering I spend 9 hours a day in a place I resent and despise with a passion, that's to be expected, I suppose.
Some very depressing news: my dad called a few days ago to let me know that my big extended family is planning a cruise to Alaska next summer. This will be the first big trip we've taken since my grandfather became ill a few years ago. (We used to take one every year) Well, we can't do it, because Andrew already promised his family that we would go to Lake Ontario with them for a week next summer and he can't take two weeks off. So now, my grandmother heard that we might not be able to go, so she is wanting to just cancel the whole thing since the whole point of it is to do the entire fmaily thing. This so sucks. I am so upset about it. I feel like everyone is going to resent me, and I resent it myself!! So upsetting. So very, very upsetting.
The good news: My Dave concert is in a little over three weeks! :D That should keep me alive until then.
Posted at 11:05 AM
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Tuesday, August 26, 2003
What I said about today not being as busy...yeah, that didn't last as long as I had hoped.
Why does this piddly little job cause me so much stress? I have close friends who have never seen me cry ever, and yet, this job makes me feel like crying every single day.
The good news, we had our carpet cleaned today. Andrew says it smells so nice and looks great. The highlight of my day will be to come home and see my clean carpet. I am officially old and pathetic.
Posted at 3:02 PM
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Today is considerably less busy than yesterday, but just as noisy. I had totally forgotten about students' habit of hanging out and socializing right outside my door. I can barely hear people on the other end of the phone.
Yesterday it took me 45 minutes to get home from work. I live 4 miles away. 4 MILES!! Awful. Most of the time was spent trying to get off the friggin' campus!! I remembered why I park in a far parking lot rather than resorting to the garage that's slightly closer to the office. The far parking lot sucks, but I get to skip over two intersections that are nearly impossible to cross at 5pm!! So, it literally cuts my communte home in half, even though the lot and the garage are maybe a quarter of a mile apart at most. This campus is insane. Insane, I tell you.
Posted at 11:48 AM
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Monday, August 25, 2003
Oh, but one tidbit I did manage to learn today, Dave Matthews just signed on to be in a movie that begins filming in September. It's based on a novel. The movie is called "Because of Winn-Dixie" about an 11 year old girl and her mutt named Winn-Dixie. Or something like that. The locale is supposed to be a small Florida town. I don't know where it will actually be filmed. If it's anywhere near here, you can bet your ass I will do everything in my power to become an extra. Time to do some research to see where they will be shooting. *Crossing fingers*
Posted at 2:17 PM
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FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL=TOTAL CHAOS
I hate today. I had to run and hide in a prof's office for a while just so I could eat my lunch. Once I grabbed it and had my lunch in my hands, it still took me about 15 minutes to leave. It's a non-stop parade of students and faculty with problems, a none-stop barrage of confused phone calls. UGH!!! I can not wait until this week is over!!!
Posted at 2:13 PM
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Friday, August 22, 2003
Found an interesting job prospect. It's working in the international center here at UF advising students on study abroad programs. It'd be a step up in title and pay. Sounds promising. *crossing fingers*
In the meantime, I feel like I cold break into tears at any minute. Things are crazy here right now preparing for the new semester. I'm going insane. I hate how trapped I feel. I wish I could just quit this and take a week off, and then see what other jobs pop up. I hate it here. Then, I feel this stupid sense of responsibility that I would really be screwing the department over if I left next week. Why do I care after how they treat me? Whatever. So, I'm here until a better job comes along.
Posted at 12:52 PM
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And more on the topics of compliments... I just came back from running errands all over campus before the rain comes. I walked by a construction site. Every time I walk by it, I brace myself for a few stares, maybe a muted whistle or two. I mean, hey, they're contruction workers. That's part of their job description, isn't it? Well, I'm walking by, and one of them goes, "Hey! That's a beautiful dress! It looks great!" Wha? Wow! That was a very thoughtful contruction worker compliment! I smiled, and said a very confident "Thank you!" and kept on with my stride. Nice.
Posted at 9:01 AM
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Thursday, August 21, 2003
I'm so bad about complimenting people. So bad at it. Why? All of the time, I see someone has changed their hair. I just can't say anything about it. I just pretend I didn't notice it. Why? I'll love someone's outfit and not say a thing.
Yet, all of the time someone will tell me that they like my hair, the love my shirt, etc. It makes me happy. I know the value of the compliment. I just can't give it to someone else. I have to be very comfortable with someone to say anything. Why? Do I feel vulnerable saying something like that? Why should I?
Andrew says that there is a study in psychology that concluded that people like others who compliment them, even if they are told ahead of time that the person has been told to compliment them. They still like that person more than someone who doesn't compliment. So, by that logic, I should have no vulnerability issues telling someone they look nice, because it actually increases my standing.
Hmm. Must work on this. I'm such a dork!
Posted at 2:07 PM
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OK, so I just said I was busy, but I just found out that the Princeton Review rankings just came out. They break down and rank schools in all these different areas. Davidson looks great:
#3 Professors Bring Material to Life
#9 Professors Make Themselves Accessible
#7 The Toughest to Get Into
#16 Their Students Never Stop Studying
#6 School Runs Like Butter
#14 Happy Students
#3 Town-Gown Relations Are Good
Then, UF, where I work, could not be more opposite:
#15 Teaching Assistants Teach Too Many Upper-Level Courses
#3 Their Students (Almost) Never Study
#20 Great College Newspaper
#13 Students Pack the Stadiums
#12 Lots of Beer
#10 Party School
#9 Dorms Like Dungeons
#15 Jock Schools
Yes, it is a huge culture shock here. I like how it's the #3 for least amout of studying.
Here's the link: http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankings.asp
Posted at 10:53 AM
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I was in meetings and workshops all day yesterday, so I never even set foot in the office. One of the workshops I attended was called "Attitude: Radiating Possibility." Right. I can't tell what was worse, going to those or having a regular workday. If nothing else, though, it at least got me out of the office and away from the friggin' phone that drives me nuts.
Today I've been crazy, crazy busy. Gearing up for the semester which starts Monday is no fun!!
Posted at 10:43 AM
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Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Hmm...reading more about this Court Interpreter thing has led me to believe it's not quite as easy to get into as I thought. I looked at a directory of certified interpreters in the state of Florida, and there were only 5??? Umm...hmm...
So part of me wants to think that I can't quite cut it, but then again, why not?? Why am I selling myself short? Am I supposed to just turn around and keep applying to secretary positions because I keep giving up on anything that looks like it needs too many qualifications?? Ugh, I don't know. I'm afraid of investing the several hundred dollars of training I will need to get into something I may not even get certified for. Plus, what if I jump through all these hoops, do it, only to find out I do not like it? I mean, do I really want to go through with all of this? It's not my dream job. I only like it because it's better than what I'm doing now, because it pays well, and because I will work less hours. I could get a part time job in something I actually like or take classes in that extra time. That'd be wonderful. But is it worth becoming the 6th certified person in the state just so that I have more time to plan out the rest of my life?
UGH!!! I don't know. I just want something different, something that sounds impressive, something that requires my brain, something that moves me up. Bleh. I need a new attitude...and for someone to give me a chance. What is it with me? Am I just waiting for an open door to come along that I can just hop into my dream? Maybe I should bust my butt to get ahead in this world. But should I make my life all about getting ahead?
Ok, sorry, I hardly even know what I'm talking about anymore.
So anyway, I sent an email to someone in the Florida Supreme Court anyway to ask how to get started. Let's see what I hear back.
Posted at 10:14 AM
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Monday, August 18, 2003
Here I am, back from North Carolina! It was wonderful and painful all at once. Wonderful because it was carefree. Relaxing. I did just enough to still be the good and helpful daughter-in-law, but still just relaxed the entire time. Just wonderful. How was that painful? Once again, when I experience moments of true joy in my life, I am very aware of how far away from it I feel during most other times. That just sucks. I knew it was going to be hard coming back to work, and I was right.
But let me rewind. North Carolina was amazing. I love it. The nostalgia is thick in that place for me. I know my way around, and every turn around corner brings back another memory. I realized that the two most common settings for my dreams are my grandparents' house in Aguadilla and Davidson. Whenever I find myself regretting having gone there and resenting my over/underrated diploma, I should remind myself of how I feel when I'm there. Davidson is so much a part of who I am that visiting it seems more like a pilgrimage. I'm drawn to it, and it has been a true surprise to notice that.
Andrew's parents have a beautiful house on Lake Norman. It's so nice! We went on a few boat rides while we were there. They have a pantoon boat, which is basically a platform with a roof, but so perfect. We just gently sail in and out of all these coves. The houses vary from trailers to multi-million dollar homes. Several celebrities own homes there. Those rides were nice.
Most of the rest of our time there was spent in the pool, playing PlayStation (I kick Simpsons Road Rage ass!!), eating, and drinking. Very nice. It was a bit embarrassing that I would get a little drunk off of two glasses of wine, but whatever. At least I'm a pleasant drunk.
I spent an entire morning with Ann Marie (for you non-Davidson folk, she was my main theatre prof). That was wonderful. She has a way of inspiring me. We talked about all sorts of topics, and it was great to talk to her on a somewhat even level. We compared the Davidson and UF Theatre Departments. She took me on a tour of the new facilities and DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!!! I was just drooling!!!! WOW! Incredible, incredible, incredible. I wonder if Davidson kids nowadays know what they have? Wow. We talked about Jennifer. (I didn't choke up this time, amazingly enough) She gave me some interesting stories related to that that I may or may not share at some point. We talked about my current job situation and my future. She reminded me that I am actually a smart and able person and that I need to make others take notice. She knows my boss personally, and says I should not feel bad about giving him an ultimatum. Things need to change here or else I'm leaving this job. She made me realize that I have way more leverage than I thought. If I were to leave, it would be very, very difficult on the department.
So fast forward to today. I come in, and the other office person is in. (The office manager has been out for 8 weeks now due to surgery) I say hello to her. She doesn't even look up from her computer at me. So, um, I ask her how last week went. She proceeds to yell at me about how it was the week from hell and she didn't know where to find any of my things, etc. etc. etc. Then she goes sarcastically, "Well, I hope your week was nice and restful." Oh whatever, bitch. I'd been doing three people's job for 7 weeks before I left. For one week she has to do it all, and she's all pissed. She calls in sick about once every 1.5 weeks for stuff like she has a headache or whatever. She takes three hour lunches. No, she was not going to make me feel bad about taking my week off after my own little week from hell. Whatever.
I was brainstorming all sorts of new job ideas during my break. Then, reading the Charlotte Observer, and idea came to me. There was a whole article on how the courts in NC do not have enough Spanish-speakers to compensate for the 400% increase in Hispanics living in the State over the past five years. They are hiring translators and paying them a pretty penny. It occurs to me that Florida will probably have the seem needs. I come back, and wouldn't you know it, I found out that we are in the same boat here in North Florida. If I become a certified court translator, I would be paid $60/hour on an as-needed basis!! So, if I worked two hours a day, I would be making more than I'm making now. How does that sound???? iLe tengo que dar un besote a mi mama y mi papa por haber mantenido mi espanol por todo estos anos!
Yeah, I can see myself dealing with a 500% hourly increase...
Posted at 4:03 PM
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Friday, August 08, 2003
Busy, busy day, but thank goodness I am heading to North Carolina for the week!! I won't be back until Monday the 18th, so no new posts from me until then!
Posted at 12:29 PM
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Thursday, August 07, 2003
WORST DAY EVER!!
1. I asked for a promotion into the vacated PR position, but rather than giving it to me, they terminated the position, but they are still giving me all the work anyway, plus my regular duties, with no pay raise.
2. The office manager has been out of the office for 6 weeks due to back surgery. I am having to do her job also.
3. The other office bitch calls in sick every other day and took a three hours lunch today. Therefore, I have to deal with her things when someone comes by needing something she normally handles.
4. I am STILL folding hundreds more of those godforsaken brochures.
5. People continue to ask my stapler despite the big yellow sign I have on my desk.
6. All the profs have found out that I am taking a vacation next week, so they are dumping all this stuff on me now so that I get it done before I leave. My "To Do" pile is approx. 4 inches thick.
7. The idiot I wrote about yesterday decided to come in an yell at me some more for five minutes. "You always challenge me, and that's a real problem that you need to take care of!!"
8. I kept trying to eat my measly little Hot Pocket, but continued to be interrupted, so it was a very Cold Pocket when I was done.
9. A prof just came to yell at me about how the fall semester schedule includes a class that is far away and requires stairs when she had hip replacement surgery a year ago. If no one tells me this is a problem, how am I to know this is a problem? I can't change it at this point because all of our other classes are full. She is pissed at me.
10. A student turned in a paper that was due at 3pm at 4pm. I made a note of it on the paper, and I was told to go fuck myself.
11. I just got my period.
And yet, everyone would disapprove if I just broke down into tears right now and said, "TO HELL WITH YOU ALL!!!!" and ran out the door.
Posted at 4:38 PM
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OH MY GOD!!!! This student nearly got a punch to the face!!!!!!! I have a sign on my desk asking students not to ask to borrow my stapler, paper clips, pens, etc, etc, etc. This is because I used to get asked dozens and dozens and dozens of times a day and most of my office supplies were used up by others and I'd end up with nothing. So, a student walks in and asks to borrow my stapler. I say no. Then she says very forcefully that she needs it to turn in a paper. I give her "the eyes" and inform her that I do not lend out my stapler, as I huff and pull it out of my drawer (I have to keep it hidden so it doesn't get stolen). I don't know why I decided to give it to her anyway, but did.
"What's with the attitude?" she asks me.
"I've told you that I don't lend out my stapler, and I'm lending it to you, so accept that," I say.
"Did you pray this morning?" she asks me.
"Excuse me??"
"You seem like someone that should pray in the mornings. I don't understand your attitude," she says.
HOLY HELL, THAT GIRL NEEDS A WHOOPIN'!!!!!
Posted at 9:37 AM
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Becca has moved in with me for the next few weeks. Last night, we decided to go to dinner and a play. Once we were out and trying to decide what we wanted for dinner, we both concluded that we were PMSing and desired nothing more than nice, creamy dessert. So, that's what we did. We walked in to a fancy restaurant, Becca ordered a Tiramisu, and I ordered a Cheesecake. So there!
We then headed off to see Miss Julie, the play that the Theatre Department is doing here. It was excellent! I had studied the play's significance within the context of modern theatre, but had never actually read it or seen it. Such an interesting play!! All about power struggles, etc. Superbly acted as well. It was thoroughly enjoyable.
When we weren't stuffing our faces or watching the play, he were complaining about our jobs. *sigh* We must work to live, I suppose. I've determined that I need to come up with some sort of money making plan, because this working for a living sucks. I need to invent something, like an improved paper clip or better eyelash curler. I don't know. If anyone thinks of anything, let me know.
Posted at 9:03 AM
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Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Posted at 4:56 PM
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You'd think that some people would get used to the fact that they are always wrong. Seriously, this idiot in this office, I don't know when he has ever come to me with a correct statement since he's been working here. (For historical reference, this is the same idiot who about a year ago accused me of changing numbers on a report to make him look bad) All of the time, he storms into my office and is like, "Rosalie, I had asked you to put this on the Fall schedule, and it's not there!" I take one look at what he has in his hands and point out that he is looking at the Spring schedule. "Rosalie, you were supposed to make this a Departmentally controlled class, and it's not!" so I point out the part that says explicitly "DEPARTMENTALLY CONTROLLED." I mean, this is a very, very regular occurence. Not ten minutes ago, he came in to the office and looked at the completely mail carton and asked me if the mail had gone out yet. No, I say. "Yeah, well, it must have, because the thing I had put in late yesterday isn't there anymore," he says all snide. Then, it occurs to him that maybe his envelope would no longer be the one on the top of the pile. He lifts up another envelope to find his item still sitting there. "Oh."
I would learn to shut my mouth if 75% of the things that came out of it were proven wrong. I'd be embarrassed to show up around here every morning armed with more false statements and poor assumptions. Yet, he trots in every morning, head up high, spouting out more wrong things. I guess rather than his brain adapting to the realization that he's always wrong, his brain adapted to no longer feel the deep embarrassment any self-respecting person would be feeling throughout 75% of his waking hours.
Posted at 9:40 AM
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Tuesday, August 05, 2003
I've had a very stressful day today. I don't feel like even writing about it because I'm in a relatively calm moment right now, and I don't want to ruin it. So......I am posting my Hawaii pics. There are about 200 of them, so I don't expect you to look through them all of course! I was thinking it'd be nice to post some of the highlights along with the full rundown of the trip I did earlier, so here it goes. Click on the links to see the pics.
Friday, May 30
Left work early and zoomed to Orlando to make the late afternoon flight to LA. When they started boarding the plane, my dad surprised us all with First Class tickets! Wow! Nice and comfy. The in-flight movie was About Schmidt, which I LOVED. I was sobbing through half the movie, which was embarrassing to do on a plane with the flight attendants asking me if I needed anything to drink. Great movie, though, and now that I've seen this and the Pianist, I think that maybe Jack Nicholson should have won Best Actor instead. I know he's already won it and it's boring to see him win it again, but I just loved him in this movie, and I'm normally not a fan.
We get into LA and drive out to Anaheim where we stay at a Travelodge owned by one of my dad's friends. We walk down the street and have dinner at Baker's Square (bring back any memories Lane and Anika?).
Saturday, May 31
My 24th birthday! We head over to Disney's California Adventure (1, 2, 3) for the morning before our late afternoon flight. It was tons of fun, though I can understand all the complainers. We pretty much did everything we wanted to do in the park and were done by 1:00. Fortunately, my dad got free tickets, but I understand people who paid nearly $50 a person being upset for only getting a few hours of enjoyment. It was a perfect time for us, though.
We head to the airport and fly out to Honolulu (not First Class this time!). Since we were flying west for six hours, I realized that I was having the longest birthday ever! The sun was setting for most of the flight, which was pretty cool. We made it just as it was setting in Honolulu. We drove out to our hotel, the Royal Hawaiian, which was gorgeous! We were met with fresh flower leis. (1) Completely exhausted, though, we headed straight for bed.
Sunday, June 1
We woke up early since we were still somewhere between Florida and LA time and headed down to the hotel breakfast buffet which proved to be the most spectacular breakfast of my life. (1) Oh man. Very few meals could ever stack up to this marvelous culinary feast! They had every kind of breakfast item available you could ever think of. Best of all was the omelet bar where a chef makes an omelet with ANYTHING you want in it, a waffle bar that included my favorite strawberries and whipped cream, and, best of all, a SMOOTHIE BAR! Oh man. And it couldn't have been in a better setting either. There we were eating incredible food on the terrace right on Waikiki Beach. The surfers were out, the waves were rolling in, gentle ocean breeze, Diamondhead volcano in the background. It was so beautiful! This is probably the closest I'll ever get to perfection in my life. (1,2,3)
We explored the beautiful and historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel a bit (1,2), and then went out for a walk through the shops on Waikiki. Everything was to be found from super upscale untouchable stores like Tiffany's and Gucci to little vendors selling handmade carvings. One of these carvings was especially cool, and it what Andrew ended up buying. The guy was finishing up the woodwork right then and there and Andrew bought it when he was done. (1) Very cool Tiki guy. I bought a little beach outfit and some earrings, my mom bought some necklaces, and my brother bought yet another WWII shirt, but this time with the boats instead of the planes.
Honolulu is a nice tropical city which reminded me a lot of San Juan, except a little more clean! But the buildings with the mountains and the coast, it all reminded my so much of Puerto Rico!
We headed to the ship a little before lunch. The Norwegian Star. Beautiful ship! My dad surprised my mom with a suite, which was great! (1) We spent the rest of the day relaxing (1) and finding our way around.
Monday, June 2
Hilo, Hawaii (The Big Island)
We arrived into Hilo on an unfortunately cloudy day. The especially unfortunate part was that my dad was planning on surprising me with a helicopter tour that would take us over flowing lava, something I had been saying I wanted to see all along! The helicopter tours were cancelled for the morning, so no such luck. Such a pity. We still found ourselves an very colorful local tourguide who took us around in his van. He was a true Hawaiian. So much so that I think Hawaiian was his first language and English was his second. He took us up to see Kilauaea, which is still an active volcano, though it's not erupting. It was fantastic to see. You could tell when we were getting closer because the landscape suddenly turned from a very lush tropical rainforest (1) to a barren sea of black, cooled lava. It was incredible! It seemed like we were on another planet. The crater itself was HUGE!! I can't even describe how huge it was. It was almost my entire view. It had various steam vents around spewing puffs in the air, reminding me that this is still active. We even went into a "lava tube," (1) which is one of the paths fast flowing lava took out of the volcano. It was actually really big, probably 12 feet tall and cylindrical. The walls were crusted with cooled lava while the hottest stuff flowed right through the middle. It was neat to be inside that thing.
Other little stops that day included a stop at a candy factory, a macadamia nut farm, an orchid farm (1), and a beautiful waterfall (1). Very nice day!
Tuesday, June 3
Day at Sea
The trip to Fanning Island in the remote republic of Kiribati was a long one, so the days at sea were necessary. These days proved why my parents getting themselves a suite was a great idea because it was a great gathering place for the five of us. We played cards in the dining room (1), watched movies in the living room, and relaxed on the balcony. We watched the hundreds of flying fish zipping along the side of the boat. Nice treat!
My family entered a Movie Theme Song trivia contest and won! Woohoo, we won some keychains!
Wednesday, June 4
Fanning Island, Republic of Kiribati
What an interesting experience this was! First of all, the island was beautiful. It was really nothing more than a large palm lined sandbar in the middle of no where. I mean, really in the middle of no where (1)...just about 200 miles from the equator and about as much from the International Dateline. And the 1700 people who live there are about 300 years behind. Not a single car on the entire island, no electricity, and no running water. They live in huts (1), walk barefoot, and some even still wear the grass skirts, etc (1,2). It was such an interesting experience. My dad, brother, and I rented some bicycles and rode along the dirt path which was the only "road" in the whole place and went from village to village (1). We saw them making fishnets and all the children would run up to us yelling out the only English word they knew "Hello!" It was a very interesting cultural experience. I think they looked at us with as much amazement as we looked at them. After a little muddy mishap I had on the bike, it was nice to take a dip in the crystal clear water (1,2). Nice, relaxing day.
Thursday, June 5
Day at Sea
This day was spent much like the previous day at sea. Just relaxing. There was a Star Trek Convention on board. We found out that it was not only Trekkies, but also a few Star Trek actors, the most famous of which was George Takei who played Zulu in the original series and in the movies. The funny thing, he asked my Mom were something was and she made a mistake and directed him the wrong way. She felt bad when she realized, but my dad joked that he's supposed to know where to go since he's the navigator.
Friday, June 6
Kuhuilui, Maui
Maui was yet another beautiful island. (1) We went on a hike over a very, very rugged lava field which was completely different than the lava fields we saw on the Big Island. This lava field was created by very slow moving lava, which created a very craggly, rock effect, rather than the smooth black of the faster moving lava. It was a very strange formation which I can't even describe other than to say it was very, very rugged and craggly (1,2). At the end, where the lava flow met the sea, some wonderful underwater formations made for some spectacular snorkling (1,2). We snorkled all around this little cove that was home to all sorts of interesting sea life. We were surrounded by countless fish of all types, an octopus, and even a sea turtle! It was beautiful!
The drive to and from the lava field was beautiful. The landscape was beautiful, and the houses and resorts along the coast were stunning. A very nice island!
Saturday, June 7
Nawiliwili, Kauai
The word I would use for this island would be "breathtaking!" (1) Wow! For reference, this is where a lot of Jurassic Park was filmed. All those beautiful mountains and valleys that you see were filmed there. Actually, lots of movies were filmed there. We saw it all in the best possible way: by helicopter (1). We flew over these amazing landscapes. There was Waimea Canyon (1), called the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," which looks exactly like it. We flew by the Na Pali coastline, which was stunning (1). We floated over these mountains shaped in a way I had never seen before. I can't even describe these mountains. Some of them looked so thin and steep that it seemed I could stradle the top of it and have a leg hanging down on each side. Just incredible. You will have to see the pictures to believe it!! (1)
Sunday, June 8
Back in Honolulu
We departed out beautiful ship and headed straight for Pearl Harbor (1). I had trouble really understanding this place. It was very hard for me to picture the Japenese Zeros flying in and bombing this area into a sea of fire. The videos they showed of the attack were so dramatic that it seemed impossible that such a thing happened exactly where I was standing. It was much the same way I felt when I went to the site of the WTC in November. Perhaps being too familiar with the magnitude of an event that took place makes it impossible to believe it existed in a place you could visit. The U.S.S. Arizona, the ship were 1,177 men lost their lives, still lies there sunken on the shallow water so that some of it still sticks out and is visible (1). Standing over it in the memorial, you could see the shape of the ship pretty clearly in the water. The most amazing thing, the oil from the ship still bubbles out from below in tiny spurts over 60 years later. The air is heavy with the smell of the oil. That sense was the closest I felt to the tragedy, even as I looked at the imposing list of names of fallen soliders who lay just below my feet (1).
From there, we checked in to our hotel, the W Honolulu Diamondhead which was on the opposite end of Waikiki beach as our previous hotel, right at the foot of the volcano we had had a view of before (1). Very chic hotel. From there, we headed toward a luau, which was quite fun. I question the authenticity of some of the hokey things they had us do, but it was a fun evening and the food was great! The sunset was beautiful.
Monday, June 9
Sad day, the day we left Hawaii. (1) We didn't have time to do anything else in Honolulu except head for the airport. We got to LA a little after 8pm, had a late dinner, and went straight to bed. The next day, we flew to Orlando again in the morning, and didn't arrive until the evening and drove straight to Gainesville, picked up Lucky from our friends' house, and went straight to bed. So sad.
Posted at 3:42 PM
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Monday, August 04, 2003
Had a pleasant weekend in Orlando with my brother. He and I basically played old school Nintendo all day while Andrew studied. Fun times!
I made pancakes for breakfast on Andrew's birthday, but after I already started mixing it, I realized that almost all of the eggs in the carton were cracked, so I ended up being one egg short in the recipe. The pancakes turned out...interesting. Hopefully the gesture was appreciated anyway! As for presents, my grandmother bought him a shiny new gas grill that we are going to pick up from Sears today. I only had a little picture to show Andrew to get him excited. It's very cool. Now he can cook out and feel like a man. My brother got him a Lord of the Rings edition of the boardgame Risk, which was perfect! We played it a little bit and it was really fun! I got him a Bills t-shirt, a Bills hat, and a pair of tickets to game where the Bills play the Jaguars in Jacksonville only an hour and a half away. He was soooo excited! Made me happy! We went out to dinner at Hops and saw Pirates of the Caribbean, which is a really cool movie! I was thinking of Anika the whole time. :)
I am currently working on uploading the rest of my Hawaii pictures...FINALLY! I'll post highlights from the bunch when I am done.
Posted at 3:28 PM
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Friday, August 01, 2003
Tomorrow is Andrew's birthday, and I can't wait to give him his presents! I suppose I should refrain from reminding him that he is now entering his "late-20's" for the day.
I'm off for the weekend! Hope everyone has a great one!
Posted at 4:45 PM
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I just went to the bathroom and, as I was washing my hands, I checked myself out in the mirror. I was very pleased to find that, despite the fact that I do not wear makeup on a daily basis, I had nice, rosy cheeks. I've noticed this for a few weeks now. It's pretty nice. Then, I realized that this might potentially have to do with the acne medication irritating my skin. Whatever, if it looks cute, it looks cute.
How lucky for me that my adolescent acne transitioned straight into adult acne with not so much as a day in between. It has suddenly occured to me that I have been fighting acne for half of my life now. THAT is depressing!!
Posted at 2:42 PM
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