Princess Blogonoke

Uses for leftover egg yolks/egg whites

2012-01-10T13:02:00.002-05:00

When I try new recipes, I tend not to try recipes that call for an uneven number of egg yolks and egg whites. Those leftover egg parts either go straight down the drain or sit in my refrigerator for ages. No more wasting half eggs! No more passing over recipes because they call for four yolks and eight whites! I leave this here for my foodie friends who may find themselves in the same situation. Enjoy!

Other uses for yolk

- pot de creme
- creme broulee
- tapioca pudding
- lecheplan (or flan or other custard)
- Japanese egg yolk sauce (teppanyaki sauce?)
- aoili
- mayonnaise
- hollandaise sauce
- ice cream base
- bechemel sauce
- egg wash for bread

Other uses for egg whites

- souffle (savory or sweet)
- chiffon or angel cake
- classic cocktail
- meatball binder
- meringue cookies
- chocolate mousse (uses 8 whites and 4 yolks)
- egg drop soup
- glue for lumpia wrappers

Let me know if I should add something to the list.

Pickle Juice Uses

2011-09-26T20:56:00.005-04:00

So I've been gone a while. In the time I stopped blogging and now, I've had two babies! Yay me! Anyway, I just needed a place to post a recipe(s) so I can remember it for later.

Stink Pants #5, my now husband (although I think he was still my husband when I stopped blogging) has been slightly annoyed with my new hobby: Couponing!

It's awesome! It's so easy to get stuff for free, especially where we live, because most if not all of the grocery stores around here double coupons. So if, for example, toothpaste is on sale for $0.88, and I have a coupon for $0.50, the grocery store will double the coupon up to a dollar and I can get the toothpaste for free. FREEEEEE!

What does that have to do with pickle juice? Well, I got some jars of pickles for $0.60 (Yay coupons! Special thanks to Mt. Olive pickles and Vons.) Stink Pants #5 and Babby, my daughter, both love pickles and ate them all. I'm not a huge fan. Now that the pickles are gone, I have half a jar of pickle juice that I can't just toss. So I used Das Internetz to find out what I can do with it.

Use 1: Pickle juice can be used to make bloody marys! Num.

Use 2: Pickle juice can be used in place of vinegar in salad dressings, soups, stocks, sauces, marinades, and various slaw recipes.

Use 3: You can place hard boiled eggs (or carrots, onions, cucumbers, whatever sounds good) in pickle juice for pickled eggs!

Use 4: Pickle juice popsicles (sounds disgusting to me but there are some people on the internet who love it).

Use 5: Drink it straight. (Not for me.)

I'm sure there are other uses. These are just the ones I found in three minutes of searching. Yay for being frugal!

You can also follow these links for more ideas:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/476748
Ilovepickles.org
Amanda's Cookin'

The Windmills of My Mind

2009-01-30T21:29:00.003-05:00

I had to share this. I love the answers to #'s 3, 11, 14, and 20. Hehehe!

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Set your music library to shuffle on whatever player you use and write the name of the songs one after the other for each question. Leave it to chance, you'll be amazed!

1.) IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Laura - Tony Bennet (weird)

2.) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Heaven On Their Minds - Jesus Christ Superstar Movie Soundtrack

3.) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Bigus Dickus - Monty Pyton Life of Brian

4.) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Champagne Supernova - Ben Folds Five (parody)

5.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Once Upon A Dream - Disney's Sleeping Beauty

6.) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Sing! - A Chorus Line Original Broadway Cast

7.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
The Candy Man - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Movie Soundtrack

8.) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Katamari on the Swing - Matsuzaki Shigeru

9.) WHAT IS 2+2?
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

10.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
The Confrontation - Miss Saigon Original Broadway Cast (Funny, it's a fight between Chris and Ellen)

11.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Chicken Lady - Kids in the Hall

12.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Johanna 3 - Sweeney Todd Broadway Revival Cast

13.) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Sentimental Guy - Ben Folds

14.) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Lament - Into the Woods Original Broadway Cast

15.) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
In Many Rooms in the House - Aspects of Love Original Broadway Cast

16.) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Christianity - Eddie Izzard (yay... I get to dance to a stand-up comedian talking about Easter)

17.) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
You Are Beautiful - Flower Drum Song Original Broadway Cast

18.) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Abba

19.) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Normandy - Once Upon a Mattress Broadway Revival Cast

20.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
The Gorilla Named Butch - Brak and Zorak from Space Ghost

21.) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
The Windmills of My Mind - Henry Mancini

Nerdbabies

2009-01-22T19:23:00.002-05:00

It's just cute :) Stink Pants and I have been looking for baby clothes. No, we haven't bought any, we just look.

Pregnancy makes me want to move stuff and make lists OR Children's movies Baby needs to watch at sometime or another

2009-01-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

It's weird. I'm not sure if it's some chemical thing from the pregnancy, or just because I've been thinking about being a mom, or something completely unrelated of which I haven't thought, but I feel like I have a lot of energy now. I was in class the other day and I mentioned I wanted to rearrange the furniture in my apartment so I could add another loveseat-type sofa and get rid of our old papasan chairs. Stink Pants and I will miss our papasan chairs, but they take up too much space and they've become glorified hampers. My teacher said that when she was pregnant, she was doing all sorts of home renovations in her second trimester. I know of at least two other ladies in my past who had this "redecorate everything" phenomenon happen to them as well. Anyone else had this experience or know of someone who did?

The other weird thing I've noticed in my pregnancy is I feel like I should make lists. Not like grocery lists or "to do" lists, but lists that will remind me of things that I should teach my kids when they get older. Lists of my favorite foods, favorite places, favorite authors, movies they should see, etc. I feel like I need to make the list because I want to be sure they are exposed to things I enjoy, or at least things I think they should experience. I don't want to forget anything. It's up to them to decide if they like it or not, but for example, I want to be sure they've at least seen a good anime, a thought-provoking foreign film, a variety of black and white movies and movie stars. There's a movie that Noona and I saw when we were little kids called "The Blue Bird." It was about this boy and girl who were sent on a journey by a fairy to find the blue bird of happiness. So they go to a couple different lands, including a place where future kids are waiting to be born and playing in the meantime. They didn't find the bird, but when they come home, they find it's been in a cage in their house the whole time. It was made in 1940 and starred Shirley Temple. We probably never would have watched if our dad hadn't said, "Hey girls, watch this." Even now, I don't know anyone around my age who has seen that movie other than Noona. I need to find a copy of it so I can make my baby watch it, when it's appropriate of course (probably age 8 or 9).

Working List of children's movies for Baby to watch:
The Blue Bird
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
The Phantom Tollbooth
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Point
The Wizard of Oz
Gulliver's Travels
Sleeping Beauty
The Incredibles

I'll add more later. Actually, I'll just add this list to my Book O' Lists. It also includes favorite science fiction/fantasy books, favorite musicals/operettas, and tidbits of advice/things any stoopo should know (eg. people keep kitty litter in the trunks of their cars so they can use it under their tires for added traction on ice. Also, don't eat the freshness packet that comes with beef jerky.)

First Post in Ages!

2009-01-05T13:41:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted to the blog in over a year. I got busy!

Speaking of getting busy...

This is the new-

Tada! Look at what Stink Pants #2 and I did! Lots of people can do this and have done this, but this is the first time we've ever done this, so it's pretty momentous for us.

Preemptive answers to questions:

Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl?
YES.

Are you going to tell people if it's a boy or a girl?
YES.

Do you know right now if it's a boy or a girl?
We won't know for another month or so.

How far are you along?
At the time of this post, I am approximately half a week shy of three months.

Do you have names picked out?
YES.

Do we, as the question asking panel, get to know the names you picked out?
NO. The names are secret! Here are some names we didn't pick: Hortense, Horatio, Jacquard and Stink Pants #2.1.

How are you doing?
I'm pretty good. Morning sickness sucks but it's getting better.

Does it show?
Not really. I can tell I'm a couple pounds heavier, but it's not really visible with clothes on.

Anything else we as the question asking panel should know?
For all the gals out there who may get pregnant or who are pregnant but haven't gone to the OB-GYN yet. Your first ultrasound is with a PROBE in your VAGINA. I did not know that, so imagine my surprise when Stink Pants and I went to our first appointment and the US tech says, "Take off your pants and underwear please." It's not terrible, it was just a surprise. Now I tell people so they can mentally prepare and not be surprised like I was. I'm helping!

Well, that's it for now. I'll post here with updates!

Correction: Yes, he's supposed to be Stink Pants #5. I probably said #2 so I could say #2.1. Stink Pants later pointed out that even saying 2.1 is incorrect. If Baby were going to be named after Stink Pants, it would be Stink Pants 6.0. Stink Pants 5.x would be reserved for updates to Stink Pants #5 himself, like if he learned to play the violin or if he had increased leaping capabilities or something.

No, Baby is not going to be called Stink Pants #6.0.

Good Cop, Baby Cop

2008-03-26T03:21:00.001-04:00

Hilarious.

For those of you who have wanted a blogpost, here it is. For those of you who wanted an update... maybe later.

Noona and Wonka are Married!

2007-07-17T06:40:00.001-04:00

I should've written this ages ago. Like more than a month ago. I have no excuses. Well I have two excuses. I've been busy with stuff and my computer is dead. I'm writing on Stink Pants' computer now. The connection between the charger and the computer itself is busted. It slid off of the couch one too many times. Stink Pants and I took it to Best Buy to see if it could be fixed and the Geek Squad guy said it could cost as much as $400 to replace the whole motherboard. Booo! I am consoled only by the fact that my friend told me her laptop is an HP, younger than mine and its motherboard has been replaced two times. I'm still on the fence on whether I should get it fixed or buy a new one.

The really sad news is that all of my pictures of Noona and Wonka's wedding were on that computer. Wahhh! I didn't have many to begin with because I put Stinky P in charge of taking pictures and he decided to be a dancing fool instead.

I started writing the blog post about Noona and Wonka's wedding ages ago during some down time on the set of Las Vegas. Here's what I wrote, word for word.

-----------------------------------------------

This post is waaayyy overdue, but for those of you who don't know... My sister is married! On June 9th, 2007, Noona J Noo and Wonka Wondow combined forces to become the unstoppable crimefighting duo... NoonaWonk!

Stink Pants and I made our way back to Michigan to document, witness and participate in this momentous event. By Monday, June 5th, we were back in Michigan. On Tuesday, we, with Patlick's assistance, were helping Mom frantically tie bows on porcelain truffle holders that would serve as the party favors.

By Wednesday, we were joined by Noona, Wonka and their ninja cats, Leo and Raphie at Home Base. Noona drafted Stink Pants into program-making duty while Wonka packed the car with luggage, tuxes, favors, and whatever else he could stuff into it. Meanwhile, in Dad's blue SUV, Noona and I drove around town picking up the wedding dress, bridesmaid dress and various other wedding essentials, like magazines, candle holders and sitckers for the backs of place cards. Then we traveled up to TC to establish another Home Base at Princess Testiclees and Bubbles Momma's house.

Thursday was a day of rest of sorts. Butter graduated from pre-school and Noona, Stink Pants and I were fortunate enough to witness it! It was hot out and super windy too. The kids and parents alike enjoyed having the ceremony outside though. I spent time moving around the crowd trying to get the best vantage point of Butter and her pretty dress. Stink Pants was drafted again, this time by Testiclees, to take videos of the event. He didn't mind of course :) Thursday was also spent greeting more family members and guests into the area and directing them on where to go to get to wherever they were going.

Friday was a crazy day! More family and friends were coming in by the truck load. We spent time greeting them and getting ready for the rehearsal, with dinner to follow. Stink Pants and I didn't see Noona and Wonka until the rehearsal itself. Noona did call me though and put me in charge of getting the family at the church on time. I was prepared to take on that responsibility! I know how hard it is to get our family to do anything on time, and this time it wasn't just our immediate family, but another two uncles, two aunts, four cousins, a bridesmaid and date, and a flowergirl and family. I thought moving nuclear family was hard, but moving this behemoth of a family was going to take some coordination and skill.

And we succeeded! Everyone that Mom and I were responsible for was at the church an hour early for the rehearsal!

But no one else was there. The church wasn't even unlocked. Picture about 20 Filipinos sitting around a church parking lot. Any stranger walking by would've thought we were all getting in line for the confessional or something with the hangdog way we were all sitting on the curb.

Anyway, the rest of the cast, Noona and Wonka included, trickled in to join us at the curb until the church was unlocked, about ten minutes before the rehearsal was supposed to start. Of course, once everyone got there, it went by swimmingly. We were able to go through the rehearsal twice before we all went to the rehearsal dinner where we had a delicious dinner and tons of fun :D.

The next day, Noona and I were up at 7am to get our hair and make-up done. We met the rest of the bridesmaids at the salon and we all got prettified for the day. Noona looked gorgeous, with the exception of weird egyptian eyes that the makeup artist gave her. Noona was a little horrified but was able to tone it down so she wouldn't look like a gothic Siamese cat for her big day.

I'm the Apple of someone's eye

2007-06-11T16:37:00.000-04:00

Got this off of Amanda's blog. Working on the post for Noona's wedding! Wooo!

You Are Apple Red

You're never one to take life too seriously, and because of it, you're a ton of fun.
And although you have a great sense of humor, you are never superficial.
Deep and caring, you do like to get to the core of people - to understand them well.
However, any probing you do is light hearted and fun, sometimes causing people to misjudge you.

What Color Red Are You?

Extra! Extra!: Static-X Destroyer Video

2007-05-23T00:28:00.000-04:00

Warning: Clicking on the following link will send you to a metal music video. Do not click if your type of rock is not of the metal persuasion.

Static-X Destroyer Video

I'm in the audience, jumping around and screaming. Sometimes I'm carrying a sign. You'll know me by my black hair and open mouth :)

Gotta look close though. Ahh the joys of knowing someone who does background work. That day was so fun. It made me want to be a roller derby girl. I actually considered it for a couple days but pain makes me a sad panda.

Addendum: Blah, should've checked youtube first. Ah well, you can see it here instead.

Extra Work! or My Life as a Background Performer

2007-05-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Okay! Okay! I get the message people! Here is a new post. Goodness knows I don't want my friends to die from lack of updates from my life.

As many of you already know, I've started working as a background artist (aka: background performer, background player, extra, organic scenery, lens meat). "Lens meat" is my favorite.

Here's a list of the shows I've been on since February. I present it in jpeg form. One meets a lot of awesome people doing background work. One also meets a lot of weirdos. I don't want a weirdo finding my blog and then finding me on a set somewhere (I'm paranoid, I know. Better safe than accosted by a weirdo on a movie set.)

Click on it to make it bigger.

You'll notice 18tly appears often. It means "18 to look younger." Kids that are willing to do background work are few and far between for various reasons. One is that they have to miss a lot of school. Another is all the paperwork and red tape they have to go through to be allowed to work under the age of 18. Not to mention that they have to have a guardian on set the whole time, and they have to bring their homework with them for onset "school". So for all those reasons, productions don't usually use a lot of kids on a set, unless they absolutely have to. Instead, they use us 18tly's. 18tly's can work longer hours, don't have to take breaks for "school" and don't get paid as much (13 year old kids make more than I do. Heck, babies would get paid more than I do if they had the proper paperwork). I didn't think I looked like I was under 18, but apparently I do, because I get booked for that type of work a lot.

It's hilarious when a 13 year old kid asks you how old you are, and then says "Wow! you're twice my age!" when you answer. Hilarious. Yeah.

Anyway, I like doing background work. It's fun, despite all the cons :)

Cons:
1) Not knowing when you're going to be done. Some shoots may last as little as two hours and as much as sixteen. Once you're there, you work until the production assistant tells you that you can go home.

2) Long hours. I've had a least three 16 hour days since I started doing this.

3) Lots of down time. Background artists tend to spend a lot of time hurrying up, then waiting. They may tell you call is at 6:00 am, and the production may not use you until noon. You just never know.

4) Weird hours. Sometimes call is at 9:00 am. Usually, it's anywhere from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, depending on whether they're doing a night or a day shoot. Usually, if it's a night shoot, "breakfast" is at sundown. If it's a day shoot, it'll start at sunrise, then the next day call time will be eleven hours from when we wrapped the day before.

5) Low wages. If you're non-union (like I am) you'll get paid $7.50 an hour. For people in the union, the pay is a lot higher - $15.75 an hour. Some people do non-union work in hopes of joining the union. Others prefer non-union work because there aren't many union jobs to go around.

6) Not being sure if you're working the next day. With background work, you have to book yourself on jobs or have other people book you on jobs for you. Either way, there is no guarantee that you'll work every day. Some people, depending on their look and availability, may only work once or twice a month. Others may work every day of the week.

The good far outweighs the bad in my humble opinion.

Pros:
1) I can take as many days off as I want. By the same token, I have to rely on myself to get jobs. If I don't feel like working on a given day, I can just take it off. It's like I'm my own boss :). (Plus, if I have an audition, I can take that day off without consequences! More stories about that later).

2) Everyone who does background work does it because they want to. No one has to do background work, because there are tons of other more stable jobs that people could do. Most people on set love being there and have really good attitudes about it.

3) My coworkers change every day. Even if people are acting super crazy (which is a story I'll save for another day), I don't have to worry about it, because chances are I won't see them for a while (if I even see them again, that is).

4) My coworkers (who aren't super crazy) are usually really interesting. Most of these people are aspiring actors/comedians/performers of some sort, and they always have lots of stories to tell. Even the people who are bonafide professional background actors have stories to tell other background actors (more stories about that later too).

5) I get to see how movies are made. Being on a movie set is neat. When you're there, there are tons of people, tons of equipment, and tons hullabaloo. When you see the finished picture, you don't see any of that. Little do you know that behind that bush in Pirates of the Caribbean is about twenty people, an endless amount of wires and cables, and one big ass crane.

6) I get to see movie stars up close. So far, I've seen Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Gary Cole, Jennifer Coolidge, Kyle MacLachlan, those ladies from Desperate Housewives (I don't know all of their names, so sue me), Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Eddie Murray, Dennis Rodman, and Jason Lee. Granted, I've never talked to any of these people (background artists can get kicked off for "bothering the talent") but I've been within 10 feet of almost all of 'em (man, now that I type that out, it sounds really sad).

7) I get to be on TV and the silver screen! Well, kind of. I was seen on Numb3rs, but I didn't have a camera handy to tape myself. I did see myself on Desperate Housewives though! I appear twice in the next clip. I'm really blurry the first time, and you can't see my face the second time. That whole outdoor scene took two days to film and I think it only took 10 minutes of the show. Meh.

I'll try and post more stories, but it's hard to find the time sometimes. I have to be up at 6 am tomorrow to be at set by 7. Blah.

Picture of the Fortnight (or so): Pictures of Lenny

2007-05-17T04:48:00.000-04:00

I actually did start a new post about being a extra, but I'm sleepy and I have to be up early. So! To tide you over, here are some pictures sent to me by andy. These pictures, sent to me by andy, have the sole purpose of letting us giggle at Lenny. Maybe when his lovely little girl grows up, she too can share in the amusement we derive from these pictures.

I think these are pictures from our alma mater's production of "Bus Stop" where Lenny played a singing cowboy. If I remember correctly, andy and ish thoroughly questioned the sexual orientation of Lenny's mustache.

Picture of the Fortnight (or so): Iguana eating pizza and kitty burger

2007-04-21T18:07:00.000-04:00

A pizza-eating iguana.

And his friend... Kittyburger.

Apparently I'm a Big Nose

2007-04-05T18:08:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so here's something.

It's a personality test based on some British band called the boy least likely to.

I've been busy working! Look for me on Numb3rs and Curb Your Enthusiasm (I don't know which days these are showing though, I just know I'm on them). My post about being an extra is long overdue, but it'll have to be a little longer overdue, since I'm working today. See ya!

Here Comes the Sun... Wahhh!

2007-03-24T23:19:00.000-04:00

andy sent this to me. I just had to share it, not because it's great (even though it is quite uplifting) but because it had to opposite effect of what it was supposed to do.

As you can see, it's a video clips of Studio Ghibli films put to "Here Comes the Sun" which if you don't know is a very light and positive song. I was really enjoying it, until I saw a clip from Grave of the Fireflies. I was automatically sad in a bittersweet sort of way. Grave of the Fireflies is a movie of such immense beauty and pain, it's almost indescribable. Everyone I know who has watched it has loved it. Everyone I know who has watched it has also cried at some point or another, including Stink Pants #5. It was really cute. We were sitting on a couch watching the movie, and suddenly I hear some sniffling beside me.

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Laura: Stink Pants, are you crying?

Stink Pants #5: ... (sniff) No. (Laura looks over at Stink Pants, only to see tears in his giant panda eyes.)
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Needless to say, whenever I see something that reminds me of that film I reminisce of how it made me feel so overcome with striking beauty and devastating sadness at the same time. It's like wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. I highly recommend that everyone see this movie, but don't watch it if you're not prepared.

First, get some tissues (just in case). Even the hardest hearts can be melted with Setsuko's laugh.

Second, get someone to watch it with. You don't have to watch it with someone if you want to bawl your eyes out with impunity, but be sure you have someone you can hug after it's over (stuffed animals will do, I suppose).

I also recommend that you do not show this movie to children under 12 (unless you want to see them cry).

Grave of the Fireflies is the type of movie that you'll own, but you probably won't watch often. I have it, but I haven't actually watched it in the last 3 years. I still wouldn't want to be without it though.

Dad has a New Zipper

2007-03-18T23:29:00.000-04:00

Hey there! For those of you who don't know, my dad recently had a quadruple bypass. Don't worry, he's all good now, but there are going to have to be some changes in his diet and lifestyle.

Last Sunday, Mom called me and left a message on my phone.

Mom: Hey Laura. Nothing to worry about... Dad is in the hospital. Call me when you get this message. Bye.

Of course, I start worrying and I called her back right away. She said Dad had to go to the emergency room because he was having heart burn. While they were there, he had and EKG done (you know EKG's. Those beep-beep things hospitals use to monitor heart stuff.) The ER doctor noticed an old infarct (myocardial infarction) in his EKG, so he ordered a cardiac catheter to check out his heart. Well, it turns out Dad had a blockage in one of the major arteries that feeds the heart. So they scheduled a bypass surgery for the following day.

It wasn't until they started the surgery that the cardiologists realized that they didn't have to do one bypass, they'd have to do four. Scary stuff. They took some arteries from his legs, stuck 'em on his heart, and Dad was out of surgery in five hours. This was Monday.

Noona and I had our plane tickets bought on Tuesday and were supposed to be headed home to Michigan on Wednesday. I made it home as scheduled, after five hours on one plane and twenty minutes on another. Noona's flight, however, was delayed, and she didn't make her connection in D-town. Luckily, Wonka's mom picked her up and took her home. Mom and I picked Noona up Thursday morning.

We went straight to Dad's hospital. Dad was sleeping when we got there. He looked wiped out (which is to be expected). At least his tube was out and he could talk to us. Noona, Mom and I spent a couple hours visiting with Dad, then when he fell asleep again, we went to the cafeteria and talked about Noona's wedding plans. When we went back upstairs, he was still asleep. We waited there until he woke up. We left when the nurse came in and told us it was time to walk him. All in all, we probably spent about six hours at the hospital that day.

Friday, we went back to the hospital. Dad was looking better. We did more of the same. We visited with Dad and we watched a lot of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC). That show is hilarious, if you haven't seen it already.

Saturday, Noona and I went back to the hospital. Mom's been having gout troubles and it is not always easy for her to get around. So she stayed home. The Direct TV guy was scheduled to come and fix our dish, so someone had to stay home anyway.

Wouldn't you know, the one day that Mom decides not to go to the hospital is the day the cardiologist says Dad can go home. So, Noona and I packed up all of Dad's stuff, listened to any special orders the nurse had to give us (three short walks a day, no lifting anything more than 10 lbs., etc.) and drove him home. We got to see Dad's zipper! That's the nickname for the scar that goes up a person's chest after they have open heart surgery.

Sunday morning at 5:00 am, Noona, Mom and I got up so we could take Noona to the airport (awww!). I won't be leaving until Monday afternoon.

Everything's all okay now. Dad has been watching DVDs and walking around the house. He spends a lot of time on the computer and is trying to eat healthier. I think he'll get used to his no-salt diet soon.

I'll be leaving tomorrow (Monday afternoon). Coming home was nice, but that drive to and from Scaginaw is longer than I remember.

Thanks everyone for all your prayers and well-wishes :) We really appreciate it! The cardiologist said Dad should be back to work in six weeks. I think he'll enjoy his down time :).

Speakers of Snow!

2007-02-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

I grabbed this off of Reverand0's blog. Go there and watch his adorable daughter walk :).

Look at what's going on at Stink Pants's and my old stomping grounds!

Giant speakers made of snow!

As a bonus, I spent a lot of time losing my soul in the building in the background. Probably not as much time as Samantha's husband Zappo though.

Kfalls in a Hard Candy Shell

2007-02-14T18:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a friend and bridesmaid, Kfalls, as an orange M&M in Scotland... with a tortoise in the back of her truck, that a jack-o-lantern is driving.

Um... woooo! Thanks for sending me the picture!

Anyone can be a musician, if you have tons of time and empty wine bottles

2007-02-10T00:18:00.000-05:00

A guy with bottles, spoons, roller blades and a dream. I thought it was really cool :)

Treasure in an Eight-year-old Computer

2007-02-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

Stink Pants and I don't have a printer with a USB hook-up. Man! It's like we live in the dark ages!

Anyhoo, the printer that we do have is hooked up to the desktop I had in college. That desktop was the first big purchase I had ever made. I spent $1000 for a Gateway with a 19" monitor and 20 gigs of hard drive space. At the time, it was glorious! Glorious, I say!

Fast forward to 2005. I was in Oregon, computerless. Yes, I could've used Hoochie Momma's computer, but I missed having my own "space" to dump music, pictures and crap. Plus, I didn't want to monopolize the computer's time. So I bought another Gateway in 2005, which is the lappy that I still use today.

Stink Pants and I usually don't print things, because it is a bit of a hassle firing up Old Desktoppy. I had to print something out last weekend though, and little did I know I would find treasure!

My laptop had some music and some of my plays, but now it has all of it! It took four hours to transfer everything (I was too lazy to figure out how to set up an FTP server) but it was so worth it. I now have all 11 gigs of my music (mostly musicals and jazz/anime music if you must know) and all of the plays that I could get my hands on during my stint in the Student Theatre Association at my university.

Hurray! If anyone has lost their old STA plays and wants another copy, I can probably email it to you! If anyone wants to know what STA shows I've been involved with, Amanda was kind enough to provide me with the information :).

Filipino Prisoners Dancing!

2007-02-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

I could've posted about Stink Pants' and my new car, or about the treasure of plays that rediscovered in my old desktop, but instead I'm going to post about this!

First, go see the Algorithm March at Clay's blog here. You'll like it. I was mesmerized by the ninjas.

Then! Come back here and see 967 Filipino prisoners do the Algorithm March. Wooo!

Prisoners doing the Algorithm March

After that, watch the Filipino prisoners dance to Bebot by Black Eyed Peas. Don't forget to chant Filipino! when appropriate.

Go here to see the original Bebot video.

About 4 minutes in, they start doing the cha-cha. Guess Filipinos criminals have to take dance lessons before they get caught by the police so they don't get beaten up for their poor dance skills.

Prisoners dancing to Bebot

Website Tested, Laura Approved: I found my likeness in a bag of M&M's.

2007-01-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you'd know that I've made a couple parallel universe/weird, cartoon incarnations of myself. Here they are!

Powerpuff Laura and Family

South Park Laura and Stink Pants

Well, I've made more! Here are Laura and Stink Pants #5 as little chocolates in a tough, candy shell.

M&M Laura

You'll notice my hair isn't exactly right. Well, there weren't many hairstyles to choose from, and of those, only this one had sideswept bangs.

M&M Stink Pants #5

Stink Pants #5 is sporting some robot arms, because he wanted them. His eyes are weird. I gave him those because I thought it would be funny. Haha!

If you want to make one of yourself, please do! You'll find the generator here at
http://www.becomeanmm.com/. Use the prt sc trick and send me your picture! I'll add it here.

prt sc or print screen trick:

Make sure the image you want is all the way on the screen. (Don't cut the top of your head off like I tend to do).

Then, open a photo/image program like Photoshop or MS Paint or Irfanview (Irfanview is free. Heeheehee!)

Paste your image into your program by pressing ctrl-v or clicking "Edit" (at the top) and selecting "Paste"

Now you can edit your picture or make it smaller or whatever. Or you can email the raw picture to me and I can fix it so it looks pretty!

Tada!

Picture of the Fortnight or So: Beware the Toddlerpede!

2007-01-23T03:03:00.000-05:00

Although it would be kind of funny to scare a toddler with this, I think it'd be frickin' hilarious to scare Stink Pants #5 with it.

You can find more pictures at John Beinart's Toddlerpede site.

He calls it art. I call it Freak-Out-Stink-Pants Ammunition.

New! with Hot Bang Action!

2007-01-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Apparently, it's been about a year and a half since my last fancy hair cut. (See here for my foray into hot layered action.)

Since then, my hair went from

this:

to this:

Notice that this is my default hairstyle. It's what happens when I don't style my hair for over a year. It's long, straight, typical Laura hair.

I took that picture so I could have a "Before" shot. I was going to do the same thing for Samantha, but I forgot my camera when we went to get our haircuts.

So anyway, Samantha and I went to get our hair cut and styled! (Like you didn't already know.) I hadn't been thinking much about changing my hair until Sam mentioned she was getting her hair done, and asked if I'd like to come.

Well of course! I believe getting pampered every once in a while is good for a person. So, I called the hair stylist place and made an appointment. I wanted get an appointment at the same time Sam had hers so we could be chair buddies together. Sadly, there weren't any, but Samantha didn't mind spending an extra two hours out of the apartment since she was spending the time with me.

Samantha is a brave woman. Either that, or she felt it was time for a real change in her hairstyle. Actually, it was both. Not only did she get her hair colored (to something darker than it actually was, which turned out beautifully) but she also had her hair chopped into a short, spunky new do. It's sophisticated and chic, yet still fun and "hip" (to use one of my mom's words).

After Sam's appointment, we went to a mall to kill an hour before my appointment. I bought Stink Pants a birthday present. He'll be twenty-seven tomorrow. Teehee!

We made it back to the hair salon just in time to wait. No problem. Sam and I amused ourselves with a book about ugly haircuts.

If you click on the picture, it will take you to Amazon's online reader, and you can flip through the ugly hair at your leisure.

When I sat down in the chair, the stylist asked me what I wanted to do. I didn't really have an idea. I did know I wanted to still have long hair, maybe some layers. I guess I did have an idea, but it was a very general idea. It's a good thing I had a gal who knew what she was doing, because if she were bad at hairstyling, I'd have a head full of ugly. I know some of you may be thinking, "Why go to a salon when the stylist could possibly make a pile of ugly on your head?" Well, Samantha goes there, and I trust her judgement. She also said she's never seen anyone walk out of there with an ugly haircut, so I had nothing to worry about.

And she was right.

I didn't know what I wanted, and I walked out looking like a fox! A fox with sideswept bangs!

I know, the picture is a little blurry. I was going to take another one, but I can't get my bangs to do the same thing they did when the stylist made them awesome. Dang my hair-incompetent hands!

So, there's my new hair. I think the last time I had bangs was sometime when I was under the age of ten. If you're wondering what happened to the hair that was chopped off, the stylist is a Locks of Love enthusiast. She asked if she could donate it, and of course, I said yes.

It'll probably be six months before my hair starts looking the way it used to and another six months after that before it looks exactly like it did in that second picture. So I must enjoy the bangs while I have them. Wooo! (I know I could always get them again. Who knows though, I might go even shorter next time.)

On a completely unrelated note, my trendy t-shirts came from Ross Dress for Less! $8.00 baby! Yeah!

Video Tested, Laura Approved: What would you do if 100 people started chasing you?

2007-01-14T20:34:00.000-05:00

This is from a Japanese television show called Troop of One Hundred. I tried to find more info about it on the Schminternet, but anything I could find just linked back to this video.

Anyway, enjoy!

P.S. Clay, have you heard of this show?

Men of Mortuaries 2007 Calendar

2007-01-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

This is kind of old, but I just thought this was cool. Ever see those calendars where firemen and police officers dress in skimpy outfits? They usually do it for charity, or to raise money for their firehouse/police station.

Well, these guys have done the same thing. The only difference is they're morticians. They're raising money for the assistance of people with breast cancer (buying groceries, etc.) so if you need a calendar for this year, this isn't a bad one to buy :D

http://www.menofmortuaries.com/

Christmas 2006!

2007-01-09T01:14:00.000-05:00

This was Stink Pants and my first Christmas together as husband and wife, and my first Christmas on the west coast. To celebrate our first Christmas (as man and wife), my whole family came out to visit! We did a ton of stuff! We went shopping a lot. I introduced Noona and Mom to Ross Dress for Less. Hurray for $7 and $8 trendy shirts!

We also went to the Paul Getty Museum. That place is beautiful and what's more, there's no admission, you only have to pay $8 for parking.

We also went to San Diego to visit our family! My Tito T and Tita G live there with their daughters, Fer, Chel, and Min. I think their ages 15, 12 and 7, but I'm not entirely sure. While we were there, we went to Old Town San Diego, a fruit orchard owned by one of Dad's high school classmates and a winery in Temecula. The orchard was very nice and full of citrus fruits like pomelos and calamansi. We made out like bandits! (Incidentally, does anyone need lemons or pomelos?)

After the orchard, we went to a couple wineries in Temecula where we tasted some wines and sparkling wines made in that area. Mmmm... wine.

After our visit in San Diego, we stopped to see another one of Dad's high school classmates before we made it back to home base. Although I don't have a picture of them, Dad's classmate is a model plane enthusiast. The model planes were all over his garage :). It was cool. Before we left there, we stopped to get our picture taken in front of a giant, blow-up snow globe.

I posted some pictures of my family's visit here, but to see the whole album click here. Double click on a picture to see a close-up, or just view them all in a slideshow.

Mom with a naked lady statue at the Paul Getty Museum.

The layout of the Paul Getty Museum

Both of these pictures of the museum gardens were stitched together with Autostitch

Stink Pants #5 and Dad are at the bottom left of the sculpture. It's huge.

Mom next to a re-bar trellis.

Noona and Wonka

Laura and Stink Pants #5

Mr. Pomelo-head

Chel and Min at the orchard.

Noona and Mr. Pomelo-head

Laura, Noona, Min, Fer and Chel

Laura and Noona in sombreros

Stink Pants and Calamansi Eyes

Tita G, Tito T, Dad and Mom

Our family in front of the giant, blow-up snow globe!

Don't forget! You can find more pictures here!

A Dog addicted to Toad, Give up the Toad now!

2007-01-07T01:54:00.000-05:00

Here's an article from NPR about a dog that loves to get high by licking hallucinogenic toads.

NPR: The Dog Who Loved to Suck on Toads

I never thought about it, but yeah, dogs can get addicted to toads. Why not?

To this dog, I say...

SNL Video: Colonel Angus

2007-01-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite skits from Saturday Night Live starring Christopher Walken. Enjoy!

Hot Elf Dancing - Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T03:08:00.000-05:00

Stink Pants and me as elves. Just go look :)

Elf Laura

Elf Stink Pants #5 (poor guy doesn't wanna dance.)

If you want to make one of yourself, just go to www.elfyourself.com. It's really easy, just be sure that the picture you're uploading is a jpeg.

Enjoy!

I am a "professional sitter/cheerer"

2006-12-22T02:33:00.000-05:00

For the longest time, I was a lay-sitter. I sat around on the couch, on the floor, at the dinner table, at my sister's place, at my parent's place, at other people's places, and finally my own place!

I was also an amateur cheerer-on-er. As many of my friends know, I have a loud voice. I can yell like crazy, and clap like crazy, and be overly happy about things I have nothing to do with, like shows I watch on TV or... well, mostly shows I watch on TV (while I'm being a lay-sitter).

Lately though, I've been putting my various "talents" to work. I am a paid audience member. Hurray! Glamour and lights and such! No, not really. Actually, the days are long, and what you mostly do is sit, look attentive, and clap when they tell you to. You can't chew gum or eat while you're watching (which is what I'd probably do if I were watching at home) and you cannot fall asleep. Oh! Here's another thing. Sometimes you have to bring a change of wardrobe. Usually they film two shows in a day, and when you come back after lunch, it's a "new day" in TV-Land and unless you want to look like you slept in your clothes, you have to at least change your shirt. The studio crew also switches everyone around so people aren't sitting in the same place they sat earlier.

It's funny. Now that I've been in studio audiences, I look at studio audiences in the game shows I watch. You can tell which people take being an audience member seriously, and which ones just show up for the moolah. Some people show up well-dressed with ties, dress shirts, etc. These people sit up straight, and genuinely cheer for contestants. Other people show up with leopard print tops, football jerseys, big, ugly sweatshirts, and they tend to have half-hearted claps and disinterested eyes. After noticing that, I realized, I'd better look nice, because I might be on TV.

The pay isn't great, usually only six to eight dollars an hour, but it's not going to be great when all you do is sit and clap. This is definitely not a job with a paycheck that a person can live on, especially since the work isn't guaranteed everyday work. Luckily, I have Stink Pants #5 :). The extra cash I make from this is (as Stink Pants calls it) Fannin' Money.

Look for me in 1 vs. 100 with Bob Saget (the main contestant was a lady dentist) or on the Greg Berhendt Show. I can't name a specific guest, because I was in the audience six times. Just look for me. I'm there somewhere, looking good and clapping like crazy.

Tagged!

2006-12-19T02:33:00.000-05:00

Apparently, back in August I was "tagged" by Princess Pinoy. Umm... Sorry I haven't checked your livejournal in a while! You say you don't use it anymore though, so *cough* what'syournewblog *cough cough*

Anyway:

Once you are tagged you MUST write an entry about 6 weird habits/things you do/odd information, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next six people to be tagged and list their names.

1. I have been playing Puzzle Pirates for more than a year, and I'm almost too emotionally invested to stop.

2. Because of YPP and this blog, I now have friends that I've had for over a year that I've never actually met face to face.

3. I'm a sucker for mugs. For some reason, if I see a cheap, unique mug, I'll probably buy it (and cheap as in less than $1. No $10 mugs for me, unless there is something Sanrio-related on it.)

4. While I haven't mentioned it on the blog, I was chosen to participate in the "Princess Pop Star" kareoke contest on our honeymoon cruise and came close to winning. They called our state room and asked me if I'd compete! Also, I won a $20 Target gift card for my singing talents while I was being a paid audience member for a TV game show here.

5. I recently spent about $80 on various eye shadows. I plan on sharing it with Noona though, if she sees some she likes that I don't mind parting with :)

6. I still have Thank-you cards that I haven't sent out yet. Doh.

I tag Clay, Samantha, Amanda, Reverend0, the German Infanta, and andy (yes andy, I know you don't have a blog. Just post your answers here. I'm curious, teeheheheehee!)

Theatre Resume! I trip the Limelight Fantastic

2006-12-12T02:36:00.000-05:00

Last updated February 2007

So here are all the plays I've been in. This is mostly for my benefit, but I also want to show off (or be ashamed of) the parts I've portrayed. This does not include my parts in the Student Theater Association, but that's because the website is gone and I can't remember all the shows I was a part of :(.

Addendum: It turns out my good friend Amanda has provided me with the STA information that I lacked. I've added it close to the bottom, after the college stuff but before the high school stuff.

Slapdash Theatre Resume for Princess Blogonoke

July 21-23, 2006
Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini
Opera
Directed by Stasi Schaeffer, Musical directed by Greg Largent
Produced by the Pit and Balcony Theater
Role: First Tourier - one of two nuns that go shopping for the convent with a donkey.
Highlights: The "donkey" was actually an Irish wolfhound, which was a huge dog. It kept turning upstage and showing its ass to the audience.

March 16-19 and 24-26, 2006
Bye Bye Birdie by Michael Stewart (book), Lee Adams (lyrics), and Charles Strouse (music)
Musical Comedy
Directed by Jeff Murdock
Role: Gloria Rasputin - a floosy that Mae Peterson meets on the bus and introduces to her son, Albert Peterson, in hopes that he will leave his fiance, Rosie Alvarez.
Highlights: I had to do a little dance which included a modified split at the end. I always got a laugh when I delivered the line "In a little while," in response to the question if I was getting up.

March 3-6, 2005
Rumors by Neil Simon
Farce
Directed by Christie Rahn
Produced by the Thumb Area Center for the Arts
Role: Cassie - the trophy wife of Glenn, a would-be senator
Highlights: I had an onstage fight and get to seduce a man who is in real life twenty years older than me (he also went to MTU).

November 2004
Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin (Music & Lyrics), and Herbert & Dorothy Fields (Book)
Musical
Directed by Victoria Penland
Produced by Thumb Area Center for the Arts
Role: Chorus
Highlights: I wore fishnet stockings and yo-yoed with both hands, woo!

June 13 & 14, 2003
Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Drama
Directed by Christopher Plummer
Produced by In Good Company Theatre Group Classical Studio
Role: Second British Captain (and First Gaoler - the parts were grouped together), Chorus
Highlight: I was roped into this with three weeks left of rehearsal. As First Gaoler, I told Leonatus that he's crazy for knowing where he's gonna go after he dies.

April 26 & 27, 2003
Every Good Boy Deserves Favor by Tom Stoppard, Music by Andre Previn
Drama
Directed by Christopher Plummer, Conducted by Jeffrey Bell-Hanson
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Alexander Ivanov (age 10)
Highlights: I played the ten-year-old son of a political dissident who was wrongfully imprisoned for his political views. I got to sing at the very end. There's nothing like being a boy when you're a 22-year-old gal.

February 14, 15, & 17, 2003
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (or "How Not To Do It Again")
by by Jean-Claude van Itallie
Drama
Directed by Sue Stephens
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Ensemble
Highlights: The first straight play done by the Troupe in a long time. I had to learn some yoga for this. Definitely one of the most fun times I've had in a play, especially since from my performance I was chosen to compete in the Ryan Auditions at the American College Theatre Festival.

February 1,8, & 9, 2002
A Chorus Line by James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlish, Edward Kleban
Musical
Directed by Richard Blanning, Conducted by Mike Irish, Choreographed by Laura Aneshansel
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Connie Wong
Highlights: My only role in a Broadway musical at college. I loved the dancing and the singing. This is my most favorite role in any of the musicals I've been in so far.

October 25, 26, 27, 2001
Talking With... by Jane Martin
Drama
Directed by Sue Stephens
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Laurie (or the Clear Glass Marbles monologue)
Highlights: This was my second play with an all female cast. It was also my first experience with Sue Stephens as a director. It was awesome :)

February 8 - 11, 2001
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Comedy
Directed by Debra Bruch
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Dirty elf in Oberon's train
Highlights: The best part was the costume. I still have my wings. There were only about six of us in Oberon's train, as opposed to the 20+ fairies in Titania's train. Our group was awesome.

November 6, 1999
Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
Drama
Directed by Richard Blanning
Produced by Mainstage Theatre of MTU
Role: Kit - Angie's best friend
Highlights: This was my first MTU Mainstage play. I met great gals there that I still know today.

My Involvement with the STA

*I forget the days of the following performances, but I know they were after 2002.
Lord Help the Mister - written by me
The Divine Engineer - Directed by me

April 5 & 6, 2002
The Heavily Medicated Show
Producer: David Clark
The Easy Way Out? by Adam Ward
Director: Laura L. Loo
Highlights: At the time, it was the longest 1-act play the STA had ever produced at a whopping 45 minutes long.

November 2 & 3, 2001
The Love, Carnage, and Calculus Show
Producer: The Evil Karen Carr
Ophelia's Ghost by Jillian Reterford
Director: The Evil Karen Carr
Juliet: Laura L. Loo
Highlights: This play was written by a good friend of mine (who is awesome.) I also got to dance in a dress the director made for me!

April 27 & 28, 2001
The Free Love Show
Producer: The Evil Karen Carr
Girl Without Reach by Laura L. Loo
Director: Amanda Marie Sproule
&
My Bestfriend's Girlfriend by Aaron Dykstra
Director: Laura L. Loo
Highlights: Not only did I write a play that was actually performed, but I also got to direct a good friend of mine in a play where she got to slap a girl.

November 10 & 11, 2000
The Lactose Intolerant Show
Producer: The Evil Karen Carr
Waiting by Andrew Swartz
Director: Laura "Cheetos Queen" Loo
Highlights: This was my first experience directing. It actually turned out pretty good :)

May 5 & 6, 2000
STA's Longest Show Ever
Producer: Teresa Frusti
In My Eyes by Sarah Carley
Director: Jayme Rusk
Assistant Director: Laura "Kinda Curvy" Loo
Highlights: I wanted to act this term, but I had a track show the same day as one of the performance dates, so I got some experience assist directing. I coined the term "Ass Director."

February 11 & 12, 2000
The STA Super Spectacular Special Spontaneous Sexy S'wonderful SWinter Show
Producer: Teresa Frusti
Treehouse by Emily F. Kerbleski
Director: Andy "Frito King" Swartz
Suzie: Laura L. Loo
Highlights: I had to pretend I was over thirty in one scene. We got some unintentional laughs because at the time, my voice decidedly did not have an over-thirty sound to it.

October 29 & 30, 1999
Suicide Comedy Night
Producer: Teresa Frusti
One Small Bird by Aaron Dykstra
Director: Kevin T. Moss
Police Officer: Laura L. Loo
Highlights: My first experience with the STA. I was not even expecting to audition that night, but I happened to be there, so I did.

Other Productions of which I cannot remember the performance dates (they're all from high school):
Mame - chorus - TACA
Once Upon a Mattress - Nightingale/chorus - TACA
Oliver! - Orphan/thief - TACA
Cinderella - Townsperson/chorus - TACA
Father of the Bride - Florist - TACA
Up the Down Staircase - Carmelita - High school play
South Pacific - Liat - TACA (probably 1996. I was a freshman in high school for this one)

Stink Pants and Wii Boxing

2006-12-07T16:53:00.000-05:00

Because you asked for it...

Our First Thanksgiving

2006-12-01T20:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, technically it's not our first Thanksgiving, since Stink Pants and I have both had Thanksgivings ever since we can remember. It's also not our first Thanksgiving together, because when we started dating we traded Thanksgivings between our families, spending one with mine then Christmas with his, and vice versa for the next year.

I say this year is our first Thanksgiving because it was our first Thanksgiving in our new apartment, our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, and it was our first Thanksgiving alone.

We did go to Samantha and Zappo's apartment for Thanksgiving with friends on the Saturday following that, so I didn't actually have to make a turkey, but I did anyway because I had this indescribable need to roast a turkey for us. It's almost like our entire life and happiness together were dependent on how good this first Thanksgiving was.

Thankfully! It was awesome! In the battle of Laura vs Turkey, Laura wins. Yes, I started late. I put the turkey in the oven at about 5:00 pm, which means we ate dinner at 8:30, but it was still awesome. Gaze at the awesomeness of my turkey!

This is the turkey at the end of the second hour. One more hour to go!

Ahhh, much better. It's definitely less sickly looking.

Here's our spread. Notice the condition of the cranberry jelly. That is Stink Pants's doing. It's the only thing he "prepared" (where prepared means opened the can, dumped it out, and "sliced" it.)

The first turkey Stink Pants #5 has ever carved! Wooo!

P.S. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Boxing is coming.

Stink Pants #5 has a New Baby!

2006-11-23T04:45:00.000-05:00

No, we're not pregnant, so save your hyperventilating for another day. Stink Pants is the proud father of a new...

Nintendo Wii!

Let me start by saying that Stink Pants really wanted to have one of these they day they were released. I could've cared less and didn't mind waiting a couple months, or even a year. I did know that Stink Pants was planning on spending a ton of money though. So to offset that expenditure, Samantha and I went shopping at a sample sale. Woohoo!

Anyway, Stink Pants woke up at 7:00 am on a Sunday so he could walk to the nearest Target and stand in line. Luckily, he found a co-worker to stand with, so he wasn't alone in his misery when he found out there were only five left, and Stink Pants and his friend were about twenty people down the line. It's a good thing his co-worker had a car, because they were able to drive to the closest Circuit City... only to find out they were sold out as well.

On the verge of tears and grasping at straws, the two adventurers find their way to the mall, where there is a small Gamespot. Success! The mall opened at 10:00 am, and they were third in line when the employee opened up the door. It turned out that the store received two hundred Nintendo Wiis. They had a midnight opening the night before and sold one hundred ninety of them. There were ten left and Stink Pants and his friend were each the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii, some new games, and an extra Wii controller.

Stink Pants didn't want me to post a video, but I did. He's lucky I didn't post the one of him boxing. Please enjoy Stink Pants and Wii Tennis. Notice the pants. I got those for him two Christmases ago.

Cooking vs Laura. Fight!

2006-11-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a cook. In fact, I used to avoid it like the plague when I was growing up. I just didn't like it. Mom tried to teach me, but I didn't want to learn. Standing in front of a stove waiting for heat to induce a chemical reaction in matter so it becomes edible wasn't alluring to me. (Standing in front of a bunson burner and waiting for stuff to explode is more entertaining, even if it isn't edible.)

Then I went to college. I had dorm food for three years and gained ten pounds. I know what you're thinking. Ten pounds?! That's nothing! Trust me. If you weigh 100 lbs, 10 lbs is a lot. Here are some pictures of me and my fat face (and Stink Pants with hair.)

After being fed up with the dorms, I moved off campus and into my own apartment. Let's call that the "microwave potato chapter" of my life. Making baked potatoes in a microwave is oh so easy and oh so delicious... until you eat it for lunch every day for 2 weeks. I had to learn how to cook, and not just the Tuna Helper/Mac 'n' Cheese in a box-type cooking, actual cooking.

Luckily, this was around the time Stink Pants and I started dating, and he and his friends had cooking parties, so I hung around them and tried to learn all I could.

Fast forward to after our honeymoon. We're getting tired of Tuna Helper and Stink Pants's specialty, Stink Pants Surprise. (Cook macaroni and cheese according to box instructions. Add 1 can of beanless chili. Mix. Enjoy! Or mix, and tolerate.) I decided it's time I actually made real food, since we're all married and stuff. Here's a breakdown of my cooking battles.

Laura vs. Kare-kare: Laura Wins! Yay!
I've actually made this before, since it's one of my favorite Filipino dishes, so it comes as no surprise that I conquer it again.

Laura vs. Bistek: Bistek wins! Boo!
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Bistek is so easy, how could she mess that up? I've even successfully made it before. Note to myself: Do not try and reduce the marinade all the way down to a thick sauce. All you'll get is salt and sour vinegar taste.

Laura vs. Tocino, Mama Sita style: Tocino wins! Boo! I didn't know how to use the Mama Sita mix.

Laura vs Mama Sita's Tocino rematch: Laura Wins! Yay! The secret is to have it marinate in the rub for a whole day (not just an hour) and don't add water. We also had this with pork corn, which is what I call dumping a can of corn in the the dirty Tocino pan so it's easier to clean. The corn comes out really tasty, if you like pork :)

Laura vs. Chicken alfredo and asparagus: Laura wins! Yay! I made some Pastaroni alfredo and added a chicken breast and asparagus I cooked. Turned out pretty snazzy.

Laura vs. Corned beef and cabbage: Tie - meh It turned out the way it was supposed to, but it needed some rice to balance it out.

Laura vs. Mang Tomas chicken caesar salad: Laura wins! I know, it's easy to make a chicken caesar salad, but we cooked the chicken in Mang Tomas! Don't know what it's made of, but Mr. Thomas sauce is delicious! Kudos to Stink Pants for thinking of using the Mang Tomas as flavoring.

That makes the my score 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. I know earlier I said it was Laura 5, food 3, but I can't remember the other loss and the other win. Stink Pants can't remember either. Oh well, I'm still winning.

If anyone has any easy recipes for me to try, let me know :) Special thanks go to Pinoycook.net for the links to the pinoy food.

I went to an airshow! Thunderbirds are Go!

2006-11-01T18:57:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, Stink Pants and I went to an airshow with his friend JRRay and JRRay's friends. I've never been to an airshow before. Yes, I've seen airplanes do tricks and acrobatics on TV, and I was at the cherry festival when the Blue Angels were there, but I don't think that counts as an actual airshow, because I only saw what I could from Bubbles Momma's back yard.

We woke up at 8:00 am to go to this airshow, because it takes two hours to drive to Edwards Air Force Base. I slept on the way there, because as most of you know I don't really shine in the morning... I sleep.

Before I go any further, I must mention that one of JRRay's friends has a six-year-old son that went with us. He was a little darling :) And! He didn't mind that I kept getting his name wrong. It wasn't even a hard name! For some reason, I heard one thing and said another. Meh, I stink. Anyway, He was full of energy, and weird conversation topics. Did you know if you put a hole in a raisin, and put it in a glass of Coke, the raisin will rise and fall within the Coke? Yeah, I didn't know that either. I haven't tried it, but the young man assured me it works.

Airshows are neat. I didn't think it would be, because I'm not really that into airplanes. However, when you put a bunch of airplanes on display and have them doing all sorts of tricks above you, and you have a bunch of carnival food stands up so you can eat while you're watching the tricks, they're actually entertaining!

We got to walk inside all sorts of different planes, like this one big NASA plane, and this other big... uh... grey plane, and a neato looking helicopter with a tilty tail! Okay, so I didn't learn the names of any of those planes, but it was still really neat. I did learn the tail of the helicopter was tilted for 5% more lift :).

Oh, another thing that happened. Stink Pants was wearing a t-shirt sporting the logo of our alma mater, and one of the air force guys went to school there! Graduated 1996! Small world, huh?

The day ended with us waiting forty-five minutes for the Thunderbirds to perform. The forty-five minutes would've seemed a lot shorter if the air base people hadn't started announcing, playing music and making it seem like they were going to perform in five minutes when they actually meant forty-five. To pass the time, I pulled out my trusty yo-yo and entertained the young man with my fancy (not really) yo-yo skills.

Aerial maneuvers are cool. The jets fly at each other like they're going to hit each other, and they don't! Precision flying is so exciting! They also had some 80's hard rock streaming through the speakers which made me feel like I was in the middle of some sort of Top Gun movie montage.

The day ended with a two hour drive back home. I sat in the back with the young man, and we practiced origami with the program from the airshow. I made my usual cranes, and he made paper rocks! Ahhh, children are so cute.

Someone's been lazy about posting...

2006-10-24T02:44:00.000-04:00

Me.

I've been lazy about posting. Let me see if I can boil everything down to a tasty gravy.

I got a new cell phone.

I've been cooking a lot. Right now the score is: Laura - 5, Food - 3.

I think Stink Pants' co-worker friends like me.

We went to Knott's Scary Farm: The Haunt with Samantha, Zappo, and JRRay (one of Stink Pants co-worker friends). Stink Pants lived up to his name by crapping his pants out with utter terror. Hah!

Jeffrey won in the third season of Project Runway. I'm sooo disappointed. Out of all of them, I didn't think he'd win. He's not a bad guy, none of the final four contestants were "bad". They're all talented folk. It's just that out of the four of them, I think the others deserved to win more than he did. Meh.

Stink Pants and I have spent the last three weeks looking for a new apartment. We finally found one. Our new landlord is from Taiwan. She's quite entertaining.

Lastly... I hope people aren't anxiously awaiting their thank-you cards from our wedding, because they're still in Michigan. Yeah. We stink. Don't think we aren't grateful for everyone celebrating our special day with us, because we are. We really are! We'll send out the cards whenever we get them, which will probably be after we move to the new apartment. Yes, we stink.

I can elaborate on any or all of these topics. Later. When I'm less lazy.

Cruise craziness and even MORE honeymoon photos

2006-10-04T20:43:00.000-04:00

I added Stink Pants' pictures to the honeymoon gallery. There were so many that I had to add another volume!

Warning: Honeymoon Photo Galleries Vol. 1 and 2 now contain nudity!
Granted, it's all "art" but just a warning for the penis-faint-at-heart. We took a lot of statue crotch shots.

I still haven't added captions to the pictures, so you'll just have to guess at what you're looking at for now.

This honeymoon was awesome. Oh, so awesome. Being cruise virgins, we didn't know what to expect. Stink Pants' mom and her boyfriend went on a Caribbean cruise, and they both highly recommended it. My singing teacher Darcy said she went on a cruise with her hubby and the Alaskan sights they saw were magnificent!

Cruising is not for everyone. Yes, you get to see a lot of different places, you get to be pampered, your meals are made for you, and you don't have to pay because technically you've already paid for them. Basically, you are in a ritzy floating hotel with entertainment every night and a different city every day. It's really extravagant. The cruise line we went on, Princess Cruises, puts an emphasis on culture and art. Guests have to dress up for traditional dining (or they can just go to the crappy 24-hour buffet, but why have sandwiches when you can have steak?). There are boutiques, art auctions and wine tastings (among other things). Other cruiselines (according to our fellow passengers) emphasize fun and family by having things like rock-climbing walls and ice-skating rinks.

Cruises are good if you want to see a good number of different places in a short amount of time. Typically, the ship docks around 7 or 8 am, and departs around 5 or 6 pm. So cruises aren't good for getting to know a place and getting immersed in the ambience and charm of a destination. It's kind of like a sampler pack. For me, out of the places we visited I know I'd like to go back to some of the Greek islands, and definitely Venice, but I'd be okay if I didn't go back to Kusadasi, Turkey again. Kusadasi was nice, but compared to the other places, it wasn't as nice.

I do wish we had eaten out more during the cruise, instead of coming back to the ship for food. We didn't start doing that until the middle of the cruise, and Stink Pants and I missed out on some Italian cuisine. I also wish we had spent more money on presents and souveniers. Stink Pants' love of saving money prevailed on our trip, and we missed out on a great opportunity to buy some really awesome Christmas presents. Booo.

Oh well. All in all the honeymoon was still awesome, and I'm going to hold onto our memories and experiences for a long time. I have to. Stink Pants says we can't take any cool vacations for a great while. (Dang that frugleness.)

Honeymoon Picture Gallery

2006-09-27T23:46:00.000-04:00

Many have asked when we'll have some wedding pictures up. We'll have wedding pictures up when ever I can get some. Some people (Dcclark and Bubbles Momma, thanks!) were nice enough to send me some, I've just been lazy. As for professional photographer photos, first the photographer has to send us a proof book, then Stink Pants and I have to go through it and figure out what pictures we want in our album, then we need to send the proof book back with a list of the photos we want, then we'll get the album whenever it's done... I think.

Anyway, I was going to upload a lot of our honeymoon pictures here, straight onto blogger... one... by... one.

Then I realized I had over one hundred pictures (not including Stink Pants' collection). Being the lazy being that I am, I was not about to upload pictures here one at a time.

Then again, I remembered I had Yahoo Photos! They don't support remote picture hosting (Boo!), but they do allow people to upload pictures in batches (Yay!). Perfect! Plus! They offer free unlimited storage! Doubly Perfect!

So, without further ado, here's the link to my photo gallery!

Laura's Photo Gallery!

Go there and look at pictures of us in Paris, Monaco, Livorno and Pisa, Naples, Santorini, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Athens, Katakolon, Corfu, and Venice! (Stink Pants, did I miss any?)

By the way, that picture of us is the only picture I have in Katakolon. Stink Pants might have more, but he has to give them to me first (hint hint!).

Wedding recap and Honeymoon Pics!

2006-09-18T15:03:00.000-04:00

Well, the wedding is over. It was one of the most awesome days ever. EVER! It was also one of the longest days ever. I woke up at 7:30 am and didn't get to bed until 2:00 am. What's weird is that I wasn't tired. Hurray Adrenaline! I even had some Asti spumante in the limo and I didn't need a nap (unlike my father; the poor guy got all tuckered out).

I was a princess for a day, complete with fluffy ballgown, tiara, and handmaidens eager to do anything they could to help me out (special thanks to Noona for holding my dress while I went potty). Oh yeah, and a prince charming. I guess. He's more like a prince goofball, or Prince Nerdtastic. Maybe Baron Nerdtastic. I think Stink Pants has a new name. Mr. Baron von Stink Pants Nerdtastic the Bald...#5. That can be his new married name. Stink Pants for short.

I'll post pictures of the wedding when I get them. I thought about having my camera with me so I could snap some pictures, but I figured there'd be enough people with cameras taking pictures of me so I didn't bother.

Meanwhile, here some pictures from the Paris part of our honeymoon. I'll leave my cruise reflections for another post. Enjoy!

Stink Pants and Meow hanging out

Stink Pants in France

Us on the Eiffel Tower

Stink Pants and Laura in Hoochie Momma's window.

I'd put more pictures, but it's taking too long for them to upload today. Boo.

Back from the Honeymoon! Wahhhh!

2006-09-15T10:31:00.000-04:00

I woke up at 5:00 am today. Boo for jet lag. Stink Pants and I got back from our honeymoon yesterday, after a four-hour flight from Detroit, and a seven-hour flight from Venice the day before.

Gone are the days of being pampered and back are the days of scrounging for food in the mostly empty refrigerator.

I'll post pictures after I get them all sorted out :).

Websites tested, Laura approved: Cat hilarity

2006-08-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

http://kittenwar.com/ - Kittens compete for who is the cutest!

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/ - Go here for pictures of various "kitlers."

http://www.stuffonmycat.com - Noona, when you bring your cats to our house, can I put some stuff on them? I promise the stuff won't be too heavy.

In the News: Walmart and Cellphones

2006-08-14T16:27:00.000-04:00

Click here to read the article from the Washington Post.

The gist of it is that three men from Texas are being held for $750,000 for buying cellphones for possible terroris purposes. The men say they were buying cheap phones to re-sell them for a higher price. According to the article here from the local news station, the FBI says the three men are not related to terrorists at all.

All I know is that it happened here in my home town! Our local Walmart! I went there today to buy some stuff (you know, just stuff) and there was a uniformed officer there.

It's just weird. Living here I don't expect anything to happen, and then there it is, my home town on national tv. Weird. On a side note, the last time my home town got any sort of nation attention was about ten years back, when the KKK had a rally here.

Picture of the Fortnight or So: Robot Hooker

2006-08-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

If we ever have another Christmas costume party, we need a robot hooker.

In the news: Can you hear the sound?

2006-08-08T03:12:00.000-04:00

Teenagers are using a ringtone too high for adults to hear to get text messages in their classrooms.

Click here for the NPR story and here for a link to the adult-proof ringtone.

The experts say most people over the age of 30 can't hear it. Originally, a device that makes the sound was sold to British storekeepers to keep teenagers from loitering in front of their stores.

Stink Pants and I can both hear the sound. When I played it for my mom though...

...nothing.

She couldn't hear it! I didn't believe her at first, but I played it a couple times while she was talking to me and she didn't even blink. Try listening to it. If you can hear it, hurray! Your ears are young!

Reserve your Rooms!

2006-08-01T15:08:00.001-04:00

For all our friends and family who are coming from out of town, don't forget to reserve your rooms!

I apologize profusely, but I didn't realize that the rooms were released from the group back to the general public. So the prices are higher than what I quoted you before *cringe*.

You guys, I'm beginning to feel the pressure of having a wedding in twenty-five days. Eeep! Oh, don't forget to send back your responses and dinner choices, or suffer the whiny voice of Laura on your phones!

Also, check out the wedding blog for the excitement and heartache that was my wedding shower.

New chatbox

2006-07-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

I've had a bunch of complaints about pop-ups on my blog. In order for the Tag-board to be free, we've gotta deal with the pop-ups. Meh.

Well, I found a new tag-board. It's called cbox short for chatter box or chat box. It's supposed to have ads, but I haven't seen a pop-up yet. If it turns out that it sucks... I guess we'll just have to go back to tag-board.

New features the Cbox has that Tag-board doesn't.

Post dates
html-enabled
No pop-ups! at least not that I've seen.

Let me know what you guys think.

Laura Nun!

2006-07-22T10:47:00.000-04:00

Only two performances left! 8:00 pm today and 3:00 pm tomorrow!

Look at me in my best penguin impression!

Come and see me in the Opera!

2006-07-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder to all my local friends, the opera is going up this weekend. There are actually two operas, Suor Angelica and the Medium. They are both really good (no they are actually really good... much better than when I was in Bye Bye Birdie or Annie Get Your Gun).

Ticket prices are only $10. If anyone decides to come, let me know so I can come out and meet you!

There's more info here at the Pit and Balcony website.

I'll see if I can get some pictures up so you can see me in my nun outfit. Oh! by the way, we'll be having a dog onstage while I sing. During rehearsal, the dog faced upstage the whole time, so anyone sitting in the audience got a face full of dog ass.

Hahahahhaaa! I love theater!

Cleaning Out De House

2006-07-14T15:18:00.000-04:00

Mom is gone this week doing a china painting thing in Pennsylvania. Usually, when this happens, Dad and I dirty up the house into a veritble typhoon of sloppiness. Here are two previous examples when Mom left us to fend for ourselves:
Mom Gone Vol. 1
Mom Gone Vol. 2.

Ahh the memories.

Well, it's happening again. The mess is not as bad this time, because Mom asked one of her friends to come over and help clean out Noona's and my bedrooms to prepare for the impending deluge of Filipino-ness that will fill our house to the point of supersaturation in August. No, mom's friend hasn't been vacuuming, clearing the table, doing the dishes or anything like that. She's just been boxing up a lot of our junk drawers and the random assortment of 90's clothes from our closets (yes andy, I did see a puff paint sweatshirt). When you know "company" is coming though, you take the time to straighten up and put stuff away, or in Dad's and my case you just try not to make as big as mess as you usually do.

Anyway, as we were looking through some drawers and I found treasure!

These are pictures of Noona and I that I found from a family trip to Philedelphia and the Liberty Bell. There are also pictures of Mom in a jean jacket and an 80's short hair cut and a couple pictures of our Aunt Luz! I showed the pictures to Dad and he said this was from 1989 or so, which makes us seven and eight years old. A few years older than the we were when this picture was taken.

In the second picture, you can see Noona's and my love for pink and blue. You may also see a bird between our heads. That's because at the time, our parents weren't good at keeping track which rolls of film they've used and which they haven't, and as a result we have a lot of double exposed pictures.

Man we are adorable!

Laaaa!!! I'm in an Opera!!!!! Hurray for Singing Nuns!

2006-07-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

Laura is performing again! And this time as a nun!

It's a one-act opera called Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini. Clicky, clicky, the wiki has a decent and concise version of the plot.

I play the First Touriere (which I am guessing is the "alms sisters" in the cast list on the wiki). I pretty much just sing about goods that we got for the convent, oil, almonds, flour, butter, etc. I also get to tell Sister Angelica that there's a coach at the door!

The music in this opera is very pretty, at least I think it is. I'll have to figure out a way to post a clip of the music :) I've always been a fan of Pucccini's operas, and here is another one that I enjoy. It's just so dang pretty!

So! If you're gonna be in the area, come and see me in a habit! Nuns'll be singing with Sally Field no where in sight! You can find ticket ordering info here, or just ask me and I can reserve some tickets for ya :)

Numa Octopus Cartoon!

2006-07-05T23:36:00.000-04:00

It's really cute! I think that thing is an octopus with lips. Either that or it's some weird dancing ball with S's for legs.

Numa numa yay! Numa numa yay! Numa numa numa yay!

Special thanks to Stink Pants #5 for finding this. Should we have this song at our reception?

Genuine Conversations by Laura and Stink Pants #5

2006-06-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

Laura: What are you doing right now?

Stink Pants #5: Eating.

Laura: What are you eating?

Stink Pants #5: Cereal.

Laura: What kind of cereal?

Stink Pants #5: Kellogg's Smart Start Healthy Heart.

Laura: .... Stink Pants! That's a GIRL cereal!

Stink Pants #5: I know! but it was on sale!

Fight Kikkoman! Kikkoman Video

2006-06-27T07:37:00.000-04:00

Click here for the Fight! Kikkoman Video

Warning: There is one swear word in this video (in English... I have no idea how many, if any, in Japanese).

Show You!

Show Me!

Kikkoman! Kikkoman!

The Quick and Dirty Way to Expandable Blogger Posts without Javascript!

2006-06-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

When I was making that post with my Updated Photo Gallery I didn't want all the pictures to show up on the main page. For slower connections it would take a while to load, which would be a hassle for people who don't feel like looking at pictures of my summer vacations.

Finding code for expandable posts was hard for me. I knew Clay had cracked the code, but this was something I had to do for myself.

First I looked in the Blogger help section. They've got show/hide post code and post summary code there. I was looking for the second one, but I didn't want the "Read more" text at the bottom of each post.

All the places I found on the Schminternet involve including even more Javascript onto your template. That's great for people who love scripts, but as andy so helpfully pointed out, I have enough scripts as it is. Then, I found the "holy grail" (no, not that one, Dan Brown.)

Here's the secret code. You have to have post pages enabled for this to work. Put the following code in your template somewhere between the <style> </style> tags. It's the only change you need to make to your template.

<MainOrArchivePage>
span.fullpost {display:none;}
</MainOrArchivePage>

<ItemPage>
span.fullpost {display:inline;}
</ItemPage>

In your post, put what you want hidden between <span class="fullpost"> </span> Then, after you post it, find out the address of the post page. (It's usually something like http://your blog.blogspot.com/year/month/name of post here.html)

Copy that URL and go back to edit the post you want expanded. Edit the post, create an html link to the post page before the <span class="fullpost">. People usually write something like "click here to expand this post" or "read more" or "Sheeyahhh! Expandable posts baby!"

That's it! Yay! It's not elegant but it works, and that's all that really matters.

If you do want those more elegant, javascript-filled hacks, check out these links.
http://nerdierthanthou.nfshost.com/2004/10/i-did-it.html
http://chublogga.blogspot.com/2004/10/adding-showhide-extended-post.html
http://www.meghalomania.com/expand-collapse-script-for-blogger-blogs/

Addendum: Now that Blogger has changed how people edit their templates, I'm not sure if this will work anymore. I haven't tried it, so if anyone finds this page looking for Blogger expandable post info, use the code at your own risk!

Updated Image Gallery!

2006-06-21T12:43:00.000-04:00

I decided to undergo the daunting task of updating the image gallery. This is gonna take a while, but here's a start. You're gonna have to expand this post to see everything :)

Click on a picture to see the original post.

Tarot Entertainment

2006-06-19T01:25:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of fortune-telling (*cough* Armand *cough*).

You scored as III - The Empress. The Empress is a maternal symbol. She is the mother figure who loves, nurtures and protects.
She will protect you, she will always be there when you are in trouble. When you fall over and graze your knee, the Empress will kiss it better.
Yet she is not a weak figure. Her compassion is strength. If her children are threatened she will stop at nothing to protect them. If well aspected in a Tarot spread, the Empress can symbolise security, protection and unconditional love. If badly aspected it can represent over-protectiveness, fear of risk taking and refusal to face the real world.

III - The Empress

94%

XIII: Death

94%

XIX: The Sun

88%

II - The High Priestess

88%

IV - The Emperor

81%

VI: The Lovers

75%

I - Magician

69%

0 - The Fool

69%

XVI: The Tower

69%

XI: Justice

63%

XV: The Devil

63%

X - Wheel of Fortune

50%

VIII - Strength

50%

Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

YouTube Anime Clinkies

2006-06-16T18:41:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've been watching fandubs and fansubs on YouTube.

fansub: an anime that a dedicated fan spent endless hours during his summer vacation using his Jellybean to find translations for and put subtitles on, that he then uploads to the Schminternet for possible glory and probable jeering by his peers.

fandub: the same thing as a fansub, only the dedicated fan gets his friends to dub their own voices into the dialogue instead of just using subtitles.

Jellybean: Those clear, colorful Macs from the mid to late 1990's.

Fansubs and fandubs aren't as great as the professional, store-bought, non-bootleg anime but then again... they are free. There's nothing like watching an anime where the subtitles just conveniently miss a sentence or five.

Anyway, I'm providing the links to them here, for future people looking for free, low-quality anime. If anything, these will just convince you to buy the real thing. I'll be adding more as I find them. P.S. Stink Pants, we need to buy Serial Experiments Lain.

Serial Experiments Lain: Episodes 1 through 13

Kizuna OVAs 1,2 and 3 Warning: This contains yaoi

Hellsing OVA

Kiddy Grade: Episodes 1-24

Koi Koi 7: Episodes 1-9

Monster: Episodes 61 to End

Stuff my Parents Say

2006-06-08T13:50:00.000-04:00

It's planting season. Laura, Mom and Dad are on their way to the a plant nursery. Mom reminisces about her younger days.

Mom: What happened to me? I remember when I used to start gardening at nine or ten o'clock and I could just go until sunset.

Dad: That's nothing. I can't even watch a movie without falling asleep.

Mom: (Filipino accents ready) I know! It's like five minutes and you are esleep! And it's not just a light sleep, you are like deep esleep!

A weird thing happened... or Follow-up on Luis, Armand, and Angel and the gang

2006-06-04T23:53:00.000-04:00

Remember when I posted about that fortune-telling judge? Here's a link to the post if you don't remember, although I'm pretty sure the link to the original article is broken (dang Yahoo and their freeing up space by deleting old news stories)

Whenever there's a new comment on my blog, I get a copy of the comment emailed to me. Imagine my surprise when I received this (get ready, because it's long):

--------------------------------------
Sirs/Madam,
I am Judge Florentino V. Floro, Jr. (a Regional Trial Court Judge of Br. 73, Malabon, NCJR, Metro Manila, REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES). My physical address is 123 Dahlia, Alido, Malolos, 3000 Bulacan, Philippines. My E-mail Address is: judge_florentino_v_floro@yahoo.com; my telephone number is (044) 662-82-03, digitel, Philippines.

On April 7, 2006, the Philippine Supreme Court RELIEVED (separated - it did not dismiss) me from judicial service, and paid me 3 years backwages, by reason of PSYCHOSIS, a medical incapacity; they said - because I allegedly believed in dwarves, angel of death, inflicting sicknesses, psychic phenomena and (had in writing) predicted the downfall of 13th Philippine President Joseph Estrada (on December, 1998) who was ousted by people power on January 20, 2001.

[I cut a bunch of stuff because it was boring. Look on the link back to the original post if you want to read the whole thing]

I write / e-mail to you and to all REPORTERS who reported me, because, I want to THANK you, for NOTING my painful case. Let me therefore, tell you the STORY and TRUTH behind the DECISION, and these 66 WORLD REPORTS/BLOGS,etc.
TRUTH:
I never used the word DWARVES in any DECISION, and I never consulted any imaginary dwarf to pen my decisions, my detractors submitted these false evidence or lies; and what I do believed in is: in the so-called SPIRIT GUIDES or PROTECTORS. LUIS, is the KING OF ALL KINGS of ELEMENTALS/spirits worldwide; and he is GOD’s ANGEL (Genesis, Exodus, etc.) What I believe in, is what St. Paul teaches: Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prophecy and Spiritual Healing. I am GIFTED, and I never tried to develop my psychic powers, since what I believe in, is God’s GIFT to me of these --- TO HEAL and TO PROPHESY, I never used these in DECISIONS.
I am not psychotic, and if you read the DECISION, it RULED that I can apply in other government positions that do not require dispensation of justice. I am a victim of INJUSTICE. On September 19, 1995, I stated that Atty. Teresita Cruz-Sison (Judicial and Bar Council Member) would suffer massive STROKE. HER VENGEANCE resulted in the submitting of FALSE EVIDENCE about DWARFS, ANGELS, PSYCHIC PHENOMENA, etc. Here in the Philippines, Judges, Justices are first NOMINATED by the Judicial and Bar Council (who selects 3) and the President of the Philippines appoints a Judge or Justice based on these 3 submissions.

I admit that GOD has chosen me to be the instrument to CLEAN the Philippine Supreme Court and Judiciary of CORRUPTION and abuse of power --- by inflicting illnesses. I admit that the controversial DECISION was released as it is, RELIEVING me but PAYING me backwages because I was placed under PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION since July 20,1999 until now, or 6 ¾ years; so THE INVESTIGATION TOOK 6 ¾ YEARS, NOT 3 YEARS AS YOU ALL REPORTED. I could not work nor practice my job because of that punishment.

NOW, the judge who was supposed to replace me on 1999, Judge ROSA CASAS REYES (throat and lungs cancer), who was appointed as Judge for the neighbor Branch 74, RTC, Malabon, is on TERMINAL SICK LEAVE since last year; Assisting Judge Leonido was appointed in her stead. Last year, I was DISCRIMINATED, because, while I was forcibly tested by 5 mental health professionals, plus one psychiatrist, Judge Rosa Reyes was not even required to be examined by a panel of doctors, so as to RELIEVE her, as required by Philppine Constitution.

IN SUM, KARMA and the CURSE as we Catholics and Christians believe in have their own ways in revealing the truth; my clerk of court, Atty. Esmeralda G. Dizon, who submitted false evidence about dwarfs and psychic phenomena, to make it appear that I have brain damage, now, her first born, GELAY, 10 years old was inflicted with EPILEPSY, with 2x a week severe attacks. I admit that my GUIDE LUIS did all these, to impress upon the Philippine Judiciary, that receiving BRIBE money and abuse of powers, due to lust for glory, cannot remain unpunished in the laws of these UNSEEN, that are more REAL than we ever imagine. I REPEAT, LUIS, ARMAND AND ANGEL ARE NOT THE LOWLY DWARVES OR GNOMNES BUT SPIRIT GUIDES AND PROTECTORS THAT GOD HAD CHOSES AS INSTRUMENTS TO RID THE PHILIPPINE JUDICIARY OF MISFITS AND ROTTEN EGGS, THOSE THAT FAIL TO DELIVER IMPARTIAL JUSTICE BECAUSE OF MONEY, GREASE OR GRAFT MONEY.

But your 66 WORLD REPORTS vindicated me: this is the FIRST in world judicial history that a CASE had been REPORTED with GREAT MAGNITUDE, with COMPASSION and SARCASM, in my favor.
THANKS. And please do read the LONG DECISION, THE LONG APPEALS, …attached herewith (if it can be accommodated, if not, please send me your e-mail address). The PEACE OF CHRIST.
Sincerely,
Judge FLORENTINO V. FLORO, JR.,
123 Dahlia, Alido, Malolos, 3000 BULACAN, PHILIPPINES,
Tel/#(044) 662-82-03;
--------------------------------------

How weird is that! There's a lot more on the original post, including the LONG DECISION, THE LONG APPEALS that the last paragraph refers to. Apparently (but probably not really) the judge with the spirit guides (not dwarves) felt the need to use the comment area on my blog to thank his supporters and explain himself.

Is it genuine? I have no idea. When I told Stink Pants about this, he said, "What sort of shenanigans is andy up to now?"

andy, I'm pretty sure you're not responsible for this, but if you are... bravo.

Blog! Now with Added Ads! or How Laura Sold Out

2006-06-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

I broke down and sold out. There are now Google ads in the sidebar.

I'm positive I won't be making any significant amount of money, but I am curious what exactly the ads will advertise for. It's supposed to go by page content. That is, the ads should reflect whatever I write about.

Here's my attempt to throw the ads off.

anime anime anime anime anime
Cowboy Bebop
Outlaw Star
RahXephon
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Parallel Dual
Noir
Lain
Samurai Champloo
Dragonball Z
Sailor Moon
Full Metal Alchemist
Kizuna
Bubblegum Crisis
Fist of the Northstar
Robbie the Robot
anime anime anime anime anime
anime anime anime anime anime
anime anime anime anime anime
anime anime anime anime anime
anime anime anime anime anime

In the News: It's a Baby with Three Arms

2006-06-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

Doctors discuss surgery for baby with 3 arms

May 30, 2006 - In Shanghai, China, there is a two-month old baby with two left arms. Doctors are having trouble deciding which is the dominant left arm, since both arms are well developed. I wonder what will happen if the baby happens to be able to use both arms equally well. Maybe they'll leave 'em on and he'll be a virtuoso at the piano or pipe organ!

Stuff my Mom Says

2006-05-31T18:20:00.000-04:00

Laura and Mom are watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Proctor: Zouave

Kid Speller: Repeat the definition...

Mom: Zouave. P... S... A... B. Zouave (Laura looks at Mom incredulously)

Laura: P? P? P... S A B?

Mom: Yes! P! Like pneumonia!

Kid Speller: Zouave... Z... O... U... A... V... E. Zouave.

Laura: Mom! Is that even a word?

Mom: Oh stop.

Ten minutes later. Laura is typing down their previous conversation for posterity on the blog, but she doesn't quite remember how Mom spelled her misspelled word.

Laura: Mom? How did you spell it again? P S A B? P S O A B?

Mom: P S A

Laura: P S A B?

Mom: Laura! I spelled it wrong! (Laura dissolves in a vat of giggles) Why do you keep asking me?! Jeeze!

Hop a long, Barong barong!

2006-05-30T21:17:00.000-04:00

I've been getting some questions from my family and friends about whether the guys should wear barong tagolog to our wedding or not. Normally, I would put this on the wedding blog, but I'm not sure how many people actually visit the wedding blog, so I'm posting it here too.

First of all, I suppose I oughta explain what a barong tagalog is. It the formal attire for men in the Philippines. Traditionally, a barong tagalog is worn untucked, with black pants and a white shirt underneath (they're kind of see-through). There is a female version of the barong tagalog too. It's just more fitted and all around more girly looking. The ones I've seen have bell sleeves.

Here's what the wiki has to say about barong tagalog.
Here's another source of barong information.

Should our guests wear barong tagalog? Well, it's up to you. Wear whatever you are comfortable in. The barong tagalogs that we've found on the Schminternet can cost anywhere from $60 to $100, depending on how fancy you plan on looking. Stink Pants #5, the groomsmen and the bearer-kin will be wearing barong tagalog. It was Stink Pants' idea. Not only is he paying homage to my cultural heritage, but he also doesn't want to rent a tux or wear a suit on a potentially hot day. My dad and my godfather will be wearing barong too.

As I said before, barong tagalog is appreciated but not required. If you do decide to buy a barong, here are some websites you can get them from.

www.mybarong.com

www.barongsrus.com

I humbly request that you don't get what Stink Pants and the rest of the bridal party are wearing :)

Stink Pants' white jusi barong tagalog

Groomsmen cream jusi barong tagalog

Ring bearer, Coin bearer and Bible bearer cream jusi barong tagalog

Genuine Conversations by Laura and Stink Pants #5

2006-05-28T22:23:00.000-04:00

Laura and Stink Pants #5 are arguing about something... well... dumb.

Laura: You're dumb.

Stink Pants #5: You're dumb!

Laura: You're super dumb! You hoard dumb like dragons hoard gold, only you're so dumb you think dumb is gold.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2006-05-21T22:31:00.000-04:00

Here's stuff I got from other people's blogs that I felt I had to share :)

From Samantha's Blog:

My pirate name is:

Bloody Mary Flint

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

From Clay's Blog:

From Drew's Blog:
10 YEARS AGO I WAS:
15 and probably starting Driver's Training. This was the year I had to skip out on a trip to New Orleans with my parents and my sister so I could risk my life driving around the high school parking lot with a lot of other would-be drivers. I think this was also the summer that the handbell choir (yes I was in the church handbell choir) went to Indiana for Festival.

5 YEARS AGO I WAS:
20 and at the end of my sophomore in college. I think I spent that summer reading books and hanging out with my friend Angie. Man, I don't think I've seen her since. I oughta call her.

1 YEAR AGO I WAS:
24. Working at my dad's office and newly separated by 500 miles from Stink Pants #5. Just look back in the blog. I used to post more back then :)

YESTERDAY I:
went to Grand Momma MG's house for a birthday party for a Filipina that I hardly know. Mom says that in the Philippines, it's common for people to celebrate their birthday every year. I met a bunch of Filipinas that I have never met before. The good thing about Filipino parties: I am not short. Woo! (Stink Pants, we gotta visit the Philippines).

I also got to hang out with one of the flower girls in my wedding! She's 3 years old and really shy, but by the end of the day, she was asking me all sorts of questions and playing with my hair! Yay!

5 FOODS I ENJOY:
1. Sushi
2. Thai tea
3. DQ Mr. Misty! (not Artic Rush. That new name is a lie!)
4. Baklava
5. Almost any pastry

5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO:
1. "Why God" from Miss Saigon
2. "Jackson Cannery" by Ben Folds Five
3. "Mama, A Rainbow" from Minnie's Boys
4. "Soon It's Gonna Rain" from The Fantasticks
5. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler

5 THINGS I WOULD DO WITH 100 MILLION DOLLARS:
1. Save a bunch of it for Stink Pants' and my future children
2. Make my parents retire
3. Build a theatre that I get to run
4. Give some money to Noona and Wonka
5. Travel around with Stink Pants #5, then buy a big house and fill it with stuff

5 PLACES I WOULD RUN AWAY TO!
1. Nice, France
2. The Philippines
3. Japan
4. China
5. The Land of Oz

5 THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR:
1. monkey fur
2. solid gold platform shoes
3. dead squirrels
4. pants made out of pearls
5. a poison ivy ballgown

5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
1. Futurama
2. Whose Line is it Anyway?
3. Almost any anime (almost...)
4. Family Guy
5. Charmed (I started watching it two months ago on TNT and I can't stop.)

5 BAD HABITS:
1. I keep a freaky weird sleep schedule
2. I spend too much time on Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates
3. I laugh when people fall down
4. I lack the drive to do any sort of housework
5. I get annoyed too easily

5 BIGGEST JOYS:
1. Stink Pants #5!
2. I love annoying Stink Pants #5!
3. Babies!
4. The Theatre (acting/writing/attending etc.)
5. singing and playing piano

South Park Friends! I'll add more as they come

2006-05-19T16:50:00.000-04:00

South Park andy

andy sez: Here's my picture. You can tell I'm in grad school because I haven't shaved. And because I'm drinking (that's Tsing Tao, not Heiniken in the green bottle). And because I'm dead.

---------------------------------------------------

Stink Pants' rendition of Mr. Ca

Here's what everyone in CA looks like.

Website Tested, Laura Approved: Laura and Stink Pants #5 in South Park

2006-05-18T22:53:00.000-04:00

I got this link over a year ago from B's website and I completely forgot about it. If you get a chance, go there and listen to his radio show. No extra downloaded programs needed!

Anyway, I was looking through my old post drafts and practicing some necessary purging of now old, obsolete topics when I saw this:

South Park Studio Version 2

So I went there. Last year I made Powerpuff Laura's Powerpuff Family.

This year I just made pictures of Stink Pants and me. Here's me:

Notice I have a kitana for fighting evil and a cocktail because fighting evil makes me thirsty. Sometimes a girl just needs a girly drink to make the evil go down. Also, I used the chinpokomon eyes for my picture. Why? Eh, why not? I look happy :D

Here's my rendition of Stink Pants #5.

Stink Pants #5 is decidedly not happy. He's mad, probably because there were no "balding" hairstyles, only Hair and Bald. Notice I gave him a red lightsaber and put it in his his left hand (Stink Pants is left-handed) Doubly sinister!

I'm so happy Stink Pants lets me tease him so much! Any other guy would probably take this way too personally.

The only way to save your pictures on the South Park Studio is by using the old print screen trick.

1) When you've got your South Park You the way you want it, press prt scrn (or Print Screen).

2) Then open an image program like Microsoft Paint and press ctrl+V (or go to "edit" and click "paste").

3) Then save your picture! If you send it to me, I'll post it here. I'd love to see a South Park Noona or South Park andy or South Park [enter your name here]. Send me some!

Katamari Damacy in Real Life Mode

2006-05-16T09:30:00.000-04:00

I got this video from The Hopeless Romantic. I thought it was hilarious!

Click here to see the original post this is from on Clay's website, along with other Katamari related linky-links.

Hoochie Momma in Paris

2006-05-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to spend two years in France. Did I take it? Nope, because I'm getting married to the biggest whiner in the world, Stink Pants #5.

Apparently, after being separated by 500 miles for a year...

then 2300 miles for another year...

Stink Pants didn't want to bump it up and make it over 4000 miles of separation (which would've shattered our previous record).

this map was made with bitmap magic

So, no France for me.

However... Hoochie Momma, the Professor, Roar and Meow have moved to France!

You may remember this family from such posts as And the Llama Ran, He Ran So Far Away and Christmas Picture cut and Paste. For more about my exploits as a nanny at the Llama house, please look at the archives from September 2005 to December 2005.

Now that the Professor branch of the G-Clan is in the city of light and love, we'll hopefully get to hear about all sorts of "American in Paris" craziness and particularly American babies in Paris.

How will we get to hear about it? Well...

Hoochie Momma has a blog!
The first post is particularly good, especially at the end :) Leave comments there too. I know they're living in an English-speaking part of Paris, but I'm sure they'll like to hear words from home too :)

In the News: Judge asks magical dwarves for answers

2006-05-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

Filipino fortune-telling judge

Manila, Wednesday May 3: Apparently, a Filipino judge was fired from the Philippines Supreme Court because he frequently consults with three imaginary, magic dwarves. Yes, the dwarves have names: Armand, Luis and Angel.

As Noona so aptly put it, "why us?" Well why not us? In a country where some people believe in incision-less cancer surgery, why not magic dwarves? I'd rather have the magic dwarves than fake cancer surgery any day.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... them Filipinos be crazy, yo.

Special thanks to Noona for the heads up on this one :)

Stuff my Mom Says

2006-05-04T23:17:00.000-04:00

Laura and Mom are watching Charmed of all things.

Mom: What is orb? What is orbing?

Laura: It's just how that guy teleports.

Mom: Oh! Like Harry Potter and porker.

Laura: What?!

Mom: That's what they call it in Harry Potter. Porker.

Laura: Mom, that's (over-enunciating) Port-Key. Like port as in door and key as in key! (Mom breaks out laughing)

Mom: (through the laughter)I thought it was Porker, and I was saying to myself, Why is it called porker?

Mom's Boyfriend

2006-05-03T15:27:00.000-04:00

My mom has a weird fondness for a number of men who starred in the white-guy-martial-arts-movie genre, circa 1990. Among them are men like Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Dame and the man who stars in the following music video.

Just to warn you, YouTube has a new player (with a slider bar! Wheee!) but you have to have the lastest version of Macromedia Flash Player installed. You can grab that here.

Inner Sundays

2006-04-24T17:31:00.000-04:00

Mom and I went to church yesterday. Usually, church is the same as any Sunday, we stand, we sit, we kneel, etc etc.

Yesterday was different. We watched a baby get baptized. She was adorable. I've seen babies getting baptized before, but this time was different.

While we were there, I saw a little girl watching the baptism. She was probably adopted or visiting relatives, because she looked Filipina, but she was with Caucasian adults. Anyway, this little girl had dark hair, a blue sailor dress and glasses (remind you of anyone you know?)

While everyone was looking at the baby, I was looking at the little six or seven year old girl. She was so happy to see this baby's baptism, and she reminded me so much of me. It was weird.

Then, I thought to myself, "If I have a girl later, I hope she reminds me of me." Me! I thought this! I can remember numerous times in my youth when I swore I would never be like my own mom.

Yet even now, I know I word things like my mom, I have the same mannerisms, and people even tell me I laugh like my mom.

I don't know where I'm going with this. It just made me think :).

P.S. Hey Stink Pants! Guess it means some time or another, we better have a girl.

Bingo For the Ages

2006-04-14T03:09:00.000-04:00

Patlick is in town for Easter :) (Stink Pants #5 is coming to town too, but this post is about Patlick and Patlick's mom and bingo shenanigans.)

I was sitting around earlier today, looking at the addresses I need to get for the invitations for the wedding extravaganza scheduled for August, when the phone rang. Usually I don't answer the phone during the day, since it's normally calls for Dad the doctor or telemarketer-type people. Good thing I answered it this time though, because it was my good friend Patlick, back from the wilds of Pennsylvania.

So we talked about, you know... stuff. How's the planning coming, anything new, what am I doing tonight?

Me?

Then I think about the last week where I played around on the computer and watched TV with my mom.

Nothing.

So Patlick asks me if I want to go to bingo at the American Legion with her mom and her.

Sure.... Not like I have anything else to do.

So we make a date for Patlick and Patlick's Mom to pick me up at 6:00 (in one hour). I have never been to a bingo night in my life. These people take it seriously. There is real money on the line here folks! Dreams can be made and broken in a night! All right, maybe not that seriously, but still, you can win enough for gas money or a college textbook.

I make sure to have some cash in my pocket when I climb into Patlick's old cloth-topped car (which has been around since we were in high school I might add) and we drive to the American Legion building place. (I've forgotten it's proper name already.)

I figure, I know how to play bingo, right? It can't be that hard. We walk up to the window and Patlick, Patlick's Mom and I pay for our bingo cards. I remembered bingo from grade school as a 5 x 5 matrix of random numbers from 1 to 75. Well, the bingo cards have the same matrices, but they can come six to a sheet (2 x 3), nine to a sheet(3 x 3), or twelve to a sheet (4 x 3). Since we weren't exactly sure how everything worked at the time, Patlick and I each bought a packet of 2 x 3 sheets. Patlick's Mom bought two 3 x 3 sheets.

The first part of the night was exciting! We each had our own dauber (mine was orange, Patlick's was pink of course) and every time we had a number that was called, a small, "yay" would escape our bodies, much to the annoyance of everyone around us. Patlick's Mom asked us not to embarrass her :).

As the first half of the night wore on and bingoes were called left and right, I found myself wondering what I'd do with the $30 or $70 if I won. Two hours flew by with Patlick, Patlick's Mom and me bingoless. Still, after the fifteen minute break, I still thought one of us might get a bingo. After all, Patlick and I had beginner's luck on our side. Patlick's uncle was there to call numbers for part of the night, and while he was off he helped Patlick and I watch out for numbers that were called that we may have missed (*cough* backseat bingo dauber *cough cough*)

By the end of the night, the newness had worn off and even though I may have dabbed a card three times for one number, I switched from saying, "yay" to "boo." Sitting for four hours in an uncomfortable folding chair will do that to a person. We hoped with the last card one of us might get a bingo. No such luck. We all came home bingo losers.

Then evening was not a loss by any means though. It did give Patlick, Patlick's Mom and I a chance to talk and catch up on each other's lives. I spoke paragraphs of my wedding plans and Patlick of her nursing school exploits. It was a night well spent by far, and Patlick almost didn't go because she didn't want to go with only her and her mom.

Ahhh bingo... it brings people together.

What's been going on lately

2006-04-07T18:57:00.000-04:00

Well, the play is over :) Here's a picture of me as Gloria in Bye Bye Birdie. :) Yup. I'm blonde, and no, I did not dye my eyebrows (which reminds me, it's about time for a waxing).

Well, right after the play went up, it was time to go to the Troupe Reunion! In my drive up north, I witnessed a momentous event in Noona's Explorer.

One hundred thousand miles! I had to stop to take the picture, of course.

Anyway, when I arrived at Snowtown on Thursday night, it was a balmy 50 degrees. As the weekend progressed, the temperature dropped to around 30 degrees. It wasn't fair, I say. There was much partying and I didn't get up the next day until about noon. After lunch, DC, Kjeriks and I went to the new building. Tentatively called the CILIT - Center for Integrated Learning and Information Technology - when I was attending school (it was the butt of many "Where's the clit" jokes) it is now known as Rehki Hall. Rehki must have given them a giant chunk of change to get his name on a building. Here are some pictures of the new building and the addition to the library.

Flat panel TVs! Can you believe it?!

I didn't get a picture of this, but in the basement there are movable shelves. Yes, these shelves move left and right at the touch of a button. If we had wanted to, we could've scooched all the shelves to the left, then scooched them all to the right and back again. Of course, we abused this moving shelf technology and did the Indiana Jones Run through the Shelves of Death. The shelves have a sensor that tells them to stop moving if someone is in the aisle, like garage doors do if there is something in the way. However, if you start past the sensor, the shelves don't realize there's someone in the aisle and start moving anyway. Kjericks almost got caught in the Shelves of Death because we thought the sensor made the shelves stop moving, but they didn't! It was crazy! And I had a ball :)

Anyway, I met a bunch of new Troupers and saw a bunch of Trouper alumni. I brought my mmom's MagicSing (or Magic Mic) with me. You may remember it from this post. I love the MagicSing. We had a ton of fun. Almost everyone enjoyed it, and the ones that didn't were kind enough to tolerate the loud and drunken singing (thanks guys!)

I uploaded a bunch of pictures on the Troupe Flickr site. It might take a while for my pictures to show up, but here are a couple pictures with me.

Noona on the Web

2006-03-28T23:38:00.000-05:00

My sister submitted a picture to a magazine published by her school. Go here to see it :)

So proud!

Websites Tested, Laura Approved: Nerdsites

2006-03-25T03:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some websites I found whiles surfing around the Nerdiverse

Online Graphing Calculator Why spend $111 on a TI-95 when you could use the Online Graphing Calculator? The only problem with it is your professor probably won't let you take your laptop to exams (and I'm sure not every campus is decked out with wi-fi connections).

Calcoolate.com The Coolest Calculator on the Web. This online calculator let's you type in any expression and shows a history of all your work. Plus, all the calculations are done on your computer (not through the website) so you can replace your crappy Windows calculator with something awesome!

Double helix nebula found in the Milky Way Just something I thought was neat and pretty to look at. Some scientists found a nebula shaped kind of like a DNA molecule.

AtArcade.com This website has classic Nintendo games in Java. The games are emulated by NEScafe, and you use your keyboard as a controller. I tried playing Super Mario Bros., and I couldn't get used to using my right hand to move and my left had to jump and shoot. Still, it's kinda neat.

Twenty-Five Year Anniversary of Life in the World

2006-03-21T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! This is to inform you that your favorite female Filipina blogger is twenty-five years of age today!

What does this mean? Not only am I a quarter of a century old, but the magical time when Stink Pants #5 is two years old than me ends and the not-as-magical time when I am two years older than Noona begins.

Today, my family and I celebrated my birthday by going to my favorite restaurant, Genji's! Not only did I have awesome hibachi lobster and scallops, but because it was my birthday, it was half-off! Hurray hurray hurray!

Know what else happens when you're twenty-five? In the state of Michigan, you have to get a new picture taken. It kind of stinks, because by the time August rolls around, I'll have to get another driver's license when I move to California.

To help commemerate this momentous event, here is another conversation my mom and I had before leaving to go to the Secretary of State.

-----------------------------

Laura is putting on her coat to go to the Secretary of State to renew her driver's license. Mom is just getting home from work.

Laura: Oh! I need to get a bra. I don't want to be flat-chested in my driver's license photo.

Mom: They will think you are a man!

Laura: Mommm!

Stuff my Parents Say

2006-03-16T16:59:00.000-05:00

Dad just bought a new DVD player. Mom, Dad, and Laura sit down to watch the DVD player's very first time in action. Mom takes the control.

Mom: How do you do this?

Laura: It's the same as the last DVD player.

Dad: Just press 'enter'.

Mom: There's no 'enter' button. You just have to press 'play', like the last one.

Dad: Just press 'enter'!

Laura: There should be a 'menu' button you can press too.

Dad: Just press 'enter'!

Mom: There is no 'enter' button! (Mom pushes something and the DVD starts playing) OH! There it is. (Laura starts laughing uncontrollably. Mom gestures with the remote control) I will throw this in your face!

Noona is Engaged!

2006-03-07T16:17:00.000-05:00

It's weird how fast people grow. When we were little, Noona and I used to hide from our dad when he came home and yell, "Daddy! Come find us!" Then we'd sit there and giggle like mad until he looked under the table, or under the blanket on the couch, or in the closet or wherever we thought was a great hiding place (which it would've been if we hadn't been giggling or if our feet weren't sticking out).

Then one day, Noona calls me and tells me she's engaged to Wonka, her boyfriend of four or five years. Where did the time go? Yesterday we were spinning in our back yard, or digging tunnels in snowbanks, and today she's engaged. Sunrise, sunset.

Of course, I was extremely happy for both of them and begged her for pictures of her ring (it's square and huge). So now, Noona will have to go through the headache of planning a wedding, just like me!

The only people I'm a little sad for are my parents. My mom will only have my dad to talk to when she's at home, and Dad now has two weddings to pay for, hahaha! (If you ask Dad though, he'll say, "Take them away!")

Stuff my Parents Say

2006-03-04T00:17:00.000-05:00

Laura and Mom come home from church.

Mom: (yelling) Dad! Are you awake? Are you up? (No answer) Dad!

(Laura goes to the computer room to only to see Dad sitting at the computer, not more than fifteen feet away from where Mom is calling him)

Laura: Mom, he's right here.

Mom: Huh?

Laura: He's in the computer room. (Mom makes here way to where Dad is sitting.)

Mom: Laura, we were married in 1970. Do the math.

Laura: (laughingly) Mom, that's thirty-six years. Well, thirty-six years in April.

Mom: Dad! Do you hear that? Thirty-six years and you do not even talk to me! What are we going to do when it's fifty years? We are not going to talk to each other! What do you have to say to that?

Dad: Let's eat.

Stuff my Mom Says

2006-02-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

Mom and Laura are watching the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Torino. Andrea Bocelli steps onto the stage and starts singing.

Mom: Laura! It's Andrea Bocelli!

Laura: You're boyfriend! (said with a Filipino accent -> boi-pren)

Mom: Dad is jealous!

Meow and Stink Pants #5

2006-02-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

My first YouTube movie, it's Meow and Stink Pants #5 in November 2005. Just enjoy it, because it's super cute :D

I thought about using Vimeo. Granted, it's a Quicktime video and there are no ads all over it, but you only get 20 megs of space per week. This video alone is 18 megs. So there we go. I'm going to try to switch the other videos over, just because then they can be longer and uncut!(and not as crappy quality)

Blog Movie!: Germany's Singing Delight

2006-02-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

We all have C-Whore to thank for this one. She's going to Germany for two weeks, and she sent me this little gem to tide me over until she gets back with stories :D

P.S. This movie is hosted by YouTube. I first saw a YouTube movie on Clay's Website Watch this clip. It's a clip from Kill Bill featuring Gogo and The Bride, where their movements are punctuated by sounds from Super Mario Bros 2. Just go see :). YouTube is free, so I'm thinking of switching all my videos to it so they won't be so grainy and they won't continuously loop with the sound slightly off sync.

The Expert of the Olympic Games

2006-02-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

Every two years whether it's summer or winter, a phenomenon known as the Olympics occurs. Bent on a mission of world togetherness and healthy competition between the finest atheletes of the planet, the Olympics is two weeks when most nighttime network TV in my house stops in favor of watching people I've never heard of, or people I haven't heard of since the last Olympics.

My mom, who loves TV, loves the Olympics (because it's on TV.) Well, she doesn't love the Olympics, but she does enjoy watching it and cheering for whoever is her favorite athlete at the moment. I'm the same way. Wescott who? Lysacek huh? Who cares! That one guy got a gold for the US! And that other guy was oh so close for a bronze. Four years man, four years. Don't give up the dream.

It is in these magical two weeks that my mom becomes an expert in all things athletic.

We're all guilty. Everybody does this, for almost every Olympic and some for any sport at all. We're all sitting at home, watching ice skating or gymnastics (or whatever your fancy), listening to the announcer and nodding in agreement when she says, "If So-and-so hadn't over rotated at that crucial moment, he would've landed that triple hinky-dink turn-a-ma-bobber with no problem."

Take Snowboard Cross for example. Snowboard Cross is a completely new sport just added to the Winter Olympics this year. The definition that everyone is using: Snowboard Cross is Motocross on snowboards. Completely new sport, I know for a fact my mom has never heard of it before tonight.

And yet...

Mom and Laura are watching the Winter Olympics filmed in Torino, Italy.

Announcer: See here where (name I forgot) catches that turn just a little too high. He falls and he simply can't recover. That gives (other guy) a chance to slide past him for second place.

Mom: (nodding in agreement) Yeah... he is way too high there. That is why he fell down. You see Laura? (Laura sighs)

Do NOT Get me this for Valentine's Day, or any other occasion

2006-02-10T20:56:00.000-05:00

Hello Kitty Belt Sander

Okay, so this isn't really available for the public to purchase, but it's kinda cute, don't you think? Stink Pants #5 has already vetoed the use of a Hello Kitty Waffle Maker and a Hello Kitty Sandwich Maker in the kitchen of our future life together (although I can't imagine why, except that the waffles the waffle maker makes look really small) but would he be opposed to getting a Hello Kitty Belt Sander?

I'm guessing yes.

Not only does he not sand things but I think he's trying to keep the amount of Hello Kitty-inspired tools and appliances to a minimum. Now comes the question...

In addition to all the other stuff we should probably register for our wedding, should I register for Hello Kitty/Sanrio merchandise as well?

Teehee!

Special thanks to Lenny for the heads up on this one!

Picture of the Fortnight (or so): Stink Pants' Flowers

2006-02-02T19:46:00.000-05:00

I did that FTD thing to send Stink Pants #5 some flowers for his birthday. From the picture I saw, there were yellow dancing lady orchids, a lily-like flower (that may or may not have actually been a lily) and some greens. I guess if they don't have the flowers in the catalogue on hand, they substitute them with big ugly, pokey, dragon beast flowers. Aren't they... big.... I think the only thing that is the same between the flowers I saw in the catalogue and the ones you see here is the square base.

Sorry for the crappy quality. Stink Pants took the picture with his camera phone.

In The News: Filipino Children break World Tooth Brushing Record.

2006-01-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

What else brings 11,000 Filipinos together, other than Lovapalooza?

10,800 Filipino Children Brushing their Teeth

So apparently Filipinos in the Philippines don't have the best dental hygiene.

Remember this post here about false teeth for policemen? (the link to the Yahoo News story doesn't work anymore though.) Well, hopefully some of these children practicing good dental hygiene will be policemen some day. To curb the almost inevitable tooth decay that comes from eating sweet Filipino food (lecheplan...) they're brushing their teeth and breaking records! They broke the Guinness record set by the Chinese in 2003. Hey, it's no gold medal, but at least the kids are learning about keeeping their teeth clean. It's not for the toothpaste sponsor, it's for the children.

My Sister, the Fashion Domanista!

2006-01-27T22:04:00.000-05:00

Is domanista a real word? Probably not. Does it matter? Not at all! I'm making up a new word! Take that Stephen Colbert! Truthiness my ass! I can make up words too.

Anyway, domanista is simply a woman who dominates. In this case, Noona, my sister, will dominate the fashion world in her NEW JOB as a merchandising assistant for jewelry for NY and Co. She starts on Monday. This is her year! I hereby claim 2006, Year of The Dog (starting January 29), Noona's year! (At least until August 26th. Then I'm claiming the rest of the year as my 1/3 year, since I'm getting married and all.)

I know what you're thinking... how can Noona be a domanista if she's a merchandising assistant? Well, obviously, she has to start somewhere. It's only a matter of time before her company and the rest of the world recognizes her super fashion domanista abilities :-) Soon, they'll all see and Noona will truely be the leader of the free fashion world! Muwahaha hahahahahaha!

Look out world! Here comes Noona the Fashion Domanista!

Gloria the Dancer

2006-01-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

I went to my first rehearsal thinking how awesome it might be to be in a trio or an ensemble and actually stick out in a musical for once where my friends and family could actually see me. Yes, I was Liat in South Pacific but she doesn't sing. She does hand dances and speaks six words of French. Yes, I was Connie Wong in A Chorus Line, but that was at college, and nobody made the long trek up there (I don't blame them, that winter was harsh).

At last I'm in a musical show where I can sing and dance and all of my loved ones could potentially come out to see me. Or so I thought....

I was given the part of Gloria in Bye Bye Birdie, a musical about a man who manages an Elvis-type character who was drafted into the army. I mistakenly thought that she'd get to sing. Boy was I wrong.

I'm not a tall person, I admit it. Being of sound mind and 5'1" body, I tower over cats and babies. With shortness as my downfall, I hardly get cast into lead parts because when standing with the rest of the cast, I look like a child. Needless to say, I've been cast as a child a couple times, the most recent one being Alexander Ivanov in Every Good Boy Deserves Favor where I was an eleven-year-old boy. Mostly though, I get cast into character parts.

Gloria is a character part.

So what does that entail for me? I'll get to wear leopard skin pants, hoop earrings, and big hair. That also means I get to tap dance to Swanee River. You should come and see :-).

I'm not begrudging my part. I just thought it was something else. Ah well. It should be a fun part. I'm not bad as the comic clown-type, and I like being funny. I've already started making up my dance (it includes feet slapping, hand clapping and barrel rolls).

Still, I wait for the day where I might actually have a spotlight role that requires a ton of memorization. One where I get to act like a somewhat regular person :-).

Stink Pants Number 5 was birthed this day, 26 years ago.

2006-01-20T11:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, Stink Pants #5 is now 26 years of age. Today marks the two month period where my little Stink Pants is two years older than me instead of one.

What does that mean? It means that for two months, Stink Pants is robbing the cradle! Well, not really. It doesn't really mean anything. It's the same as when I turn 25 in March. I'll be two years older than Noona until her birthday in June.

What do you give a 26 year-old for his birthday? Don't know... video games I suppose. Manga, samurai movies, good socks. A tea cozy, some throw pillows, a lemon zester, a crepe pan, some Pepto Bismol, anime maybe? Well, he's dying to find out what I got for him, and he won't get to know until it arrives :-).

So, if you see Our Man Stink Pants, give him a hearty hello and a slap on the back, because it's his birthday.

IM-in' with Noona

2006-01-18T16:54:00.000-05:00

[16:34] Laura: I hungry!
[16:34] Laura: Nar nar nar nar nar!
[16:35] Noona: eat some soup
[16:35] Laura: I need a tissue!
[16:35] Laura: nar nar nar nar nar!
[16:35] Noona: eat a tissue
[16:38] Laura: I'm putting that on the blog.
[16:39] Noona: :)
[16:40] Laura: Blargh. I really want some pop.
[16:40] Noona: get some pop
[16:41] Laura: we don't have any pop.
[16:41] Laura: I've been trying to call mom at the office, but she must be out and about.
[16:42] Laura: Mom's back!
[16:42] Laura: but I bet she doesn't have pop.
[16:42] Laura: poop.
[16:44] Noona: go outside and see if there's some there in the garage
[16:45] Noona: you should drink orange juice instead of pop if you're sick
[16:46] Laura: yeah, I know. But I like pop so muh!
[16:46] Laura: much!

....time warp....

[16:51] Noona: did you find something to eat?
[16:52] Laura: there's left over chinese in the pridyator
[16:52] Laura: oh, and Mom did buy some pop :-)
[16:53] Noona: psychic mom
[16:53] Noona: (rubbing temples) mom.....buy pop mom.....
[16:53] Noona: I've actually done that before when I lived at home
[16:54] Laura: mom's got weird psychic powers.
[16:55] Noona: I know. Like, Oh I was just asking Laura about you or I was just thinking about you. And then I call
[16:55] Noona: Nostradamus mom

Maybe Stink Pants #5 and I should do this...

2006-01-14T06:25:00.000-05:00

I got this from the Bizarre News letter. I've been subscribed to it for a couple years now and this is the first story I've ever posted from it. Think of all the money we'll save if Stink Pants #5 and I get married over the Schminternet. I wouldn't get to wear an awesome dress though :-(.

------------------ Love At First Site ----------------------

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The fact that Rita Sri Mutiara Dewi had
never met her fiance in person didn't stop her from marrying
him on Thursday. A Muslim cleric who witnessed the ceremony
between the Indonesian couple declared it legal even though
they were across the world from each other. "We are happy
that we're married now, even though we had to do it via the
Internet," said Dewi. She met her love Wiriadi in an
Internet chat room many months ago and they began exchanging
pictures and talking every day. Wiriadi proposed to Dewi in
November - over the Internet, of course. While Dewi was in
Indonesia and Wiriadi in California, the two exchanged vows
in a virtual wedding. Dewi said she plans to travel to the
U.S. to finally meet her new husband.

Put on a Happy Face and Dance like Crazy!

2006-01-13T00:44:00.000-05:00

So I've been home for almost three weeks. In that time I have looked for wedding dresses, looked for bridesmaid dresses, ordered invitation samples, looked for more bridesmaid dresses, received some of my invitation samples, and visited the florist. All done during the day of course. At night... I've watched TV with Mom, putzed around the Schminternet and talked hours on the phone with Noona and Stink Pants #5. At night... I'm entertained by The Antiques Roadshow, reality tv, crime dramas and Kareoke Wednesday. And there's Puzzle Pirates. There's always Puzzle Pirates.

Regardless to say, I have no scheduling conflicts in case anyone wants to invite me to dinner. Well, I did until earlier today.

On Tuesday, during one of my putzing jaunts on around the Schminternet, I wondered to myself, "Are there any plays going on?"

Well, I knew that the local community theater has a show going up, but they're doing some musical based on Patsy Cline's life, which only has a cast of five (I know, I know, it's "community" theater. I don't know what they were thinking), two ladies and three men. I didn't audition for it because I was in Oregon, but I don't think they'd cast me anyway.

So I looked up plays that were going on elsewhere. There's a larger city to the north that has a community theater, but the audition for their next play is at the end of January. I kept that one in mind. Then I checked playhouses in Scaginaw. Eureka! They're doing Bye Bye Birdie!

So I call my musical/actor/kareoke friend Lord Steven.

-----------------------------
Laura: Hey! Wanna audition for a show with me tomorrow?

Lord Steven: Instead of kareoke? Okay. Where is it?

Laura: Scaginaw. They're doing "Bye Bye Birdie".

Lord Steven: Oh... well, I guess I could just try out. What kind of time commitment is it?

Laura: Monday through Friday, 7:00 to 10:00>

Lord Steven: Oh... hmmm.

Laura: Just come and try out. It'll be different than the auditions here. We have to sing a song.

Lord Steven: From the play?

Laura: No, any song.

Lord Steven: Any song?

Laura: Yeah, but you have to have the sheet music.

Lord Steven: Sheet music? What is this sheet music you speak of?

Laura: I've got sheet music, don't worry about it.
-----------------------------

We proceeded to talk about what songs we should sing and who else we could call to come with us.

The next day, I actually put on make-up (Wow!) and picked Lord Steven up at his house. We got to the playhouse with Mapquest's help and filled out audition forms. Then, they had us each hold up a number and they took our pictures! How neat is that? Guess it was a good thing I put on some eyes. I was number 36.

After that we entered and auditorium with people seated here and there. The majority of auditioners consisted of (surprise) girls between the ages of 15 and 25.

I sang "Mr. Wonderful" from the musical "Mr. Wonderful." Lord Steven sang "Who Am I" from "Les Miserables." We did well. Of course, there's always something you think you could've done better in an audition, but for the most part, all was good.

Then came the dance audition.

I was surprised there was a dance audition, but then again I wasn't. Dance auditions for musicals are not unheard of, of course. So we all trucked downstairs to dance in a 60's fashion, with lots of shoulder shaking. I learned the steps, shook my shoulders, and messed it up all three times. I can dance! Why was I messing up?! I have no idea, but my dance audition did not go well. However, all I had to do was ask if I could do it again and then I did fine :-)

So today, I hang around the house and Mom is painting. My cellphone rings and it's the director. I got a part! It's a small part, some girl named Gloria, but she has a song to sing with some others. I don't know how extensive the song is, but I hope I do it well.

The huge surprise came when the director told me they were casting Lord Steven as Albert, the lead! Holy Crap! I was so excited for him. Lord Steven really likes singing, that's why he auditions for musicals. The first musical we were in together was "Annie Get Your Gun" where he was cast as Chief Sitting Bull, a non-singing part. Needless to say, he was a little disappointed by that at first, but he got a couple solos in the chorus.

Our next rehearsal is on Sunday for the first read-thru. I'm so excited! I haven't had a speaking/singing part in a musical since I was in "A Chorus Line" at college. So, for all my friends and family out there, come and see Lord Steven and I in "Bye Bye Birdie" in March!

Stuff my Parents Say

2006-01-12T04:43:00.000-05:00

Laura, Mom and Dad are all standing around the kitchen talking.

Dad: Hey, do you want to hear a joke?

Laura: Sure.

Dad: There was this Eskimo (Laura rolls her eyes) and he's on trial. The prosecutor says to him, "Where were you on the night of October 12 through March 13th? (Dad starts chortling, Laura sighs.)

Mom: And?

Laura: That's it, Mom.

Mom: (frowning) Oh. That's not funny.

Movies!

2006-01-07T00:52:00.000-05:00

Here are links to the few movies I've posted on this blog. I'll add more as they come :-)

Stink Pants #5 playing Wii Tennis: Such grace and fashion sense. Posted 11/23/06

Numa Octopus Cartoon: A cartoon featuring an octopus to the tune of the Numa Numa song. Posted 07/05/06

Ask a Ninja: A ninja answers all the questions you never knew you wanted to ask a ninja. Posted 05/21/06

Mom's Boyfriend: It's a trap. Don't watch it. Posted 05/04/06

Meow and Stink Pants #5: He makes her laugh so much. Posted 2/24/06

Germany's Singing Delight: David Hasselhoff is Hooked on a Feeling: Posted 2/19/06

Kitties eating Monsters! : He cannot escape. Posted 01/05/06

Spinning Babies: They don't get dizzy. Posted 11/10/05

Meow's Imitation Game: Aaahhh! Zzzzzz. Ooooo! Posted 11/08/05

Roar Learns a New Sign: Roar learns the sign for book. Posted 10/23/05

This is My Fiance: Stink Pants puts our lives in danger. Posted 01/10/05

Live! From my Bedroom! It's Me! (no! not like that. Eww.)

2006-01-05T07:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, my house is now wired for sound! (Wireless Internet = Sound.) Thanks to our pals at Speednet, we didn't have to go through any DSL installation mumbo jumbo, and my mad instruction-reading skills got the wireless router up and working. Hurray! Now I won't have to wait forever for pictures or movies to upload! Could that possibly mean more pictures and movies? Possibly...

Pictured!

Here are the kitties lovin' up those catnip pocket monsters I made them.

Movied!
Kitties eating Monsters! (no sound for this one, just so you know.)

Please enjoy.