i'm moving to australia

 if any of you read this as a child, then you know exactly what i'm talking about.  

i'm going to australia.  they don't have bad days there.  

just call me the computer whisperer

so my job description isn't exactly set in stone, and to be honest, there are days that i want to just spend cruising the internet.  this, along with years of finding articles to use in research papers, has allowed me to hone my skills for finding things on the internet. thus i have been able to become the 'computer savvy' one in the office, even though i view myself as being far from it.  i guess in comparison to my 30 year old coworker and fifty something boss, i am a little ahead of the pack with my computer wisdom.  usually people will call into our little office to get phone numbers of random treatment facilities, or they'll need help creating documents in excel or word. to be honest, if i don't know how to address the latter, i just google it until i find a suitable solution.  but it always makes me happy when i am able to help people with what, in my eyes, i would consider minor computer problems (such as moving the tool bar back to the bottom, from the side of the screen or formatting a cell to 'text' so that they can enter data beginning with zeroes).   even with my limited knowledge, it surprises me how much more i know than others in comparison.  thanks IS 190L/290L!

it's moments like this that make me realize that there truly is a gap between those of us who grew up using the internet and those who did not.  whenever i run into a problem that i can't solve, or any sort of random knowledge that i can't explain, i just hop on the internet, and find the answer.  it's become second nature. 

in any event, here was today's task:  my boss' dog ate some chocolate over the weekend.  (yes, not good).  but i guess they were these special chocolates that her daughter had found that were in a wrapper that made them look like a swiss army knife.  anyways, her daughter was only able to find a few of them, so when the dog ate two out of the three that she had, she was kind of bummed.  i figured that they were most likely a mass produced product, right?  so i hopped on the internet, and typed in 'chocolate swiss army knife' into the google search engine, and what was the first link that popped up?

we have a winner!

apparently it's the perfect gift for any swiss army knife enthusiast.

just another day in the life of the computer whisperer. maybe i should get a cape?

mastercard has nothing on this..

cost of breast augmentation surgery in hawaii in 2002- $4700

cost of breast augmentation surgery in hawaii in 2009- $6700

finding out that your co-worker has gotten a boob job...priceless.

recipe for kuhio day perfection

today was prince kuhio day, a local holiday in hawaii, celebrating the birth of prince kuhio.  but more importantly, it meant no work for me, and no school for everyone else.  so kathleen, her friend courtney, and i set off early this morning to surf puena point.  (not before grabbing breakfast at ted's and allowing me to indulge in my new favorite breakfast combo).  we came back and i made a delicious dinner for my friends cassie and quinn, who are in town for the week.  we had a great time, reminiscing about old times, and almost went to the north shore skate park to skate.  or rather quinn was going to skate while me and cassie watched.  however, mother nature was not being cooperative, so we didn't head up there because it was all flooded out.  

now if only tomorrow were saturday, we could do it all over again.

golf and other such things...

so i wanted to go for a walk today after i got home from work, but of course, the moment that i asked my good friend stephanie and her son ambrose to come along, it started to rain.  apparently golf isn't the only thing that makes a good walk spoiled....

rain check, i guess?

breakfast of champions

i'm not normally a coffee drinker, but i am a caffeine addict.  so i sometimes find myself needing a little extra boost in the morning, to avoid falling asleep at my desk.    lately i have been really digging starbuck's mocha frappucccino, with a ted's bakery sausage egg and cheese sandwich.  i should probably find a way to replicate this meal at home, to avoid having to buy breakfast everyday. 

sweet perfection.

Castles 1, Taylor 0

i got my ass soundly kicked by castles today.  that's right, i said castles.  it was like paddling out to goats for the first time.   i am making a vow to surf more often, as to not embarrass myself or those who chose to go surfing with me.  

yes, i am a clothes whore...

here are a few things on my current wish list...

if only i had infinite amounts of money

case of the mondays

Will Ferrell writes a song for garth brooks - Watch more

as a result of kathleen's birthday extravaganza, i was completely wiped out at 

church yesterday, and this morning at work. i think that will farrell conveys 

my sentiments about mondays perfectly in this snl sketch. 

in a state of constant awe

so in addition to all the antics from crazy people that i generally have to put up with at my little office job, i also have the 'pleasure' of having my ear talked off, or have to listen to others get their ears talked off by my co-worker when they call our office.  (one of my personal favorite moves is when she is on her cell phone, and the office phone will ring, and she'll hand the phone to me, and ask if i can answer it.  this is usually after she shows up at least 30 minutes late.  this is closely followed by when she is on the office phone with one of her friends, and someone will call on the other line, she'll click over and ask them on hold while she goes back to her conversation!)  

well, the subject du jour happens to be her VERY dramatic relationship with her boyfriend.  i have to admit, he seems like a pretty decent guy. he has a god job, takes care of her, and puts up with all of her crap.  yet he still sticks around, even though she treats him very poorly, and i give him credit for that.  so it breaks my heart to hear her vent to her friends on the phone, while on the clock btw, about what a crappy boyfriend he is, and how he always wants to dwell on things that have gone wrong in the past and that she's being picked on, when he is just trying to convey some constructive criticism.  then she'll start brining up things that annoy her about him too, and remind him that she has a lot of 'ammo' on him.  like that she'll show his mother all these things so prove that he's not the 'perfect boyfriend' that he is presenting himself as.  i swear, when i hear about their fights, all she does is try and provoke him and push his buttons.  my favorite thing that she says, behind his back, is that he makes her ex-husband look not so bad.  just to paint you a picture, her ex-husband, who she is still very much in contact with, happens to do drugs and is suicidal, and as a result, should probably be a client of ours.  she says that her ex used to just let her do whatever she wanted whenever she (which i have no doubt in my mind, was self destructive behavior) and that as a result they 'never fought'.   

in my opinion, they never fought, because from what i can gather, her ex was a doormat who let her be the dominant one in their relationship.   i guess it's hard not to appreciate someone who can be that passive, but i have to say that i would get tired of being waited on and agreed with. to a certain extent, it feels nice to have someone who will check up on me and make sure that i am safe and making the right choices.  i believe that there are certain sparks of passion that can only be ignited through conflict and resolving it.  it makes a relationship stronger if you can make it through those trials, but if one person is always passive, then there is no give and take, and that can lead to resentment.  

i think that is where the root of my coworker's relationship problems lie:  she is unwilling to compromise and become the person she could be if she truly wants her relationship to move forward, because she is holding on too tightly to who she was in her previous relationship.  in her eyes, it's about power and being the one who's in control.  but the reality is that it's not always about who's right, or wrong, and it's not about who has more dirt on the other person, or who has the last word.  it's about learning to accept others flaws and taking people for who they are, and seeing how we are reflected in their eyes.  because it's those tiny fragments of perfection that we remember, and hold on to until the end.

where the wild things are

hey, wanna be where all the cool kids are this weekend?  then come to kathleen majdali's birthday party on saturday at 9pm!

there will be a little bit of this:

and this:

and possibly some of this too:

but probably not any of this:

only because of the extreme lack of surf.

btw:  i just about pulled my hair out trying to get these pics to post in the right position.  does anyone know how to make the 'compose' window area bigger?  or better yet, how to get your pictures to post where you leave the cursor, not just at the top of your post so that you don't have to drag them to the position you want them in?

the root of all evil

has anyone seen that show on comedy central, 'the root of all evil'?  the premise is that two comedians will face off defending two different pop culture events/people/etc like 'the hills' vs 'ultimate fighting champion' and the host, lewis black, decides which one is the 'root of all evil'. 

i now pose this to everyone, especially those living in laie, which is 'the root of all evil'?

vs

awkward moments define my life

i had the pleasure of attending abrose's (the first born of my lovely friend stephanie) birthday party today.  man, were there a lot of kids there, and i didn't even get there until the very end.  i have to admit that i felt very out of place, and not just because i don't particularly care for small children, which i blame partly on the fact that i was raised as an only child, in a neighborhood with very few children my age, and partly on my bff for making it into a full blown psychosis. (as he would say, kids are generally three things: short, fast, and loud).  while i don't believe that all children are this way, i would have to argue that the parents are 100% responsible for this outcome, in most cases i have seen, not tv, the radio, or society, but i digress.  all the kids were great today, despite my awkwardness, and the party was fabulous! however, it did not escape my observation that i was the ONLY single person there.  i felt like singing that song, "one of these things isn't quite like the others..." 

in any event, i just wanted to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBROSE!

(i think that if we were able to have children that looked like this, i wouldn't mind as much)

lesson the first

Right  

Wrong

here endeth the lesson.

did anyone order an apocalypse?

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga - Scientists sailed Thursday to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga — shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific ocean.

Authorities said Thursday the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected.

Spectacular columns are spewing out of the sea about 6 miles from the southwest coast off the main island of Tongatapu — an area where up to 36 undersea volcanoes are clustered, geologists said.

Wanted

does anyone have one of these i can borrow?

and more importantly, does anyone know where i can find some containers like this?

i'm working on a few top secret projects that i need them for...

also-everyone should come to kathleen's birthday party at the ghetto on saturday night at 10pm!

here is the link for the big day:  

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=57477940868&ref=nf

Come for amazing cake, music, and fun!

almost over the hill

happy 39th birthday to my beloved bff!  he taught me so many valuable lessons while working at ola, and shares my abhorrence for small children.  

he always had to remind me that, 'it's hard to soar like an eagle, when you're surrounded by turkeys'.  faaaaannnnntastic.

working 9-5

i work in a tiny office on the north shore of oahu.  i love my job, and one of the many pleasures of being in front of a computer all day, is the fact that i have constant access to the internet.  this provides me with a constant stream of music or entertainment on days that i'm feeling stressed or so bored that my head might explode.

this is not to say that my office is by any means boring.  even though it is just me and one other girl holding down the fort, for the most part, it is my coworker that keeps me...bemused.  even though she is 5 years my senior, i find myself constantly giving her advice on things i consider to be common sense.   for example, when i asked her what she was going to get her boyfriend, of one year, for valentine's day, she said 'nothing.  i'm the girl.  he's supposed to do something for me.'  she then went on to tell me that she's always had boyfriends that did stuff for her and she never got them anything in return.    i gently suggested some simple things she could do, such as making a picture frame and putting a picture of them in it, or making a mixed cd, but she said that both of those projects sounded like, 'too much work'.  so she ended up re-gifting him some chocolates that our co-worker gave her.  

i know i've thought it before, but he's a lucky, lucky guy.

more fun work stories to come.

shameless plug...

lately i've been really into julie moffitt's ep: stolen. she's an amazing songwriter, guitarist, and pianist. she sounds like i wish i did. i'm trying to learn 'let him be' and 'try'.

you should check out my friend alexis dallman's ep as well. i went to high school with this girl, and she's amazing. she was/is my inspiration for learning how to play the guitar.

a few of my favorite things

so now that we've been properly introduced, i guess i should share a few things about myself.  i'm sure most people who will be reading this will already know the bulk of these facts, but who knows?  you might end up learning something new...

i grew up in the suburbs of detroit, and am a very big red wings fan.  one of the greatest moments of my life was when brett hull came into my work and i got to make him a tuna melt.

i love cats.  yes i realize that a single girl of a certain age shouldn't admit that, but it's true.  i've been to the tiger temple in kanchanaburi, thailand, and it was amazing!  i also don't understand why there are so many 'death to all cats' people in the world, yet you rarely find anyone who hates dogs with that sort of intensity.

i really like to cook and try new recipes.  i hope that this blog will also help me to share recipes that i have tried and succeeded/failed at as well as to learn new ones.  

now for a few things i don't like:

creed-especialy scott stapp and anyone else who plays 'christian rock'

nickelback

booty rap

hawaiian re-makes of popular songs

screamo

people who like any of the aforementioned music

RANCH DRESSING

nicholas cage movies 

'hey man, dude man's'

visiting students

people who can not distinguish you're from your

Here we go...

so i've finally caved and decided to join the 'blogosphere'.  i was never very good at keeping up with journals or diaries, as a child, but now that i constantly find myself surrounded by so many inspiring people/places/things, i feel obligated to share them with the world.  

so pull up a chair and i hope you enjoy the ride!