6:00 pm, 24 October 2005

I love you, Lola.


"Miss Olongapo + her apo"


Be in peace with God always.
{1920-2005}


We miss you...

Latest design project !!!

I forgot to make an official annoucement of the CD release of The ACCESS218 Band album design that I created last month. It took about 3 weeks to complete + was officially released this October 2. It was a fun project + I'm glad that everything turned out just fine with post-production [YAY GOD]. Derrick, Alison, Liz + company are very pleased with it as well, so that pleases me. ^_^

Here is a sneak preview of the album design for now. I will post more images on my design site at a later time.



*** PICK UP A COPY OF THE ALBUM NOW ***


More later! Free lunch abounds... :9

Re: Recap

Busy Monday at work. Not too much on the mind right now, so I will just recall thoughts about my weekend + my Monday so far. It's 10:50 pm at the moment. Getting sleeepy.

+ FRIDAY
Came home from a busy day at work. After dinner, Joshua was doing research for school while I decided to watch Moulin Rouge. It's been awhile since I've watched it + somehow the second [or third?] viewing helped me understand parts of the movie that I missed the first time. It still makes me get all sappy, even though David will never admit that Obi Wan CAN sing. ;)

+ SATURDAY
Slept in more than I should have. J was already up doing his weekly reading. I seriously don't know how he does it. I don't make time to read much except for blogs + random articles online [i.e. nytimes.com], which I will reiterate later in this entry. Anyway, I got out of bed, ate a honeybun + blueberry yogurt, printed out directions, + drove out to the inspection station to have my car inspected. Unfortunately, I got there 5 minutes late just when the doors closed because I made a few wrong turns on my way there. So, no car inspection today. Afterwards, I drove out to the DMV + picked up a new driver's license. It's design is... aiiight. ;) Could use a little tweaking here + there especially with their font choices, but overall it's tolerable. I wasn't able to get my car registration + license plate since I didn't get my car inspected. Ah well. Next time then.

On the way home, I decided to stop into the public library to see if I could pick up some DVDs for me + J to watch this weekend, only to discover that that particular library did not carry DVDs to check out. I did, however, find the audio CD book of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix since, as I mentioned above, I do not take the time to read an actual book. Yeh, you can bet I checked it out. ^_^ Unfortunately, I have not *read* the book before that [Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire] that's based on the new movie that's coming out next month [WOO!], so I put a hold on "GoF" as well as Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince to fill in the missing pieces to the series. I do not own an iPod nor do I intend to give in to their clever marketing + pick one up anytime soon [haha], so I will just have to find a way to put a couple chapters at a time onto my pa1mOne for those days when J is reading on the metro + I have nothing to do but be stared at by people who have nothing better to do than stare at people. [Run-on, yeh!]

I went home, ate lunch, + vacuumed the house. Later that night, J + I hopped onto the metro to go to a house party hosted by the sister of my coworker Mila. She invited us because she thought it would be a great way for us to meet new people since we're new to the area. We got there at 8:20 pm. The party started at 7:00 pm. We were early. ;) But, it was a good time. M's sis' boyfriend set up putt-putt golf in their tiny front yard. Astro turf, I'm telling you. It was hilarious. The weather was nice that night, especially since we were dressed right for it. It was about 64 degrees outside, which is where we stayed for the rest of the night. They barbequed burgers + hotdogs for their guests in the back patio/yard. I've never attended a night barbeque before, let alone in mid-60 degree weather, haha. We met some really cool people that night--most were from different design companies. It was funny because they all knew each other to the point where one girl joked about the area's design community being a bit "incestuous". Some of my other coworkers showed up just as J + I were about to leave. They somehow managed to convince us to stay a bit longer + so we did. We were going to leave at 11:30 pm. We ended up leaving the party at 1:15 am. ;) We were tired, but it was worth staying longer because we got some funny stories + good laughs out of it.

+ SUNDAY
Got up for church just in time to nab some of the donuts they offer in the mornings. The message was basically to make the most out of the time when you are just "waiting" for something, whether it be a delayed flight or an unexpected detour in your life, rather than wasting your time complaining. I thought it was pretty relevant to what has recently happened in my life. For the past how many years, I have been waiting + waiting + waiting to land a nice, well-respected design job + now I finally have it. The wait is finally over + I am lying on the greener side of the grass for a change.. Sure, I had my moments of complaints, but during that wait I tried to make the most out of my last job + got involved in numerous events at the company--like volunteering as a 2003 Art Show committee member + also participating in the show, as well as being chosen to redesign the corporate website + print materials for the company. It definitely made life easier during my "detour" of a career.

For lunch, J had a gift certificate to Maggiano's Little Italy compliments of Adaliz + Carlos from our Kris Kringle gift game at last year's Christmas party at the K's. So, we were able to enjoy a nice Italian meal that day with pllllenty to take home. We also walked around some shops that we haven't been to within the area, which is always fun. We chilled for the rest of Sunday night to prepare for yet another Monday. I think J took a late afternoon couch nap in between while I surfed the net.

+ MONDAY
As for today, work started out nicely with plenty to do. I came home after work + ate dinner with the hubby. It was also time to clean the bettas' tank again. Luckily, they weren't as freaked out this time around when I took them out of the tank into their cups, so we were happy. *Good news: their tail fins are growing back nicely [sort of]. :) :) Batman, especially, doesn't look as torn up as he did right after the incident. Unfortunately, I think Joker may be chewing his tail fin. I haven't exactly seen him do it, but I've seen him spin around like a dog trying to chase his own tail. And he's never done that before. It doesn't seem to be fin rot either since Batman doesn't seem to have it + there is no discoloration in Joker's fins. I hope he gets better soon, else I have to buy more stuff from the petstore to cure him. :(

Later on, I did the usual email/internet time + found myself ordering the second season of Smallville on Amazon. How'd that happen? ;) Right now, J fell asleep on his book on the couch, so I'm going to have to wake him up just so he can go back to sleep again. ;)

Wow. Long entry. Lucky you. ^_^

Goodnight, goodnight.

Mah prayers haf bin answered!

Oh mah lawdy lawd!
Remember how I told you that my older bro is having another baby? First one is a girl [my precious Amandita]. So, me + my family + my sis-in-law's family have all been wanting a boy to be next. Well, guess what...

***{ IT'S A BOY !!! }***

I just got the news today at work when my brother called me. Such great news. :) :) :) My bro + sis-in-law will be welcoming "Michael Oliver" into the world most likely by March of 2k6. Can't wait to see what he looks like! ^_^

_an overly excited auntie

Drama in the tank

The following is an IM convo between me + my coworker [who gave me our 2 betta fish] this morning. It was a sad, sad day in our household. :(


11:15 AM
10/12/05

K: I had a little bit of drama last night with my bettas
M: ooo.. do tell
K: Well, "Joker" the lighter one loves to jump up when you feed him
M: hahahah
M: i taught him how to do that
M: hahahahahaha
M: LOLOL
K: Well, not so funny last night
M: :o oh noo
K: Don't worry, they are still alive
K: Apparently, our tank instructions say to fill up the tank leaving a half inch from the top
M: ok
K: where the divider ends
M: right
K: After we ate dinner last night, I passed by the tank + noticed BOTH bettas on the same side--on "Batman"'s side [the darker one]
K: BEFORE:

K: AFTER:

M: ok so he suffered one big blow
M: that will grow back
K: BEFORE:

K: AFTER:

K: TORE UP !!
M: not just tore up... TOWW UP FROM DA FLOWW UP
M: :'(
M: awwwwwww
K: Yeh, it's so sad to look at him
K: Joker is really a baddie
K: He's just pure evil



After the incident, I told Joshua that Joker was just jealous at how beautiful Batman's fins were. This is what it reminded me of:

"I felt like destroying something beautiful."
--Narrator, Fight Club

** Refer to my previous post when we first adopted our pets.

Jimmy in Vienna

So, Joshua took me out on an awesome date last Saturday. Originally, it was supposed to be a surprise--his trademark when we go out on our dates. ^_^ Leading up to the event, I constantly try to figure out where we are going + he never tells me. This time was different. Via myspace, I found out that Jimmy from Ours was playing an acoustic show at a coffeehouse a half hour away on the night of our planned date. So, I bring this up to Joshua to talk about the double-booked day +, much to my surprise, *I* ruin the surprise. He had planned this date about 3 weeks beforehand on October 8th + was going to take me to the show without me knowing. He was so disappointed that his brilliant idea was shot. I felt bad, but I was happy that our date + an Ours acoustic show was the same thing.

Here are some photos from the show. The venue was really nice with tables here + there + chairs in rows for everyone in front of the stage. Really dark stage lights though, hence the crappy lighting in the photos. Wasn't looking to take breathtaking photos anyway. I wanted to immerse myself in the show, which was really good. It's been awhile. Joshua took the photo of Jimmy + yours truly.


» Jimmy @ Jammin Java, Vienna, VA


» Using someone else's camera flash turned out not so bad.


» Static was there to play a couple of awesome rounds of space guitar to add to Jimmy's amazing vocals + acoustic guitar.


» I left the light setting on incandescent rather than bulb. We showed it to Jimmy + he actually preferred the photo this way. So, I left it as is.


As always, I followed tradition + chatted with Jimmy after the show + soon enough a "Meet Jimmy" line ride formed. He couldn't even leave the backstage door. When it was our "turn" I introduced myself to Jimmy + he replied, "I know," with a smile. So, I underestimated him. :) Being that I was in a different location other than Florida, I thought I needed to reintroduce myself to him. Then again, how many Ours shows have I been to in the last 4 years? [haha]

Joshua asked when the new album will be released + Jimmy said hopefully this March. Joshua said he couldn't wait for it. Jimmy agreed + said he couldn't either. During the show, he made some nice edits to some of the new songs we are familiar with--"I Ran Away to Tell the World", "God Only Wants You", "The Worst Thing is Beautiful". He made it clear that he was really happy with the direction of the new album. He talked a lot between songs, like "confession time" as he described it. Jimmy told a great story about Race as well, about how he wasn't originally the bass player for Ours + how higher ups worked hard at trying to take him out of the picture because he didn't look like he was part of the band. All in all, he said that he was no longer sad/mad/disappointed about the direction the music was going. He made us laugh + smiled a whole lot, which was so nice to see.

Still searching for a setlist* to post...

*found this on a message board, but I don't think it's in order:

_Murder
_Mercy
_If Flowers Turn
_Monster
_Medication
_As I Wander
_Ran Away to tell the World
_God Only Wants You
_Bleed
_Dizzy
_Whore [from "Sour"]
_Crying
_The Worst Thing is Beautiful
_Live Again
_Lost



The last day of a week plagued with food poisoning ended really nicely. Thanks to my awesome hubby. ^_^

Our new pets

We finally decided on what to name our new bettas!

Presenting...


"Batman"


"Joker"


Thanks to my coworker Mike, we now have 2 new roommates. ^_^
[Just don't tell our landlord...]