Ato-manx?

There are four types of Manx cats, called (I love this) the stumpy, rumpy, rumpy-riser and longy. With long hind legs, a prominent tush, round eyes and face, extra-thick coat, rabbit-like hop and unusually small meow, doesn't it remind you of certain black kitty seen bopping around Seattle?

Keep looking up

I was taking a walk late last night and noticed an especially bright star that twinkled and sparkled as spectacularly as any rock that J.Lo's got. The whole night sky, in fact, was aglitter with stars. It reminded me of a funny scene in "The Lion King", where the warthog Pumbaa and meerkat (apparently a relative of the mongoose and prarie dog. Neither a cat, a goose, nor a dog. Dicuss.) Timon are lying in the grass, looking up at the stars.

Pumbaa: Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa, I don't wonder - I know.
Pumbaa: Oh, what are they?
Timon: They're fire flies - fire flies that got stuck up in the big bluish black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you everything's gas!

When I got home I looked at a chart of the winter night sky, and found out that the sparkly dot was Sirius, the Dog Star.

Back from the dentist and all smiles

No cavities! YES!

This makes me ridiculously happy.

a film to see

I have just one full week left in Seattle before I leave for Tokyo. I'm very glad that I decided to take my mom's advice and planned to stay in Seattle for about 6 weeks before leaving. It's given me time to digest the upcoming change and get things in order without feeling the need to rush. Also I have plenty of time to take advantage of the things I will miss about Seattle, like beautiful crisp air and inexpensive produce and libraries where I can check out excellent movies like "Touching the Void" and CDs like Radiohead and make MD copies to take with me.

A little more about "Touching the Void". Have you seen it? NO?? Never has a movie left me with (sorry for being un-lady-like) trails of snot running down my nose from crying. I remember seeing previews for the film last year and thinking, "I will never watch this, I hate scary people-falling-into-bottomless-crevasse movies like this." Oh how wrong I was. It's based on a true story about a mountain climbing adventure gone very unpleasant. There's re-enactments with actors, using very little dialogue. Nothing is melodramatic, even though it's a weighty and existential story. The breathtaking mountain scenes and landscapes do so much in communicating the loneliness and struggles that the characters go through. But the real show stopper is what's said in the on-camera interviews from Joe, Simon and Richard, the actual people. I really can't describe it, it's just amazing.

Oh, and the score is beautiful too.

Groundhog Day

It's that special day again - did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? Will there be 6 more weeks of winter?

Judging from the spring-like weather in Seattle these past few months, the answer is no.

"Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray and Andie Macdowell is one of my favorite movies. It's hysterical. Bill Murray is genius!



"This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather."

Deja vu, anyone?

career week

Last week I went to many panel discussions set up by UW's 6th annual Career Discovery Week. They were all very interesting and helpful in giving me ideas about careers, and I was able to make some new contacts, too. Networking is always stressed as the most helpful thing in finding out about jobs and careers, and I am getting better at it.

Most of all, though, it was good to hear how people's career paths are very unique, and the most rewarding things are to continue to pursue your interests, and keep meeting new people and staying in touch with them, and keep an open and optimistic mind.


isn't she lovely?
the Spirit of Massachusetts, where I spent 4 amazing months in 1998.

Life of Yann

I went to see Yann Martel, the author of "Life of Pi", speak at the University Bookstore yesterday. He was reading from an older book of his called "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" that is being republished, but he answered questions about "Life of Pi" too. He was funny and very calm and looked a little bit like Aidin Quinn. His next book is about a talking donkey and a monkey that live on a shirt?

Getting ready to move out of my apartment is a hassel but since I don't have a lot of stuff it should not be too difficult. I reserved a truck and hopefully the unit will get rented out soon. I LOVE my apartment and if I weren't planning on moving out of the country I would like to stay there. Huge windows, lots of light, great manager, walking distance to downtown, landscaped courtyard... I lucked out.

What should I read next?

A really interesting, funny book. My current bedside reading material.
What a handsome author, too!

on a side note, I finally figured out my problem in updating my profile photo. Seems that the new web browser, Mozilla Firefox, that I was touting a few days ago, was interfering with the uploading process. Once I tried it in Internet Explorer, it worked like a charm. Thanks, Bill!

Deep Freeze

Seattle news stations are reporting a 'Deep Freeze' that will hit the Puget Sound area. This probably means that the temperature will succumb to such levels as 31 degrees Farenheit. I can hear the Canadians laughing at us already.

Daddy-O

upsy daisy

weee!

what's the problem??

I can't get my photos to upload onto my profile. Is something wrong with the site? For now I will stop trying.

The heater at my place is broken, and it is getting very cold. I am using up all the ホカロン　that Ai sent me about 5 years ago. Their expiration date was 2003 but they still seem to work.

I recently heard about a new web browser called Firefox, made by Mozilla, and have started to use it. It does seem to block out a lot of pop-up ads, and the format is pretty easy to use.

Doesn't this sound so good? It is the new seasonal Pagliacci pizza. May call for a special trip to my nearest Pagliacci to give it a try.
CHEESE MEDLEY
This pizza is a tribute to cheese. It features mozzarella and fontina cheeses over seasoned tomato sauce with Roma tomatoes and kalamata olives. It is finished with gorgonzola and romano cheeses.

how do i get this photo onto the "profile" section?

the egg and ai (and mom) 

the cat wants to go out again

the cat being atomik, who is loud and fat but we like him a lot.

On my way

to Narita Airport back in December.
Memories from my trip: Charlie Brown Christmas Album, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, 3times in the front row for Splash Mountain, cousins party

Let's go!

My first posting is a recommendation: Life of Pi is a great book. I finished it yesterday, and I loved it. It was so funny, but in a polite, earnest, sincere way that I adore. The book reminded me of Tom Hanks and his volleyball Wilson in the movie "CastAway". What is it about human/animal (or human/volleyball) bonds that gets to me every time??

It's a week into the new year. A resolution: conquer some fears. Just Fake it till you Make it!

Happy New Year everyone!!