update on my stepdad

Thank you those who have been praying for (holding in the light, etc) my stepdad. He came out of the surgery yesterday and was awake and mumbling. The doctors are very happy with his recovery so far. He still has a ways to go, but so far so good!

thanks again,
charity :)

please keep my stepdad in your thoughts.

he is having quintuple bypass surgery today. apparently he had been feeling chest tightness but didn't know it was related to his heart. he was walking in the yard and almost blacked out, so he took an aspirin. the doctors said that probably caused him to not have a heart attack, and since he didn't have a heart attack, he was healthy enough to go into surgery immediately. he is currently doing well, and should be out of surgery in a couple of hours. he'll be in the hospital until early next week and in recovery at home for an unknown period of time. this weekend i will be doing a couple of interviews and mom didn't want me to postpone my work, so i'll be going home next weekend. that way, not only will i stay on my work schedule, but i'll also be able to visit with him at home (rather than in intensive care) and help mom taking care of him. please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

thank you.

Some interesting items.

Confessions of a Matchmaker: This new A&E reality series follows the attempts of a matchmaker in Buffalo, NY to make the love dreams of the seemingly hopeless come true. Selected quotes: "Look at you; you picked doughnuts over sex," and "You are way gay." Recommended for shit-talkers and embittered singles.


The Painted Veil: This movie stars Naomi Watts and Ed Norton, with a strong supporting role played by Liev Schrieber, Naomi Watts' babydaddy. Set mostly in rural China in the middle of a cholera epidemic in 1925, this film brought memories of the "rice water stool" my former roommate told me about while studying for her M.P.H. Luckily, the story, the acting, and the breathtaking scenery (filmed largely in Guilin, Guangxi in southern China) distracts one from the disturbing images that phrase creates in the mind. The story didn't end as I would have liked, but it worked very well in retrospect. I'd like to read the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Recommended.


Volver: I had been looking forward to this film for some time. The director, Almodovar, is one I want to like more than I actually like. The actresses do a great job. I found the movie entertaining, but it seemed to move slowly. And yet, the story was very complicated. The images in the film were nice, and again, the actresses gave powerful performances (not just Penelope Cruz). It was strange: at the end of the movie, I was left with several unanswered questions, and yet I found myself not caring very much. Compelling overall, though. Recommended.


Pandora: This is a neat website that will create radio stations based on the music you like. You give it a song or artist and with the help of the "music genome project" Pandora will make a playlist based on characteristics of that song or artist. As it plays more songs, you can continue to provide input, and it will continue to modify accordingly. Highly recommended.


Weeds: I rented the first season of this show and really enjoyed it. Mary Louise Parker does a great job, and although I have some ethical issues around racial portrayals in the show, I recognize the relative impossibility of perfection and think overall the show is a good one. And I love Elizabeth Perkins. I can't wait to see the second season, but I hear it's not quite as good. Season one recommended.


Top Chef Miami: Not nearly as engrossing as the second season, but it only just began, and I think maybe I'm just still worn out from the last season, which was emotionally draining and also highly irritating. It should be pretty interesting though, since the contestants appear to be very talented. Half-heartedly recommended.

Stay tuned for Hollywoodland, The First 48 Hours, Shin Chan, and more!

Nicholas and Susanna and I went to the pool today!

what else bugs me:

i live in a house divided into apartments. i'm the one who gets all the junkmail since i live in apartment one.

swine post office.

i find it amazing

i find it amazing that in one tiny single moment you can do something so consequential, like say something terrible that no one will every forget or forgive (my usual mistake) or even something as menial as put a coffee cup you think is empty into your purse then realize it's not at all empty and now you have ruined everything in your purse, ruined your new purse, and gotten coffee on your pants. it was so brief. can't i have that moment back and NOT do something so careless?

it's these little things that i always do that make me feel like i have no control over my life or anything in it.

melodramatic? yes.
an overstatement? possibly.
a truth that i live with daily? definitely.

charity :)

the significance of 144,000 in marketing religion and real estate.

I saw a commercial today for Century 21. They advertise that there are 144,000 brokers in their firm (all dedicated to listening to me and finding my dream home for me, of course). What struck me is that as a good Seventh-Day Adventist (kind-of), I immediately recognized this as the number of redeemed from the twelve tribes of Israel that appeared to John in his Revelation (that's in the Bible).


(See this website for more.)

My related question is a three-part one:

1) Are they trying to subconsciously sell their services by connecting it to something Christians will be drawn to (even though it does also kind of imply end-times)?

or

2) Is it just a coincidence?

or

3) ARE THEY THE TRUE CHOSEN PEOPLE?

...spooky...

(or lame or blasphemous, considering your perspective).

charity :)

two gross things in my apartment.

max's little tennis ball. can you tell it's her favorite toy? she walks around meowing with it in her mouth.


me working on my dissertation.

i am getting ready to post nikki's photos of canada in my picasa album. mine were lost in the fire i.e. the great computer crash of '06.

peace (chuhch! i'm out this pizzle!)
charity :)

ps-for the link to my picasa album look in the sidebar to the right. because of my gmail problems (see below) it is too complicated to log on and copy the address for you. sorry. blame google.

Picasa Web Album

I just wanted to let you guys know that I opened a Picasa account. You can see my public albums by clicking on this link. Pictures from Las Vegas are there.

Here's one of me with Olivia the sweet:



charity :)

if i've seen a stranger looking picture of me, i can't remember it.

Haha! I was working with my Dad in his jewelry making workshop when he took this picture of me. It's from his Picasa album (December 2006). I think at the time I was trying desperately and uselessly to flatten a piece of copper. It's harder than you might think...

I'm listening to the Weeds soundtrack (Volume 2) on Napster. Has anyone seen that show? I've heard it's good. I don't know. But the soundtrack is pretty good (Volume 2, at least).

charity :)

they may rule the world, but they'll never rule me!

Now that Google owns everything, you'd think the integration between all their entities would be more seamless. I have been trying to figure out for hours (I'm at work, so it's ok to waste time) how to switch ownership of this blog to my Gmail account, and I have discovered that "surprise, surprise, surprise (!!)" I am not an idiot (in this particular instance). It is actually not possible. In order to switch ownership of my blog to my Gmail account, I would have to create a new blog, then move the whole thing piece by piece over to that account, a long and tedious process that through switching names and URLs might cause the 3 readers (Hi Daddy, Nikki, and Harry, maybe?) to not be able to find it anymore. Geez.

If you have a blogger account, will you kindly ask them on the wish list to please enable users to switch blog ownership? As far as I can tell, my blog will be deleted when my school account is deleted upon graduation/termination of my graduate school career. And, from the number of questions in the Blogger Help Group dealing with this topic, many others are frustrated by this as well. Apparently you could do it in the older version of Blogger.

I went to Las Vegas last weekend, and as soon as I get home I'll post a few pictures. I had a really nice time. I want to open a Picasa web account to post my photos, but that's through Gmail, and it just reminds me of all the frustration. Wouldn't it be neat if they were all on my stupid Gmail account? Argh.

In summary, I feel this way when I think of Google: