pouches

a great way to keep organized when traveling is using lots of baggies to keep your stuff separate: electronics, chargers, intimates, swimwear, cosmetics, toiletries, dirty clothes... and while some people like to use a matching set of bags, i find that too confusing. if it's all the same pattern, how do i know what's inside? enter etsy!

fabric pouches and water-repellent cases

small pouches are great for chargers - oktak: handmade pouches & bags

large pouches can be laundry bags - zoe tote: shoe bags and wine totes

zippered pouches double as purses - barn of colors: handcrafted eco friendly collections

water-proof bags for toiletries - seen1: products made from recycled advertising banners

colorado: uncut

"Colorado to End Medicaid Coverage of Circumcision"

i agree with colorado. this is a completely elective surgery, so why should all taxpayers be forced to pay for it?

how does infant circumcision work anyway? do the doctors ask the parents first or do they just do it automatically? cause i don't think i'd want my kid circumcised. i mean, what's the point? it's been proven that it doesn't significantly prevent disease. maybe way back in the day it used to because people didn't have regular access to soap or clean water, and even if they did, it may have been the custom not to bathe.

also, i feel like if uncut penes really did foster diseases, wouldn't tons of men / boys have died before our ancestors figured to cut off the foreskin? and if that were so, wouldn't evolution have favored those born with shorter foreskins? so wouldn't guys naturally just not have them now?

i feel like if you're a guy who doesn't unprotectedly sleep around with diseased people and who cleans off regularly, you'll pretty much be okay. in which case, i, as your mother, don't need to worry about your foreskin. so hey, how's that parents? instead of circumcising your sons for their health, just teach them to be clean and smart.

none of these arguments apply for those who do it for religious reasons, obviously.

for god

lucretitus - "tantum religio potuit suadere malorum"

"to such heights of evil are men driven by religion"

60 is the new 18

highlights from susan cheever's article "The Princess and the Terminator" in newsweek last month. (this article, btw, was published before it was revealed why she was leaving him. at the time people just thought they had grown apart)

"Once upon a time men and women in their 50s and 60s didn’t have serious marital problems—this was primarily because they were dead. Even the most irritating behavior is somehow more bearable in blessed memory. With nearly 30 years added to our life expectancy since 1900—it was around 50 and is now over 80—we can make choices and have emotional crises that wouldn’t have seemed worth it when there were only a few more years of unhappiness to soldier through.

"This 30-year bonus has dramatically shifted the marital center of gravity in our lives—at least for the healthy, prosperous citizens of the industrialized world. If 50 is the new 30, 60-ish is in many ways a new kind of 18... This extra time on earth is oddly liberating especially for those of us still energetic and vibrant... If we are not going to speak out and act out at 60, when will we?"

there was another article in newsweek about why will and kate took so long to get married. it said that if their marriage ended, so likely would the british monarchy since most people already don't see the point. another failed royal marriage would put the nail in the coffin, so will and kate had to take marriage seriously. ...well shit, shouldn't everyone?

book $

e-book prices fuel outrage -- and innovation

i've had an ongoing "argument" with rip about e-books vs traditional books. and every time we can't agree because i feel like he isn't qualified to. in the last 10 years he, on average, has read less than two books a year. i more than double his annual reading rate in a month.

i hope paperback books keep coming out for a long long long time. i don't like hardcovers since they're less convenient: they're heavy, don't fit in my purse, are hard to hold with one hand, and because they're generally much more expensive, i'm more careful with them. which is annoying. but i also feel like books in general are too expensive.

most of my friends who are big readers have some sort of e-book reader. but none of us use it as our primary reader because traditional books are just a million times better! add price on top of all that, and not one of us is willing to permanently make the switch. but i do know that if e-books were significantly cheaper than print books, we could definitely be swayed.

i remember in high school cds were like $17 each. then napster and itunes became popular, now most cds are less than $13. book publishers really need to learn from the music industry! cds were priced to match mp3 prices, and books should be priced to be comparable to e-book prices, not the other way around as it is currently. i recently read somewhere else that used bookstores are doing really good business, and it's because people won't (maybe can't?) afford to spend $16 on a paperback or $26 on a hardback when they can get it for half off.

war

"it's a wide road that leads to war and only a narrow path that leads home again."

from castle - "there are no victories, there are only battles."


(awolnation - sail)

cups!

i've been a little obsessed with glassware lately, probably because it's starting to get hot so i've been hydrating a lot (btw, the best oj is tropicana pure premium in the plastic bottles [which, oddly enough, i can't find on their website]. it's a little pricier but it's so good!). i like getting cups of the same set, but different from each other because it's easier to identify your own at a party.

cups of all kinds!

1. moustache cups - kaori glass: the place to find unique and fun glassware
2. a great mug - danmade pottery: for all of your ninjaware needs. 
3. high ball glasses, great for juice! and they remind me of pinatas!- vital: screen printed bike glasses
4. these tumblers glasses remind me of moroccan tea glasses, which i love - woodeye studios:  custom glassware

that girl's shady!

cute video. :)

Kate Nash - Do Wah Doo



Everybody thinks that girl’s so fine
Everybody’s like “I’ll make her mine.”
Everyone thinks she’s a bit of alright
But I think that she’s not so nice

Every guy’s looking in her eyes
Every guy’s checking out her thighs
Everyone thinks that girl’s a lady
But I don’t, I think that girl’s shady.

I'll just read a book instead.
I don't care if we're just friends.
I can hang out with myself
I'm old enough now to pretend.

I'll just read a book instead.
I know that you think she's best
I don't even think she cares,
I don't know what you see-
There's nothing there.

Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom
Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom
Ba bom bom Ba bom bom
Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom

Well I think she’s a b—-

I'll just read a book instead.
I don't care if we're just friends.
I can hang out with myself
I'm old enough now to pretend.

I'll just read a book instead.
I know that you think she's best
I don't even think she cares,
I don't know what you see-
There's nothing there.

Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom
Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom
Ba bom bom Ba bom bom
Ba bom ba bom ba bom bom
2x

Well I think she’s a bitch

soles4souls update

in 2009 i did a shoe drive for soles4souls (follow the journey). many months and 277 pairs later, i thought i was was done. but earlier his year i told felix about it and he went and gave me another ~10 pairs, which i felt was too many to put into their donation boxes. so i went thru my and my parents' closets again, and came up with some more. (actually, seeing how old some of her shoes were, i feel like i didn't get any from my mom last time, i really can't remember.) anyway. i'm happy to say that i've now officially collected 306 pairs of shoes for soles4souls.

i hope i never have to deal with this many stinky shoes again!

sexy work time?

i feel like many women do not know how to dress appropriately anymore. they think that any kind of skirt is okay for the office and any dress is good enough for a wedding. and don't even get me started on funerals!

the other day i went to an insurance brokerage. the female agent met me sitting down, so clothing wise, all i saw was her black blazer with a filmy blouse underneath. then, when she walked me to the door, i saw the rest of her outfit: a short skirt with platform heels. her "pencil skirt" was way above the knee, slightly higher than mid-thigh. and her open-toe stilettos were at least 5 inches high. this is not appropriate for any office. ...unless you're a porn star playing a sexcretary.

a couple weeks before that i went to a funeral. one girl was wearing chucks, blue jeans, and a light grey ucla hoodie. the granddaughter of the woman whom the funeral was for was wearing flip flops, way baggy black pants, a green spaghetti strap tank, and a lacy white shirt as a cover-up. at least her flip flops were black.

wth is wrong with these people? the clothing you wear is not only a reflection of you, but also of your environment and the situation you're in. you don't have to be sexy all the time, you know.

maybe it's our culture now. all the "professional women" on non-actual-reality tv are in stilettos, even the cops. and nearly everyone shows cleavage, even the teachers. on bananarepublic.com right now, of their 20 pencil skirts, only 3 of those hit the model's knees. and of j. crew's wear to work dresses, only 1 of 6 has sleeves, and all of them are above the knee. (and yes, i know models are really tall and have long legs, so skirts will be longer on a normal person. but lots of people look to these photos for real-world inspiration.)

i understand that some offices have less strict dress codes. but i think it's always best to err on the side of conservative. and work clothing aside, you shouldn't dress any which way you like for social events either. be mindful of the situation. that dress you wear to pick up guys at clubs? not good for a wedding! those sweats you wear to the gym? don't wear it to a funeral, even if it is black!

i feel like the adjective most females strive for these days is "sexy." and i think many younger women don't recognize a difference between sexy with slutty. but there is a difference. a big one. and furthermore what's wrong with being pretty, sophisticated, cute, beautiful, or elegant?

the journey

thomas swick - often, the less glamorous the destination, the more rewarding the journey.

small world!

1. i found C, an old high school friend, on facebook thru T, a guy on my dragon boat team. i friend C and write that on his wall. he tells me that he knows T thru R, whom i also know, since T recently brought him out to dragon boating. i tell R this at practice and tells me that he's actually the godfather of one of C's kids and that C might be coming out to practice that sunday. weird!

2. i get a text from a friend telling me that she's sitting with K at a table of her friend's wedding. K is a girl we know from high school. it's weird cause none of us knew that K knew the bride (or groom?). but what actually makes this crazy is that i get this text while i'm at a bbq sitting across he table from K's brother, O.

3. i go to a bbq with some friends who invited me to their college roommate's party. we get introduced to everyone and my two girlfriends immediately comment that J looks familiar. i think he looks familiar too but i figure i'm probably wrong, since they all went to school together. J and i talk and it turns out that he actually went to UCI the same time i was there. what's more, he also dragon boated out of long beach. and crazily enough, we were on the same freaking team. he only paddled for a season or so, and we paddled on different days, so we didn't immediately recognize each other, but we obviously saw each other at tournaments since our team does everything together.

btw, this has nothing to do with coincidences, but J deserves a shout out. the day of the bbq my allergies were CRAZY. i had taken a generic claritin hours earlier but it didn't seem to do anything. my nose wouldn't stop running and i couldn't stop sneezing (my torso actually hurt the next day from all the sneezing). anyway. so we're in the backyard eating and talking, and every once in a while i would get a sneezing fit. J asked the host if he had any eucalyptus trees. the host said he thought they might in the front of the house? J came back with some leaves, which he took to the kitchen and proceeded to brew me tea for my allergies. he said his mom did it for him when he was a kid. but isn't that freaking amazing? i don't even know him!

but it was also kind of scary since i remember hearing that aborigines in australia don't eat koalas because they taste bad, since all they eat is eucalyptus so their meat reeks of it. i mentioned this to J and he said that he thought koala meat was poisonous. ... but since he was kind enough to make it for me, i did drink it. and it was actually alright tasting. i probably added more honey than i needed to, but it was totally drinkable. and apparently not poisonous.

btw, the eucalyptus "tea," of course, did nothing for my allergies. neither did the ginseng tea the host later brewed me. but everyone was very kind. i probably would've been really grossed out if sneezy came to my party. but maybe i'm just a bad host.

text & drive!

on a sign in front of church near rip's apt. - "honk if you love god. text and drive if you want to meet him."

lol, i get that they're saying that texting and driving means you'll die. but... people who really love god would want to meet him, no? so they're basically saying that if you really love god, you should text and drive. :D