Even Target Can't Fix This

Usually a visit to Target makes me ridiculously happy. I always go there with the intention of buying a few random things like shampoo or lotion but I leave with a cart's worth of impulse buys. Every time!!! Why does everything have to be so dang pretty and cheap??? Did I really need that that pair of brown suede flats, that mini console deluxe travel cooler and warmer, or that cylinder of cinnamon pecan caramel corn? But that packaging is just so appealing...

But I digress. Today me, Pepito and Emerson stopped by Target after work and after doing the usual damage we're wheeling the cart to my car when we see it.

Running down the diameter of my spare tire's shell is a LONG and DEEP scratch. Nooooo!!! My car is only 6 months old and already it is scarred. Dangit. I was so pissed. 1. The scratch was not there yesterday and 2. The little sis had my car all day today. Grrrr...

Birthday Boys

Saturday was all for the January birthdays. Kevin, Salvador, Rocky, and (next week) Yone, are all 1 year older. Woot woot! The day was filled with knights, horses, presents, Kung Fu Hustle, mahjong and food, food, food. Haha, Xin left some *cough* creative tags up at flickr which I'm sure the guys will appreciate. :)

Listening To:
The Soul Sessions
By: Joss Stone






Do you ever call those numbers you don't recognize on your cell phone? Most of the time I just ignore them 'cause I figure if you're calling for something important you'll leave a message. But today I checked my phone after work and I had three missed calls, 2 of which were the same number. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to call that number back. Four rings pass then someone answers "N******** Foods". !!! That's the company I was interviewing with last month, the one that made me take all those tests. Turns out they emailed me earlier asking me to come in again.

I mean, that's a good thing and all, I made it to another round, but I'm not feeling as happy as I thought I would be. With this company it's a step up, but with the other company I interviewed with, the culture there was awesome. I really liked the people and the energy, but in this case, I'm bordering on being overqualified for the position. Argh and add to that, now things at SLC are actually going pretty decently, dare I say things are going great. With my new co-worker, the work load is much more bearable. Sooo what to do? Well I shouldn't even be thinking too much about this until I have a written offer in my hand. Soooo there. I'm done. :) Ideally if I could I would chuck the food industry for a year or so and just travel the world...now that would be cool...

But anyways, behold, Kaizen's fave group EVAR: The Dormitory Boys !!! Gotta love that Video Gallery. :)

Whatever You Want

The current issue of Snaps Magazine has a lot of cool pics to see. This issue's theme "Whatever You Want". Issues 6-8 are still up too so get to clickin'!

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Boy am I having a bad case of the blahs...

A Million Little Lies?

Like countless other people, I bought A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, today at Barnes in fact, after watching a compelling Oprah show. Then I find this from The Smoking Gun. I'm thinkin' Oprah's not too pleased.

Can You Tell

Which one is the robot? In case you're wondering the robot, Repliee Q1, is on the left and her co-creator Hiroshi Ishiguru is on the right. It's a bit hard to tell isn't it? From the National Geographic site:

"Repliee Q1 (at left in both pictures) appeared on June 9 at the 2005 World Expo in Japan, where she gestured, blinked, spoke, and even appeared to breathe. Shown with co-creator Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University, the android is partially covered in skinlike silicone....Internal sensors allow the android to react "naturally." It can block an attempted slap, for example. But it's the little, "unconscious" movements that give the robot its eerie verisimilitude: the slight flutter of the eyelids, the subtle rising and falling of the chest, the constant, nearly imperceptible shifting so familiar to humans..."

Creepy. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Un-Meaningful

Hey all-back for the new year. What day is today? With all these random days off for the holidays, I've been kinda disoriented time-wise. For the past two weeks I'd wake up and wonder do I go to work today? I always have a hard time wrapping my mind around accepting a new year. Another year has passed so quickly with more weddings, more babies getting born and more old people event things. Crazy!
I was resolved to write meaningful posts this year. Posts of importance, posts of substance! So I tried to do that today and...I got nothin'! So posts about meaningless crap it is. :)
No work today, so I tried to do some after Christmas/New Years clearance shopping, hence the Pier One mirror shot. Nothing much to speak of left which may be a good thing because I am thinking about getting this:


I want this camera.

I need this camera.

It's the Canon Digital Rebel 350D XT. I could really go for the Canon 20D, but for the money and my experience level, I think the 350D is the way to go. I've been looking to move up to a dslr for a while and Canon is having a rebate promotion going on until January 15th where you can get up to 3 times the rebate amount back depending on the items you buy. So should I take the plunge? The holidays have left my wallet hurting but when can I get the camera any cheaper? Oh dilemmas, dilemmas. Don't even get me started on what lens(es) to get. I've been doing research and it looks like it's practically a crime to not get the 50mm/1.4. I'm just wondering if it's going to work as a "walk around" lens for me.

The last time I had an slr in my hands was probably high school so I've been itching to get my hands on one again. My lil p&s has been loyal to me and it will still be my "take everywhere" camera but I think the 350D will give me that extra bit of freedom I'm looking for in composing shots. The past year has largely been about dusting off old hobbies as a result some of my pics have been featured in some other places - nothing huge and I'm not quitting my dayjob, but it's a neato feeling when someone asks for your permission to use your stuff. :) So hopefully more of the same in 2006. Here's to doing what makes you happy!

And Dance By the Light of the Moon

Christmas 20(!!!) years ago. This was taken in my old kindergarten teacher's classroom when I was in 1st grade. I didn't want to take it, but Miss Nancy said I'd be glad I did it when I'd get older. I think she was right. :)

Fast forward to the present. All the presents are wrapped. The food's done getting cooked and I'm getting ready to head out while "It's a Wonderful Life" is on. I love Christmas! Have a good one!

Santa and Me!

Well, not really. But that's the name of the site on which this picture appears that features vintage photos with Santa. Browse for some holiday photo fun.

On a side note, why do I always find the perfect gift for someone once I give them something else. Oy, my credit card is tired...

Buena Vista Social Club

I love, love, love this CD. Afro-Cuban jazz at it's finest. I first came upon Buena Vista Social Club while listening to an online radio station a while ago. The song Chan Chan started to play and from the first few chords I was drawn in. Then this achingly beautiful horn solo comes out of nowhere and my ears just about melted in sheer pleasure. Other notable tracks: El Cuarto De Tula, El Carretero and Dos Gardenias.
Check out the Amazon link above to stream some of the music and this PBS site for more info. If you like what you hear, let me know and I'll send along the songs. :)

---
Round 2 in the interview game was yesterday. Well, first I had to stop off at the place where I had the 1st interview to do a 33 page personality test. I don't know what is up with this company. How many more damn tests do I have to do? Then I rushed over to the second company, and met with a senior manager and project leader. Lo and behold the senior manager says "Not to put you on the spot but I have some problems I want you to work on." and pulls out a pile of papers. Another "test"! Turns out I had to write 2 essays and do three math word problems in 15 minutes. I felt like was taking a final for school and I hadn't studied at all! I think I squeezed out some decent answers but we'll see. I really liked this company, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I can't wait til this is all over...

This Sums Up My Weekend

Awwww...

Who Do You Look Like?

Today I came across this site from My Heritage.com where you upload a pic of yourself and have the site search it's celebrity databases for a facial match.

My top 5 matches:
1. Reika Hashimoto
2. Halle Berry
3. Ninet Tayeb
4. Zhang Ziyi
5. Bipasha Basu

Quite a multicultural bunch eh? Can't say that any of them look close to me.
Give the site a try, who knows who you look like?

Let It Snow Damnit!

Listening To:
Be
By: Common



Please, please, PLEASE may it snow A LOT tomorrow!

My boss says if it snows a lot, there's no way she's coming to work and to be fair, we don't either. Yes! As soon as I heard that, my mind was made up that I wasn't going to work the next day. Hmmm, the news keps reporting how the city is preparing for the snow tomorrow. Dangit. But if I see a three hour travel time for the outbound Kennedy, awww hells no am I going to work. It better snow loads tomorrow so I get my snow day wish.

Around the House

6 Hours at Woodfield

SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP

And It's Not Even Officially Winter Yet

Usually I can be home from work in twenty minutes with no traffic, but today the trip took almost 2 1/2 hours. Hello winter! Don't you wish you could have snow days with work? You would turn on your TV while you get ready for the day and lo and behold your company's name is scrolling at the top of the screen along with a message saying they're closed for the day. Then you would spend the day playing in the clean snow or putzing around the house in your pj's with some hot chocolate in hand...

Back to reality: here's a quick snap of the outside world (with some Christmas tree lights twinkling back) as viewed from my front door. Stay warm!

Minimiam

Whoever said "Don't play with your food" obviously has not seen the photos of Pierre Javelle & Akiko Ida. Minimiam combines tiny plastic figures and food to make some delicious photos. By manipulating scale and composition, whipped cream becomes an immaculate snowcovered field for sledding and tart pans become ice rinks where miniature skaters effortlessly glide. Who knew cauliflower would look so good?

Ouch

Oh man...I am so glad that "interview" is over...

The interview was slated to start at 9am.
I didn't come back 'til 3:45.
That's how long it took.

I took three tests. 1st test: basic math, no calculators. Not too bad but when was the last time you had to long division by hand with long ass numbers? Second test: 2 pages of columns and columns of numbers in teeny tiny print and I had to mark which columns had the same numbers. Weird. Third test, logic and word questions. At this point I'm thinking "Wtf?".

Afterwards I was grilled twice by a panel of three employees who were all managers and directors of research and development of various products. Horror of horrors! It's like this: I easily get all jittery if I'm on the spot and at that point, word vomit just spews itself from my mouth. I cease making sense and I mumble and it's just awful. Well at least they took me out to lunch. Butternut squash ravioli at Feast was good but really I was in no mood to enjoy it. I thought this was over, but I have to go back again for ANOTHER damn test. A personality one this time. Don't know how I'm gonna sneak out of work this time. I'm totally out of vacation time. Looks like it's time to be *cough, cough* sick...

You know what made me feel better though? M sent along this mp3 of a prank call from Roy Wood Jr. Freakin' HILARIOUS! Please play it! Find it here and click on any of the Barbara's Checks links under prank calls and enjoy!

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

Stupid Blogger has been having hiccups as of late...

So how was your weekend?

Mine can be summed up with
1. Kids at the hospital sharing how their sisters passed gas.
2. Empanadas, lomitos, and mangotinis...oh my! ATC was right. Argentinian food rocks! Thanks for the suggestion - my stomach was very happy. :)
3. Driving through the winter wonderland that is Wisconsin on Sunday. Again. Hopefully this is close to the last time. Made for some pretty scenery though.

So what will this week bring? The Christmas spirit is getting infectious and I'm running on happy juice. As I write this, the tree is getting assembled downstairs while an old Christmas record (yes, record - old school baby!) we've had since I was a kid is playing. Somehow it isn't Christmas without hearing Johnny Cash singing Little Drummer Boy at least once during the season, haha. Being the procrasinator that I am, I haven't started shopping of course and I don't even know where to start this year. Twenty more days to go...plenty of time! I really need to go on a (picture) shooting spree. Haven't felt right being postless on flickr. That will come soon, I just have to take care of some important stuff for the time being. Speaking of...my break is over...back to work I go...

Because You Don't Hear It Often Enough

Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places...

Sometimes you need a little (or BIG) reminder that "You Are Beautiful" too.

Check out the The 2005 Year in Review and the Installations links in the YAB site to see what I mean. Better yet, get yourself the stickers and a camera and participate in the project too.