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Obsessed with Being Popular

March 11, 2010 by Yuriko

When I was in high school, I must admit that I wished I was more popular.  I wished that everyone knew who I was and I had a lot of friends.  It turns out that many times, I had friends because I was very studious.  And because I was so studious, I was voted Most Studious.  Funny, eh?

Now that I’m older and in the real world, I’m finding that though I like my privacy, I also want people to see my photos and read my blog posts.  I love meeting new people and talking to new people because you can always learn something from someone.  So, it seems that now that I have set up my blog and my web identity, so to speak, I am craving attention.  I would love to have more people visit my blog, but in order to do that, I have to find out how to drive more traffic to my blog.

I suppose I can use Twitter to help, but I seem to have a small following there as well.  I don’t have a billion followers, but then again, I’m not following a billion people either.  I suppose I can change that and see how that works, but what is the point in just following so many people and not really connecting to them?  Isn’t the point of Twitter is to start a conversation?  I still really haven’t had much of a conversation yet.  Anyone wanna try?  Tweet me!

I’ve also heard that in order to get more traffic, you need to visit more sites and comment on other blogs.  I’m working on that.  I have started surfing and looking around to find new and interesting blogs to read.

Digg and StumbleUpon seem to also help in that you can get exposure and people see you commenting and maybe they’ll look at your profile and look at your site.

All of this traffic-driving is a work in progress.  I’m sure I’ll come back and let you all know how it’s going.  Hopefully, I’ll have more of an audience next time.

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Sincerely Yours….

March 10, 2010 by Yuriko

I was watching the news last night and there was a story about a woman from Sacramento who dropped a message in a bottle while she was on a cruise a few years ago around Boston.  The message ended up in a small village in Nova Scotia and the finder’s wife and this woman have been pen pals ever since.  That’s pretty cool!

I got to thinking that through all the emails and the updates and tweets, we have really lost the art of writing.  Now, for example in Twitter, we have to find a way to convey our message in a meaninful way in 140 characters or less.  I may have touched upon the subject of the whole new language barrier we might end up with a few years down the road where people will be using OMG and LOL in their business letters.  People now see walkmans and don’t even remember them.  Will this be the fate of the letter?

When you send a letter, you’re not only sending words, you’re sending part of you.. A memory, a smell, (yes, letters smell), your penmanship.  It takes time to actually write a letter… and you really have to think about what you want to say because it’s really hard to delete the words in a hand-written letter without the use of white-out.

I used to have a pen pal years ago. (Hi David!) And it was always so exciting to get mail from him.  We would send pages and pages of mail each time and it was fun to read what was going on in his life and tell him what was happening in mine (even though it was zero).  But just having the mail come through the mail slot was exciting!

Have we become so impatient that we cannot wait for a letter to come in the mail?  Has technology taught us that it’s okay to demand instant gratification?  We now have e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, twittering, facebook updates from your cell phone.

An interesting point from Not Supermum: you can’t get the same reminiscent feelings that a love letter can give from a text message or an e-mail.  Can you imagine saving an email from your lover/husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfiend on a piece of plain printer paper?  What kind of sentimental value would that bring?  You can put love letters in a scrapbook or a shoebox to keep and enjoy later… can you do that with a twitter message or a text message?

Years from now, would your text message be found in an attic somewhere by your grandchildren like your old photographs or love letters from an old flame?

Posted in thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Shut Up and Drive Already!

March 9, 2010 by Yuriko

Did you know that one of my biggest pet peeves is when I see people driving with a cell phone glued to their face?

Starting July 1, 2008 (that’s almost 2 years ago), drivers in California are prohibited from driving “a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.”

Since then, I have seen countless numbers of people puttering down the freeway and on city streets with cell phones stuck to their ears.  I have even seen people using their speakerphone but they are still holding the phone up to talk into it.  I think that’s just a stupid technicality!  I think people should remind themselves that the law states that the driver has to have a phone that allows hands-free listening and talking.  Talking being the operative word here.  So, for those drivers that think that they can get away with talking on the speakerphone up to your face, I don’t think you’ve read the law correctly.

I recently read about a girl in Southern California who has found the ultimate loophole.  The article from Wirefly.com shows a photo of the girl with what looks like her right foot up to her head, holding a Motorola Razr cell phone while she’s “driving”.  Now, that’s just wrong!  The article even mentions that one cop that stopped her, saw what she could do with her legs, and gave her his phone number… well, we all know what He wants… and it’s not girl scout cookies or sales for the policeman’s ball. *wink wink*  Doesn’t he have any moral standards?  Sheesh!

According to a CNET article about an application to help teens stay off cell phones while driving by blocking calls and texts,

Distracted drivers are the cause of a reported 5,870 fatalities and 515,000 injuries in the past year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

I really do wish that California drivers would get some common sense.  If the conversation is that important, pull over and park the car!  If it’s an emergency, should you really be driving in the first place?  Wouldn’t you be all emotionally charged and stressed out?  In that case, it’s not recommended that you drive anyway, right?  I think we, as a society, have become too dependent upon cell phones.

Distracted drivers are still the number one cause of accidents.  And the new law has not really been enforced.  The fines are small, so people don’t care.. and so they continue to putter down the road with their cell phones in their faces.  Would it be too much of an inconvenience to ban cell phones all together?  Would it make sense?  Would it help?

Posted in thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Sugary Sweet Chick Flicks

March 7, 2010 by Yuriko

I’ve been overdosing on the chick flicks for the past few hours.  I first watched Sex and the City, the Movie, then I popped in He’s Just Not That Into You, which I must admit, have seen this for the second time and still I have not seen the whole movie.  I don’t know what it is but I always end up “finding something else to do while I’m watching that movie.”  Be it knitting, cleaning, or cooking dinner.  I have it on but I don’t want to sit down and watch it.

Now popped Hitch into the dvd player for a spell.  It’s actually one of those movies that is really cute and funny and it’s not necessarily focused on the female lead.  Most chick flicks seem to speak for the woman.. the female.. the soft, sensitive one that’s taken advantage of by the man.  In this movie, the man is the focus and we get to see that it’s not all about the woman.  Hmm.. that’s a thought, isn’t it.

I suppose the rest of the lineup for today is:

  • Bewitched
  • When Harry Met Sally
  • The Holiday

It’ll be an early evening… and I need to catch up on Castle.

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Trying to Keep Up

March 6, 2010 by Yuriko

Hey Everyone,
I thought I’d write this post as note to the readers out there. Specifically, YOU! Yes, you! I know you’re reading. I’m practically anal about the stats right now, even though I shouldn’t be because they really aren’t much in the way of stats anyway.

Today was a pretty boring day, filled with watching movies, watching my dogs sleep, and watching my crops grow on Facebook.  I actually had a thought about a post earlier, but unfortunately, I didn’t write it down.  I should know better by now, really.  But, I’m still making the rookie mistake.

And I know I want more traffic to my blog, in a way… but also I’d like to have a little bit of privacy.  Tough choice, right?  I know what you’re saying:  You can’t have it both ways! True.  But I think I can keep some information out of my posts so at least I have the false sense of security about privacy.  I’m sure every detail of myself is out somewhere because I’ve never lived under a rock.  Trying to get more traffic is easy, according to numerous blogs and sites about driving traffice to your own site.  The main idea is to visit other sites and post comments on their sites.

Yes, I used to do that when I had more free time.  I used to religiously seek out blogs and read them and comment and keep up.  A lot of them were fun.  One in particular was a blog by a woman who loved Sex and the City and she blogged about situations that the SATC characters would face.  For the life of me, however, I cannot find the link to it.  I do recall that she did refer to herself as Fat Carrie and I loved reading her posts. If anyone knows where this blog is, please post the link?  Please?

I seemed to visit blogs where the bloggers were women.  I don’t know if it was a surge of girl power or just something to pass the time.  I seemed to be turned off by male bloggers, for some reason.  Maybe they were the particular blogs I ran into or just the particular posts.  But female bloggers seemed to relate to me better.  And besides, since I had moved away from my hometown, it was harder to keep up with friends on a personal level… and so keeping up on blogs made it a little easier and less lonely.  Plus, it was always nice to know that my life wasn’t the only one that was screwed up.

So, now I’m scouring the web again, looking for more interesting blogs to read (and post comments on).  I found a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer blog to read, which is pretty good… but I’m still looking for more.  I guess I want to surround myself with lots of blogs so I wouldn’t feel so alone or bored.

If any of you have any interesting blogs to share, please do so!  I’d love to check out new things!  Thanks, everyone!

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High Praises

March 5, 2010 by Yuriko

Oh my goodness.  I was just on the internet, looking up the name Drusilla, which is a character from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, but also I think that was also the name of Diana Prince’s little sister from the Wonder Woman series.  I think it’s a pretty name and so I was just looking up the name for a meaning.

The meaning according to Wikipedia: fruitful or dewy-eyed.

I also found a site that had some artwork of the Drusilla character from Buffy.  My goodness!  His pencil-sketch of Drusilla is amazing! I really love it!  If you get  chance, check it out!  You won’t regret it!

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Learning to Relax

March 5, 2010 by Yuriko

When most people want to relax, they take a nice hot bath, read a book, or take a long walk.  For me, I love playing video games.  There’s something about playing a game that just sets you free.  I really don’t care if people criticize people who play games.  It’s pretty obvious that those that criticize have not tried it.

These days, I play on my Wii, but I also find myself on Facebook, waiting for a crop to grow on Country Life or serving some new dishes at Cafe World.  There’s something about planting, waiting, and harvesting that just helps you relax and calm yourself.

I also take baths sometimes, but it doesn’t really help me relax as much.. just makes me sweaty.  How do you relax?

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Has Bon Jovi Become Too Preachy?

March 3, 2010 by Yuriko

My husband and I recently attended the Bon Jovi concert in Sacramento at the Arco Arena.  We had seen the Lost Highway tour in San Jose in 2008 and so we were equally excited that they were coming to Sacramento, where we had just moved, especially since (according to Jon Bon Jovi, they had not played in Sacramento since their Bounce tour about 6 years ago).

The set list can be found here.  I was actually surprised that I recognized a lot of his songs.  I had listened to him when I was growing up — Livin’ on a Prayer, Never Say Goodbye.. but I really hadn’t discovered his music until recently… when my husband kept asking me to listen to more of his music.  So, I found Have a Nice Day, Bounce, It’s My Life, Runaway, all of which I love!

But, I have noticed that his latest album has a few songs that seem to reach out to the common man.  That’s fine.  But I’m wondering if he is trying to connect too hard with the common man that he’s forgotten that we love Bon Jovi for the Rock’n'Roll!  We loved Bad Medicine and You Give Love a Bad Name… and those songs were not trying to connect to regular people at all.  There are some songs from The Circle that I happen to love, such as Superman Tonight and Bullet (which they did not perform).

But there was a song that seemed a bit “churchie” with their Hallelujahs.  If I wanted Hallellujahs, I would go to church.  Okay, this is one of the reasons I don’t go to church, other than the fact that I find organized religion a bit hypocritical… but that is a whole other post.  Then, there was the We Weren’t Born to Follow, which in itself is not preachy, but it does sort of push people to be themselves and stand up for themselves.  Work for the Working Man is the one song that I could not listen to.  That song is one song on The Circle, that I wish they had left out.  It reaches out to the common man, trying to convince them that they understand what regular people go through.  I just could not stand the song.  Period.  Sorry, Jon.  Love you and the band, but can you please go back to your roots?  Stop telling us to love each other.  We already know we should.  Sing how you love your friends.  Your life.

It’s your life, afterall.  And we love hearing about it in your songs!

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What the World Will Be Without Saturday Mail

March 3, 2010 by Yuriko

I don’t know about you, but I will surely miss getting the mail on Saturday. According to CNN Money, the USPS is considering cutting their Saturday service. They are facing such debt that they have already began reducing their workforce and closing some distribution centers.

I believe that the reduction of mail volume has a direct correlation to our society today. We are so dependent upon instant gratification that I find more and more people do not have any patience.  I remember the days when I had pen pals and we would write each other a few times a month.  It was so exciting to get the letters because it was nice to get notes from friends.

I’ve had relationships where we sent packages, letters, postcards and it was always special to receive such things in the mail.  It was like Christmas every day!  But now that there’s text messaging and instant messaging and email, the post office has become less and less relevant.  There is still a use for the post office, especially in the business world.  But letter writing has become a lost art.  I wonder if people still have good penmanship.  Can young people write well and legibly?  Or are they dependent on computers and keyboards?

On that note, I fear the kids today.  Sure, they can text message quickly to their friends, using shortcuts.  But will they be able to survive in the real world?  Can they switch off the text message mode and actually speak and write well?  Will they have use proper grammar and spelling?  Or will we see more LOLs and TTYL instead of Sincerely yours?

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Why I Think Some People Should Not Procreate

March 1, 2010 by Yuriko

I was reading this article online today about how a toddler ( a 3 year old girl) got hold of a gun and accidentally shot herself in the hand.  Luckily, she’s all right.  But a few questions pop into my head:

  1. What was a gun doing out?
  2. What was a loaded gun doing out?
  3. How did the kid get hold of the gun?
  4. Where was the parent or guardian when all this was happening?
  5. Why was the gun loaded again?

Come on, people.  Toddlers are notorious for getting into things.  They are Houdinis when it comes to getting into trouble.  The more you tell them to leave it alone, the more they want to play with it.  So, the solution usually is to put the gun away.  Put it out of sight and out of reach with a lock on the gun, on the gun safe, and it should also remain unloaded.

I do not know if the gun was the parents’ or what the situation is.  But, from the article, you can assume a lot of things.  Obviously, the parent was not watching the kid.  Obviously, the parent had the gun readily available.

So, I pose the question:  should someone like this procreate?  If you’re not going to watch your child, why have one?

Posted in parenting | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Consistent Blogging

March 1, 2010 by Yuriko

What a new concept:  Actually blogging continuously for more than one day!  I’ve always found blogging really fun, but then I would run out of things to say to the world.  Of course, there is always something to say, but I am limiting my opinions to those I would say out loud to people I know.  So, that would mean that this blog would not contain any bad remarks about work or people I know personally.

Now that the rules are set, even though they are very loose rules, I can continue to blog freely about things I see every day.  I am hoping that eventually I will have a consistent topic.  And that will take time.  For now, I can just write about things that come to me.

There are a few things I would like to write about and those will be covered in the next few posts.

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More Fish in the Sea… right?

February 28, 2010 by Yuriko

My husband and I are looking at buying a house.  Even though we had just moved into an apartment, we knew that it would take us a little time to find the right place.

We thought we had found the right place in Wilton, CA on a nice 4+ acre lot with two homes and a barn with enough room to build a pool for him, a dog run for our dogs, and a nice secret garden for me so we can have our own fruits and veggies.  We tried to contact the realtor, but noone ever called us back, so out of curiosity, we decided to drive the 25+ miles from our current home to just look at the property.  (We figured we could at least look at the area and the exterior of the place.)

When we finally got there, passing cows, horses, and vineyards, we found the place and it was cute!  I loved it on the drive down, because it was so quiet and pretty secluded.  We pulled into the driveway, which still had the for sale sign on it… (no pending, no sold).  Then, as we were sitting there, two trucks pulled up next to us and some men got out, claiming the house and land was bought 6 days ago. (Even though the listing I saw was from yesterday.)  Maybe the realtors don’t update as often as they should.

We were extremely disappointed because we loved the area and the property.  But there are plenty of others out there.  I guess we’ll just have to keep looking.

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Redoing the Website using iWeb

February 26, 2010 by Yuriko

I had no idea how fun making a web page could be. It’s actually really nice not having to deal with code and just dragging and dropping whatever I want on the page.

The problem I had was actually publishing it onto my site. Since I hadn’t used my accounts in a while, I ended up really having to guess my passwords…(No, I am not one of those that keep lists of passwords handy — that could be good or bad.) But eventually, thanks to Firefox and its saving of passwords, I was able to log into my account and then I had to figure out the publishing screen on iWeb.

Well, from looking at the site, you could probably tell I was able to finish and publish it. That was fun!

Next stop: Page 2 of the site, my photo gallery.

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So Much Stuff.. So Little Room

February 12, 2010 by Yuriko

It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate in such a short amount of time. When I first moved out of my family’s house, I remember I had about 50 boxes of stuff, including clothes and other things that I thought I needed.

The next time I moved with my husband, I think I had about 200 boxes… plus dressers, beds, etc.

This time, we ended up bringing a truckload of boxes in a 17 footer Uhaul… yes, just boxes. And it was nearly full. I think we even bought some more boxes to move.

Since moving in a month ago, I believe we have gotten rid of a few things, but somehow, there still seems to be no room. I can’t imagine how I fit so much stuff into a smaller apartment. This is a bigger apartment and it doesn’t seem like everything will fit!

I guess I will need to do some more sorting and tossing…

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A new day…a new phone

February 9, 2010 by Yuriko

This is my first post from my new phone..and already I love the android fender. Woo hoo! !!

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