A little late (on my part)

Someone did a song about Sasha Cohen to the tune of Copacabana.

What Kind of VW Are You?

Which VW Are You?

by Auto Glass Across America

Yep, I'm a Bus. I don't consider this to be an insult to my New Beetle, though, because a Bus played a big part in developing my love for VWs. My parents owned a 67 when I was little, and they even drove it on a trip around the country and camped in it. It started out white, and my dad painted the lower half red when I was two. He let me help him sand it before painting, and apparently I was so into it that they had to keep me inside for a while after he painted it because I wanted to keep sanding!

They sold the Bus soon after we moved to Indiana because it didn't have enough heat, and my dad says that when they told me, I went outside and sat in it for two hours. I was two and a half at the time. I remember eating in the Bus only once -- we had McDonald's on the little table in the back and my Oma was with us.

A couple of years ago, lisa took us for a ride in 9Westy, and it felt just like riding in my dad's Bus. I don't know how I know that, because I don't have any memories of actually riding in it, but somehow I know.

Loop in program

With the Boat, Sport, and Travel Show taking away a lot of my ice time lately (we always lose club ice time from mid-February to mid-March because of it) and life getting in the way, I haven't had as much practice time as I'd like. One of my goals for this quarter was to start landing my loop in my program, and I did just that a week ago Thursday (twice, in fact!). Maybe it'll show up for Skate Cincinnati in two weeks.

Power class

I hadn't taken a power class in a while, and I didn't get to skate much this week, so I decided to go on Friday. This particular class is a walk-on, not the kind where you sign up and pay for several weeks, and it's at a convenient time. There were nine skaters, and I was the only adult. My coach said that I'd probably be in the middle speed-wise, but I was definitely one of the slower skaters.

Sometimes one of the kids would request a specific exercise to do. Although I'd done most of them before, I knew them by different names. One of the exceptions was the seal crawl, which is surprisingly difficult. You lie face-down on the ice with your feet splayed out like a seal and support yourself on your hands, propelling yourself down the ice using only your arms. I had my own cheering section for that one -- the skate moms in the bleachers thought I was pretty hilarious.

The power classes I've taken in the past have focused more on technique, and I missed that. Also, a short water break at some point would have been helpful. Otherwise it was good. I think I'll go again next week.

Four for Friday

Last week I neglected to link to belicove.com, where I get these from. Mikal, I apologize.

This week's Four for Friday:

Q1 - Pay E-mail: Starting in April, AOL will charge companies about 1/4 of a cent to send e-mail messages to its users that will bypass the company's filters. E-mails from paying companies will go straight to a user's inbox, while e-mails from non-paying companies will go through a gauntlet of filters that could divert them to a junk-mail folder or strip them of images and links, even if they're not spam. How do you feel about this? Should companies like AOL be able to put policies like these into place because they protect its customers, or pay E-mail a bad idea because it doesn't account for bulk messages sent by not-for-profits or other legitimate groups who cannot afford to pay the price to bypass the system?

I don't think AOL should be stripping images and links in the first place. I appreciate the spam folder at Gmail, for example, and at home Outlook is getting better at diverting spam into my junk mail folder, but I don't want my ISP keeping messages from me; I want to decide what's legitimate. Putting them in a separate folder for me is helpful, but I don't want them to disappear before I've had a chance to decide what they are. Oops, I think I ranted on the wrong subject. I don't think pay e-mail is a good idea.

Q2 - Weather: Do you check your weather report on a daily basis? Regardless of how often you check, where do you go for information about the weather... newspaper, television, radio, or do you receive your weather reports via the Internet?

I usually listen for the weather report on the radio on my way to work. I sometimes check it online if I think the weather might get in the way of my plans or if I haven't heard a weather report in a couple of days.

Q3 - Sold: What's the last thing you sold (both personally and professionally)?

The last thing I sold personally was a book on half.com. The last thing I sold professionally is harder -- I don't work in sales right now, but my company does sell things. Probably books at the IU Bookstore in 1996.

Q4 - Footwear: How many different pairs of shoes do you own verses how many you actually wear on a regular basis?

I own about 40 pairs of shoes, and some of them are of course seasonal. I probably wear 25 of them on a regular basis throughout the year.

Four for Friday

Q1 - Birthdays: How many different birthdays do you have committed to memory, and aside from using your own noggin, how do you keep track of all the others?

I have a strange propensity for remembering birthdays. I know probably fifty or sixty off the top of my head. Some of those belong to people I haven't seen or heard from in a number of years. Just in case I would forget, I write them down in an old weekly calendar I never used that's bound like a hardback book and has pictures of kittens in it. I picked it because it had a lot of space and because it wasn't super-obvious that the calendar was for a certain year -- it isn't laid out in a grid.

Q2 - Seaport Security: A government-owned company in the United Arab Emirates volunteered late yesterday afternoon to delay its $6.8 Billion takeover of most operations at six U.S. seaports. The delay allows President George W. Bush time to convince skeptical members of the U.S. Congress that the deal poses no security risks. What's your feeling on this... should the United States government allow a company based in Dubai to manage seaports in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Newark?

Admittedly I'm not very informed about it, but my feeling is no.

Q3 - Telephones: Regardless of whether you use just a cell phone or a cell phone and a land line at home, does 'Voice over IP' (VoIP) technology have you thinking about switching or adding a land line at home? (In case you've never heard of VoIP, it allows for the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or any other IP-based network, and it's supposed to be a lot cheaper than paying the old-school phone companies for telephone service.)

I would think about it, but it doesn't seem to be cheaper so far and it doesn't work when your cable Internet is out. I'm not ready to switch yet.

Q4 - 2006 Winter Olympics: Have you been watching the 2006 Winter Olympics on television? If so, which events have you enjoyed the most? If not, why?

Skating, of course. I also enjoyed snowboardcross, speed skating, and some of the skiing events. And the sports people sliding down icy tracks in various manners going really, really fast. The sport I keep missing and want to watch: curling.

Dinner plans

Steph and I are going to go to either Maggiano's or Macaroni Grill soon with a gift certificate I earned at MyPoints. I've been a MyPoints member since 1997 -- it was my first rewards program and one of the few I still belong to. I get most of my points by clicking on e-mail offers, but you can also get them by shopping through the site, which I've done on occasion. They offer a lot of rewards, such as gift certificates to Maggiano's/Macaroni Grill, Target, and many other places I like. You can also earn points by referring people, so leave a comment if you'd like me to refer you. :-)

Make your own soap

Via Lifehacker, a site that tells you how to make your own soap: Soap recipes by Elaine C. White. It should not be a surprise to anyone that I totally want to try it. I don't have time today, though -- I'm doing stuff around the house, reading my book for book club, and going to Costco.

BPAL: Snow Moon 2005

I recently picked up (via eBay) a bottle of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Snow Moon, a limited-edition A Little Lunacy oil. They offer a new limited-edition fragrance on each full moon that's available for only one day, and this was December's.

One thing to know about BPAL: The oils are all natural, not synthetic, so they smell different on everyone, and the scent often changes -- it will smell different in the bottle, when it's wet, and after it's dry.

The description: In December, the skeletal, ice-rimmed fingers of winter take hold, and the nights are long, chill and dark. The first flurries of snow touch the land, and the earth itself becomes quiet. A scent of purity and silence, soft with falling snow, as dark as Midwinter: an icy flurry over the winter blooms of narcissus, pansy crocus, dahlia, tulip, chrysanthemum and white rose, with a hint of fir and birch.

In the bottle, I like it. It's very fresh and piney. I smell a lot of pine when I first put it on, but as it dries, it changes to something that doesn't work on me. From reading reviews at the BPAL forums, I think it's a sweet floral combination that I don't like. I tried a little on my hand just now and it's better than it was the other day, but I'm afraid that note I don't like will show up again. I'm not having much luck with "cold" scents, which is a shame, because they all sound so great.

Tony Ha rocks. We love Tony Ha.

I used to have one of the oldest working cell phones. Okay, it wasn't an antique or anything, but it was four and a half years old and it was starting to show its age. Steph and I wanted to get a family plan together (when Steph's plan ran out) that would make service cheaper for both of us and would give us the ability to call each other for free. In addition, we would be able to get new phones, and Steph would be able to use her phone at her house, where she previously had pretty bad reception. We had a plan picked out and were deciding what phones we would get when I noticed that Cingular raised their prices. We decided to wait, as I wasn't about to pay more for my half of the bill than my old plan had cost.

In December, we walked by a kiosk at Castleton Square Mall that was advertising a family plan that cost less than the original family plan we were looking at. We stopped to look, and the guy working at the kiosk greeted us. His name was Tony. I started asking Tony questions about the plan, the phones, and even the length of the promotion. He answered all of them without being condescending or impatient. When we told him we weren't going to sign up that night, he wrote a lot of information down for us and gave us his card.

The next time we were in the mall, we stopped by the kiosk again, but a different guy was working. He wasn't nearly as knowledgeable or professional, and we elected to wait until Tony was working.

Later in the month, we were in the mall again (we don't always spend that much time at the mall -- it was Christmastime), we walked by and there was Tony. He remembered us and we decided to get our new phones and plan. In addition to helping us get our phones up and running and calling Cingular to get us a discount on the activation fees, Tony gave us a coupon for free car chargers (they were out of stock). He said we could call to see whether the chargers were in.

I was at the mall again (exchanging a Christmas present that didn't fit) and stopped to see if the chargers were in. The guy that wasn't Tony was working. The chargers weren't in yet, but he took my phone number and promised to call when they came in; he said they expected them the next day. I asked him about a problem that I was having with my phone (the pictures, backgrounds, and camera would stop working and I would see only broken-picture icons when I would try to select a picture) and he made the excuse that things like that would happen because the new phones were so complicated that they were more like a PDA or a computer.

No phone call came, so I called a couple of weeks ago and left a message with my work phone number asking about the chargers. About a week later, I got a voice mail at work from Tony. He said he wasn't sure that anyone had called me back, so he wanted to call just in case, and our chargers were both in. I mentioned to Steph that he'd called, and she happened to go to the mall last Friday to go to a different store. She stopped by the kiosk and Tony was there. He remembered Steph, remembered which chargers we needed, and gave them to her even though she didn't have the coupon for the chargers (I had it in my purse).

Tony Ha rocks.

Olympic opening ceremonies

Last night we watched the opening ceremonies with Team Indiana, the team I'm on for the Gay Games. It was fun to meet a lot of the other athletes, and I even won a door prize, an orange Gay Games messenger bag. So far I am the only figure skater on the team. They have a variety of sports represented: men's and women's softball teams, track and field, tennis, road race, basketball, swimming, and raquetball, among others.

We enjoyed the opening ceremonies. I think the strangest part may have been the dancing couples dressed in cow-print fabric among people pulling large cow statues around on leashes in formation. (Moo.) I always like the parade of athletes, too.

I just finished watching the end of the pairs short program and the men's 5000m speed skating. They reported that Michelle Kwan had a bad practice this morning; Steph commented earlier that it must be difficult to practice with everyone watching, and I didn't realize until tonight that they were taping TV coverage of it. They said that the ice on the speed skating oval was soft; I wonder how the ice is for the figure skaters.

You can't get there from here

Anyone want to tell me how I can get home from the Coliseum?

I can't turn out of the fairgrounds onto Fall Creek because you can't turn left on 38th St.

They herded me out the other side of the fairgrounds onto 42nd St. -- apparently they weren't letting people out on 38th St. I turned left.

I turned left on Broadway to go back toward 38th St. so I could turn left. However, it was closed after 40th St.

I turned right on 40th St. to try to get around the construction. I figured I'd go to College and get on 38th St. from there. No dice -- you can only turn right when you get to College. I turned right on College.

I continued to 42nd St., where I turned left to try to get turned back around. I turned left on Broadway and left on 40th. When I got back to College, I could only turn right, which (conveniently) was the direction I actually wanted to go.

I turned right on College and headed toward 38th St. However, you can't turn left on 38th St. from College either, so I turned in to the Walgreens parking lot just after 38th. The parking lot had an exit on 38th, so I turned right there, finally accomplishing my original goal.

I arrived home nearly an hour after stepping off the ice (and I only spent about twenty minutes of that hour taking my skates off, chatting, and petting Ellie's dog).

Weekend update from last weekend

I'm a little behind on my blog, but I thought I'd post last weekend's update anyway.

Last Friday night, I went over to Steph's and helped while she got her new TV (no, I did not lift the TV; I did other things like corraling the dog, holding the door, and moving the smaller components).

Last Saturday morning, I had a lesson and then went over to Steph's for lunch and TV watching. I came home in the afternoon to get stuff done around the house and went back to Steph's for more TV watching at night.

My dad came to visit on Sunday. We had a great day -- we cut up a pile of branches in the driveway; cut down some small trees; went to Sears, Target, and Olive Garden; and worked on a template for some holes I need to drill so I can finish a present I'm making for a friend. My dad is really good at that kind of thing, and he had lots of helpful ideas that will make the template more useful.

My dad also brings me interesting combinations of stuff. Last week he brought me a stepstool, some mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, a Burger King toy from a kid's meal (I had asked for it), and a pamphlet from the dentist about how to floss your teeth. I learned that you're supposed to floss behind your last tooth on each side -- I've been flossing incompletely for years now.

New radiator

My Honda has been losing coolant for a couple of weeks now, so I made it an appointment at Tune Tech for today. (Steph suggested the other day that I drive Phoebe until I could take the Honda in, but that wasn't practical because she too is having a coolant leak. This is the first time I can remember that the cars have had the same symptom at the same time.) The Honda needed a new radiator, which it now has, and I discovered a notation in the gas book that the old radiator had a lifetime warranty. Now I have to figure out what to do with the old radiator (which is now in my trunk) to get the company to pay for the new one.

Four Things Meme

Four Jobs I've Had

1. McDonald's employee
2. Trade desk clerk (at the IU Bookstore)
3. Copy editor
4. Associate development editor

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Fried Green Tomatoes
2. Go Fish
3. The Sound of Music
4. Truth or Dare (although that's probably not true anymore)

Four Places I've Lived

1. Baltimore, MD
2. Valparaiso, IN
3. Bloomington, IN
4. Indianapolis, IN

Four TV Shows I Love

1. Gilmore Girls
2. The Amazing Race
3. The L-Word
4. 30 Days

Four Places I've Been On Holiday

1. Arlington, VA
2. Roswell, NM
3. Europe (it was a tour; I didn't see the entire continent)
4. Tucson, AZ

Four of My Favorite Dishes

1. Thai noodles
2. Lemon chicken
3. Szechuan green beans
4. Pot roast

Four Sites I Visit Daily

1. www.commonplacebook.com
2. another pink world
3. Sardonic Bomb
4. www.belicove.com

Four Places I Would Rather Be Now

1. On a road trip
2. On the ice
3. At the Eiffel Tower
4. Somewhere warm

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging

1. lisa
2. Mykal
3. Lori B.
4. Matt

Monkey on ice!

Eight-year-old Gun-Mo learned to skate for the Animal Academy Show in Seoul, South Korea, which celebrates the Lunar New Year of the Dog. The trainer said the monkey had two weeks of lessons. Looks like Gun-Mo is having a great time!

Deborah Burgoyne North American Invitational

I competed at the Deborah Burgoyne North American Invitational in Wyandotte, MI, on Saturday. This is always one of my favorite competitions. Everyone is so nice, and people are really supportive of one another. I felt like I skated pretty well, especially considering that my knee still isn't back to normal. I didn't land my loop in either program, but it showed up for practice Friday night; I was pleased. Everyone seemed to like my interpretive program (I was the Wicked Witch of the West and I skated to "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked), and one of the skaters in the interp group before mine did another song from the same musical, "Popular." Her program was great, and we had fun posing for pictures together.

Things I learned:

* It will always snow at DBNAI. (If it doesn't, we'll have freezing rain.) It's happened seven years in a row now.
* I need to find another way to secure my witch's hat. Clips don't work. A former Wicked Witch suggested sewing a ribbon to the hat, which I'll try next. (The damn thing stayed on every time in practice, but tried to lift off my head in competition.)
* It's hard to put green makeup on the back of your neck and get it right.
* It's hard to talk on the phone while putting on green makeup.
* Sometimes I don't shake like a leaf after I compete. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for why it happens or doesn't happen.
* If I'm not going to land my loop, I can put my opposite foot down instead and do a half loop. At least it's still a real jump.

R.I.P. iPod

My beloved iPod has experienced a hard drive failure. The nice folks here at the Apple Store just gave me a new one, which is supposed to work. It'll be nice to have a reliable iPod again! I'm heading home to charge it and load it with music.

Tired

I'm amazed at how tired (and headachey) spending the day at home has made me. I haven't even done that much -- just stuff around the house. Today I

* imported all the music from my desktop computer into iTunes on my laptop
* did some laundry
* did some dishes
* did some more laundry
* reattached the lint catcher thing in my washtub after it came off and stuck in the drain, which caused water to spill out of the washtub all over the basement floor
* set up the binary clock I got for Christmas
* put away a few Christmas decorations and presents
* caught up on some blog reading
* worked on a present I'm making for a friend's birthday
* worked on my costume for my showcase program for Saturday
* did two sudoku puzzles

None of those things should make me particularly tired. Maybe I'm still feeling the effects of staying out late the other night.

Four for Friday

From belicove.com:

Q1 - You: What one person, out of all the people you know, knows you the best and knows the most about you?

Probably Steph.

Q2 - Alongside You: If you were recovering from major surgery in a hospital and could have any person, from any era, recovering in the bed next to you, who would it be?

Chaucer.

Q3 - Your Computer: Is your computer's home page set to an Internet Service Provider, news/newspaper site, blog, search engine or portal such as Google or Yahoo, or something else? ow often do you change your hompage setting?

News.

Q4 - Your Work: Would you be willing to take a fifty percent (50%) cut in pay to pursue a career or job you were one hundred percent (100%) more passionate about than your current one? If not, what percent cut in pay would you be willing to take?


Nope. I like my job and if I took a 50% cut in pay, I would have to either stop eating or move in with my dad.