Dear Stuarts,

ATTN: STUARTS OF THE WORLD!

A long time ago, back in College, I grew very frustrated one day at all the people who misspelled my first name. In an attempt to cool off, I logged on to Facebook and started stalking people.

I noticed that some of my friends who had unusual names belonged to various “common interest” facebook groups where everyone who was a member shared the same name. That sounded appealing to me so I tried searching for one with my name….only Facebook didn’t have any listed.

So I created one of my own.

A few days later I forgot all about it.

*
*
*
*

Fast forward to 2011 – and the group now has over thirty members in it. Pretty good for a Facebook Group with almost no advertisement! But now I’m figuring it’s time to start advertising!  

SO - if *your* first name is Stuart and you happen to read this blog – please join my Facebook Group!

You won’t regret it….and and will probably forget all about it a few days later.

It's not me, it's you

Hey TV, do you have a minute?  We need to talk. 

Maybe you should sit down for this…..! 

I know there’s no easy way to say this and rather than tip toe around the issue like we’ve been doing the past few years, I’m just going to come out and say it:  I’m breaking up with you. 

And just so we’re clear it’s not me; it’s you. 

I know it seems like I’m springing this on you, but can you honestly say you didn’t see this coming?  The quality of your prime-time programming just doesn’t satisfy me anymore.  My once-favorite shows like The Office & How I met your Mother have just dropped to an all-time low.  And why the hell is Two & a Half Men still on the air?  3 times a night every night, no less?  That show’s terrible!  And where are all these Reality-TV shows coming from??  You know how much I hate that crap! 

Look, I don’t mean to yell but I’ve been feeling this way for a while now and I’ve come to the conclusion that we would both be better off if we just didn’t see each other anymore. 

Don’t get me wrong; I still think you’re beautiful.  Heck, you’re even more beautiful than the day I met you.  How could you not be now that you switched over to satellite and hi-def resolution?  But ever since you did that, things have gotten really expensive / complicated.  I can’t even keep track of all these cable programming packages I need just to see you. 

Look, I know there are reasons to stay; I hear great things about Community, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Weeds, South Park and Modern Family…..but let’s face it: I’m never gonna be around to watch those. 

And yeah, since you asked, there *is* someone else.  Her name’s Netflix, and she’ just cheaper and easier to be with than you.  Hey – she is *NOT* a slut.  How dare you call her that?  You don’t even know her! 

Stop, just stop; I’m not going to argue with you about this.  It’s too late to change my mind.  I’m going.  I’m leaving now to give you some time to process this information with your regularly scheduled programming.  I already canceled my subscription to TV guide and you can keep have all the remotes.  I’ll be back to pick up my DVD player later—

*

*

*

Wait – did you say Parks & Recreations: Season 3 just started? 

I’M BACK, BABY!

Internet-dependent thinking?

Do you ever wonder if we rely too much on the internet to "look up" stuff? 

It's pretty easy, if you think about it - someone asks you a question; just google it. 
....or look it up on Wikipedia;

or god-willing, we can even Ask Jeeves. 

And while we all know by now that we should double-check all the info we get from online resources (so sayeth the English major in me), how often do we remember what we look up? 

I ask because in the past week, my co-workers and I have looked up random trivia online, only to forget it later that day. 

- once when my co-worker had to look up who the Lindbergh baby was.  (she forgot it that afternoon)
- and another time today where I looked up if Jehovah's witnesses celebrate birthdays (they don't)

I didn't consider it a big deal at the time, but I was driving home from work today when I tried *again* to remember if Jehovah's witnesses celebrate birthdays (turns out they don't!), I started to wonder if we take all this available-at-your-fingertips information for granted and don't really bother to learn it. 

Kind of makes me appreciate all the studying I had to do in school.  (Or maybe I just have early onset Alzheimers). 

"So How was Hawaii??"

Did I mention on this blog that I went back home to Hawaii yet? 

I go back every year around Christmas to visit my family and old friends from high school who still live on the island.  I always have a great time catching up with people and reminiscing about the ‘good ole days’ when we were young and stupid, er….not as mature as we are now. 

But whenever I tell people here (“on the mainland”) that I’m going back home to Hawaii, they bring it up ad nauseum. 

“So, are you excited to go back to Hawaii??” 
“When are you going to Hawaii??” 
“Are you counting the days?” 

And here’s the thing about being asked the same question over and over again; after a while, you start to lose your enthusiasm for the topic.  In a way, it’s kind of like being bombarded with the same piece of news over and over again….! 

Until, eventually, I got sick of people asking.  And it’s the same thing when I get back…..! 

“So how was Hawaii?” 
“Did you go surfing??” 

“You look so tan!” 

“Was it fun?” 
“Did you have fun?”

And usually that’s when they look at me expectantly, waiting for me to give them their vicarious thrill-fix.  (My stories usually disappoint them)   

Don’t get me wrong – going back home is *always* great.  Christmas is a time for family and I appreciate being able to come home a lot.  But, to me, Hawaii isn’t some exotic place where I can be adventurous and try new things; it’s not that kind of vacation.  I go back to visit family and reconnect with friends.  In fact, when I go home, that’s pretty much *all* I want to do. 

That and eat the “ono food”….it was probably the one thing I didn’t get sick of talking about! 

I even made a list of all the food I wanted to eat as soon as I got back, entitled “THING TO EAT IN HAWAII:    

-          Shave Ice

-          Mochiko chicken

-          Curry house curry

-          Zippy’s Chili

-          Ahi Poke

-          Jello cream pie

I’m glad to say I finished the list. 

*NOM* *NOM* *NOM* 

Resolutions 2011

As is my tradition during Januarys (Januaries?), I try to come up with New Years Resolutions to follow through on in hopes that I grow and become a better, more evolved human being.

It doesn’t always work, but the important thing is that **I TRY.**

So, after spending (literally) a few minutes thinking about how I want to improve myself this year, I came up with the following resolutions:

Say “No” more often: You ever feel like you try to do too much? I feel like that a lot these days….and the majority of it has to do with my inability to say “no” to people; different friends will invite me to hang out with them at the same time and I find myself saying “yes” to them regardless of the scheduling conflict. It’s what causes me to leave early and arrive late.

Make more plans: This is the other effort I’m making to manage my free time better. By organizing my own get-togethers, I can invite whoever I want

Take a summer vacation (for real this time): I broke this resolution last year, but I intend to keep it in 2011. Not sure where I’m going yet, but……….hoping to see my friend, Amos, in Europe!

Take the GRE: Not sure if I ever mentioned this before (too lazy to look back in my Blog archives right now), but I made a plan to go back to school before I hit 30. It’s a slow process as Grad School isn’t cheap and I’ve only started saving since last year (2010). The cost of tuition alone is very discouraging. But they say to take things one step at a time, so that’s what I’m going to do starting at the beginning. And that first step? Take the GRE (and get a good score).

So there you have it, folks – my New Year’s resolutions for 2011. It’s not the traditional kind that most people do, but I think keeping them specific is what helps you achieve them.

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS??

In the year, 2010...!

Hey Blogspot – long time no post!
(Sorry about that, btw)

So I think I kept about a third of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010: 2 out of 5 isn’t great, but it’s better than nothing, but it’s better than nothing….!

- cut back on the sugar.
- keep this blogspot account for the whole year. 

And while I didn’t really keep track on exactly how much less sugar I consumed last year, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed I was able to blog as much as I did in 2010. And while I tend to think that 2010 was an overall crummy year in my life – see posts from last year – I’m pretty proud of some of the posts I wrote.

….particularly the one about Hipster-hate & my theory on why people hate L.A. (Although the one entitled “Speaking of movies…!" got the most comments by far ~ mostly SPAM, but still….!)

I’m also pretty proud of a lot of the things I actually set out to do that I got accomplished: my volunteering, competing in dance competitions, my promotion, etc. etc.

So maybe it *wasn’t* such a crummy year….!

Anyway – as I said in my first post of 2010 – I wanted to keep this blog for a year to see how I liked it….and I do (like it). And especially now that my new job takes up a lot more of my time, I probably won’t be able to commit to a blog like I should if I went back to Xanga, so I think I’m going to stick with Blogspot.

Also – it’s kind of a pain (for me and all of you) to just up-and-move blogs again……!

Happy 2011, everyone!
May it be the best year we’ve had yet!

My "To-Do list" Life

My friend, Evan, noticed a habit of mine where I refer to everything that I do as a nagging obligation, even activities that I normally enjoy. I didn’t believe him at first, but then I looked at one of my infamous “To Do” lists and realized he was right:

TO DO:
1. Watch Netflix movies
2. Check facebook / catch up on webcomics
3. Drinks at Lucky Baldwins

And while I have now added “do not refer to fun activities as obligations” to my list of things to do, I had to argue that, in the hectic lifestyle of the modern-day twenty-something year-old, I kind of *need* to think of those things as obligations…..otherwise, I’ll dismiss them in lieu of other, more pressing things that I feel I need to do. 

But really – I need to devote as much time to the fun things in life as I do my responsibilities….and thinking of them as obligations is how I get it done.

I started this train of thought when I realized I don’t write as much as I used to anymore. In college I did a lot of writing; even produced a play or two. But I always viewed it as more of a ‘hobby’ than anything else….and work would always come first.

Later, as my work / responsibilities piled up, the less time I had to devote to writing and now….I don’t write. At least not the way I used to.

....and I kinda regret that.

Sorry this post is such a downer, but I've been meaning to write it for a while.