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January 26, 2006
Mr. Big Shot & Big Ben
I did it!!! I got to meet Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace!! I was told to be at the Palace at 2pm, but David Hall was filming a few commercials with Ben and Chauncey. We had to wait a while for them to show up. Rasheed Wallace was supposed to be there too, but he was a no-show.
So they got there and of course, we were all trying to get pictures of them (without flashes). I got some pretty good ones, but most of them were blurry, some a lot, some not so much. I had to use my maximum zoom on most of them which made it hard to get a shot that wasn't blurry. They took a couple of hours to film their commercials, but when they were done, Steve (the guy who works with me and who was running the whole thing) introduced me to Ben and Chauncey. They held out their hands and I made sure to give them both a firm handshake.
I was a little surprised at how quiet they both were. I didn't know quite what to say to them, except hello, can I get you to sign this? Can I also get a picture with you? Thank you so much!! I almost didn't get their autographs cause I forgot to bring the marker with me. But I managed to find a permanent marker that was about an inch in diameter. When I gave it to Chauncey for him to sign my jersey, he said, "Jeez, that is one big-ass marker!" He signed his name right on his number! I got them BOTH to sign my Pistons jersey and get a picture with both of them!!!
Anyway, after they were done, they left and it was my turn to act out my scripts for the web site we're building. But I was so excited (my hands were shaking) from meeting them that I was like "What web site?!" I could have done terribly filming my scripts and I wouldn't have cared. I MET THE PISTONS!! And my favorite one, at that! (Chauncey a.k.a. Mr. Big Shot, that is.) Too bad Rip Hamilton wasn't there. I would have liked to have met him too; he's my second favorite Piston.
The web site filming went pretty well, though. I got to have my makeup done by a professional (she told me she'd done Peter Jennings once and Fanchon Stinger from Fox 2 Detroit). It made me feel like a real star, though it was weird too because it was like some of them were kissing my ass like I was some big shot, but I'm not.
As I started reading my script for the first time, I was so nervous I couldn't be natural and I read my lines waaay too fast. Steve had to tell me to SLOW DOWN; he gave me a lot of good direction. All in all, I didn't have that many takes and the more I read my lines, the more comfortable I got with it. I had to do my first script about 10 times, but by the time I got to the 3rd script, I think I only read it like twice (maybe three times). It only took about 20 or 30 minutes to do the whole thing. Todd said, "David Hall's got NOTHING on you!" Hm, don't know about that, but I think I did pretty damned well for having to stand in front of a real tv camera with real cameramen for the first time.
Now, I gotta go to the frame shop and get that jersey framed. I'll have to buy another jersey to wear at the games. I think this time, I'll get Rip's jersey. I'm getting quite a collection of autographs...I've also got 4 Red Wings players (including the great Stevie Yzerman) and Michelle Forbes from Star Trek: Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica.
Posted by Amy at 07:23 PM | Comments (4)
January 25, 2006
Star Struck
I just found out that before I do that video shoot for the Web site, the Pistons will be doing something with Steve, the guy I work with. He told me there's a chance I might be able to meet them and POSSIBLY get their autographs! Yikes, I'm excited! I gotta remember to bring my jersey (if I can get their autographs) and my camera. Gotta make sure it's got batteries and space on the memory card too! I can't wait!!!
Also, it's looking more likely that they're going to put my picture on the company homepage. We voted informally and everyone voted yes (except me). *sigh*
Posted by Amy at 04:28 PM | Comments (1)
January 24, 2006
Not a Superstar
Aaack!! These people I work with are trying to make me famous and I don't WANT to be! First Todd gets me to agree to be the "video host" of this new site we're developing. I have to film a couple of scripts tomorrow. This is supposed to be JUST for the prototype that we'll show test users and our CEO. But my gut just tells me I'll get roped into doing it for the finished product.
And NOW, Matt, my team leader wants to change out the girl on the Quicken Loans home page and put ME on it! Now, I don't mind a little bit of fame. But I get nervous at the thought of thousands, perhaps millions of people seeing my face up there. I'm just not comfortable with that much attention. Growing up, I was always the one who DIDN'T get a whole lot of attention...A little's ok, but I'm more comfortable being a wall flower. REALLY! Besides, with the internet, you never know who's going to take your picture and warp it into something twisted or embarrasing. (Above is a craptastic mockup I made.)
When I told Don, he got all excited and said I should do it; that he'd like to see that. I dunno. Besides, when Matt makes his mind up to do something, sometimes it's hard to change his mind. He kept saying, "Yeah, let's do this! You're so photogenic!" When Christy joked that I could be the David Hall of Quicken Loans, I balked. I realize that this sort of attention is probably a good thing, but it's just not what I'm used to. I guess we'll see what happens.
Posted by Amy at 08:00 PM | Comments (5)
January 23, 2006
Tired & Sore
I think I overdid it last week. I went to all regular karate classes (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) as well as both advanced karate classes (Wednesday and Saturday) AND I also went to the U of M Union on Wednesday for an hour and a half of swing dancing. UGH! I'm soooo tired. Not to mention I did push ups in a couple of those classes--probably a mistake cause my shoulders are kind of messed up and have been sore all week.
When I got home Saturday, I went downstairs, grabbed Hideous, cuddled with him for a half hour and then crashed for over an hour and a half. I was EXHAUSTED. Then Sunday afternoon, Don and I moved a few carloads of stuff that we'd kept in the garage of the old house and moved some of it to our storage unit and took some of it home. (We're most likely getting our old house rented out, finally.) I'm debating whether to go to karate tonight or skip it and give myself a little break. I'll probably go, but we'll see how I feel when 6:30 comes around...can I just take a nap? Pleeeeeze?
On the bright side, I think I'm over my caffeine withdrawal. :-)
Posted by Amy at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2006
Save the Last Dance
Well, it's a bit disappointing. My company has an awards ceremony every year, much like the Oscars. We call it The Gilbert Awards (after our CEO Dan Gilbert). They always have some entertainment to break up the show, done by Quicken Loans employees--singers, comedians, entertainers, what have you.
I was going to do a swing dance routine, provided that I could find the right partner. It was going to be really cool. I wanted to do some throws and flips--it was going to be flashy. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the right dance partner. Since the swing dance crowd from the Velvet Lounge dissipated, I haven't been able to get in touch with any of the old crowd (I only saw them when I went dancing and don't keep in touch with them). But Mary knows a few people and she put me in contact with a couple of them. One guy never emailed me back, so I assumed he's not interested.
The other guy I met last night at the weekly swing dance at the U of M Union. He was pretty advanced and it was difficult for me to follow his moves. Because of that, he didn't seem interested in being my partner, which is too bad. But oh well. I figured I could dance with a few more guys there and hopefully find someone that I worked well with that might do the routine with me. Although the few guys I danced with were good dancers, they weren't really right for the routine I wanted to do mostly because none of them know how to do throws. So I'm bowing out of auditioning for the show.
I'm finding that swing dancers are like puzzle pieces. Some fit partially well, though the picture isn't right; some don't fit at all. And only a scant few fit picture-perfect, like some of the people I danced with at the Velvet Lounge back in the day. Most people I dance with now are only partial fits. I can dance pretty well with them, but sometimes I make mistakes or they don't lead strongly enough, but I have a good time anyway. I was going to ask my friend Anthony, who used to take Karate at the dojo with me and who's a really strong and good lead, to see if he'd be interested, but unfortunately, he wasn't there.
But there was one guy, Kyle, who I did dance very well with. He was really nice and even taught me a bit of Lindy Hop which I've really been wanting to learn but couldn't because I could never make it to the lessons or because I just couldn't transition from East Coast style. So it's become one of those things I just have to conquer! But he was great with me because he was really patient and as long as he kept counting out loud, I could do it. We had a few good laughs at some of the mistakes I made. Ha! I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of it.
I'm going to try to make the next Lindy Hop lesson and hopefully Kyle will be there to help me.
Posted by Amy at 12:00 PM | Comments (3)
January 18, 2006
Breaking Boards
Yesterday, my team leader signed me up for this empowerment seminar, done by this guy who worked for Tony Robbins. I'd been trying to avoid it because I heard you had to break a board and I just thought, I take karate and I don't need to go to an empowerment seminar to know I can break a board. Not that I'd ever broken one before, but I just didn't see it as necessary.
But it was a pretty good seminar anyway. Though he talked about a lot of things that we got in our initial orientation from our CEO. Yet I couldn't help but be a little anxious about having to break a board. I kept thinking about it and thought that it would be kind of hard since I'd heard there were a few people that didn't break it on the first try.
So the time finally came and we all got in a circle and had to all get motivated, pumped up and psyched up by yelling and doing a "power move" (a move that gets you pumped). The speaker did it first and when I saw how easy it was, I stepped up almost immediately. I got into a deep front stance, my right hand in chamber position and made absolutely sure to use my hips and drive off my back leg with a reverse punch. I used the heel of my hand which hurt just a little at first, but it was like slamming your hand down on a desk. That's all the force it took. I went clean through the board a good six inches, like Don teaches me in karate class. Turns out, it was WAY easier than I thought. The board was made of pine and only about an inch thick and seemed pretty brittle.
The guy said in the seminar that people who take karate for 6 months sometimes can't break a board half that thickness. But that just makes me think that those boards are harder and denser. Especially since there were a few girls (and a couple of guys) who hit the board in a VERY girly way with absolutlely NO power behind it. It was SOOOOOO easy to break that I'm sure I could have done it with a "haito" or karate chop-style hit...hell, maybe even with my fist! (Though that might have hurt a little more.)
So now when people ask me if I know karate, I can say yes. And when they ask me if I can break a board, I can say, "Oh, yeah!".
Posted by Amy at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2006
No More Caffeine
I've been trying really hard to give up caffeine since my doctor told me I should. That was a few weeks ago. It's kind of funny that for a while I couldn't figure out why I'd been so tired. Well, duh! I haven't had any caffeine! I guess I hadn't realized how much Pepsi I usually drank--I never really paid attention to it. Besides, when I thought of how much pop Don drinks compared to me, he drinks way more than I do. (Though now he drinks caffeine-free; he gave up the Dew.)
And this week, I've been having these exhaustion headaches. I thought I was just tired from work or something. Then I realized it's because of the lack of caffeine. The other day, I had such a bad headache. I had tried to go to the 5:30 advanced karate class, but didn't make it. I had to lie in my car and take a nap to deal with the headache. It got better...enough for me to go to the regular 6:30 karate class. I went home, had dinner, and watched tv for about 45 minutes before my headache came back with a vengeance. Had to go to bed around 9:30. I even had to take some really serious medicine. Felt great the next morning, but today, I have a slight headache again that comes and goes. Ooohh! How I love Pepsi! I hope this doesn't last too long! We'll see what happens in the next few days.
Posted by Amy at 07:10 PM | Comments (4)
January 10, 2006
Chinese or Thai?
I had dinner last night with my folks who gave me a little more information about our lineage. Seems all my great grandfathers were Chinese and migrated to Thailand. Then they all married Thai women. Then they had children all born in Thailand. Now, I'm not sure how the math works on that with what percentage of Chinese I am (I think it might be like 1/8th or something, but that's a guess)--maybe Jessica can figure it out for me; or Silvermarble, the math genius?
We don't know of any living relatives in China since our family ties to China were separated after my great grandfathers moved to Thailand. But Dad tells me that had our family stayed in China, our family name would have been "Chen". How very common! (Who knows, maybe Dad just made that up.) And unfortunately, none of my grandparents are alive, so I can't get their personal perspectives on our family history, but one day, I'll sit down and record my aunt Noi--I know she knows a lot of the history.
It's funny when I think of just how many people ask me if I'm Chinese and I tell them I am partly, but mostly Thai. Some say things like, "You speak English SO well! How long have you lived in the U.S.?" I just laugh at the look on their face when I tell them I was born and raised here. Those who are ignorant enough to ask if I'm Chinese or Japanese, that's when I get snarky and tell them that I'm American. But then they ask where I'm from and I say Detroit! Then they ask, "No really, where were you born?" And I say, Detroit! HAHA!!
Posted by Amy at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)
January 06, 2006
Cough Cough HACK!
Before I say anything, I apologize to any of you readers out there who smoke (though I don't think any of my readers do). It's not my intent to offend, I'm just stating my opinion on the subject. And I warn: my opinion on this is STRONG.
If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's cigarette smoke. Sometimes, I'm amazed at just how many people smoke these days! Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by people (strangers) who just HAVE to light up. (I'm SOOOOOO glad none of my very close friends smoke--that I know of.) I can't stand breathing in the smoky air and it's worse when I have to get on an elevator with them when they've just finished a cancer stick. They reek of a stink that makes my nose curl! It's just as bad when I get out of my car at work and have to walk all the way to the door behind someone having their morning cigarette. Cough cough cough!! UGH!!
Not only does it stink, but it makes people look trashy. It makes them age terribly, gives them ugly wrinkles and brown teeth; women who smoke for a long time begin to look like hags. It's disgusting! And so many smokers are really inconsiderate about where they smoke or who they affect with their nasty habit. I'm not saying all smokers are bad; I have a few good friends who are very considerate. But there are so many more who just don't care that I can't breathe.
The stupid thing is, I see SO many of them on the street hacking while they're puffing away and all I can think is, "Why the fuck do you think you're hacking so bad?! Quit smoking, you dumb ass!"
I'm always afraid that being near them for even a minute will make ME smell like them. When we go to the bar and have to sit next to someone who smokes (and by the way, they NEVER ask if it bothers us), then, I go home reeking of cigarettes. It gets in my clothes, on my skin, and worst of all, in my hair. And cigar smoke is even worse because it actually makes me want to gag, especially if I'm somewhere where I've had wine or something to drink (like at the Chop House/La Dolce Vita).
Now, I'm really not one to tell people they shouldn't smoke (though I really wish they wouldn't). But I do wish more smokers could be more considerate about it. Stop whining that you can't smoke indoors! (BTW, I think that was one of the greatest laws ever to be put into effect.) I see signs that say you can't smoke within 50 or 100 feet of a public building, yet some still obnoxiously ignore it! So you have to walk through their stinky cloud to get to your appointment or office. And talk about the high number of restaurants that put their bars/smoking sections in the FRONT of the restaurant so you have to walk through it there. And it sucks when you have to wait for a table cause you have to sit there and breathe it in. And you can't even say anything to them because they're in a designated smoking area! ERGH!!
OH, and at the DOJO! When we're having a good workout, the people that work at the restaurant next door go into the back alley to smoke and it comes through the vent over the back door. Or even people walking by the front door. I HATE smelling that even MORE when I'm working out!
Too bad they can't ban smoking altogether! Wouldn't that be fantastic! Right now, it's just SOOOOOO craptastic.
Posted by Amy at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2006
Happy Birthday Katie!
Yesterday was my best friend Katie's birthday. While we waited for Lisa and her roommie Anya to show, I gave her her birthday presents: a little windchime and a Japanese calligraphy brush set that I got at World Market. She LOVED it! I was so pleased because she's such a talented artist. I'll have to ask her to do some calligraphy for me when she learns how. After that, we walked around downtown before going to Godaiko sushi for dinner. I ordered a tuna roll and my favorite California roll. Yummy!! And I finally found out what Kapa Maki is that Christy's been raving about. heh. And, of course, we sang happy birthday to Kate, though she was a bit embarrassed by the attention drawn to her.
After that, we went to the movie theater by my house to see Memoirs of a Geisha and let me say it is a GREAT movie!! It has the two women from Crouching Tiger AND that wonderful Japanese man from The Last Samurai. He's such an amazing actor! And I absolutely love the character he played in Memoirs! The main character was played by the girl from Crouching Tiger that stole the jade sword. She's SOOOOOO graceful and beautiful. She has a cuteness in her face that she really reminded me of my cousin Grace.
So tragic and romantic...I'm glad it ended happily or I would have been seriously depressed. In fact, I cried a lot during the movie--I woke up with slightly swollen eyes this morning. The story was really moving that I can imagine how great the book must be. I know everyone raved about it back when it was released. I should go and get the book. I'm usually not that avid a reader at all, but I'm sure if I picked it up, I might not be able to put it down.
And romance aside, it was really cool to see how a woman could become a geisha and what she had to go through, the culture of being one, and such. But from what I'd heard previous to seeing the movie, I expected to see the men treat them with a bit more respect and reverence than they did. Not that they were mistreated, but I guess because they were women meant that they still had to "know their place" in a heavily male-dominated society. Enough of my soap-boxing. Other than that, it was a visually stunning movie. The fabrics and colors you see used in the kimonos and just the set design were amazing! There were a few scenes in some GORGEOUS Japanese gardens that I would have LOVED to see in person.
Anyway, if you get the chance to see Memoirs, I HIGHLY recommend it.
Posted by Amy at 07:00 AM | Comments (1)
January 04, 2006
Samurai Shodown II
Ok, this HAS to be one of my all-time favorite games. It's called Samurai Shodown II, made by SNK and distributed to the U.S. by Neo Geo. I used to spend hours playing this game at Pinball Pete's in E. Lansing. This was the first real arcade game that I'd ever tried after the original 1980's greats (like Pac Man and Galaga) died out. A friend showed it to me and being a fighting game, I was apprehensive since I didn't know how to do any of the moves. So he put the quarters in and I just kept hitting buttons and moving the joystick furiously. Turns out I beat him--and his favorite character, Nokoruru, a beautiful Japanese swordswoman. He couldn't believe I beat him...and I think he felt a little emasculated.
Anyway, there were some really great characters. Haomaru (above) could spawn tornadoes at his opponent. One of Caffeine Nicotine's (the little old man pictured with Haomaru) attacks was that he'd breathe his foul breath on you. But my favorite character is Cham Cham (below). She's a spunky little tiger-woman with claws like Wolverine (X-Men) and a cute little monkey familiar (yay! monkeys!). And maybe it's because I'd mastered her most devastating attack move, but she really kicked ass! No matter who challenged me, they could never beat me.
The only thing that sucks is that I've never been able to get it for the MAME on my laptop that Don installed for me--but I'm still keeping my eye out! I'm sure it would be difficult to play without a joystick. But I REALLY miss that game! I tried ordering it through e-bay once, but it turned out to be the Japanese version and it doesn't work in our PS2! Waaahh!! I should go back to that Pinball Pete's and see if the owner would be willing to sell the SSII cabinet to me since I can't find the game anywhere else! *wishful thinking* With my luck, he probably doesn't even have it any more. *sigh*
Posted by Amy at 06:00 PM | Comments (2)
January 02, 2006
Happy New Year!
2006!
This New Year's Eve, we invited some people over that we know from the dojo: Steve and Mary came with their daughter Zoe; also Ray and Sonja, Joe and Sara, and Dr. Jay brought his daughter Isabelle and her friend Sylvie. I figured since every New Year's Eve has been lame for me, that we should have at least a few friends over. We might have had more people over, but Don didn't send invitations out till a couple of days before. No one drank all that much, though we did get to break out the expensive bottle of Dom Perignon champagne that we got as a gift. Thanks, Uncle Hoppy!! It really is the good stuff! Next year, we'll send invitations out a couple weeks in advance and it'll be a more exciting party.
Sunday, we slept in REALLY late and didn't do anything at all except watch TV. I watched a bunch of episodes from the DVD set I got for Christmas of The Greatest American Hero. Funny 80's show where this guy gets a superhero suit from these aliens and loses the instructions on how to be a superhero. He flies crooked and never lands right and everyone thinks he's a mental case.
Monday, I went out to the stores to spend a couple of gift certificates we got for Christmas on...wait for it...more DVDs! (Boy, you'd think that as busy as the stores were, it was the day before Christmas!) And Dr. Jay came over again to watch football with Don.
I'm actually glad I had to come back to work tomorrow. I was starting to feel like waaay too much of a couch potato. Besides, I need to get back to routine. And I HAVE to get back to the dojo. Skipped working out since Christmas since there were no regular classes. Hopefully, I'll get my energy back!
Hope you all had a HAPPY NEW YEAR! What did you all do?
Posted by Amy at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)