« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
February 27, 2008
Top 10 Most Overrated Stars
Don strikes again...he asked me who I thought were the top 10 overrated stars. Disagree if you like, but remember this is my list. Here they are--this time I'm going to start with #1:
1. Bob Dylan:
He may have had great political messages to spread back in the '60s, but the man CAN'T sing and I think his music sounds like crap. It's not rock 'n' roll, it's just a nasaly, whiny guy with a guitar.
2. Woody Allen:
Talk about whiny! Here's a perpetually miserable guy who is completely unable to deal with his social surroundings. And all that stammering and those jittery mannerisms drives me BONKERS!! I get agitated just looking at him and I refuse to watch him for more than a second.
3. Eric Clapton:
Yes, he can play guitar and yes, he had a lot of popular songs, but he is NOT the greatest guitar player in the world. Put him against Eddie Van Halen or Stevie Ray Vaughn and they'll blow him away ANY day!
4. Bruce Springsteen:
I don't understand why this guy is considered so great. Yeah, he had a few good songs and he played some decent rock 'n' roll, but "The Boss?" I don't think so. I mean, he blew out his voice before he even got that big--so what's so great about a scratchy voice that sounds like he's absolutely straining to get the lyrics out? He was good with "Born to Run," but that's about it.
5. Kevin Costner:
Ok, he's not ugly, but I don't think he's that handsome either. I think he's only popular because women think he's handsome. The man is NOT that great an actor. I think Dances With Wolves was a good movie because of its story, not because of the lead actor. I just now looked it up and it won 2 Oscars--one for best picture (supports what I said about it being a good story) and for best director (Costner). Best actor went to Joe Pesci, a man who can REALLY act--he's versatile, funny, and exceptionally talented, unlike Costner (as an actor).
6. The Rolling Stones:
Here's a band that I actually liked back in the '70s and '80s. They had a lot of pretty good songs, but I still think they're overrated. I keep hearing people say they're the greatest rock 'n' roll band in history. This is NOT true! The greatest band ever, in my opinion, is AEROSMITH! When I listen to "Dream On," I can't help but be amazed at the longevity of this song...it's STILL good today. But when I listen to "Under My Thumb," all I hear is some asshole lamenting about how he let his girlfriend push him around but that now, he can look around all he wants, but she's not allowed to look at anyone. He tells her what to say, when to talk, what to think and even what to wear. Can anyone say "abuser?"
7. Kurt Cobain:
This man wrote ONE good song. ONE. That's it! He had one popular song, he was married to a drug-addicted ugly-ass bitch and he died of an overdose, so that makes him one of the greatest rockers in history?? WTF?? Just because a guy dies young from an overdose, the whole world somehow feels sorry for this guy and feels the need to get over their pity by calling him a gifted musician. I'm sorry, but I will NEVER understand what they all saw in him. Maybe he had potential, maybe he could have been a long-standing popular musician had he not died, but GREAT? I don't buy it for one single second.
8. Jerry Seinfeld
Yet another whiny-sounding guy. I could never get very into watching his sit-com and I admit some of it is funny, but not because of him, but because of the situations they get into. When I watch his stand-up routine, he is not funny. I don't hear any words, I just hear, "Whiiiiiiiiine whiiiiiiine whiiiiiine!" He's not like Tim Allen who also had a popular sit-com, but the man is actually hilarious.
9. Elmo:
Ok, originally, I had Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston in this spot, but I've changed my mind...I think Elmo is even more overrated than them. This character is THE most ANNOYING character in history!! And I mean more annoying than those high-pitched idiotic chipmunks or even the doofussy, retarded purple dinosaur. He's too high-pitched to be able to understand what the frak he's saying and that laugh...that evil, tortuous laugh--it rubs me like a cheese grater across my naked brain. I can't tell you how tired I am of seeing that horrible red creature and how it sickens me every time I hear of yet ANOTHER Elmo toy being released. So it was with great satisfaction that I stumbled upon this video--it's disturbing, yet also satisfying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvxLOq2-3x4
10. JRR Tolkien:
He's overrated just for the fact that he wrote The Lord of the Rings. Boring movie, boring book. Zzzzzz!
Posted by Amy at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)
February 21, 2008
Hawaii Video
Hey, this is really cool...someone saw my video of the hula dancing from Maui and they embedded it on their site. I don't know how good a site it is and the chat room seems to have a lot of idiotic people saying, "hey, wanna have sex with me?" They do have some nice pictures of Hawaii, so check it out anyway at http://hawaiipictures.com. Go to the bottom of the page--you'll see a bunch of videos and you have to scroll to the right to see mine. AWESOME!
Posted by Amy at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2008
Lunar Eclipse
Tonight was the lunar eclipse and it looked really cool. Don and I saw it at first when we came out of the dojo. By then, it was about 4/5ths covered by the shadow of the Earth and only a small sliver of white glowing moon was left. We went to eat at Qdoba so we could get home quick to watch it. As soon as we got home, we jumped in the hot tub and had the perfect view of it.
The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in the sky. There were so many stars out and they were really bright. For the first time in a long time, I could find virtually all the constellations I know: The Big Dipper, Cassiopaea, the Pleides, the Seven Sisters, and my favorite, Orion. It took too long for the whole thing to happen while we were in the tub,however, it was virtually covered like you see in this picture. After that, we just went inside and "celebrated" with the last few sips of the Sandeman's 20-year Tawny Port...the nectar of the GODS! Cool!!
Posted by Amy at 10:54 PM | Comments (1)
February 18, 2008
Vacation in Paradise (Finally!)
Here it is...finally. All the adventures of Don and Amy in Maui. Please keep in mind that I wrote them mostly on my phone, so you may see some weird characters or typos that I might have missed.
Friday
Well, off to a fabulous start...sort of. We got to the airport in good time. Found a parking spot. They had a check-in counter @ the garage which made our check in incredibly easy and FAST! We saw Keith & Sandy there who told us about Danielle losing her engagement ring. Oh GOD! She had to have been freaking out like never before. Then security was a breeze...however, I put my little liquid bottles in a baggie like I was supposed to but forgot to show it to them. They didn't blink an eye. That kind of worries me a little. TSA agents have been known to be lax in major hubs like Detroit. And now I've experienced it first-hand.
But as I write this, we're still waiting to take off. They had a malfunction with one of the navigation system which they had to replace. We were supposed to take off @ 12:11 and it's now 1:15. We have a 2 1/2 hr layover in Vegas so hopefully we'll still make our connecting flight.
Though it makes me wonder...the pilots have to do a pre-flight check every time before they take off. So why didn't they notice the malfunction until we were on the tarmac?
GOD I hate Northworst!!
Ok, 1:30 and we're taxiing back to take off...we'll see how long we have to wait in line. That puts us am hour & a half behind schedule. Can we still make the connection?
6:45 Detroit time: We FINALLY landed but we had only about 45 minutes to catch the plane. You'd think this would be plenty of time, but you'd be wrong. In fact, as soon as we got off the plane (after treading so politely behind an old man & his family who were walking VEEERRRYY slowly) we ran to the counter outside the gate to ask the attendant where we needed to go. We couldn't get our barding passes ahead of time for some reason. We were told we had to go take the tram to the building across the street, then to terminal C and somehow there was a way to bypass security. Well, we got to the tram & the other building but we still had to go through security. And we still needed to check in at the ATA counter. When the guy there saw me running toward him and ducking under the queue ropes, he said, "Maui?" Sarcastically, I answered, "Gee, how'd you know?"
He had us ready in about 30 seconds or so!
But then we had to go through security. Luckily there were only 2 people in front of us. And fortunately, the TSA agent heard me telling the girl in front of me my flight was going to leave in 15 minutes. She told me to take the tram to gate C7. We found the gate and ran to the boarding door with literally 5 minutes to spare. But the the guy tells us we had tickets, but still needed boarding passes. Aw JEEZ! So we go to the agent at the counter who probably only took 2 minutes and we finally got on the plane. But as we walked through the boarding corridor, I said to Don, "This is EXACTLY what I didn't want to have to do!" We were both sweaty and out of breath when we found our seats. But we'd made our connection...just barely!! And even our luggage made the flight. We had to wait for the runners to get it into the cargo bay, but we only left about 20 minutes late. Not bad considering what a close shave that was! Our luggage will be the first out of the plane while we'll be the last (we're near the back of the plane). But at least we'll be there! Whew!
(I knew I shouldn't have opened my mouth about how easy it was in Detroit before we even got to Hawaii. D-OH!)
Well we made it to the resort after having ate at a Thai cafe which turned out to be smart. It was somewhat of a long drive from the airport and all we had on the plane was snack boxes. We met everyone in the lobby (none of them had eaten yet) and went to the hotel bar to have drinks. By the time we got to bed, it was about 12:30 Hawaii time, 5:30 Detroit time. I can't believe I wasn't more tired. But I slept really good and unbelievably, I think I'm adjusted already to the time difference.
Saturday
Today was a long day but I'm already having a great time here.
First Don and I went to breakfast. The waiter wasn't that great...he didn't seem too excited to have us as customers and I don't think he spoke English too well. Plus he told us he didn't have any Portuguese sausage which Don loves or bacon which I love. But when we left, I saw three plates coming out of the kitchen with bacon on them.
We went for a walk down the beach which was nice. But got to a point where there are rocks that I think you can dive off of into the ocean. But we couldn't walk around them so we had to turn back. We stopped in the south lobby of the resort to go to the general store and saw this lady selling jewelry. But it wasn't your typical tourist stand selling cheap crap. She was selling nice and expensive pearl jewelry. The way Don looked at me I could tell he wanted to buy me something...Valentine's day is coming up. I liked her stuff but I knew we were going to Whaler's Village to shop for Hawaiian shirts for Don and I kind of wanted to look around there.
So we got to Whaler's Village and Don bought 3 Hawaiian shirts from Tommy Bahama. But only after being really picky as usual. He didn't like any of the shirts that you could actually see the Hawaiian print...only the ones that were solid color with the print sort of embroidered in the same color. They were expensive, but they look really nice on him. Good for going out to dinner.
Then we went over to the Dolphin Gallery (a jewelry store). Don seemed to really like the pearls idea so I picked out a beautiful silver necklace with a smaller pearl on top of a larger pearl. Its got a small blue topaz stone on the small pearl--that's my birthstone. I also liked this cute gold sea turtle necklace with three small diamonds in the center and a two-diamond spinner ring. This store is famous for selling these diamond rings that have a circle of diamonds where usually one stone would go and the circle spins around the center stone like a spirograph. It's very unusual and cool-looking. But the turtle necklace and the spinner ring wuld have been too expensive to buy all at once along with the pearls. So the lady wrote down those items for Don who might buy them for my next birthday and Christmas gifts.
After that, we came back and sat by the pool with some of the people from the wedding party. Danielle & Chris who are the ones getting married, Sue & Greg, Chris's mom and some other friends. But there wasn't much sun so me and Sue, her sisters in law Afaf & "Super" Sonya, & Sandy all decided to go shopping. I managed to get my sunglasses fixed (lost the nut that connects the arm) and find a cheap but cute black cotton dress for the luau.
Came back from shopping and hung out with a few folks at the bar before going to dinner at Kimo's for Danielle's bachelorette party. The guys went to Roy's steakhouse. I made a toast to Danielle & Chris's happiness and to Sue's health for allowing her to be with us for the wedding. (Because of her cancer, I was afraid she might be too sick to make it to her only daughter's wedding.) I had a great time sitting with Afaf & Sonya. They were giggling together the whole time. I kept joking "Oh they're drunk! Cut 'em off!" when they only had a little bit to drink.
Later the guys found us and joined us at the restaurant. But Sue's son Jonathan wasn't feeling well. He had a fever and looked totally miserable. And since Sue can't drive at night since she can't see well in the dark and Greg was too drunk to drive, I took Greg's car and drove Jonathan back to the hotel so he could get some rest. He needs to be well enough to make it to his sister's wedding on Monday. Don came with us. But when we got back to the restaurant about 20 minutes later, everyone had left. Danielle, Chris & their friends went to Moose MacGillicuddy's across the street from Kimo's & everyone else went back to the hotel to go to bed. We stopped by MM to see if anyone needed a ride, but they were all taking taxis. So we just came home to the hotel. We saw Sue & Sonya who had my sweater that I'd left at the restaurant when I drove Jonathan home & I had to give Sue the car key. But we just decided to valet it instead. After that, we went to bed. I could tell Don had had quite a bit to drink and was tired. He & Greg started drinking while us ladies were out shopping.
Sunday
Today was the day of the big luau. We had to wait around a long time before the luau started and no one seemed to know where we were supposed to enter the dining area from. It's a large area that had several entrances. I suspected that we'd be the VIPs because Greg would have put us up front for Danielle and Chris to be the guests of honor (being that they were getting married in a day). I was right. We started off with a few Mai Tais which were good, but kind of weak. Then there was buffet dinner which was great. Roasted pork that they cook in the ground and bury, lots of other nice things like fried rice, Hawaiian fruits, and other yummies.
When dinner was over, there was a great show of Hawaiian hula dancing. They called Danielle and Chris up to the stage to learn hula. Being athletically coordinated and cheerleaders, they did pretty well. When the real dancers came on stage, strangely, the women were good dancers, but not that pretty. Some were kind of chubby and the only really good dancer who was skinny was, I must say, DOG ugly! She had the worst smile with big gums and teeth protruding out her mouth. Ugh! The guys were pretty muscular, though not very graceful and the one did a pretty good fire twirling routine. All in all, it was a good show.
Monday
Went to breakfast today. Had a better waitress today. They had bacon & Portuguese sausage this time.
Today was pretty much a lounging day. I sat out by the pool for a while as Don went for a morning run. When he came back, he suggested we go to the beach. A few of the others were there. The Stones, Paul & Martha, Greg & Jonathan. Greg's cousin Big Wally and Michelle came to join us. Don bought a bunch of hot dogs for people and turned out to be the hero...those dogs were mighty good. We also saw some whales from the shore. They were off in the distance and all you could really see was the water spouts and some tail splashing. But even though we couldn't see them up close, it was still really cool.
Speaking of whales, we've got it planned to go see them on Wednesday.
As much as I enjoyed sitting in the sun getting tan and watching whales from the shore, I had to leave at 2 to get ready for the wedding since I'm their videographer.
I got to the Westin hotel to Danielle's room as the girls were getting ready. Danielle looked gorgeous in her lace-up gown and Sue looked pretty in her fuschia dress. I took some footage and still pictures. Then I went to find the men. They were in the groom,s hospitality suite drinking beer and rocking out. Ha! Men! But Chris looked really handsome wearing a white shirt and tan suit.
I was trying to keep taking video and still pictures while dodging the official photographer. Kept bumping into him. Plus I had to be quick to snap the shutter before the photographer got into my shots.
As we all waited for Danielle to make her entrance, I saw Chris begin to cry tears of happiness. God, it was so sweet...he was so excited to marry her! It made me start to cry, though that's not hard. I'm such a sap. It was a short but beautiful ceremony with a Hawaiian flavor.
Afterwards, they took pictures by the waterfall backdrop then on the beach. They turned out to be really great because the lighting was just perfect...just at the beginning of sunset. And Chris made the save of the century! They were posing when the surf suddenly came up really high on the shore. I yelled, "Oh look out, here comes the water!" The instant before it would have hit Danielle's feet and dress, Chris swept her up and she bent her knees to raise her feet. It hit Chris instead but he had the most impeccable split-second timing! Unfortunately, I missed getting it on tape...as soon as I yelled, I let the camera down not thinking about filming it. I think Sandy might have got a still shot.
During the reception, they did the father-daughter dance with Greg & Danielle. She also danced with Jonathan...how cute is that! But then she surprised us all by dancing with her mom Sue to Leann Rimes "In my Daughter's Eyes." I tell you there was not a dry eye in the house! I could barely see to film it. It was so moving because everyone knows how close they are. They're best friends and with Sue surviving stage 4 breast cancer, OH! That was the most touching thing I'd ever seen at a wedding...hell maybe ever!
Unfortunately, although the video camera battery was fine (good thing I recharged between ceremony & reception), I ran out of disk space. And the battery on my still camera died too. But at least I got all the important stuff before that.
After the wedding, we spent a little time at the hotel bar but then it was time for the "kids" to party (jeez I'm getting old) and we grown ups to get to bed. I was hoping to borrow Duckie's camera charger so he gave it to Kelly Stone to give to me. I thought she was going to drop it off before bed, but she probably figured it was too late & we were in bed already. So I just dumped pictures off my memory cards to Don's laptop and went to sleep.
Tuesday
First thing I did when I got up was call Sandy so I could get Duckie's charger. I think I might have woken them up...Kelly was bleary-eyed as she handed it to me. But I had literally just woken up a couple minutes before too. Damn double! Darned thing was the right kind & had the contact prongs in the right place but was square...my battery is rectangular. Ugh! So close yet no cigar. That meant I had to buy another charger.
Before that, we met Greg & Sue, Rako, Wally & Michelle for breakfast. Then headed off to find a Radio Shack. We were headed down the road to Hana to see some waterfalls and I wasn't going to be without a camera for the rest of the trip, especially when we were going to see whales! Fortunately, they had one. We also bought an adapter to plug it into the car so we could charge it on the way there. Works!
Got to the first stop where you can walk on a trail to see waterfalls. There were a few small ones along the trail. They were nice but nothing spectacular. We were about to turn around and head down the road, but some people behind us said to keep going. Thank goodness too because we got to one that was cool. Probably 100 feet high. And you could swim in the pool at the base but Don & I didn't bring our suits & besides, I didn't feel like it. Mostly I just wanted to get some good pictures which I did. There was also a rope you could swing form into the water. We watched some people having fun with that. So that was pretty cool.
After that, we got some Mexican for a late lunch & headed back to the resort. We'd only gotten started since there were more falls to see but we figure we can see the rest on our last day before flying out.
Maybe for dinner we can go to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Greg always talks it up & we never go. I'm sitting in the sun as I write this catching up on my blogging. But now I should probably head in and start getting dressed.
Wednesday
We didn't end up going to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We just went to the Rusty Harpoon in Lahaina at Whaler's Village. It was pretty good. Sue was excited that we sat right where all the Ohio State memorabilia was hanging. Apparently the owner is a huge OSU fan. There were tons of OSU hats and shirts , some from championship years. She loved it.
We took it easy for the most part today. Just hung around the pool mostly. I worked on my tan but Don had to stay in the shade. He got burned pretty bad on the leg when we sat on the beach the other day. Apparently it's my fault that I wasn't around to help him with the sunscreen. Guess he can't handle it on his own. :-p Trying to find a spot where there was both shade and sun was a bit tricky. They have these straw umbrellas all over so finding shade wasn't hard but getting enough sun was. Eventually, I just had to sit across the pool from Don to get enough sun. Even then it was weakening because the cloud cover was getting thick.
We left @ 3:30 to catch the catamarans that took us out to see the whales. Boarding was tricky. The boat was pretty big but still they had to beach it a bit to load people from a ladder. It was tricky because the surf was getting rough and coming so high and hard. So timing was of the essence. When the guy told us to go, you had to run to the ladder up to the boat and sit on the netting on deck to make room for others. When he said stop, you had to stop where you were on the beach and run back up the sand or else get soaked. Well as soon as it was my turn, he said stop, so I ran back up the beach but the wave was so big it soaked my shorts completely. I HATE having wet underwear! Ah well...shit happens, right? We had to make sure Sue got n board safe. Since she's had chemo, she's been weak and short of breath. Don told the guy loading us about her condition so they let her go first on the second load (they had to back the boat off the shore and beach it a second time because of the waves). Some lady asked me if she had a "walking problem" and I had to explain about her having cancer and just getting of chemo treatments. Unfortunately, Sue got kind of wet, but at least her underwear wasn't soaked like mine.
We got out towards Lanai island to see Humpback whales and there were a ton of them. You could see their water spouts and some fins. Sometimes they'd show their backs. And when we got lucky, one would breach the surface and do a jump. But most times I was busy looking for the breaches to get it on film or get pictures but was always watching the wrong whale. So I misses some of it. GRR! And twice one whale jumped about 20 or 30 feet right off the stern!! I think he or she was toying with me cause I was on the bough. I think the whale was saying to his buddies, "Watch, I'll piss her off by making her expect me to jump here and I'll be way over there. Haha!" It happened virtually every single time and I'd be yelling "Dammit! I missed it again!" I did get a few good pictures of fins, some splash and even a couple decent ones of the whales as they breached. Those will have to be blown up and cropped.
Sonya was so funny...every time she got a good shot, she'd shriek and the whole boat could hear her. Though I should be the one to talk. I couldn't help shrieking myself when I got lucky enough to catch a whale breaching. But I tell you, there were a couple of whales totally showing off for the boats. Cause when they breach, they can hear all of us shrieking in excitement and the KNOW we love seeing them. In fact, one of them breached right in front of another boat, then breached in front of our boat, then breached in front of the other boat again. He was TOTALLY showing off for us!
As we jetted back, we got to watch the sunset which was beautiful going down behind Lanai. And Keith saw a couple of dolphins which, of course I missed. By the time I'd turned around, I could see in the water where they breached. Bu didn't see any dolphins. Dammit!
We got back to shore and had a great dinner at Leilani's in Whaler's Village. I had a great burger and shared Hula Pie with Sandy & Don. Yum. After that, we hung around the hot tub soaking our feet and talking (joking) about how to get Jonathan laid (this girl Val who's here with the other kids has a crush on him). After that it was bedtime. Funny how tired I am when I'm relaxing half the time.
Thursday
Vacation's almost over. I hate to think about having to leave and return to 20 degree weather when we've been enjoying the sun so much.
We had breakfast with Greg & Sue and the Stones. Then went to sit by the pool again. I went to sit on the beach with the rest of the group, but I think Don doesn't like getting sandy (I don't either) plus there isn't much shade for him to protect his burn from getting worse. But I'm here with Greg, Sandy & Kelly. Don went for a run on the beach. I just wanted to tan.
Afterwards, we just went back to the room to take a shower and go to dinner. We were going to the Lahaina Fish Company. By the time we got there, Jonathan had had a few drinks already and boy! He is a completely different person! But in a good way. Usually, he's so quiet and reserved, barely says two words. But you get a few drinks in him, and he starts chatting up a storm...and he's a FUNNY guy! It's great to see him laugh and talk. We were teasing him that he was only hanging around us because he was avoiding Val, the girl who had a crush on him. And that Kelly was with us because Duckie has a crush on her, so they were sticking together. HA! And Jonathan started talking trash about being good at tubing and not falling off no matter what, so Keith took it as a challenge and challenged him to a "duel" of sorts (Keith owns a cottage on a lake with a boat). It was hilarious to see them talk trash. I'll have video of it on YouTube soon.
The food was alright, though not as good as I'd hoped. I had crab legs, but the butter wasn't the sweet cream butter; it was just some bland, kind of tasteless butter. Don says his scallops weren't that great either. Guess we're kind of spoiled by all the great food we eat here.
After that, we just walked around town looking at the shops and stuff. We saw the big Banyan tree again--thing takes up a whole city block. Then we just took it easy and headed back to the hotel.
Friday
Today is our last day in paradise. SIGH! Physically, I'm kind of worn out so in that respect, I'm ready to go home, but mentally, I'm SO not prepared.
This morning we just packed up the car and checked out. Even though our flight doesn't leave till 8:45pm, we have to be out of the room. So Don and I just kind of mulled around Lahaina. I bought some gifts for the family. Got Mom & Dad some coffee and Macadamia nuts; got the kids some t-shirts and magnets. Then we headed to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch. Reminded us of the last time we were in Hawaii, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise in Waikiki. Waah, I miss this place already.
Since we didn't have any plans, we just decided to drive around. We stopped on the side of the road and saw more whales from the shore--so cool you can see them that far away. Then we were thinking of going to see more waterfalls since the road to Hana goes past the airport. So on the way, we stopped in Pa'ia to have lunch at that Mexican place again.
After that, we headed back on the road to see waterfalls, but at the last second, we decided to go to the Maui Ocean Center Aquarium for kicks. It turned out to be better than I thought. It looked small from the outside, so I was expecting a tiny aquarium, but it wasn't really. They had lots and lots of exotic sea creatures of all kinds, including some frog fish that looked like red coral (I found out they can turn just about any color to camouflage themselves), moray eels, tiger sharks, black tip reef sharks, sting rays and other cool things. There was also a cool flat fish that when it lays on the sandy bottom, it looks like sand itself and it's INCREDIBLY difficult to see, even close up. You can hardly make out its shape and find its eyes which are on one side of its face, not on either side of its head like other fish. They also had really cool hammerhead sharks and sea turtles which were really cute. No sea lions, though, like the one in Oahu. Those were cute!
We tried to kill as much time as possible, so I spent a good while in the gift shop. Only bought a couple post cards to hang in my cube at work, but I also got a really pretty glass ornament to hang on my Christmas tree. It's blue glass that's painted to look like the ocean and all the Hawaiian islands are hand painted on it. It was perfect.
After that, we didn't know what else to do, so we just drove some more. We still had hours to kill before our flight, but Don wanted to make sure we got to the airport in good time to beat any traffic and make sure he could find the rental car place to return the rental car. Turns out it was all easy as pie, so it didn't take us long at all. Going through security and agricultural inspections were a breeze too. But we had to wait in line at the ticket counter since for some reason we couldn't check in ahead of time. Waiting in line took a while since they didn't open the counter for a while. We also tried checking in at the Northwest counter for our second flight, but they said they didn't have our records there (which sounds like a load of bull to me). So I was afraid it was going to be like Vegas again.
Fortunately it wasn't, but I'll get to that in a second. The first flight was delayed a bit because of, get this--navigational problems. Already I was having flashbacks of the first flight coming to Maui. But luckily, it was only delayed about 25 minutes. The flight itself was smooth, but there was a guy sitting behind me who was being really obnoxious and thing was, he was clueless about what an oaf he was being. First of all, he looked like a Sebastian Bach wannabe but not as good-looking or as well-dressed (no offense to Sebastian!). He'd fallen asleep and started snoring REALLY loud. I turned around and the poor lady next to him looked at me and I at her, and we just rolled our eyes together. I could tell she was extremely pissed--probably really tired and couldn't sleep with him sawing away. Then he woke up after a while and could NOT sit still! Every time he moved, he'd bump my chair with his knees and I could see out of the corner of my eye, he had his face pressed up against the window trying to look out, taking pictures of the land in the dark (what a moron!) and singing somewhat loudly to himself. Now, mind you, coming from Hawaii, by this time, it's about midnight and we're all anxious to get home and worn out. This guy was so restless, it was like having a 6-foot child who's giddy about Christmas waiting for his parents to wake up so he can open presents. Calm down! What's wrong wit'choo?? Anyway, as we finally land, the lady says out loud that this was the worst flight she'd ever had. And you know what? I don't blame her one bit because I know exactly why it was so bad. Poor lady!
Well, we got off the plane and once again, had to go through security a second time, just like in Vegas. Then we had to find the Northwest counter and check in. Fortunately, our baggage was checked all the way home, we just had to get our boarding passes. The line moved very quickly and we were on our way to the gate in good time. Didn't have to rush, but didn't have to wait too long either. The second flight went by really quickly. I started watching a movie, but got tired and slept for about 2 hours or so on and off. Don slept more than me.
We got home about 2pm or so. Had some tacos for lunch. When I got home, I could not help but crash. I meant to just lay down and cuddle with Hideous, but I fell asleep and once I was asleep, I couldn't really wake up for a few hours. Even then, I had to force myself. As it was, I was already mal-adjusted to the time change. Turns out I couldn't fall asleep that night till about 2am which made me sleep in too long on Sunday which meant I would be off for sleeping Sunday night before work. I spent Sunday unpacking, doing laundry and sorting through my pictures and video. Got up early for work for once, though...but slept for shit. Ah well. Perhaps I'll get back on track tonight. Here's hoping!
To see the rest of my pictures, please click here. To see videos of the whales, the aquarium, hula dancing and more, please click here.
Posted by Amy at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
Still Having Problems
Sorry folks...still having problems getting the documents off my phone to share all the details of our Hawaiian adventures. I think it's only compatible with a Microsoft-loaded PC. Doesn't seem to like Don's LINUX or my Mac. I would have done it this weekend, but I was too busy either sleeping or organizing photos for people to look at. Hopefully, I'll be able to start on it tonight. In the meantime, you can view our Maui vacation photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/priori2ude/MauiTripFeb2008 and see some videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/priori2ude. I'll have a couple more videos soon as well. So keep an eye out. Aloha and mahalo!
Posted by Amy at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2008
Hawaii Trip
Well, I've been keeping detailed notes on my trip to Hawaii, but unfortunately, I'm not very good at using Linux on Don's computer so trying to convert my documents from my phone to his computer is proving beyond my capabilities. I would have loved to keep you all updated on my adventures to and in Hawaii, but unfortunately, you'll all just have to wait till I get home. I also tried doing it from my fancy pants new phone, but it didn't work very well that way either. I'd ask Don to help me, but he's taking a nap right now and I don't feel like bothering him. And otherwise, we're usually too busy anyway, so I'm just going to do it all when I get home. Sorry for the wait!
Posted by Amy at 11:02 PM | Comments (2)
February 04, 2008
5 Facts
As long as we're on the subject of lists, I think I'll just go ahead and add one more. Yeaaaahhh, that would be great.
I love watching YouTube and there's some game going around it called 5 Facts. Basically, it's a game where if you're tagged, you have to post a video of yourself stating any 5 facts about yourself. Then you have to tag 5 people in return. It's like a cross between tag and a chain letter.
Now, I haven't been tagged, but it did get me thinking. What would my 5 facts be? I think I'd try to stay away from anything obvious like: I like cats; or I'm into martial arts. But then that makes it really hard to think of what I would say. But because of that, they'd end up being really weird-sounding, like hearing part of a conversation out of context.
Fact #1:
I like crunchy things. But they have to be really really crunchy. Not like regular potato chips, they have to be like kettle-cooked. I'm talking nearly-chip-your-teeth crunchy. When I was in college, I used to get vanilla swirl ice cream for dessert and put Grape Nuts on it. I had it every day for I don't know how long until I actually chipped part of my filling out. That's when I knew I'd been eating too much Grape Nuts. I won't eat bacon unless it's brittle. When I go to restaurants, I have to tell them to make it either extremely crunchy or just plain burnt (though they don't really burn it, but come close). Otherwise, they just don't make it crunchy enough. My mom repeatedly tells the story about how when I was a baby/toddler and my parents would take me to a restaurant, they'd set me in a high chair with oyster crackers and I'd just break them apart and make a huge mess. Then my parents would have to tip the waitress extra to clean it up. So I guess you could say I have some weird fascination with the sound and texture of things that are extra crunchy.
Fact #2:
I always wanted to pet a tiger and a dolphin, though not at the same time. it's one of the things I want to do before I die. Besides domesticated house cats, tigers and dolphins are the most beautiful creatures in the world (I also admire sharks, and I've actually "swam" with one, though it was a harmless sand shark and really all it did was sink to the bottom and lay there). I've always admired seeing people on the Travel Channel swimming with dolphins and every time I say (well, whine actualy), "Ohh, I wanna do that!" Maybe Don and I can do that when we go to Hawaii later this week.
There's also this place in Thailand called Tiger Temple where you can actually pet tigers. They're pretty tame and they're taken care of by monks in a remote sanctuary. Next time I go to Thailand, that's what I'm gonna do.
Fact #3:
I'm most likely going to die in a horrible, fiery car crash. Yes, it's morbid, but true. How do I know this? Easy. Just take a look around you next time you drive on the highway. How many crazies do you encounter? My daily commute is anywhere from 40 minutes on up, so that's a lot of crazies. Now, I freely admit that I used to be one of those crazies. I've had too many speeding tickets. But I've mended my ways and have been ticket-free for a solid 3 years! That's a pretty incredible record for me and I plan to keep it clean for a lot longer. But I still have to contend with the crazies and one of these days, one of them is going to turn left or right from the wrong lane or come slamming into me from behind because they were dumb enough to tail me on a snowy, icy day. And that's gonna be it. Well, either that or I'll be in the hospital for a very long time.
Fact #4:
I wish I had never stopped taking piano lessons. When I was about 8yrs. old or so, my mom signed me up for lessons with my sister's piano teacher. She started playing years before me, so by then, she was already very good. Her lessons preceded mine, so I'd have to wait for an hour and listen to her play these beautiful songs. Then I'd get there and have to play a very simplified Minuet in G or something. I got jealous of my sister; I wanted to be that good, but I hated practicing--probably because I was so intimidated by her talent and embarrassed that I couldn't play as well. Eventually, I took up the violin and was ok at it, but never as good a musician as her (again, because I was intimidated). Ahh, sibling rivalry!
Even so, I've always admired the piano. It's one of my favorite instruments to listen to. Back in the 1980s, I had a Casio synthesizer keyboard that I used to fart around on trying to play pop songs by ear. I think I was marginally better than Ross from "Friends." And I can't tell you how I miss the days when I'd be upstairs studying while my sister was practicing piano. Every concerto she played became my favorite and when she left for college, I was really sad not to hear that beautiful music in the house. I suppose if I ever had more time (martial arts takes up all my free time), I'd take lessons again. Or maybe if I was ever unemployed and couldn't find a job.
Fact #5:
Ok, so you all are aware that I'm a martial artist. That's obvious. But I'm not one of those goofy yahoos who goes and tries to do dumbass moves on my front lawn advertising the fact to my neighbors. But I have to admit that there are times when I kind of daydream about what it would be like to actually have to use my skills on the street in a real fight. (Does that go against my promise that I wouldn't say I was into martial arts? Ok, maybe a little.) I mean, that's what I'm doing martial arts for, right? So sometimes, I imagine someone coming to attack me and think about how I'd handle the situation. Now, there have been a few instances when I came close to having to employ my martial arts skills. But the first time, I had just started karate a couple of months before and was not prepared (mentally or physically) to actually do anything. The second, I was completely oblivious to my surroundings (not good for a martial artist), but I had Pam to back me up--she's got eyes like an eagle and she's always prepared. The third time, Don was there, so 'nuff said.
And there you have it. Five facts about me you probably didn't know. Consider yourself tagged.
Posted by Amy at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
Top 10 TV Shows
Well, he did it again. Don asked me to list my top ten TV shows of all time. So I guess I'd have to go with:
10. Xena: Warrior Princess (First 3-4 seasons) "Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!!"
9. Star Trek Voyager (Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh, but I LIKE IT!)
8. Rescue Me
7. Charmed "The power of three will set us free."
6. Star Trek DS9 & Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (It was a tie.)
5. Mythbusters "I reject your reality and substitute my own!"
4. X-Files "The truth is out there."
3. Wonder Woman "You're a wonder, Wonder Woman!"
2. Battlestar Galactica (New)
1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent "GOINK! GOINK!"
Anyone notice a kind of theme here? I've got quite a few shows with really strong female characters: Xena, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Prue/Piper/Phoebe/Paige, Colonel Kira Nerys & Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, Detective Olivia Benson, Special Agent Dana Scully, Diana Prince, President Laura Roslyn & Detective Alexandra Eames. Girls ROCK!
Again, the caveat is that this is my list, so it's subject to change at any time. And if you want to disagree with my choices, go ahead and create your own blog. ;-P
Posted by Amy at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)