Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What Do People Envy About You?




People Envy Your Compassion



You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain.

People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.



I've envied so many people that I had to try this test. I had to wonder what others could envy abut me. Especially those who I fell ahve had more fortunate things and more fortunate lives than I have had.

Friday, February 20, 2009

"Gayle" is Not Hate Speech... and "Gatita" is not an Obscenity

When I came across this blogspot post yesterday, I was instantly reminded of what happened about 10 years ago when I tried to use "Gatita" (Spanish for "little she-cat") as a screen name for AIM and received a message saying "That screen name is restricted." A friend later said that "restricted" means a screen name can't be used because it contains a sequence of letters that spell out any dirty or objectionable word. He said that "Gatita" was probably restricted because it contains a sequence of letters that spell out a certain slang term for female breasts. Obviously AOL only spots sequences of letters such as these. "Gatita," as I already pointed out is Spanish for "little she-cat." It's the diminutive of "gata" (she-cat) the feminine of "gato" (cat) which has the diminutive "gatito."

I commented on the link above mentioning my "Gatita" incident and how I'd gotten to thinking that girls named Cassandra and people with the last name Nishita have most likely had this problem with using those as screen names since those names contain letter sequences that spell out certain other objectionable terms that would force these screen names to be restricted. Look closely and you'll see what I mean. And there happen to be two people in my hometown who have "Gay" in their names: a woman named Gayla and man named Richard Gay. No doubt that what happened to this person named Gayle would also happen to these two and to anyone with surnames such as Gaylord, Gaynor, or the less-common surname Gayheart. And no doubt that "RGay" or "RichGay" would be not only be banned but also misconstrued as meaning "Are you gay?" or as a hate speech toward rich gay people. (Please note: I'm using a real person's name here, but I mean no harm--I'm only guessing what would likely happen to him based on what was described in the blogpost. I'm also guessing similar things would happen to this person named Gayla, also a real person's name ) Remember "Gaylord Focker," the name of Ben Stiller's character in the "Meet the Parents" films? And a side note of trivia about the late singer Marvin Gaye: his surname was originally spelled "Gay." He added the "e" to imitate his idol Sam Cooke.

The person named Gayle who wrote the blogpost wondered if her last name were "Straight" would she have been banned. Just how common is "Straight" as a surname? The only instance of that last name that I've ever heard was the late actress Beatrice Straight, who won the Best Supporting actress Oscar for the 1976 film "Network". No other examples that I can name, but the
article did get me wondering about if the surname "Straight" were to be banned. Actually she said "Straighth," as a possibly banned surnamed since it contains the letters that spell "straight" in the proper sequence.

I also happen to know that I girl I went to school with named Lisa (again, I am referring to a real person, but I am withholding the last name) has the middle name Gay. And there happens to be someone name in my town (also real) who pronounces her first name "gay" but spells it Gae. Now here's someone I don't personally know :-) someone who was named get this: Gay Love. This was mentioned by someone in my college lit class titled "Theory and Interpretation." Each quarter this class had a different theme, and when I took it, "Feminist and Queer Theory" was the topic. A girl who was in this class with me and I were discussing the original meaning of the word "gay" and the use of Gay as a woman's first name. This is when she mentioned this person who was named Gay Love. I happen to know a family in my town who has the last name Lust. That could have been just as bad, if not a lot worse.

With the Oscars on the way...

I thought I'd share this. I've never been able to sit through awards show, incidentally, and won't be watching (can't get the channel they're on anyway). nevertheless this is a fun quiz and thought I'd share my results here:



You Would Win Best Supporting Actor / Actress



You are a quirky, fascinating person. You understand the world well.

There's no one quite like you. Your uniqueness leaves a strong impression on people.



You are bold and willing to take risks. People may love or hate you, but at least they'll notice you.

You are just different enough to make a great character actor. You can make a smaller part come alive.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Confusion over Digital TV conversion

Even though the transition to Digital TV has been delayed until June some stations are going to switch over on the originally scheduled date of February 17, tomorrow. I've had my box since JUne of last year and just began to try hook it up in order to pick up my local Fox station one of the stations that will forge ahead with dropping the analog signal on tomorrow's date. Once I got the box up, I started to pick up this station but can't get it now! My local NBC affiliate and its weather substation are all I get right now! I can get this station in digital right now, even though they're not dropping the analog signal until the new June date.

I have to admit I don't watch a lot of network TV, but I like to watch the news on my NBC station and reruns of shows such as "Friends" and "The Simpsons"on the Fox station and I usually watch the Sunday night Fox lineup. I'm also peeved I'm not getting the nearby ION Station which I occasionally watch, sometimes the Family Feud (the new one with John O"Hurley, the catalog guy on "Seinfeld.") These were the only channels I got before the transition. My mom hooked up her box and gets a lot of Spanish-language stations. I don't need those, but am wondering why they aren't coming in. I was never able to get the local
CBS station, and was hoping the digital transition would change that. No such luck. And they too are switching off the analog signal tomorrow (they and the Fox station are sister stations).

I can't afford cable and am wondering if I will get to watch just a little TV!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Stormy Sunday?

At least that's what they were predicting for today, but so far no rain has fallen and it's now 3PM (West Coast time). Nevertheless I stuck with my plan of staying home today in case of the predicted storm. I waited for the mail to come yesterday so I could mail some bills without having to go to the post office. Nevertheless I had some running around to do yesterday, including doing laundry at the laundromat and then going to the grocery store. Unfortunately, the parking lot was packed at Safeway so I headed over to Save Mart and then was able to get home. I'm glad I gat all this done yesterday, because even without the possible storm (as of yet) I'm glad to not have to any running around today and to be able to stay warm at home. I have to return to work tomorrow, so it's great to relax today. I'd gotten a movie from Netflix yesterday but didn't get around to watching it today, so that gave me one thing to do today.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

What Does Your Candy Heart Say




Your Candy Heart Says "Cutie Pie"



You always seem to have a hot date, even though you never try to meet anyone.

A total charmer, you have a natural appeal that keeps you in high demand.



Your ideal Valentine's Day date: multiple dates with multiple people



Your flirting style: 100% natural



What turns you off: serious relationship talks



Why you're hot: you're totally addicting

What Kind of Cupcake Are You?

Friday, February 13, 2009

Friday the 13th

Yep, that was today. Nothing bad or unlucky to report here. Just a lot of stormy weather today. Be warned however, that there are two more Friday the 13ths this year. The next one is in just one month, March and the last one for 2009 is in November. Yep, a Friday the 13th less than two weeks after Halloween this year. Four spooky days in one year. And did you know that the first day of the month falling on a Sunday means the the 13th will be on a Friday? Today at work, when we were signing for our paychecks, one coworker asked what today's date was and I reminded them that today was Friday the 13th and told them of the other two such dates occurring this year. Our store manager was glad it's not in June--as it was last year--since her birthday is June 10. Mine is January 11 and I can recall several times when my birthday was followed by a Friday the 13th, most recently in 2006.

BTW, I'm not superstitious, and have never seen the Friday the 13th movies. Not much into horror, save this flick. Wish I'd thought to watch that movie tonight, since I own it on DVD! I didn't even think of that till now and now it's getting quite late and I would not be able to watch something that long this late (it's 9PM West Coast time, as I type this blog). Maybe on one of the next two Friday the 13ths this year?

And I cannot right now think of any time when I thought something unlucky or bad happened on a Friday the 13th. There must not have been too many such incidents, or perhaps none at all :-) Today was Ok, except the stormy weather that kept me from starting my laundry today (but hey, we need some rain this winter). I didn't attempt to go to karaoke tonight because of the weather since it was much better to stay home and keep warm, but that's something else altogether.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Digital TV pushed back

Just the other day I was getting ready to hook up my digital TV convertor box and flaked out. Not too long after this, I turned on the radio and heard the announcement that the deadline was pushed ahead to June 12. I'd gotten the box last June after applying for the coupon in February 2008. I wanted to get a jump on the coupon requests, but did not know that at the time that the coupon expires 90 days after receipt. This was why I got the box last June. Now I'm deciding when to hook the box up for sure. February 17, the original date for the DTV transition is a week from next Tuesday.

Don't photograph to well



At least that's how I've always felt about myself, but let me know if you think otherwise.

Follow up to last night's entry

Unfortunately, my coworker flaked on going to karaoke and I ended up going alone. While there, I encountered two former coworkers (form a prior job) and one of my cousins. I ended up singing again, including two Atlanta Rhythm Section songs, "So Into You" and "Imaginary Lover." I think I'm probably the only who thinks to perform such songs?

Friday, February 6, 2009

Tried my hand at karaoke

For the first time I tried my hand at Karaoke despite the fact I've been convinced that I don't sing very well. A local bar in my hometown has Karaoke every Thursday and Friday night. I discovered this when I wandered down to this bar last Halloween night. I didn't attempt to sing then, but enjoyed watching. This past Friday night however, I wandered down to the bar again (I'd been wanting to go again for some time, but didn't get around to doing so until last week). A friend I'd met on Halloween encouraged me to try so I decided to give it a go. The Dj passed around a binder of song that were available to sing with, and patrons wrote down songs they wish to perform. The DJ would call then out patrons one-by-one. The microphone is cordless, allowing customers to sit or stand as they performed. The first song I performed was "It Ain't Me, Babe," in the style as performed by the Turtles. It of course, was written by Bob Dylan. Next was "You Belong to Me" by Carly Simon. Later was Argent's "Hold Your Head Up." My final song of the night, before I left at 12:30AM, was "Spooky," the original by the Classics IV. (Some trivia: the Atlanta Rhythm Section, who covered "Spooky" in 1979, was made up up several former members of the Classics IV.)

I am now eager to try this again and right now am waiting to pick up a co-worker who wanted to go to this bar. I plan to try karaoke again tonight, but my co-worker says she's afraid to try singing. Maybe someone will convince her to try, the way they did to me last week :-)