another one for the list...

i haven't forgotten my list of strange member names. it's just that over the past month, there haven't been any good ones. until now. i bring you...

Ms. Fanny Man

no kidding. that's a real person. yes, i know, the name isn't vulgar by US standards, but if this were the UK, that name would be freaking hilarious.

not sure what to make of it...

so, yesterday the power in the area where i work went out. it was about noon. i was on the computer printing membership cards and letters when everything went dark. however, because the museum has its own generator for just that type of scenario, the lights came back on, but an announcement was made over the internal intercom system that everyone--visitors and staff--was to go out into the main hall for an announcement. so, everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, went out to the grand hall.

now, if you've ever gone to the houston museum of natural science, there is a little area on the second floor that has a railing. if you go up to the railing, you can see out over the the entire first floor. while everyone was in the grand hall, the president of the museum, dr. joel barscht (former curator of gems and minerals) stood at the railing, looking down upon all of the museum visitors and staff. he never said anything. i don't know why.

my supervisor, jill, was out at a papasitos and was just about to order when the power went out. since she coudln't eat, she just hopped back in her car and went back to the museum. she missed the ruckus at HMNS.

anyway, after the incident, when three of my coworkers and supervisor were back down in the "office," this transpired:

setting: downstairs, in the HMNS basement, five women ages 19-28 are seated in front of computers. periodically, to stay awake, they will speak out loud, to no one in particular.

TRINA, as she hits "print" on her computer screen, and staples a stack of papers together, to no one in particular: I though Joel was going to say something.

JILL, reaches for a styrofoam cup filled with a beverage: Why do you say that?

Jill takes a sip of her drink from a straw.

TRINA: Well, they said over the loudspeaker that everyone was supposed to go to the grand hall for an announcement. You know that balcony area on the second floor where you can look down at the Grand Hall? Dr. Barscht was standing there. I thought he was going to say something like Evita.

Instantly, a look comes over Jill. She smiles and chokes on her drink.

JILL: Remind me to never eat or drink anything when I talk to you.

the end

is this a compliment or what? i've been told all week that i'm funny, and i can hear jill giggle sometimes when i say stuff, so i'm hoping she means i'm a comedian and she's close to doing a spit-take.

kids say the darndest things...

one of my co-workers suggested that i watch this video on funnyordie.com. i thought it was going to be retarded, but no. it's actually pretty hilarious!

uh huh...

my brother's friend is on "the bachelor."

my brother's friend brad used to date her.

my brother says brad told him that amber said she "won." meaning...andy baldwin + amber whateverherlastnameis = LOVE


damn. i wanted him to end up with tina, someone who doesn't seem high maintenance. and i swear this is my first time to ever really watch the show. and if she really does get chosen by that hot yet somewhat off bachelor, well...i knew before you did. ha!

if i could sing...

this is what i'd sound like:

exactly

more! more! more!

more names to add to the running list mentioned in the post below...

Richard Byrd, who is married to Cynthia Fowler
Christina White, who is married to Kenneth Snow
Lance Raper
Anita Weiner

needless to say, i am in DESPERATE need of some mental stimulation at work.

ps. holy crap, did you watch "lost?" did you!!!??????

what's in a name?

so, my job is completely unchallenging. therefore, i have to invent ways to keep my brain stimulated and awake, because i'm sure my supervisor is going to think that i either have a bladder control problem or OCD, due to my frequent trips to the bathroom. i actually am neither. i just start falling asleep at my "desk," and get up to walk a few feet outside of the "office," so i don't fall right onto my keyboard and break it or something.

anyway, one thing i do to get the synapses in my brain firing at least once during my 830-530 committment to employment is think about all of the names i see on the forms, and keep a running list of the "interesting" ones. thus far, the best names i've come across, and, mind you, these are REAL people who are members of the houston museum of natural science, are:

Jim Doody
Mary Caka
Joey Titzman

yeah, so, i just want to supplement this by saying that my sense of humor is diverse. don't think, just because of this entry, that my favorite comedic film is "half-baked," "zoolander," or some crap like that. it's just...that's the best i can do to keep myself awake until lunchtime.

in other happenings...

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive. Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

well...DUH!

at the workplace

so, i just wanted to share this tidbit of my day.

all day today, i heard people compain about school, graduation, professors, and lectures. this girl who works in advanced sales, which is a "department" right behing my "office" complained to my supervisor today about some exit exam she didn't know she was supposed to take for graduation (where do these people go to school?!!!). only, what she said was, "there are these exit exams, and i haven't tooken them yet!"

i kid you not.

people, i work amongst the creme de la creme of the academic world.

file this under untitled

about a year ago, i got into south park. in the spirit of the new season, i stole this from irene's blog...

i present my south park character: me




Click here to make one

yesterday

six months ago yesterday was the worst day of my life.

for the record...

i just want to be the first to say (and, mind you, it's not out of jealousy or whatnot, but rather, disgust), that the key to getting into john mayer's pants is meeting all of the following requirements:

1. having a name that begins with the letter J
2. being 5'3" or shorter
3. being an airhead
4. having an ample (i.e., DD or larger) bosom
5. faking like you are funny and/or stupidly happy all the time

exhibit A: mayer dated jennifer love hewitt
exhibit B: mayer is currently dating jessica simpson (eeeeeeeeeyyyyuck! i swear, the man has got to do better. she must either be completely different in her non-tv life, or she must be good in bed or whatever, because i just don't see what her redeeming qualities could be.)

on a different note, i want to see "the namesake" sooooooooooo bad!!!

so...

i am now an office drone.

my co-workers are ghetto (it's somewhat of a bad sign when your supervisor says "ax" instead of "ask," isn't it?).

i don't mean to be racist or prejudice, but i feel somewhat at a disadvantage in my new workplace because (1) i am not of hispanic descent, and (2) i don't say, "girl," at the beginning of every sentence.

that is all.




oh, by the way, i got the most amazing news (sarcasm alert!): i will not be graduating this semester afterall!!! yipppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeee...........

despite my best efforts to fulfill my promise of working on my thesis while in texas, dr. fox has taken, what seems like eons, to read my latest friggin' chapter. it is her suggestion that "because we are mid-way into the semester" that "we" should "aim for a fall graduation." great. except there is no fall commencement, which, to me is the main thing i am looking for, because i want my relatives to SEE and VISIT the place i have devoted four years of my life to. no one amongst my generation of cousins, etc., has pursued a master's degree, and i really want the Mantaring side of my family to see that i am not a "professional student," or a failure. for all they know, i sit on my ass all day and philisophize about the meaning of life. they think i just sit and take up space. no one gets it. they don't see the importance of what me and hundreds of actual museum professionals aspire to achieve in the long run. no one sees what i do as work. no one sees that what i've been doing is more than studying and taking tests. boy, do i wish that were all to it!!! i guess, in a way, i'd like a bit of respect and understanding, and some realization that i am trying to pave my way to doing something.

tomorrow...

is my first day of work.

we'll see...

damn the man

today i was offered a job--a job i applied and interviewed over three weeks ago for--and, in my desperation for money, i took it. i know that i should be grateful for an opportunity to work, but now i feel depressed.

i feel like now i am stuck and committed to a job that i am not entirely interested in. i just wanted to make some money. granted, this job is in an actual museum, however, now i'll be working in an office and that's something i don't really want to do. i really want to research, design, fabricate, and install exhibits, not work in the membership office doing data entry. yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's my position...well, actually, i don't know know if the "position" even has a title, because all i've ever heard it referred to is "data entry position," not that i should be hung up on titles anyway. i just hate to think that i've spent four years and $65,000 getting an M.A. to do data entry.

okay, okay...so i know about "the secret" and the big hullabaloo being made on "oprah" about it, but i just find it difficult to think that things happen for a reason and "be the change you wish to see in the world," and all that. i would love to "make a request to the universe" and say, "universe, i want an exhibit design/exhibit tech job that pays at least $12 an hour, or whatever that is salaried, and i would love to have someone love me and wish that the people who said 'we'll hang out when you get back' actually follow through with their promises," but i just don't think that i have much faith in the universe at this point. things are really stressful, and i just can't get to the point where i can toss 20 plus years of pessimism out the window and adopt an optimistic frame of mind. i'm sure it's possible, but some things are easier said than done.

i guess, when it comes down to it, i'm just scared that i am going to be doing this job for a while, because i'm loyal and empathetic, and i can't bring myself to ever tell someone who had the sense to hire me for a job, "sorry, i found something better. i'm giving my two weeks notice." i don't want this job to hold me back from doing something way more fulfilling, just because i need money right now...especially when my 10 year reunion is coming up and everyone is out of school, has a decent job, and has started their own family. i feel progressively retarded, because here i am, still in school, jobless (sort of), alone, and living with my parents!

i know i shouldn't care about what other people think, and shouldn't compare myself to other people, but, who are we kidding? it's inevitable! i'm half filipino, and as much as people don't believe it, it comes with the culture. every filipino family is in silent competiton with each other. parents use their children to one-up all their relatives and friends. it's disgusting, but that's what i've been born into, and unless you have too, it's hard to understand. in some twisted way, i feel like a failure, because i don't think my parents can brag about my brother and i the way my uncle gerry constantly does with his kids. yeah, my parents are special, because they are somewhat of a hybrid, but i can tell sometimes, and it hurts. i can tell that my parents are kind of at the bottom of the barrel because their son is a server at a restaurant and their daughter is still in school, not making $50,000 a year, and living at home. i wish that my parents could brag that my brother was brilliant, working a good job, paying a mortgage, and expecting his first child, and that i had my own place, was in love, and was paying for my own cell phone bill. unfortunately, neither my brother nor myself are fully functional people, and it sucks.

they've done nothing wrong, and i just hope that they are proud of something.

just listen...

Mardi Gras 2007

with my latest thesis chapter finished, mailed to dr. fox, and awaiting feedback, i thought it would be safe to take a bit of a break from everything stressful in my life. so, this year, i went to my first ever Mardi Gras in New Orleans. a bunch of us got spots in the grandstand right in front of some best western hotel to see every parade from saturday up until yesterday. so we were able to see the parades of the following krewes: endymion, bacchus, zulu, rex, and tucks. we decided to skip the krewe of orpheus's parade, since half of our party needed to be picked up, and we were already down in the french quarter/french market/bourbon street area, and by the time we drove through traffic to pick them up, drove back through traffic, found parking, and walked to the grand stand, it would have been too late. besides, after several days of parades and standing out in cold weather, a lot of us were suffering from tiredness, lost voices, and/or the beginning of colds.

anyway, i just saw this at the people.com website:

i actually got one of those coins the caption reads of:

however, i don't remember it being so bright and early when the bacchus parade started. in fact, in the picture i took of the parade, it was nighttime, and we weren't that far from the start of the parade's route:

we had a fun time though, despite some of the greedy people sitting nearby.

L is for Loser

i still haven't finished a draft of my fourth thesis chapter. it's those darn tests!! i've gotten down to figuring out which tests to run on my data (binomials and chi square tests), but other than because i have only nominal and ordinal data, i have no idea why those tests are important. i also don't know how to read the test results. so, that's what's holding me back. AHHHHHHHHHH!

i'm giving myself a week before i just send my thesis chair an incomplete copy of chapter four.

on a different note, here's the friday five:
1. If you were a crayon, which color would you want to be?
green
2. Which color do you think you would be regardless of what you wanted?
probably one of those colors no one ever uses, like burnt sienna
3. Would you rather be used and get blunt, broken and lose your wrapper, or not be used and stay pristine?
used and naked, or whatever
4. Would you rather be in a small set of crayons or a large set?
i'd like to be part of the small set of 8 crayons that crayola makes
5. Would you rather be Crayola, or a different brand?
i guess i already answered this in question four

bummer

so, i didn't get the job. i've given up on having money. i'll live off of my last chico paycheck and work on my thesis. i've been doing this for about two weeks now. my chapter four is pretty swollen--25 pages so far and i haven't even analyzed any data yet. because i don't really know how.

my new obsession

i am in love with this man.



perhaps because he looks so much like justin.