I took this online quiz more than a few months ago and scored 7.6. I've been putting a lot of energy into my spirtual life lately so I was curious to see how I'd score now.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	8.1
Mind:	7.5
Body:	8.6
Spirit:	9.2
Friends/Family:	4.5
Love:	6.9
Finance:	7.8
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Current Location: Sierra Madre, CA
Current Mood: apathetic

There is a giant walnut tree in the middle of the parking lot next to my apartment building. Every year in late summer when the nuts are ready to fall, hoards of wild parrots converge on the tree and gorge themselves, all the while making the most insane racket. They start almost as soon as the sun is up, and return in the early afternoon before dark. It's really fascinating to watch them, especially now that I've seen The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. I've always been an animal lover, but I've developed a new respect and appreciation for these raucous little beings.

If you haven't seen the movie, by all means rent it and make sure to watch the extras, which provide a lot of follow-up to the main story. I found it incredibly heart-warming, not just for the animal stars but also for the humans whose lives were profoundly changed when the birds allowed them into their fascinating world.

( My Interests Collage! )

I've been a busy little bee with my sabbatical planning. Some of the paperwork still needs to get turned into HR, but my manager and VP already gave their approval so I've been off and running.

A couple of days ago I booked the plane ticket, using up almost all of my frequent flyer miles. I don't care; this trip was the main reason why I've been consolidating my miles on American, and why I got an American Platinum MasterCard which I've been charging EVERYTHING to because I get something like 5 miles to the dollar. I had just enough to fly Business Class, so that 21-hour flight each way wilil be just a little more comfortable. I wish I had enough to fly International First Class, where you get an actual flat sleeping surface. But, Business Class ain't too shabby either. Personal video station, here I come!!

Yesterday I mailied off my visa application and passport to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. Even though I'm not going until February, I figure I should take care of the visa stuff now in case there are any snafus. Dealing with government bureaucracy when the clock is ticking is not fun.

I finally got the motivation to start researching the country, and learning about the different regions. India's sheer size and diversity are absolutely mind-boggling. So far my very rough list of places are:

* Delhi (just a few days coming and going)
* Amritsar (part of the yatra)
* Rishikesh (part of the yatra)
* Varanassi
* Rajasthan
* Mumbai (probably just pass through)
* Ellora and Ajanta caves
* Goa
* Alleppey houseboating
* Some sort of homestay on an organic farm (TBD)

I decided not to go to Dharamsala this time. That's where the Dalai Lama and Tibetan governement-in-exile are located. My friend Nick stopped there during his India trip last summer and said there really wasn't much to see, and he even saw the Dalai Lama at a dharma talk (which, he said, turned out to be kind of arduous because he'd speak in his native Tibetan, which was then translated into Chinese, and then translated into English). There's no guaranteed that the DL would even be in town when I go since he travels so much. I think I'll just catch him when he comes to L.A. to speak.

Current Mood: complacent

I ate a ridiculous amount of fried food tonight.

I'm in Atlanta this week for a management offsite, and tonight I had a late dinner with groove_haircut at Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro -- if you're wondering if that's a rip-off of Cheesecake Factory, that would be yes. I ordered the fried catfish platter, not realizing that I would be given a ridiculously high mound of fried fish on top of a bed of fries, topped with onion rings. What's funny, though, is minute before the order was brought to our table, I saw it sitting under a heatlamp waiting to picked up. I thought "ew God, what is that?" before realizing that the waiter had picked it up and was walking towards us. Not my finest gastronomique hour.

Oh well, at least I had a chance to catch up with Aaron, who graciously took me to Kroger so I could buy some hair conditioner.

I'm finally making some concrete plans to take my eight-week sabbatical, for which I've been eligible for three years but have not had the opportunity, money, or motivation to take until now.

I'm going India in February. The first couple of weeks will be with a group of people who have signed up for a yatra, or spiritual pilgrimmage, through a yoga studio in Hollywood. It's not the studio where I took my teacher-training, but I goto classes there all the time. The studio organizes this trip every year; in fact, I almost went this past February but the timing was just bad. This time around I can plan and save and strategize, so I feel better prepared.

What I love about this yatra is that it includes stops that are significant to kundalini yoga and the Sikh faith, like the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the 84 Steps in Gowindal. It also stops at the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, which the Beatles made famous when they studied under the Maharshi. It's since become a mecca of sorts for yogis all over the world, but it was considered a very holy city long before the '60s. After the yatra, I plan to stay on and tour the rest of the country -- I'm not sure where yet, but I'm eyeing Varanassi, Goa, and possibly Dharmasala, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. In a way I'm putting off research so I don't have to choose, though I've started reading my Lonely Planet India guide.

As for my work stuff, I feel I'm at a good resting point where things will go smoothly without me. I've put enough processes in place and I have a very trusty, and self-managing staff. I swear I am such a lucky boss. I've submitted my paperwork to my manager, but I have no reason to think they'll turn me down (Leigh was in fact very excited for me when I told her my plans). The paperwork is really just an explanation of how your work will be covered and by whom while you're gone -- due diligence to make sure people think through the impact their absence so they will start planning.

I am so glad EarthLink allows us to take our sabbatical how we see fit, rather than sticking to the narrow definition and requiring us to work on a project closely tied to our jobs. A lot of people have used their sabbaticals to extend parental leave, work on their house, and even work at other jobs as a trial run for a career change. All on the company's dime. Pity they got rid of the 11-year sabbatical program; I'd be eligible for that in less than a year.

Current Mood: tired

Star Trek Inspirational Posters

Current Mood: amused

My friend Erik (formerly of theworstbully) is one of those talented creative types who is on a mission to draw all of his friends in caricature. And lucky for me, I made the cut. How cool is that?



Thank you Erik!!!

Current Mood: enthralled

It was an insanely hot day today in Southern California (as I expect it was elsewhere). It hit 106 in my town according to Wunderground.com. At 10 p.m., it was still 95 degrees. The heat has everyone cranking their air conditioners, so the state's power grid was overloaded. Hello, rolling blackouts! And to add another twist to this weather, we're having thunder and lightning. That's a very odd thing for us this time of year.

Despite all the weather drama and continual sweaty-stickiness, we had a very good day today. There was the company picnic this afternoon, which was at Brookside Park near the Rose Bowl. Everyone in my Pasadena team was there and they brought their families, so we had a nice group gathered. The heat was pretty bad despite the shade, snow cones, and inflatable water slides and games for the kids. We played some fun group activities during which we got splashed with water, which felt awesome but I'm SO glad I didn't wear a white shirt LOL. I broke my company party losing streak and won a drawing for a DVD box set of Band of Brothers, which I haven't seen or really plan to see, but I've been thinking it'd be a good Christmas gift for my dad.

Afterwards we headed to Celeste's place to help her and her boyfriend Q move his (non-running) motorcycle up a fairly steep hill to a parking spot. We're having brunch with them tomorrow, so we didn't hang out too long. We had to get to my stepmom's house to meet our friends Melissa and Averan for a dip in the pool.

My stepmom rarely heats the pool unless there is a special occasion, such as a pool party. In the summer on hot days like today, the top layer is usually hot from the sun, and you can really feel the temperature difference when you jump in. It's so nice though, especially after you've been sweaty and sticky all day. It just so happened that Jane's tenant, Yoshia, was hosting a small dinner party with some Japanese friends, two of whom couldn't make it. Yoshia had ordered a ton of sushi and other Japanese delights so there was a lot of leftover food. We totally dug in after our swim. I've gotta say this was a cheap day: free lunch, free social time with friends, and then free dinner! Paying off that Hawaii trip won't be too far off if we have more days like today.

When we got home at 11 p.m. the apartment was crazy hot. The blackout turned off our AC so the place heated back up. Things are cooling off again, but it takes awhile to cool a room once you've let it heat up. That's why we've been keeping the AC in the bedroom on all day, though set at around 78 -- it sounds wasteful, I know, but it takes as much if not more energy to cool the room once it's heated back up to 95 or whatever.

Current Mood: sleepy

Hawaii photos are posted to Flickr!

Kauai picture set

I've been crazy busy these past few months, for various reasons. I think I've finally got my life back -- the life of sitting on the couch watch TiVo'd reruns of Psychic Detectives and munching salty snacks. I don't know why I run so hot and cold when it comes to getting stuff done. I'm either totally into it, or incredibly unmotivated. Yoga and meditation has helped me regulate the way I expend energy, but I think it's always going to be a challenge for me.

Yoga
I finished my kundalini yoga teacher training program last month, and we had our graduation last Saturday. We held it in my stepmom's backyard and had about 70 people. I ended up doing most of the planning and a lot of the work, but I kind of liked it that way. Sure, it would've been nice to have some more help (though I did get some help from some of my classmates), but it was nice to not have to run everything past a committee.

Everyone is asking me whether I plan to start teaching now that I'm certified. I didn't really sign up to teach in a formal setting, though I believe we all teach in our own way. I'm sure I'll be called to teach at some point, and when I am I'll take up the challenge. But for now, I really don't plan to create new opportunities for me. There are plenty of yoga teachers in L.A. already, many of whom are trying to make a living out of it. I feel I reached my original goal, which was to further develop my knowledge of kundalini yoga so I could deepen my own practice. My stepmom wants me to develop a program to teach kundalini yoga to prison inmates, but I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet.

Work
Work has been pretty much the same these past few months. We've gotten busier and I'm still acrruing an assload of vacation because I've been there so long. Have I mentioned that I hit my 10-year anniversary in late April? My manager, Leigh, organized a nice dinner for me with my staff and coworkers and work friends at a Thai restaurant to celebrate my company anniversary. It was a really pleasant surprise, and it was nice that everyone went out of their way to feel appreciated. I'm so used to being the one showing others my appreciation that it was a nice change of pace.

Apartment
So, we're still in our sweatbox. But, we *finally* managed to get the landlord to come out and install window AC units in our bedroom and office. It only took him 5 months to get around to it, and then a whole weekend to actually do the work, but man, what a difference! We also tinfoiled our bedroom windows to deflect the morning sun, so we now sleep through the night in our cool, dark cave. The AC also drowns out all the outside noises (Mexican leaf blowers, daily trash pick-ups from neighboring businesses, teen-agers booming hip hop from their car stereos in the adjacent parking lot...the list goes on). It's still an absolute fucking oven in the front of the house -- my digital oven thermometer routinely reads between 98 and 104 in the living room -- so we keep the hallway door closed and hang out in our bedroom and office until it cools down around 10 p.m. It's not ideal, but it's a hell of a lot better.

We have looked at a few apartments and rental houses but haven't fallen in love with anything. We did apply for a one-bedroom house in Sierra Madre Canyon (less than a mile from where we live) that we really liked, but the landlord selected someone else. I swear to God, it's gotten to the point where we have to write a fucking love letter to landlords to pick us. It used to be you looked at a place, filled out an application and paid for a credit check, and that was that. This ridiculous housing market has us acting as if we're going on job interviews, where we're expected to offer additional information about ourselves to make us stand out from other tenants. I knew that prospective home buyers had to go through this bullshit a year ago when there were real estate bidding wars, but for fucking rental property? They should be fucking ecstatic that anybody is willing to shell out $2,000 a month for a shithole.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

So, the apartment hunt is still on, but it's been taken down a notch now that we've got immediate heat relief. Gotta love that cheap rent, too.

Hawaii
So, yeah, we had a fun time in Kauai. At some point I'll probably go through our vacation photos and post them to Flickr, but to be honest, it wasn't a very picture-worthy trip. Not that we didn't do fun things or that the island has its highlights, but after traveling to other tropical locales, Hawaii just isn't all that unique or exciting to us. Our next big vacation will definitely be international.

Current Mood: blah
Background Sounds: Chappelle Show

I've ripped on Design Within Reach in the past because I think their stuff is way overpriced. Little did I know I could have the same look for just pennies!

Design Without Reach

It's 95 degrees outside.

It's 93 degrees in my apartment.

Sigh.

Current Mood: hot
Background Sounds: Sat Kartar - Har Har Har Amritsar

Dang, it's been too long since I last posted something substantial. I've been super busy with organizing a few different projects, mostly related to my yoga teacher training. That is also coming to a close, with just one weekend left and then the written final exam on June 10. I'm not really worried; they actually gave us the test questions so I just need to look up the answers.

Yoga Stuff
I probably would be more caught up with studying if I hadn't taken on so many extra-curricular projects. I volunteered to help organize the graduation ceremony, and as it turns out i've been doing most of the work. It's been a headache at times but I know will be very, very appreciated when all is said and done. There was also a weekly workshop series I helped set up with my friend Al, a fellow teacher-trainee. I've also been helping out the yoga studio as a "technical consultant" -- basically giving them some direction and instruction on how to use computer applications and tools more effectively. I forget sometimes that people who don't work on the computer all day don't have the same command of email and Office apps. And then, of course, there's my regular daily practice and the occasional yoga class. It all adds up.

iPodding
Today I had to buy a replacement iPod because the Nano that Jon's parents gave me as a birthday gift was swiped from my purse in my office. I had only stepped away for about 15 minutes to talk to Peggy, and I had just gotten in so I hadn't put my purse in my desk drawer like I normally do. Strangely, the thief left my both my Treo and my wallet with all my cash, blank checks, credit cards, and ID. Then again, the thiefs who have been stealing from the cubes in my area seem to have no common sense. Amy, whose cube is next to my office, had a brand-new boombox on her desk, but they chose to take her large bottle of hand lotion. Rhonda, who is next to Amy, has noticed food disappearing from her desk. A couple of weeks ago she came in one morning to find her keyboard tray totally trashed, as if someone had sat on it. Truly bizarre.

What's weird is that we're not exactly located in a high-traffic area. You have to go out of your way to find us, yet sometimes I'll see a random person walking through. I don't want to be bitchy and territorial, but it's irksome because a couple of years ago someone took a network card from a laptop from Amy's cube, though Anahit sat there at the time. I was actually sitting in my office working and heard an ominous "whoosh" sound as the thief walked by. I remember thinking it was rather odd but I didn't bother to look up. When Anahit came back from lunch she noticed the card was missing. How *#$@*&^^&*) infuriating. I mean, the fucking NERVE! And network cards are cheap, for Christ's sake!

I used my Nano quite a bit while doing and teaching yoga, so I decided to just buy a new one rather than hope that the lost one would turn up. So tonight we go to the Apple store and I see that for only another $51, I can get a Video iPod with 30 gigabtes of storage. A 4GB Nano is $249. WTF? What Apple marketing genius thought of that pricing scheme? I didn't really want a bigger device, but I really do need the larger capacity. I still miss my Nano.

Hawaii
Anyway, on to brighter topics. Jon and I finally decided on a vacation destination. We'd been kicking around several ideas...Palau, Peru, Galapagos Islands, Laos....they all sound good but added up to $4-5k (per person!). We wanted both a beach/scuba diving vacation and some adventure in a foreign locale, but we didn't want to spend so much. We finally compromised and decided on a week in Kauai after I found an awesome package deal on Travelocity for mid-June. We've both heard great things about that particular island and neither of us have been there yet. There is a TON of stuff to do -- river kayaking, hiking, helicopter tours, tubing and ziplining. And of course...diving! There's an all-day, three-tank dive trip to a nearby underwater volcano crater, similar to Maui's Molokini. Man, we are going to need a vacation after our vacation.

Current Mood: PMSing
Background Sounds: Sat Kartar - I Am I Am

One of my employees has an 8-year-old son who, for his school homework, wrote a short story using the vocabulary words covered in class. When I read it I was just about rolling on the floor with tears coming from my eyes. It's supposed to be a scary story, but it reads more like a Mad Lib.

( Check it out for yourself! )

My Alaska trip pictures are now posted on my Flickr. Yay!

More!