OakMonster’s Den

Armed with a can each of pink, purple, and glitter temporary hair color spray, a bottle of black nail polish, and a bag of her own make up, Lauren successfully punked out Serena for Halloween.
Well. To the best of our ability anyway.

As for the rest of us, we ran out of Halloween spirit since last night. Showing up at a party when you were the only bunch who dressed up would do that to your enthusiasm. After we were done with Serena, we headed back home so Lauren can finish her homework, and we can spoil Mela some more.

Oh, the miracle that is a kitten.

No wonder why the research shows having a pet lowers stress. We spent hours taking turn waving this fun-on-a-stick called CatCharmer at Mela, and played tug of war, tag, run in circle games with Mela. Gosh, how she loves this thing! It’s more fun to watch her pounces around, chasing imaginary bugs, or exploring the apartment, than trying to find something to watch on Sunday night TV. And we were laughing our @sses off watching her. A few scratches to our limbs are worth it.

Kitty parenthood. I can hardly wait!!

Pictures of Serena and Mela.

Pictures from last night festivity.

Yes, we did drive all the way to Simi Valley for a Halloween party…which we were the only folks who actually dressed up except for one other and 3 kids. Well, Steve was in costume technically as an HSX Employee, wearing the customized t-shirt from the olden days of HSX.

Dan handed me a shot of someone’s homemade honey liquor to warm me up. So off came the coat. Another hour past, and I needed another shot. As I hunted for something to shoot, a party guest asked what I was looking for, “Just looking for something to warm me up a little.”

“Try some clothes,” chimed in some chick.

Bitch.

Then again, I sensed much bitterness from the female population at the party. Between Rhonda’s ample cleavage and my prancing around in bikini top, I could see why. We’re both married though. Like we’re a threat to anybody.

But they chose NOT to dress up. It was THEIR choice not to get their ho on, dressing all sexy and slutty like, on the one day of the year that you could totally get away with it without being called a ho. Your loss. Not mine.

The costumes definitely set us apart from the crowd. That, and the fact that we only know Dan and Steve at the party. Us costumed folks were a tad bit ostracized to our own little corner. It was as if by wearing costumes we were the freaks of the party and nobody wants to talk to us much. Heh.

But you know what, we haven’t seen Dan in a long time. We were grateful that he invited us to his humble abode to the Halloween party, which is actually Dan’s birthday party in disguise! Wiley that Dan! All of that was worth the trip.

Amazingly, we got from Long Beach to the Valley in about 40 minutes each way. Who woulda thunk that Merlin, my 96 Corolla, could be driven at such speed. With Brandon at the helm, it seems anything is possible.

The crew came back to our place to watch Hellboy to cap off the night of fun. I folded early though, crashing down hard from shots and sugar wearing of.

ON A TANGENT: Did we mention that Lauren brought her kitten Mela with her? We’re having a total blast with both of them!

I LOVE my Hot Topic Bloody Mary fangs!

All dressed up as the vampiress at work. Got a compliment from a coworker from Romania that I’d make a good Dracula’s bride. Once again, and as always, I was the only one in costume.

Although the Romanian came to work in an orangy bongo-print Hawaiian shirt, uncharacteristic of his usual button downs. He later on showed me the characteristic Romanian fangs…which match his shirt…and made out of candy corns.

After a few minutes had gone by from my boss at a team meeting, he said, “what, are you going out dancing after work or something?” I had to go back and put the fangs on.

Nope. Didn’t win any money this year.

The snap-on fangs are incredibly comfortable to wear, given that my right fang was a little ill fitted. I could almost wear it all day for the fact that I talk funnier than my funny talk. And wearing the fangs make me thirsty. I think it’s partially because the fangs forced me to keep my mouth open a little bit here and there. But Brandon thinks I was getting into character a little too much.

The velvet dress is quite warm when there is no breeze. My wooly silky pashmina from Nepal is keeping me toasty enough not to suffer hypothermia. Except for when the wind blows.

At one point, after running around in the office so much, I put down the pashmina. It was getting warm in that dress! The Married Graphic Guy was looking at me weird. I caught him blushing. He joked (or may be not) that I was making him nervous. “I haven’t seen bare shoulders in this office in a long time. For some reasons, I couldn’t stop looking at your shoulders! Oh my god, I just did it again. Sorry! Arrgh! Where’s your goddamn shawl!?!”

If it was some other girls, you would think that was a lame excuse for catching someone staring at your boobs. But seriously, you saw the picture. I DON’T HAVE ANY BOOBS. Besides, the velvet dress is not cut very low, so no push-up-bra-enhanced cleavage either.

It took him another hour after that to get used to my bare shoulders.

Thu, Oct. 28, 2004
Miniature human species discovered

By Seth Borenstein
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

*NOTE* 2 days later - I just noticed the guy’s last name is BORENstein. Heh.

WASHINGTON - A miniature, long-lost relative of modern humans has been discovered, shaking up science’s view of how we evolved on Earth.
Scientists, who unearthed her after 18,000 years, nicknamed her “Hobbit,” after the short characters who starred in “Lord of the Rings.”

She stood 3 feet tall with a brain the size of a grapefruit. Yet she was smart enough to use tools, boats and probably language, and likely hunted pygmy elephants. She’s being called a strange new species of human.

Scientists found Hobbit and six other skeletons of this lost species on Flores, a remote Indonesian island, according to a study to be published today in the scientific journal Nature.

The discovery means that about 50,000 years ago, there were four species of humans roaming the Earth at the same time: Homo sapiens (us), Homo erectus, Neanderthals and this new relative, called Homo Floresiensis (also called Flores Man).

The scientists who found the skeletons last year in a cave on the island, about 375 miles east of Bali, named their best specimen, a 30-year-old female, after the diminutive Tolkien fantasy characters.

She and her contemporaries weighed about 55 pounds, had slightly longer arms than modern humans, had thicker eyebrow ridges than we do, sharply sloping foreheads and not much of a chin, said co-discoverer Richard “Bert” Roberts of Australia’s University of Wollongong.

In the cave, scientists found evidence of fire and “sophisticated stone tools” used for the communal hunting of pygmy elephants, which are about the size of a water buffalo.

“The Hobbit was nobody’s fool,” Roberts said in an e-mail interview. “Given that Homo Floresiensis is the smallest human species ever discovered, they out-punch EVERY known human intellectually pound for pound.”

In the past, researchers had figured that humans had to have big brains to evolve, but Hobbit makes them realize that “once you get to a certain size brain in humans, size doesn’t matter; wiring (the way nerve cells are connected) matters,” said Rick Potts, the director of the human origins program at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History.

Scientists think Homo Floresiensis was wiped out in a massive volcanic eruption 12,000 years ago that also killed off the island’s pygmy elephants, said co-discoverer Peter Brown of the University of New England.

The existence of Flores Man for at least 30,000 years adds a bizarre chapter to the study of human evolution.

“We have a generally pretty good picture of what’s going on in human evolution,” Potts said. “But in this case, this is a surprising story of what can happen to one of our cousins.”

Flores Man is smaller than its predecessor, Homo erectus. In the past, scientists had known that other species of animals got smaller on remote islands — when resources are scarce, it’s better to be smaller — but couldn’t show that that applied to humans.

“It is a clear indication that (humans) are subject to the same biological processes as all other mammals,” Brown said. “We are relatively intelligent tool makers, but apart from that, we are not particularly special.”

Flores Man was an accidental discovery that took a year to confirm.
“When we first unearthed the skeleton, I was simultaneously gobsmacked, puzzled and amused!” Roberts said in his e-mail.

“We had been digging in the cave looking for the remains of the earliest modern humans (Homo sapiens) in Indonesia … so when we found the skeleton of a completely new species of human, with so many primitive traits and that survived until so recently, it really opened up a whole can of prehistoric worms.”

Now scientists have to figure out Hobbit’s place on the human family tree.
“This is a side branch to the origin of Homo sapiens … that wasn’t joined up in the main story,” Potts said. “Bizarre.”

Roberts is ready to go to another Indonesian island, Sulawesi — which he said had a “well-known range of strange and unusual creatures” — in search of what he calls “another lost tribe.”

Shane picked up his vest last night. And got the pants hemmed. With just the white shirt, pants, and his goatee, I threw on a hat and Shane was an instant Amish.

[Photos were accidently deleted. Darn!]

Put the vest on, and we could see Sammy Adams emerging.

Shane also brought me my long blonde wig for Rikku. We’re going to have some problems putting the hair up in a pony tail because the way the wig is. Shane and I tried a couple of different options last night. We’ll have to see what we would end up doing.

Man, I look pretty neat with blonde hair. Contemplating stepping off the plane in Bangkok with that on. Last year I wore the frelling Christmas elf hat with big ol’ ears, and they didn’t even see me. Hahaha! The wig would probably gives them a heart attack though.

Rikku costume. 90% complete. Missing only the wig now.

Brandon is only missing the glasses.

And Shane’s vest is done. He’ll have to hunt for the rest of the costume this week.

Travel itinerary is starting to shape up for the trip home. Here’s your first look at our plan. The only things written in stone other than our arrival-departure schedule is the dental appointment, and the flight to Chiangmai.

Thu. Nov. 18 - Depart LAX at 11:30 p.m. 2.5 hour layover in Taipei.

Sat. Nov. 20 - Arrive in Bangkok around 11 a.m. Dad should be back from an urban design conference in Beijing that same day if not the day before.

Sun. Nov. 21 - Brandon’s dental appointment in the morning. Yes. Dentist. Dental works in Thailand is as good (if not better) than the US and a lot cheaper. Brandon needs to finish up some procedure his American dentist neglected to tell him about.

My dentist back home takes care of our whole family, and has been looking at our teeth for the past 12 years. He usually only works at this office on Wednesdays, but he’ll come in especially for us. So this Sunday appointment is for my family dentist to evaluate and determine further procedures. Last year when I was home, he postponed his vacation one day so he could come in to see me…and clean my teeth. That, my friend, is the kind of relationship you just don’t have with the dentist in the states!

That same evening, I’m planning to get my Mater Dei classmates together for a dinner. Brandon may have to make a brief appearance.

Mon. Nov. 22 - Take it easy day. We either going to lounge around, getting manicure/pedicure or take Brandon out to get a traditional Thai massage. Either that or one of the following tour packages mom wants us to go through out our trip:

• Bangkok tour: Temple of Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace. Temple of the Dawn (across the river). A few more temples and tourist attractions along the way.
• Floating Market tour: A van ride to the Floating Market, just outside of Bangkok. Lunch and a show there. Make pit stops at the Rose Garden and possibly the Golden Pagoda.
• Ayutthaya tour: A van ride to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thai kingdom. (See my old Thailand trip pictures.) Take a 3-hour barge ride back to the city down the Chao Praya river.

Tue. Nov. 23 - Tour package day.

Wed. Nov. 24 - Oakley’s dental appointment. Yep. My turn to get my teeth checked. If Brandon still needs work done, he’ll be in there too.

Thu. Nov. 25 - Head up to Chiang Mai, the northern capital. Dad has to go up for a meeting, so he’ll be working most of Thursday and a part of Friday. We will commission a cab from the hotel, and be taken all over town to paper umbrella factory, etc. Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, the temple on top of Mount (Doi) Suthep is definitely on the list. This is the temple featured in Rambo III. We have to hike up the 300-step stone staircase to the temple to complete the experience. Of course, mom will beat us riding on the hillside scaling trolley.

Thanksgiving will be celebrated at a traditional northern dinner, Khan Toke dinner. Khan Toke dinner serves up sort of like Moroccan food. Everyone sits on the floor and eats with your hands. Dinner which consists of sticky rice, curry dip for pork rinds and fresh vegetable, and other entree is served in this round tray. And of course, for the tourists, a show of traditional dances while you enjoy your meal.

After dinner, we could go crazy at the famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar after mom’s lead!

Fri. Nov. 26 - November, full moon night is Loy Kratong festival. Thais head out to the nearest body of water to float their kratongs, lotus shaped small floats with incense sticks and candles. It’s a way to thank the goddess of water for the bountiful supply from the past year. The northern folks call the festival Yipeng Festival. In addition to the water floats, they also celebrate with floating lanterns, or Khom Loy. They look like upside down luminarias that float like rogue mini hot air balloons.

Once dad is done with his meetings, we plan to head out to Aunty Sida’s house in Chiang Dao, a mountain village in Chiang Mai. I’m not sure how or where we would go float our kratongs while we’re at her house though…

Sat. Nov. 27 - Spend the morning in Chiang Dao. Head up to Chiang Rai, another northern province, for more adventures. Mountain tribes. National parks. Myanmar (Burma) border. And, of course, the Golden Triangle. Spend the night in Chiang Rai.

Sun. Nov. 28 - Head back to Chiang Mai to return to Bangkok. Oakley will be desperately searching a newspaper or internet cafe to check on USC-Notre Dame score.

Mon. Nov. 29-Fri. Dec. 3 - The follow week so far is fair game. Nothing has been planned.

We’ll be taking more tour packages so Brandon can see everything. We’ll be going shopping with mom for whatever else she hasn’t bought for us already. (Yes. My mom pre-shops so we don’t have to spend too much time in the malls.) The Aunties will be lining up to see us. And our friends too.

Joy will take a day off from work to take us around town for most of the day. Then we’ll visit her new office, the family business’ brand new production plant and business headquarters, and have dinner at her house. The adventure continues as we will be riding the Sky Train home. Oh, I hope my friend Tong can play hookie that day and join us!

Sat. Dec. 4 - Depart Bangkok at 12 noon. Arrive back at LAX at 2 p.m. Hopefully we’ll be home in time for me to catch the last few minutes of USC kicking fucla’s ass.

So I went to my doctor who sent me off to an eye specialist to look deelply into my eye to make sure nothing else was left in there.

The eye doctor looked, dilated my left eye, and looked some more. There is absolutely nothing left in there. What I’m feeling is the part of my eye that actualy got minorly scratched. But it is nothing serious. The eye will heal in a few days.

(Note: The doctor turns out to be a fellow Trojan! Not too much awkward silence while waiting for my eye to dilate there as we jabbered about football and campus life.)

So I left the doctor’s office, stopped by at home to put my contact lenses on and went back to work. The doctor did tell me that things are going to be blurry for the rest of the day because of the dilated pupil. I didn’t think it could be that bad.

And it was bad.

I couldn’t look at a computer screen at work. The light difference in the dilated eye and the normal eye gives me a headache, and I can’t see a damn thing on the screen. And it was getting worse by the minute. I ended up wearing sunglasses inside the whole 3 hours I was there to finish the mailer. I was useless in front of a computer so I asked to go home. I was back at the house at 3 p.m.

A drive down less than a mile was not too hard, but I wouldn’t do it again. Brandon was also home early from work drove me around to run errands that afternoon.

Watching TV wasn’t so bad. Reading was difficult.

And man, I wish I could’ve taken the picture of my pupil. I was HUUUUGE! And freaky. I looked like I had the all-black alien eye contact lense on!

Actually, my pupil is still dilated a little bit. The screen right now is still a little blurry, but nothing painful. Hopefully I’ll return to normal by the end of the day.

Oy.

*Pupil update* It’s Sunday 1:45 p.m. I finally am able to look at the computer screen and read my book without the blur. It’s not completely back to normal, but damn close. My pupil has been dilated for just about 48 hours. That’s some potent potion my doctor used.

Almost lost an eye sewing last night.

Yes. Sewing.

I was working on Shane’s Sam Adams vest last night. I had to learn to sew the button hole before actually doing it on the vest, and so I had to change the presser foot, the part the hold the garment down for the sewing machine, to use the button hole guide. Somehow I managed to lose the original foot in the process.

So I put in another foot that the manual said is used to sewing more delicate/slippery fabric, selected straight stitch, and hit the pedal. Apparently, I didn’t dial the knob to the right position. The needle was still in the button hole sewing mode.

The needle hit the foot and exploded. A piece of it came at me, and I felt a sharp twinge like having a speck of dust in my left eye.

Brandon managed to squirt saline/contact lenses solution and rinse off whatever it was that was supposedly in my eye. We didn’t see anything came out nor lingering in there. I went to bed feeling like there was something in there still, but it wasn’t painful. We thought it might just be all in my head.

But I woke up with a feeling that there still is something in my eye although the eye is neither swollen nor red. It’s not entirely painful, but bugging the crap out of me. And I’d rather have doctor look at it etc.

And I still can’t find the frelling presser foot.

Bacon of the Month Club.

Hmmmm….garlic stuffed bacon.