Spongebob Marathons and New Years Resolutions

Oh yes, what other way can you bring in a new year other than a full action Spongebob marathon? No joke here people, the yellow sponge that lives under the sea, Spongebob Squarepants, sure is full of nautical nonsense. This year, I’m actually going to attempt to complete my resolutions:

1. Spend less time online.
2. Have more updates for the site. (Even though this contradicts resolution number one…)
3. Bring up my grades.
4. Stop worrying so much about grades.
5. Volunteer more.
6. Stop procrastinating.
7. Exercise more.
8. Blog about more interesting and intellectual things. (Haha!)
9. Stop wasting money on random things.
10. Finally set up the shop for the site.

Well, that sounds about right. Just reading back on this post makes me fear that I won’t be able to complete all or even most of these resolutions. Maybe I should have stuck to some generic resolution for example… hmm… weight loss?

Anyways, this will be a short a sweet blog (the last one of 2007!) since I have a series of rented horror movies calling to me from the living room. As you may have noticed, CMB- cyanideMB- is back and fully revamped for the new year! After twelve or so grueling hours of installing hacks, uninstalling hacks, backing up files, and a few near breakdowns due to insecure hacks and/or carelessness, Elise and I brought forth a new super MB filled with new features! Please register and join the excitement.

B-I-N-G-O!

First of all, I say on behalf of every exhausted, sleep deprived student that we are finally free. Oh yeah, now we can just relax and rest our over strained bodies during the two weeks of break before exams. (At least, that’s the case for the happy messed up school district of Plano.)

Thanks to the brilliant system the Turkey Trot people thought up (I’m sure most of you have read my recent blog about that day) I am now struggling to find volunteer opportunities around my community. Unlike some lucky people, who actually received a letter confirming her six grueling hours peeling bananas in the cold, I did not. This means that in the next two to three weeks, I need to commit myself to over eight hours of service. Honestly, I don’t mind in the least bit, I’m just a bit worried that I won’t meet the deadlines for when my hours are due.

Recently, I’ve been going to Edenbrooke, which is a retirement home right around the corner from where I live. Usually when I go, for the first twenty minutes or so, I stretch with the residents there. I must say that considering how much I’m aching now, that I am way beyond the acceptable range of out-of-shapeness. After the exercise, we all settle down to a few rounds of bingo before lunch. Its a really easy job in general, all I have to do is pass out the bingo cards and scream the numbers as loudly as I can manage. Although I still don’t have it down perfectly I suppose, since after the first few minutes, I usually find the group diminishing in number due to the number of people leaving because they can’t hear what I’m saying. :annoyed: All in all, excluding the occasional temper tantrums concerning the bingo prize, whether receiving an unsatisfactory prize or none at all due to a shortage, its all good.

On Sunday, Syd and I went to Feat of Clay only to find out it switched ownership and turned into Art and Soul. (Har har… funny.) And in case you’re wondering, this is one of those artsy places where you can paint plaster bowls, cups, plates and other things for the staff to fire in the kiln. The result- your very own shiny, microwaveable and durable gift for friends or family. We weren’t disheartened by the downfall of our favorite paint ‘n bake-type place, although we were by the sight of the “Sorry we’re closed…” signs on all of the other different studios in Plano. In the end, we decided to go to Michaels to pick up some art supplies so we could do some crafts later on at my house. Taking this golden opportunity, I decided to buy some jewelry fixings I’ve been desperately wanting. After we picked up some jump rings, beads, and other knickknacks, Syd and I went on exploring what other goodies Michaels had to offer. In one isle while I was browsing the selection of tutus and accessories, a rude lady suddenly plowed her shopping cart right over my foot. At that time I didn’t think much of it besides “Oww” and “Excuse me?” Sadly, this wasn’t the last that I’d see of this crazy, wild blond haired, middle aged woman, who had amazingly huge bags under her eyes. While we were browsing sharpies and calligraphy markers, Syd and I heard this hysterical noise behind us. “Will you guys stop following me? I swear, you two have been bumping into me on every isle now!” She basically yelled at us, while showering us in spit.

Goodness, isn’t she just a happy camper? :happy:
Honestly, she would be the type of person I’d fear to meet down a dark alley in the middle of the night. If you catch my drift… She just had that crazy, serial killer type quality in her. Well, next time, Syd and I have decided that if we get caught in any situation like that again, we’re just going to follow the said accuser throughout his or her whole shopping experience. Who said paranoia wasn’t good for the soul?

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Site wise
For those who have been mailing me about this, the domain contest is still open. So don’t fret about that. I think I’ve permanently set the end date to February 14th, and the winner will be announced on that following Saturday. In the following two or three days, I’m going to try and completely revamp everything on the site so it looks fresh and new for 2008! Also, I will be definitely putting up those wordpress themes I’ve been promising since… wow, 4 months now? There will also be some updates in the icons section, so look forward to that.

P.S. The cute little donut charm in this post’s update icon will soon feature in its very own tutorial!

Attack of the Spambots

I’m sad to inform you all that this week hasn’t been the least bit interesting. Thanks to the brilliant legislature, every school district in Plano (I’m not sure about elsewhere) has to cram about six weeks of information into four and a half. There may be some geniuses in my school who can handle that sort of pressure. However on the other hand, for those procrastinators like myself, its been tough. Aside from breaks to watch psych, I’ve been stuffing my brain full of fluff about Tuberculosis, Shakespeare and the Romantic style of art. But hey, that’s what coffee is for- those long sleepless nights spent on last minute projects. So much for my goal to stop drinking caffine…

Sitewise
A new smiley set has been added to the emotion section of the site. This one is a fairly simplistic style, I think of it as more default cute? Feel free to use them on your wordpress blog, cutenews or cbox.

I have noticed that I’m quite a popular target for spambots. I’ve actually become quite fond of their cute, three word gibberish posts. Although lately, I think they’ve become quite cocky- posting about how I’ve won a million euros from a long distant relative that just died in a plane crash. Yeah, like that’s highly realistic. To close off this short blog, I’d like to point out the lovely icon posted above. Does anyone want to take a guess at who the photographer is?

Asian and clueless

There is nothing quite like taking a ride on the Dart (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) during a sunny Saturday afternoon. Oh yes, no experience I know of can beat the crowded compartments and amused stares directed at your backside. :annoyed: It must have been quite a spectacle to see four scared and nervous looking Asian girls, Amanda, Janet, Emily and myself, huddled in a corner away from all the other passengers. No doubt we were attracting a lot of attention with random spurts of panicked sounding Chinese. Why we were acting like this you ask? I think the only people to blame would be our individual parents who informed each and everyone one of us how dangerous downtown Dallas can be. Being the chicken I am, I was on the verge of bring some hot sauce in my bag, since sadly, I have no access to pepper spray. I assume since the two substances are basically the same, hot sauce- my favorite condiment- would serve to blind any unlucky attacker that crossed my path. Or I should have at least packed some heavy duty ground black pepper. Although, besides some individuals who think cigarettes as the new hair accessory, one shadowy figure who we assumed to be carrying pot in his pocket, no joke, and the three years of my life I lost to second hand smoke and who knows what else, I very much enjoyed my ride.

The rest of my lovely afternoon was spent at the Nasher Sculpter Center, the reason why we decided to take Dart in the first place. I have to admit that this was the best experience for me in a museum- like environment. My favorite part of Nasher was the outside sculpture garden with its ponds, fountains, and greenery. It was nice to get away from the anxiety of upcoming exams and my recent bouts of worry to commune with nature while taking notes on some very interesting pieces.

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Sitewise: In the spirit of the holiday season, I’ve decided to hold a win a domain contest at rooeh.net! For those who have entered in one of these before, you know that the rules are simple. Between the months of December and February, the site that refers the most amount of visitors to Rooeh will be awarded with one free .com, .net, or .org domain of his or her choice. Along with the domain also comes free hosting for one year! And don’t worry, all the setup processes will be completed by me. All you need to do is pick out one of my cute win a domain links or make one of your own, and copy and paste the coding onto your site. :happy: If you are interested in competing, please drop me a comment so I know about how many people are participating. An official contest page will be coming up soon, if you have any questions, feel free to use the contact form, or leave a comment on this post.

I’m sure that some observant visitors have noticed that Rooeh.net now has an official Myspace site! Please add me by going up to the navigation bar and clicking on the Myspace link. And last but not least, I would like to give Feel at hironeko.net some credit for the lovely texture used in this new layout.

IVs and other things~

For those who didn’t know, the last two months or so marked the beginning of preparations for my surgery. This long process was to remove an annoying lump that started growing somewhere on my body. I’ll spare you the details of where it was, I don’t think you’re that interested in my personal life. :happy: The first two visits to the hospital mainly consisted of a lot of probing from various doctors and nurses who had extremely cold hands. It was only my visits on Thursday and Friday of this week that things started to get interesting. Thursday was the pre-surgical examination, and because I got to leave school around 1:00pm, a little bit too early, I got to go to various stores to buy yummies. I believe that food is the best way to heal the soul after trauma. The only other thing worth mentioning about the examination is this very interesting list I received of what I could and could not do on the day before the surgery.

Which included,

1. Evening prior to surgery: Feed your child regular food for the evening meal and a nighttime snack. Do not feed fried, greasy, or spicy foods as these take longer to digest and can cuase nausea and vomiting during surgery.
2. Clothing: Your child should wear loose, comfortable clothing or pajamas and robe with low heel shoes. Please bring a favorite stuffed animal, toy or blanket. Hospital pajamas will be provided for use during surgery.

Sadly, I’m not sure if I followed these directions too well. If I recall, I had a sweet onion chicken terryiaki sandwich from Subway, some buffalo chicken wings and half a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. Although, I am proud to say that I walked into Children’s Medical Center on the bleary morning of Friday, November 30th in my stripy pajama pants and pink sleep shirt that complimented my fluffy bunny slippers. I had to leave Mr. Wuffles at home however, yes I know I’m so creative when it comes to naming my stuffed animals, because I didn’t want the hospital smell on him. I don’t remember much of what happened or how I got to the waiting room, since I was forced to wake up around 5:20am for the hour drive to Children’s. Basically, I stumbled around following Mum like I was 6 years old again.

After waiting on the wheely bed and changing into my hospital pajamas, I talked to 3 nurses, the anesthesiologist and my surgeon- who had to initial me on the correct side of my body so there wouldn’t be any mistakes. You may think its ridiculous, but mistakes do and will happen in the operating room. I just feel sorry for the poor bloke who wakes up and finds himself sliced open in two places instead of one.

I’m sorry admit that everything else passed in a blur after I was given a pink, bitter, liquid medicine to help with the anxiety. The oh so funny nurse, who gave this to me, kept on rambling that I shouldn’t open my mouth, since all the deep dark secrets I had, HA!, would come spilling out. She then slapped on a heart monitor on my thumb and I was left alone in the room with Mum who started to question me about things that she was curious about. Because I didn’t want to say anything that I’d regret in the morning, I started playing with the monitor, trying to see if I could make my heart rate faster. Too bad I didn’t have a chance to play around too much before another nurse came in and snapped the rails on the bed. The last thing I remember was being pushed out into the hallway.

When I finally woke up again, I was forced to drink a bit of water, which had a difficult time going down. Apparently, a tube had been stuck down my throat that was used for the anesthesia. I suppose this explains the flabby piece of skin that moves up and down whenever I swallow. The next thing I noticed was the IV that was sticking out of my left hand. This was the point where I broke down into baby sobs, according to Mum. But in my defense, I was at a very weak and delusional stage when I woke up. After a few minutes, the monitors on my back and legs (I assume these were placed on my during surgery) were removed and I was free to go home. A wheelchair was brought and a nice lady pushed me down to the valet parking where someone said to me, “I will pray for you!” before we drove off. I’m sure he or she was just trying to be supportive, but that little act of kindness just left me with the feeling that I was going to die. But all worries put aside, I’m sure I’ll be back to my cheery self in a few days with the help of sleep and the hot and sour soup Mum has been buying me. I’m still having troubles swallowing solids, since the flab is preventing me from enjoying them fully.

I think I’ve learned a lot from this experience. Here are some tips for you if you ever have to go through a process similar to mine,

1. Don’t eat too much on the day before, trust me, it’s not worth it.
2. Don’t watch anything too bloody right before bed on the night of surgery, for instance, Heroes. It won’t do you any good to stay up all night thinking of hospital scenes, and ironically, there are a lot of them in the first 2 episodes.
3. The operating bed is actually pretty comfortable. Not like the cold, metal beds that dead people rest on in the morgues. (Much to my surprise.)
4. Don’t worry too much about what goes on in the operating room. Chances are, you won’t even remember anything that happened. It’s just like someone took an eraser and rubbed away those 2 hours of your life. I am pretty disappointed that I don’t remember anything however, since I know that you readers would want to hear all the gruesome details.

Site wise
Most of you might have seen that I have added a small myspace section to the site! Right now, it’s mostly contact tables and comment boxes. But I promise, I do have 2-3 myspace layouts in progress. Please drop me a comment of what you think of the content so far? That would be much appreciated.