Friday 5‘ing on Saturday…

1. What was the last thing you purchased from a vending machine?
A bottle of water from the vending machine at the Olelo TV studios. I was trying to buy a Snickers bar, too, but it wouldn’t take the only dollar bill that I had. Perhaps that was a sign that I didn’t need to extra calories.

2. What was the last thing you made copies of on a photocopier?
Sensitive documents at work. I could tell you what they were, but then I’d have to kill you.

3. When did you last use a pay telephone?
I can’t even remember the last time I used a pay phone since I’ve had a cell phone since Hon Cell (now defunct) was in business.

4. How often do you visit an automatic teller machine?
Not that often since my Credit Union is in the same building as my office. I visit an ATM maybe twice a month, tops.

5. Which of your daily tasks would you most like to see automated?
Although I don’t do laundry daily, it would be great to have that task automated - from washing and drying, to ironing. I suppose there is an automated process for it if you have the money (i.e., laundry service), but I don’t. I’m sure once Baby Champuru arrives and we’re knee deep in dirty cloth diapers, the desire for an automated laundry service will be even greater.

1. If a really, really good photographer — the kind who always makes you look good and still look like you — were to take your photo right now, what would be a good title for it?
“Miracles Never Cease”

2. If that photo were so good it belonged on the cover of a magazine, what would be a good choice, based on where you are and what you’re doing?
“Mac Life”

3. If you took an interesting or aesthetically pleasing photo of something in your view right now, what might it be, and what would its title be?
The photo would be of Hubby and Tobi the Wonder Dog, who are at this very moment sleeping next to each other on the carpet beside my desk. The title would be “Man’s Best Friend.”

4. Among people you know, who seems to have a knack for taking great shots of people?
That would be Lisa, although I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting her once at the first Hawaii Flickr meetup. I admire her photography tremendously!

5. Are you usually happier with candid photos of you, or photos you’ve posed for?
There are very few candid photos of me. I’m usually the one with the camera, so if I want a picture of myself it’s posed because I’m handing my camera to someone else and telling them, “here, take my picture.” (Yes, I’m vain like that, sometimes.) So, to answer the question, I suppose that would make my preference the posed photos.

Lloyd’s comment in response to yesterday’s “weird things” meme totally cracked me up, but it also made me think.

Wait. Cigars?!? The cognitive dissonance of that revelation is making my head spin. I have a ton of writing to do, but can no longer think straight. Tell me there were also single malts, stilettos, and a tango with those Hemingway short stories?

I like this Champuru, much more complex than I thought.

Although single malts, stilettos and a tango were not involved, I suppose there are some things that might surprise people to know about me. Some seem so distant and out of character now, that even I almost forgot that they were a big part of my life at one time. And, from time to time, I wonder if they will become a part of my future.

In my early teen years, I had aspirations about a career in the music business. In spite of being painfully mediocre, I had dreams delusions that with enough practice, that I could be good enough to make music my career. I played a number of instruments, but could not be considered a virtuoso at anything. Guitar was my primary focus, but drumming was a close second. I had three guitars (an electric, acoustic, and classical guitars), a Pearl drumset, keyboard, trombone (which I played in band), and a Kamaka concert ukulele (from my days with Roy Sakuma). After school, I would race home and practice my guitar and drums for hours — probably to the dismay of our neighbors. Music was my obsession and I honestly wanted to be a rock star. I remember telling my parents that I would be the first Asian female guitarist in a famous rock band. I even told my mom to start thinking about what she would say to the reporters about me when they interviewed her. It sounds so silly now, but back then, I believed I could accomplish anything that I set my mind to.

That was before I took that reality pill.

Fast-forward a few years. I realized that no amount of practice would ever make me good enough to play amongst the guitar gods of my time like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I let my dream of becoming a musician die along with my youthful idealism. This left me floundering about without direction for a few years, which inevitably delayed my college education. But, that’s a story for another time.

I continued playing the guitar and drums for a few years after high school and joined the worship team at my church for a little while. After getting married and moving to an apartment, I sold my instruments and kept only my acoustic guitar and my ukulele (which has sentimental value to me). Eventually, I stopped playing the guitar when I rekindled the love affair with my Okinawan culture. I took up the Okinawan equivalent to guitar and drums: sanshin and taiko. I did that for a few years, then that, too, fell by the wayside as the busyness of daily life got in the way. I haven’t touched a musical instrument in years, except for this past summer when I was called back into service on short notice to play Taiko at the bon dance. (Video evidence is here.) To be honest, I often miss making music.

Then, there’s that whole issue of dancing… I am planning to stage my comeback to Okinawan dance sometime in the future. What transpires with my FET (frozen embryo transfer) in January determines how soon that comeback will be.

Lately, I’ve been finding creative outlets via other media such as blogging (obviously), photography, and videologging. Being able to create something, even if it’s not music, seems satisfying enough to my soul. I am quite certain that if the Internet did not exist, I would still be pursuing my musical interests.

What’s your creative outlet?

Day 21 of 30

Tagged by BriYam himself, here’s a little meme for today’s NaBloPoMo installment.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Whenever I eat something salty, I must follow it up with something sweet. Lately, it seems that it doesn’t even need to be particularly salty, but I still feel that I need a “sweet” chaser after dinner. My sweets of choice: mint choco ice cream or hot chocolate, both which are kept in plenty supply in our home.

2. I can’t stand water spots on my bathroom mirror and sink area, so I keep a wash cloth next to the sink to wipe errant droplets after every use. Either Hubby shares the same quirk or he knows how much it bugs me, because he’s very good about keeping the sink area clean.

3. Taking this idea from the Yam: I, too, am a goody-goody. Never did drugs or smoked a cigarette — but I have smoked a few cigars in my lifetime. My favorite cigar: Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story. I was a “social smoker,” enjoying a good cigar with good friends, but I don’t feel compelled to smoke and never smoke alone. I haven’t smoked a cigar in several years and don’t intend to start again.

4. One of my worst fears: Being left alone with a kid under age 5. (If you’re not old enough for kindergarten, you’re not old enough to hang out with Auntie Donna.)

5. Weird childhood fact: I used to sleep with the blanket completely over my head because I was afraid of things crawling or falling on my face or in my mouth. Admittedly, I still tend to keep the blanket over my mouth; a habit I still can’t seem to shake.

6. I can only watch television in short spurts, unless I’m in the mood. Usually, I’ll watch TV for an hour and a half and I’m TV’d out. And, I have little tolerance for commercials, so I rarely watch anything unless it’s on my DVR so I can fast-forward through them.

7. I sometimes resort to “retail therapy” when I am feeling depressed, but almost immediately get “buyer’s remorse.” I can’t win.

Now… to tag 7 lucky individuals to participate in this meme:
Shari
Ryan
Mark From Hawaii
Rod
Suki
Jonathan
Consuela

Day 20 of 30

Friday 5‘ing, late as usual.

1. Who’s your favorite of the Looney Tunes characters? Pepe Le Pew. For some reason, the thought of a flirtatious, womanizing skunk with a French accent has always tickled my funny bone.

2. What have you done too much of lately? Sleeping and eating. It’s the hormones.

3. When did you last play cards? I can’t remember the last time I played cards, but we did play Munchkin (which uses a deck of cards) several years ago at Uncle Jonah’s beach house.

4. Where were your keys the last time you couldn’t find them? In the side pocket of my ginormous mommy bag.

5. Why didn’t you do today everything you were supposed to? Once in a while, you just have to leave things for tomorrow in lieu of some well-needed relaxation.

Friday 5′ing a couple of days late since Hubby and I did a voluntary 48-hours of no-TV/no-PC.

1. Given as a percentage, approximately what are the chances that there is a french fry somewhere in your car? If you do not own a car, what are the chances that there is a french fry somewhere in the car you most frequently ride in?
Chances are pretty good, about 65%, that there is a fallen french fry tucked into a nook in my car. Whenever we happen to feel like some artery-clogging fare, we tend to drive-thru and eat in the car in the parking lot.

2. Given as a percentage, approximately what are the chances that you will eat ice cream sometime in the next four days?
40%. Although I love ice cream, I don’t have any in my freezer at the moment. If there were a carton of rocky road in there, the percentage would go up to a good 80%.

3. Given as a percentage, approximately what are the chances that you’ll get a personal, handwritten greeting in the mail sometime in the next week?
Pretty low. Probably 0%. If I did receive something in the mail that wasn’t a bill, it would be serendipitous indeed.

4. Given as a percentage, approximately what are the chances that there will be rain in your neighborhood within the next forty-eight hours?
About 45%.

5. Given as a percentage, approximately what are the chances that in the next twenty-four hours, you will be in the same room as a naked person other than yourself?
100%. It’s called marriage.

This week’s Friday 5 asks “how prepared are you?” Another set of fun questions courtesy of the good folks a the Friday 5:

1. At this moment, how many rolls of toilet paper are there in your house? 24

2. At this moment, how many working flashlights are there in your house? At least 2 Surefire flashlights, 1 weapons-grade Mag-lite, 2 headlamps (for Hubby’s nocturnal fishing trips), 2 wind-up flashlights from Costco and a few keychain flashlights.

3. Do you know where some candles and matches are? Absolutely, a stash under the kitchen sink and two in the restroom.

4. If the power were to go out right now, how long could you probably get by on the food in your house? Sadly, ths is one thing that we’re lacking right now: a good emergency kit. We could probably survive on the food we have now for about four days.

5. It’s someone’s birthday, and you’ve GOT to come up with something to give him or her RIGHT NOW! What have you got? No problem! I keep a few gift cards on hand, just in case, and I have a box of cards for various occasions. Besides, I’m not a very creative shopper and tend to give gift cards/certificate as gifts anyway.