My Little Blogging Corner

Saturday, 31 March, 2012 at 7:37 pm

I came across this blog entry by Elena, who found a question posted on Thistlewood Farm:

Do you ever wonder where people blog?

Do you ever wonder how they write a post? […]

Why? When? Where? How? Do you blog?

I blog right here:

Where I Blog: my desk

At a desk set in one corner of my bedroom. Yes, I know it’s very cluttered. Which probably explains a lot of my life and why my blog goes unupdated. The pile, one of a few in my room, represents projects or tasks I have yet to complete.

But I never get around to them because I spend most of my time trying to catch up with all the social media updates: Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Livejournal, Youtube, and deviantArt when I can remember. (I’m a year behind on dA. *shame*) This by itself doesn’t take up much time, to be honest. But a lot of links are posted for such interesting articles or news items or random knowledge, I get stuck reading and reading and … reading …

After that on my list of priorities (which is topped by tv, sadly) is writing up my backlog of trips to Disneyland for my personal account. (The count is currently 15 trips over the past 8 or 9 months, waurrgh!)

At the end is writing at least one entry a month for my blog. I have a tiny list of ideas for blog entries. They are so unwieldy and require so much time to write, however, that I usually skip writing about them and go with the most recent idea that’s been floating around in my head for a couple weeks.

There’s no real process to writing for my blog. I just decide that Today Is the Day and I shouldn’t (or can’t!) put it off any longer, and I spend an hour or two writing. I don’t have drafts stored on my blog (mostly because WordPress’ storage of drafts as completely separate from and filling up the same database slots as published posts irks me), and I don’t write much of anything beforehand. It’s partially laziness and partially lack of time, but I think it’s mostly because when I do write out or plan out blog entries in my head, like during long commutes home from work, the thought or idea leaves my system, and I no longer feel a compulsion to post it up here.

That’s about it. Boring, I know. But I managed to fit in my “real” post for March! Yeah!

leaping over February this year

Tuesday, 6 March, 2012 at 9:02 pm

Oh gosh, I managed to do it again, not updating for over a month. At least I have a better excuse, because even though it’s a leap year, February still has fewer days than other months! February was also a busy month at work, not only were we finishing up the busy season but we had to put everything together for a big expo as well.

I also spent my extra day of the year very well, I think, at Disneyland’s One More Disney Day. Twenty-four hours straight of Disneyland! Woo! March 1st I spent in front of the tv, trying to recuperate.

Hopefully this won’t be my post of the month, because I do have ideas for blog entries, I just lack the time to formulate my thoughts and type them up here!

hot water living

Saturday, 28 January, 2012 at 4:48 pm

About a month after our Zojirushi water boiler busts, and I think the results are in.

I asked Mum about trying a water boiler one last time, but she was adamant: “I already gave them my money; I don’t want to give them any more.” We’ve been living the old fashioned way ever since: boiling water kettle on the range.

However, today Mum confided to me, “Our gas bill is up to a hundred dollars now.” We aren’t sure if it’s worth the money, saving on electricity to run the hot water pot, if the gas bill is going so high.

I’ve been considering buying an electric water kettle, but wasn’t sure how accepting Mum would be. I think she’ll be more willing now that I heard about our gas bill. The electric kettle would only be used once or twice in the morning and once in the afternoon. Not too huge a drain on our electricity. And no hanging around to make sure the stove is turned off before the kettle screams!

our Zojirushi water boiler busts

Friday, 30 December, 2011 at 12:02 am

I’m so disappointed, our Zojirushi water boiler bit the dust. The model we have is the CD-LCC30 3 Liter. (Called an “Electric Dispensing Pot” on Amazon? But that doesn’t describe its function very well…)

The other day my mom commented how her new coffee she’d bought tasted weird. She added more instant coffee and creamer and managed to finish her coffee.

Later, my green tea that I’d made had a funny taste as well, some sort of sickly sweet taste. Since I had another drink I set it aside, planning to ask my mom what was wrong with it.

Then I got a message from my mom, don’t drink my tea, there’s oil in the water boiler!

At home she explained that she’d found a film of oil on top of the water when she went to refill the pot. She cleaned it three times and there was still oil, which was coming up from underneath the area that stored water. Searching online, she found that these water boilers use oil to heat the water. (Although I can’t replicate her search results, and wonder if she confused the electric pot with the home water heater tank.)

This was our second water boiler; our first was made by Panasonic and that one just up and quit on us after a year or two. We generally don’t buy Panasonic anymore. But this Zojirushi oil problem has me worried. The pot lasted us a little over a year, and the 1-year limited warranty of course has run out. I don’t know that the warranty would have covered our problem anyway. This is Zojirushi! Says right on the pot, “Made in Japan”!! It’s not supposed to bust in such an odd manner.

My mom has given up on the water boilers, but they are one of my favorite things! I love being able to make my little oyunomi of ocha at any time of the day, frequently or infrequently! The water kettle cools down too quickly for my tastes. (Need to reheat after only 20 minutes? Inconceivable!) People on Amazon write that their pots last up to 10 years, so maybe I can convince my mom that the third time’s a charm…

2011 fall tv line-up follow-up

Tuesday, 1 November, 2011 at 11:46 pm

An update to my previous entry on my current tv viewing schedule. Short thoughts:

  • Once Upon a Time: Started watching this. My inner Disney fangirl is squeeing.
  • Pan Am: I care less and less for the storylines, but I really enjoy the characters. I don’t know if I want to keep watching or not.
  • Good Wife: This used to compete with Big Bang Theory as my favorite show (currently running), but not so much this season.
  • 2 Broke Girls: Surprisingly one of the shows I really look forward to every week. I love watching Kat Dennings. Does anyone else get the feeling she’s ad libbing some lines and amusing herself along the way? Or maybe she and Beth Behrs just enjoy the jokes that much; it often looks like they’re trying not to laugh out loud.
  • Two and a Half Men: I didn’t watch past the second episode, but I heard my fears are realized: Ashton’s character is just awful.
  • The Lying Game: The season ended but here’s my commentary: Darn, the season ended! I need to know more!!
  • Glee: I am this close to not watching the show anymore. Kurt has me hanging on by the thinnest of threads. The prospect of seeing Damian’s guest role will keep me coming back for a while though.
  • New Girl: Still the same as before. Every episode seems the same. She’s wacky and weird and the guys abandon her, but then everyone joins in a big ol’ happy group hug.
  • Raising Hope: Haven’t seen an episode since the second of the season, but I think I haven’t been missing much. Hilarious show, but not a must-see on a weekly basis.
  • Spy MyeongWol: I only remember to watch this show when I’m watching tv, so I haven’t watched since the World Series ran. But I plan to catch up on Youtube eventually.
  • Mythbusters: Awesome. That is all.
  • Psych: Yay! This was the show that I hoped would replace Monk in my tv line-up, but it never quite reached that level. Still really fun to watch.
  • American Horror Story: Psychosexual thriller? Yeah, not so much into that part of the show. What I really enjoy is the history behind each of the ghosts. That’s what I’ve always loved about ghost stories.
  • Revenge: This is probably my new favorite show. (Competing with Big Bang Theory, of course.) I can’t say any more than this, I’m not objective enough.
  • Big Bang Theory: Ditto. I love watching geekery.
  • Person of Interest: I missed an episode in the past month but I didn’t bother to watch it online, yet I still watch it every week. (Jim Caviezel.) I don’t know what more I can say. Every episode follows the same formula.
  • The Mentalist: Same as Person of Interest. But I really like the characters. Also this is the one show where (half the time, anyway) I try to follow along and figure out what Patrick is thinking or seeing. And Patrick’s aversion to the violent action scenes is refreshing.
  • Grimm: This looks like fun. I never watched Buffy or Angel, so to me this sort of show is new.