// so i went on another field trip this morning, with three of my coworkers. Toured one of our water plants, a small dam and Ashburton Lake.
On the way back (in our wonderful city vehicle) we saw a nice, new-looking white camry by the side of the road with its front end completely on FIRE. Like actual flames, and a bunch of black smoke coming from the engine & under the front of the car.
Poor thing, i wonder what happened.. (don't worry i'm sure the passengers were out of there & standing somewhere far away)

// JONAH! :) Yay, I finally get to see it for reals this time :) ..Al Pacino, some other time (but soon i hope).

//IT'S FRIDAY! And a beautiful one too :)

//On the Assignments, ro, you've got to start your own ones or they'll never start. like i've drawn a complete blank (which isn't hard, i've got a really bad memory) on ANY actual funny moments with frodo.. isn't that crazy. (& I'm itching to do some assignments too-- All-time Favorite Movies; Authors who shaped your writing style..)

// from one of the better mass forwards i've received:
"When you were born, you were crying
And everyone else around you was smiling.
Live your life in such a way
That when you die,
You will be smiling
And everyone else around you will be crying."

8:45 pm, thursday night after small group

(my cell phone rings to the tune of edelweiss. i see from caller ID that it's my dad)
r: appa?
d: (chuckles) oh oh, beroni
r: where are you?
d: i'll call you back ok?
r: are you on your cell phone? (thinking there might be something wrong)
d: i thought it was 9 pm, but it's not
r: ... (???)
d: my unlimited nightime minutes don't start until 9. i'll call you later ok?
r: uhh, ok appa (goes back into the living room where my sg is staring quizzically. i tell them what happened. they laugh)

9 pm SHARP, same night

(my cell phone rings. my sg tells me to get it since it's my dad)
r: appa!

...did you ever hear that verizon ad on the radio where they're bashing on other companies because their night and weekend minutes don't start until late at night? and how that makes you conform your conversations around their schedule? yeh, i don't know what they're talking about either :)

// hey sisters, do and i were talking about going apple-picking tomorrow.. not sure or anything (we've got no clue how to get there..) but -- wanna come? <:P

// oh, ro. I feel ya.
I've overheard president-bashing too, but the biggest reason I mash potatoes is cuz i know next to nothing about politics, and esp middle east policy..
I've always meant to read up/ edumacate myself...

...it's one of those days at the institute where murphy's law is at work. one thing after another, going wrong or leaving an ugly mark. right now i just left a heated debate between the research assistants on what it takes to be a leader. they don't think president bush is one, especially in the context of the middle east. and for some reason, i could not bring myself to his defense. i was boiling inside, but i kept quiet. i was without comment. what's wrong with me? why do i not speak up when it counts?! it doesn't really matter when i speak at other times, but this time it mattered.

...what am i made of? mashed potatoes i've concluded.

on a lighter note, i'm talking with an upper-management type from a consultant firm right, he's leaning against/propping a door open with his right hand above his head, and as he's talking, with his left hand reaches under his sweater and starts scratching his tummy / rib area. i mean, he had a shirt on under it so it's not like i saw skin or tummy hairs (!!) or anything, but it was very very distracting. He's all scratching away as he pleases while keeping a straight face and talking on and on.
Do people who do this kind of thing not realize what they're doing? And he's not an old guy either, like you might think.

oh well, it gave me a good laugh on the elevator ride down..

That's the first thing i heard this morning too. very disturbing. (Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, have you read it?)

Knowledge + power
But no wisdom.

God help us.

i woke up this morning to the news that north korea has admitted to having nuclear weapons capability. questions: why did they admit this now? what do they want with this admission? will this complicate the campaign against iraq? how does this fit into the war on terror? what is the u.s. going to do? all these thoughts were going through my mind and so i didn't even care that i was getting up earlier than usual for work.

listen, i'm not for war, but i am against unstable regimes headed by even more unstable dictators. i cannot believe that the international community has let, there's no other word for it, lunatics like saddam and kim jongil stay in power for this long. history repeats itself with them, and it seems we've learned very little from the past.

and europe, the russians, they wonder why we're becoming frantic, why we feel the need to act. because they're doing nothing. worse yet, they've exacerbated the situation, for example with russia, by providing north korea with arms.

and i had this whole crazy story about couriers planned! i'll write it next time. we need to pray, think, and strategize as a country. it's times like this that i want to work for the bush administration even more.

"Hello, ronniek610! [you know something's not right at this point]

"Your guestbook is nearly full. You may only receive five more entries before your guestbook will refuse new entries.

"To free up space in your guestbook you will want to delete old or unwanted posts..."

[i'm sorry, i had to do it :( i tried to keep the substantial stuff ]

my coworker from northern cali just came back from a trip home. she brought me chocolate covered raisins. are they special? maybe, because they taste so good. they're not raisinets i'm telling you. the chocolate covering is so smooth...

oh raisin, you squishy old grape
you have been reborn as
a chocolate covered delight

i love reading the paper, even if it's at night. so at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, i settled down on the floor of my room with the la times (it's just what i happened to have for the day) and started reading. i felt a bit hungry, so i decided to make soba noodles. i haven't had that in so long. the noodles cooked perfectly, and i was eating away, so happy while reading. and then it hit me. minus the reading glasses, i had become my dad. he always gets cravings for noodles at night, and he always reads the paper before he goes to sleep. i never thought that imitating your parents was a bad thing. it's unavoidable anyway, but i rather like it...

...no online version of the news can substitute for a newspaper that you can touch and crumple and let the printed ink stain your fingers. there's something about the feeling of paper, and reading from one, that will never grow antiquated.

ohmigosh! i thought as i opened my hotmail account, ze wrote back!

good idea,
I'll try that .
sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.
ze

yup, short short reply. but considering that the guy probably still gets thousands of emails a week, i'm surprised it only took him like 12 days.
i knew you were dying to know.
Maybe a cool new t-shirt will come out soon ..hehe, you'll know it if you see me wearing one :)
--------------------------------------
ro-do-whodo = random banterings.

ack!

a coworker gave us a big, beautiful, oversized (doris, you know what i'm talking about?) bouquet of flowers. my boss had to "trim" them for the vase with a butcher knife. there's one flower that looks like a flaming torch. they're giving off a heady scent and i feel as though i'm going to pass out... wait, these aren't poppies right?

random thoughts

as usual, fall decided to make a cameo and it feels like winter has settled in with his cold, cold mornings. i sleep with my socks on now, and if you know me, you KNOW i like being barefoot. last night i kept tossing and turning so i tucked my pj pants into my socks, which were the tight korean ones by the way. i thought, my my, if only someone could see me under these covers (mc hammer would be proud). almost like the time liz ripped off my blankets sophomore year and left me feeling so vulnerable...

depending on the metro driver, you can have a very smooth or spastic ride. whenever there's a sudden halt, i tend to fly all over the metro car. for example, this morning i was in my usual stance: standing with feet slightly apart, leaning on the wall of the car, black bag on right shoulder, lunch bag in left hand, reading bible with right hand. the car made a sudden halt and i was flung slightly; well, i thought it was slightly but a lady looked up at me and all i could do was laugh. at myself, because it was so embarassing...

there's this homeless man who walks around farragut north, but i've passed by him in dupont as well. he's either chinese or korean, really small with shoulder-length grey hair, and he carries this walking stick that's as tall as he is. i've wondered about him because he's asian. 90% of the homeless people here are black, the rest are white, but this is the only asian guy i've seen. this morning he was walking by and singing. everyone, including me, stared at him. if he were cleaned up, if he didn't walk around aimlessly (or maybe he is going somewhere), he could be any of my friend's grandfathers. he has a "i've seen him before in the form of a father/uncle/etc." face, so it makes me sad...

a lady was leaving the bathroom just as i was walking in. she left this fragrant trail, and it smelled like this english lotion my mom uses. i think it's called DuBarry. it looks like milk but smells like flowers, and my mom has to go to this korean store that sells non-korean goods for visiting koreans to take back to korea. yaah, right. so i thought of my mom and missed her this morning...

(it still smells like my mom's lotion. no, i don't need a new comforter, i just need management to turn on the heat. yes, i think we are definitely biased for feeling more compassion for homeless asians, but what can we do. and maybe it's fall, maybe it's winter. i have a headache, headache)

chex mix is hands and feet down the best. after eating rold's gold pretzel mix and other concoctions, i miss chex. have you tried their honey flavor? ...fro, are you out there? :(

zippity dooda
zippity ay
my oh my what a wonderful day
plenty of sunshine
comin my way
zippity dooda
zippity ay.

..was it just me, growing up in quaint little maryland ? i remember singing songs like this, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, and My Country Tis of Thee in elementary school. After roll-call and the Pledge of Allegiance, both first grade classes and both second grade classes would sit against the walls of the hallway we shared, and sing these songs together. Most of them must date back to Colonial times!
now i wonder, did the teachers already know them or was it a requirement to learn them when they were hired..??
I had forgotten all about this til recently.. (thanx to Dooda)

Anyway, I feel American when I hear those songs, as silly and outdated as they are..