Wallet, card case, compact, lip gloss, notepad, pen, camera, keys, cell phone, gum, band-aid, ear buds, and hand sanitizer.

(Fast and easy one!)

Been drinking a bunch of green smoothies these past couple days. They're actually really good. I was going to do a cleanse and drink only smoothies for a couple of days, but I think I'm going to incorporate them into my daily diet.

Today's lunch (recipe) included:

1 med orange
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
1 med banana
1 carrot
2 cups spinach
2 small apples
3-4 cups of ice

Per cup: 52 cal, 1 g protein, 0 g fat, 13 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 22 mg calcium, 12 mg sodium, 2043 IU Vit A, 22 mg Vit C and a bunch of other stuff that's good for you!

These smoothies are super easy to make, the ingredients aren't that expensive even when it's organic (as long as you know where to shop), and my blender is bad-ass and so easy to clean.

You can check this girl out for some good guidelines on green smoothies and great tips on living healthy.

The first superhero that comes to mind is Rogue from the X-men.

I think I've always liked her because she's fiesty, fun, strong, and independent. Plus she has the option of using any super power you can possibly imagine as long as she has access to the person.

It does suck that she can't touch anyone for very long, but I think there's someone who can nullify abilities...

My friend is convinced that in a relationship both parties should feel exactly the same for one another.

I don't agree, (especially in the beginning of a relationship).

I believe eventually the amount of caring does even out, but in the beginning you're just getting to know each other and you're both different people who will respond in different ways. I think when one party feels stronger than the other they sort of carry the relationship, and then the two parties may exchange places and the other one might develop stronger feelings. It's not an exact science, but I don't believe it needs to be the same.

He still thinks it's all or nothing.

I think relationships are beyond my comprehension, but I'm going to convince him he's wrong. =P

Kipukai


This was my favorite place to visit growing up. It was like a world unto itself. The president of my father's old company had rights to this property so he used to invite us to stay there. I loved my father's old boss. He was an incredibly down-to-Earth individual considering his roots in Hawaii. His family used to own, and still do own, large chunks of land on several of the islands (going back to the time they were just swamps). I'm not exactly sure how large Kipukai was, but it encompasses everything in this picture. It's surrounded by three different beaches, and it was a sanctuary for endangered species of birds and other animals when we used to visit there.

It was an amazing experience partly because the house we stayed in had no doors and no windows. Breakfast always involved a great meal accompanied by peacocks in the dining room. I remember occasionally for dinner we were served fresh seafood caught from one of the beaches. There was one beach in particular that my family adored - it had the sort of crystal blue water that was so clear you could see right to the bottom. We'd spend all day there, and at night we'd go to another beach and hunt for Opihi and Nightcrawlers.

Back then, Kipukai was completely off-limits to the public in order to keep it's pristine quality. I think South Pacific was filmed there, and they left a huge mess, so they pretty much denied any other movies from being filmed there. No tourists or locals could enter because it was protected by the caretaker who would whip out his rifle if you stepped too close to the main gate.

Eventually, times changed... now it is no longer a sanctuary, windows and doors were added to the house, several movies have been filmed there, and I believe it is more accessible to the public. I think the last time I visited there was when I was in college. It was no longer the same Kipukai I remembered, but I'm grateful and feel blessed that I was able to experience such a wonderful place.

I don't think I have a lot of habits actually.

If anything, probably picking at my cuticles.

I am predisposed to having dry skin, so my cuticles can get pretty bad especially in dry weather.

[Note: I'm skipping around the questions, but I might get back to the ones I skip.]

My LJ name originates from back in the days of AA, (Asian Avenue).

When I created my first account on AA, 10 million yrs ago, I used the SN "Pikaki." (Pikake is the name of one of my favorite flowers in Hawaii).

I noticed no one seemed to be checking out my page, but the pages with the words "hot," "sexy," "bebe," or "sex-kitten" would get tons of hits. That's where my name was born.

Honestly, I can't even say my SN out loud because I feel retarded. I thought of names I could change it to, but never bothered, and I figure it makes it more difficult for people to find me because no one I know would EVER think I'd call myself something crazy like *bleepity-bleep-bleep."

Okay. This is the full list of 30 days from Alyssa's LJ:

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your LJ name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Tumblr and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Who are you?

I have no idea how many I'll actually do, but it takes like a second to do as long as I remember. I figure - eh. =)

1) When I was 5 I decided to stick a popcorn kernel in my left ear and we had to go to the doctor to get it sucked out. About 7 yrs later I realized that stupid popcorn kernel had made me slightly deaf in that ear, because all of a sudden my hearing got better.

2) I played a bunch of sports when I was younger. 6 yrs of softball, 1 season soccer, 1 summer basketball, 1 summer volleyball camp, 1 summer tennis, golfing lessons, track in high school, and in college intramural indoor soccer and flag football.

3) I never used to like running so when I played those sports I normally opted for the position that ran the least. Therefore I was goalie and I did shot put.

4) Growing up in Hawaii, my parents used to take me to the beach every weekend. We normally went to Shark's Cove in the north shore where I'd go snorkeling. I've become a terrible swimmer since then, and am more prone to drowning or doing a fabulous doggie-paddle.

5) My mom and her sister don't know how to swim and they were born and raised on an island. (Not really about me, but s'okay).

6) When I was 8 I was badly burned by a take-out order of Udon which was so hot it melted through the plastic container it was placed in. Had to be rushed to emergency, which resulted in a pretty bad scar.

7) I developed my first crush when I was in kindergarten. The boy liked my best friend, and I liked him, so he'd chase her and I'd chase him during recess.

8) When I was younger I was given a bunch of different Chinese medicines growing up. One brown solution apparently contained cockroach wings, and it tasted god awful.

9) I love music. I also love to dance. I tend to dance as much as possible, whenever and wherever the mood strikes me.

10) I like playing pranks, especially on my favorite aunt. A recent prank I played involved creating fake dog poo and placing it by her mailbox. She had been having problems with a neighborhood dog crapping over there all the time, so I pretended he had done it again. I told her I'd take care of it, so I picked it up and smelled it and kept at it until she started freaking out. She loves my pranks I'm sure.

11) I have a fitness book. Instead of saving all the fitness mags I used to subscribe to, I would rip out all the routines and exercises that I liked and organized them in a binder based on what body parts they work out. That way I could pick and choose what exercises I wanted to do without all the clutter.

12) I also used to collect fashion I liked out of magazines and made a sort of scrapbook out of it in one of my sketchbooks. I also used to collect ads I liked. One of my professors in college had us do that and I kept at it for a while. I still love great advertising.

13) I have to flat iron my hair every day, because my hair is naturally really wavy. If I were to ever cut it short, (which happened to me when I was 8), I would have a fro.

14) My favorite toy as a kid was a giant cardboard box.

15) When I was young I used to read all the time. My parents didn't really have a way to punish me if I did something wrong, because it would basically mean taking away my books. Reading is still important to me, even if I don't do it as much as I'd like to.

TA-DA! 15 facts.

I just went through a stack of old folders, binders, and loose papers I had written or collected over the years.

There were some hilarious moments stuck in there from my college days. I was actually crying from laughing so hard.

Then there were my intensely introspective journals and poetry. I read through each and every entry, and I realized I had forgotten so many things. I forgot I had taken track, how I used to write a New Year’s resolution every year, how “boy-crazy” I was, and how much my morality, beliefs, and character hadn’t changed that significantly since I was in high school.

It seems incredulous to me that I could possibly believe in the same things I believed in back then. How I tried to keep “negative” energy out of my life, to constantly aspire to be a better person physically and mentally, that material objects mean absolutely nothing if you have no one to share them with, and that the greatest joys can be found in the smallest things.

I know this isn’t humble, but looking at it from an outside point of view, (thinking that I’m not the same person I was at 15 as I am at 32) – I am proud of that person. I am proud of who I was in the writing I found. That person believed in doing good to others, that person believed in the best in people, that person only let truly worthwhile people into her inner circle, that person felt blessed and appreciated every day because that person knew how much worse life could be.

I believe everyone goes through their ups-and-downs through their life, and I believe I fell off the wagon a few times. I can never pinpoint the moment where I lost who I was, but I feel strongly that I’ve been going in the right direction for (at least) the past year.

Is it weird to say,”I like who I am?” Because, right now, I really do.

Today was the third day of class. What am I taking?
(1) An online course for Nutrition
(2) An acting class.

AHHHHHHH! What am I thinking?? <-- That was my initial reaction

Initially, I was going to take Physiology and Kinesiology because of my interest in health and fitness - somehow this transformed into a theater class. I guess it just happens that way sometimes... *dramatic pause*

OK, I am by far an actor by any means. I took one class of beginning acting back at LMU, but it was entirely different than what I've been doing recently. During our first class we played an imaginary game of basketball. I was on the seniors team and it got pretty rough - there were pretend fights everywhere. Then I had to pretend to be a sculpture - apparently I looked like the "running man". Today we had to perform scenes from our book and I chose "Barefoot in The Park." I went first and pretended to be a free-spirited newlywed bringing a bunch of flowers into her tiny, new unfurnished Manhattan apartment.

Dear Lord, I DID IT! And it felt good.

Some people couldn't see my imaginary sink filling up my vase, but overall the feedback left me smiling. They even noticed I was skipping on stage like a giddy school girl. After class I began to think about our next assignment: pretending to be a contestant or a judge on American Idol! I envision myself as either a cheerleader singing "Oh, Mickey you're so fine! You're so fine you blow my mind.." or a kind of rough-around-the-edges chick doing my version of Black Sheep's "The Choice is Yours," (you can get with this, or you can get with that...).

Again, I ask myself - What the heck am I doing?!
But seriously, it is fun =)

I enjoy doing these weird screaming workouts. I know it's not very productive if I'm screaming and freaked out at the exercise, but it's fun.

Example, I was trying out a new circuit routine that involved more 'explosive' movements. My legs were tired, and I can't jump for crap, but I tried over and over again to jump up and down on one of the benches I made (screaming all the way). I tried it again on my weight bench, and it was just as freaky. If you can't jump very high, try it - it's fun. Another exercise involved me jumping back and forth over a bench with my hands planted on the sides. After screaming like a freak every time I jumped, I finally got into it. (bench pictured below)

My brother thinks I'm nuts. But it's sort of like yelling when you're doing karate, except it's out of fear. And then you laugh, because you know you look ridiculous. And if you succeed, it's exhilirating. I love this cycle.

I've been trying out some of the cardio blast programs on FitTV. I DVR'd this advanced step show, and like a dumbass I don't have a step, but I wanted to try it anyways. It would've worked if I thought out this step thing better. Anyways, I used a ladder. Don't ask. I didn't scream, but it was damn funny. I gave up and changed routines.

Personally, I enjoy these cardio blast programs. Oddly, I find myself cursing and flicking off the instructor by the end of every routine. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because she asks if "you feel that burn" when I can no longer feel my legs.

the machine i use for screaming exercises

The other week I got fishies, (actually I wanted a duck or a rabbit). In any case I got these three cute pufferfish named Ee-knee, Mee-knee, and Mai-knee. Then I got a fat algae eater, named Moe. Well, Moe jumped out of the tank and killed himself. Shortly after that I started to cook. A LOT. I rarely cook, and never this much.




( more eatables )

i can relate.



Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005
Grow Up? Not So Fast
Meet the twixters. They're not kids anymore, but they're not adults either. why a new breed of young people won't or can't? settle down
By LEV GROSSMAN

Michele, Ellen, Nathan, Corinne, Marcus and Jennie are friends. All of them live in Chicago. They go out three nights a week, sometimes more. Each of them has had several jobs since college; Ellen is on her 17th, counting internships, since 1996. They don't own homes.

They change apartments frequently. None of them are married, none have children. All of them are from 24 to 28 years old.

Thirty years ago, people like Michele, Ellen, Nathan, Corinne, Marcus and Jennie didn't exist, statistically speaking. Back then, the median age for an American woman to get married was 21. She had her first child at 22. Now it all takes longer. It's 25 for the wedding and 25 for baby. It appears to take young people longer to graduate from college, settle into careers and buy their first homes. What are they waiting for? Who are these permanent adolescents, these twentysomething Peter Pans? And why can't they grow up?

Everybody knows a few of them full-grown men and women who still live with their parents, who dress and talk and party as they did in their teens, hopping from job to job and date to date, having fun but seemingly going nowhere. Ten years ago, we might have called them Generation X, or slackers, but those labels don't quite fit anymore.

This isn't just a trend, a temporary fad or a generational hiccup. This is a much larger phenomenon, of a different kind and a different order.

Social scientists are starting to realize that a permanent shift has taken place in the way we live our lives. In the past, people moved from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood, but today there is a new, intermediate phase along the way. The years from 18 until 25 and even beyond have become a distinct and separate life stage, a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adult responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them. They're betwixt and between. You could call them twixters.

( Read more... )

if you want to be added to my friend's list, there is no deadline so don't worry. =) just make sure you're legit - had a journal longer than a month or so, have me added, and haven't harassed me. please comment in the previous entry to let me know.

taken from mr_nice_guy




yep my updates bog hard.
hm. recently... halloween is coming up and i was gonna go to rubber this saturday since my gf bought me a ticket. it was gonna be this mini-getaway, and i was plannin on being a tahitian dancer (coconuts, grass skirt, head gear...) or the undead (bloody-dark-evilly stuff). but i don't think i'm gonna go. maybe next year. seems like there's a lotta halloweenie activities going on...house parties, events and whatnot, but eh - all i know fer shure is that i wanna watch scary movie 3. =D

i've been doing some work, and frying my brain over mundane tasks. this week i'm going to start learning about business such-and-such, which i've avoided for so long but i should learn because i'm clueless about it. =P

sat nite was spent at pearl. first time i checked out one of visionshock's events, (thrown by billy, eric, john, etc). the place seemed to be packed, and of course there were familiar faces i haven't seen in forever. it was weird going back to that area/street (in west hollywood), since i haven't been there for so long - ah good times.


enthaising, moi, & kalispice in fab fuzzy-vision

more pix here. thx to tracee for bringing her cam, since i forgot batteries. DOH!

these past couple weeks i was preoccupied with E3. for those who don't know i am somewhat of a gamer and yes i am about 90% geekernerd who has been thinking of working in games for the past 2 years. i started playing as a wee girl on my nintendo or my uncle's atari, which led to playing at the arcades (fell in love with darkstalker) as well as cheesy pc games, then more rts (real time strategy), mmorpgs (massive multi online role playing games), etc. FINALLY, with the help of my family, i went to E3 at the los angeles convention center.

since i missed the deadline to go with an agency for free, i opted to dish out $450 for a conference pass. i was overwhelmed when i first walked into the convention center. i was like a kid in a candy store in this disneyland for adults. the more anticipated and sought after games seemed to be DOOM 3, halo 2, and half-life 2 (which supposedly blows everything away but i didn't get to see it yet =P). appointment only booths included sony online (everquest 2 and starwars galaxies) as well as atari/infrogrames (neverwinter nights: shadows of undrentide).

i spent 7 hours on wednesday (w/ heels), 7 hours thursday (w/ heels), and only 6 hours on friday since they kicked us out at 5pm (this time w/ sneakers). friday was my only casual dress day, because i decided to look more proper for the conferences i attended. next year i plan to train before i go to E3 because walking around for 5-6 hours at a time wearing heels and carrying heavy ass bags is not the easiest thing to do.

---

| DOOM 3 | resident evil: outbreak | tony hawk's underground |


| madden nfl 2004 | backyard wrestling | final fantasy XI online |

video clips (no sound):
lord of the rings: two towers trailer/gameplay clip [9.87 megs]
dragon empires trailer clip [6.78 megs]
star wars galaxies gameplay clip [4.86 megs]

---

while waiting in line to see half-life 2, i sat in front of this gaming chair/console for about 1/2 hour when suddenly there was this commotion in front of me. as soon as i saw who it was i exclaimed, "hewly shit." i may not care about most stars and didn't go to see any other bands/celebs featured, but i've always admired robin williams as a performer. it was a gazillion times better then walking by gary coleman aka whatchu-talkin-bout-willis being interviewed (i saw him before when he almost ran over my friend with his truck at fox hills mall).


the concept bike displayed at the nvidia station.


probably my favorite station: the blizzard booth. if you were there last year then you know what it looks like. they featured world of warcraft (mmorpg for pc), starcraft: ghost (tactical-action for console), and warcraft 3: the frozen throne (rts for pc).


| nokia's $299 ngage | the nvidia station | lord of the rings |

i was so pleased with my E3 experience that i decided to organize the photos i took into galleries as well as compose links of the hot games coming out and other E3 sites. during my downtime last week i also reviewed all the mmorpgs that i saw. as tired as i was after everything i still wish it hadn't come to an end.


of course, what would E3 be without the free stuff. =) besides the game zines, and game catalogues, here's the shirts i got - mostly from nvidia. (the two folded ones were bought) 11 total.

---

for more pictures from E3 (also at shigemo.com):
gallery 1 | gallery 2 | gallery 3 | gallery 4


just for E3 i decided to revamp my website (click the img to enter).
it is still missing some of my artwork and some of the sound effects, but i've added all of the E3 information here into a section of it's own. i plan to add more links to E3 games. any feedback on the site (here or on the site or by e-mail) would be appreciated since i haven't had a chance to try it out on different connection speeds, etc.

( click here for links to other E3 coverage sites, E3 game reviews, E3 galleries/booth babes, E3 hotspots, and my reviews on all the E3 MMORPGS )

this weekend i was working towards a re-birth of sorts



this was my acrylic sunday
in progress
on canvas


nothing is finished.
i can't live on words, because i need my actions to defend me.
the shroud of this independent woman needs to be tailored.

bad. i drink too much coffee.
if i drink enough i end up ripping off all my acrylics. m#$a%^f%&c$%s#@t!
i've had to get my derned nails done about every week because of it.
so temporarily i'm trying something new... press-ons...
i can't keep going back because my real nails are so thin that it hurts to file them down. i don't want them to file down to my flesh.
...omg i said press-ons. it's like grade school all over again....how embarassing

good. made me chuckle: FDA Test

Recently, FDA scientists suggested that men should take a look at their beer consumption, considering the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer. The theory is that drinking beer makes men turn into women.

To test the finding, 100 men were fed 6 pints of beer each. It was then observed that 100% of the men gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became overly emotional, couldn`t drive,failed to think rationally, argued over nothing, and refused to apologize when wrong.

No further testing is planned.

the dozens of krispy kreme donuts in the office this morning reminded me of things i've been wanting to do. these particular donuts were bought in the name of helping a charity for children. i am not a great donut fan so this probably wouldn't be something i'd buy, BUT...

cellular phones. i have about 4 old ones lying around waiting to be put to use. originally i was going to donate them to a place for battered women, but the body shop seems to be promoting the donation of cell phones to families in crisis. information on the body shop's phone donation can be found here. information on the wireless foundation can be found here. if anything i was also told to give my phones to homeless women so they can call 911. this is something i can do.

a couple months ago i made a post but didn't make it public because i couldn't figure out the details of what i was asking. my mother and a few friends have been making gift baskets for Christmas and Easter to give to needy/homeless children. since i'm not in hawaii to make the baskets anymore i've been trying to give her old toys and items i don't need that children could use. most of the time mom and her friends also go out and buy extra fillers (ie. candy). i was going to ask people for their old toys, but i have no clue how i would get it to her. so...instead perhaps i could just encourage people to donate their old items. toys, books, clothes, shoes, etc. in hawaii we normally go to the ronald mc donald house, river of life, goodwill, salvation army....i know the children really appreciate every little bit. i hope i don't sound like sally struthers, but i know i couldn't imagine not having shoes or clothes that fit, no books to read, or games to play, etc. etc. etc.