Trina's page of Blogginess

Large...

2010-03-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new geek t-shirt.

Am I the only one noticing how small women's t-shirts are becoming?

I fully recognize that I am not as petite as I was, say, 20 years ago. But, considering the fact that I will soon be entering the fourth decade of my life, I think I'm still in pretty good shape. I could be totally fooling myself into thinking that I'm still fit, but I do workout regularly, and generally eat pretty well, and well, I think I look okay. :)

I usually wear a size Medium, and I'm perfectly okay knowing that I no longer fit well into a size small.

But, when I was selecting this shirt, I realized how small the medium seemed to be, so I grabbed a large instead.

Good thing I did. It fits well - exactly how I would want it to. (but it still seems a tad ridiculous to me.)

So, this is me.
Size: Large.

go figure.

I want to know who's responsible for deciding clothing sizes...

Tea Party!

2010-03-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, my Raggedy Ann and I were invited to a Tea Party, hosted by my neighbor's 3-1/2 year old Granddaughter! I brought my favorite Raggedy Ann ("Raggie") with me. She hasn't been to a tea party in decades, and was very excited! :)

posing with our Raggedy Anns

We all had a lovely afternoon. My neighbor's Granddaughter (who I'll refer to here as "A") was a wonderful hostess. She brought out her Raggedy Ann doll to meet mine, and the four of us, and "A's" Grandmother all sat down at her little table, all set up with a tiny tea set.

Tea Party!

"A" and her Raggedy Ann

Our "tea" was apple juice that "A" served to us from her tea pot. We also had heart-shaped sugar cookies that she made with her Grandmother yesterday, in preparation for the party.

Cookies

"A" really fell in love my my Raggie. After our tea party, "A" took Raggie into her bedroom, and tucked her in under a blanket on her bed. Then, she sat down next to her and read some of her favorite books to Raggie.

"A" reading to Raggie

After story time was done, and dear Raggie had rested, "A" brought her back out to play for a while with some of her toys.

My Raggie was in rag doll heaven. She hadn't been played with like this by a little girl in a very long time. :)

We had such a nice afternoon at the tea party. Hopefully, "A" and her Grandma will invite us back soon. :)

Raggie and her new friend

Claude Cat-Chow1997-2010

2010-03-15T22:55:00.001-07:00

I'm very sad to report that we've lost another furry member of our family.

Claude was my parent's kitty. He passed away today after being diagnosed with ailing kidneys about a month ago. His health diminished quickly, and he had a rough last few weeks - he was on a special diet and needed to receive fluids via an IV. Sadly, he lost his appetite over the past couple of weeks, and wasn't sleeping well. My parents made the very difficult decision that his quality of life wasn't what it should be, and that it was time to let him go.

Claude was a very special cat.

Actually, as Dick once pointed out to me, he was the original "Cat Chow".

Claude was my very first cat. Dick and I adopted him from the San Francisco SPCA on May 7, 2000 - just over a week after his 3rd birthday. Dick was the one who chose Claude - he was quite taken by him when he saw him, and told me that Claude would be a great kitty to take home.

He was right.

This was before Dick and I had moved in together, so Claude moved in with me in my Condo. He was quite shy at first - he hid on top of the cabinets in my pantry, and under the armoire in my hallway for the first few days. He eventually came more comfortable in his new environment, and was a great furry companion.

Claude, about a week after he came to live with me in May, 2000.

By the time Dick and I moved in together in 2002, we asked my parents if they would adopt Claude. Dick already had Marcel and Noe living at his house, and we were afraid that Claude wouldn't be happy moving in as a third cat after he was so happy being an only cat. He had been to my parent's house to visit a few times at this point, and we all agreed that it would be best for him...

...and what a lucky cat he was!

I always teased my parents that Claude was the most happy (spoiled) cat ever. :)
He was so well loved, and so well taken care of. My parents had never had a cat before him, and they showered him with love and attention. He was so happy with them. I used to feel guilty for giving Claude away, but that went away as soon as I saw how happy he was with my parents, and how happy he made them, too.

Claude was one-of-a-kind. He was very dog-like in some of his mannerisms: he would follow my Mom wherever she went around the house, and he would always come to her when called. He would always run down the stairs to greet her when she came home (sometimes, he remembered to greet my Dad, too). ;) My Mom and Claude had a whole song and dance routine when it was time for his supper - they trained each other well. :)

Dad, Mom & Claude, Christmas, 2004

Claude had the softest coat of fur, and very long legs. We called him our Panther Cat. After he overcame his shyness in his earlier years with us, he later became a very outgoing and friendly cat to everyone he met. He loved car rides, and would even go with my Mom to visit my Grandma at her apartment. He loved walking around my parent's backyard on his harness, and especially loved to watch his birdie-friends from his sliding glass door.

Claude, sunning himself in the garden window

It was a good life. He was a very happy cat.

We will miss you, Claude. Thank you for all of the love and joy that you brought to our family.

My Old Phone

2010-03-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm spending the night at my parent's house tonight, sleeping in my
old bedroom. It looks almost exactly as it did when I was growing up.

On the wall next to my bed hangs my old telephone. It has big, huge
buttons that always made dailing quickly easy. I won many a radio
contest calling in from this phone - and that was long before the days
of speed-dailing! ;)

I just noticed a switch on the side of the phone that I had forgotten
about: it lets you choose between "pulse" or "tone".

How's that for old-school?

I doubt I could find anyone under the age of 35 who would know what a
pulse dial is.

Schizophrenic Weather

2010-03-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

This was my status on Facebook about an hour ago:

crazy schizophrenic weather in SF today: it's cold. it's sunny! it's raining. it's sunny! it's windy. it's cloudy. it's raining. it's sunny! it's pouring..... waiting for the hail to wrap it all up.

Then, wouldn't you know it... within 20 minutes or so, we had a hail storm!

I took this photo of our back deck. The size of some of the hail was almost pea-sized!

Hail on the Deck!

Then, we had a pretty rainbow!

The Rainbow Connection...

Another 15 minutes or so later, and we had yet another hail storm!

This one seemed to last longer than the first.

I took another photo - this one is of our putting green in our backyard.
(yes, we have a putting green in our backyard... ;) )

Our putting green, covered in white...

What strange weather we've had today. It's about 30 minutes later, and the sun is out again...

Maybe it'll all repeat the pattern again. :)

In Honor of Grandpa's Birthday

2010-03-07T17:46:00.001-08:00

Today would have been my Grandpa Chow's 88th Birthday.

Our family met today at the Memorial Park where he was interred. (we've been back on several occasions already, so this wasn't the first time.)

My Grandma is so good about following the traditions passed to her by her ancestors, and she has done such a good job of teaching and passing these traditions down to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

I hesitated asking if I could take this photo, but Grandma said it was okay. I thought it would be good to document what it is that we do for these occasions. I know the symbolism of some of the items, and am still learning what other things mean.

We always present the basics: incense, a chicken, roasted pork, three bowls of rice, and three small cups filled with whiskey. I should look up the meaning behind each of these items, but I do know that the three bowls of rice and cups of whiskey are offerings to the gods. The oranges and tangerines symbolize luck and wealth. The other items - the dim-sum and bao were some of Grandpa's favorites. We also had cookies (with birthday candles!) for his birthday. The tradition of presenting all of this food is so that the deceased can enjoy their favorite foods.

I learned about another specific part of the tradition today. I've always known that the chicken head should face forward - towards the grave. I learned today that you also pull off the bottom part of the beak of the chicken and break off the tips of the wings. My Auntie told me today that the reason why you break off the bottom of the beak is so the chicken cannot talk badly about your family. :)

After we offer the food, we burn (fake) money (so we can send them money in the afterlife), and more incense.

I really value the traditions that my Grandma has passed along to our family. I've learned that these are Old-World traditions, which are still regularly practiced in the rural Southern Villages in China where our family is from. As people move to more urban areas, they stop following many of these traditions, which I think is a shame. It seems like such an important tie to one's culture and heritage.

Reunion at the Regional

2010-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

I had a really fantastic afternoon/evening today in Union City. Today was the local WGI Regional, held at Logan High School, where I helped teach the color guard many moons ago.

I saw so many old friends - some of whom I see once a year or so, but some that I hadn't seen in over 20 years, and only recently reconnected with over Facebook!

Here are a few photos:

Esther, Trina & Aki

This reunion was most amazing - I haven't seen either of these girls (women? ladies?!) since 1985. That's almost 25 years! Esther and Aki marched in an Elementary School Prep guard that my friend, Milton, and my sister used to teach. They were in 5th grade (or so) back then! We got reacquainted last year on Facebook, which has been wonderful. When I mentioned on my Facebook status recently that I was planning to go to the regional, they decided to come - neither of them had been to a guard show since the mid-90s, or earlier. So wonderful to see these two again!

update
I just found a photo of when Esther and Aki marched. I think it's from 1985. They are the first two on the left side. Look how cute!

Vinci Park Pirates Color Guard, 1985

Chad, Nikki, Scott & Trina

Here's a photo of most of the Logan HS Color Guard staff from '94-'95. I don't think the 4 of us have been back together since then. Wow. 15 years.

Chad, Trina, Josie and Teri

Josie and Teri were in the guard while we taught at Logan. They both started at Alvarado Middle School in the early 90s when Scott and Nikki first started the program there. Amazingly, Teri's oldest daughter is in her second year in Alvarado's guard!

Philip & Chad

Two of my dear friends. They haven't seen each other in years. We all live in San Francisco. Hopefully, we can all get together more often.

Diana & Chad

Diana - my "oldest" color guard friend. (and when I say old, of course, I mean in the number of years that we've known each other - not our age!) Diana and I met when I was 14 and she was 15. We met at "try-outs" for Sparks - the color guard that we both marched in the mid-80s. Diana is a dear, dear friend.

I'm so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life. It's quite remarkable to me how long our friendships have lasted, and how we still are in each others lives. Who knew so many great friendships would develop from learning how to spin a flag. :)

Flute Power!

2010-03-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

I had a really nice visit today with some old high school friends: Kimi, Missy and Sabrina. I had kept in touch with Kimi, and saw Missy last year, but as a group, we hadn't seen each other in years - perhaps since we were all in high school.

We all played flute together when we were in our High School Marching Band. We had all reconnected sometime last year on Facebook, and finally found a day and time where the four of us could get together for an hour or so. Everyone has such busy schedules these days, but we were happy to squeeze in a little time together.

It's so great reconnecting with everyone after so many years. So interesting to get to know each other as adults, and hear about their lives now - their families, careers, etc.,

Such a nice afternoon. I look forward to seeing you all again!

Sabrina, Missy, Kimi & Trina

The "Over the Shoulder Cat Butt" Gun

2010-03-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

Oh, dear. Noe is going to be so embarrassed...

Unfortunately, I turned off the camera before the very end. Right after I turned it off, Noe looked over her shoulder, and ever-so-calmly said, "Mew". :)

Grandpa Chan's Egg Foo Young

2010-02-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

My Maternal Grandfather used to make the best Egg Foo Young. He didn't cook for us very often, so when he did, it was a real treat.

I don't make it very often, but every time I do, I wonder why I don't cook it more frequently. It's so easy, and it's so yummy. It also makes me think of him, and that always makes me happy. :)

I don't have the recipe written down (as is probably par-for-course for family recipes), so I just try to remember it off the top of my head.

Here's the recipe as I made it tonight. It turned out pretty well, so I figured it would be a good time to jot it down, while it's still fresh in my memory.

It's super easy, and really delicious.

I make it in a vegetarian style, but you could always add chopped up Chinese sausage, chicken or shrimp. :)

Grandpa Chan's Egg Foo Young

1/2 large white onion - chopped (about 1 cup)
4 stalks of celery - chopped
2 eggs - beaten
about 1-1/2 cups of chicken broth
about 1 Tb cornstarch
Vegetable Oil

Chop the celery and onion, and put them into a large bowl
Beat the eggs, then mix in with the celery and onion.

Heat a non-stick skillet (trust me, I learned the hard way) on medium/high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom (maybe 1 Tbsp)

Spoon the egg/celery/onion mixture into the pan by using 1/2 cup measuring cup.

Cook for about 3 minutes (I'm guessing on the timing here, but long enough for the egg to set, and be brown on the underside.)

Flip, and cook the other side.

Remove the egg pancakes, and keep them warm in a warm oven.

Add more oil, and repeat.

I had 5 pancakes total tonight.

Dilute the cornstarch in the chicken broth in a small bowl.

Pour the cornstarch/chicken broth liquid into the same pan that you've been cooking the egg pancakes in. Stir for a minute or so, until the liquid becomes a nice, thick gravy.

Pour the gravy over the egg pancakes, and serve. :)

It's super easy, and pretty quick.

Enjoy!

(and thanks, Grandpa!)

Here's a photo that I found from our Family's Chinese New Year Dinner, 2007. This was the last time that Grandpa made his Egg Foo Young for us. (he passed away in December of that year.)
Looks like he added Green Onions to the top of it. I'll have to remember that for next time I make it. I love green onions. His is also saucier than mine was tonight. Next time, I'll make more sauce, too! :)

Grandpa Chan's Egg Foo Young

...and here's another picture from that day, just 'cause it makes me happy. :)

Grandpa Chan and Tiffini, 2007

Crissy - the 30 (!) Year Old Cockatiel!

2010-02-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

Crissy!

My sister's pet cockatiel, Crissy, turned 30 today!

Thirty!!

I've blogged about the age of this bird before, but it's worth repeating.

We adopted Crissy when she was only 6 weeks old, so she's been a part of our family practically the entire 30 years. We have heard that the average life-span of a cockatiel is approximately 15 years - which, obviously, she has now doubled! She's the oldest cockatiel that we've ever heard of. Even our vet doesn't know of any older. We think she may be part Alien. Actually, my sister's other bird, Bonsai, is probably around 25 years old - they must be very happy, healthy birdies!

Crissy is showing her age a bit these days. You would too, of course, if you lived double your life expectancy! She's a bit arthritic, and hasn't flown in years. Come to think of it, she was never really fond of flying to begin with. She always preferred walking and climbing. :)

We held a small party for her today. It's not often that you reach another decade - especially in a bird's life. I brought the party hats and the noise makers. :)

Here we all are, posing with the birthday bird (and Bonsai, too).

Four Chows, and Two Chow Birds

...and here's the Birthday Bird!

Crissy is now 30!

Happy Hatch Day, Crissy!

Champagne Problems

2010-02-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

My cousin, Bruce introduced me to the term "Champagne Problems" a month of so ago. The definition of it is exactly what you might think: it's not actually a "real" problem, more of a "we should all be so lucky to have that kind of problem" problem. :)

So, my most recent Champagne Problem is that the heated floor mechanism in our bathroom stopped working last night. It's still fairly new - just over 2 years old.

Anyhow, the thermostat shows that it thinks it's heating the floor, but it also show that the temperature is low, and that it's not going up at all.

Our poor kitty, Noe - she loves the warm floor, and usually sleeps on it all day and night. She's not happy with me right now. :)

I'm planning on calling my contractor tomorrow to see if he has any ideas, but thought I'd throw this out on my blog first to see if anyone has any suggestions of things I should try first.

I did try resetting the thermostat - several times - by turning if off and on. I also tried turning the circuit breaker off and on. That was all I could think of.

Any ideas from the Peanut Gallery?

Tigers, Hearts, Ice-Cream, Fish and Bikes

2010-02-14T19:27:00.001-08:00

First things first:

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Today is Chinese New Year. It's the year of the Tiger! (Dick is a Tiger!)

Today is also Valentine's Day. Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It was a really pretty day in San Francisco today. We decided to take a bit of an afternoon walk to enjoy the weather.

We walked down 18th Street, passing Bi-Rite Creamery. Usually, there's a really long line here - especially on sunny days. When we passed by today, though, the line was short - only about 5 people long. How could I resist? I took advantage and got a kid's cup of Mint Chip ice cream. Yum! By the time we got my ice cream and left the store, the line was out the door again.

Yummy Ice-Cream!

We walked a few more blocks, and found a neat little alley tucked away between Valencia and Guerrero. The first thing I spotted were these cool Koi Fish painted on the sidewalk.

San Francisco Koi, swimming up hill! ;)

We also passed a really nice community garden on the same street. Very cool.

We went to Stockton yesterday to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family. WE did something new this year - we went to a Chinese Restaurant new my Grandma's house. It wasn't the same as cooking at home, but it was obviously much easier for everyone, and the food was really good. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos from dinner, but I did manage to take a photo of Dick checking out Uncle Wes's new Harley.

Dick, sitting on "Bad Boy"

...and just for kicks, I took a video of Dick taking Bad Boy out on a short spin.

Chad

2010-02-11T22:40:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I reconnected with a very old friend who I had not seen or heard from in in 6 or 7 years.

I met Chad when we were both 19, and marching in a color guard in Dayton, OH. Chad was from the Dayton area, and I had moved out from Milpitas with my sister.

here we are (in a tiny, cropped photo) in our guard uniforms in 1990.

The next year, Chad moved to Milpitas to live in my parent's house while he joined another guard in San Jose. I, in the meantime, moved down to Southern California, and later to Madison, WI to march in other guards.

After we both "aged-out" of the color guard activity at the ripe old age of 22, we taught color guard together (with a few other friends) at a high school in Union City for two years.

Teaching color guard together in 1995

Chad eventually moved out of my parent's house, and I moved to San Francisco. We still saw each other on occasion over the next several years, but eventually, we lost touch.

David, Chad and Trina - San Francisco, 1999

Chad contacted me (via Facebook!) a couple of months ago. He had recently moved back to San Francisco, and, as bizarre as this sounds, was living in an apartment building directly behind my house (well, one house over)! Yes, that big, pink building of 6 or 7 apartments that sits right behind my next-door neighbor's backyard - the one that I see everyday when I look out my back windows - that's where Chad now lives!

So, we finally saw each other tonight for the first time in 6 or 7 years, and it was if no time had passed at all. We instantly reconnected, or rather, the connection that we had always had was still there.

San Francisco, 2010!

One of the first things that we talked about was the "promise" that we had made to each other when we were 19: we made a deal that if we were still both single when we turned 50, that we would marry each other. :) Well, it turns out that I married Dick, so the deal is off! ;)

It's so nice to have the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend. Now that he's so close by, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of Chad again. :)

M(eh)-acWorld 2010

2010-02-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

My Mom and I went to MacWorld today. This time, we really went - as it was actually the right date. Not like the time we tried to go in January. ;)

No surprise - it was just okay. I went in with fairly low expectations this year, and that's pretty much how it was. Apple wasn't there (for the first time ever) and the entire scale of the show was much smaller. Significantly fewer vendors, and a noticeable lack of big names like Adobe, Epson, etc.,

Over the past few years, there were many, many vendors selling iPhone cases. That's changed just a bit. The most common products this year seemed to be skins for the iPhones, iPod, and computers. Meh...

One small highlight for me was when we passed by the Microsoft booth. It was significantly smaller this year (no large screen demos/classes) but the did have the MacOffice "Gang" walking around. They made me smile, so I thought I'd take some photos to share with all my friends who used to work in the Mac group at Microsoft. :)

Excel & Word

Entourage and PowerPoint

I usually don't actually buy anything at MacWorld, so I was a little surprised that I left with two little items today.

The first was this little Eye-Fi SD memory card. I've noticed ads for this products for over a couple of years, and had a rough idea of what it was meant to do. I thought it would be something my Mom would be interested in. However, the more we spoke with the sales guy (who turned out to be one of the founders of the company) the more I realized that this was something that I'd really like. It has built-in Wi-Fi, so it can wirelessly transmit your files (photos and video) from your camera to your computer via your network. Handy! But the thing that totally sold me: it can also transmit files directly to my smugmug account! Super handy-dandy, since I use smugmug to backup all of my photos - it will do it automatically, so I won't have to remember to do it every month. They had a pretty good MacWorld special, so my Mom and I each bought one. I haven't tried it out yet (just got home) but I'm pretty excited to get it all set up.

I also bought a little Penguin-shaped USB drive. Only, I'm now realizing that there are no penguins in this photo!

Here's one:

Cute, right? I figure it'll be handy to keep in my purse, and I certainly won't lose it. :) The price was 2 for $25 for a 2GB - so my Mom and I each got one.

So, all-in-all, a pretty boring MacWorld. I think we covered everything in about 1.5 hours, and that was in fairly crowded conditions. My Mom and I had fun, though. :)

New Toy Story 3 Trailer

2010-02-11T16:10:00.001-08:00

While the cat's away...

2010-02-11T09:34:00.001-08:00

Dick and David were both out of town for work last night, so Miguel, Christopher and I decided to get together for dinner.

As Christopher said, it was a "cheese, cream and cake" night. These are all things that Dick doesn't eat. (well, he'll have a bite of cake every once-in-awhile.. like at our wedding...)

When Christopher used to live with us, whenever Dick was out of town, we would make things like Mac and Cheese, or Lasagna. :)

We went to Blue - such a great comfort food restaurant in the Castro. We all shared a appetizer of Tots (yes, that would be tater-tots - the likes of which I haven't had since elementary school) covered in chili and cheese. Oh, my! We also shared a serving of their yummy mac and cheese. I had a green salad - trying to balance it all out!

Christopher was so sweet - he gave us each a box of Sweethearts for Valentine's Day. :)
Here is is posing with our Mac and Cheese.

For dessert, we walked to Sweet Inspiration, which happens to be the place where David and Miguel first met!

It was a really fun evening with the boys - thanks Bro & Miguel!

Things I've meaning to blog about...

2010-02-10T11:25:00.001-08:00

well, it doesn't seem like it's been more than a week since my last post...

It's funny - when I'm out and about, I'm constantly thinking about things that I can write about. Sometimes my random thoughts only make it to my Facebook status, sometimes I remember to take a photo, and sometimes my thoughts make it all the way to my blog.

There are several things I've been meaning to write about - I've had a lot of fun outings lately - but alas, I didn't find the time to sit down and blog about them.

I did, however, take several photos over the past couple of weeks to share. Wish I had more. Somehow, I managed to spend 4 days visiting friends in Seattle without ever thinking of taking a photos! drat.

Nonetheless, here are a few things that I have done lately...

Andrew and I went to the Contemporary Jewish Museum a few weeks back to see the Maurice Sendak Exhibit. It was really fantastic. I was only familiar with "Where the Wild Things Are", but Andrew was very knowledgeable on several books and artwork. We had a great time examining several beautiful original illustrations.

A few days later, I made my way down to San Jose to have a long-overdue visit with my dear friend, Kimi. We had a late lunch (yummy dumplings) then went back to the school so I could have a quick visit with her two boys before I had to leave. It was SO nice seeing all of them!

Uncle Wes with "Bad Boy"

Last Thursday, I went to Stockton for the afternoon with my Sister and her boyfriend. We went to visit my Grandma, and to take her out to lunch and run some errands. The first thing we saw when we pulled up to the house was my Uncle Wes and his new motorcycle (named "Bad Boy"). I've never seen a motorcycle quite like this one. So pretty! I was too intimidated by Bad Boy to even sit in the seat!

We had a yummy dim sum lunch at China Palace, our favorite Chinese restaurant in Stockton. Delish!

While we were out and about, Grandma took us to Winco - a grocery store in Stockton, which is apparently a chain, although we don't have any in the Bay Area. I've been hearing about Winco for years from all of my Grandparents who lived in Stockton, but I had never been. Now, I know what I've been missing! They really do have amazing prices - many things (like cereal) were less than half the price of what they would be at another grocery store - especially in SF. Really great deals, good quality merchandise - I'll be back!

Tiff and Graham at the fantastically inexpensive bulk food bins

That evening, we drove to Sacrament to see a performance of "Rent". The tour closed this past Sunday (3 days after we saw it) and it was the last production of the show after nearly 20 years. Two of the original stars from the Broadway production were on this tour (Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, playing Mark and Roger). It was pretty amazing to have the opportunity to see them, and hear the voices that I've listened to on the Broadway soundtrack for so long.

And finally, a cute photo of Noe giving her Daddy some kitten love while he was working on his laptop. :)

"21 Guns" - Green Day and American Idiot Cast Video

2010-02-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

I totally missed the Grammys last night. Dick hates watching awards shows, so I've gotten out of the habit of watching them, or even thinking about them. I even forgot that Green Day was going to be performing! (shock!)

So, it turns out that Green Day performed "21 Guns" with the cast of the American Idiot Musical. Very cool. The show (which, yes, I saw twice when it opened in Berkeley) is going to Broadway starting in March. They didn't win Best Rock song for "21 Guns", but they did win Best Rock Album for "21st Century Breakdown"! Yay!

Anyhow, this video was released this morning (I think, anyhow). I think it's very cool - it shows Green Day and the cast of "American Idiot" in the recording studio, recording their version of "21 Guns".

I like this version a lot, although I admit I prefer the original. But, I do really love and appreciate the collaboration and all of the beautiful harmonies in this version.

A New Washer and Dryer!

2010-01-31T21:14:00.001-08:00

very exciting!!

Pretty new Washer & Dryer

At last! We bought a new washer and dryer yesterday, and it was delivered (amazingly enough) this morning!

The old washer and dryer were probably well over 25 years. They were here when I bought my condo from Andrew in 1998, and they were here when he bought the condo in 1988. They were still both working fine, so I figured I'd wait until one of broke before we bought a new one.

I mentioned this to my Mom a few weeks ago, and she reminded me how much more energy and water efficient the new models are.

right...

I mentioned the same thing to Andrew, and he cautioned me, warning that I may not want to wait until one of them breaks. What if one of them broke, and it went terribly wrong? Worst case scenario: Our washer and dryer are on the top floor. What if the washer broke, and caused a leak (or flood). Bad news.

So, suddenly, I was on a quest for a new washer and dryer.

I asked my friends on Facebook for recommendations, and got a lot of good advice.

We ended up getting the Samsung 4.5 cu. ft. front load steam washer and dryer. I think we got the Mother of All Washing Machines. ;) It's HUGE (my old washer had a 3.2 cu. ft. capacity, I think) and the controls and functionality are all so cool. Washer and Dryer technology sure has come a long way over the past 25+ years!

We decided on getting white machines, versus the stainless steel. I generally prefer stainless steel for appliances, but decided on white for these because a) stainless steel is harder than traditional paint, and is hard to clean and accumulates lots of finger prints, and b) it was about $100 more expensive per machine. We had also looked at and considered the LG models, which had some fabulous colors that I really loved (candy red, colbalt blue) but since we went with the Samsung, it was only white or stainless steel.

We got a really great deal at Sears. Dick and I really enjoy buying large appliances from Sears - their sales people are always so knowledgeable and friendly, and their prices are hard to beat. I did some online research last week and saw that they were having a 10-20% off sale on all major appliances through this weekend, so I really wanted to make sure that we went this weekend to check it out. We went yesterday morning. As it turns out, they were having a One-day only sale yesterday which gave us an additional 10% off! Score!

Another nice surprise was that they were in stock, and were available for delivery as early as today! Nice! They were delivered this morning at 10:00am, which gave me an entire day to wash everything I could think of to test 'em out!

The delivery guys were pretty amazing. First they took the old washer and dryer out, then brought the new ones in and set them up. All within 30-40 minutes! They had these very clever straps that wrapped over their shoulders, and underneath the machines, which they just lifted and carried down the stairs and out the door. Very impressive.

Out with the old, and in with the new!

What amazes me most (so far) about the new washer and dryer are how very quiet they are. With the old machines, I could hear them from my office (same floor, but on the other side of the house) and even worse: the entire room/house would shake/vibrate whenever the washer was going through the spin cycle. With the new washer and dryer, I don't hear a thing, and I can be in the same room and not feel the spin cycle. Amazing!

So, clearly, I'm a fan so far, and super happy with my new washer an dryer. We'll see how it all continues to go...

"The iPad" - Really? That's the best name you could come up with?

2010-01-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

worst. product. name. ever...

iPad?

Really?

This just goes to show that sometimes all of those brilliant engineers and marketing specialists just don't see the whole picture.

I'm pretty sure you could ask any woman on the street what the first thing she would think of when hearing about a product named "iPad", and she would say: feminine hygiene product.

I can guarantee you that (at least before Apple's announcement this morning) no woman who hears of a product called "iPad" would think, "Fantastic, computer gadget! I must get one now!"

No. that's not how it works.

Just say the word "pad" and our minds go elsewhere - somewhere much less fun and exciting.

I haven't even looked into the new iPad yet. I still can't get past the name.

But I'll tell you this, seeing the headline that Steve Jobs calls the iPad “truly magical” and a “revolutionary device” has a whole new set of connotations for me now. :)

Note to Apple: make sure you include smart women into those important meetings when you name those new "must-have devices"!

It just may stop you from sounding like an imbecile.

"The New iPad! Now with wings!"

update
No surprise: the net has been buzzing with iPad jokes all day.

Here's just one article about Apple's big goof:

Apple's iPad becomes big fat ‘intimate’ joke

My Best Friend from Fourth Grade

2010-01-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

When I was in fourth grade, my family lived in Fresno. My sister and I were both part of the "GATE" program (Gifted and Talented Education, apparently), which started in fourth grade. I believe there as only one GATE class per grade level in the city, but I"m not sure. Nonetheless, this means that the kids in our class came from all over Fresno, and most of us hadn't had classes in first through third grades with each other before.

My best friend that year was Julie. I'm don't remember the exact moment that we met, but I do remember that we became fast friends, and we were basically inseparable during that entire school year.

My dad got transferred to the bay area with work, and the day after I finished the fourth grade, my family moved to Milpitas. My family took occasional trips to Fresno over the next few years, and I remember that Julie and I were able to see each other for visits from time to time. We also wrote letters (the old-fashioned kind!) to each other, probably through 7th grade or so.

Alas, we lost touch sometime around Junior High or even High School. I always remembered Julie and had very fond memories of her.

Fast forward to 2007.

On October 3, 2007, I post a blog asking my readers to please let themselves be known. My blog had a lot of regular hits, so I was curious to know who was reading it regularly.

Imagine my surprise when I received the following comment:

Trina,
This probably sounds very strange, but I used to be friends with you in Fresno, years ago. Do you remember me?

One day a few months ago, I was typing random names into Google and came across this blog! We were in fourth grade together, and then you moved to Milpitas. We wrote letters and sent school pictures for years, but somehow we fell out of touch sometime in high school.

Anyway, I have wanted to drop you a line, but it seemed so "stalkerish" But since you've asked....

I enjoy your blog because you are so joyful and positive about your life - such a wonderful role model.

Julie | 10.05.07 - 9:18 pm

Pretty amazing, right? I sent her an email immediately. We've corresponded via email a few times, have become "friends" on Facebook, and keep up with each other on our mutual blogs.

We even managed a "face-to-face" visit a couple of years ago when Julie lived in Stockton. It was wonderful. What a special friendship - we met for lunch, and ended up talking for more than 3 hours, which was only cut short because I had to meet my family for dinner. I love those friendships where you can be separated for years, yet, when you see each other again, you fall right back with each other. It had been nearly 30 years since we had seen each other!

I feel so fortunate that Julie had the inclination to search for me, and that we have managed to reconnect. I think it's so special to have friends in your life from childhood.

Julie just sent me a photo that she found of the two of us - I assume it's from 1979. I absolutely love it. I don't think I ever had a picture of the two of us together.

Julie and Trina, 1979

Julie and Trina, 2008

Thanks, Julie! I hope to see you again very soon for another visit!

Funny conversation on Twitter....

2010-01-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

this made me laugh. If you know me, you know I love Costco! :)

(Bruce is my cousin, for those of you who don't know)

breyeschow: Waiting for the, "You need four new tires." call. (@ Borders)
about 2 hours ago

trinachow: @breyeschow i just got 4 new tires installed today at Costco. :) $70 off coupon through end of the month.
about 1 hour ago

breyeschow: @trinachow you and costco . . . tires, caskets . . . did you meet Dick there too ;-) Already at our shop doing some other work, but thanks.
about 1 hour ago

Christmas in January

2010-01-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

My sister, and her boyfriend, Graham, have both been away from home for almost a year. They left on the first of February of last year, and moved to Las Vegas for work (temporarily) then my sister had another job on the road, which she just returned from earlier this week.

Because of this, they were both away on Christmas. Our immediate family decided to wait until they got home for the 6 of us to celebrate Christmas together. My parents even kept up their Christmas tree, and all of their decorations (inside and out) just for them! (my parents are usually sticklers to putting all the Christmas decorations away before the first of the year, so this was a pretty big deal for them! You can be that they'll start putting it all away tomorrow!)

So, we finally had our family Christmas together this afternoon. :)

Chow Christmas in January!

After we opened all of the gifts, we went out for the traditional Christmas-in-January meal: Baja Cactus on Main Street, Milpitas! Yum!

Dinner at Baja Cactus!

My main present to my sister and Graham was a painting that I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. They just moved into a new home late last year, and are finally having a chance to really live there and settle in. I've been promising a painting to my sister for years (yes, years....) and really wanted to be able to give her one for her new place.

My latest painting

It's a fairly large painting. I forgot to measure it, but I'd say it's around 48" long, and probably about 30" high. It's 3 panels - my first triptic. :)

The two birds in the painting are meant to be her two cockatiels - Crissy and Bonsai. Crissy will turn 30(!) years old next month - we've had her since she was 6 weeks old! Dick and I took care of the birds at our house for the past year while my sister was away. It was nice bonding with them again.

I haven't painted in so long. I'm always amazed once I start a new project, just how much I love the process of painting! Now that I've got my studio set up in our backyard, I'm determined to get out there and paint more often! It feels so great to be painting again!

Party in the Backyard!!

2010-01-15T16:09:00.001-08:00

My sister just came back after having been away for almost a year! She
came by today to say "hi" and to pick up her birdies (who have been
staying with us while she was gone).

5 minutes before she came, Bruce and the girls came over for a visit!
It's a big, impromptu party!

We all went to hang out in the backyard for a while to catch up. Big
fun!