We finished dinner early and had some time to kill before the movie started so we went to the Apple Store to check out the iPhone4 (and to look at iPad accessories).  The iPhone table was full of people playing around with the phones and there were small plastic displays teaching you how to use FaceTime.  A couple of teenage girls next to us were trying to figure it out and they kept giggling because they were pushing each other to ask us if we wanted to do FaceTime with them.  We told them we were cool with it and also wanted to see how it worked so they quickly dialed our phone.  At first we didn’t know how to engage it, but we finally figured it out and all four of us excitedly exclaimed that it was “connecting”.  When one girl’s face showed up in our screen and my face in her screen, she squealed in delight.  (I may or may not have squealed as well.)  The other girl pushed her face right next to her friends so they were both on screen and the husband did the same.  ”This is so cool!”  ”Omigosh, tight!”  We were all smiles as we stood next to each other, looking at each other through the phones and lamely exchanging various giddy words.  It was sort of awkward, sort of geeky, and really really neat.  I’m still waiting to see the white one to decide whether I want white or black.

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Toy Story 3 was so great!  If you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading and go watch it!

****** WARNING ****** SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

• I loooooved the opening scene of the movie.  So creative, I love how they acted out Andy’s make-believe world.  I laughed so hard when they emptied the barrel of monkeys!
• When they first showed Molly, I thought, “Look how big she’s gotten!”
• I don’t know why, but I was kind of shocked so many of the old toys were missing.  But that’s pretty realistic, I guess.
• I didn’t like Toy Story 2 very much because of Jessie but she was much more likable in this one.
• I gasped when Andy put Buzz in the bag and Woody in the college box.
• I think Bonnie, the little girl, is so adorable!  She’s almost as cute as the little girl in Up.
• I loved the scene when Woody is at tea time at Bonnie’s house and he meets all of Bonnie’s toys.  Haha, especially the part where a chat window comes up on the computer and the Rhinoceros tries to hide it.  Hahaha.  I laughed when Dolly made fun of Woody’s name.  I loved seeing Totoro and the Edamame toy!  I especially liked when Woody hugged Totoro and his eyes just got really big.
• The whole theater laughed so hard when Chuckles the Clown was telling the Lotso story.  He just looked so bitter as he told the story.  I don’t know why but I laughed really hard when they showed that Daisy got another Lotso.  Nobody else was laughing at that point so I felt kind of mean but it was so funny!  Hahaha.
• Ken’s character was predictable but funny.  I like that they gave him a semi-dark side.
• Spanish Buzz was also funny, the dance moves were impressively choreographed!
• I have a fear of baby dolls with those automatic eyes so I was really freaked out by Big Baby.  I like how she was the strongest out of all of the toys.
• I thought the use of the tortilla with Mr. Potato Head was so clever!  Hahahaha man.
• So, in the incinerator scene… I was really worried that they would end it with them all peacefully accepting their death.  One of the youth at our office had made some comments like, “There will never be another Toy Story again.”  So I was like, “Oh no…. please don’t end it like this.”  I was also worried it would start to get preachy… sort of like Wall-E but it was pretty subtle about the trash/landfill message.  I don’t think they went overboard.
• So the scene where Andy is telling Bonnie about each toy — it was surprisingly emotional for me.  It caught me really off guard which is why I think it was done so well.  I thought I was in the clear and then Andy got in the car and said, “Thanks guys,” and I had the choke back the emotions all over again.

I don’t know exactly why I like the Toy Story series so much.  I didn’t grow up with a lot of the character toys in the movie so it’s not nostalgic for me in that way.  I do think the movies speak strongly to the part of me that longs for aspects of my childhood and a more innocent time.  They challenge my adult sensibilities that I’ve carefully built up around myself over the years.  And they push me to wonder and to want to play.  Pretty good reasons, I guess.

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With the summer in full swing, the Husband and I have been stocking up on tons of fruits.  Something about fruit and summer just goes hand in hand.  We’ve stocked up on blueberries, apricots (a new favorite of mine!), peaches, cantaloupes, clementines, grapes, and more.  With that said, we still indulge in some sweet treats here and there.  We recently picked up Haagen-Dazs’s new frozen yogurt line.  I love the peach flavored one!  It’s not too sweet but light, creamy, tangy and refreshing.  We got it at Pak ‘n Save which means you can probably find it in any grocery store.

All of the news headlines I see about Toyota’s auto recalls are really upsetting to me.  Here’s an excerpt from the release:

On January 21, Toyota announced its intention to recall approximately 2.3 million select Toyota Division vehicles equipped with certain accelerator pedal mechanisms that may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. Toyota vehicles affected by the recall include:

• Certain 2009-2010 RAV4
• Certain 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• Certain 2007-2010 Camry
• Certain 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Click here to see the full official press release from Toyota’s website.

My family has faithfully bought Toyotas for as long as I can remember for their quality and reliability.  In one of my undergraduate business classes, I remember reading a compelling case study about Toyota’s “Kaizen” quality control and improvement philosophy which further cemented my loyalty to the car manufacturer.

When the husband and I were ready to buy a new car (my first new car ever), I knew I wanted a Toyota 4Runner.

We are probably going to be in the market for buying a new car soon and before the Toyota recalls, it was a pretty limited conversation because it felt irresponsible to buy something other than a Toyota.  But now that the Toyota isn’t as reliable, I feel like we’re liberated to consider other makes.  Is that weird?  Haha, I don’t know, it makes sense to me somehow.

As a fun side fact, my parents are the kind of people that go around checking VIN numbers on potential Toyota cars that they are interested in buying because if they start with a “J” then it means it was manufactured in Japan.  I’ve always humored them about this requirement but have never really bought into it.  But then I read this line on the Toyota press release:

“Further, Camry, RAV4, Corolla and Highlander vehicles with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) that begin with “J” are not affected by the accelerator pedal recall.”

Sometimes I guess your parents do know best.

No special effects, no 3D glasses, and no computer graphics but it had a killer soundtrack and a decent script.  A surprisingly good movie using old formulaic movie magic.  It was sort of refreshing to see a movie not try too hard.

George Clooney is the main character and his job is to fly around the country telling people that they have been laid off.  Some of the firing scenes were pretty difficult to watch — it hits a little too close to home these days with so many people losing their jobs and out of employment.

For my birthday this year we went to a great resort in Sausalito called Cavallo Point.  It was an incredibly relaxing time, soaking in the large heated meditation pool, lounging by the fireplace, having a fabulous tasting menu at Murray Circle (I believe it’s the first restaurant we’ve been to that has any Michelin stars!) and a relaxing evening in our contemporary junior suite.  It was tastefully modern (not the over the top modern that the W hotels like to do) and really comfortable.  I wish we could have stayed there longer.

We stopped by the Marin Headlands for yet another amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge.  I’m still not tired of that silly red bridge.  I then bought a new bike (2009 Fuji Absolute 3.0 Hybrid) and then we went to a fun Warriors game.  The Warriors can be frustrating to cheer for but it’s a fun rowdy crowd on the upper deck (more fun than the Toyota Center I dare say) so we had a good time.  We bought Warriors tshirts today (what a commitment) so we’ll hopefully be going to more games next year.

Also, in other news, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 12.1MP Micro Four-Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 from Amazon.  The estimated delivery date is sometime next week so I’m pretty hyped about that.  If I get into a good habit of taking pictures everyday I might finally put up a photoblog like I’ve been talking about for so long.  Many thanks to Enoch for his advice and help.

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So okay, I know I was going to write a healthcare blogpost and I put it off for the longest time.  The reason?  I started to read up what I could about it and the more I read the more I got confused and the more I realized it was more complicated than I originally thought.

These two articles were particularly enlightening, give them a read when you get the chance:

The Cost Conundrum (The New Yorker) — Atul Gawande

How American Health Care Killed My Father (The Atlantic) — David Goldhill

If you have any other healthcare articles that you have read that have impacted what you think of healthcare in America and health care reform, please send them my way.  I would love to read more about but honestly don’t feel ready to write about it.  Will the bill pass before Christmas?  We’ll see.

Happy Holidays, folks.  See everyone on the flip side.

Currently watching a frustrating Warriors game against the Pacers.  Cheering for the Warriors feels a lot like cheering for the Rockets (okay, probably worse) but it’s more fun to watch Monta Ellis drive in than to watch Yao post up.

The things that have changed are pretty small but they all add up to a different kind of daily experience.

For example, I can’t look at a bike without checking to see if it’s a fixed gear anymore.  I check the weather every morning before I get dressed.  I go to sleep before midnight every weeknight.  My Google Reader activity has really tanked as I don’t have quite as much time on my hands and our weekends are spent out and about instead of indoors hiding from the heat.  I read Kindle books (on my iPhone) instead of real books.  I think public transportation is probably the biggest change in my life that has trickled into all of these little changes.  The only time I drive a car these days is when the husband is on a business trip so it’s pretty rare.  What else has changed?  I listen to less and less current hip hop and have been listening to a lot of Billie Holiday, Neko Case (she is brilliant), and A Tribe Called Quest.  Is this a sign of aging?

I haven’t been able to take as many photos as I would like but I think that will slowly increase as we spend more of our weekends out and about.  I’m seriously eyeing the Leica XI that is expected to be released in January.  It has a hefty price tag but it would mean that I could carry a powerful camera on me at all times.  The thought of that really excites me.

Speaking of changes, we’ve only been in our loft for a few months but we’ve already made some mods to the house.  Here are some before and after photos:

BEFORE

DURING (yikes!  there were definitely some moments when we looked at each other and said what in the world were we thinking?!)

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

We’ve definitely learned a lot about plumbing and cabinetry.  We’d still like to redo our bathroom floors into ceramic tiles, put up sliding closet doors, install a giant sliding screen for our large windows, and lay a brick veneer wall but we’re putting those off for now.  Those things can wait, there are trails to be hiked and restaurants to be tried!

P.S.  Warriors win with a great comeback!

I recently was in New York to visit some of my best friends and I decided to go to Chinatown to get a thermal/digital perm at Cutting Edge Salon.

So what’s a Thermal/Digital perm?

Basically they roll your hair onto these special curlers and then they roll over a contraption that looks a lot like a heart monitor with a ton of different cords that plug into your curlers.  You end up looking like Medusa bot.

My friend looked at the machine and saw that it was set at 69 degrees.  I think they adjust it depending on what your hair texture is like and how curly you want it.

So the whole time I was really nervous because I’ve never had a perm before.  Well, unless you count the time when my sister and I begged my mom to perm our hair and she used the leftover chemicals from her own home perm to perm only our bangs.  Haha, this is easily one of my favorite childhood stories.  I have ridiculous straight hair so needless to say, I looked pretty goofy in second grade.  It was like a reverse mullet.  Party in the front, business in the back.

Anyway, the perm turned out great!  If I want it curlier, I just put in my curl enhancer after I shower and if I want it less curly and just wavy, I don’t put in much curl enhancer at all.

Here’s an after photo:

(Thanks to the random lady on the street that took this photo for us on my iPhone.  She looked pretty trustworthy… as in, I didn’t think she’d run off with my phone.)

I also purchased my first hair dryer and was surprised to see how complicated these things have gotten over the years.  I went with the Infiniti Cord-Keeper™ by Conair™ Tourmaline Ceramic Ionic Hair Styler from Target.

I like it so far and it came with the diffuser which is important for perms.

The thing I like most about the perm is that it’s low maintenance but looks like I put more effort into my hair than before (which was close to zero).

I can see why this is taking off in Asia.  Let’s bring back the perm to the US, ladies!

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I just noticed I don’t have a beauty category for my blog posts.  Haha.

Last night I had a disturbing dream that this group of people was fund raising for their cause by laying down on the 610 freeway in front of cars until people donated money.  They were really successful!  People were pissed but were mostly late to work already so they forked over the money.  They even had one of those mobile credit card machines like they use at the car rental places where they can print you out a receipt right then and there!  I can usually trace the roots of my dreams but I have no idea where that came from.

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Has Google Notifier been sucking for you lately?  It has for me.  It checks my Gmail at slow intervals and sometimes I have mail and it hasn’t checked yet so it doesn’t tell me.  Anyway, found a hack for it today that I’d like to share (for Mac users):

1. Click on the mail icon in your menubar so that the drop down menu appears
2. Hold down command + option WHILE clicking on “Preferences” in the drop down menu
3. A box will pop up with two fields, key and value
4. In the key field, type “AutocheckInterval” (case sensitive)
5. In the value field, type the number of minutes you want for the interval between checks (i.e. I put “1″ for 1 minute)
6. Quit the notifier
7. Run the app

Thanks to the MacOSXHints Forums!

I adopted that song for myself and have spent more time washing my hands these past few weeks than ever before.

Per wikipedia, the song “This Little Light of Mine” was written in the 1920′s by Harry Dixon Loes (1895-1965).  Since then, there have been several cool versions done by a wide variety of artists including “The Boss”:

And Carlos recently shared a pretty cool new Honda Insight commercial that also uses the song.

So yeah, it’s obviously a great song.

Anyway, this morning, NPR posted the following tweet:

“ISO hand-washing jingle/ditty to prevent flu. Kids sing the ABC’s to hand-wash for 20 secs. What should adults sing? Tag replies #FluSong.”

Are you one of those people who still don’t get what the big hype is about Twitter?  Well, here’s an example.  Go to TwitterSearch, search for “#FluSong” and you’ll see a ton of different song recommendations for hand-washing.  I like the suggestion of the Jeopardy theme.  Adds a sense of urgency.  Okay here, I’ll link you to it and save you a few clicks — go here.

Want to see something funny?  Here are the results for #swinefluhatesyou.

Okay, I’ll admit, those are really trivial uses for Twitter.  But when you get a chance, play around with TwitterSearch, it’s pretty interesting to read what people are talking about.

Okay folks, remember to wash your hands thoroughly for 15-20 seconds and get your song picked out!

Luckily, you can disable it in Firefox:

1. Type “about:config” into the address bar
2. Scroll down until you find “browser.backspace_action”
3. Double-click it
4. Change the value from “0″ to “2″.

No more accidental navigation!

I am one of your most loyal users.  I use the word “google” in its lower-case verb form on a daily basis, I use Gmail exclusively for all of my email needs, I use Google Calendar to coordinate my family’s schedule and even my friends’ schedules, I use Google Documents to collaborate on trip planning as well as other brainstorming needs, I use Google Groups to organize the student organizations that I am in, I use Google Images almost as frequently as I use the web, I use Google Maps to find my way around the city and on vacation, I use YouTube to entertain myself, and I even used Blogger once upon a time before I decided to buy my own hosting space.

This past year, I have adopted the use of Google Reader into my online regimen and it has served me fairly well.  I have been able to share things with friends that would have normally just fallen to the back of my mind never to be revisited again.  It has also pushed me to keep up to date on interesting news and hobbies that I have and I feel it makes me efficient with my time on the web.  It has been such a pleasant experience that I have convinced many of my friends to start using Google Reader (even the husband has joined, and I’m sure you know how difficult that is since I’m sure you are familiar with his online click patterns!) and I sing the praises of Google everywhere I go.  I think of it kind of as a volunteer gig.  In fact, I’m considering listing “Freelance/Volunteer Google PR Rep” right underneath speaking at Career Day at the Houston Hispanic Forum.

There are two things I don’t use of yours and for good reasons.  I don’t use Picasa to share pictures because Flickr is light years ahead of Picasa as far as interface and community go and you really messed up big time when you let Yahoo! buy Flickr.  Because of that mistake, I have to maintain a Yahoo! account that I only use for the purposes of Flickr.  The other thing I don’t use of yours is the G1 because the G1 is bulky, ugly and doesn’t have a slick UI like the iPhone.

All this to say, I am a fan.  I support what you do.  So please take what I have to say in context.

There are a lot of things you need to fix:

• You didn’t buy Flickr and now it belongs to Yahoo (yes, this is worth mentioning again)
• Your load times are starting to suck.  When I first joined Gmail, I could click on a link to Gmail and my inbox would appear within seconds.  Now when I click on a link to Gmail, I see this:

Then after a few seconds, I see my inbox.  I don’t know why I put up with this, but I do.  Many times a day.

• There are too many “Gmail is having problems, please check later” incidents.  Thankfully you released an offline option to Gmail and some other Google Services but downtime for email is really just unacceptable.
• Google Labs.  While I do appreciate many of the functions offered through Google Labs, why not offer it through the settings so that you don’t have to manually turn on labs and then enable the services?  And why do you have people wasting their time to develop functions such as “Canned Responses”, “Old Snakey” or “Mail Goggles”?  I mean, really?  Is this your best use of resources?
• When are you taking Gmail out of Beta version?
• Why didn’t you think it was a good idea to buy Flickr?
• Why have you made it so unintuitive to add friends on Google Reader?  Here’s the official answer on Google Help:

“Reader’s friend list comes from the list of people you can chat with on Google Talk or Gmail chat. To invite friends to see your Reader shared items, simply invite them to chat. To remove them, delete them from your Gmail contacts, or from your Talk list. Some friends might have been added to your chat list automatically if you’ve emailed back and forth with them; if you don’t want any more contacts added this way, you can change this setting.“

Why didn’t you just create a quick and easy way to add a friend to your reader by putting their email address in a field?  Surely you could have gotten Dave C. to work on that instead of having him work on Old Snakey!

• You finally enabled comments on Google Reader!  Thank you.  Why did you forget to add a new comment count?  You have counts for newly shared feeds, why not for new comments?  How will we know when there are new comments?
• When we see comments on someone’s shared feed, why not give us the option to add them as a friend?  Are you still using the pre-Facebook definition of the word “friend” and the pre-Twitter definition of the word “contact”?
• How come when I see someone’s public page of shared feeds, I don’t have the ability to add them as a Google Reader contact?
• When are you going to improve Google Finance so that I don’t have to switch over to Yahoo! Finance?
• When are you going to add Google Cars so that I don’t have to rely on Yahoo! Cars?

I better stop, my cheeks are starting to get hot.

Look, I still want this to work out and I’m not making any ultimatums here.  I just want you to stop taking me for granted and get to work on fixing some things.  And I know you aren’t really the jealous type but while I was researching Nambu, I found out about FriendFeed which looks pretty great.  That’s all I want to say about that.

Yours truly,

It’s Complicated in Houston

Here’s what I’m talking about.

The picture below is the color that the photo should be.  It appears correctly in Safari.

The picture below is what I’ve been seeing in Firefox.

Apparently, this is all determined by how browsers manage colors.  You can read more here.

I’m really happy with Firefox and pretty attached to all of my different extensions and add-ons that I use.  I really didn’t want to switch to Safari.  I was about to switch and posted a comment on Twitter about it to further postpone it.  BTH asked me about it and in trying to find a good website to explain the problem, I discovered that Firefox 3 has a fix!

From the “Web Browser Color Management Tutorial“:

“Color management in FireFox3 is off by default. TO ENABLE COLOR MANAGEMENT: type about:config into the address bar. To turn it on, change the value of gfx.color_management.enabled to true and restart the Firefox browser.”

This worked like a charm.

Now I can see all the right colors and stay with Firefox!  If you use Firefox and surf through Flickr a lot, do yourself a favor and enable its color management!