The May to his December

1L

2008-08-03T14:11:00.002-04:00

Here are some stats for the University of Puerto Rico's 2008-2009 first year law students:

Class size: 204 students
58% female; 42% male
70% from UPR system; 30% from other universities
Average GPA = 3.60
Average LSAT score = 146
Average EXADEP score = 661

Where do I fall within these numbers?

I'm female.
I graduated from the UPR (Río Piedras campus) in 2006.
My GPA was 3.60.
My LSAT score was 149.
My EXADEP score was 709.

Cheezburger

2008-03-13T13:37:00.002-04:00

OH MAH CEILIN CAT!!11!

Since when did LOLcat become an "official language"? :)

I recently discovered the LOLCat Bible Translation Project.

HEERS SUM FUD 4 THOT:

If u try be Ceiling Cat of any of mai creayshunz up in floaty skai, down in erth or in watr or I shoot yous wit mah lazer eyes. If u think faek Ceiling Cat iz Ceiling Cat, I mek u ded An ur children ded An ur children-children ded, for being stupid. If not I wuv u An all ur childrenz-childrenz-childrenz!

U sez Ceiling Cat bad, I shoot yous wit mah lazer eyes, cuz I dun liek it. Srsly.

Remembur caturday An keep holy. U werk 6 dais An finish werk, K? Caturday, u no werk. U An all ur peepz go wrship me.
Exodus 20:4-10

Royal Mail

2008-03-08T19:37:00.003-04:00

I bought this Royal Digital Rate Scale (RC40) years ago at CostCo.

I remember having some difficulty setting things up with the cable provided. (I had to buy a converter cable in order to connect it to my computer to download rates.) Once I figured the trick out, it worked like a charm! (I was an active eBay seller those days, so this scale came in very handy for estimating S/H without having to go to the post office.)

Then, one day, the scale inherited a glitch where the only thing it could do was turn on and display the weight in the standard unit (ounces) - not too convenient when weighing packages that weighed several pounds! It wouldn't even turn off with the ON/OFF button; it would just eventually turn off on its own. I kept the scale, despite its glitch, because it was still useful, albeit in a limited way.

Fast forward to tonight: I was weighing an envelope which seemed just a little too heavy to be 1oz. Out of old habit, I pressed the OFF button ... and it worked! Hooray! My scale has recovered from its malady and is fully functional!

It's time for me to update the shipping rates! Now, where did I put the cables ...

Hello Kitty

2008-03-08T12:49:00.007-04:00

I took my cats to the vet yesterday for their booster shots.

Poor Yoshi! He's such a scaredy cat! He would not get out of the kennel, not even when I flipped it over to one side so that he could "fall out" ! He'd put his little legs out to the sides of the kennel to hold on! I was left with no other choice but to pop the top!

His entire examination was done with him huddled up in the corner of the kennel!

I just learned here that cats aren't getting the medical attention that they should on a regular basis! I'm glad I did my part in watching out for mine :)

UPDATE:

LOLYoshi

Green Thumb

2008-03-05T17:40:00.005-04:00

My grandmother gave me this plant, a Alocasia Amazonica, also known as Elephant's Ear, or, as she called it in Spanish, cara de caballo (horse's face).

On closer inspection, the leaves have been chewed up! :(

A caterpillar? No! My cats!

Outside, I planted a carambola, or star fruit, tree (Averrhoa carambola) that I was given at work. Right now, it basically looks like a big twig!

"Tomorrow, Tomorrow ..."

2008-02-28T09:48:00.003-04:00

"... I love you, Tomorrow,
You're only a day away!"

Tomorrow is the grand opening of the first Best Buy store in Puerto Rico!

Lucky for me, I have a brother who works at one. Unfortunately, he's in Texas! I have asked him to consider relocating ...

Going Postal ... again

2008-02-28T09:12:00.003-04:00

I just discovered this:

Hooray! ^_^ Time to bring out the stamps!

Flower Power

2008-02-20T18:48:00.004-04:00

I knew Addis Ababa translated to "new flower," but I didn't know which word meant what. Thanks to an English-Amharic dictionary, now I know!

Addis = አዲስ = new

Ababa = አበባ = flower

All this was spurred by Fred Flare asking What's Your Fave Flower?. I wanted to answer that it was me, but, alas, "Addis" does not mean flower.

Bebi uploaded by Jacob Eliosoff

Gankutsuou

2008-01-24T16:40:00.000-04:00

Retail Relapse

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000-04:00

Just as I predicted last week, I succumbed to my routine retail relapse yesterday. I think it was in anticipation of the horrible night I had at work last night! Shopping is a much healthier alternative than, let's say, "going postal."

I'm looking forward to receiving two clutch handbags, and these shoes:

Can you say "Imelda Marcos" ?

Destination: BDL

2008-01-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

It's official - I'm going to Connecticut for a short, weekend getaway very soon :)

Devil Beside You

2008-01-08T15:52:00.000-04:00

The devil has arrived ...

... and its name is Roomba!

It will eat your soul!

(Thank you, yhancik, for pointing me towards Google Patent Search :D )

Shoes !

2008-01-02T16:31:00.000-04:00

I know I should do something about my unnecessary spending habits. Each pay period, I tell myself I will handle my finances better, but then I spot a fabulous dress, or a great bag on sale, or some yummy shoes, or a book I want to get my hands on, or curtains to dress up the windows, or designer cat furniture, or ...

And then I start thinking about where I am going to put that fab dress and great bag and yummy shoes, and I think about the pending house projects (i.e. walk-in closet, for one!), and how if I had an organized closet system, I could see what I do have, and make sure I don't splurge on repeated designs -- why do I need 3 black evening bags!? Black is black! :$

So, until I relapse in my weekly consumer meltdown, I'll be dreaming of these shoes:

Not again!

2008-01-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

Oh, no's! Not again! Somebody vomited this morning and I don't know who it was. Kudos to my kitties (at least) for keeping it all on the terrazzo tiles. Unfortunately, there's something in that regurgitated mix that seeps into the tiles, leaving splat marks where the vomit once lay - no amount of scrubbing with detergents gets those 'stains' out!

Pick-me-ups

2007-12-27T15:03:00.000-04:00

I was feeling a little under the weather last week due to an infection, and was still struggling with a fever early this week. What was an uninspired girl to do on Christmas Eve while aimlessly walking around in the mall? Why, hit the cosmetics counter, of course, for a little fabulousness!

I only had a question concerning filling in eyebrows, but I walked away with a whole mini-makeover and a handful of products (and accompanying hole-in-the-wallet).

For the eyebrows, brow zings.

For my uneven complexion, some kind-a gorgeous foundation and get even powder.

For a healthy glow, some 10 and some hoola.

The pampering was just what I needed !

Coming Soon ...

2007-12-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

... to a location near me !

It's West Elm !

Had I known, I would have waited on ordering my black Parsons desk, which is still in its box, unassembled! I could have saved the $200 I paid my parents to ship it to Puerto Rico (since West Elm does not ship large items like this themselves) !

Paranoia Agent

2007-12-08T05:57:00.000-04:00

WTF ?

UPDATE:

Let me elaborate a little more on this post. I watched the first four episodes of this series not too long ago. I have an infinite list of pending rentals via Netflix. Sometimes I don't even remember how a title or series winds up on my queue. When I read the description of this series (before popping in the disc to view it), I asked myself "What was I thinking !?" I anticipated a gray and dismal intro, not this loud and cheerful (?) opening theme song !

There are many translations out there of the lyrics. This is one of my favorite lines: "A magnificent mushroom cloud in the sky ..."

Reminds me of ...

"... a giant mushroom. Maybe it's friendly!"

Beware of Cat Vomit

2007-11-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

Ugh! I woke up this evening to find two splats of kitty vomit on the floor! In the 2 years I've had cats, I've discovered regurgitated messes only some 3 or 4 times, and, thankfully, it's always been on the tile floor and never on carpet or furniture!

I don't think it's hairball-related - that's never been a problem ... even more so now that I recently bought a FURminator!

Mail Call !

2007-11-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

Who doesn't enjoy a little postal love? Happy Mundane does.

Apparently, Pai Mei does, too!

The contents will be revealed shortly :)

Score !

2007-11-09T12:19:00.000-04:00

Woohoo!

My results from the EXADEP test I took last month are in. I scored the following in these sections:

Verbal Aptitude ...................................................... 62
Mathematics + Analytical Reasoning ......................... 80
Written Expression ................................................. 66
English .................................................................. 80

... which translates to a total score of 709 (on a scale of 200 to 800)!

You, too?

2007-11-06T11:03:00.000-04:00

I always go for the yummy, kitty ear kronsche myself!

(via Cute Overload)

Sound familiar?

2007-11-04T02:33:00.000-04:00

I've been rewatching previous episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. In episode 206, "The Blind Bandit," I knew the voice of Toph's father, Lao Bei Fong, sounded familiar.

He's Kratos (from Tales of Symphonia)!

I mean, he's Cam Clark[e].

I guess I'm still Texan ...

2007-10-24T14:03:00.000-04:00

(As seen here)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The South That's a Southern accent you've got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don't have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it.
The Inland North
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
North Central
Boston
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Halloween, revisited

2007-10-20T14:52:00.000-04:00

I think I'm going to dress up as Vincent van Gogh for Halloween this year:

Either that, or a chipmunk:

November was a good month.

2007-10-16T07:38:00.000-04:00

Because deep down, I'm a nerdy, future librarian :

Wisening up

2007-10-06T00:58:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, my lower right molar started bothering me. The dentist who saw me said it was my wisdom tooth pressing up against my molar that was causing the pain.

I might not have a fancy tooth diagram like my devious Belgian friend, yhancik, but I do have this X-ray:

I was referred to her colleague who handles wisdom teeth extractions, but he quickly dismissed my case because my tooth is impacted and he fears damaging my jaw's main nerve. He, in turn, referred me to a maxillofacial (oral) surgeon down the hall who will see me early next week.

I've already had 4 molars removed from when I wore braces. I remember the banana-tasting gel applied to my gums to numb them, and the eight shots I got with a needle suitable for injecting horses (!). Then there's the loud, cracking sound of the dentist pulling my teeth out with pliers!

This, however, sounds scarier and I am a little worried ... :\

Retail therapy

2007-10-05T18:38:00.000-04:00

After my uneventful visit to the dentist's office, I found myself with no plans for the afternoon. What's a girl to do on Pay-Day Friday? Go shopping, of course!

First stop: Borders. I went in, looking for a gift for Doris, but I wasn't feeling too inspired. However, browsing the "Local Interest" (i.e. Puerto Rico) section, I discovered this book:

The cover features a detail of Félix Bonilla Norat's painting, Ritual. However, the wrong year is credited!

Bonilla Norat could not have painted this in 1995 - he died in 1992! [tsk tsk] For the record, Ritual was painted in 1961.

Going Postal ... yet again

2007-10-04T09:56:00.001-04:00

I had no idea who was the mastermind behind the design of this The Postal Service t-shirt ...

... until I saw this recent post at happy mundane about Jim Houser. Scrolling down this interview, I came across this image:

Although the shirt does not credit Houser, there's no mistaking it's his design!

Katy the Caterpillar

2007-10-04T08:28:00.000-04:00

... and there's a sequel !!!

Going Postal ... for Halloween !?

2007-09-29T23:45:00.002-04:00

Browsing eBay for some vintage postal paraphernalia, I came across this and this: children's mail carrier costumes.

Just in time for Halloween.

Draco y el Teatro del Absurdo

2007-09-29T18:54:00.001-04:00

I went to the first of two scheduled concerts last night at the Choliseo (Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot) with my best friend, Talí, his girlfriend, and his brother, Jehú. I thought we had really good seats, sitting in the first row (Row A) of section 102L. From where we were sitting (or standing!), we could see the left side and center-stage. There were what looked to be 160 skulls placed in 160 cubbyholes as the backdrop! The left "wall" was decorated with various pictures (of Che, Einstein, and Draco himself), tapestries, masks, and the flag of Lares; several table lamps were placed across the stage. Although scheduled for 8:30pm, it wasn't until 9:30pm that the lights were dimmed and the musicians stepped out on stage. Everyone was wearing black. Even the backup singers were decked out in black monk's robes and Halloween-y face paint!

The video displays presented a countdown, which led to the evening's first song, "Bosque de los números." I don't remember all of the songs performed (or in which order): "Todo es vino," "Desnudo," "Luchar por ella," "Hasta la victoria siempre," "Mad Love," "Más y más," "Llanto subterráneo," "Madre tierra," "Vagabundo," "Penélope," "Brujería," "Vértigo," "Cruzando Puertas," and "Mama." He played a couple of covers: "Roadhouse Blues" from The Doors, "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin, and even Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" ... because everything is possible en el teatro del absurdo -- Um, is it still a "cover" when it's your song / lyrics sung by another artist? :)

Here are two clips of the covers:

During the intermission, Draco stayed on stage with guitarist Rusty Anderson and attempted a couple of songs acoustically. (I say attempt because he couldn't remember the lyrics to "Cruzando puertas" !!!) I was able to record "Blanca mujer," albeit very poorly:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2007-08-09T11:58:00.001-04:00

(from xkcd)

(from Threadless)

Photo Genic

2007-08-07T11:19:00.000-04:00

This plush camera reminds me of a retired Threadless t-shirt:

(Plusharoid from Urban Outfitters: Blog)

Going Postal

2007-08-05T13:52:00.001-04:00

I thought I was rebellious for placing US Flag stamps upside-down on an envelope or Presidents sideways (because they're lying in their graves).

But then I found this:

Hooray for mail art!

Yes, I am.

2007-08-05T12:53:00.000-04:00

John Balossi ( 1931 - 2007 )

2007-07-29T09:46:00.000-04:00

Maybe after I finish researching Félix Bonilla Norat, I'll move on to John Balossi.

I've purchased the following Balossi prints:

The Green Horse

The Red Horse [ image pending ]

After the hiatus ...

2007-07-28T06:14:00.000-04:00

There are so many things I wish to conquer, online and in real life.

I did end up committing myself to a mortgage payment for 30 years and have been living here for 8 months now. I'm transforming this house into a home slowly (a little too slowly, I'm afraid). All the interior decorating is going on in my head, and not with my hands! I need to get back to the three-dimensional world and out of my skewed mind so I can make my home shine with Addis-ness! It's been almost 2 months since I last painted anything. I really should get a move on things so I can put all my compulsive purchases to good use in their final domestic destination.

Mi casa es mi casa.

2006-10-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

I can't pinpoint the exact date I decided I wanted to buy a house. All I know is that it was a feeling that I grew in to. Very recently, I was feeling very comfortable with the idea. In September, I started browsing the real estate section of the paper on Saturdays. I would visit the classifieds online, aiming for properties less than $200K. I then aimed for properties around the $100K mark. After talking with different bank officials about mortgage loans and where I stand financially, I decided it was OK to aim a little higher. After many weeks of checking the papers, online listings, and driving around town looking for "For Sale" signs, I came across this ad for this house:

I made an appointment with the real estate agent at Diamond Professional Services to see the house. (At this point, I had already seen some other properties I was not happy with.) This house is great for me! And, being on the corner, it has a decent - and nice! - yard!

9/11

2006-09-11T18:40:00.000-04:00

I'm not patriotic.

There were always two words of the Pledge of Allegiance I could never bring myself to utter.

Had I been in a voting state, I would have never voted for Bush, regardless of my 'Texan' background.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where was I on the dreaded nine/eleven? I remember I was eating breakfast before going to work at HPCf. I had the news on (CNN) and remember seeing a video clip of Dubya at a Florida elementary school while hearing something about the Twin Towers ... reporters were waiting for an announced press conference by Bush ... I wasn't sure what was going on yet. As I was driving to work, I was listening to an AM news radio station and heard more information about an attack that was going underway. By the time I made it to the lab, both towers had fallen. Not much work was done that day -- I think we just tried to access any news webpage. Thanks to our Internet2 connection, we occasionally made it to CNN, and it was usually just text (for quicker upload). Being the computer geek I thought I was back then, while browsing /., that was the first time I had heard about (or read, for that matter) Bin Laden!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 this evening. Nostalgic? No. Reflecting? I guess. I had forgotten about the content of the film. The clip at the beginning of the film of members of the Congressional Black Caucus venting about the election's outcome and not having a Senator's signature is still very moving.

The Adventures of Toucan Sam

2006-09-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

I finished playing Trace Memory - apparently, I did not get the "good" ending, where D remembers what happened to him. I guess I'm gonna have to give it another go.

I started playing Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - let's see if I can maintain a farm!

I, also, read this evening in one sitting the interesting exhibition catalog for Andy Warhol / Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters 1962 - 1964. Note to self:

Look up "What is Pop Art? Answers from Eight Painters" by Gene Swanson in ARTnews.
Look up "Saturday Disasters: Trace and Reference in Early Warhol" by Thomas Crow in Art in America.
Look up "Warhol and Class Content" by Peter Schjeidahl in Art in America.
Read Philip K. Dick's sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I started reading Every Step a Lotus, which is, in turn, sparking more topics of interest !

O Canada!

2006-09-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

Last week, I took a short trip up to Toronto. I hope to recreate here my fun-filled days up there. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but seeing as how I hardly took any pictures, I will have to substitute pictures with words. (Sorry, Josue - looks like you're gonna have to read here!)

I left on Wednesday morning, 30 August 2006, departing from San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, on flight UA-1255 at 07:00am; this flight was operated by Ted. I bought me a yummy RiteBite snack box for $5 and chowed down while watching Mission: Impossible III. I unfortunately had to sit with two ill-mannered and bad-mouthed Puerto Rican men, who, in their 30's or 40's, acted like they were 12! We arrived early at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. I killed a little time before my 01:35pm flight up to Toronto via Air Canada by visiting Quizno's; I ate me a very fulfilling Mesquite Chicken with Bacon sub. I also bought some yummy pecan + chocolate braggs at The Grove -- 0.6 pounds lasted me the entire trip! Waiting at Gate E2, I made smalltalk with an older, turban-clad man who flew in with his wife from California earlier that day. The incoming flight was a little late, but the trip up was very comfortable (compared with the day's first flight). I guess we arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport around 05:00pm that afternoon.

After claiming my bag, I headed outside of the terminal to wait for the next Toronto Airport Express shuttle. I had purchased my round-trip ticket online the night before and saved 10%. Thanks to Orbitz, I had hotel reservations (4 days, 3 nights) at the "posh" (according to Geoffrey from Pimblett's Bed & Breakfast) Sutton Place Hotel Toronto, but the shuttle didn't stop there. The closest stop was at the Delta Chelsea, just a "short walk away" off Gerrard St. and up Bay. Seeing as how I was an irresponsible traveler, packing deoderant and toothpaste in my carry-on bag, I had to dispose of these items at the TSA screening checkpoint. Lucky for me, I came across a pharmacy while walking towards the hotel, where I purchased these essentials.

I checked into my room (numbah six-oh-three) and although I was beat (I had hardly slept in the last 2 days), I wanted to get out and start familiarizing myself with the city's streets ... and get a bite to eat.

Sporting a Threadless t-shirt, I walked down Yonge St. (the supposed longest street in the world, although Guinness does not make this claim). With Toronto City Hall in mind, I headed towards Queen St W. City Hall was the site of the reason (not Hoobastank's song, but my best friend's wedding -- no, not that one; this one!) why I had traveled up to Toronto in the first place. Having located City Hall, I walked back up Yonge, and stopped at Wendy's for a bite to eat. Now now - I know I didn't travel all the way up to Toronto to eat a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, but I was hungry and tired and wasn't looking into international cuisine. Across the street from Wendy's was a Metro Sound & Music store -- I made a mental note of its location for future references and headed back to the hotel. I fell asleep watching V for Vendetta and that was the end of my Wednesday night.

Rise and shine! I was up by 06:00am early Thursday morning, which surprised me -- I thought I'd be in bed until 10:00am! I watched the news for a while (can't remember if it was this or that channel), took a nice, hot shower, and slowly got myself ready for the day ahead. I think I was out on the streets by 08:00 or 08:30am. I walked around, this time heading west, to see parts of town I hadn't seen the night before. I walked towards Dundas St W, where the Art Gallery of Ontario is. Because it's under construction (or expansion), it has a temporary entrance on McCaul St. Seeing as how I had time to kill before the museum's opening at 10:00am, I grabbed me a cherry cheese danish at Tim Hortons. The first one was so good, I went again for Round 2!

The AGO's doors were open and I followed the employees' instructions as to where I was to start viewing the special exhibition "Andy Warhol / Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters 1962-64." Thanks to the Sutton Shopper program, I paid CAD$14.40 after my 20% discount on special ticketed exhibitions. (I just found this morbid contest that gets you free tickets to the exhibition: Spot the Hearse!) The exhibition was making its third stop at the AGO after having been shown at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The works featured in this exhibition are:

Empire (film)
National Velvet (painting)
Andy Warhol by Robert Mapplethorpe (print)
Troy Diptych (painting)
Couch (film)
Red Disaster (painting)
Silver Liz as Cleopatra (painting)
Blue Liz as Cleopatra (painting)
Screen Tests (film)
Elvis I and II (painting)
Sleep (painting)
Sleep (film)
Foot and Tire (painting)
Sixteen Jackies (painting)
Nine Jackies (painting)
Miriam Davidson (painting)
Haricut No. 1 (film)
Jackie Frieze (painting)
Jackie (painting)
Jackie (painting)
Five Deaths on Orange (painting)
Five Deaths on Turquoise (painting)
Five Deaths on Yellow (painting)
Five Deaths (painting)
Kiss (film)
Silver Disaster #6 (painting)
Blow Job (film)
1947 - White (painting)
Tunafish Disaster (painting)
Saturday Disaster (painting)
Race Riot (painting)
Most Wanted Men No. 2, John Victor G. (painting)
Most Wanted Men No. 6, Thomas Francis C. (painting)
White Burning Car III (painting)
Self-Portrait (painting)

I used to be in a "I-love-everything-Warhol" phase: I visited his museum in Pittsburgh years ago; I bought collector Campbell's soup cans off of eBay; I have some reproductions of his soups cans; I even hand-painted a wooden table with a pixelized image of Marilyn based on one of his prints. Thinking Warhol was just too 'pop', I thought I had outgrown the phase. I was a little hesitant about this exhibition, thinking it was just another over-rated excuse to cite Warhol, but after walking through the gallery, I thought the exhibition was really good! Here are some words from Kathy Halbreich's Foreward to the exhibition's catalog:

"Warhol created a body of work [...] that persistently addressed American culture's often unexamined fascination with the surface of things [...]"

"[Warhol] used [silkscreen] to lift "hot" images directly from the media and coolly transfer them to canvas. Taking to heart his own declaration that he wanted to be a machine, Warhol adopted a mechanical method of painting as well as an approach that buried forever the traditional primacy of the artists's individual touch and pursuit of originality."

Being the consumerist victim I am, I purchased this t-shirt and this over-priced exhibition catalog (which included a CD of the exhibition's soundtrack). I then continued to the other galleries of the museum to see what was available for viewing.

To be continued ...

Royal Ontario Museum

Bata Shoe Museum

Roots

United Colors of Benetton

CN Tower