Again, I can't emphasize how much I *heart* my job. Al Gore was nice enough to agree. =)

Even though today's almost over, it was a very eventful day. Google announced its SEC filing for a much awaited IPO. Sometimes, I still can't believe that I'm part of a company that is changing the world and doing it in an genuinely good way. There's so much to be thankful for, despite all the craziness around me.

In loving memory of Dion-Joseph B. Gigante

April 25,1999 - April 22,2004

I'd like the memory of me
to be a happy one
I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles
when life is done
I'd like to leave an echo whispering
softly down the ways
Of happy times and laughing times
and bright and sunny days
I'd like the tears of those who grieve
to dry before the sun
Of happy memories that I leave
when my life is done

It's just finally sinking in... my godson passed away yesterday morning from a tragic accident. R.I.P. DJ Gigante. Your 5th birthday would have been on Sunday and I know you wanted a bouncer, the ones with a slide too. Happy Birthday!

I'm a firm believer in the saying that 'Things happen for a reason.'. Maybe God had another plan for you. Maybe he needed a sidekick up there. For whatever reason, I know you're in a better place, bouncing on your birthday bouncer. Promise me you'll watch over your family, especially your parents and sisters. I haven't lost someone...I've just gained an angel to watch over me.

Happy Anniversary to ME!

Today marks one year being at Google and with the Blogger team. Woohoo! I had cheesecake at lunch to celebrate. =)

I could be somewhat right...

Towards the end of last year, I wrote about a lunch I had with some fellow coworkers. We were talking about sushi chefs and I brought up the point that women could not be sushi chefs because of their slightly warmer body temperature and how it would affect the freshness of sashimi. After a bunch of reading, I concluded that I was wrong and gave it up to my coworker.

Last year, one of the reasons I realized that I could have been wrong was because of a japanese restaurant (Ichiban) in Utah I had read about that was owned by a woman. This woman was also a sushi chef.

After this weekend, however, I could have been somewhat right. Since I was in Utah, and since this was one my best friend's favorite restaurants, I decided to visit Ichiban. Seriously, it's some of the best sushi I've had in a long while! I also met the owner, Peggy, and had asked her about the idea of women being sushi chefs. She had said that the majority of women really could not physically be sushi chefs because of the temperature of their hands. It really did make a difference with the freshness of raw fish. In her case, though, she had gone to Japan because she had wanted to study to be a sushi chef. She also was able to do this because she was part of a minority of women that had an unusually colder body temperature than most women. How crazy is that.

Random acts of kindness...

The world never ceases to amaze me. There's certain days in your life when things just don't seem to be working out right. I'm sure you've guessed. Today was one of those days.

I woke up sore (not as bad as yesterday) from snowboarding over the weekend. My neck and shoulders were still pretty tight, even after getting a sports massage on Sunday. To add to that, my arms and sternum were still damn sore. Let's just say I'm not a happy camper right now.

So, at work today, I was on my way to the bathroom. I bumped into a coworker I hadn't seen in a long time so naturally I said hi. We exchanged the typical 'how are you' talk, followed by my mentioning of snowboarding, being super sore, and being in need of a massage. I couldn't find an appointment though for this week. Without even stopping to think, he was on his laptop telling me that I should take his appointment for this week and starts switching it over to me. Wow! How absolutely generous is that!

It's things like this that make me forget about how many damn evil people there are in the world. It's these random acts of kindness that make me smile and want to continue striving to be a good person.

Thanks O'Shane!

Last run of the season...

Just when I thought the snowboarding season was over (vacationing in Asia left me in 'tropical'-mode), my last minute trip to Sisca also included a visit to Snowbird. It was a year ago, right around this same time, that I went on a boarding trip to Aspen with the same group of friends I'm with in Utah. Leave it to these friends to push me on my board. I wouldn't have it any other way. *laugh*

Honestly, though, I love boarding with these group of friends. They're pretty hard core. It's the only time I ever learn new skills with snowboarding because I'm always feeling like I have to keep up with them. Plus, they know how to correct what I'm doing wrong or egg me on when I'm ready to call it a day.

Usually I always have a trail map just so I know what type of run I'm going on and so that I don't get lost. With this crew, no one had a trail map because Sisca, Meda, and Mikey knew the mountain like the back of their hand. I just followed their lead, naively, as usual. Somewhere in the middle of the day, one of the guys tells me, 'So, at least you can say you've been on a double black diamond.' (I just happen to be sitting on a lift on my way up to another black trail, by the way, as he's telling me this.) We board some more and I keep eating it pretty bad, wondering why I'm so scared of this mountain. I even collide with Sisca at one point, messing up my neck. Meda then ends the day with, 'Snowbird has one of the hardest terrains. The blues are equivalent to the usual blacks so you did pretty good.' (wide eyed at this point)

So what in the world does that make the double black diamond? Crack, I tell ya!!!

Utards...

Okay...so I forgot to update my blog and tell the world that I'm gonna be visiting the Utards..errr Sisca... *laugh* I landed almost around midnight and went straight to a bar - Welcome to Salt Lake City! An 80s cover band entertained us tonight as well as the fully stocked bar... have a good weekend all!

deja vu...

For a while, Kimmy and I have been talking about dreams - dreams we've recently had, what these dreams could possibly mean, and just plain laughing about the randomness.

A few months ago, I had a dream and in most cases, I usually never remember my dreams.

I was running around the city looking for someone or something through most of the dream. I also invented something somewhere in all that. Most importantly, it ended with me bathing my kids. (The invention was something for the shower and I was testing it out, while bathing my kids. Talk about random!) I had twin baby boys. I remember their faces vividly, the chubby arms they had, the color of their skin, and the smiles on their faces. They glowed when they smiled at me.

What if in the future, when I do have my own kids, they do look like the ones I saw in my dream? I'd tell them I saw and met them before they were even born. You see, my dad's side of the family has a set of twins in every generation. There's only one cousin on my dad's side (in my generation) that's had a child so none of us know which one will have the twins. My dad's mom was the oldest of her siblings and she had the twins. In the next generation, my uncle (the youngest of the siblings) had the twins. Where's the pattern? None.

Dreams are supposed to be your subliminal thoughts acted out in your mind while you're sleeping. At least that's what I've always thought. For the most part, all the dreams that I've ever remembered have always had some sort of meaning in my life. They've told me something about myself and made me look at other perspectives I never really thought about. Maybe it's the voice inside trying to tell me something or even watch over me.

Could the dreams you have affect how your life plays out? Just another random thought...

"The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have no wealth to bestow on him. If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?"
~ Henry David Thoreau

I stare at silence -
enveloped in utter confusion.
my mind in unfamiliar places
searching for any type of reaction.
i travel to each place and thought
from years ago to ten minutes from now...
no permanence in each moment,
just yearning to embrace my silence.

my facade conveys the surface,
displaying what people want to see...
enough to satisfy their curiosity
nothing short of reality.
a myriad of scrapbooked memories,
put together in one identity -
masks of different emotions
representing changes very few can sense.

in my world of recurring patterns, do you truly see me?

*achhhooo*

Allergies have to be the worst I've ever had in my life, even worse than when I was living in Austin, TX. In Austin, there was mold, oak trees, and other crazy pollen that made every living soul look like Rudolph the red nose reindeer. California, however, was never that bad until now. I guess I'll have to be wearing my glasses for a while. Don't laugh!

Love me at my worst and it's all uphill from there...

I just came back from watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I have this happy giddiness in the pit of my tummy. Part of me is somewhat sentimental right now, relating with Kate Winslet's character, while the other half of me realizes that life is a lot simpler these days.

One of the first mentors I ever had told me that you'll never know someone unless you put them in the right situation. There's moments in your life when things aren't as happy as you'd like them to be, but those moments are the times that you realize that the people you cherish mean the most to you because they truly love you at the lowest points in your life, unconditionally.

Wouldn't life be so much easier if you could initially and honestly reveal every aspect, especially the ones defining who you are, to people you've become friends with? And wouldn't it even be better if they genuinely accepted each of these qualities about you?

Each and every day, I've learned to love and accept who I've become. What a great feeling.

Can't believe I'm quoting Hilary Duff, but I like the lyrics to this interlude she has...

Inner Strength
Gotta find your inner strength
If you can't then just throw life away
Gotta learn to rely on you

Beauty, strength, and wisdom, too
You're beautiful inside and out
Lead a great life without a doubt
Don't need a man to make things fair
'Cuz more than likely he won't be there
Listen girl, gotta know it's true
In the end all you've got is you

Crap... daylight savings sucks! I just got home from my sorority big sis' and deyek's bday party in the city thinking I had at least 5 hours of sleep before my softball game. SAD! Don't forget to change your clocks! *sleep*

as a little kid, i always had issues with drawing people... i was master of stick figures! (thanks for the laughs, creepafur)

Gmail

What gets better than Gmail? I absolutely *heart* the company I work for. 1 GB of searchable email all for free! I so love the small things...in this case, it's a big thing!

Update: For all of you that keep asking about Gmail, yes, it's real. It's not an April Fools joke. Google just gave me a gig. Aren't u jealous? *smile*