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Tuesday, 08 December 2009

R.I.P. turtle

My pet turtle of 17+ years died today.
It was a red-eared slider freshwater turtle.
Hmm, where to begin the story?
It was my very 1st pet of my own. We got it from the pet store along w/ Becky's, except Becky's died when we were 11 when a piece of its shell broke off and it's intestines floated out and rotted away.
This one continued to survive and even outlive other little turtle additions, even without ever going to the vet or getting dewormed.
It was fun to watch it eat, to tap the glass and indicate where the food floated. It let me pick it up and wash its shell; wash all the brown gunk off.
Once, probably during middle school, its water was so dirty, I discovered little white worms wiggled in it. Then I washed the tank out.
Apy even stayed with me for a semester when I lived at Hoyt junior year. There, it ate up a sponge & many grapes, along w/ the usual turtle food pellets.
I <3 turtles. Even on my Cal grad cap, I stuck a green turtle sillouette so my family could spot me from far away.
I thought it would live "forever", I kept thinking, "one day, I'll afford it a really big tank and treat it really well". Alas, now it's in turtle heaven.
These guys naturally hibernate for the winter. sigh.
2009 is supposedly not a good year for Ox persons. Parts of this Chinese superstition is revealing itself to be true. Perhaps I should've invested in the red underwear...

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

OH DL

I finally got an Ohio Driver's License today. When I first went there at 8:30am I forgot to bring my SocSec card and proof of OH residency. So I drove all the way back (6 miles) w/ many detours b/c my GPS is 4+ years old and there are many freeway interchanges (possibly worse than LA). So finally @ 10am I got to hold my new license in the palm of my hand. And when I first saw it, my first thought was, "Man, the new digital camera picture quality is really good these days." b/c I saw my face w/ my pimple X/ aaaaaaa I'm 24.5 now and I still get pimples, but the pictures don't have to show (pout) them. On the brighter side, I'm very thankful for the extra 30 min of studying I got, b/c that helped me pass. You have to get 30 out of 40 questions right. Once you get 30 right, the test is over. So my score was 30/36 mainly b/c I didn't know DUI consequences. I admit I was a little nostalgic as I relinquished my CA DL. It has a total lie about my weight (haha) from when I got it at age 17. It was correct at the time, but there's now a 20-25 lb. difference now. And I had longer hair; the hair I shaved before going to SA. Alas, I get to make new memories with this piece of plastic now

New hobby these days: read road signs w/ different accents. haha, I'm horrible at them and they kind of end up similar, but not as bad as Brandon's one-voice-fits-all :p

I think I'm going to be a chef for Halloween this year. Last year I was an Incredible from the Pixar movie. My roommate has an awesome costume planned: Cool Runnings bobsled team. Her and 3 other med students bought black spandex clothing and taped it with the Jamaican design. awesome! maybe I'll be a kung-fu chef...

I've also begun listening to Rick Holland's "Rethinking Relationship" 2005 series . It's been quite interesting, very Bible-based, & enjoyable so far. Check it out if you're interested in all that Christian "protocol" on dating stuff b/c it goes beyond that. Also, remember to apply the actions to your life after personal analysis b/c if the knowledge just goes in but doesn't get expressed, then it doesn't get allowed a chance to turn into wisdom of any sort.

Thursday, 22 October 2009

leaf life metaphors

Lately, I've been able to run almost every other day. For which I am very grateful and glad because colder weather is coming very very soon. So while I run, I get to admire the brilliant colors of the leaves and the changing scenery. It's a bunch of beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, and greens.
I've also been collecting a few leaves from the especially wonderful looking trees.
It's interesting to see something so beautiful from afar, but when I zoom/come in closer, I can see many imperfections of decay & time, holes made from hungry insects, and the less attractive details of the tree. Also, the underside of a leaf is less pretty (duller in color) than the top side. While I was plucking these leaves from branches, I tried to think of good metaphors to what this example of beauty mixed with decay in this autumn season could mean. While contemplating societal decay and superficiality, I am also reminded that things must change to be alive. A seemingly tragic period of death & decay in autumn and winter can be followed by hope in the coming spring. Although this hope can be sometimes difficult to tentatively work with, it does exist, b/c for it to not is worse.
As I was staring across the Olentangy River on the bike trail, God also reminded me that He's been around before my life began and will still be around after I die. As I worry about my life's purposes, it's comforting to know that He's got the before life and after death parts taken care of.
tangent: I recommend the dark artistic movie 9.
future thought: If I had a house w/ a backyard or my own garden, I would definitely plant a Japanese Maple and a Cherry tree in it ^_^ o and also tulips!

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

come on now, where's ur sense of adventure?

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, debilitatingly weak for a very long time, or in this case: cut up.

I discovered the scratches on my legs today after I unknowingly reached down to scratch an itch. It was an odd itch, and when I looked down, that's when I noticed the three red one-inch-long scab lines on their way to healing on my legs.

It first I couldn't remember how I got them. "hmm, maybe I'm just clumsy", but that excuse is usually for bruises and wear-&-tear on items. Then I remembered the barbed wire fence my friend and I climbed over on Saturday to get out to the street instead of going an unknown route around the area after running on a very nice chill Autumn day in Ohio.

Therefore, lesson for the kiddies: If you're going to climb over a barbed wire fence, don't wear loose, thin clothing if you don't want to get scratched. Also build a good core (abs, back) and work on the usual strength (arms, back). But next time, maybe it's better to go the longer way around than wonder about tetanus risk...
shape ship

Getting back "into shape" is quite painful, but keeping out of shape makes it all the more worse when I try to move myself more again. I have to admit that as I keep running/moving through the years, I can feel different muscles working (mainly through soreness) & my recovery times are not as quick, but my running speed and endurance is much better.
I recently calculated my BMI and it was 24.9= almost OVERWEIGHT whoa, I knew I had been progress toward that route b/c my pants kept getting tighter, but I didn't feel the burden of carrying all that extra around besides resigning to wearing looser pants and not enjoying dressing up.
But all this makes me feel icky b/c I'm not being healthy and I'm not looking (not my full potential, but) as well as I could. And this also affects my mental and spiritual health too. And I know my spiritual muscles need to be worked out too.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Other things I want to write about: Christian romance novel, American Red Cross 1st Aid/CPR instructing, contact lense, the movie 9, and eating more veggies & less of everything else