I am here and around. I have been meaning to post and failing at that so here is a year end post. I am glad this year is ending and I don't know what the new year will bring. The political scene is dampening my mood for 2018. I am trying to be hopeful but I really hate our current administration and what they are doing. They just passed this horrible tax plan they totally benefits the wealthy and corporate interests on the backs of the middle class and the poor. It is decidedly not fair. Sure our taxes may go down in the short term but over the long term they will go up and significantly. They are really trying to pull one over on the American people and hoping that the short term dip in taxes on payroll will help them on the midterm elections next year. I really hope people are not fooled. The Democrats are doing well right now and heading for an upswing. I am a Democrat and I hope they take back Congress and stick it to them. I vehemently oppose this administration and all that it stands for. They lie and cheat and steal. This is kleptocracy at its worst.

Lord, I did not mean to post all that. But that is how I feel.

So I did not get that job I applied for. I got terribly sick for the interview and had to video conference for that and I think it totally hurt my chance for that. I was psyched to get to the third round and be in the running so will take the positive from that. I want to work on my resume and cover letter and keep looking. I am bored where I am and kind of just dial it in. So I need more of a challenge. I will keep looking for that. I could also use more monay. So all of that. I can stay where I am too - I mean, I have a job but something better would be good.

So I am going to get a newer car. Not sure if you know but I have a really old car - a 1993 Ford. My friends have a 2006 Subaru and want to sell it and it is in great shape so I am going to buy that from them for a very fair price. I am also going to turn my current car into the CA Air Quality people and get some money for it which will pay for most of the newer car. So exciting news on that front. I have never bought a brand new car. I think cars depreciate too much - I mean like the minute you drive it off the lot - why lose all that value and pay that much? I have had good luck with used cars and so there you go. The new car is a small wagon and a 5 speed so I will be back driving a manual. No problemo on that.

So - I have to start the paragraph with so - I am spending the holidays with friends in the area. I am not traveling this season. I looked into airline tickets back east and it was ridiculously expensive. I have some projects to work on in my house - clutter to go through so that will keep me busy. I want to work out and do some hiking too.

So I am 4 pounds away from goal on the Weight Watchers thing. I am super excited about that! Yay! It is going slowly and holidays are hard with all the events to go to and all that. I am thinking I will hit goal in January some time. I will post here when I do! Yeah.

So I hope you are all having a great holiday season and enjoying your time with family and friends. Take good care and comments are love. My one New Year's resolution is to post regularly on LJ. I really like the blog thing here. So I will try to post a bit more here.

Happy Holidays!



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It gets old - we are on our 4th night of protests here. I am sympathetic - I really am (and I think we need some reforms on Police procedures) but living right in the middle of the protest zone is getting old. Helicopters over head, roaming bands of anarchists, looters and pillagers. It is very chaotic and very stressful. It is at the point where the average person does not want to be on the street after dark because of their personal safety. We keep getting alerts at the Uni about what is going on and early release time so that we can get home safely before the protests start in the evening.

Last night they blocked the 80 freeway - a major artery through here - they stopped an Amtrak train and they closed the Berkeley BART station down. I guess that would mean they are being effective since they are getting national coverage. But living here - well it gets old. It is weird seeing your town covered on the news all the time - in real time - live and up close.

I think with a major storm coming in tomorrow night - that will shut it down. Protesting is a fair weather activity.

Anyways - that is all I have - got some Christmas shopping done - all online - woot. And I have sussed out some gifts to buy from some local shops - so I am in good shape here with my holiday cheer.

Tomorrow is my holiday party at work and then I am going to see Yo Yo Ma at the local theatre - he is giving a talk on art and culture. Should be interesting. I have been into this speaker series the the Uni lately - broadening my mind.

Anyhoo. That's it for me. Hope all is well with you!



by yishui on livejournal

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Here and there - hither and yon. Doing this and that. Little of this and that. Uhh.

I had all my work projects finish up in October and so work is easier now. I have all fun stuff to do now - like our holiday party and other easy things. I am keeping my eye out on the job market and edited my resume this week. Things are shifting at work in terms of the leadership so I have to be ready to move if I need to. Best to have it all prepped. I would like to stay at the Uni but I might branch out to other organizations.

Getting ready for the holidays - gobble day and Hanukkah and Christmas. I am staying here on the West Coast. I have visitors coming here so that will be fun - khylea is coming and we will be going to see The Hobbit - Battle of Five Armies in December and hang out here at Christmas so good times, good times.

Anyhoo. That is it. I should make some graphics but am not motivated to.

I have been reading but not commenting all that much. I do try and read everything though.

Cheers to you!



Poof, like magic this is cross-posted from - Dreamwidth!
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And I have in installed my winter layout on both journals - LJ and DW. You can see them both on there. The DW has this cool feature where I can have a transparent background and it looks like the entry is clear. Very cool. I am loving that. This is a layout I have previously used and I am using the same layout on both journals. Just easier that way.

I also decorated my Christmas tree today and here it is:



I got some new blingy stars today which will be my new ornaments for this year. I have whole boxes of things I am not using and yet I buy new ornaments. No logic in that but that is how it goes. I was not in the spirit for the holidays but now that I have the tree done, I kind of am. The power was out this morning so I had a moment to decorate.

Went out for brunch today and now I am just hanging out. I meant to nap but forgot to.

So that is it for me. Oh - I saw Red Dawn last night and it did not suck as much as I thought it would. I really enjoyed it and the eye candy factor made it totally worth it. Anyways - that is it for me.

Cheers to you and hope you had a good weekend.


www.laurahonest.com

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Well I am sick. Sore throat, achey yech. I was hoping it would miraculously go away by today and I have been sick since Friday night, Saturday morning but no dice. I stayed home today. I don't believe in infecting co-workers and really hate when people come in when sick. I am handling essentials here and resting. I don't feel well and why spread my germs all over there? All the flu posters say stay home when you are sick.

I slept some and watched the special features on my Casino Royale dvd. I am loving Daniel Craig as James Bond. We caught up on Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale this weekend and just loved them. I heart me Daniel Craig as 007. I know people disagree but for me, he is my favorite Bond so far. I grew up with Roger Moore and Sean Connery, I know, I know but I like this interpretation. Everyone has an opinion on that, legitimately but I like this one.

My friend is still here and is leaving tomorrow. We have had a fun time chilling and relaxing this week. She took off and went on a tour of Alcatraz today and is doing some things in SF. Sight seeing. Always good to do here. I am planning to go visit here in Vegas in January or February. Tres excited about that! Woot.

So hope all is well with you there and that you had a fun Thanksgiving holiday in the USA. I should put up my tree but don't feel well enough to wrestle it out of the closet. I will get to that this week.

Anyhoo. Post holiday post on in. Cheers to you all!


by yueshi at monlichtung on livejournal

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by tallie363

I was offline yesterday so a day late!

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16.

Interesting factoid there. :P I love looking things up.

I have tomorrow off. I so happy.


by hisescape

So, dear readers, I have a confession to make. Tonight as I came home, tired, not feeling well and not in the mood to clean up the menorah to do the Hanukkah thing, I considered posting last year's picture and just "passing that off" as this year's final night. I confess this but I assure you that all of this year's piccies have been authentically done this year and I have stayed true to the real-time "Hanukkah experience 2009". While it would have been easier, it would not have been right, and I wound up really enjoying the final candles tonight and so I share my last picture with you tonight. Always honest and these pics have all been taken this year. Thanks for looking this year and I hope you have enjoyed it with me.

( 8 crazy lights on the 8th crazy night...Collapse )

I was always confused about the many ways to spell Hanukkah. I have seen it spelled as follows:

Hanukah
Hannukah
Hanukkah
Chanukah
Channukkah

It is a phonetic spelling of the hebrew. Here is an image with the hebrew word in it. You read the word from right to left (the opposite to how you read english):
http://www.hebrewart.com/images/Magen-David/200/Hanukkah.jpg

Happy weekend all and thank you for sharing this holiday with me.

Home stretch of Hanukkah 2009. This is night seven and tonight's menorah photo. I am not feeling well so not much of a post tonight. Just the piccie. Be well all. Last night of Hanukkah is tomorrow night.

by hoarilysatan

It is at this point in the Hanukkah week that the menorah is covered with wax and you have to dig the previous night's candles out of the holders. This is where it gets tough, dear readers. You have to work for it now. :P

The Hanukkah saga continues. Da da da! *cue ominous music and yes I had wine with lunch!*

( Tonight's candles...or both sides now...Collapse )

Other news...

Today one of our Dean's took the staff to Chez Panisse, the quintissential California cuisine restaurant in North Berkeley. This was started and is still run by Alice Waters, famous for her cooking in season and with very fresh ingredients. My mom is really into her cook book and bio right now and I tell you, the flavors and food were incredible there. Pumpkin soup, goat cheese with the fresh greens on the salad, bittersweet chocolate ice cream for dessert. Just subtle, exquisite flavors. I really enjoyed it.

Tonight we have a holiday get together at the house and will go there in a little while. I got cream puffs to share with my neighbors. Should be fun. I cannot remember if we are doing a gift exchange so I am bringing one just in case.

Thank you to charla for the lovely card. Yours is on the way and to aglarien1 for the wonderful gift. I am gobsmacked and will really enjoy that. *huggles*

Enough of a ramble for Toosday. Night all.


by izabeth

Here with a late post tonight. I was at the movies, more on that another time. Here is the menorah picture for tonight.

( Three candles lit from right to left...Collapse )

No cultural or other factual things tonight as I am very tired but thank you for looking (if you do).

Good night all!

I am here again with my Hanukkah Celebration. I like to educate a bit and here is an excerpt from Wikipedia, the source of all on the internet.

About Hanukkah:

From the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of the King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

And that is why it is celebrated for eight days...the oil lasted for eight days. Etc.

The larger article is here on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
More info than you ever wanted about it.

Tonight, one lights two candles, with the shamash (worker) candle (total of three candles on the menorah). See below for my picture. Behind the cut to save your friends page.

( Hanukkah menorah part deux...Collapse )

I said the blessing. There are many blessings but I just do the short version and say the one blessing over the candles. Happy Hanukkah all.

In other news...it poured down rain here most of the day and I got some holiday things done. I mailed a package to my sister in law in LA and wrote out my final set of holiday cards. I will mail those on Monday.

I took myself out for french onion soup and a nice salad at the Drunken Boat Cafe up the street. Just a nice lunch and enjoyed my new FX Digital Art magazine in front of their Crimmas tree. It was a gorgeous tree there full of lovely ornaments that I can tell had been carefully collected over the years. Very nice.

Later on I had a great nap here at the apartment. Boy, did I need that. Tomorrow I am going to see Blind Side with a work chum and we are going out for dinner. Awesome.

Thank you to: jaiden_s, elflover59, and red_lasbelin for the lovely holiday cards sent my way. They are displayed here and adding cheer to my world. Beautiful cards chosen by you all and lovely messages.

I hope you all are enjoying the season and having a safe and happy weekend.


by wildrosedragon at potof_gold

Those of you who have been with me a while know that I celebrate Hanukkah up close and personal on my journal. It reminds me of times growing up and I do enjoy this ritual. I try to post nightly during the Festival of Lights, over the eight nights and share what I am doing. I am not devoutly Jewish but creatively so. I also celebrate Christmas and decorate for that. I am an adult and can do what I want. I have my own beliefs and hold to those, such as they are.

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah and I was supposed to light the candles at sundown but I was out at the mall. Oh wells. I lit them when I got home and took pictures of them for the blog-o-sphere. Over the next eight nights, I will post a bit about this holiday and its meaning and personal stuff etc.

Tonight, just the menorah which symbolizes the ceremonial lamps that are in the temples or synogogues. More on this later. Each night you light a candle for a night of the holiday, adding one to the menorah while there is also a "worker candle" (shamash) used to light the symbolic candle. The worker candle is the center candle on the menorah...lit first, it is used to light the candles from left to right. Tonight, I lit two candles...the shamash and then the far right candle representing the first night of this holiday.

Sooo...I took pictures. Three this time so you could see the progression. Most nights I will just post the one of the fully lit menorah.

( Menorah lighting step by step...Collapse )

You light the menorah while singing the blessing over the Hanukkah candles:

English:
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah.

Sfaradi/Modern Israeli:
Barukh Atta Adonay Eloheynu Melekh Ha-olam Asher Kiddeshanu Be-mitsvotav Ve-tsivanu Lehadlik Ner Shel khanuka

You leave the candles until they burn out naturally. I am watching mine go down now. It is best not to leave them untended...more on that another night.

Cheers to all and happy weekend, happy Hanukkah.


by hoarilysatan

So today we had our annual holiday party at work. It is one of my events and it went really well. All smooth and from my perspective as a party/event planner my criteria were met for a successful event. The food was served hot and I heard the ecstatic, gleeful reactions of the guests as they sampled...WIN. They liked it. No complaints about that. The service was stellar. No lag from one side of the room to the other and that means there was adequate staffing for the event. People did not have to wait while they watched other people eating...this is one of my pet peeves about food service at events (small or large)-feed everyone at the same time and move that along. The room looked beautiful and while I did have to make small adjustments to the program, that worked and flowed well and the staff still got out at 2:30pm. One of my goals was to ensure that they got home early, a real treat for the division.

We did staff service awards and I was shocked when they announced that I got ANOTHER one this time around. This time for my work on web development and as project coordinator and the concept person for the S*** Web Site. I was gobsmacked. It is really nice to get recognition. Lots of people got awards and the party was nice for that. We also did a staff talent show and then rounded up the program with an undergraduate acapella group that rocked the house. They made use of the stage that is shown below. The staff loves them and it is just a great way to end the party. So win all around and now I am home drinking a cup of coffee and I am soooo tired.

I have pics to share. I got some of the room before the party (not the whole thing) so you can see how it looked before they all got there. No photos of the people as it is not my place to blog pics of the people I work with...this venue is a beautiful older hotel near campus.

( The quiet before...Collapse )

What is not pictured here is the living room, bar area as people entered with another fireplace. That was the meet, greet and mingle area where people hung out before seating for lunch. Very nice and comfy cozy. This place is big but does not feel big and has an intimacy that is very nice. Homey.

Thanks for reading and it is fun to share a bit of what I do at my job. Cheers!


by moobabe986