Stumble Upon

I love the internet and all of its vast amazing-ness. My life would be so boring without it.

Have you ever heard of StumbleUpon? It's a plug-in for your browser that adds a toolbar with a Stumble! button. Just click the Stumble! button and you'll be taken to a random website. Rate the websites you stumble to (thumbs up or thumbs down) in order for the application to learn what your interests are so that you StumbleUpon sites that are of interest to you (and you don't end up on some dumb WWE site). There are also "Channels" so you can Stumble for only images or videos or within networks like Flickr, Wikipedia, Blogspot, CNN, Youtube, universities, US government sites, The Onion, etc.

I think my Dad is the one who told me about this a few years ago or perhaps it came with Firefox when I downloaded it. Either way, I've had it on my browser for a few years, but haven't used it much. Out of the blue of couple weeks ago I started getting emails from StumbleUpon with "Recommended Environment Sites" for me. I'm a little perplexed as to why they just started emailing me weekly, and why the email says "environment sites"... very few of the sites in the weekly emails are actually related to the environment. Regardless, I've found some pretty cool sites via StumbleUpon (and some extremely strange and random sites), so if you're bored and want to explore all the treasures that the internet has to offer, start Stumbling! And if you want to add me as your friend, I'm Jlkmustang.

Peace and love.
J

My First Friday Fragments

Check out Mrs.4444 and start doing Friday Fragments.

I decided to join the Friday Fragments club after reading Kori's for a couple months.

*My future sister-in-law, A, has a niece, E, who is 18 months old. She is the cutest little girl ever! She adores her little cousin Landon (my nephew). Yesterday A sent me a text saying that E calls Landon "hanthum bebe" (translation: handsome baby). Adorable!!

Here's E:


And here's the "hanthum bebe" with my dad:



*I got a new camera, the Nikon D90, and I am in the process of learning how to use it. I'm SO excited, but I'm also super impatient about it. Every time I pick up the manual or look at a website, I get overwhelmed and decide I'm not in the mood to read about how to use it.

*When I moved back to San Jose, I was really worried about finding a new hairstylist. I LOVED my stylist in LA and couldn't fathom finding anyone as great as she is. Well guess what, my friend Emily from high school finished cosmetology school a year or two ago and she's now my hairstylist! At first I was nervous about her cutting my hair because it's naturally curly and curly hair requires layering that will make me not look like a cocker spaniel. Despite the fact that she has fewer years experience than my stylist in LA, I think she's much better! For the first time ever, I LOVE my hair. And she gives me a good deal, so that's totally awesome! I know you want to see my hair:


*Last weekend I went with Emily to her 3 year-old daughter's first dance recital! It was ADORABLE. 3 year olds are too young to learn and remember choreography, so they were just sent out on the stage in their tutus to dance however they pleased. Here is a photo of little Miss Annabell and her friends.


*After 7 long years of college, my brother finally graduated last month! We are all so proud of him. Now if only the economy would turn around so he can find a career position that pays better than grocery store cashier. And this Sunday, Danny will be celebrating his first Father's Day! Congratulations and Happy Father's Day, little brother! (My "little" brother is 6'5"! Landon is now 4 months old, weighs 18 lbs 14 oz, and is 27 1/4 inches long!!)


*I've been making jewelry for a few years now - mostly for myself, occasionally for friends and family, and once or twice on commission or special request. A few people have suggested that I sell my pieces, which I thought was a great idea. Unfortunately I was studying for that darn CPA exam, so I resolved that I would start creating and selling jewelry after I passed the exam. That time is now. I haven't really made anything recently, so that's my first priority in this venture. And then the economy sucks, so who knows if anyone would even buy anything from me since I don't already have a customer base! Of course I'm planning to set up shop on etsy. If you have never heard of etsy, you're missing out big time. Go there and be mesmerized. I'll keep you all posted if that venture takes off.

That was fun! I think I'll continue to post Friday Fragments. I need to blog more anyway. Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and love.
J

Happy Wednesday

I'm excited because I have a Friday Fragments post planned for this Friday - complete with a handful of pictures!

Until then, I can't think of anything to say other than I saw The Hangover last weekend and it was beyond hilarious. I laughed through the entire movie. The creators are genius. Seriously, watch it and you'll be thinking, "Who in the world comes up with this stuff?!"

Oh, and if you don't follow dooce, stop by her page because baby Marlo was born early Sunday morning and she is super-duper adorable!

I hope you'll stop by on Friday!

Peace and love.
J

What size do I wear again?

I'm pretty darn sure that women's clothing sizes have been shrinking. I know this for a fact because I have evidence of it in my closet. I have a suit jacket in my closet that I bought in 2001 when I interviewed for my first "corporate" job. The tag says that it's size 10, and it still fit last year. I have since gained a little weight (which is going away thanks to Weight Watchers), and it is too tight to button. It doesn't look horrible... I can still put it on; I just can't button it, but as it's from 2001, it's a little out of style, so I went in search of something more stylish and something that fits better. I found a suit jacket at JC Penney that I purchased. It's size 18. Are you kidding me?! According to my experience and the two jackets in my closet, today's size 18 is the approximate equivalent of a 2001 size 12.

I find this really, really bizarre considering that every other day there are stories on the news of the obesity epidemic. So people are getting bigger, but everything else is shrinking... clothes, airplane seats, (and I had other things in mind, but now I'm having a brain freeze). I just went to Lane Bryant to purchase some slacks there. I wear a 14, which is the smallest size they carry. They have since changed their sizing, so I wear a size 1 there! So in my closet I have a size 18 jacket and size 1 pants. Go figure.

Peace and love.
J

A hot topic

I've seen this one before, and I just felt like posting it here.

Gay Marriage
1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control are not natural.
2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people cannot get legally married because the world needs more children.
3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children because straight parents only raise straight children.
4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears's 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.
5. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and it hasn't changed at all: women are property, Blacks can't marry Whites, and divorce is illegal.
6. Gay marriage should be decided by the people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of minorities.
7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are always imposed on the entire country. That's why we only have one religion in America.
8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people makes you tall.
9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage license.
10. Children can never succeed without both male and female role models at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.
11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to cars or longer lifespans.
12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages will for gays & lesbians.


Originally written and published by Gator GSA, but I couldn't find a working URL to link to.