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1. I was yellow.
2. I won a huge medal.
3. I ate cheezburger. 49 minutes ago
Shop for Fun is an online fashion game where you build a dream wardrobe and create outfits to win Amazon gift certificates.
1. Getting the roses watered.
2. Harlan had a nice father’s day.
3. Not having to go anywhere on errands or chores. I like it like that. 16 hours ago
1. Going to get Harlan’s car. Now we finally have the vehicles all home.
2. Oz the Great and Powerful. PPV is a nice thing to have sometimes.
3. My Neener’s birthday! Now she’s 14! 1 day ago
1. They FINALLY had my car done. Two weeks. When I left it there, I had half a tank of gas. The odometer hadn’t moved, but the gas was gone. It makes me happy to know I’m not ever taking my car there again.
2. Talking with Connie for a while.
3. Talking with the younger son. 2 days ago
1. The monthly office leader meeting. A day where I get paid to just sit and listen and they even feed me.
2. A sunshiny day out. It’s getting warmer out.
3. Even though Harlan had to work late, I still got to talk to him. 2 days ago
1. Quiet day at work. I got some studying done on tax treaties.
2. They still didn’t have my car done, but at least I had Harlan’s to drive.
3. Talking with Connie. 2 days ago
1. Spent the day with Mom. She was very mellow and quiet. We went to lunch and then brought Sophie and Will home and they all started weeding the front beds. When I pulled away, Sophie and Will were still weeding!
2. Mom took a nap from about 1:30 until 4:30
3. After dinner, I took Sophie and Will to get ice cream and then we drove around while they ate it. We went through the cemetery and I told them the stories I’d grown up hearing: the sisters who sat on top of the mausoleum making catcalls at people who came into the cemetery; the story of Addison White, a slave escaped on the underground railroad whose freedom was bought by our town. And we drove out at dusk when the trees and shadows were just starting to feel eerie
4. We watched Paranormal Witness and Sophie and Will got scared enough to snuggle more with us :) 2 days ago
1. Sunny but cooler day
2. Will went to the orthodontist for xrays and impressions. He just goes with the flow. And also wonders aloud about every procedure and possibility. Made the office workers crack up
3. Family meeting/cocktail hour. Not necessarily productive but still good 2 days ago
Saturday, May 18
1) My goal had been to get a lot of sleep Friday night to be rested enough to do well during the race I was running on Sunday (I had read somewhere that getting enough sleep two nights before the race was more important than getting it the night before the race), but my plan didn’t work out as I didn’t sleep well. However, I was able to get an extra hour or so of sleep during the short flight to San Francisco this morning. Though it wasn’t much, even one more hour was helpful…
2) While riding the BART from the airport to the city, Andrew and I saw an ad for a department store called Uniqlo. This was a Japanese store that I recalled was popular when we visited Japan a few years ago. It seems they are opening some locations in America. Anyway, after dropping off our luggage at the hotel and having lunch nearby, we went there and I bought a few things. I like this store a lot with its stylish and inexpensive selection, sort of like H&M but better. I hope Uniqlo eventually opens in LA…
3) Hanging out in the Castro area of San Francisco… We went to a sports bar called Hi Tops and each had a glass of Ace Pear Cider (which I could have guzzled like fruit juice but controlled myself) and shared a pretzel. We wandered around a bit checking out some of the shops; I ended up buying a t-shirt with an owl design. We had dinner at a restaurant called La Mediterranee and creme brule for dessert from food truck…
See the collage of photos I took today… 2 days ago
Friday, May 17
1) Getting up early this morning to do some household chores, which I had been putting off, before going to work…
2) I read on an online forum about Korean dramas that the last episode, episode 129, of “Here Comes Oh Ja Ryong” had aired in Korea today. Here in California we are only up to episode 97. I had no hesitation about reading the discussion about how the drama ends even though I won’t see it here for another month. In fact, my anticipation for the remaining episodes is even greater now that I know what happens!
3) Dinner with Andrew at the Israeli restaurant Itzik Hagadol in Encino… Andrew is always embarrassed that we order so little (six small salads which we share) and end up with a bill of no more than 13 dollars and fears the waiters/waitresses think we are cheap and won’t get a good tip from us. I, on the other hand, have no such qualms. Even though we order little, the food is very filling and I appreciate the cheapness and not having to leave much of a tip as I resent having to pay more than what is on the bill…
Thursday, May 16
1) Running this morning after finally having a night with an adequate amount of sleep…
2) I went to the Farmers Market and The Grove during lunch… It’s a very lively place. It looks like they film a celebrity news TV show called “Extra” there. There were people gathered around and it seemed like someone famous might show up, but I didn’t have time to stick around to see who it was. Anyway, I bought a watermelon juice, my favorite of the fruit juices…
3) I went birding at the Hansen Dam after work… I didn’t see anything unusual and it was already getting overcast so I didn’t get any good photos, but I did hear lots of yellow-breasted chats singing. It was fun to try to interact with them; I was making a sound like “ch” “ch” “ch” which is like one of the sounds that they make, and they would respond back and fly in closer although never coming into full view, hiding in the vegetation…
Wednesday, May 15
1) I didn’t sleep well last night and I was so tired that I felt like a zombie throughout the day and I thought I might fall asleep at my desk at work, but fortunately I avoided embarrassment and kept myself awake…
2) I stopped by the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work… I couldn’t find the family of owls today and it was a slow day in terms of finding spring migrants, but I did see an individual dunlin in the river which surprised me a bit since it’s kind of a late date to see a migrating shorebird…
3) Falling asleep early tonight…
Tuesday, May 14
1) Running this morning… I ran the longest distance I have run in about a month but at a relatively slow pace. My leg isn’t bothering me so much anymore so I can tolerate longer distance. Also, since I’m planning to run Bay to Breakers this coming Sunday I need to make sure I can tolerate a longer distance…
2) Spending some time at Malibu Lagoon after work (see the collage of photos I took)... Bird migration continued to slow down, but there were still a few northbound migrants trickling in, including a few brants, surf scoters, Bonaparte’s gulls and most notably a flock of about twenty American avocets, a very cool sight to see them all take off at once…
3) Watching episode 94 of the Korean drama “Here Comes Oh Ja Ryong”... Ja Ryong’s presentation to the board of directors was a success despite Yongsuk’s attempt to sabotage it, and Ja Ryong’s mother-in-law is finally starting to warm up to him… I learned a new Korean word, “sabang” which means son-in-law… 2 days ago
Monday, May 13
1) When I was walking into the lobby of my office, I saw a young guy dressed in a suit waiting in a chair looking stiff and petrified, obviously waiting for his interview appointment, probably for an internship. I could sympathize because I was once in his place and later in your career interviews are still no fun, so today I was just glad that wasn’t me…
2) Driving through Hollywood during the afternoon commute on a summer-like day, it’s kind of fun to watch the tourists on Hollywood Blvd… People are wearing summer clothes now, but one thing that I find disturbing is that it seems a higher and higher proportion of the population is becoming tattooed. I’m libertarian in that I think people should be able to do whatever they want to their bodies, but of course I’m still free to my opinion that tattoos are repulsive (well, maybe one or at most two discreet tattoos might be okay) and that people with excessive tattoos should wear long sleeves, long pants or better yet a burqa...
3) I went to the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square after work today as the temperature was still over 100 degrees in the late afternoon and I hadn’t been to the mall recently. I killed some time browsing at stuff, including sunglasses, but didn’t find anything I felt motivated to buy just then…
Sunday, May 12
1) I went to Long Beach to go on a whale watching trip to escape the heat. On land the temperature was over 100 degrees while at sea it was foggy and not even 60 degrees so that I actually needed a sweater. Though I didn’t see many birds (and no whales for that matter), I added Scripps’s murrelet (species #284) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013…
2) I don’t go to Long Beach often enough to know where the good places are to eat, so I looked on Yelp to find an interesting place to have lunch when I got back on land. I settled on a place called Steamed Organic Vegetarian Cuisine… The food was kind of pricey (I had the Mediterranean quesadilla and a pomegranate juice), but it was very good and I liked the casual and eclectic ambiance so I’ll try to go back sometime when I’m in Long Beach again…
3) I gave myself a haircut this afternoon… I find it hard to keep my hair at the length I like best; it’s usually the optimum length about a week after I cut it…
Saturday, May 11
1) I spent most of the day birding beginning at sunrise. My first destination was the Antelope Valley, starting at Apollo Park in Lancaster. I added MacGillivray’s warbler (species #275) and gray flycatcher (species #276) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013. I went to the Lancaster Sewage Ponds and briefly stopped at a few other random places but didn’t see anything of note…
2) After leaving the desert, I went to the San Gabriel Mountains via Big Pines Highway to the Angeles Crest. My first mountain stop was at the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center. During a short hike around the area I added pygmy nuthatch (species #277), dusky flycatcher (species #278), green-tailed towhee (species #279), fox sparrow (species #280) and hairy woodpecker (species #281) to my county year list. Then continuing my drive about ten miles down the road west I stopped for a five mile round-trip hike up to Throop Peak from Dawson Saddle, about a 1,300 foot elevation gain starting at 7,900 feet. I hadn’t been hiking at that elevation for several months so I actually ended up with a bit of altitude sickness. It was worth it though as during the hike I added Clark’s Nutcracker (species #282) and Williamson’s Sapsucker (species #283) to my county year list…
3) After coming back down from the mountains on the Angeles Crest Highway through La Crescenta early in the evening, exhausted I had dinner at Senor Fish in Eagle Rock, a Mexican restaurant…
See the collage of photos I took today… 2 days ago
Friday, May 10
1) Joining a few people for lunch at Vim Thai to treat a coworker who is leaving to work in another department next week… I had pad kee mao which I asked to be made extra spicy. My coworkers who don’t already know it are always impressed that I could eat very spicy food. On the other hand, what I myself find odd is people who don’t eat spicy food…
2) The big meal at lunch combined with working on some really boring stuff this afternoon made it difficult for me to stay awake, so I took a five minute walk around the block which helped to reinvigorate me enough to keep from falling asleep…
3) I went hiking at O’Melveny Park in Granada Hills after work this evening. I didn’t find any new birds to add to my county year list, but I still had a nice hike and most notably saw a large number of Swainson’s thrushes in a shady, wooded area. An old guy with a Nikon camera whom I had seen a couple of times during my recent hikes at Placerita Canyon recognized me and said “So you come here too”...
Thursday, May 9
1) Running this morning… I’ve been consistent the past three days and my leg seems healed enough to handle it so I’ll ease into adding more distance next week…
2) Dinner at the Korean mall…
3) Listening to the music of Ryan Adams tonight… I used to listen to his music incessantly, literally daily, but since I got satellite radio last year I haven’t been listening to my old favorites so much. It was nice to be reacquainted with why he’s still my favorite…
Wednesday, May 8
1) Running this morning… I didn’t add much more distance today compared to yesterday because I want to be positively sure my leg is actually okay enough to handle it…
2) I noticed that a dollar bill in my wallet had “TAX CHEAT” stamped in red above the name of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. I had forgotten that his not paying taxes was a controversy when he was first nominated to serve in Obama’s cabinet, but frankly I have already taken for granted the fact that the vast majority of people in politics or positions of power are likely tax cheats…
3) At the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve this evening I saw that two baby great horned owls that I had been tracking the past few weeks had left the nest and could fly on their own somewhat. What was really cool was watching the mother bring a piece of rabbit to feed to one of them… Also, there were lots of mallard ducklings in the water (see the photo I took)... 2 days ago
I wasn’t able to get to the site yesterday, but I think I’ve narrowed down the problem to my ISP’s DNS servers. They’ve been going down for a lot of people with the same ISP.
Didn’t number that because I’m not sure knowing what the problem is makes me happy. Yeah, it’s not my fault, but there’s also nothing I can do about it.
1. I made up a recipe for Puerto Rican Onigiri and Sagan loved them.
2. Sprinkler time, then bucket time, then sprinkler time.
3. Thunderstorm cooled things down later. 3 days ago
Tuesday, May 7
1) Running this morning. I have gotten noticeably out of shape due to not running much during the past couple of weeks, and I ran only a relatively short distance at a slow pace. Hopefully my leg is healed enough to run more regularly…
2) Lunch at the Curry House in Koreatown with the group I was temporarily working with thanking me for my help as I return back to my regular job (though my duties will actually not be quite the same as what I was doing before)...
3) Birding at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work… I found a red-necked phalarope in the river, my first time seeing this species at this particular location. Also, I saw a pair of American avocets engaging in breeding behavior, if you know what I mean…
Monday, May 6
1) Despite the off-and-on rain today, the afternoon commute wasn’t so bad…
2) Birding at Lake Balboa after work… I heard lots of baby chirps in the trees and saw that there were many juvenile black phoebes begging for food from their parents. The babies are so cute because their tails are short and stubby. It was fun trying to photograph the parents feeding insects that they caught to their young…
3) Watching episode 88 of the Korean drama “Here Comes Oh Ja Ryong”... Jinju finds out that her mother had lied about it being her deceased father’s last wish for her to marry Yongsuk, the evil first son-in-law, instead of the marrying the man she really loved, Ingook… There’s still 41 episodes left in the series, and I wonder how long it will take for the mother to realize that Yongsuk is evil and that it was a mistake to marry her eldest daughter to him…
Sunday, May 5
1) Hiking and birding this morning at Placerita Canyon State Park… Unlike yesterday which was summer-like, the weather was cloudy and windy and a little bit cold with some drizzle. The bird diversity was down compared to the prior five weekends I visited, but I don’t know if that was just because the conditions were not optimal for detecting birds. Anyway, I added Swainson’s thrush (species #274) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013…
2) An afternoon nap…
3) Watching the season (likely series) finale of “Red Widow”... I liked this series and was happy that there was some closure to the main storyline since it will not likely be back in the fall. It’s too bad because I like the lead actress Radha Mitchell who was in “High Art”, one of my all-time favorite movies..
Saturday, May 4
1) I went birding this morning in the Antelope Valley and in the San Gabriel Mountains. My first stop was at the Lancaster Sewage Ponds where I added Wilson’s phalarope (species #271) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013. Then I drove down Angeles Forest Highway to Upper Big Tujunga Canyon and stopped along the road where there were many flowers in bloom. The number of hummingbirds was spectacular. I couldn’t find any calliope hummingbirds which was the species I was targeting, but I was able to add Costa’s hummingbird (species #272) to my list. My last stop of the morning was at Charlton Flat along the Angeles Crest Highway where I added olive-sided flycatcher (species #273) to my list…
2) I went to Nordstrom Rack this evening and unexpectedly spent about a hundred dollars buying some new clothes. I guess that’s okay since I haven’t been buying much clothes this year…
3) I saw the movie “Les Miserables” tonight. I found it entertaining. I had never seen the musical performed (I’m not so much into musicals because the incessant singing annoys me) and didn’t know much about the story, only that I’ve heard the name Jean Valjean before. When I was studying French I had tried to read Victor Hugo’s novel but couldn’t get into it. Anyway, it’s nice to finally know what the story is about… 4 days ago
Friday, May 3
1) I was kind of stressed most of the week, but today wasn’t too difficult…
2) I went to Malibu Lagoon after work (see the collage of photos I took)... There were a lot of people at the beach, especially surfers, because it was warm and the waves were high though ominously toward the north there was a lot of smoke in the air from a massive wildfire burning not too many miles away. Nevertheless, I had a nice time at the beach and saw some of the expected spring northbound migrating birds…
3) About a month ago I found a Canada goose at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve with a band on its leg and reported the serial number to the federal agency. Today in my e-mail I got a certificate with the name the of the person who had banded the bird, the date the bird was banded and the estimated age of the bird. The bird had only been banded a few weeks before I saw it at a location close to where I had found it… 4 days ago
Thursday, May 2
1) Working on completing some continuing education requirements for my job this morning…
2) After leaving the office I went to the beach in Playa del Rey to see if I could find any interesting migrating seabirds (see the collage of photos I took). It was hot and summer-like, and there were more people hanging around than is desirable for birdwatching. However, I was still able to add wandering tattler (species #269) and Forster’s tern (species #270) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013…
3) Dinner at the Korean mall…
Wednesday, May 1
1) I stopped briefly by the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve to look for any interesting migrating birds. Like clockwork on the first day of May, the number of migrating shorebirds and ducks dropped considerably while the summer breeding residents dominated (e.g. killdeer, black-necked stilts, etc.)...
2) Thai food for dinner from the place across the street, a nice change of pace after having eaten the same thing for the past three nights… I’m not motivated to cook something different every night but so far am just motivated enough to cook one thing that’s enough to last two or three days and then eat out the subsequent night. It’s a start at least…
3) I went to bed a little earlier than normal and also had no trouble falling asleep…
Happy May, by the way… 4 days ago
1. Bike ride to Mom’s with Will and then working in the garden
2. Cool dip in the pool. Will went down the slide and loved it. It took him a long time to build up the nerve but then he couldn’t stop!
3. Grilled sweet potatoes with rosemary garlic butter and also a zucchini casserole 4 days ago
Tuesday, April 30
1) I ran this morning since I thought my calf muscle could handle at least a brief, slow run. I have missed running and enjoyed my run today, but I just was not in condition to do as much as I had actually wanted…
2) I had excellent concentration today and understood some things that I hadn’t before…
3) I was mentally drained by the end of the day so it was nice to veg out and watch another episode of the Korean dramas I’ve been following “Here Comes Oh Ja Ryong” and “Horse Doctor” before going to bed…
Monday, April 29
1) A quick stop at Lake Balboa(see the collage of photos I took) to see if there were any interesting spring migrant birds … I didn’t see anything uncommon, but of course I still had to check…
2) It was hot today so I was glad that most of it was spent indoors…
3) Watching episode 83 of the Korean drama “Here Comes Oh Ja Ryong”... It’s humorous to watch the dynamic in Ja Ryong’s family household between Gong Ju, the wife of the Ja Ryong who is the oldest son, and Giyoung, the wife of the younger son. Even though Giyoung is eleven years older than Gong Ju, Gong Ju demands that Giyoung treat her as an elder since she is the oldest son’s wife… These family hierarchies I think are more important in Korean culture than in American culture… 4 days ago
Sunday, April 28
1) Having lunch this afternoon with Andrew at Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park…
2) Shopping for some mundane household items and groceries; the happy part was getting it over with…
3) Cooking enough pasta to last me three days…
Saturday, April 27
1) I went for an early morning hike at Placerita Canyon State Park for the fifth Saturday in a row (see the collage of photos I took). My leg was able to handle the hike, even the steep parts, without much difficulty although running is another story. Anyway, the diversity of migrating warblers was about the same as what I had seen during my visit last week though the numbers were noticeably down. Still, I was able to add hermit warbler (species #268) to the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2013…
2) It was so hot this afternoon so it was nice to spend the afternoon inside reading. It was the first time this year that I turned on my air conditioner…
3) I saw the movie “Django Unchained” this evening. I thought it was entertaining albeit rather long and of course with the type of cartoon violence that can be expected of Quentin Tarantino films…
Friday, April 26
1) I finished wrapping up most of what I needed to on the temporary assignment I was working on…
2) A stop at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work… Nothing out of the ordinary today; just the usual suspects…
3) I was driving and listening to satellite radio scanning various stations. I found interesting that Darius Rucker, lead singer of the 1990s band Hootie and the Blowfish, was performing on the Grand Ole Opry which I don’t normally listen to. I didn’t know that he had become a country singer. I’m glad he found continued success as I liked Hootie and the Blowfish and wondered what had ever happened to them. His music, by the way, still sounds like Hootie and the Blowfish but with a little twang…
Thursday, April 25
1) Running this morning… I only ran a relatively short distance and did a lot of stretching both before and after the run, and I think my calf muscle handled it okay. I just need to be extra careful to avoid further injury…
2) I found out that my temporary assignment was ending early because I was needed back in my old group to take over some responsibilities from a colleague that was leaving. I wasn’t too happy about that because I liked my temporary assignment and was trying to figure out if there was a way to make it more permanent, but I was happy for my colleague finding a good opportunity…
3) Dinner at the Korean mall… 4 days ago
Wednesday, April 24
1) I sat through a meeting this morning (not one where I had to say anything fortunately) where, as a consequence of the presentation not going so smoothly, I was reminded about the importance of emphasizing what is most useful for the specific audience in attendance…
2) This morning I watched a presentation, but this afternoon it was my turn to give a presentation. I presented the findings from my analysis to the Chief Actuary and a few others and did a good job of it, I think…
3) Birding at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work… I saw a pair of Lawrence’s goldfinches there, a male and a female. I hadn’t seen this species at this location this year until tonight…
Tuesday, April 23
1) My sore calf muscle from Sunday’s trail run felt much better this morning, but I decided not to start running again yet…
2) I did a “dry run” of the presentation I’m giving to the head of my department tomorrow with a couple of my superiors this afternoon. I got some helpful feedback and felt ready for tomorrow…
3) Birding at Lake Balboa after work… More migrants are arriving. Today I added blue grosbeak (species #265), yellow-breasted chat (species #266) and yellow-headed blackbird (species #267) to the list of birds I have observed in Los Angeles County in 2013… On the other hand, more of the winter visitors have already departed. I found no savannah sparrows, no western grebes and only a single pair of American wigeons this evening…
Monday, April 22
1) I finished just about all I needed to for a presentation I have on Wednesday…
2) My leg, which had been recovering after running a 15K a week ago, was sore all over again after yesterday’s trail run. In retrospect, I probably should have waited longer before doing another race but since I didn’t want to miss out on the annual event I ran anyway. So, today was a low activity day with not much physical exertion…
3) At the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve this evening after work I saw that the two fuzzy but rapidly growing baby great horned owls were still being guarded closely by their mother…
Sunday, April 21
1) Light traffic on the way to Colton this morning where I was going to run a 5K that was to start at 10:30… It took me about one and a half hours to get there from where I live in light traffic at top speeds, and I made it with just 15 minutes to spare because I had left home later than I should have…
2) Surviving the 5K trail run in 80-plus degree weather which included an elevation gain of about 800 or 900 feet…
3) Seeing a wild burro as I left the place where I did the trail run which was appropriate since the word “burro” was in the title of the race I ran (see the photo I took)... 4 days ago
1. Sagan got a light saber as a reward for saying “en garde” with the Nerf Vendettas all week.
2. Sagan took it upon himself to pick up the rocks Papa left in the driveway after landscaping and put them in a cart. It took 20 minutes so he was really worn out afterward, but he got a popsicle out of it.
3. Papa grilled for the two of them so I got to have Roman toast and cheese for dinner, which is what I want most of the time anyway.
4. I got my lists transferred from my old small todo book to my new big todo book.
5. I got most of my list done.
6. Sagan fell asleep early so Papa and I watched a Russian Dark Fantasy film called Day Watch which was very good, but probably would have made more sense if we had watched Night Watch first. 5 days ago