Twitter

A friend of mine got me to sign up with "Twitter" today, and it's a pretty neat tool to keep up with your friends. Just like on MySpace and Facebook, where you have status updates, you can "Twitter" your status now. I think it's pretty neat! Twitter me! :)

Just Call Me Ms. Yin

I was trying to check in for my upcoming cruise vacation to Cabo on Carnival, but the system couldn't find my booking (the booking was all done through a travel agent). I kept trying Kenniston and Au for my last names, but it kept giving me an error. So I finally tried to use my roommate's last name since we both had the same booking number, and lo and behold, I see that they have my last name down as "Yin".

In Malaysia, our passports don't have a spot for "Family Name", just a spot for your full name. Since we are a multiracial country, and most races have different ways of naming their kids and family names/last names come in many different places in your name depending on your race. My name is laid out in the traditional Chinese way with the family name first (Au Su Yin), with my English name before my last name. So the name on my passport, which follows my birth certificate, is Yvonne Au Su Yin. Even if I didn't have an English first name, my name would still start with my family name.

I guess Carnival is going with literal "last names", not family names, which I personally find a little annoying. I even tried showing them how my name is laid out on my social security card (maybe I should have scanned in my marriage certificate too!). They wouldn't acknowledge my "real" last name. The only piece of documentation I will have on me with the name "Yin" at the end will be my passport. Just call me Ms. Yin. I hope I remember that in an emergency. They're not going to know who the heck Ms. Au is.

Speech & Debate, the play

This was the first play I've ever went to see, and what a fantastic experience it was. First of all, it was at the Blank Theatre's 2nd Stage, so it was a very small intimate theatre that only had 49 seats. My friends and I had front-row seats, and we were literally on the stage, with the actors only 3-4 feet away from us. To get to the restrooms (which we were thankful we used before the play), you had to walk across the stage!

It was an extremely hilarious play dealing with pretty controversial subjects like abortion and gay rights, though done in an extremely harmless and hilarious way, totally non-offensive. My friends an I were laughing so much with tears streaming down our faces! It was THAT good. The actors and actresses were fantastic too... it was amazing.

After the show, we hung around to see if we could meet with the actors, and Michael Welch (who played one of the lead roles) was extremely gracious and came out and talked to us, and even signed the postcards we got for the play! We found out that this was only their second live performance, and most of the audience was friends and family. He thanked us for being amazing... I guess he liked the fact that we laughed our heads off! He even rounded up the two other actors for us so we could get autographs and pictures with them. Totally awesome.

From Speech + Debate

From Speech + Debate

Summer Rain

I love the rain... I don't remember the last time it rained during the summer over here. The air smells wonderfully fresh and there's electricity in the air. Though it's a little muggy right now, it's all worth it once the rain starts pouring.

Holy cow! Where has the time gone?

Wow... it's already almost the end of August and I'm another year older. Where has the time gone? So much has happened since last November. To sum up my year (and last year) so far...

... I got to take a trip back home to Malaysia last December, right after Christmas... I spent about 3 weeks home, and my mum-in-law Elaine came with me! We had so much fun. We went to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in East Malaysia (on Borneo), rang in the new year over there, and ate soo much food! I also got to go back to my hometown of Malacca, where we pigged out even more. I met up with some friends of mine whom I haven't seen in YEARS, so that was fantastic as well... all in all, a fantastic trip :) I'll have to put up another post with some pics and highlights.

... I was "bitten" by the Twilight series while I was on vacation. I picked up Twilight because the cover looked really cool and the sypnosis was interesting. Little did I know I was starting down a path of no return... I am now a proud and crazy Twilighter.

... We went up to Portland, OR for my nephew's first birthday! Portland/Vancouver was so green and pretty... and getting to spend time with AJ (and his parents) was priceless.

... Anthony surprised me with a trip to Vegas for Memorial Day, just the two of us. It was so much fun! We had a blast. We saw Zumanity and Stomp Out Loud! Both fantastic shows! We made plans to return again later this year.

... I WENT TO COMIC CON!! :) Wow. What an experience that was... and yes, all because of Twilight. I met a bunch of really cool gals there too, and we've made plans to go back again next year. That is another post I will have to make seperately... so much to tell!

... I made yet another trip to Vegas this August, the same day Breaking Dawn was released! This time, my friend Ai Lene and her husband Erik joined us. It was yet another fantastic trip.

So... here I am in my hotel room trying to think of what other good and interesting things I've done this year :) I'm sure I've done a heck of a lot more, but I just can't think of anything right now. Till later!!

Updates

Things have been a bit hectic since the winds, I guess. With the winds came the fires, and the winds also kept us home for 2 days while the roads were closed. The winds caused a lot of damage to our area, thankfully none to our place except for dust and inch thick everywhere! That's all mostly cleaned up now, thankfully.

I haven't been able to sleep well, probably thinking about all my work piling up, but oh well. I must just sit down and get to it. I also need to update my resume... it's been a while since I did mine and it's seriously outdated now.

CJ's voice is slowly coming back, but it's still scratchy. Onie and Spinny got into a huge fight last Saturday (I'm not sure if it was just the both of them or if it involved other cats). I got a call after my yoga class from Anthony telling me to come home. Spinny was limping badly. But unfortunately, our vet was leaving for the day and asked us to keep an eye on Spinny, and if it got worse, to go to the emergency pet clinic. Thankfully, Spinny started doing much better later on in the day. So that made us feel good enough to go to Disneyland last Sunday.

Disneyland was a blast! I had never been there for the Halloween thingy, and I think I much prefer the Disney version to the Knott's Scary Farm one. The scary farm was... scary. For me. I got freaked out a bit. So I think I prefer cutesy to scary. We got our picture taken in front of the big Mickey pumpkin in front of the Disneyland park, and we got to visit Candy Corn Acres in Disney's California Adventure. It had been two years since we had been in DCA, and it was fun to go through the Bug's Land again. We did all the kiddie rides. I love the ride with the caterpillar. We also got a kick out of standing in front of the Harbor area watching the countdown for the California Screamin' coaster, seeing people scream as they got shot up the first incline to start the coaster ride. I didn't get to go on it, only because I don't want to go by myself, and Anthony and my friend Shirley both didn't want to go with me. Oh well :) We at least had fun just standing there watching people scream their heads off.

This week has been another busy week. I'll be gone all next week, so I hope I can get more sleep and not be a zombie.

Winds

Wow, I've never experienced wind like this. We kept the back door open for the kitties today, and before I knew it, there was dust everywhere. And then the power went out for about an hour, so we started getting ready for bed using flashlights. The cats were wondering what the heck we were doing walking around with flashlights. I looked outside our kitchen window and both my bird feeders are gone, and I keep hearing beer cans rattling outside. I wonder where those came from. I wonder what the damage will be like tomorrow when the winds die down.

Books on Tape (or CD)

I didn't realize how much books on CD help with long commutes. The past two weeks have been really pleasant with two audio books that I borrowed. I found myself being less bothered by other drivers, and I came home feeling less stressed. I was also driving better too! I need to get more books on CD, though the only detriment is the price. Anthony found a site where he can rent these audio CDs... maybe I can convince him to loan it to me after he's done before he has to return it.

CJ has lost his meow

I didn't know that cats could get laryngitis, but CJ is living proof. Poor CJ can't meow... well, he attempts to meow but no sound would come out. He managed a few terrified squeeks when we brought him in to the vet, but still no voice. I think it's been about a week. The vet thinks it's viral, but also gave him some antibiotics. I guess only time will tell if CJ will find his voice again. I hope he does. I miss his meows.

Oliver and the Spot on the Wall

Oliver likes attacking this particular spot on the wall... my first attempt at uploading a video on You Tube :)