I'm back at Honolulu Airport waiting for my flight to take me back home to San Francisco, and I'm blogging at the airport internet access kiosk where I remembered I had some extra minutes.

The last 2.5 days have been a whirlwind. It's always been that way when I'm in Honolulu. My brother took my sister and I up to Punchbowl Cemetery to put flowers on my mom's grave. My mom is lucky to be buried there. The cemetery is full and they aren't burying people there anymore. There was some kind of official visiting because there was a military colourguard there, along with what looked like navy and marine personnel. But we didn't stay because the rain was pouring.

As much as I've visited Punchbowl, I've never looked at the statue of the woman, which is famous for having been in the opening shots for the old tv show Hawaii Five-O. We went to take a look at it this time, and the statue is huge. There's also mosiacs of the battles in the Pacific during world war II.

Being in Honolulu always reminds me that Pearl Harbor is a huge military outpost, and that sailor boys are roaming the island. You always see them running around in threes in downtown Waikiki. We never quite get the military presence shoved in our face in San Francisco. I think their absence makes you forget that the US' power has always been based in its military power. The televised church ceremonies that happened 9/11 really brought home that fact to me. News about the military make the nightly news here. It did when I was growing up and it still does today.

For Veteran's Day in Hawaii, all elementary school children in Hawaii (at least this what they said to us), make floral leis to put on every military gravestone throughout the islands. My island has a military gravesite. My uncle, whom I was visiting this trip because he was ill, was a major in the Vietnam War serving as s doctor somewhere in Vietnam. You know, he never talked about his time there. God knows what kind of medical horrors he saw, but to this day he still wears his dogtags.

My brother took me out to a really great thai restaurant for lunch. I was surprised because the the thai was as good as what you would get in San Francisco. Then he took me to some famous cafe called Onjin Cafe. The chef who runs the place is considered on of the finest chefs in the islands. I thought the food was good, but my brother said it was an off night. We had some kind of fish, that I think I remember eating growing up. It's called olua, but my brother doesn't know the american name for the fish so who knows what I was eating.

My time is running out. It was a good trip, but packed full of stuff to do. I never spend enough time here in Honolulu. It's always been a trip to run around and do things and shop and not relax. I really wanted to visit the Arizona Memorial. I haven't visited since I was a kid, and one of the guys in my screenwriting gorup is writing a screenplay that takes place at the Arizona Memorial. I think I just need to spend a week in Honolulu and be a tourist again one day as an adult, and see all the sites I visited as a kid.

Today is my last day on Kauai. I put flower leis on my grandparents' grave, saw my uncle who has since March been eating through an iv tube, checked out all my old stomping grounds, and even took a swim in the ocean.

It's been raining since yesterday, which is good for the island because the guy at the car rental place told me it's been very dry here these past few months.

I wish I was staying longer, but it's time to leave. I hope my next time here will be when M-Square and I are together and I can introduce him to the family.

My birthday was yesterday ... yeah me! My aunt gave me about $3,000 worth of her old jewerly including a $1,000 silver bracelet with garnets, which is my birthstone. For my birthday treat to myself, I had a shiatsu massage at the hotel. The girl who gave me the massage was terrific! Then I went to Lappert's, which is the local iceacream palce here, and had a Lava Tube. A lava tube contains a scoop each of vanilla, macadamia, and caramel ice cream. The scoops are then covered with hot and caramel fudge, and topped with more macadamia nuts, whip cream and a cherry. Perfect vacation food yes?

My aunt and cousins took me to eat sushi at the best sushi place on the island called Kintaro. The sushi was ordinary except for the handrolled sushi crabcakes, which was divine. The crab was fresh and it was a type of sushi I'd never seen before.

I leave for the airport in about three hours, and now I'm off to take my last swim in my hometown waters. It's been a fun trip, short and sweet, and definitely worth it.

My cousin who used to be a public prosecutor here has since October become a public defender. Apparently, the benefits were better and she was not getting along with her boss, so it was a good move for her.

Her claim to fame which made the island paper, "The Garden Island", was she prosecuted a mentally retarded beekeeper for cruelty to animals and the judge threw the guy in jail for 8 months. My cousin wanted a year.

Here's the story. A nine-year old girl was walking her two dogs with her friends. The dogs got out of their leashes and entered into the beekeeper's property, which by the way was fenced off. The beekeeper had chickens and the dogs were chasing the birds around, so the guy got upset and got some kind of stick and started chasing the dogs around. One of the dogs escaped, but the other dog wasn't as lucky.

The beekeeper hit the dog in the head and rendered him unconscious, and then just kept hitting the dog. All in front of the nine-year old girl who was screaming the whole time. The girl got cited for a leash violation, and mentally slow beekeeper appealed his conviction but was thrown in jail anyway.

My cousin had all kinds of story about the kind of people she's seen come through the Kauai courts. Two women in their 60's bought some hippie lettuce from some guy at the beach. They smoked a little of it, and then put it in their suitcase to take back home. They were busted at Lihue airport for possession of hippie lettuce.

Kauai has zero tolerance for marijuana possession. My cousin has prosecuted people on possesson because they had left over resin in their pipe. Memo to hippie lettuce smokers coming to Kauai. If you want to enjoy hippie lettuce, buy it here and smoke it here. Don't be stupid and get caught with it on the plane. Airport security goes through and opens up everything. My cousin told me people still transport their hippie lettuce in film containers. DUH! That is such an old trick. Everyone stores their hippie lettuce in film containers. Find a new place! They used to be dogs at Honolulu sniffing through the luggage for hippie lettuce. Well, now they have dogs here sniffing out hippie lettuce carriers.

Hippie lettuce is apparently very easy to buy here. You can just walk on the beach at night and people will ask you if you want some. It's just like in New York, when you used to be able to buy joints in front of the public library.

But hippie lettuce for the locals is a drug only the kids do. Crystal meth is in, so in, that on Kauai they regulate the amount of cold medicine you can buy in the drugstores here. Cold medicine is a main ingredient of crystal meth. My cousin said it is very cheap to make and incredibly addictive. There was a crystal meth lab in some old bakery I remember in childhood here, which eventually exploded. Some motel in Lihue call the Tip Top Motel is as rumor at the courts would have it, is the place to buy drugs galore on Kauai.

Kauai also apparently has zero tolerance for drunks and speeders. Too many people, tourists mostl, getting killed in car crashes here and suing the heck out of the county and the state. If you go over 30 miles above the speed limit, you can be cited for reckless driving. Get a DUI on Kauai, and it's $1,000 fine and five days in jail. Worse yet, if you get convicted for a DUI the court has the right to look at whatever arrests you've had in all 50 states. If you had DUIs in other states, they will sentence accordingly and may suspend your license. The limit of alcohol on Kauai you can have in your blood is 0.08. I have no idea what that means, but apparently in California our alcohol tolerance is higher.

All these DUI laws make me laugh because at the interisland terminal in Honolulu while I was waiting for my flight to Kauai, I saw people tanking the cocktails away before their flight. My cousins says there are a ton of tourists who get DUI convictions on Kauai. Some vacation huh?

My third day on Kauai. Yesterday, my aunt and cousins took me to the Hyatt for brunch. I thought it was the Sheraton that had the good brunch, but I was wrong. It's the Hyatt. The brunch they served wasn't as good as when I was there a few years ago. Oh well, it was better than most. There was an omlette chef who made them anyway you wanted them, and a crepe chef as well. This brunch, probably because of all the japanese tourists, had sushi and tempura as well.

One thing I noticed about the brunch here at the Sheraton and at the Hyatt, is that they always have miso soup. You'd be surprised at how many non-asian people eat miso soup with floaty bits of tofu for breakfast.

There are alot couples here and it's interesting to observe their breakfast routine. Some couples just eat an don't say anything. Some couples read the paper. Some couples are very chatty and chat the whole time. The one time M-Square and I went out to breakfast, we were the chatty couple. The longer we stay together, I wonder what kind of breakfast couple we will turn into.

I'm in the lobby of the Sheraton Kauai hotel and blogging on one of their computers. They have four computers set up for people to use in an area, where you can also read the paper. I might not even have to use my laptop to log into my room.

My room is great. I can't see the beach close up, but from the balcony I can see the ocean and it's very quiet. I think the hotel is pretty empty. My flight getting here was very empty as well. People were lying down and taking naps in the seats.

For dinner I had this excellen taro encrusted snapper with a mixture of sweet and regular mashed potatoes. There was also some kind of yummy brown and cream white served on the side to go with it, along with some delicious wilted greens. I love hotels with good food.

I ordered a banana and pineapple tropical smoothie with icecream for dinner, but when it came it tasted too sweet and strawberry. And I was like, whatever. I guess I'm not ordering this type of drink at this hotel. Two of the hotel staff afterwards came up to ask me if I was okay, because I guess I was like the only person dining by themselves in the restaurant. But then the waitress came over and told me that she had mistakenly given me a drink called "menehune magic". So I was like drinking some disgustingly sweet cocktail instead of my smoothie. She said I could keep the drink after she brought over my smoothie, but I told her to take it. And thank god, my smoothie was delicious. It tasted like a pina colada without the alcohol.

I'm exhausted. I've been up since 5 am and and it's around 10:45 pm Cali time. I think this vacation will be very relaxing for me. My room is great and the bed is huge, and I just M-Square was with me to share it. Someday.

My aunt and cousins are coming here to meet me for brunch tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to seeing them. Did I mention my cousin is a DA here on the island? She wants to be a judge someday, and will probably end up mayor of the island as well. At least that's what my aunt and uncle want. I think my cousin just wants to be a judge. Although I don't know how she's going to be a judge when she's got a star trek tatoo on her leg.

Aloha! I am blogging from gate 49 at the Aloha Airlines terminal waiting for my flight to take me to Kauai. I saw this internet kiosk charging 15 cents per minute, and I couldn't resist sticking five dollars into the slot just so I could blog from the airport.

It's 81 degress and cloudy. When you're outside the weather is great, but inside of the airport which keeps more and more smelling like a bar to me, they keep it cold. So I am in Hawaii but I have my sweatshirt on because as an island girl, I hate air conditioning! Everyone else is walking around in flower leis, shorts and t-shirts, and all manner of tacky hawaiian wear.

So I left rainy San Francisco about 7 hours ago and I'm still not at my destination. I guess I could have taken an earlier flight, but I wasn't sure how long everything was going to take. Oh well. I had a kahlua pork sandwich at the only decent place to eat inside the interisland termina, which was the bar. There people were knocking back huge tropic drinks. One drink even came with a complimentary back scratcher. The drinks are about a foot tall and chock full of booze.

I was good and had a ginger ale because I have to drive to my hotel. But I guess this resort I'm staying at has a mai-tai free cocktail hour. I told my family I would stop by as soon as I checked in to my hotel, so no sipping cocktails tonight while watching the sun set.

I managed to get some writing done on the plane, but not much. I read my latest New Yorker and listened to the music on iTunes on my laptop. I loved listening to "Scarlet Begonias" while flying hight above the Pacific ocean.

I spoke to M-Square this morning and he told me what he missed the most about Hawaii was the smell of plumerias. They are such fragile blossoms, I don't think they would make it if I sent some to him. I'm going to check with a florist on Kauai just to make sure. I want send him a maile lei, which is a flower lei made out of a sweet smelling vine that is native to Kauai. The last time I was here, a florist told me they were trying to grow some on the Big Island but the smell is different. But M-Square doesn't really remember what a maile lei is. Getting one was such a big deal when I growing up, but then again I did live on the island that it's grown on.

I will write more later. Till then as everyone says here "Aloha and Mahalo".

I had a great session with my screenwriting group. I brought my 7 page script and got great feedback on it. I also brought the screenplay I want to rewrite, and received many insightful comments on how to make that screenplay better.

I'm excited and can't wait to start writing. I'd like to write tonight, but I'm exhausted. I think I need to let the feedback I heard germinate in my brain. I don't want to get burnt out with my writing. That's my modus operandi, to dive in head first and let everything else go and I don't want to do that. When I do that, I get thoughts like "M-Square is a distraction to my writing and I can't have distractions in my life" or "I can't fulfill my writing goal and have a relationship at the same time."

Thoughts like these are bad for me. I've been down that road before, and I became resentful of my writing and stopped creating. I have to have moderation in my life, otherwise I become miserable. It's that compulsive personality of mine peaking through.

The "Or" world is a lonely world. The "And" world is much better. I can be a writer AND I can have a relationship with a man I love.

M-Square is so great! He totally trusts me and told me things about his life this week that he said he's never told anyone before. When he does this, I feel so loved by him. He also let me know early something that was going on his life this week, so I wouldn't worrry. This was a first for him, to tell me he was stressed out at work instead of him just shutting down and not telling me anything. We are definitely making progress! We are birthing a relationship that works for both of us. It is hard work, but at least we are making progress.

I am grateful for having him in my life right now. He rolls with my insecurities and foibles, and although I know it's not easy for him, he hangs in there with me. And I try to do the same for him. I am grateful that I haven't scared him off yet. Because god only knows, I am not the easiest person to be in a relationship with. It's been my pet theory for a long time that the person I end up with with in a long term relationship, is going to be a person that puts up with me and still finds it in his heart to love and appreciate the person I am.

It will 7 months for M-Square and I this month that we've been together. And yes I know we have a long-distance relationship and it's a little odd, but a really good friend of mine who has been happily married for several years started her relationship with her husband in exactly the same way. And today, they are the proud parents of adopted twin boys.

I don't know. As much as I want "normalcy" in my life, my life has been anything but normal. That has been my life, and I know I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for my "strange life". And I really like who I am, what I've accomplished in my life so far, where I am with my writing, where I am with my spirituality. So I'm like thinking why jinx it by wanting something different? It's been great so far.

Is this like a backwards thought or what? Somehow it sounds so untransformational and so strange coming from someone like me who has been pursuing self transformation since I was 13 years old. Maybe I am growing up a little. Maybe I am finally trying to accept who I am and trying to become comfortable in my own skin.

My first love Michael was right when he told me of this old french saying which goes something like "the more things change, the more they stay the same." I hate to think I haven't changed, but maybe I haven't. Maybe all I've done in my self-transformational journey is peel off all the layers of myself that I didn't like, that didn't fit, so I could reveal my true self. I like this explanation. Why should I spin a story about myself that's just going to send me the lowest depths of depression? Why shouldn't I spin a story about myself that makes me feel good? Why hit a strike when I can hit a run out of the ballpark? Life is all about how you spin it, isn't it? It's all about the spin.

Maybe this will be a good writing for year. As I was washing dishes earlier, I realized that I had fun tonight writing. I haven't had fun with my writing in a very long time. It's been such a chore these last couple of years, and my input has greatly suffered because of it.

I love that I left the world for about 3 hours. I didn't know that much time had passed till I looked up and noticed how dark it was outside and looked at my watch. I love when I disappear like that. It doesn't happen very often for me when I write, but when I do it's just an amazing feeling.

It's like I truly entered the world of my writing, and you know, it was an incredible trip! I hope it continues because I know I have so much damned hard work ahead of me to my writing to be very good. And if I'm having fun then maybe it won't feel so much like work and I'll write more. That's a thought huh?

I watched the movie "Collateral" last night. It was a good movie. Tom Cruise was fantastic. He makes a very good villian. His performance was almost as good as what he did in "Magnolia" and "Born on the fourth of July". I'm really getting into Jamie Fox as an actor. He is quite good. What was really great about the DVD was the director Michael Mann's commentary. His commentary was like a seminar on how to write a good screenplay. I returned it to Netflix, but I am contemplating buying it so I can listen to Mann's commentary again.

My Numbers Reading from Glynnis McCants

I bought Glynis McCants' numerology book, "Glynis Has Your Number", and found it fascinating, so I decided this year to get a reading of my numbers done. This is what she sent me. I think it is quite accurate.

EXPLANATION OF NUMBERS
Brenda's #'s

SOUL NUMBER - 9
What you feel inside. Not necessarily what people see.

PERSONALITY NUMBER - 5
A face you show the world.

POWER NAME NUMBER - 5
This number represents the strength of your name and tells a lot about who you are.

BIRTH-DAY - 6
The way you appear to people.

LIFEPATH - 7
The number that you need to fulfill in order to be happy. The most important number in your personal Numerology.

ATTITUDE NUMBER - 7
The first impression people have when talking to you.
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SPECIAL NOTES

Brenda, when I see 7/6 as the birth numbers that means the person often feels "confused and not sure." I suggest when you make a decision, go with your first thought, and do not second-guess yourself.
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THE LIFEPATH NUMBER
The Lifepath is the number that you need to fulfill in order to be happy. It is the most important number in your personal Numerology.

When you add together the month, the day and the year, you get your Lifepath Number, and that is the number that fulfills you. We call that number the Lifepath Number. That number is the most important number in Numerology. Always remember, what's going to make you truly happy is focusing on your Lifepath Number.

Brenda, Your Lifepath number is 7. Here is the description:

The "7" Lifepath:
The Faith Seeker

7s are here to learn to have faith. If they don't have faith they can't really be happy. If you have a 7 child, you'll notice when they sleep they really do look like angels, and this is because they have that energy. In fact when they grow up and become adults, you're going to continue to feel that beautiful spirit. If 7s have faith they tend to be very spiritual and you can learn from them. 7's are incredibly bright.

They have a powerful mind if they use it. If they don't believe in a higher power or they question the process of life, they are exhausting to be around. I honestly believe there are two kinds of people on our planet. We either thank God, or think we're God. Believe me, this is true for the 7. More than any other number, the 7 needs a strong spiritual base. 7's tend to escape, when they're off track, through drugs, alcohol, geography, or work.

It often seems that 7s are visiting from another planet in that they are the observer and commentator. This is a very direct number. 7s tend to tell the truth, and if they don't like someone, it is very obvious. 7s can have lethal tongues. They have a mental steel door. They can take you in, but if they decide they don't want you in their lives, they shut that door and that is the end of the relationship.

7s have a loner quality, and though they can be with people, they definitely like their time alone. Anything connected to the water: river, ocean, or lake, helps 7s to get out of themselves because they do tend to think too much. 7s are very intense, and just like the 4 vibration, over analyze every situation. They walk into a room and they see all of the details (as a result, 7s tend to be very good writers). They also become computer experts and scientists-anything involving technical work. 7s are good at discovering things. It would not be surprising, if the cure for AIDS is found by a 7 vibration. They come up with major solutions and don't necessarily know where the answer came from. It is because 7's are so linked to God when they are in the positive element of their number.

7s love natural beauty: the mountains, the snow, flowers, plants, green grass, and they definitely need to be surrounded by it. 7s have a wonderful love of simplicity, such as animals. They like the unconditional love that comes from pets, because they are not always good at understanding people's needs and wants.

7s like to have air of mystery and will do anything to keep the mystery. So the more you pry or ask questions, the more they shut down. It can be difficult for them but 7's like to have their own story and will not share it with everybody. They are exclusive. It's not uncommon for a 7, even in a marriage to sleep in a separate bed or even in a separate room, and this no offense to the spouse. 7s just need their own space. If you are in a relationship with a 7, don't take it personally when they do get so quiet. 7s are definitely assessing and dissecting al those thoughts and ideas.

7s might have trouble saying, "I love you," or praising their partner because they fear that if they do the person might feel too good for them and leave. The irony is that if the person leaves it's often because he feels undervalued and neglected.

This number is not known for cheating, and generally, the 7 is very loyal. 7s tend to work a lot too. That's their passion. 7s throw themselves into their work and that's because they think they have control there. 7s have the Peter Pan syndrome. They are children for life in many ways, and yet when they are children their parents often point out what old souls they are. 7's say things that are beyond their years. 7s have tremendous wisdom and insight, and when a 7 child tells you something, listen carefully. They tend to have intuition and know things without knowing why.

7's can be misunderstood because they have a quality about them that makes people feel judged in their presence. People may feel that they are cold or aloof, but I can tell you that they are truly just observing. Their silence can be powerful 7s are definitely opinionated and when they do speak they feel what they say matters.

Occupations for the 7: psychiatrist, psychologist, anything to do with the study of the mind. They have psychic ability, so they can excel at Numerology, Astrology, and Tarot card reading. A lot of 7s go into forms of radio or television broadcasting. This is interesting, because although they don't seek major attention, when they do speak, people want to listen to them. Other occupations would concern the mysteries of nature: oceanography, astronomy, geology, these are fields they excel in also.

How the Lifepath 7 gets along with each number:

Natural Matches: 1,5 and 7
Compatible Numbers: 4
Challenge Numbers: 2,3,8 and 9

LUCKY NUMBERS
Everybody wants to know which are the best numbers for winning. Your lucky numbers are based on your Lifepath.

I did some research in Las Vegas. Out of 100 people in a casino, 80 of those people had a 5 in their birth numbers. I also did a television segment called "Lucky Lotto Winners." I researched the birth numbers of the four million-dollar winners to search for a pattern, and all four were 5 Lifepaths.

I would caution a 5 not to play with "scared money," however, and that of course is money they need for rent or a car payment. Otherwise, I would say go for it because the odds seems to be in their favor.

If you're not a 5 Lifepath and you want to play, get a 5 Lifepath friend to bet for you.

Brenda, your Lucky Numbers are derived by the Lifepath #7.

Month: July.
Best days of the month the 16th and the 25th.
Days of the week: Saturday you do well with people. Sunday you should be alone or with a kindred spirit.
Lucky numbers for the 7: 7, 16, 25, 34, 52, 61, 70, 79, 88, 97, and 106.

THE SOUL NUMBER
What you feel inside. Not necessarily what people see.

Knowing your Soul Numbers is extremely important regarding you and your partner because it is what you feel inside. People may not see your Soul Number characteristics, but you will feel it on a deep level. Take a look at your Soul Numbers and know that this is the number that will lead you to inner peace.

Brenda, Your Soul Number is 9

My 9 soul is fulfilled when: I have resolved old family issues that have caused me pain. When I am living in the moment taking in everything that life has to offer me. When I am making a good living and it involves contributing to humanity.

THE PERSONALITY NUMBER
What is the Personality Number?

What is a Personality Number? When you add all the consonants of your name together you will get your Personality Number. This number tells you how you appear on the outside, that is to say, how the world sees you.

Brenda, your Personality Number is 5

You have an air of fun and energy that makes you a welcome addition to any party, and The 5 Personality is someone who wants to know where the party is! You are very clever and others enthuse to your ideas. 5s love excitement and you seek adventure, and failing that—a juicy secret, someone else’s adventure! Watch overindulgence, you can have an addictive streak. Unfortunately, you, yourself, can become easily bored. Try to find harmless things to refuel your interest—sports, movies, books are some suggestions.

THE POWER NAME NUMBER
What is the Power Name Number?

When you add the Soul Number and the Personality Number together and break it down to one digit you will get your Power Name Number. This number represents the strength of your name and lets us know who you are.

Brenda, your Power Name Number is 5.

The Power Name Number 5: This is a high-energy person. People can almost feel the electricity surrounding you. You can be an escape artist—it might be sex, drugs, alcohol, geography, or work. You are the celebrators of life; you want to travel, to see what’s out there. You love to make things beautiful. You are the master party decorator—and parties can bring gossip—another favorite of yours, as you love a mystery and dig for facts. Stay busy, and within reason keep those frequent flyer miles going.

THE BIRTH-DAY NUMBER
The Birth-Day Number is the day you were born. It is the way you look, and how people will perceive you at first glance. Since the Lifepath Number is who you really are, it is easiest when the Birth-Day Number is either a Natural Match or a Compatible vibration to your Lifepath.

However, if your Birth-Day Number is a Challenge number to your Lifepath, you will always baffle the people that are in your life. If this is the case in your own chart, just be sure to let people know who you really are (your Lifepath Number ). It will help you to avoid unnecessary heartaches/headaches throughout your lifetime.

Brenda, your Birth-Day number is 6.

The 6 Birth-day ( People born on the 6th, 15th, 24th)
People born on a # 6 Birth-day appear as a born nurturer, someone who craves love, friends, and companionship.When a 6 Birth-day walks in the room, people will feel your presence immediately.You have a dynamic energy. The world sees you as a solid personality, very responsible and capable of managing other people. A 6 birth-day will instinctively know how to deal with children.

THE ATTITUDE NUMBER
The first impression people have when talking to you.

If you look at the Lifepath Number of an individual that you want to understand better and it doesn't seem accurate, then study their Attitude Number (add month and Birth-Day together). Let's talk a little bit more about the Attitude Number. How to get it is to add the month and the day together and break that number down to one digit. For instance, for someone born on September 17th: 9 + 1 + 7 = 17 = 1 + 7 = 8 8 is the Attitude Number of a person born 9-17.

Brenda, your Attitude Number is 7

Attitude #7: It is hard to know what the 7 Attitude is thinking. They are very
selective with whom they confide in. However, they are very good at getting information out of other people.
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Meanings of Repeated Numbers in your Chart
When a number repeats itself in your chart, pay special attention to it because it plays an important part in your character. This is especially true if the repeating number is a Challenge number to your Lifepath.

Brenda, your repeat numbers are 5 & 7
The repeat number 5 Means you must find ways to celebrate your life, and never let someone else control you. Go out and explore the world. Experience all that is new and exciting. Establish balance to avoid falling into a depression. The repeat number 7 Means you must have your time alone with nature in order find your true spiritual self where there is no hypocrisy. You must overcome your constant need to escape and find healthier outlets such as keeping a journal, going on a cruise, or exploring the Seven Wonders Of The World. No pun intended...:)

I received an email from my screenwriting seminar leader this morning saying it's going to be a small group. She said that each participatnt would have more time tomorrow so we could bring extra stuff for review.

I think I will bring the second screenplay I wrote, which I still want to rewrite. I'll bring ten pages of it just to see what the group has to say about it. I like how the people in the group review. They are very detailed and their feedback is very concrete and not personal.

One of the women in the group, whose screenplay is now being shopped around to all the studios, said she rewrote her screenplay 100 times. I don't know if this is an exagerration on her part, but I got the picture.

My new screeenplay is the first one I have started writing, where I haven't written 15 versions of the step outline before I started writing. I've written one four page story summary and one step outline, and it feels like I'm flyind blind in my writing process. YIKES!

I went to Starfbombs and spent 3.5 hours writing 7 pages of my screenplay. Wow! The time just flew by. By the time I looked up from my laptop, it was dark and when I looked at the time it was 6:45 pm. I got so lost in writing my screenplay. I kind of love when I get that way, where I get so consumed I'm not aware of time or of anyone else around in the cafe. Except I did notice that I heard the same song by Al Green twice. Somebody forgot to change the cd.

I think I figured out how to fix my screenplay. I have to write out a 60-beat step outline to know if I really did find a way to fix my structural problems, but I have a good feeling about it.

I like my seven pages. They're not bad. I tried to not let it get it too talking heads, and kept my one long talking scene down to three pages, and I worked on showing and not telling.

Still seven minutes of screen time in 3.5 hours is not good production for me. At that rate, it will take me about three weeks to finish my screenplay. I think it will take me at least one week to iron out my step outline, and after that I can start writing in earnest.

Check it out.

FADE IN:

INT. SILICON VALLEY - DAY
A montage of scenes from Silicon Valley in late 1990’s, its successful companies, the high prices on NASDAQ, the houses, etc.

INT. ATHERTON - LATE AFTERNOON
WENDY JOHNSTON, a pert blonde with wavy perfectly styled long hair, is driving to her house in a brand new sky-blue Mercedes convertible. A very large diamond platinum engagement ring can be seen on her hand. She pulls into a gated driveway of a large two story mansion with columns and parks her car.

Wendy, who looks like she just leaped out of a fashion magazine ad, steps out of the car. She pulls various shopping bags from the car each bearing the name of a high-end store.

Wendy walks to the door of the house, opens it and we glimpse an interior that looks like a spread out of Architectural Digest.

INT. THE DINING ROOM WENDY’S HOUSE - EARLY EVENING
Wendy, attired n a designer 50’s retro cocktail dress and matching stiletto heels, arranges white french tulips in a crystal vase on the dining table. A paper bag from a gourmet grocery store sits amidst two place settings of special occasion very formal china, crystal and sterling silver with several matching serving dishes.
Wendy opens the bag and takes out containers of gourmet food and empties them into the serving dishes.

She then picks up the telephone on the side table.

WENDY (INTO THE PHONE)
Hi honey. Just calling to say hello. I’m just about through making dinner. Can’t wait to see you. Dinner is at seven. Love you.

INT. THE LIVING ROOM - MID EVENING
Wendy is sitting on the sofa with television on mute talking with her friend JULIE ROTH (JULES for short). Jules, who looks like her red-headed twin sister, is dressed in figure hugging jeans and a glittery T-shirt and thigh-high black suede boots. Two half-filled wine glasses are on a table in front of the sofa.

WENDY
What do you mean give him an ultimatum? I can’t do that.

JULES
How many times has he done this? You can’t sit around here every night waiting for him to come home.

WENDY
But if I don’t have dinner waiting on the table when he gets home, he gets angry.

JULES
And how many times has that happened?

WENDY
Once, but once was enough.

JULES
If you don’t try to confront him now, he’ll never change. Is this how you want him to treat you?

WENDY
Of course not. But what if it doesn’t work? What if he gets mad and breaks up with me?

JULES
Trust me, he won’t. Most guys just need a little yelling at to keep them in place every now and then. And you’ve left it go far too long. You should have cracked the whip a long time ago.

WENDY
You don’t know Karl. He’s not like other guys.

JULES
Sure he is. Now promise me you’ll do it. Don’t look so worried. I’m telling you, I’ve done it and it works. Promise me?

WENDY
I promise.

INT. THE DINING ROOM - LATE EVENING
The dinner on the table has been untouched. An empty wine bottle is on the table. KARL WARNER, a thin tall mousey blonde of a man with glasses an overbite and pock-marked skin, enters the room and puts his beat-up canvas briefcase which has initials on the table.

INT. THE LIVING ROOM
Karl enters the room and sees Wendy asleep on the sofa with her heels on. He glances at the late night comedy show on the television and smiles as hears a funny line. Two empty wine glasses and a bowl with a few pieces of popcorn sits on the table besides two bowls stacked on top of each other filled with two spoons and an empty pint-sized ice cream container. Karl walks to the far end of the sofa and sits down and watches the end of the skit.

Afterwards he turns to the sleeping form on the sofa and tries to wake Wendy up. Wendy opens her eyes, sees KARL and sits up.

WENDY
What time is it?

KARL
After eleven. You missed a good skit.

WENDY
Why didn’t you call?

KARL
I was busy.

WENDY
Have you eaten?

KARL
We had pizza at the office. You had your usual dinner with Jules. Did you pick up my shirts today?

WENDY
What shirts?

KARL
The ones I told you this morning to pick up. I left reminder notes all over the house. (silence) I ask you to do one thing and you can’t even do it.

WENDY
This is the what? Let’s see. Three times a week every month for twenty-one months is roughly about 250 times that you forgot to call me and tell me you’d be late.

KARL
Don’t exaggerate. Besides it’s the not the same thing. I’ve got a job.

WENDY
Then why promise you’ll call if you don’t mean it?

KARL
Because you nag at me until I promise, that’s why.

WENDY
I’ve had it Karl. I’m tired of slaving hard at making a good dinner every night, setting the table, dressing up, and waiting for you to come home, only to have you walk in hours later without a call. It’s not fair to me and I won’t be treated this way.

KARL
So what do you want me to do?

WENDY
I want you to promise me you’ll call me if you’re going to be late, and don’t just say it if you don’t mean it.

KARL
And if can’t make that promise, then what?

WENDY
Then, I’ll leave, you know, move out.
Karl and Wendy sit in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Karl is watching the television, and Wendy looks down at the diamond engagement ring on her finger and turns it from side to side staring at the glittering lights winking back at her.

KARL
Is this an ultimatum?

WENDY
Yes.

KARL
You really want to do this?

WENDY
Of course.

KARL
If you’re than unhappy with me, then I think you need to leave. I really like you, but this is my life. I’m running a start-up company and it’s going to be like this at least for another couple of years. I’m sorry.
Wendy sits there with her mouth half open. She slowly stands up and leaves the room.

EXT. SUNNYVALE - DAY
We see a modest run-down 70’s style apartment complex somewhere in Sunnyvale. The freeway can be seen and heard behind the complex. Wendy’s Mercedes convertible looks out of place parked between the motorcycles, trucks and older model cars. Large hedges and trees in need of some serious pruning are scattered around the complex. We hear in the background a couple fighting, televisions blaring, Latino folk music playing and children screaming. A door to an apartment in open and we see a man sitting in an apartment watching television. A laundry line full of very colorful shirts is strung across the living room.

INT. WENDY’S APARTMENT
Wendy, dressed in gray oversized sweats with dark brown streaks in her blonde hair which is an early dreadlocked state, sits on a dime store sofa crying holding a picture of Karl. Used tissues form a cloud around her that spill on to the floor. Jules, dressed in an expensive skirt and top and red boots, sits beside holding a box of tissues.

JULES
How long are you going to keep this up? It’s been six months.

WENDY
Forever. I told he was different.

JULES
So why do you want to be with somebody who is that weird anyway? You have to get over with him. Come to a party with me on Tuesday. Lots of single guys will be there.

WENDY
I don’t want anyone else. I want Karl.

JULES
You’re never going to get him back with your hair like that. You look like you have birds’ nests on your head.

WENDY
It doesn’t look that bad. I just haven’t brushed it in awhile.

JULES
You didn’t make out too badly did you? He let you keep the car, the clothes and the jewelry, and he gave you a job at his company. You’re coming to the meeting tomorrow night aren’t you?

WENDY
I don’t know. I don’t think it’s helping me.

JULES
Of course it is. You just haven’t given it enough time. And try not to be late again.

INT. WENDY’S PLACE OF WORK - NEXT DAY
Wendy, dressed in modest blue skirt, blue skirt and white blouse with her hair in a bun, sits at desk outside of an office typing a memo. Her desk is a jumble of papers and files. There is an empty coffee cup on one side of her computer, and a half empty water bottle on the other side. A postcard of woman with frazzled hair with the caption “Bad Hair Daze” is tacked to back wall.
On the other side of Wendy is another desk where GLORIA, an older woman with teased-out bleached blonde hair wearing a too-tight cheap purple suit sits filing her nails and talking on the phone.

JOHN, a young file clerk, stops at her desk and puts a stack of files on an empty space.

JOHN
These need filing today.
Wendy glances over at Gloria.

WENDY
I’ve got a stack of letters that need to go out by 4 p.m. (Wendy glances at the clock) Can’t someone else do this?

JOHN
Jay says he want you do it before you leave. He says you know where they go, and he wants to be able to find them again someday. He’s your boss not mine. See you later.

John looks at Gloria, then back at her, smiles and walks away. Wendy looks at the clock, the stack of files, the stack of letters and keeps typing.

So I'm at home right now because I'm exhausted and it's been busy week at work. I have screenwriting seminar on Sunday, and I have not written anything. I am so bad. I am paying about $100 per class for which I get about 1-1.5 hours of really good feedback, and I'm not writing.

I don't have my plot down and I don't like writing a screenplay until I am happy with my plot. The trouble is that it sometimes takes me four months to nail a plot down. Once I have my plot nailed down, I can write a screenplay in two weeks. This is my process. It might not be ideal, but it's worked so far.

I think what I might end up doing is handing in 10 pages just to get feedback. I definitely need to take my laptop with me on vacation and ruminate about my screenplay. I really thought I had a good plot, but the feedback I keep getting is I don't know my character yet and I need to decide who she is.

Honestly, since I now seem to spend 75% of my paying job doing business and tech writing, I have absolutely no energy for any creative writing. I thought I always wanted a writing job that paid, and that's what I have. But I meant a writing job where I write my own stories, not where I write newsletters and presentations.

I think I just have to make myself stick to a writing schedule, and even though my creative writing muse seems to have taken a vacation, the books say if you just show up and write, eventually you'll start writing. I hope so.

I don't think I'm going to see "Brokeback Mountain". Two friends of mine have seen the movie and said it wasn't very good. We were speculating as to why the movie is winning all these awards, and we agreed that it's just Hollywood voting politically. I really trust these two friends' opinions of movies, and when they say a movie is boring, then the movie is truly boring.

One of my friends said that her gay friend told her that "King Kong" was a better love story. That's sad huh? "Far from Heaven" deals with same kind of subject as"Brokeback Mountain" and that movie didn't get nearly the amount of press or praise from the critics. "Far from Heaven" is wonderfully written and the cinematography was so beautiful.

This same friend, who also writes screeplays, highly recommended "The Weatherman" with Nicholas Cage. She said it was a really fun flick. What happened to that movie? There were a few trailers, and then all of a sudden it left the theaters. My friends thinks that no one knew how to market the movie. Im going to have to rent it on Netflix.

Other movie recommendations from my two friends:
The new "Pride and Prejudice". There isn't a lovely Colin Firth shirtless underwater scene but apparently, the new Mr. d'Arcy has a delicious bare-chested walking through the forest scene.

"Capote" - Phillip Seymour Hoffman is fabulous and worth watching.

"Shopgirl" - Steve Martin is a terrific writer.

Both of my friends hated the new Harry Potter. They said it was too confusing if you hadn't read the book, unlike the other Potter movies. I didn't think so, but then again I did read the book.

They both heard "Syriana" was confusing to watch, but I didn't think so. I thought the writer did a very good job of weaving the different stories together, just like he did in "Traffic".

They both heard that "Memoirs of a Geisha" was a disappointment after reading the book. I thought the movie did a very good job of getting the essence of the story on screen, since the book was very long. The recreation of the gesiha world in old Japan was stunning. The kimonos were gorgeous and those shots of the beautiul cherry blossoms were amazing.

Alright, I must admit that when I saw the two chinese actresses I couldn't help but be reminded of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but only because both women were also in that movie. But at least the Chairman was japanese. One thing that was interesting was that I always thought of the Chariman as older and not as good looking from reading the book. So I was pleasantly surprised to find the Chairman was quite the looker.

What I also noticed in the movie however, which somehow never came across as fully in the book, is that the Chairman is like so old compared to the geisha girl telling the story. Talk about literally robbing the cradle.

Okay, this is going to sound corny as heck. I was reading Nicholas Sparks' book "A Walk to Remember" and I finally realized what I needed to do to have my stories work better. My characters have to be better narrators. I write in first person like Sparks, and as I was reading his book I saw how his characters do a very good job of describing location and situations.

My characters don't do that. They talk about what they're thinking and feeling, but they never step back and function a true narrator of a story. I dont' know. It's such a simple thing, but I never got it until I read Sparks' book.

Not that Nicholas Sparks is the best writer out there. I like his books and all, especially "The Notebook", but let's face it, he's not the great American novelist. But I'm not either. What he is, is a good story teller. The guy must sell a lot of books because many of his books have been made into movies, and Hollywood tends to only want to make movies from very popular books.

"A Walk to Remember" is even a very good book, and I fell asleep during the movie. The book is completely maudlin and the subject has been done to death, but there was something about his style of writing which really inspired me.

So the big news we heard today at work is the director for our group is leaving to take a job at another health plan. Personally, I think she left because she knew she wasn't going to get promoted. There was a VP position in the division, but the job was up in Sacramento. Someone else was promoted to the job.

I don't think our director would have made a good VP. She's a great project manager, but I can't see her as a VP. She did get a great job starting up a division at the other health plan, so she didn't do too badly. Here's some fun gossip. She was in the same MBA program as the guy who won on the first "Apprentice".

So I booked my hotel reservations at this nice resort on Kauai that I've been to for meals, they have one of the best brunches on the island, but never to stay. Check the place out - Sheraton Kauai. I get a buffet breakfast every day, which I plan to eat late so I can combine my breakfast and lunch together, and there's a free Mai Tai Happy Hour at sunset. Too bad I don't really drink anymore, although I may have drink a few cocktails just for old time's sake. I've swum at this beach before and it's beautiful. And yeah! There's a decent fitness center so I can work out. There's also internet access, so I will be blogging from the hotel when I get there.

Something strange is happening at my job. I came into work today and there was an invite from the director for our group for a department luncheon. The rumor mill started up and people started gossiping about how some key people in our division left, and that the luncheon which has since been rescheduled till Thursday will be an announcement of these resignations.

The rumor is that the resignations will cause our group to be split up. Nobody knows what's really going on and I'm bummed that we have to wait until Thursday. I hate when your higher-ups do that. If the news is that earth shattering and important, why not just tell us? Even my immediate boss didn't know that the heck was going on. She's not even going to be there because she's going to be in an HR training that day.

One thing I didn't mention last week was that there was layoffs in my division that I found out about when I came back from vacation. There was a woman there who'd been there for years and started a Pain Management program. The program was cut so they laid her off. When I found this out, I realized how grateful I should be just to have my job. The program I was originally hired for was terminated last year, and thankfully there will another program to replace it. Plus I decided my job needed to evolve so I could work on my presentation skills and my bosses agreed and now I'm probably going to have give perhaps 8 presentations this year.

I'm excited about this new development. I gave my first presentation last year and despite my nervousness, it went really well and the group I presented to was very appreciative. With practice, I think I could become very comfortable giving presentations and not have it be the nerve-wracking experience it usually is for me.

I worked on a project last year where I had to facilitate conference call meetings with hospital folks from UCSF Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA, and Childrens Hospital in San Diego. I arranged conference calls with the hospitals folks and the CEO of this quality measurement vendor we were working with from Massachusetts. Those meetings went very well and really gave me a confidence boost. The medical director of quality from Childrens Hospital in San Diego was such a nice guy, and an expert in the field of quality measurement for childrens hospitals. I called him after the meeting and thanked him for his participation, and he was very appreciative.

I am thankful that I was able to evolve my job in a way that I liked and that my bosses liked. I'm also writing a weekly newsletter, which is more of a weekly news briefing. It's my job to see what news stories are relevant to the field of qualtiy measurement and then do a write up with the appropriate weblinks. I like how I get to decide what I think people should read. My boss was excited by my first newsletter and now wants to send it out to the regional medical directors in the company as well as the senior medical quality director and other people she thinks might be interested.

I'm also writing up a ton of research white papers, which I actually like doing. Besides the weekly newsletter, we're also thinking of expanding the quarterly news briefing I was doing into a monthly one because there is just so much news.

I did a ton of writing last week already. I wrote up two one-page briefs for a couple of programs that were needed for meetings one of which was for an external client. Then I wrote and developed a powerpoint presentation for an executive briefing, and also started work on the presentation for our external advisory board meeting in February.

Check this out - Bomb Found at Starbucks. I know that Starbucks. I've written there before going to the movies. And when I was coming home from Whole Paycheck (Whole Foods) tonight I saw the newspeople interviewing people in front of the place. Little did I know it was because there was a bomb squad earlier there today. How trippy is that?

I'm having an emotional evening. I am taking a trip back to Kauai to see my uncle who is sick because my aunt told me I had better come and see him now before things get worse. It's so weird trying to plan my trip because I realized tonight that I have no home to go home to. I've usually stayed with my grandmother on the island, but now that she's dead and her house is gone I really don't have a place to stay.

I could stay with my aunt, but I haven't stayed there since highschool and I don't know if I would feel all that comfortable with them because my uncle is sick and bedridden. I've never stayed anywhere else except in my grandmother's house when I visited, although once I stayed in a hotel with a friend because we were both attending a co-worker's wedding and my friend wanted to stay in a hotel. That turned out to be a good thing because my co-worker had all these activities planned for the guests who were flying in for the wedding, so we ended up hanging with the rest of the wedding guests for the whole trip.

I did end up spending one night at home only because my grandmother had a fit that I was on the island and not staying with her to visit.

I had no idea how much it costs to actually stay in a nice hotel on Kauai. Oh well. I think I am going to stay at a resort in Poipu that has its own private beach and the best brunch on the Island, not to mention lots of tennis courts and a workout center. It's going to cost a pretty penny but a friend of mine told me tonight, it would be a nice treat for myself and would make my visit not so emotional to hang with my aunt and uncle and my two cousins who live at home for four days.

Then I'm off to Honolulu to stay with my brother four a couple of days. I've stayed at his house before, which is conveniently located just a 10-minute walk from Waikiki.

What an awful feeling not to have your childhood home there anymore for you stay at. My friend said it happened to her age 20, so I guess I'm lucky it didn't happen to me any sooner.

My friend Kim and I went to check out the new de Young museum on Saturday with a pair of guest VIP passes she received from a friend of hers. There was a new Egyptian exhibit called "Hatsheput: From Queen to Pharaoh."

As usual it was jam-packed. What is about Egyptian artifacts that people are dying to see? There was some stuff from the Cairo museum and even stuff from the Met that I'd already seen in New York.

Below are some pictures I took from the new tower.

This is the view looking down at the new de Young garden.

This is a view of downtown where you can see the Bank of America buidling and Transamerica Pyramid. The building on the right is called Lone Mountain and I think it's part of USF. The two towers on the left I think are part of St. Ignatius Church.

This is a view of the opening to the Bay. You can see Marin in the background and the Richmond district where I used to live.

I saw King Kong tonight, and despite what the critics say it's a good movie and must see for the big screen. The special effects were amazing! What a thrill ride it was. I don't usually get scared at movie but it has some terrifying moments.

Jack Black was a miscast. The guy is a great comedic actor but a dramatic actor he is not. He was over the top, and Adrien Brody and Naomi Watts put him to shame. Kong was great and if you're a Naomi Watts fan and adore her face, definitely see the movie.

I was listening to a couple of call-in psychic shows and decided to call up for a reading. I've never called into an interet radio show before and it is so fun to do.

The second psychic told me he saw a lot of spiritual imagery around me. Must have bee JC, and he saw a huge connection to the church. He said I was talented and should pursue my writing and that I would be very successful at it. YEAH!

I'm saying my prayers for Ariel Sharon, who had a massive stroke tonight and at this minute is undergoing surgery. I have fears of what will happen in that part of the world should the worst become a reality. Maybe they will bring Daniel Netanyahu back. I kind of liked him.

As I was on my way to work this morning, it occurred to me that this is the first job that I was not eager to return to after a vacation. It's such an odd feeling. I always considered myself the type of person who loved their job and was a pathetic workaholic, but not anymore. I guess it's a good thing because hopefully it will be an incentive for me to focus on my writing.

Still, it feels like I've sort of lost a part of my identity and I'm a little sad about it. If I'm not my job and my career, then who am I really? Until I earn money from my writing, I don't think I will ever consider myself a proper writer.

New Year's eve was great! I spoke to M-Square three times, including one last time at midnight. What a fun way to start the new year. A couple of guy friends called which was very, very nice.

I spent New Year's Day talking to more friends and getting caught up, in between watching the flooding in the North Bay on tv. I even did a couple loads of laundry so my vacation from work wasn't a complete waste.

Today, it was more cleaning after watching a very rainy Rose Bowl parade. I would love to see it in person although I don't know if I could deal with all the crowds.

I rescued my very expensive ($50 each) star-filled linen Pottery Barn curtains that hung in my last apartment from a bag in my closet. I washed them and unfortunately lost a couple of them as they ripped from all the washing. Ah well, I have four left. I can't use them in my present apartment, but they're too pretty to give away so I'm going to keep them until I can use them again.

The rain has finally stopped but we're supposed to get another storm tomorrow. What a drag! My New Year's resolution is to get to work at 7:30 am so I can leave by 4 pm. My plan is to head to the gym and work out. Hopefully, it won't be very crowded at that hour.

It's January and as usual the gym will be crowded, but thankfully by February most people will hae dropped out. I'd like to get home by 6 pm so I can eat by 7 pm, which will then give me the rest of the night to write and relax.

I'll have to change my sleeping habits and try to be in bed by 11 pm. Tomorrow will be awful getting up and getting ready for work since I've been going to bed at around 2 am. If I didn't have a job to go to in the morning, I'd get up very late and go to bed in the wee hours. I am such a night owl naturally.

At least I rearranged my closet while on vacation, threw out another bag of clothes, and even did my ironing. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to do while on vacation, but I did get a ton of stuff done. I am so not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. Thank god it's only a four day week.

Okay, I guess I should do a 2005 recap and analyze what kind of year it's been. After a shaky beginning having to do with me getting over my breakup with the red-haired guy, it's turned out to be a good year.

In June I met M-Square which was so cool! I haven't met a guy I've really, really like in a long time, and I mean really liked. RHG was fun but M-Square so blows him away. And we just had our six-month anniversary which is so phenomenal. It's been years since I've been in a relationship that's lasted this long, and I'm still not bored. This is definitely a very good sign.

What else? I bought a laptop early in the year which has been such a god-send, that I don't know why I didn't buy one earlier.

Finance wise, I managed to save 10% of my income and also contributed to my 401(k) at work. This is good news for me. I paid off my car loan finally.

Writing wise, it's been an up and down year but I am writing. I submitted a story for publication and got turned down, but I'm happy that I was able to even get to the point of submitting a story. I've got to do more of this in 2006. I joined a new screenwriting class and learned that I can hold my own with writers who have agents. This was a good feeling, and has given me confidence about my own abilities.

Health wise I'm fitting back into my size 8 jeans, jeans that I outgrew some time in December. Hopefully, 2006 will be the year I get my weight down to a number I can maintain easily and control.

Friendship wise, I made four new friends this year. I like when I make new friends. S is a writer too and we're planning to go to a Learning Annex class about agents in February. S is cool and is interested in many of the same things I'm interested in. Then there's my ex-cubemate from Stanford, M. M is cool. She's also a writer and we have fun hanging together. We saw Rent, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Chronicles of Narnia, together. D & C are also new friends whom I met at work. D left the company but we're still keeping in touch. C is also a writer and she told me I inspired her to start writing again. I think she'd make a great editor for me, since she has PhD in English and was hired to be a writer at my company.

My old friend D was just hired by my company working for HR. When we worked together, we used to hang out and go to lunch every week. She and I are planning to resume our lunchtime habits in 2006. It's so great to have a lunch buddy at work.

Creativity wise, other than writing I took two beading classes and am making my own jewelry. I even made M-Square an earring from these extra beads I had and sent it to him. He thinks it might be a little too feminine for him to wear, but I don't think so. I like that we have matching earrings. It's so cute!

So all in all, it's been a good year.

I'm sure everyone has seen this list but it's very interesting anyway. How many of these gadgets have you owned?

The Complete List of PC World's 50 Greatest Gadgets

PC World's list of the top 50 tech gadgets of the last half century was assembled after we polled our editors for nominations. We then rated the nominated gadgets for usefulness, design, degree of innovation, influence on subsequent gadgets, and the "cool factor." Here are the results. (For more on our 50 Greatest Gadgets project, see the full story.)

1. Sony Walkman TPS-L2 (1979) - my favourite - I was addicted to mine for a long time and owned several versions. The last one I had finally broke last year.
Apple iPod (2001)
(Tie) ReplayTV RTV2001 and TiVo HDR110 (1999)
PalmPilot 1000 (1996)
Sony CDP-101 (1982)
Motorola StarTAC (1996)
Atari Video Computer System (1977)
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera (1972)
M-Systems DiskOnKey (2000)
Regency TR-1 (1954)
Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)
Motorola Razr V3 (2004)
Motorola PageWriter (1996)
BlackBerry 850 Wireless Handheld (1998)
Phonemate Model 400 (1971)
Texas Instruments Speak & Spell (1978)
Texas Instruments SR-10 (1973)
Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 %281998)
Sony Handycam DCR-VX1000 (1995)
Handspring Treo 600 (2003)
Zenith Space Command (1956)
Hamilton Pulsar (1972)
Kodak Instamatic 100 (1963)
MITS Altair 8800 (1975)
Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 (1983)
Nintendo Game Boy (1989)
Commodore 64 (1982)
Apple Newton MessagePad (1994)
Sony Betamax (1975)
Sanyo SCP-5300 (2002)
iRobot Roomba Intelligent Floorvac (2002)
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (1999)
Franklin Rolodex Electronics REX PC Companion (1997)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 10 (1998)
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X (1983)
Iomega Zip Drive (1995)
Magnavox Magnavision Model 8000 DiscoVision Videodisc Player (1978)
Milton Bradley Simon (1978)
Play, Inc Snappy Video Snapshot (1996)
Connectix QuickCam (1994)
BellSouth/IBM Simon Personal Communicator (1993)
Motorola Handie Talkie HT-220 Slimline (1969)
Polaroid Swinger (1965)
Sony Aibo ERS-110 (1999)
Sony Mavica MVC-FD5 (1997)
Learjet Stereo-8 (1965)
Timex/Sinclair 1000 (1982)
Sharp Wizard OZ-7000 (1989)
Jakks Pacific TV Games (2002)
Poqet PC Model PQ-0164 (1990)

The Link.

The Top Politically inCorrect Words and Phrases for 2005:

1. Misguided Criminals for Terrorist: The BBC attempts to strip away all emotion by using what it considers neutral descriptions when describing those who carried out the bombings in the London Tubes. The rub: the professed intent of these misguided criminals was to kill, without warning, as many innocents as possible (which is the common definition for the term, terrorist). The phrase was selected by GLM as but one example in line with the published BBC Editorial Guidelines where it is noted that the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than aid to understanding. Suggested alternatives include: bomber, attacker, insurgent and militant, among others. These and similar words are deemed to have no emotional or value judgments. However, the word Terrorist can be used as long as it appears in a quoted attribution.

2. Intrinsic Aptitude (or lack thereof) was a suggestion by Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, on why women might be underrepresented in engineering and science. He was nearly fired for his speculation.

3. Thought Shower or Word Shower substituting for brainstorm so as not to offend those with brain disorders such as epilepsy.

4. Scum or "la racaille" for French citizens of Moslem and North African descent inhabiting the projects ringing French Cities. France's Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, used this most Politically inCorrect (and reprehensible) label to describe the young rioters (and by extension all the inhabitants of the Cites).

5. Out of the Mainstream when used to describe the ideology of any political opponent: At one time slavery was in the mainstream, thinking the sun orbited the earth was in the mainstream, having your blood sucked out by leeches was in the mainstream. What's so great about being in the mainstream?

6. Deferred Success as a euphemism for the word fail. The Professional Association of Teachers in the UK considered a proposal to replace any notion of failure with deferred success in order to bolster students self-esteem.

7. Womyn for Women to distance the word from man. This in spite of the fact that the term man in the original Indo-European is gender neutral (as have been its successors for some 5,000 years).

8. C.E. for A.D.: Is the current year A.D. 2005 or 2005 C.E.? There is a movement to strip A.D. (Latin for "In the Year of the Lord") from the year designation used in the West since the 5th century and replace it with the supposedly more neutral Common Era (though the zero reference year for the beginning of the Common Era remains the year of Christ's birth).

9. "God Rest Ye Merry Persons" for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen": A Christmas, eh, Holiday, carol with 500 years of history is not enough to sway the Anglican Church at Cardiff Cathedral (Wales) from changing the original lyrics. There are those who suggest going one step further: "Higher Power Rest Ye Merry Persons".

10. Banning the word Mate: the Department of Parliamentary Services in Canberra issued a general warning to its security staff banning the use of the word 'mate' in dealings t with both members of Parliament and the public. What next? banning 'no worries' so as not to offend the worried, or banning 'Down Under' So as not to offend those of us who live in the "Up Over".

The link to the article.

I saw two more movies this week.

Chronicles of Narnia was great! It's fun to see a book you've read come to life on screen. The film pretty much stuck to the plot of the book like the first Harry Potter movie. I loved Aslan. Is he symbolic of JC? Who knows ... if you're JC-inclined, everything will remind you of him. Heck, I saw "Field of Dreams" and I thought the line "If you build it, he will come" was all about JC. The four child actors were great. The British film industy must be having a field day because of all of these movies with Brit child actors.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was very good as well. It was the first Potter movie where I was really engrossed in the plot. All the actors have grown up, except Daniel Radcliffe it seems. Hermoine looks much as older as does Ron and his brothers. And Neville Longbottom has gotten so tall. This film was much darker which is in keeping with the book. Harry and Ron make perfect goofy awkward teenagers; they are both definitely late bloomers.

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm at home watching tv. Boring huh? I didn't know what the weather was going to be like so I didn't make any plans. Just as well, the storm last night was so intense! I kept waking up every two hours from the noise of the rain hitting my windows.

I had lobster for Christmas so I am repeating that incredibly delicious dinner and having lobster again tonight.

I am watching the news about the flooding in the North Bay. Just last January my friend and I were up there and it's weird to see the places we visited now flooded. I should be grateful I have power. Some people in the city are without power tonight.

Here's a good exercise to do for the new year. Name Your Year. My screenwriting teacher Madeline gave us this exercise and she swears it works.; you have to be careful though. Her mother named 2005 to be year of fun and adventure and she ended up moving to Costa Rica. I named 2006 to be "A year of events happening in my life that will make me delightfully happy". It's vague but it should cover everything I want for myself next year.

I sp0ke to M-Square earlier and he was exhausted. He went to work today and there was so much to do. I miss him but it's probably a good thing I didn't drive down there with the rainy weather. Some of the roads I would have driven back home on have been flooded. I'm going to talk to him later if he doesn't fall asleep first. Business has been slow but it picked these last couple of weeks so the boy is making money, which is always a good thing.

I got my car fixed and everything is alright. The airbag light problem is finally fixed and the car has dried out although it does smell a little mildewy. I'm going to have it detailed next next month.

I went to see the famous prison Alcatraz on Thursday and below are some of my fotos.

A sign at the entrance to the Alcatraz prison.

A pretty plant on the island.

A cell block at Alcatraz; it's very small.

This is disturbing news to me ...

Full-scale terrorist attacks against Israel will resume Jan. 1 unless Abbas surrenders to terms laid down by Jihad Islami, the Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah-al Aqsa BrigadesDecember 26, 2005, 10:32 PM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile reports: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has refused to withdrawthe 200 Palestinian security personnel posted in the northern Gaza Strip, sofrustrating the Sharon government’s no-go tactic in this region and effortsto curb Qassam attacks. This Palestinian force therefore provides the Qassam missile crews with a protective umbrella against Israeli artillery, which isforced to confine its shelling to vacant land.Taking part in the Qassam offensive now are the Jihad Islami and factions ofthe Al Aqsa Brigades backed and paid by the Fatah old guard, led by prime minister Ahmed Qureia, which is now at war with Mahmoud Abbas. If Abbas refuses to postpone the January 25 election - in obedience to their diktat -these groups plus the PRC will re-ignite full-scale attacks on Israel. Thisis designed to prompt large-scale Israeli retaliation and generate a crisis that precludes voting - and so deprive Hamas of its predicted victory. Their deadline for this ultimatum is Jan. 1. Israel has thus become a hostage to the Palestinian factional war. Earlier Monday, a Fatah-al Aqsa Brigades spokesman revealed the acquisitionof new missiles of 25km range, the first able to reach to points north ofAshkelon. He spoke of creating a Palestinian buffer belt on Israeli territory north of the Gaza Strip.

I can't sleep so I'm posting.

I've been on movie watching binge while on vacation this week.

Walk the Line - great movie! Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do their own singing. My screenwriting seminar leader told the group that Hollywood stars are looking for scripts where they can show the world that they can sing, so expect more biopics of famous singers. Perhaps the LA Times review was right when the reviewer said that the stars sing better than the original, that's sad huh? Gotta love June Carter Cash because she stood by her man through thick and thin.

Munich - again, I have to agree with what the LA Times have been saying about this movie. You'll have to read it to find out. It's definitely worth seeing, but the message is mixed. Superb acting by a wonderful cast, especially Ciaran Hinds who was Captain Wentworth in Persuasion and in Oscar and Lucinda. Eric Bana was also quite good, playing again the reluctant warrior that he so skillfully portrayed in Troy and Blackhawk Down. It is Speilberg's most mature and most ambitious movie of his career and it makes you think. At least it did me.

Aeon Flux - yes, I had to see the movie even though it got bad reviews. If you're a Charlize Theron fan then you have to see it because there be lots of pratically nekkid shots of her. Love her nightgown by the way. The movie had amazing special effects, and I really liked the story. It's a great scifi story with a love story thrown in. I would definitely see this again.

Syriana - a very good but complicated movie value wise. All the critics are putting it on their top ten list. The movie was written and directed by the guy who wrote Traffic. If you liked how Traffic looked at the drug trade, you'll like how this guy dealt with the oil situation. Sadly, it is that complicated and morally ambigious. There are no easy answers to the problems in that part of the country, despite what the war protestors tell you. And if you're driving a gas guzzling car and not living off the grid then you, like everyone else is very dependent on oil.

And may I remind you that the policy to protect America's oil interests at all costs was set forth by former democratic president Jimmy Carter during the Arab oil embargo in the 1970's, and that every american president including Clinton has followed that policy.

What I admired was how the writer brought in the Chinese question. Once China gets a hold of the oil and that country is doing all it can to do it, expect gas and oil prices and the price of everything connected to oil to rise including heating, electricity and food because foods has to get trucked in from somewhere to rise. Once the Chinese get the oil they need, their financial markets will make the US financial markets seem like a medieval village trading show. And when that happens, and it's when not if, then well, we will all be in a mess of trouble.

Some silly yahoo thing that's part of my email account. I used to wear my hair like this in college. I think she's supposed to look like me.

I didn't know you could upload photos with blogger. I just downloaded the images from my digital camera onto my laptop. Here are some pictures of the coast line in Marin I took last year.

A view from the North.

Looking towards the South.

A pretty rock.

This is a picture of one of the jewelry sets I made over Christmas. It's made of amethyst chips, amethyst coloured balls, and sterling silver pretty squares and flowery beads.

Well, I guess I am not going to so my boy down south after all. He's got bronchitis and on antiobiotics and working all week. And he had a good point when he told me I need to get my car checked out this week, because God forbid something should happen to my car as I'm driving down to LA.

I'm kind of relieved. I've never driven down to LA by myself before. It's a very long drive. The farthest I've ever driven was four hours and with LA traffic, the drive could be eight hours. I won't say that I'm not bummed, but I was tellng a friend of mine that when I saw M-Square over Labor Day it was perfect and we did a ton of haggling for that weekend to happen.

M-Square said he needed to sort some things about his job. I think he should stick it out. It's driving him insane because it's very stressful and he has to work long hours, but I think over time it will be very financially successful. He just has to learn to manage it better. Plus despite the insane working hours, he has alot of freedom in this job that he wouldn't have in a job in corporate America.

So I'm at home this week on vacation and relaxing. I took two beadmaking classes and I've so far made four necklace, bracelet and earring sets. If I can figure out how to work the digital camera my cousin gave me last year, I'll post pictures of my creative venture.

I love making jewelry. I even paid the city a fee to get a business license so I can write off my beading purchases on my taxes. I'd like to be able to sell the stuff I make, but mostly I want to be able to write off this very expensive hobby.

I have to figure out how to buy beadmaking supplies wholesale. So far I've only been buying stuff retail because I have no idea where the wholesale stores are. Once I figure that out I'll be very happy.

I don't konw if I'll be able to sell my jewelry though. I make jewelry for myself to wear and I don't know if I could part with anything if somebody wanted to buy it. I had the same experience when I was making art collages, and a guy in class asked me if he could buy one of my collages. He said he would pay me $50 for this piece I made on the theme of beauty. I was very torn. I probably should have let him buy it and then I could have had the satisfaction of being a paid artist.

What I should have done was take a picture or a copied the artwork through a copy machine, and then sell it. Then at least I would have some record of the piece before it left my hands. That guy would have probably put my art collage up in his house and had it framed and everything. Right now that collage is sitting in my art collage portfolio gathering dust. I haven't looked at the piece since that class. Silly huh?

If I would have sold it to Peter, my art would have hopefully been framed and shown to people and lived the life of a beloved piece of artwork instead of being forgotten by the artist and put away and thought about in odd moments.

I am watching the last broadcast of Monday Night Football. What a sad incident! I have so many memories growing up and watching Monday Night Football with the family, and then later as an adult going to Monday Night Football parties or watching it in various bars all over the country.

They say it's moving to ESPN but it won't be the same. But I guess it's inevitable as John Madden and Al Michaels are getting old and I don't think the ratings have been that great. Ah well, it's another American institution ending and a sad night for football fans the world over.

I don't know about you, but ESPN has the worst announcers! Some of those guys are like so illiterate. Let's hope they get better broadcasters. Hey, does this mean we won't get to see the jumprope competition or the those huge guys chopping logs on ESPN anymmore?

I can't end the posts for the day on such a negative note. I've lost about 10 pounds with all the dramarama going on with car and at work. So once again, my size 8 jeans are fitting again. YEAH! I haven't been able to get into those jeans since I broke up with the red-headed guy. It's nice to have my jeans fit again. Of course, my gigoundous tummy is still there because when I lose weight it comes off my bum and legs first and off my stomach last, but I am very happy to be fitting into my clothes again.

So I guess my new year's resolution for next year is again to try and lose more weight to get rid of my tummy. I'd like to drop another 20 pounds or so and get back into a size 6 which I was starting to get into two years ago before I changed jobs.

I joined weight watchers and although I've been too busy to go to meetings, it must have helped because I did lose weight. Not a lot of weight but enough for my pants to fit again.

This week has been about me having adventures with car care. The back of my car got flooded from all the rain. There was in inch of water on the floor in the backseat of my car. When I took it to the dealership, they told me that the drains in my moon roof were clogged and the clogging caused the rain to seep into me car. Who knew you were supposed to clean the moon roof drains. I have my my moon roof open all the time when I drive because I hate having wind on my face and hair when I drive.

I called my insurance company and they said I could get it covered under flooding. Thank god for car insurance. To drain and clean out my car cost me about $1200, but I only paid the deductible of $250. Okay, that was adventure # 2.

Adventure # 1 which I'm still reeling and in shock about happened in November. I took a friend of mine to the pet store to get a cat scratcher for her new cat and then we went out to dinner. I didn't even drink but I don't need booze to get myself into a dummy car fender bender.

The opening into my driveway is very small and I am usually careful driving into for fear of scraping my car. Well, I guess three rootbeers was enough to get me going because I ended up scraping the passenger side doors of my car. It looked like a some huge animal with sharp claws took a swipe at my car, because I scraped against brick. Oh my god, I am such a bonehead!

I felt like my co-worker at work who ran her BMW into the pylon in the parking garage at the job we both used to be at. We used to always joke that one of us was going to hit the pylon and it was her. My co-worker called her insurance company and the woman told her not to report it because it was an accident she caused herself and based on that, the insurance company would raise her rates.

So I decided not to call my insurance company because I don't need my car insurance rates to get any higher, and instead took it to the shop that repaired my car three or four years ago when I got into that accident on the Bay Bridge. I told another friend of mine about my accident, and she told me that she had similar type accident. She didn't report it as well and never got her SUV fixed.

I think if the scratch wasn't so bad I probably wouldn't have bothered to get it fixed, but it was really, really bad. So I took it the shop and the guy fixed and even gave me a discount because I was a previous customer. But even with the discount, I had to shell out $1,800. God, that really, really hurt! Still does as a matter of fact.

So remember how it's a saying of mine that bad things come in threes, or maybe four as the case may be.

After I picked up my car at the dealer on Friday, the dealership guy told me my airbag light was on and I told him that it was fine when I brought my car. So now I have to take the car back to the shop next week so they can take a look at it and diagnose what's wrong. The dealership guy said they would do it the diagnosis for free because the service people might have done something to my car when they were trying to air it and dry it.

The dang car still smells kind of mildewy but at least the water is gone. I'm going to have to blow some cash in the next couple of months to get the car detailed to see if they can get rid of the smell. I put two new car air fresheners in today hopoing that would help.

And then there was the matter of the knob that controls the side mirrors on my car breaking. That cost me another $100 or so dollar to fix. Then as I'm driving home from the dealership yesterday, I noticed my AC was on. The garage probably had my AC on high to dry the car. Well, now the AC light sometimes doesn't go on, and the airflor switch next to it isn't working.

I swear to god I am not buying a european car again. All my friends who have japanese cars never have this kind of stuff happen to their car!

But wait it's not over. This is bad adventures with my car # 3. After picking up my car from the dealership, I decided I needed to get some things at Target and then at Costco. On the way home from Costco as I'm driving home on 280, I noticed there was a crack in the windshield on the driver side, my side. I was like freaking out. Someone had tried to break into my car. They tried to smash the windshield and as I found out later in the morning, whoever was trying to break into my car had used some kind of sharp instrument to pry open the bottom covering of my windshield. And this all happened in the Costco parking lot because I was in a hurry and just grabbed the first open spot I could which was far from the store entrance. And I'm like okay this is my lesson. I need to park at night as close to the store entrance as possible or to a more populated portion of the parking lot and under a light. Parking far away with no overhead lights is just inviting trouble.

My poor car. Thank god the idiot theives couldn't break my windshield. For all the problems I've had with german fat boy car, my baby has protected me. It's a well-built strong little car, able to take a lot of knocks without totally getting wrecked. But my baby car gets a ton of love too. The owner of the shop that fixed my dented and scratched door told me he could tell my car was well taken care of and that my engine sounded great.

So again for the second time this week I call my insurance company and they said glass damage was covered under my policy. So luckily I was able to get an appointment at noon and my windshield was replaced and all I had to pay was my deductible of $250. My insurance company is so going to hate me and will probably raise my car insurance rates to the sky come renewal.

My car insurance rates area already large just because I live in the city and county of San Francisco. I have a friend who insures two cars and because she lives in Oakland, she insures two cars for less than what I have to pay for my one car. I asked the insurance rep about this once, and they told me car insurance companies determine rates all by zipcode. And apparently I live in the high insurance rate zipcode.

So my holiday car adventures which are far from over have cost me about $2,500 this year. It has not been a very joyous christmas for me financially. I mean I have money to pay for all of this, but still! I could have used that money for other things. I really want to visit M-Square for New Years and drive down to the LB but with my car luck these last two months, I don't know if it's a good idea. Plus, I'm like thinking I probably should just stay home and not wreck my car and not spend any money.

What's trippy is that I just finished paying off my car and I have the title to my car, and now all this crap happens. What is up with that? I guess I should try to be positive. Bad things are happening to my car and luckily not to me personally. But still, I'm the one who has to pay when bad things happen to my car. And yes, I was an amazing dumb dumb bonehead for hitting the side of my apartment building but at least no one saw me. My friend hit another car at her parking garage and the parkkng attendant saw her and reported her to the police and now she's got a point on her license. Apparently when you hit a stationery vehicle it's considered a moving violation. So things could be bad for me like her friend because having points on your license automatically raises your car insurance rates.

I'm like way whining here but it's been a horrible four weeks I think. The only positive things things are I have a new passenger side door, which is great because there were a couple of scratches on that door. Now my car almost looks brand new. I also have a new windshield, which means those stupid college parking stickers that I stuck on inside of my windshield and which I couldn't take off are now gone.

And of course, M-Square and I survived the winter holidays which makes everyone cranky and depressed. We're still together and it's my bestest christmas present ever!

Merry Christmas eve everyone! I'm at home stuffed from eating lobster. M-Square is spending Christmas eve with his kids. Yes, the guy has children. I received an early taste of what the winter holidays will be like with this guy, and it's so unknown territory for me. My parents stayed together so I am clueless of the protocol of divorced parents and their kids. It's a hard world to be in for a kid and for the parents, I think.

M-Square has never seen his kids at both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this Christmas is a first and very, very big deal for him. My friend Melissa was telling me about her boyfriend and his issues with the holidays since he is from a divorced home. She says years later as an adult he still get depressed over the holidays. Melissa told me that either I get used to it or I get out now.

M-Square and I celebrated our 6-month anniversary on Friday. He said 6-months was a milestone for him, and I told him for me too! It's a been a long and rocky six months, but we're still together and us still together is my best christmas gift ever!

So okay, I'm alone on Christmas but I think it's fine. I am seriously dreading next Christmas with me in LA and us most likely living together and having to deal with his kids and the holidays. A friend of mine told me I will always be the evil stepmother ... something to look forward to huh?

Yes, I am still here! Thanks for asking. I've been busy at work and having a case of the blue meanies and the holiday blues. M-Square and I are still together which is my best Christmas present ever, but ... it's been a shaky couple of weeks. What is about the holidays that freaks everyone including myself out!

I decided I completely and totally hate my job and that I will never be promoted working for the people that I do. My boss' boss totally hates and is jealous of me. My cubemate, whom I've grown very close to in these last three months, suffers from the same fate. She's a smart kid who just graduated from Stanford, and my boss' boss shut her down because she came up with ideas that my boss' boss hadn't even thought of. The poor dumb witch couldn't take it and starting getting mean. It's the same thing that happened to me.

But, you know what? I don't care. I can't care! My immediate boss is really nice, and she told me if I wanted to move to Southern California to be with M-Square, I can still keep my job. And this is the only reason I am staying in my current job, even though it is spiritually totally killing me. It's so difficult to know that I don't dare sound intelligent because I know I'll get shut down for fear of showing my boss' boss up. But whatever!!! That is her karma and I'm a total believer in karma.

As soon as I move to SoCal and get settled with M-Square, I can start job hunting again. But until then, I'm going to have to be very British and have a stiff upper lip and just deal with it.