V-Day, 2009 with the Zeeba Eata's

Well, Valentine's came and went, and we had a great day. We both worked in the morning/afternoon, not part of the V-Day but still very important, and then we had to get ready to go out for dinner. It was about this time (5pm roughly) while at Amanda's parents in Fontana (easier to get ready there after work then to drive all the way home to San B then back to Fontana for food), that Amanda realized that she forgot her outfit! So off to Target for a last minute V-Day outfit/present for Amanda. Then after we were all ready and whatnot, we went out for a nice Evening at Logan's Rhodehouse...
After that, we went and walked arounf Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga...
Where we had a lot of fun. We looked at the Puppy store, though we can't really aford a puppy right now, we went through a few places and kind of as an afterthought, we went into Gap. I went straight for the sale rack and one of the first things I pulled out was a pair of Olive green/brown flat-front pants that were unknowingly made for me by someone in Sri-Lanka. They were only $8.99 and the were a 31/32 size, which meant perfect length and waist size for me!! So Amanda and I both got new outfits (rather, collectively she got the new top, and I got the new bottom, but whatever).

Then after Victoria Gardens started to close up, we headed on home for a fun night of ROCK BAND II! We love it and are addicted. Our Band name is the Zeeba Eata's, in tribute to the amazingly funny Stephan Pastis comic-strip Pearls Before Swine. Eventually, we exchanged our gifts (which we picked out ourselves but pretended like we didn't know what we were getting) and went to sleep. It was a long day, but a lot of fun. Here's the loot:Amanda got: pearl earings mounted in white gold studs and the first book in the Spiderwick ChroniclesScott got: Star Wars: Jango Fett, Open Season; Wolverine: Origins; and Books 1 & 2 of Abarat by Clive Barker (with illustrations by the author)

Valentine's Day is a Coming

V-Day is here almost upon us and Amanda and I are excited cause WE are getting a new toy, plus whatever "surprises" we have planned for each other. But here is what we got together...and we can't wait to form a band:

Maybe after V-Day I'll put some pics here of our stuff and our Band (name yet to be released).

I'm Not the Only One...Stephen King Thinks So Too!

Recently Nicole did a blog post about her general dislike for the Twilight series and it caused a minor raucous with some of her readers, but I'm hear to tell everyone that it's not just us!

Recently USA Weekend writer Lorrie Lynch did an interview with Stephen King for an American Icons story she was working on (the full King interview will be the cover story for the March 6-8 issue of USA Weekend). In the course of the interview they got into a discussion of popular authors vs. the academic elite, a subject he has strong opinions about, and she asked him if his mainstream success over the past 35 years paved the way for the massive careers of Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling and Twilight author Stephanie Meyer. King doesn't know how much of an influence he had on Meyer, but he does know that Rowling read his stuff when she was younger.

Here's what King said: "I think that has some kind of formative influence the same way reading Richard Matheson had an influence on me," King explains. "People always say to me, 'Well, what about H.P. Lovecraft?' And the thing was, you read Lovecraft when you were a kid but I never felt that he was speaking my language. It was chillier than my heart was, and when Matheson started to write about ordinary people and stuff, that was something that I wanted to do. I said, 'This is the way to do it. He’s showing the way.' I think that I serve that purpose for some writers, and that’s a good thing. Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

Thanks Stephen King for validating what others have said. It sure is different coming from a renowned writer than from an inexperienced blogger! BUT, all you Meyers fans out there keep reading, he went on to explain why he believes she has been successful and gives some valid points, with examples, of why her books have been a success...

Then King recalls that when his mom was alive, she read all the Erle Stanley Gardner books, the Perry Mason mysteries, obsessively when he was growing up. "He was a terrible writer, too, but he was very successful," King says. "Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

So yeah Meyers "can't worth a darn" but girls still read it cause it's like a chick flick.

Now for the shout-out to my lovely wife. She has been working a substitute job in the High School district this week where she has lots of extra time, so she brought Twilight and has been reading a lot (something she doesn't do often). For example, she read 70 pages in one day! But all the same, she recognizes the same thing that King said: She can't write worth a darn! But Amanda likes the story so she still gobbles it up. She just gets frustrated when there is a whole chapter of Bella and Edward (?) asking each other questions that are irrelevant to the story line. And I get to hear both sides from her, but mostly it's positive stuff about the story. Love you Amanda and I'm glad that you're reading

One thing Meyer's fans must realize is this: She sucks, but it's a great story concept that she came up with. I'll admit it's a great idea. But like many others, I too say that she needs some writing classes and a better editor.

January 2009, the New Year Begins

Well the New Year has started, and it's already 1/12th done!! This month was a fun one, heck, life is fun! But here are some photo recaps from the month.

JANUARY 16, 2009

My Disneyland pass expired on the 17th and we aren't going to renew them this year, so it was our last hurrah! Here are the pics...
This is me climbing a big Lego block, now I know how those little dude's feel...
We were trying to take a self-shot and a nice couple came and took this for us, Yay!

Amanda doesn't like this picture cause her eye is squinty, but I took this while riding The Matterhorn and she has the wind in her eyes so whatever.
What's wrong with this picture?
Enjoying Space Mountain!! We walked into the park and made a b-line (why is it called that by the way?) for this ride, LOVE IT! We went on this, then Matterhorn, and then we just walked around, perusing the shops and enjoying our time together. What a fun day.

JANUARY 26, 2009

This was the day when a crazy Thunder & Lightning/Hail storm hit our area at about 2am (yep, I'm out taking pictures at that time in that weather cause I love these kinds of things)
Getting ready to brave the stormHere's our parking lot...This is the other side of the cars in the above picture
This is behind my POV in the last pictureAnd to finish it up, this is what your sweater will look like if you go play in the hail at 2am in the morning. I thought it looked cool so I took a picture.

Well, it's been a good month and though times are crazy, I'm optimistic about the New Year! I hope everyone else's is going great too!

What Does It Mean To You...

To be White?

I am taking a Race and Racism class in which we watched a movie called The Color of Fear. It was an interesting video where someone got a bunch of different ethnic groups together to discuss their prejudices and experiences with Racism. At one point in the video someone pointed out that the White guy had no culture and told him to "get ethnic!" So it brought the discussion to be "What does it mean to be white?"

The white people in the video didn't really answer, so the next class meeting we got into a very thoughtful, meaningful, and honest discussion (in a class of over 300 people) about what it means to be white and how other ethnic groups see us. Many people questioned why we have no particular culture, traditions, or language maintenance from our ancestors, and as a result of the discussion I reached the following thought (and shared it with the class):

I don't carry the traditions of my ancestors (British, Finnish, Dutch, etc.) because...well I'm mostly of English descent (?) and come from colonizers who came here to purposefully abandon England. They didn't want English traditions, they didn't want a queen, they didn't want the oppression of the Catholic Church/Anglo-Saxon Church, they didn't want to be English! They became Americans, they became settlers and colonists and the identifying factor then became which Colony (and later which State) you were from. As for my other ethnic descents, I believe they came here seeking better lives, seeking the American dream, and as part of that over time their cultures and traditions were lost as they sought success and acceptance here. My immigrant ancestors are many generations back and something was lost through those generations, whereas some other ethnic groups or people's personal experiences don't have that generation gap to lose traditions and languages.

What it means for me to be White is to be a mix of many different countries and cultures, to be an American, to eat Mexican food one night and Indian food the next, to have Vietnamese neighbors, Mexican neighbors, Black neighbors (I say black because not all blacks are from Africa, or identify with being from Africa as one Haitian student in my class pointed out), etc., my culture is one of strong immediate family, Sunday dinners, and thrift store shopping.

Just as with all purported "races," my experience is an individual one, not a group one. I'm sure that what it means for me to be white is very different than what it means for a southerner to be white, or a Russian, or a French, or and Italian, or a Englishman, or and Irish, etc. There really is no "Race," we are all the human race and just have different personal experiences that shape who we are. I don't deny grave injustices done against those of different color based solely on the fact that they are different than the oppressor, whether currently or in the past, I just deny the idea of Race, or that we are different races. Different ethnic groups, skin colors, or different citizens of different countries yes, but inherently a different Race? nope.

So for you, what does it mean to be white? or whatever you are? What does it mean to be you? Comments are desired but if all I achieve is some introspection on your part, that's ok too.

The Interview With The Vampire, by Anne Rice

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a great book. Anne Rice paints a world that you step into as you read Louis' "narrative" of his life. As Louis told his story I felt like some invisible companion to his life, so vivid was Rice's descriptive power through him. The only thing negative I have to say about this book is that the word "preternatural" is overused, but given the subject-matter of the book I let it slide. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this read!

Here's a little excerpt of Louis' reflections on life that I enjoyed:

-"...brooding would have been to me the most terrible waste; but rather I looked around me at all the mortals that I knew and saw all life as precious, condemning all fruitless and passion and guilt that would let it slip through the fingers like sand.

View all my reviews.

Obama must not watch the news...

THIS IS RETARDED so now that our new year and new President is off to a new start, I believe it's time to start saving more.

NEWS FLASH Obama!!! WE ARE IN AN ECONOMIC CRISIS.

Ok, for those who didn't read the article from the link above, Obama inauguration is estimated to cost $150 million! By comparison, George W. Bush was given a hard time for the $42.3 million cost of his inauguration .... but that number, as Media Matters points out, did not include security.

So again, now that he is off to "saving our country" from it's economic woes, we had all better hunker down because this does not bode well for me or you...