I Miss Mobile Blogging

I miss blogging by cell phone. I did that effectively when the blog was on Blogger. Unfortunately WordPress.com does not support posting via text messaging at this time. Also, I choose not to access the Internet via my cell phone.

A few of my posts have actually come from my cell phone, but only indirectly. What I do is text my posts to my email, then paste the text onto a blog post later.

I usually text when I have nothing better to do, especially if I’m waiting in line or somewhere. It can be a good way to pass the time while doing some blogging. It shows how addicted I can be to blogging.

This post is a good example of “indirect” mobile blogging. I texted the above post to my email address, and I posted it here. Maybe someday WordPress.com will enable mobile blogging.

Southwest passenger cited for cell phone chatter

Southwest passenger cited for cell phone chatter

A Southwest Airlines passenger who refused to get off his cell phone during a flight found Dallas police waiting for him Monday.

I know that cell phone can be addicting. Indeed, I am a confessed cell phone addict. Although I’ve had a cell phone for only five years, I feel deprived if I don’t leave the house without it now. At least I don’t constantly carry it around with me in the house.

I’m curious to see what the follow-up story is to this incident. I can’t imagine a phone call that is so important that even being in-flight isn’t a good enough reason to be on the phone. It’s as if national security was at stake.

Twitter Updates

Twitter updates from the past week:

is feeling the Monday morning blues because of the rain outside. 10:51 AM May 12, 2008 from web

bringing Mom to the airport for her flight to Boston to visit my brother and kids. 07:03 AM May 10, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Sway by Bic Runga. 04:40 PM May 09, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Love Song by Sara Bareilles. 04:36 PM May 09, 2008 from txt

waiting while his wife shops at Target. 03:52 PM May 09, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Over It by Katharine McPhee. 12:42 PM May 09, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: With or Without You by U2. 06:13 PM May 08, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Easy by the Commodores 06:34 PM May 07, 2008 from txt

Why am I at work when it’s so nice outside? 08:45 AM May 06, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Losing My Religion by R.E.M. 06:56 PM May 05, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Don’t Stop Believing by Journey. 01:00 PM May 05, 2008 from txt

Wasted lunch hour on trip to post office with long lines. 12:58 PM May 05, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Invisible by Clay Aiken. 06:03 PM May 04, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Radar Love by Golden Earring. 11:56 AM May 04, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: The Story of a Young Heart by A Flock of Seagulls. 11:52 AM May 04, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: If You’re Not the One by Daniel Bedingfield 11:30 AM May 04, 2008 from txt

Song of the Moment: Angels Brought Me Here by Guy Sebastian. 07:48 AM May 03, 2008 from txt

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!

My Mom will be spending Mother’s Day with my brother and his family in Boston. It’s the first time she has spent Mother’s Day with him in a long time, and the first time she will spend it with the grandchildren. We celebrated Mother’s Day a week early by going to Applebee’s for dinner.

Mom Traveling

Today my Mom is off to Boston to visit my brother and his family. She will be able to spend some time with the grandchildren, something she wishes she can do more often. Her flight is leaving in a few minutes. She will spend a week over there.

The reason Mom is going there is that my nephew’s school is having a celebration next week. My brother was explaining that it is a get together with the grandparents and “grand-friends” of the students. He said that even the parents aren’t invited to this program. So my Mom will be celebrating with my brother’s oldest son.

The other reason why this trip is special is that this will be the first time she is spending Mother’s Day with my brother in a long time and the first time she is celebrating with the grandkids. Usually we celebrate Mother’s Day at home while we call Boston, but this time she will be celebrating Mother’s Day over there. It will be the first time her grandchildren will celebrate Mother’s Day with her.

I’m sure the week will go by very fast, but it will be a good quality time my Mom will be spending with my brother and especially the grandchildren.

Music Playlist

Here is a playlist I recently created on my iTunes library:

If I Never See Your Face Again by Maroon 5
Love Song by Sara Bareilles
New Soul by Yael Naim
Realize by Colbie Caillat
Who’s Gonna Save My Soul by Gnarls Barkley
Better in Time by Leona Lewis
Touch My Body by Mariah Carey
Somebody’s Me by Enrique Iglesias
Hollywood’s Not America by Ferras
Like You’ll Never See Me Again by Alicia Keys
Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
Our Song by Taylor Swift
Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry
These Hard Times by matchbox 20
Supernatual Superserious by R.E.M.
All That Matters by Addison Road
Given Up by Linkin Park
Bye Bye by Mariah Carey
Finally by Fergie

Friday’s Feast

Here’s another edition of Friday’s Feast. Enjoy!

Appetizer
When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?
If it’s someone I know, I always try to smile back. If it’s a stranger, it depends on the situation, but I may not always return the smile.

Soup
Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?
We have mostly carpet, but the kitchen is vinyl tiles and the basement was changed to ceramic tiles a couple of years ago.

Salad
Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.
Mondays must move me mightily.

Main Course
Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?
My Mom’s high school friend was in town recently to see her grandson, who was adopted by her son and his wife and just brought him home for the first time from Guatemala. I have a cousin who was adopted at birth.

Dessert
Name 2 blue things.
My blue jeans and my blue UCLA shirt that I will wear when I work out later tonight.

American Idol Results

A shock! Jason Castro is leaving Idol tonight.

How is that a shock? It’s a shock that a shocking result didn’t happen. Based on last night’s performances alone, Jason was slated to go home. But that was the case for the last few weeks. I think his laid-back demeanor ultimately did him in, as it gave the appearance that he didn’t want to be in the competition anymore. He’s not a bad performer, and he could have a good career with a niche in the Jack Johnson/John Mayer mode.

We are still in line for the battle of the Davids in the final round. Syesha has managed to slide into the top three by her continued progression week-by-week. But she’ll be hard-pressed to knock off both Davids to grab the Idol crown. David Archuleta’s fans are numerous and still motivated to vote for him in droves, and David Cook’s fan base is rapidly growing and is almost as motivated to vote for him. Syesha’s fan base is much smaller and not as motivated to dial a vote for her until their fingers begin to bleed.

American Idol - Top 4 Performances

This week the remaining four Idol contestants will be singing songs from artists who made the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. I think song choice will be a big key to their success this week.

David Cook - “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Baba O’Riley”
I don’t know what David was thinking when he chose the Duran Duran classic as his first song. He sang it OK, but it wasn’t in the spirit of the theme, as Duran Duran isn’t exactly one of the strongest members of the Hall of Fame. On the other hand, the Who is a solid member, and the second song David performed was from one of their best albums. Even without the musical theatrics of the original song, David made a powerful interpretation of a song now known by the present generation from the CSI New York (?) show. I think he has solidified his place in the finals.

Syesha Mercado - “Proud Mary” and “A Change Is Gonna Come”
Syesha paid homage to two of her greatest admirers in music history and made shrewd choices in performing these two songs, particularly the song that was a hit in the aftermath of Sam Cooke’s untimely death. Her performances tonight were inspiring, especially the second song, which she said took on a whole new meaning for her after the last results show. She has certainly come a long way in this competition, perhaps more than any other contestant, from the beginning to this point. She should be back next week in the top three.

Jason Castro - “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”
I’m sure Jason is trying the best he can in this competition, but I think Simon has a point when he says that he doesn’t think Jason is taking things seriously. I don’t think many people other than his most rabid fans thought he would still be here at this stage, and I think even Jason is surprised to still be here. He chose two great artists to honor this week in Bob Marley and Bob Dylan, but he didn’t choose their strongest songs. He merely tried to copy the original versions of these songs and didn’t convey why he thought they were in the Hall of Fame. In fact, he flubbed the lyrics on Mr. Tambourine Man. Simon told Jason to pack his suitcase, which is something he should consider doing.

David Archuleta - “Stand By Me” and “Love Me Tender”
David’s first song was an astute choice for him, and I liked how he explained why he liked this Ben E. King classic. He went on to pay homage to it by turning in an inspired, brilliant performance, easily the best of the first round. His second choice was not nearly as strong, and his performance wasn’t quite as inspired as the first one, though he sang it competently. David has demonstrated that he’s technically the best singer left, but as a musical artist, I don’t think he’s as advanced as David Cook. But I believe both will provide an interesting choice for the finals.

Hands down, Jason finished 7th and 8th in a field of four. But we all know the public doesn’t take into account only this night’s performances when they vote. As history has shown, we have had shocking results when it comes to four contestants. Anything other than Jason’s elimination would be a big shock.

Earthquake?

I was listening to the news when reports started coming in that people had felt some sort of rumbling in the area. WTOP was reporting that people living in Annandale, Springfield, Falls Church, Bailey’s Crossroads and Arlington were calling in to say they felt some sort of boom or explosion and a shaking of the ground. The calls started coming in about an hour ago, according to the station.

It was just confirmed by the US Geological Survey that a magnitude 1.8 earthquake had hit the Washington DC area. The epicenter was a mile west southwest of Annandale, VA.

I could just see it now. When I get home, my Mom will say that someone in California will call her to say that they heard in the news about the earthquake here and will ask if we are all right.

Weed Be Gone

The weather in our area has been cooler than normal this spring. There’s also been more rain than usual in recent weeks, which is better than being in a drought. My wife’s tulips have flourished at this time. Unfortunately, the weeds have also thrived and have been competing with the tulips for space in the garden.

It was good that the tulip bulbs popped out and blossomed before the weeds took over. It was just amazing how fast the weeds sprung up in a short time. The grass in the front lawn also grew fast.

The garden needed to be cleaned up, with the weeds needing to be pulled out. But our schedules were always full, or the weather was not good during at least part of the weekend. Today I saw an opening and decided to do something about the weeds that were taking over the front yard.

Usually I don’t enjoy doing gardening work because I always end up itching and getting bug bites. But the weeds were threatening to take over the house, and those weeds were an ugly sight on the front yard. It was just a matter of pulling out the weeds and making sure they don’t grow again.

Pulling out the weeds was much easier than I thought. I brought out the weed puller in case I needed it, but I did not have to use it too often. Most of the weeds were easy to pull out, and I made sure I was able to pull out the roots so they would not grow again.

There were a lot of weeds to pull out, but it actually felt good to pull out each weed so that the front yard would look much better. Pulling out the roots will ensure that the weeds will not grow again, and it felt good to pull them completely.

I thought I would spend a long time doing the work in the garden, but I finished it much more quickly than usual. The weeds filled up a whole trash bag, which was not bad considering that I can fill at least two bags in a typical gardening session. I was happy to finally get rid of the eye sore.

Fitness Update

Right now I am tired of doing weight exercises, and I admit that I am more enthusiastic about doing cardio exercises these days. A few days of not doing weights in the gym will help kill the motivation.

Yesterday I did not go to the gym because we went out to dinner. The last time I did some serious weight lifting was Thursday of last week. I wanted to walk on the treadmill after dinner last night, but my wife wanted me to sleep and get up early to do my walk instead. I got up super early and managed to do 20 minutes on the treadmill and walk one mile. I might want to try doing an early morning walk at least every other day.

Later today my wife and I went to the gym. Even though I was there on Wednesday and trained with my personal trainer, it felt like I took a long vacation from the gym. I tried to do abdominal crunches as my warm up, but that did not work, as I struggled to do the back exercises. I did four exercises, each with three sets of 12 repetitions, before giving up and going upstairs to get on the elliptical machine. My wife was just finishing up her session on the recumbent bike. She tried the elliptical machine next to mine, but she got tired very easily and went to walk on the treadmill instead. I started slowly but managed to do two miles in 26 minutes.

I went down to change, but my wife wanted to go to the sauna, so I went back upstairs and did a 30-minute walk on the treadmill. It was more brisk than usual, as I made a concerted effort to increase my walking speed. I managed to do 1.86 miles and burn 272 calories on the treadmill.

It turned out to be a pretty good workout after all.

Friday’s Feast

Here is another edition of Friday’s Feast. Enjoy, and have a good weekend.

Appetizer
What was your favorite cartoon when you were a child?
Speed Racer, Flintstones, Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear, etc.

Soup
Pretend you are about to get a new pet. Which animal would you pick, and what would you name it?
I’m not exactly into pets, but if I did I would get a bird, a parakeet, and call it Milo.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion?
I rarely dress up in a suit anymore except for a wedding or an interview. I’d give it a 5.

Main Course
What kind of music do you listen to while you drive?
Here’s a quick playlist:
Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry
How Many Words by Blake Lewis
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
Touch My Body by Mariah Carey
Bubbly by Colbie Calliat
Love Song by Sara Bareilles
Ordinary People by John Legend
Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg

Dessert
When was the last time you bought a clock? And in which room did you put it?
I bought an alarm clock with a dock for my new iPod during the holidays to replace the boom box that we brought to the Philippines to give to my aunt. It was in the master bedroom.

American Idol Results

A special message for a loyal reader (this person may or may not know who they are): last night was a great case in point to not rely solely on YouTube to watch Idol. I’m not sure if you caught what happened last night. Let me know if you know what I’m talking about.

I’m watching the results show right now. Ryan has just sent Jason to the couch, meaning that he is safe and will return next week. For me, that’s a shock, since I thought he was, by far, the weakest performer last night. Of course, lots of people do not necessarily vote based on just the night’s performance. They vote for a myriad of reasons, a lot of which don’t necessarily have to do with singing or performing. Jason must have a huge fan base that were in full force last night and saved him.

Now Ryan has sent David Archuleta to the couch, and David acts as if he was shocked to be safe this week. For his sake, I hope it’s a wakeup call for him to stop being complacent and to take some risks next week to try to take it to the next level so that he won’t suffer the same fate as Melinda last year.

Ryan just send David Cook back to the couch and declared him safe. We now know that the universe is not about to explode. He brings out Brooke and Syesha and tells them the obvious - that they are in the bottom two. They will also have to wait a good half hour while the show goes on.

After performances by Natasha Bedingfield and Neil Diamond from his new album, we learn that Brooke is leaving the show tonight. She is very emotional about leaving, barely getting through her last song.

Fitness Update

The bad news is that I haven’t been doing very well updating my fitness routine here. The good news is that I’ve been doing very well in my fitness routine. I’ve been able to incorporate physical fitness into my lifestyle, and I can feel that I’m making some progress in my fitness goals.

Since the last time I reported on my exercise routine, I’ve been making a big effort to get in some significant physical activity every day. I’ve gone to the gym as often as I can, and I’ve made some good quality workouts. I continue to work with the personal trainer once or twice a week and continue to get some good advice and tips. I’ve also made some significant power walks on the treadmill every other day as I try to increase my cardio workouts.

Alas, I couldn’t quite keep up with the physical activity routine. I developed a sore throat last Sunday and hadn’t felt well the past few days. The last significant exercise I did before getting sick as a one hour treadmill power walk on Saturday, where I managed to do 3.29 miles and burn 512 calories. Last night I tried to come back and did a 45-minute walk, but it was lighter than usual as I managed to do only 2.18 miles and burn 225 calories. I’m still debating whether I will keep my appointment with the personal trainer today.

I ended up keeping my appointment with the trainer, but I let him know that I was still recovering from the sore throat. He had me do a few exercises that emphasized stretching and balancing as well as a few that worked my abs. Despite the “light” workout, I still managed to sweat it out a little. It turned out to be a productive albeit abbreviated workout.