Does Moo...?

After learning that I got a cat, I've been getting alot of questions about her, so even though those people that asked the questions probably won't read this post, since they seldom use the internet for recreation, I'll answer them here, since they should be reading this blog daily anyway.

Q. Why Moo?
A. This question was answered in an earlier post, but for the sake of keeping things together, I'll answer it here too. She looks like a cow, who say "moo". And when you say moo a little differently, it's pig in Thai, and she is definately quite the piggy when it comes to her food bag being rustled *ears perk up*.

Q. What does Moo like to do in her spare time?
A. Well when she's not eating, sleeping or simply sitting there staring at her family members eat, Moo likes to play with her "interactive" toys, which are bells, streamers and feather tied to a string that is tied to a stick, which I wave around. Moo is definately the ground hunter and enjoys crouching behind the folded up sleeping bag that resides in the middle of the living room, waiting for her chance to pounce on her prey. She will run after said toy until she is panting heavily and indicates her "doneness" with playing by grabbing the toy, pulling out of my hand and taking into the hallway where I can't reach it.

Q. Is Moo a noisey cat?
A. No, Moo is relatively quiet, with the exception of in the morning when family members are waking up and getting ready. Unfortunately, we have yet to decipher the meows and don't know what the hell she wants.

Q. Why are you scared of Moo on a certain level?
A. You know that's a very personal question, asking me what scares me the the core when it comes to my beloved pet, but I'm devoted to answering honestly so: Yes, yes I am scared of my small, tiny Moo on a certain level. And you would be too if you were walking down a dark hallway and a cat sprung at you out of nowhere to attack your ankles, pant hem or just scare the bajimmles out of you. My *personal* favorite is when she attacks me after I've showered, still in a towel, dripping wet and she gets annoyed because now she's covered in water.

Q. Does Moo sleep in the same spot all day like the cat in the fabulous time lapse video? (Thanks Nabeel)

A. Something like that. When Moo sleeps, she sleeps in the bed-that-she-barely-fits-in, so where ever that bed is, you will find Moo. Unless no one is sitting on the armchair or couch in the living room, or my bedroom door is open, then she might be under my bed *cringe* or on my bed, or behind my door, waiting to pounce.

Q. Why do you cringe at the thought of being under your bed?
A. Because she loves it down there. That's where she went when she was introduced to the apartment, it's warm, comfy, cozy and no one can grab her to force snorgles on her there. Unfortunately, I have known cats and dogs to go to their "safe zone" when they're sick for comfort and to allow their excretions to "flow". Gross? I have carpet in my bedrom, try sleeping above that.

Q. Are you prejudiced against the sweet, luscious fat cat?
A. One, cats should not be luscious. Two, section A, I'm not against the fatties, I just didn't want to bring a fat cat, who's girth would cause my constant random grabbings and snorglings to be uncomfortable, into my home. Two, section B, since I have been guilty of constantly over feeding myself, I would heavily risk over feeding anyone under my care, and therefore would not want a cat that already had a head start on the over feeding, so that is three years I would have a cat that would have to dragged around my apartment in a wheelbarrow.

Q. Is Moo a he or a she?
A. Moo is very much a she. I've check multiple times, just to make sure since it's quite fuzzy down there and hard to see "bits".

Well. If you have more questions, I'll of course answer. And post more pictures (cat and non-cat related) soon.

Moo pt.2

If you're wondering how we came about to get Moo the cat in our lovely abode, here's our story.

On Sunday, October 15th the members of our home went to the SFSPCA two blocks from our house to look at kitten and puppies. My sister and I were looking around one of the kitten rooms and we met Spice, a little orange three month old that was cute and liked to be held. We fell in love with Spice but couldn't take her home because we couldn't get in touch with our landlord to get permission to have pets, we were sad but thought we would come back the next day to get her.

Once we got home I started to think and realised that if I got her on Monday, she would be by herself on Tuesday and Wednesday since I had to go to school. So I decided to get her on Thursday so I could be with her the whole weekend. But then on Tuesday I called and she had been adopted on Monday. Oh well.

We were thinking maybe it's not meant to be, maybe we weren't supposed to get a cat. Then on Wednesday a HUGE mouse ran through our apartment and that cemented the deal, we needed a cat. So on Thursday I got a car and drove to the SPCA intent on getting a cat. I spent two hours looking at cats and kittens and finding out which cats were mellow and cute and fun but still nice to have around.

I had specific criteria for a cat: Short hair, not all black, and not fat. He/she has to like cuddling, loveable and not super active or jumpy (our house isn't a quiet one).The first cat I saw was Clover, who roomed with Pookie. I sat on the floor and got cuddles from both cats, unfortunately Pookie was a longhair but Clover, she was super cute and loved head butting my face.

Clover's sheet

Clover looking out the window

Two kittens cuddling

A kitten chillin' in her litter box

I went with the volunteer to see a bunch of other cats, and finally decided that the only cat that I felt would fit in at our house was Clover.

And so the adoption process began, after filling out paper work, many calls to my sister and Sarah to make sure I was making the right decision, I got little Clover in a box. The poor baby was meowing so much on the way home, probably from my nervous driving, since that was the first time I had driven a Prius and was SO not used to it. I finally got Clover home, let her out of her box, she then jumped out and ran under my bed in the back corner for her safe haven.

I went to buy her a litter box and bowls, and came back as fast as I could. Then I had to return the car. Then I realised I bought the wrong kind of litter so I had to go get some normal litter. So I was in and out of the house, between trips I would get on the floor and take a look at her to see how she was doing. Finally I read the info that the SPCA gave me and found out I was supposed to leave her alone. I did and a few hours later went to check on her and she came out tentatively to eat a little bit and drink a little water. She started investigating my room, and by that evening was out walking in the hallway outside my room.

A few days later she's out and hanging out in the living room full time. A super mellow kitty she's doing really great. We have also renamed her Moo since we've been having trouble remember the name Clover and she's got big cow spots on her. And Moo means pig in Thai, and she's always very excited to hear the food bag rustling.

Moo the cat

So we have gotten a cat. She is three years old, has cow spots and was previously called Clover, but temporarily is known as Moo. Here are a few pictures of her so you get to know the new addition to our home.

Meet the Moo. Kiss the Moo. Love the Moo.

Moo kind of not fitting in her bed. But she likes it anyway.

Moo playing with her brush.

Moo loves her brush.

Here is Moo playing with her hair brush

Moo with her toys

More to come I promise!

This Damn Sidebar

Oooooh I am so not happy with this sidebar that refuses to release itself from the bottom of the page...I'm not even sure how to fix it, I'm sure it's because I've got too many oversized pictures on my blog, but I'm so not changing that.

In other news, I'm really full. I at penne with mushroom, zuchinni and turkey tomato sauce, with mini breaded turkey patties. Then for dessert, a granola muffin with vanilla ice cream and home made (not by me) boysenberry jam. So good.

Onward and upward!

Now that I've posted all the posts that aren't quizzes from my old myspace blog, I can start moving onward.

My first concern is why my profile toolbar is all the way at the bottom of the page. Definately a concern.

And the next is why I'm up so late at night, since it's 11:27. I'm now going to get some shut eye.

Later,
Asha

Picture-Takin'

Howdy everyone, I just recently got a brand spakin' new phone and finally gave in to having a phone that also has a camera in it, and it has come in quite handy since I've had it... I never realised how many pictures got un-taken simply because I didn't have the means to take a picture of it.

So here are some pictures that I've taken in the past few weeks, please pardon the under-par quality, it is a camera phone after all:

Here's a hilarious sign posted outside a parking garage. The fine print you can't really read at the bottom says: "You will also seriously piss off the bitch who pays good money for this garage. And nobody wants that."

A very fast moving, intense kitty named Bella.

The angry Boots.

Carter doesn't quite know where to lay his head, yet he insists on still sitting in.that.exact.spot. Right on the kick stand.

A weird new store in Bloomingdales. Not sure what store it will be, but it definately caught my eye.

Immigration Issues

So, for the past few days, I've basically been hyperventilating over the fact that my I-20 and my F-1 visa do not match. Before I continue, let me explain the whole "non-resident alien for the purpose of study" deal to you assholes with US citizenship (I mean it, you have it easy, and cheap too!).

So, I am from Thailand. When I decided I was going to study in the United States, I had to apply as an international student, recieve an I-20, which is a form that shows who I am, what my ID number at the school is, what and where the school is, and that I am going to the states to study. I then had to go to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, with a shitload of paperwork, a visa photo and an application fee and apply. This was way back when in 2002 when the embassy hadn't yet gone overboard with the application process. I could be approved on the spot because I wasn't a punk and haven't done anything stupid as far the U.S. was concerned.

So now I have an I-20 and a visa, the visa says the school that I'm going to as an annotation so that the immigration officer can verify that I am who I say I am.

So now you know what both these forms are, let me start with what happened Tuesday, the day before I was set to go to Fresno to take my flight to Bangkok, I realised that I hadn't gotten my I-20 signed. If I want to travel outside the U.S. I need to have an endorsement on my I-20 from the Immigration Specialist at school so that Immigration knows when I come back in the country that I am in status and I'm going to study for the next semester. Well, I didn't have a signature, and the school had stressed that they need two weeks to process the I-20 when a student give it in to sign. Well fuck. It was already 6:30, and the International Student office was closed. So I panicked big time. I was on the phone with poor William bawling because I fucked up, and I didn't know how long it would take before I got my I-20. So I called the next day, went in and gave the I-20 and she said it could be signed the same day, probably by the afternoon. So I went home and finished packing, cleaned up, and took my suitcase to school to pick up my I-20 and started my journey to Fresno. I was only 9 hours behind schedule.

Well. I got home just fine, great flight, slept the whole way, ate a bunch and now I'm at home. My dad asks me about my I-20, I say I have it, endorsed, from the new school. Dad says that the new school I-20 won't work because my visa says the old school. FUCK. Now I'm scrambling to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do, I get on the U.S. embassy website, my dad's calling the hotline, who were absolutely no help at all, I'm about to start filling out the online application when my dad looks at my passport and I-20 and notices that there are two numbers that match. My SEVIS ID number. The ID number that shows EVERYTHING about me regarding my status, travelling and student history in the U.S. And then we see a note on the I-20: "Pending transfer from CSU". That totally puts my mind at ease, there's a reference between the new school and the old school! This is great, that means that there should be no confusion, great great great!!!

The next day my dad is still worried and mentions that if I'm denied entry into the U.S. this time because of this complication, I'm screwed for five years because it stays on my record that I was denied and denied people don't get visas. Now I start freaking out again. I e-mailed the Immigration Specialist at school to get a definitive answer. A few minutes ago I checked my e-mail, I'm fine, everything's fine, my status will show up on the computer and there shouldn't be any problems. Shouldn't.

I'm going to go take a nap. This is way too much excitement for me.

Miss you all! Nighty-night!

Avoidance is Bliss

So, I have to write this paper on philosophy, and this semester, after taking this mandatory tag-team philosophy/art history class, I've learned that I REALLY, no-REALLY hate philosophy and art history. I mean, I couldn't care less about either one of these subjects, and in class, most of my energy is spent on not letting my mind wander and not falling asleep. It's really quite sad. What I loved about undergrad was that you never needed to take philosophy, unfortunately I was a major in the department of art and design and therefore had to take an art history class, it was pretty painless and I got a B, I was happy.

Honestly, I hate philosophy not only because it's excrutiating, but also because I really don't see how this factors into my life. My professor will ask "what do you think of Plato's theory of the tripartite soul?" If I could I'd reply that I really couldn't care less what caste I was in, as long as I didn't need to listen to Plato's bullshit about how the "form" is better than the "sensual object". Look, there's this stupid analogy of the "Bed" in Book X. It's ridiculous, he says that the "idea" or "form" of a bed is better than the bed itself. Look buddy. I sleep on a bed. I do not sleep on an idea. I can't use the idea for shit. It's a fucking idea in my mind, how is this better than a thing that serves it's purpose? Honestly.

AND. These people, when they write, even the contemporaries, they write in such elongated sentences, with confusing language, I honestly have to read each paragraph three times, three times, before I can comprehend and move on. I mean, check this out:

"Rather than doctrine formulae for describing man and clerical austerities for educating him, Petrarch turned to undgomatic introspection and observation for his insights into the human condition, and a full life of literature and action, as well as monastic solitude, for his education."

There are two words I don't understand in that sentence. That long sentence. And they're pivotal words. I don't want to read with a dictionary by my side, it inhibits my comprehension. It stops my flow. It throws off my groove! And I don't enjoy it.

On another note, after many months of not having a myspace link on my quick-link toolbar of internet explorer, it has finally resurfaced. Why you ask? Because in avoiding all work for classes I have taken to continuously logging onto myspace to check out people's pages and post nonsensical rantings like this one. If your page views have gone up considerably, you know why.

Have a happy weekend!

Figure Drawing

Originally Posted July 18, 2006

I went to Flax, a local art supply store, bought many boards for school, and for personal recreation, bought some papers to put on the wall and this figure drawing book:

And I love it! It actually shows all the bones and muscles in different positions, then with the skin in different positions, and then his actual sketches of relaxed positions, so it's way more fleshed out than the other books I saw, the others just had the artist's sketches. And it was only $12.95! Toa person that's paid over $100 for a textbook, that's way cheap.

So here are some drawings that were drawn today:

How did moving become so difficult?

I have had T-Mobile for almost two years. I have had absolutely no problems in Fresno. I have been in San Francisco for 8 days. Calls get dropped everyday. I find out today that I went 400 over my allowed minutes resulting in a $160 charge and a temporary shut down on my phone. I have no day time minutes until June 27th, except for the 100 minute bonus the awesome technician gave me. So I have come to this conclusion. No one is calling me, texting me, even thinking about me between the hours of 6am and 9pm on weekdays until June 27th.

Also. I sorted out my PG&E and AT&T the week before I moved. I told them to move my account to SF so that I didn't have to pay deposits or anything. PG&E, stellar job. No problem. AT&T, miniature problem. First time I called, I was told my building didn't exist, at this point, I was just calling to check that I could change the address if I needed to. Big panic, do I need to change to Comcast? I call again to see what's the deal, technician finds the new building no problem. Great. Phone service will transfer the 12th and DSL will transfer the 16th. No problem. Oh wait. The gracious previous resident ripped the jack out of the fucking wall. Hmm. The phone doesn't work.

Wednesday. Call the landlord. "No problem, I'll come take a look tomorrow after 6pm", great. 7pm he shows up, "Yup, I'll get you a new phone jack, bring it tomorrow and fix it, same time". Next day. No landlord. Next day. Still no landlord. Get a the number from the neighbor and call him Saturday. "No problem, be right there." Landlord shows, up, fixes phone, works great. Check e-mail, says DSL won't be in until 21st. Huh? Hook up computer, DSL works! Score.

Monday. Where'd the DSL go? Call AT&T, "Order says no DSL until 21st, don't know why you had it for two wonderful days, sucks to be you!" (not really, but that's how I felt). Have been using dial up the past two days. I don't know how I'm going to survive until tomorrow.

Oh yeah, school. School's great. First class had 5 students including me, really great for getting to know each other. Second class....hmm...philosophy... not quite my forte. And I found out I can't eat before that class because if I do, I'll fall asleep indefinately. San Francisco's nice, not as great as Fresno to be quite honest. I really miss not seeing a crackhead every few minutes. But at least there's great stores here. I went shopping today after class, loved it, bought some cute bowls and shirts.

Happy week to you all. Keep myspacing, it's the only way I keep track.

P.S.

I actually really like my landlord. He's super nice. But he owns alot of buildings, so he kinda forgets me sometimes.

Car Accident

Originally Posted May 5, 2006

So not many people know that I got in a car accident on Tuesday. Mainly because I've avoided calling people up and saying "Hey, how are you? Yeah, I totally fucked up my car the other day, good tiiiimes!" But yeah, I figured, I'll calm down, take a few days, and then post a blog telling the world that I'm not the best driver.

Yeah, I'm just...like almost still reeling from it. It happened so fast, and I was freaking out so much that it's just a huge blur. All I remember is, green light, I hit the dodge in front of me, and then the mustang hit me. The car is totalled, insurance will pay, and my poor poor Sherman (the car) is no more.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Everyone's okay, no one got hurt, just the cars. Thank goodness.

Out Again In Fresno

Originally Posted Feb 11, 2006

Okay...so....I think this is how I start most of my blogs, thinking, typing, elipssissing...I have this little OCD this with my USB ports. Nothing sick, just...something that I need to have...I have two USB ports on my laptop, one on top of the other, and in the bottom one, I put the plug to my mouse, because I always need that one, and in the top I put my printer cable because sometimes I don't need my printer, and I'll switch it out to my camera link so I can upload photos, and since I always need my mouse, that one is untouched and on the bottom....

Until this semester...

On more than one occassion, such as a few minutes ago, I will go to unplug the top USB plug and it won't be the printer that comes unplugged, but my mouse! My precious mouse! Deemed USELESS! Quite upsetting I must assure you, and since I am so anal about this, and could not possibly mess this up myself...I have a theory...

Someone has been coming into my apartment and switching my USB cables. And stole one of my bubble spoons.Seriously, one's missing. And took some of my good tupperware. And one of my shirts. A a few socks.

I'm seriously considering this theory to be more than just speculation.

And now before any of you starts thinking I'm completely insane, I'll post some untouched (except for resizing)pictures I took today...can you guess where they were taken?

Around Fresno

Originally Posted Dec 19, 2005

So as the title says, I'm posting another stream of photos for you all to look at and wonder why I spend so much time taking photos...enjoy!

I was driving down bullard between cedar and chestnut and caught this view, it honestly stopped my heart, I could get it off my mind so I went back and parked in some obscure parking lot, crossed a street and took as many pictures as I could...

Imagine the feeling of standing on a tiny island in the middle of 50MPH traffic passing you by as you take pictures. Doesn't sound thrilling but it is...

This was taken at probably a little after noon, I could even see how it came out on my digital because it was so bright, but even though it looks so dark I kind of like the look of it anyway...

And here's the start of the silhouette series, just a bunch of plants taken against the haunting sun backdrop...at least that's how my camera took it...

So now I'm spent from all the running around looking like a maniac, taking pictures of things, photoshopping them and posting them for your viewing pleasure, I'm going to take a nap. Thanks for looking at my stuff, dear friends, I really do appreciate it.

Have yourself some happy holidays and a happy new year.

Gigolo A-Callin'?

Originally Posted Dec 10, 2006

Soooo, I came home this morning, and saw a tiny sheet of paper stuck into my door jamb...I was pretty perplexed, since it didn't look like something from UPS or some weird ad, when in fact it WAS an ad, FOR A WHORE! I didn't even figure it out until I read it properly while already in my apartment, and I just started cracking up. I mean, I live across the street from state, I'm no saying this is the best part of town, but I'm living in the area around school that's usually pretty quiet and non-eventful.

And so what's with the ratty piece of paper?! I'm insulted that this gigolo thinks that anyone is going to call him when he just writes his stuff on a nasty piece of used paper. Whatever happened to paper ads? With photos? And TYPED TEXT? Where's the seduction in this? Oh wait, he whores for money, so I guess seduction is kept to a minimum. Right. But it used to be such an ART form, what happened to that? To the technique? The mistique? *sigh* Take a page from LiveLinks you hooker, cuz we all know how much I've been wailing for some lovin', and this ad...man...it's just so dissapointing.

Photos From All Over

Originally Posted Nov 19, 2005

Just adding a few more pictures to the pile...

Riding home to Fresno in sun twilight traffic.

Lost in San Francisco.

Found some damn interesting sights just walking around Sequoia National Park.

This is what I woke up to after I passed out on the way to Sequoia National.

This was taken while standing on the patio of my apartment just staring at the sky because I had nothing better to do.

This was taken while sitting in the passenger seat on the way back from San Francisco.

And this was taken around the same time as "dance fire cloud" on the same patio, because I really had nothing to do that summer.

Discover the wonder of Photoshop!

And from the previous bunch, with explanations!

looking for a place to put these, just leave them here for now.

I checked and this picture was actually taken in a parking lot in San Francisco. Moral? Always have your camera with you.

This was taken on a beach about 2 hours away from Bangkok. I went there with my parents sometime in June. I really love this tree, something about it is just so damn interesting.

Here's another picture of the tree, because its so gosh darn interesting, the shape, the crookedness and asymetry..

This picture is unofficially named "lonely coconut". I had to run from where I was sitting to take multiple pictures of this cool little coconut before it got swept out into the sea.

The juxtaposition of the two different sized and shaped trees just caught my eye. I love using big words.

I woke up from a nap and saw this.

Bangkok is somewhat famous for its traffic, as well as it's samlors/tuk-tuks/three wheelers, right there front and right.

More of the traffic and here you can see the skytrain rails.