Happy Halloween!

Ok, I've got a few more shots to share from Halloween from my friends' cameras... You can click on the thumbnails below if you want a close-up. The original idea for our costumes was race car girls, but one friend and I refused to wear spandex. I cannot subject myself (and others) to that horror. I prefer "sexy" over "scary". I must admit that two of us felt left out of the group pictures of the race car girls...

For clarification, here's a list of halloween costumes that we wore:
Me: Post office delivery girl (Thursday), Gothic Nurse in black instead of white (Friday)
Friends: Race car girls, Stewardess, Gothic guy, Superman, Towlie, Tinkerbell...

I learned some of my pet peeves during this halloween.
* Pet peeve #1: random guys taking our pics without even asking first. I know it's a "compliment", but who knows what pics will show up on the internet, especially if edited with Photoshop?! Ok, I might be a bit paranoid. However, I censor all of my pics, hand-picking which ones may be shared with the public.
* Pet peeve #2: random guys who jump into our pictures. At least, I've got a digital camera, so I guess that I can delete or waste space on my harddrive. You might think this is unfriendly, but I didn't say "no". Yes, I know it's a "compliment", blah blah.

Lastly, Happy Halloween!!!

[Tags: halloween, costume, portofino, party]

Wipe it on Towlie

I admit that I used to watch South Park back in the old days, but I don't recall the character named Towlie. Therefore, I had mistaken my friend's Halloween costume for Sponge Bob, who had turned blue in the face. Fortunately for us (but unfortunately for my friend), we were able to wipe away our beads of sweat while rockin' on the dance floor at the Portofino, j/k. Needless to say, his halloween costume was not duplicated that night- an A+ for originality. It was a cool costume until he turned around and hit me in the head with his costume (not much peripheral vision), but there were no permanent damages- phew!

[Tags: halloween, costume, towlie, portofino, party, southpark, cartman, cartoon, character]

Halloween at the Portofino

Halloween at the Portofino
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

I decided to fork over the mula to attend the annual halloween party at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club in Redondo Beach this year. It was alot more fun that I thought it would be. My friends have gone in the past years, but I usually pass it up. I guess it must be good if 600 people buy $25 tickets in advance and it always sells out, right?

There were two dance floors, one of which was a live band. There was an outdoor patio that overlooked the ocean water, nice. There were alot of interesting costumes that night. I shall post a few more pictures soon. The only downside was cash-only at the bar, but for some reason I decided to bring cash with me that night, so no problem. Time to recover now...

[Tags: halloween, costume, portofino, party, redondo]

Bad boys, Bad boys

Deputies Junior, Johnson and Lt. Dangle
Originally uploaded by el-jefe.

"What you gonna do when they come for you?? Bad boys, Bad boys." I have to give props to my roomie and his b-school friends for their halloween costume. With Kim's sowing machine, Geoff assembled his "bullet-proof vest" almost out of nothing. Unfortunately, we didn't get a shot of the back of it where it says "Sheriff" (at least not yet). Lastly, the moustache took it over the top.

[Tags: halloween, costume, UCLA, b-school, business, mba, cop]

Halloween is here...

Let the festivities begin!

I have to say that I wuv my roomies! My new roomie invited us to join him at his UCLA b-school halloween party. It's amazing to watch 400+ b-school students and friends rage and take over Pearl Night Club in West LA on a Thursday night. I must say that crowd is more lively than my b-school friends from Pepperdine, but it might have taken me longer to graduate then... These b-school kids party smart- $40-50 cover charge with open-bar all night, not a bad deal if you can drink your fair share. There sure were a bunch of creative costumes last night, especially the Chippendales! So much fun, to say the least. Boy, am I glad that Halloween is only once per year! But it seems like Halloween is a couple days long this time...

[Tags: halloween, costume, UCLA, b-school, business]

Buona vita is buona

Buona Vita, Hermosa Beach
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

I've decided that Buona Vita is my favorite italian restaurant in Hermosa Beach. The atmosphere is lively and inviting, even on a week night, but it can get loud in a small and cozy space. You can bring a bottle of wine without getting hit with a corkage fee. The menu prices are reasonable. I definately recommend it for a nice dinner with friends or even for a casual date. The only downside is that it's closed on Mondays (I found out the hard way once). Since they don't take reservations, there can be a bit of a wait for dinner on the weekends- but it's worth the wait! I like getting recommendations about places, so I am reciprocating.

[Tags: buona, buonavita, italian, restaurant, hermosa, beach]

Freebie: Costco Pictures

Costco.com is offering 20 free 4x6 prints when Costco members submit their email address on-line by 10/30. Yes, it means receiving junk e-mail from Costco.com. I still prefer Kodak Gallery, but how can you say no to something free? Of course, this only applies to those living in the US, b/c since Costco hasn't gone international yet, as far as I know.

Costco.com now offers even better photo developing service. You can upload your pictures from your computer to Costco.com, buy prints on-line, then pick it up at your nearby Costco in 1 hour! Wow. I also saw an ad on-line for 20% photobooks (I don't know the regular price). Hmm... I might have to try that out and compare it against Kodak Gallery... Hmm...

[Tags: costco, digital, print, photo, develop]

In the heat of the moment

One night, boyfriend and girlfriend go home after a romantic dinner. Girlfriend decides to throw a towel on top of the floor lamp for some "mood" lighting. Boyfriend and girlfriend start making out in the bedroom. A few minutes later, boyfriend says, "It smells like smoke in here." They look up and see that the towel is on fire. Boyfriend jumps up and gets the towel off the lamp to extinguish it with some water. If mood lighting is required, traditional candles might serve as a safer alternative...

Note: Girlfriend gave me permission to share this amusing story on the condition that their identities be protected.

[Tags: lamp, fire, smoke, mood]

Sick as a dog (again)

Actually, I've been in this sickly state for 1.5 weeks now. I don't know if it's a cold or just allergies. The weather is rainy/overcast, which lends itself to more mold in the air causing problems for people with allergies, like me. I take allergy medication every day, but it's not helping. Sneezing, sniffling, itchy nose, runny nose, congestion- ugh. I got up early this morning, showered, and went back to bed, so I called in sick today. I'm sick too often. I'm going to the allergy doctor this afternoon. I hope they give me medicine, something, anything! I took some Benadryl, zzz...

Cute birthday card

The credit goes to my female roomie for finding this birthday card for our male roomie. I signed the left side, while she signed the right side of the card. This reminded me that a long time ago when I was a kid, I wished I worked for Hallmark. It could be fun making those corny yet amusing greeting cards, but the pay would probably not be as good as that in engineering. I wonder if I can ever get paid for something I love doing, i.e. blogging.

[Tags: birthday, card, bday]

Cool pic: Transparent screen

On the couch
Originally uploaded by burned.

This was one of the first shots that I randomly found on Flickr. At the time, I wanted to blog about it, but Flickr was not compatible with Xanga. I don't have that problem now. Sites, like Flickr, give me exposure to new things that I probably would have never seen before. Plus, I get to see the world through others' eyes. One of my newest friends told me, "Stop blogging and get out in the world." I'm a blogaholic, but I still socialize. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an introvert by any means, but I can be a wallflower sometimes. However, I don't really like talking to strangers in real-life, but blogging is within my comfort zone. Go figure.

Boo, I see you...

Ok, someone is trying to be anonymous, but it doesn't work. WebWarper.net is a sham. They say that it's service "assures anonymity: your IP address becomes invisible for most cases". Nope, I see your IP address, whoop-dee-do. I took a look at my own blog site via WebWarper. Bottomline, you are bombarded with a bunch of advertisements, so they are making $$$ off you. What's your point? Are you trying to be a perfect blog-stalker? Blogging is more interesting with some interaction. I don't like talking to myself, believe it or not. Don't be shy and say hi once in awhile...

*Update: Why would someone in Japan be trying to hide their IP address??? I know your computer uses WinXP in English, so you're not Japanese.

[Tags: stalker]

How much is my blog worth?

My fellow monkeys found this cool tool (click here for original post). I have nothing to brag about, but I find it amusing enough to share.

My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

Old blog = 9 months old
New blog = 3 weeks old
Total value = $2258.16 Priceless

[Tags: blog, value, technorati]

Double the trouble

I normally don't like it when someone tampers with my pictures, but in this case, I thought it was funny and creative (besides, my blogger buddy sent it to me). For those unaware, I do have a Creative Commons license for my pictures and my blog. It's frightful to think what else can be done with the power of Adobe Photoshop. Per my previous post...

Modified by Michiel (AKA Acid Zebra)

PS. Imagine if there were two of me, crazy! I don't think anyone can handle that. Plus I'd get jealous of myself. ;P

[Tags: animaniacs, nurse, twin, cartoon, kiss]

The Best of Japan - photos

Interesting, yet morbid, night light
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

I saw this at the World Expo in Japan on August 2005. I finally have sifted through my 1,000+ shots from my vacation and downselected to 69 faves, so click to view my photo album for "The Best of Japan". I added titles to each picture, so that you know what it's all about. Enjoy.

[Tags: japan]

Fire truck

We happened to pose by the fire truck as we stumbled out of Oktoberfest, why not?

Fire truck
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

My roomie and me at the fire truck
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

Helllllooooo, Nurse!

Helllllooooo, Nurse!
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

"Heeelllllooooo Nurse!!!"

Click to hear the Animaniacs characters in action...

[Tags: animaniacs, nurse, twin, cartoon, kiss]

Oops, he has been denied.

This is a second-hand story from my friend (let's call him El Jefe), which is so amusing that I want to share. I've told El Jefe that he needs to start a blog, but some guys simply can't be bothered. On a side note, statistics claim that most bloggers are male. Anyhow... Since I wasn't there, I will have to fill in some gaps for this story.

Being hungover one weekend, El Jefe and his b-school buddies decided to have breakfast at a local bar (go figure!). At the end of the meal, one of El Jefe's friends threw down his card for the bill AND wrote a note on the bill asking the waitress to give him a call - ooh la la. A few minutes later, the waitress returned to the table. To his dismay, his card got denied. Oops. Apparently, it was not a credit card, but rather a new debit card with nothing in the account. Oops.

Lessons learned:
1) Deposit money in new account for debit card.
2) Hit on the waitress after paying the bill.
3) Leave a big tip.

Internet Intelligence

Ok, I made up that term, but I don't know what else it's called. Anyway, I noticed that some people from Ofoto (AKA Kodak Gallery) found my blog site last night. I am guessing that internet spiders crawled my page and found the link in my last post to their URL. It's free advertising and promotion for them, no harm done. However, I wish I'd get some reward for doing so, like free pictures (hint hint). I wonder what else Kodak Gallery is thinking...

PS. Ofoto was a better name than Kodak Gallery, by the way. Ofoto is shorter to type, but at least that still works for the URL address.

TGIF. It's official, I'm sick, but I'm going to drag my arse into work today. Have a good weekend, y'all.

Vegas Collage

Vegas Collage
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

As I mentioned in the previous post, here's an example of a collage done in Kodak Gallery. I've ordered this particular print, so hope it looks good. I think I prefer the collage in Picasa, because the pictures look like Polariod shots with the white borders. Plus you don't lose any resolution when using a Picasa collage.

Kodak Gallery just gets better 'n better

If you don't know yet, I absolutely love taking digital pictures. I am a loyal customer to Kodak Gallery (AKA Ofoto), even though they're not the cheapest. However, they finally dropped their prices on the 4x6 prints to be more competitive. By the way, a few years ago I ran a small experiment: developed a few fave pics at 3 different on-line companies (Ofoto, Shutterfly and Snapfish). Based on quality and color, Ofoto prints were the best in my opinion. Anyhow... Besides normal prints, their calendars and photo books are classy and thoughtful gifts for birthdays and holidays. I'm ecstatic to find out that Kodak Gallery is offering some new products:

• Collages - a great way to combine pics from an event
• Mugs with a collage on it!
• Stickers
• Photo canvas ($90-110, pricey, but looks nice!)

Xmas is around the corner, so I need to start gathering some pictures...

[Tags: kodak, ofoto, picture]

I hate spam (not the food)

Hate is a strong word, but I think it fits for this occassion. Ok, I only use Gmail now, since I receive so much spam in my Hotmail account. However, I am starting to get some spam in one of my Gmail accounts. What's funny is that these particular spam seem to be the same format, so it's probably one idiot/spammer (I'll post the beginning of the spam for your reading pleasure below). Of course, I use that email to sign up for this and that, so I don't know who sold my information. I've signed up for a spam email, something like spam [at] smhyla [dot] com. There's a helpful blog, called Quick Online Tips, telling how to disguise your email address. Check out my new email icon in the right panel, cool.

Email from the idiot/spammer:
Hi There, My name is Bernie. I am sorry for the unusual approach but I have acquired your email address ________@gmail.com as a person who is actively involved or is looking for an online `Business `Opportunity. If this is the case I would be grateful if you would allow me to send you details of an opportunity that I am currently involved in at the moment. I did not want to send you any details until I had mailed you to seek your permission first, as experience has taught me that not all leads that we acquire are genuine `BusinessOpportunity Seekers, If this is the case for you then please ignore this email as you have already been excluded from future mailing from me...

Anyhow, I decide to check my Hotmail account today. You know how your computer "remembers" your last username or something?? Well, eric_adams@hotmail.com popped up on my Hotmail page. I don't know an Eric Adams. And no one else should be using my laptop computer from work. This has happened once before with a different random email address that I did not recognize, but I let it go the first time- now I am perturbed. Perhaps it's spyware on my computer, but this makes me feel uneasy. Has anyone else in the blogosphere experienced this??? This won't necessarily drive me insane, but I question the security of my computer. Yesterday, I opened up a random blog site when I was trying to find something through Google, which tried to install viruses onto my computer. Thank goodness, Norton's Anti-virus picked it up. I'm going to run all the checks right now- is there anything else I can do? Eek.

Kids' Free Days at SD Zoo

I don't have any kids, but I'd want to save $19.75 if I did! According to the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, kids under 11 can go to the San Diego Zoo for free. If you're in the neighborhood and have kids (or can borrow some), then the SD Zoo is something worth doing at least once or twice in your lifetime. The weather is cool and pleasant in SoCal right now, except for the occassional showers (but non-Californians swear it's not "real" rain). Anyhow, I just wanted to spread the good word for some freebies out in the blogosphere, it costs me nothing- sometimes I can be thoughtful :P. If you happen to know any lucky parents with young kids, feel free to hit that "send" button (white envelope) at the end of this post, so that you can spread the good word to your friends too!


Sunset from our balcony in Hermosa Beach on Monday

Formatting my new blog

I like how formatting is flexible in Blogger as opposed to Xanga. I just changed it to show fewer posts on the front page and to archive more often. Not sure if I like it.

Question: How many posts should be listed on the front page? i.e. past week (short content) or past month (long page), etc.

Question: How often should I archive? i.e. every week, every month, etc.

Let the good times roll!

Let the good times roll!
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

Let's just say that Monday night football can be dangerous with $2 shots for every touch down. I've discovered a taste for beer now, specifically Amstel Light. I (and my wallet) can last a bit longer with beer instead of Tanq and tonic. I met some new people that night, Irish and Australians. Lotsa laughs too. Need to do that more often...

Vote for Lil' Snow White

My friend has submitted this picture of her baby for a Halloween Photo Contest. I voted for her, and so can you if you click on the above link. How adorable is that smile!

Happy Bday, Geoff!

Dance performance
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

I wish I was there during this dance/song performance at your school, but thanks for sharing this pic. Hilarious.

Vote for a better Blogger

I discovered this poll in the Blogger help menu. CLICK HERE to vote for a new feature or suggest a new feature. Here are the options.... Guess which ones I voted for (I submitted twice). Every vote counts! No registration needed. It only takes 2 seconds of your precious time, be a good Blogger-citizen!!!

Vote for a feature:
I want a way to organize posts by topic or category.
I only want certain people to be able to see my blog or posts.
I want to show excerpts of my posts, with links to the full text.
I want to export/import my posts to/from another blogging tool.
I want to use a custom domain name with my Blog*Spot blog.
I want to be able to upload other files to my blog besides images.
I want to display my posts in reverse, or non-chronological order.
I want to recommend a blog of note.

Hi, my name is smhyla.

Even if you know me or have figured out my real name, please refer to me in my blog with my pseudonym, smhyla. I share alot about myself on my site, but I don't want to make it too easy for my secret admirers (AKA stalkers). I'm not 100% anonymous, but this is my rule for my blog. I reserve the right to kindly edit any comments with mis-spellings. If I meet you in person, then you may call me by my real name (I don't respond to my silly pseudonym). Thank you in advance for respecting my wishes.

Tags: smhyla

I've got osteopenia

Osteopenia: bone mineral density (BMD) that is lower than normal peak BMD but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. With further bone loss, osteopenia develops into osteoporosis. CLICK HERE to see what bones with and without osteoporosis looks like.

A few days ago, I opened up a letter from my doctor, a pink letter in fact, which stated that I had osteopenia. Ok, I guess it must not be too horrible news if my doctor didn't call to break it to me over the phone or in person. My doctor asked me to take a DEXA scan since I've been using Depo-Provera for an extended period of time.

In November 2004, Pfizer issued this disturbing news release:
"...women who use DEPO-PROVERA may lose significant bone mineral density. The revised labeling further notes that bone loss is greater with increasing duration of use and may not be completely reversible..."

Prevention and treatment of osteopenia include:
* regular exercise
* a nutritious diet with plenty of calcium and vitamin D
* lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and avoiding excessive alcohol, caffeine, and colas.

First of all, I guess I have to switch to the patch. I'll have to remember once every week instead of once every 12 weeks. The other disadvantage is getting a period once per month instead of never. About 2 weeks ago, I joined the gym at 24 Hour Fitness (hell has frozen over, j/k), so I'm working out again (mostly yoga and pilates classes at the moment), but WebMD specifically suggested doing weight-bearing exercise (such as walking), weight training (such as lifting weights or using weight machines). I started taking calcium supplements- I haven't missed a day since I learned about Viactiv in caramel flavor, yummy. While I'm blogging right now, I'm sipping on some Lactaid milk with a shot of Kahlua, double yummy. I don't smoke, but I'll have to think about the advice for alcohol and caffeine.

Lastly, yes, I know this is not the most upbeat post (most of the time, I'm quite a serious person). I'm sharing this personal info in order to make others aware, not just girls- it could be your mother or sister or girlfriend or wife. Pfizer has been testing women since the early 90's and only released the report about a year ago. Crazy.

[Tags: osteopenia, osteoporosis, BMD, calcium, depo]

Waking up to construction

It's not even 10 am on this Saturday morning. I was so excited to sleep in. I used to sleep in all the time, but not so much anymore. Unfortunately for me, I've been woken up to the lovely sounds of drilling and hammering at my neighbor's house today. There should be a rule against construction on weekends, at least in the mornings. I don't know what time they started construction, since I'm a deep sleeper (but not deep enough to ignore drilling and hammering!). What time would be considered reasonable? How about Monday - Friday during business hours, when I am not at home... Yes, I am ranting. I don't think I usually blog this early on a weekend morning. Now I am going to drag my arse out of bed and get ready for the long day ahead of me. :(

My newest fan, Mr. Nothing

Mr. Nothing from "Nothing is Everything, Everything is Nothing", AKA nieein.blogspot.com, is one of my newest readers. Interesting pseudonym and blog site name, don't you think? He found me by clicking on "Next Blog" on the upper navigation panel (at the top of this window). I guess this is how Blogger drives random traffic in the blogosphere, instead of making a banal list of "newly updated" blogs. He's a blogger-virgin and just started his own blog site. Mr. Nothing asked to use some of my pics from my Flickr site. Look at how he is adding some jazz to his site...

Screen shot of Mr. Nothing's blog
(click to enlarge)

We're FlickrLicio.us!

I recently posted a few pics from our Vegas trip on my Flickr site. Granted, a few of the pics were swimsuit shots, but the # hits were soaring to the hundreds. I'm not bragging, but rather I was perturbed. 200 was normal, but not 500+. My gut instinct told me to google myself. Sure enough, I found my pictures on a website, FlickrLicio.us. This website features "babes of Flickr". Someone must be sifting through all the Flickr shots or someone is submitting our pictures. There are some scandalous pictures on that site, so viewer-beware. I don't know if we should be flattered or insulted, probably the former rather than the latter. No one informed me, but they do give me full credit and link back to my own Flickr site. I guess it does not impose on my copyrights, if any truly enforced with licensing via Creative Commons. Anyhow, this serves as a notice to those posting pics and reminds me that I need to screen pictures thoroughly.

While we are on this topic, I did post some pictures of the Pussycat Dolls from Club Pure, which also made it to the FlickrLicio.us site. Club Pure is my favorite club in Las Vegas. It's located at Caesar's Palace. This is the largest club that I know of in Vegas- multiple rooms with different types of music plus a large outdoor patio. I went to this club on New Year's too. At that time, I must admit the "deejay" on the patio was playing a CD that I owned, but still good dance music. I was able to catch a glimpse of the Pussycat Dolls performing (singing and dancing). Of course, we caught them on camera (for the guys of course). For your viewing pleasure, I compiled a few shots in a movie via Picasa (click on the thumbnail on the right).

Word of the Day: Troll

Internet troll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: In internet terminology, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory messages on the internet, such as on online discussion forums, to disrupt the discussion or to upset its participants. The word, or its variant, "trolling", is also used to describe such messages or the act of posting them.


Do not feed troll (Wikipedia.org)

PS. I just noticed that there is a convenient Blogger button on my Google toolbar, so that I can instantly blog when I find a cool website, such as this one about trolls. I can't believe there are so many ways to submit a blog on Blogger without being logged on. This can't be helping my blogaholicism.

Where in the world is sMhyla??

As I was perusing the help section of Blogger, I discovered The Daily Meme. I've been wanting to do a meme, but wasn't sure what a meme was all about. So this is my first meme: Visited Countries. It only took 3.1 minutes (ok, I didn't exactly have a stopwatch, but it was quick). As I mentioned in my old blog last trimester, my b-school professor surveyed our class for the number of countries visited. For an up and coming manager in a global business today, international experience is a must. Only 3 or so students had been to 10+ countries. If my memory serves me right, I've been to 14 countries. The site counts that as a mere 6% of total countries, but it was near 0% before this job. What's more mind-boggling is that my # countries will be more than my # states, so I didn't even bother with the meme for Visited States. Instead of a raise of hands in a classroom, this map gives a more visual effect. How many countries have you visited? You can click on the link above and continue the meme on your blog, how fun! More memes to come...



create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Tags: meme, countries,travel, smhyla

The eyes of innocence

8 Month Headshot Redux
Originally uploaded by Mindmenagerie.

I found this picture of her baby boy under Flickr. Her photography is outstanding. I have yet to appreciate her other pictures. I just wanted to share something beautiful in the blogosphere, even though it's not mine (I got permission, no worries). It brings a quiet smile to my face.

Free subscription to smhyla.com

Ok, so a respectable blogger (Rob from Google AdSense) has asked for me to post my RSS feed on my site. "What is that?," you may ask. You can google it for the technical definition, but I'll give you the layman's version. The RSS feed allows lazy/passive, or better yet efficient ;P, readers to receive updates from internet sites, including my blog site, every day without lifting a finger (after the initial set-up). I like to think of it like a newspaper of everything that you do want to read. Readers can read it when they want and where they want (from their email box or go to a central location on the internet). However, I do want to point out, that I did recently purchase the easy-to-remember domain name, www.smhyla.com...

For my old blog, Xanga allowed for free subscriptions, but all readers were required to sign up for a Xanga membership. There is still a membership per se, but it's not limited to Xanga or blogs. For example, you can have RSS feeds to your favorite sports internet site (important for the guys!), news site, a couple blogs (for blogaholics like me), the Word of the Day by Dictionary.com, comments from your Flickr site (awesome!), etc. You don't need any more bookmarks and you don't need to have so many browser windows open (hint hint, Maragin).

I've signed up for FeedBurner to post my RSS feed. This is convenient for advanced bloggers who already have signed up. I've taken an extra step to make it soooooo easy for blogger-virgins, like me. I also signed up for FeedBlitz (partner with FeedBurner), which is a competitor to Bloglet for those who recognize that provider. On the right panel of my site, there is a simple email subscription form (see below too). Just type in your email address, and the rest is easy and free. I'm trying it out right now- so far, so good.

Enter your email to subscribe:

Powered by FeedBlitz

I'm only a 10-month old blogger (but still a blogger-virgin to Blogger), so I'd like to hear any feedback on FeedBlitz or such. I'll give my own feedback by next month too. I'm still setting up this new blog site slowly but surely, so let me know if there is any other cool tools to use in the blogosphere. Happy reading!

The wave pool in Vegas

The wave pool in Vegas
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

This reminds me of the Caribbean (best time of my whole life). However, the water was warmer and absent of kids in the Caribbean. Mandalay Bay hotel was nice, but the atmosphere was cooler at the Hard Rock hotel because of the music at the pool and crowd (not to mention the hotties). I'll post more pictures later after some censoring, but there are a few posted on my Flickr site. I'm lagging on blogging, b/c I went to bed last night at 7:30pm, got 12 hours of sleep, but I could have stayed in bed if it weren't for work. Hope my friends don't kill me for sharing a little bit about Vegas.

My new mosaic mirror

Look at what I found at the Old Town Fair in Manhattan Beach. I ended up buying this piece of art by Shady Grove Mosaics. This company is located in Dana Point at the home of the owners, a husband and wife. The border of the mirror is a mosaic of ceramic tile pieces in my favorite color.

PS. I have a boat load of pictures to download from the weekend, but I will need some time to censor. I've lost my voice- too much hooting and hollering at the Australian hotties during the Thunder From Down Under show on Saturday night (reader beware: not PG-13 hyperlink).

Let's play a game of Price Is Right... how much do you think this item is worth? Submit your answer as a comment below. G' luck!

Vegas, Baby, Vegas

Smile
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

Yup, that's where we are headed in a few hours. Yup, I'm not going to work tomorrow- woo hoo! My friends and I are celebrating Rocket Barbie's birthday in Vegas this weekend. I shall be MIA from the blogosphere unless my fairy godmother brings a laptop out of thin air. Yes, I will probably experience blogging withdrawal for a few days. I'm sure there will be a boat load of stories and pictures, but as you know... "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Have a great weekend!

Another new shirt

Another new shirt
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

I wore this new shirt when we went to the beer garden at the Home Town Fair in Manhattan Beach last Saturday. Can you believe it's a pink wife-beater (what a name for a shirt!)?? Of course, my good friend picked it out for me when we stopped by the Hustler store after clubbing in Hollywood on Friday night. She thought the shirt was just perfect for me.

G&T is my fave drink, but it was not on the drink menu this weekend. It was the first time in a long time where I got drunk off beer. Good times that day. It was a long day since a group of us explored Knott's Scary Farm afterwards (this deserves a blog post of it's own, but not tonight). I hit the fair again on Sunday with my bros and their friends. The weather was so much better since it was a bit chilly and overcast the day before. I bought something from the fair, but I'll post a picture later in the next blog.

More about the fair itself... I think this event is much better than the ones in Hermosa (Memorial and Labor Day weekends). There is both a wine garden and beer garden in Manhattan Beach fair, but not in Hermosa. There were booths and activities, which make it kid-friendly. The rock climbing wall was cool, but those weren't around when I was a kid :(. I think the crafts were similar, except for the one item that I purchased (can't tell you, stay tuned for a future blog). All in all, the fair is something worth checking out.

Click on the following links to view my photo albums from the fair.
1) The beer garden on Saturday
2) The fair on Sunday

The Coffee Bean scandal

This is not new news, but I had been on vacation. I only indulged in coffee maybe 3 times in the span of 2.5 weeks in Japan. The main reason is two-fold: 1) Japanese coffee shops don't offer soy milk (I guess they are not lactose intolerant, even though statistics claim >70% of Asians are), and 2) believe it or not, Starbucks was not available on every corner in Japan. Therefore, one of the first things I do upon my return is to get coffee with my friends.

At that time, I was sadly informed that about the discontinuation of the punch cards at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (AKA CBTL or simply Coffee Bean). A punch card rewards caffeine-addicts like me with 1 free drink for every 16 drinks, woo hoo. Although the Coffee Bean website doesn't go into detail about the counterfeiting scam, the barista told me that someone had bought a puncher for $200 from e-Bay (what's not available on e-Bay??) and got some punch cards, then was selling/distributing the "full" punch cards. I get coffee every morning before work, the baristas know me by my drink order and/or my name (not sure if that's necessarily a good thing, but they do get more tips if so). If I limit myself to 1 coffee per day, that would mean only 1-2 free drinks per month at most. Don't you think that they would notice if someone was constantly redeeming punch cards for free drinks without purchasing any?

Without the punch card, there is not much of an incentive to capture my loyalty. Coffee is a luxury good (a buzzword from my economics class), so price sensitivity does not exist for consumers like me. Furthermore, I don't believe differentiation in product or service exists in this case, except the fact that the vanilla powder at Coffee Bean is 10x better than the vanilla syrup at it's nemesis. Better yet, Coffee Bean offers no sugar added (AKA sugar-free) vanilla for those diabetic caffeine-addicts. Coffee Bean and Starbucks are located right next to each other, so the big decision comes down to:
1) Which coffee shop has the shorter line? Time is of the essence!
2) If I want banana bread (yum!), then Starbucks is the chosen one.
3) If I want a ice blended drink (see picture), then Coffee Bean is the chosen one.

I know that I am babbling about coffee. This is a testament to how addicted I am to caffeine (blogging is my other Achille's heal, if you haven't quite noticed yet). For a bet, I did quit coffee for a Guiness World Book record of 1 year and 4 months in 2002-2003. I want to quit coffee again for a few reasons:
1) I paid a pretty penny for bleaching.
2) Coffee is supposedly not good for my body (however I have yet to see any scientific proof).
3) To save money (see cost breakdown below).

Cost breakdown for my coffee addiction:
$5.20 every morning for an iced soy latte and a slice of banana bread
x 5 days/week
x 52 weeks/year
$1,352 per year (ouch! and that's not even including weekends!!)

Tags: [coffee]

F.A.Q.

Some friends and fellow bloggers have asked similar questions, some of which I have answered in the past on my old blog at Xanga. I will take this time to cover it here as well.

Q: Why sMhyla?
A: sMhyla is a pseudonym for identification on the internet in a feeble attempt to keep stalkers away. sMhyla sounds like smile and it's close to my real name.

Q: Why did I start blogging?
A: I googled myself and found myself on a friend's blog site (thanks, D-Lo). Blogaholicism must be contagious. "Hi, my name is sMhyla and I've been a blogaholic for 10 months now." I like to share and this is one way to do so.

Q: Can I send you an email?
A: Like I said, I like to share. I prefer that my readers post comments on my site. I understand that some people want to ask a private question or might be a bit too shy, so you can try sending me an email. I can't respond to every note though. My email address is listed under my profile (click on link on upper right corner below my profile shot).

Q: Can I comment on your site?
A: This may sound like a remedial question for you expert bloggers out there, but believe it or not, I've received that question more than once. First of all, I love hearing your comments (within reason, of course- and be nice!). However, I do reserve the right to delete any inappropriate comment and/or block your IP address for future commenting. Mutual respect and maturity are required. Update: As Maragin commented, anyone can easily comment on my new site without becoming a member unlike in Xanga. Now you blog-voyeurs have no excuse...

Q: Why did I move from Xanga to Blogger?
A: Actually, I started blogging with both Xanga and Blogger on Xmas 2004, but I found Xanga easier to use at the time. Since then, I've realized that Xanga has many limitations, while Blogger is more compatible with other sites, such as Flickr, Picasa, HaloScan, StatCounter, and w.bloggar. For example, I am posting this particular blog through w.bloggar (thank you, Zebra on Acid).

Q: Why did I buy the domain name, www.smhyla.com?
A: It's much easier to remember for you AND me.

Q: Who am I?
A: That's for me to know, and you to find out...

--
Live, love, and laugh
with me at
www.smhyla.com

Getting beat at the finish line

Getting beat at the finish line
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

At the finish line of the Nike Run Hit Wonder, my 2 bros (left and right) look like they got beat a random little chubby kid!!! Hilarious. Of course, my personal shots are not so flattering, so let's leave those hidden in my Flickr account (hint: you can click on the picture on the right and try to find it if you must laugh at me).

I do thank the professional photographers at the 5K, but they sure do make it more difficult to "borrow" the pictures for "show and tell". No worries, the "clear window" layer on top of the original picture will only deter amateurs. Thanks to my roomie for reminding me about the trick: view source code, find the jpg file name, copy and paste into a new browser window, and save to your harddrive. I just wish they would provide the pics with high resolution.

Now that I'm on Blogger, I have more choices on how to post a blog with pictures. However, it seems like I'm limited to posting 1 picture at a time. I've tried Blogger itself, Picasa/Hello, w.bloggar, and even Flickr. Any advice out there in the blogosphere? For example, I used to post multiple pictures at one time in my Xanga blog (see example in link below). Hmm...

Note: CLICK HERE to read my previous post about the 5K on my Xanga site.

B is for Blogger

B is for Blogger
Originally uploaded by smhyla.

This is my first post on Blogger. Actually, I started blogging on both Blogger and Xanga last xmas, but had favored Xanga at the time. Now, I have seen the light. I hate to lose all my old posts on Xanga, so I won't shut it down, at least not yet. You can bookmark me at www.smhyla.com (yes, I broke down and bought my first domain name).

I thought this snap shot would be just perfect to launch my first post on Blogger. My roomie's friend, Rob, gave me the cool t-shirt. Rob works for Google, specifically on the product called AdSense. How cool is Rob!

This will be a short post since I'm still setting up this page. Stay tuned...