A famous visitor at the office ...

Elder L. Tom Perry came by the office today to go to another meeting with an attorney here. He passed by my desk, so of course I had to do a quick facebook status to gloat, even though he didn't look in my direction ... it did, however, bring to mind a couple of experiences I had with Elder Perry when I lived downtown (close to his condo). He actually helped me with my groceries once ... and we used to gas our cars at the same Chevron on West Temple ... and one of his grandsons worked at our firm as a runner once upon a time. But anyway, on with my favorite stories about Elder Perry ...

Story No. 1: My friend, Pat, used to own a condo in the same building as Elder Perry. She invited me over one night for a swim in their indoor pool. When we entered, there was Elder Perry, the only other person in the room and pool swimming laps. When he saw us on sitting on the side, he mentioned that there's plenty of room in the pool for all of us. Pat and I felt self-conscious and there's just something wrong with appearing before an apostle in your bathing suit, so we told him that we just wanted to just sit and chat for a minute before getting in. He finished the lap and then got out and left. I hope he didn't think we didn't want to get in because he was there ... regardless, we considered it holy water after that.

Story No. 2: I was washing my car in the driveway of my apartment one beautiful summer day with a nozzle gadget a friend had given me. The nozzle was fancy as it controlled flow of water and you can add a detergent tablet for washing cars. Unfortunately, the nozzle probably fell off a truck and did work at all. I kept forgetting to turn off the water before taking off the nozzle, so water hose flying everywhere drenching me and half of the driveway. By the third time this happened, I was pretty ticked. I yanked the nozzle off and was about to throw it on the ground and a choice word was about to escape my lips. "Sh ... oot!" I said, as I turned and saw Elder Perry coming down the sidewalk. "Nice save, sister ... and a beautiful day for a shower."

Motherly Advice

2009 Living Traditions Festival

Being silly ...

Tracie and Darren

Inge and Marianne

Be careful what you ask for ...

Saw an episode of "Frasier" and this dialogue not only cracked me up, but also served as a reminder that "even though things may not happen like we planned, they can work out anyway."

Roz: Ever heard of Lupe Velez?
Frasier: Who?

Roz: Lupe Velez, the movie star in the '30s. Well, her career hit the skids, so she decided she'd make one final stab at immortality. She figured if she couldn't be remembered for her movies, she'd be remembered for the way she died. And all Lupe wanted was to be remembered. So, she plans this lavish suicide - flowers, candles, silk sheets, white satin gown, full hair and makeup, the works. She takes the overdose of pills, lays on the bed, and imagines how beautiful she's going to look on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper. Unfortunately, the pills don't sit well with the enchilada combo plate she sadly chose as her last meal. She stumbles to the bathroom, trips and goes head-first into the toilet, and that's how they found her.

Frasier: Is there a reason you're telling me this story?

Roz: Yes. Even though things may not happen like we planned, they can work out anyway.

Frasier: Remind me again how it worked for Lupe, last seen with her head in the toilet.

Roz: All she wanted was to be remembered. Will you ever forget that story?

Adios, IKEA!

I first met Shannon at work. When we were introduced, she was surprised that a Chinese-Indonesian would have such a Scandanavian name. I told her that I look forward to dressing up one Halloween to look just like her -- blonde, blue-eyed Swede -- to match my name. We got along nicely, became friends and over time I nicknamed her "IKEA" because she is so Swedish looking. She would even respond when I greet her with an, "Holla, IKEA." Shannon left the firm last fall and despite best efforts, we lost touch.

Earlier this week, another co-worker saw Shannon's obituary in the newspaper and passed the sad news on when she got to work. We were all so shocked. Shannon was only 38-years-old and left behind two tween daughters. They were not with her at the time of her death as they live with their dad in California. The thought of children losing their mother ... and on Mother's Day weekend ... I can't even imagine what those girls must be going through.

A group of us went to the viewing last night. After expressing our sympathies to her brothers, we made our way towards the casket when a wail came from the direction of the doors ... there stood Shannon's two daughters, shaking and sobbing at the sight of their mom in the casket. My heart broke.

Adios, IKEA! Rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family ...

Swine Flu

How the Swine Flu spread to humans ...

The first celebrity victim ...

and we all know who gave it to him.

Now, there's a shortage of masks ...

The Eagles are landing ...

Let me just start by saying that I love the Eagles! Well, they're performing tomorrow night in Salt Lake. I so wanted to go, but when I checked a few months ago, tickets were $75 and up. While I was willing to fork out that much for semi-decent seats, I couldn't find a single person willing to spend that kind of money to go with me. A friend checked on the price earlier this week and the only tickets left are the $175 ones. Too rich for my blood. Why do they have to charge so much? They're making it harder for people to appreciate their music ...

So, a group of us decided to get together tonight for some dinner and watch the "Hell Freezes Over" concert. Hey, if we can't be at the concert tomorrow night, we might as well just enjoy the Eagles on DVD. It was a fun night -- great food, great company, great comfy seats, no lines to the restroom, no traffic. Can't ask for anything more.

Happy Day!

Yeah, I know, I have a wierd sense of humor ...

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii,
Garlands of flowers everywhere,
All of the colors in the rainbow,
Maidens with blossoms in their hair.

Flowers that mean we should be happy,
Throwing aside a load of care,
Oh, May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii,
May Day is happy days out there.

So, today is May Day which is Lei Day in Hawaii. When I was in elementary school, they would hold May Day Celebrations with a royalty court and sing the song above and have all sorts of dancing and singing performances representing the various major ethnic groups in Hawaii. The King and Queen would be Hawaiian and their court would be representatives of ethnic groups. In my sixth grade year at Laie Elementary School, I and Kenneth Macatiag were chosen to represent the Phillipines (close enough, I guess, I'm from that region of the world). I'll have to see if I can find the pictures and scan it in to share.

Conversation with the inept ...

A guy who aged out of my singles' ward work in my building. He gets off work about 6:00 also and the other night he happened to just be steps in front of me and my co-worker as we walked over to the parking garage. So he heard my voice, turned around, saw me and stopped to allow us to catch up to him. The conversation went something like this:

X: So, what's going on that's exciting?
Me: Not a whole lot with me.
X: There must be something ...
Me: Nope.
X: I wonder if I should bring this up. No, I shouldn't. Well, maybe I should ...
Me: What?
X: No, I shouldn't.
Me: Okay, whatever. [I ignore him and start talking to my co-worker]
X: Well, okay, I'll ask you ... So, according to Mormon doctrine, there are different places for a person to go after this life. Is spirit prison hell?
Me: Uh, no! People there are being preached to and it's a temporary state until they accept the Gospel.
X: Correct. So what is hell? [This is the part where I should have answered, "This conversation with you is hell", but I didn't]
Me: I would imagine that outer darkness would fit the definition of hell better than spirit prison ...
X: Correct! So who goes there?
Me: Murderers, adulterers, unrepentant ...
X: Right again ... well, I just thought I'd provide the topic of conversation ... g'night!
Me: What the hell?