We're off to Iowa today, to help Claudine move into her apartment. She's going to be going to med school there. Can't write much. Gotta go. Reminda me to tell you about Fatima's old band teacher who ended up being an online sexual predator. - Yano, 8:23 AM |

Friday, July 26 Friday, July 26

Yesterday I had a book club meeting, and we were discussing D.H. Lawrence's 'Sons and Daughters'. For the 3rd month in a row, I didn't finish the book. Oh well. I know what happens now. But I'll still finish the book, it's really good. I swear, I'll read the next one. So I get to the train at around 8:30pm. I get on, and I'm EXHAUSTED, so I fall asleep. I wake up, and we're at the Chicago stop. In my half awake daze, I think to myself, 'I'm going the wrong way!' (On the red line, the Chicago stop is going AWAY from my house) So I gather my stuff up and stumble out of the train. Once I'm out, the train leaves, and I realize that I shouldn't have gotten out, that I was going the right direction all along, and that Chicago is a VERY scary stop at 8:45. It's empty, it's spooky, and there's weird echo's. So I just read my comic and prayed that no serial rapist killer was going to find me before the next train came. Then to my relief, the train came. I LIVE! It's probably karma getting back at me for what I did to Claudine on the train a couple days ago. Today, there is MUSIC once again at my desk! My manager is out for half the day, and I'm jamming. Productivity will definitely be up today. That's good, because I've got TONS to do. I need to get sleep tonight. We're driving to Des Moines tomorrow to help Claudine move into her apartment. Ahh, I'm sad to see the girl go. Who will bake me brownies? Who will clean Luscious' poopies? Who will give me money when I lose my cash station card? Who will tell me when my ass looks bad in my pleather pants? Who will I chase around and hug? Who will I take pictures of when they're butt wasted and crawling on the front lawn? *tear* - Yano, 11:47 AM |

Thursday, July 25 Thursday, July 25

For as much as I hate work sometimes, I have a lot of great laughs here. The guys are singing right now, and throwing around swedish fish and catching them like seals. Good times. Good times. - Yano, 3:00 PM |

Two funny stories to start the day. I was almost late for work today. First of all, I woke up late. Actually, I convinced myself to wake up late. So I'm running out the door, and I'm dressed in this really comfy and cute tank dress. Before leaving, I check in the hallway mirror for that last 'Does my ass look big in this?' look. And lo and behold, 'What the hell?' there was a hole in my dress, right on my ass. Don't know how long it's been there, but after closer inspection, it suspiciously looked like rabbit teeth marks. Damn that rabbit! So I had to run in my room, and find something else to wear. Luckily, I caught the bus right as it was coming to my stop. Good thing I did the ass check. I would never hear the end of it if someone saw the hole at work. Also, yesterday, I actually left work on time. So i'm waiting for the train, and when it comes in, I see that there's a seat open in the back. I get on, and I see that Claudine, my sister, is sitting in the seat right in front of the empty seat. (she get on the train a couple stops before me) So I sneak into the seat behind her. I lean forward, and softly blow in her ear. No reaction. SO every couple seconds, I blow again into her ear, each time a little harder. I can see her start to tense up, but no verbal reaction. I wanted a reaction, dammit! So I take my bookmark and start flicking her ear. A couple flicks, nothing. But then she FINALLY turns around and almost screams when she sees me. She was SO pissed off. And I was totally laughing my ass off. How I love torturing that girl. And a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Amy. Who seems to be enjoying my page and the secret life I hide from her. :) - Yano, 10:43 AM |

Just wanted to start posting sketches from the convention a couple weeks ago. This is a great drawing of Psylocke, done by Vampi artist Kevin Lau. He wasn't sure who she was at first, but you could never tell that from the drawing. He did a great job! Kevin Lau's Psylocke - Yano, 12:32 AM |

Wednesday, July 24 Wednesday, July 24

Well, I had a pretty long meeting today, and I made this little list to keep myself awake. Here's a list of my favorite musicals, in ascending order (the best is first). Les Miserables - This was the first show I went to, and my favorite. It's got everything, great story, beautiful music, visually beautiful Miss Saigon - Who couldn't love the story of a whore who falls in love? Best music out of the bunch. Cirque du Soliel: O - This was just amazing and breathtaking. Cirque du Soliel at its best. A MUST if you go to Vegas. Rent - I cried. Multiple times. A great musical for our times. Phantom of the Opera - The scenery is beautiful, and the music haunting. Chicago - Jazzy, funny, and a good 'ole time. And hey, it's named after my favorite town. Mama Mia - Who'd have thought that all the Abba songs I grew up to would make such a great story and a fun musical? Beauty and Beast - This wouldn't have made the list if I hadn't seen it on Broadway, with my childhood idol, the original Annie, Andrea McArdle as Beauty. Blue Man Group - One of these things is not like the other. Which is why you've got to go see this. Is it art? Musical? Social commentary? Tony and Tina's Wedding - I hope my wedding doesn't turn out like this. The best thing about TnT is the audience participation. - Yano, 4:37 PM |

Tuesday, July 23 Tuesday, July 23

I think my unmotivation at work is due to the ban on music. It drives me batty. I need some noise. If I don't I get antsy and I can't concentrate. Anyway, here's an AWESOME link. Remember when you were young, and you played M.A.S.H. (Mansion-Apartment-Shack-House)? Geez, we played it all the time! Anyway, here's a link to an online version... M.A.S.H. - Yano, 10:20 PM |

Well, I thought I’d have an early morning blog today. It seems like it’s going to be a gorgeous day today, though a little overcast. Took the train to work today, and I’m REALLY trying to uphold my quest to only drive to work once a week. It’s pretty hard when I oversleep, though, because driving gets me to work faster. But even though it’s faster, parking costs an arm and a leg in downtown Chicago! So I’m going to try, real hard. The great thing about taking the train is that I also get to catch up on my reading, which I haven’t been doing much of lately. Amy just gave me her ‘The Knot Organizer’, which is a binder that keeps all of your wedding crap. What a sweetheart! I think I’ll definitely be going to her for tips and tricks, since she’s about the only married person around my age that I see on a regular basis. I’ve also been looking at wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses, and there are just SO many beautiful styles out there. I’ll probably post some here for you guys to vote on. Seems like there’s a lot of people that come here, so you all can help me out. Much like Carnie Wilson got her stomach stapled on the internet, I’ll have the internet help me plan my wedding. Well, have some input, at least. And since there ARE a few of you that regularly visit my site (and I thank you for it!) I just thought I’d put in a conversation starter, and see if it takes off. Me and a friend were talking yesterday about the meaning of ‘being fake’. His scenario for fakeness was that if you’re a party, and you’re kinda forced socially to talk to other people, even though you don’t want to. So you go up to people, act all nice and cordial, but inside you’re hating it. My definition of fake is when you first meet someone, and you don’t act like yourself. You change your interests and values to impress someone else. What’s your definition of fake? - Yano, 8:53 AM |

Monday, July 22 Monday, July 22

Well, today starts my 'Spend no more extra money' campaign. Let's see how long it lasts. Starting to feel a little stress from planning out the wedding. Trying to decide who to invite and who not to invite. Unfortunately, we can't invite all our friends. There is just no way! But if any of your are reading this, and you don't get invited, we still care about you, we just can't afford it! And I don't even want to know about who my mom and who Dave's mom has on the list. I'm so afraid that this thing is going to blow up into a million people. But I just need to take a deep breath and say to myself 'This is MY wedding. In the end, I can make the cuts.' Right? So right now, my main concerns are getting the church and the reception site. Everything else can wait for later. Argh! - Yano, 8:20 PM |

Sunday, July 21 Sunday, July 21

After a lot of labor, a lot of unscrewing, and moving and rearranging, I've finally got my new system up and running. Yay! I've got two drives in this baby and some new memory. I also have this ultra low noise keyboard, so I won't drive myself crazy with all my click/clacking in the middle of the night. Anyway, yesterday we went out to Hi-Tops for Claudine's going away night out. Of course, she got plastered, and we pretty much had to drag her to the car. Dan was such a good boyfriend for sticking by her and making sure she didn't yak all over my car. It was a fun time at Hi-Tops, as always, stupid carefree fun. I don't have to care what I look like, and I don't have to care what I wear. And I'm always assured some great hip-hop and house, except for the obligatory heavy metal 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' mix that Gel has to do. But even that's a good time. And Gel played this great 'Back to Shanghai' set that played all the old house mixes we loved in Urbana. Today, we went to lunch with OJ to Akai Hana. I don't think I can ever get sick of sushi. It's just so damn good. Me and Fatima ordered so much! It was nice to catch up on old times and see what OJ's been up to lately. ANd of course, it's nice to eat sushi, too. Yum yum. So here I am, and I've got a TON of stuff to install on my machine. But maybe I'll take a nap first. :) - Yano, 3:56 PM |