The End of Enteract The End of Enteract The End of Enteract Short note (really busy at work). http://www.enteract.com/~yano has officially died. I don't know why, and I don't feel like investigating. I was fortunate enough to have it as long as I did. It was sheer luck and the kindness of my friend OJ that it's been around this long. So I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure it isn't coming back. So I'm having a premature beginning to http://www.yanowhatimean.com. I wanted to have a big opening party for it after I redesigned the whole site, but what can you do. Welcome to my new domain! So please change your links, and I'm sorry about the inconvenience. More good things are to come from my site...it'll be ALL GOOD! Yanowhatimean? I'm gonna kill that phrase to death. - Yano, 4:59 PM |

Too Much Partying Makes Yano a Slow Girl Too Much Partying Makes Yano a Slow Girl Too Much Partying Makes Yano a Slow Girl Head hurts. Tummy grumble. Must...move...slowly. Hangovers suck! Luckily, mine isn't too bad. But I've got TONS of stuff to do today, so I've got to keep on movin'. Happy Friday the 13th! Yesterday's building party was a lot of fun, though. There was a lot of free pizza, and the desserts were awesome. And of course, my favorite thing, open bar. There's just something about those two words that brings a smile to my face. So of course, I took advantage of it. And the bartenders were VERY generous with their pouring of the spirits. I was quite happy. After the party, we headed out to Mother Hubbard's for more drinks and some pool. The Christine/Jerry team beat the Abie/Syed team 3 to 1 at pool. We rule! We had more drinks and a car bomb or two, and I got a chance to play with Abie's phone cam. It's pretty neat. I know it was getting bad when the drunken phone messages started happening. Dan, the devil that he is, once again called people on my phone without my permission. Dude, I got a rep to protect! There was also a lot of love advice given, and for some reason, I remember yelling and hitting the table a lot. But it was a lot of fun....good times!!! Fortunately, I arrived home in one piece. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling too good right now! - Yano, 11:39 AM |

Thursday, December 12 Thursday, December 12

Picture Time at the Christmas Bazaar Picture Time at the Christmas Bazaar Picture Time at the Christmas Bazaar I worked pretty late yesterday, and since I was already late going home, I decided to stop by the Christmas market which is by my subway station. It's held at the Daley Center, and it is also the location of the city Christmas tree. This tree is MASSIVE. They also have a bunch of little shops, mostly of European origins, selling homemade crafts and food. There were many things that were begging me to buy them, like these beautful painted ornaments that were lit from the inside, or those russian dolls that have 10 dolls fit into one another, or German bratwurst, or potato cakes, snowman windchimes, cute hats with pompoms on top....so much to buy! Fortunately, I left buying nothing. But I DID take some great pictures. oops, i just realized that i didn't rotate two of the pictures...heh heh...i'll fix 'em soon! Today is also our building party. I work in a skyscraper in downtown Chicago, and every year they throw a little party in the lobby for all the tenants. Free food, and free drinks! I love the word FREE! It's always a good time, and it's nice to see the people who work in the same building as you. We always end up a little, uh, happy. I'll recap on what happens when I get home tonight. If I can type. *wink* - Yano, 11:30 AM |

Wednesday, December 11 Wednesday, December 11

Busy Day! Busy Day! Busy Day! Two little boys, taking a bath. How cute! (one is Rusty naked *wink*) Yesterday I tried finishing up my Christmas cards, but I ran into roadblock after roadblock. First, my zip drive died. Then, I had to type up my mom's Christmas labels. Then, my calligraphy pen wouldn't load up the ink. The I realized that after working at a computer for the last 5 years, my calligraphic penmanship now looks like I'm writing with my toes! Ack! Tonight. It will all get done tonight. Well, I slacked off a bit yesterday, and it really seems like I'm paying for it today. I was on a pretty long conference call with a pretty tough customer. Actually, there were 5 other people in the call, and one of them was French. His accent was so thick I could hardly understand him. But it was a pretty cool accent. And I've got tons of projects that I've been putting off that I need to do. Hmph! This calls for an long walk to the Sports Authority! I need a break! [more than an hour passes] Well, back from the Sports Authority. We didn't know where the elevator was, so we took the steps up to the 6th floor. What a workout. Bryan ended up buying some skis at an AWESOME price. I was tempted to buy some myself. But the little Yano on my shoulder hit me on the head and said 'NO CHRISTINE! NO! YOU SUCK AT SKIING ANYWAY!' True, Yano Conscience, true! We had a great time loading the ski's into the cab! I came in about 10 minutes late for my 3:30 meeting. My manager hasn't made any comments or anything, maybe he forgot about it. I hope so! - Yano, 3:43 PM |

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

Rolly Polly Shot Glasses Rolly Polly Shot Glasses Rolly Polly Shot Glasses It's kinda warm outside! I came in from a walk with Bryan and I was almost sweating. Ahh, it's nice to have the temps in the lower 40's! During our walk today, we stopped by Crate & Barrel, and I saw the oddest thing - roly shot glasses! These shot glasses have a round bottom, so you totally feel like they're going to tip over, but they don't. It was pretty neat. They also have roly drink glasses and vases, too. We were rolling 'em around, it was kinda fun, but very nerve racking. Wacky! Yesterday, I got about 80% of my Christmas cards done. Which is pretty great, considering that it's ME doing it. I always end up writing these little sentences and what-not, rather than just saying 'MERRY CHRISTMAS! Love, Christine'. Well, actually, for most of my cards it's going to be 'Christine & Dave'. Now all I have to do is address them and send them out. Tonight it might be a bit more of a challenge for me to do, because I'm really tired at work right now, so I may go home and just nap for a while. Hey, I just thought of something...this is my last Christmas as a single person! Weird! Did you guys hear? Glenn Quinn, who played Mark on 'Roseanne' died last week. He also played Doyle on 'Angel' for the first season. They suspect a drug overdose, but it isn't official. How sad! - Yano, 3:55 PM |

Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9

Ohh...I really messed up that last post. I can't even get in to edit it! Anyway, the Flash Flash Revolution game was from Dave K. Have lotsa fun with it. I did! Half time. Bears are losing 14-0. Grrr...There's still time! FYI - the link down there is broke, just like the Bears. Use the one up here! - Yano, 9:50 PM |

The good thing about losing my ATM card is that for the past week, I had no money, so I bought nothing. If I had the urge for donuts in the morning, nope, no money. If I wanted to buy something stupid, nope, no money. Today, I felt like I accomplished a lot today. I went to the bank to get a new ATM card, went to the post office for some stamps, went to the mall and bought some belated b-day presents for Mel and Jen, (Mel, hope you didn't get it yet...) and bought my Christmas cards. For some reason, I didn't think Target would be busy during the day. It was almost as busy as it is at night! And their selection of Christmas cards isn't as good as it was in previous years. Yes, Christmas cards. I'm notorious for giving them. A year late. I dunno. It just takes me so long to write them out, and most of them I mail out, but there are a few friends that I know I'm going to see, so to save postage, I don't mail them, and I just hold on to them until I see them again. Of course, I always forget to bring them with me when I see them. So they end up getting their Christmas cards about 8 months late. Yep. I'm a slacker! But after writing this, I'm going to write them out, address them, and send them out tomorrow. Really. ok, I give myself a 30% chance of actually doing it Whoo hoo! Mike Brown just picked up a fumble! Beat the Dolphins, I know you can!!! FUCK. Jim Miller just threw out an interception. Hot damn. Grr.... You want to waste some time? Ever played Dance Dance Revolution? Here's an online version, called Flash Flash Revolution. It gets pretty crazy! Thanks to Dave K for that one. - Yano, 8:25 PM |

Playing Hookey from School Playing Hookey from School Playing Hookey from School So I called in sick today. I had been wanted to call in sick last week (I picked up a cold in Washington DC) but I had so much stuff to take care of, I couldn't call in sick. But they're sending me out for a week to West Haven, CT for ALL of next week, so I won't have a chance to get any of my Christmas shopping done. And weekends aren't good, either, because I abhor going to the malls on weekends during the Christmas season. So I'm doing all my Christmas related chores today - buying Christmas cards, getting Christmas stamps, getting wrapping paper, ribbon, looking for little Christmas deals, buying the little kids presents (the older cousins are just doing a grab bag this year, and YES Melanie, I'll send you the list. I just don't know what I want!) and writing out my Christmas cards. It's going to be a long day. I was thinking I was going to wake up at noon after calling into the office, but I ended up waking up at 8:30am. That's no fun! But I couldn't go back to sleep, so I just started doing some preliminary work. Hmph. Off to the mall I go! - Yano, 10:43 AM |

Sunday, December 8 Sunday, December 8

Phenomenal Woman, My Hero Phenomenal Woman, My Hero Phenomenal Woman, My Hero I'm rarely serious here. But today, I want to talk about my hero. And no, this hero doesn't make life changing speeches, this hero hasn't won Olympic medals, this hero hasn't gone into burning building to save lives. But this hero has changed my life. This hero has the determination of an Olympic athelete. And this hero has saved a life - her own, as had inspired me to make my own better. I'm talking about my mom. Regular readers may remember that months ago, I had discussed how my mother's cancer had returned. She had it about 4 years ago, but had gone into remission. But this year we had found that it had spread. She's been doing chemotherapy, taking more pills and medication than I can count, and once again, the hair has fallen out. But rather than give up and be beaten, she's been fighting it with every ounce of her self, and has tried to keep herself in good spirits. She has stayed strong, where many other people would have given up. It's inspired me to see her be so strong - growing up, you usually don't see this strength in your parents, you usually wave them away with a toss of your hand. But I see a strength in her that I haven't seen before. Now I'm not close to my mom like other people are, we don't have late night talks, I've never discussed a boyfriend with her, if we go shopping, I meet her at an appointed time, and she has yet to pick out an outfit that I would be caught in public in...but I admire her. And I try to show my love for her with hugs and kisses, that's the only thing I know how to do. But somehow, I know it's enough. So when you're thinking about how sucky your life is, how pitiful it is, remember that you can always fight the adversity you meet in life. Rather than wallowing in your misery, overcome it. Don't complain about the things in your life that you can change, or that you can change your outlook on. So I dedicate this poem by Maya Angelou to my mom, my phenomenal woman. "Phenomenal Woman" Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size But when I start to tell them, They think I'm telling lies. I say, It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It's the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say, It's in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It's in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. - Yano, 1:30 PM |