The Mind's I: iko's journal

Perspective...

On journals-l, a listserv for the online journalling culture, someone asked the question what journals would be least like mine. Well, I thought about it and decided that the journal I know of that is least like this one is Dori's saranwarp. I also think she is a person that is very much not like me. It's strange how we have a number of connections even though we're not alike. We both have the same piercer. Her exboyfriend was a guy that I might have dated a long time ago (when I was 13! Eeps!).

She's a wonderful read, though. Her observations of life in the city are so unlike mine, her general outlook on life and general interests. I love reading her stuff and living vicariously through her.

Genera Plantarum
Lilac

Lilacs. Beautiful and often very heavy with fragrance. I remember in Illinois there were huge lilac bushes on the quad and I disliked walking past them sometimes since their fragrance would be so heavy and sweet, it was almost sickening.

Lilacs are in the same family as forsythias. Those lovely yellow blossoms that you see early in spring. And jasmine. Jasmine shares lilac's heavy and heady smell. The family is Oleaceae, also known as the Olive family.

The members of the olive family have petals that are typically fused together (sympetalous) with four lobes. Little crosses. It has one pistil and two stamens, which are typically connected to the petals. Pull the petals off and notice that they all come out in one ring with the stamens connected to it.

previous | index | next

May 30, 1999

Death to...

Mike with flower
An old picture of Mr. Lake. I love it. Especially with the flower stuck in his mouth. I'm not quite sure if you would be able to see the flower in the picture, Constant Reader, but it's there. We were passing by a large lilac bush on one of our walks and I decided to stop and take several pictures. He decided to busy himself by plucking a blossom and sticking it in his mouth. He does this frequently, actually. Whenever he knows that we'll be walking for a long period of time and suitable grass is growing by the roadside, he'll pluck a blade of grass and stick it, very hick-like, into his mouth. The consummate Illinois boy.
---
My skin is itchy everywhere. Those mosquitoes yesterday did a great job of eating me up. They aren't raised. Instead, I've got ugly red blotches all over my legs. They probably wouldn't be as red as they currently are if I didn't scratch them, but I'm stubborn and do so. Some of them have formed scabs and I am pick at them occasionally during the day.

It's a wonder that I'm not one big scar by now.
---
My relatives came over today to have barbecue. It ended up being not just my two aunts and their families, but my mother's sister also invited her friend, a sister-in-law of hers and a brother-in-law of hers. It was funny to look out the back yard and see a sea of Filipino faces. When Mike and I went out to get some food, Mike was the only non-asian in the crowd.

The one thing I can say about it is that Filipinos know how to make great barbecue. Mm.

The amount of leftovers that we had was phenomenal. The last time we made barbecue, there were some marinated meat leftovers that we left uncooked and froze. My mom defrosted them for today and cooked the remainer of those leftovers for this barbecue. That means that all of the new uncooked meat that my mom and aunt prepared is now frozen in the basement. Filipinos almost always overdo it, especially when it comes to serving food to guests.
---
And now, some meta-talk.

I've now got two new projects for the web. I'm still plugging away for my Genera Plantarum site, but I've also been asked to develop a website for The Matrix-themed fan fiction. It's because I took over a matrix listserv. I probably will primarily just do the hosting. There is a graphic designer on the list that I'm probably going to use that person's talents to do the actual graphics. I'll just piece it all together.

I've joined two new webrings too. I was invited into 13 G33KS by my good friend, Matthew Coburn. My website doesn't demonstrate all the bells and whistles I can do. Actually, it demonstrates only a small bit of what I can do. So, it helps to know Matt. He's a great guy and has a good journal that is a good read for fellow geeks.

The second webring I've joined is an elusive invitation for The Amalgam Webring. Looking at some of the sites already the ring, it looks like I'm going to be in very good journal company.

I enjoy these little recognitions for my journal. It makes me feel like I've been doing something right with this. It doesn't boost my ego as much as I expected it to do so, however. I recognize that my journal is only a small portion of my life and reflects only a teeny bit of me. Getting recognition for it does not change my value as a person. It reminds me of the entire diarist awards (which I created the logo for the site awards). Getting recognized (or not in my case) doesn't reflect any in my value as a person. Not getting nominated doesn't mean that my journal is bad. I get recognized by my peers in so many other ways that the need for a nomination isn't really important to me. Granted, I wouldn't turn away an award, but I don't actively seek one.
---
I'm going to curtail my playing with my computer. The FreeCell bug has bit me and bit me very hard. I can't write a few paragraphs without playing another game. For the past week, it has been sucking up my time away from online stuff. Very aggravating. Death to FreeCell! Death to Minesweeper! Someone save me from such evil temptations.