When I visited the Grand Canyon, the most startling thing to me was the snow. There was snow on both sides of the road, surrounding the trees... I didn't expect to see snow. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona, and so I always expected it to be a really hot place, so snow was quite the surprise. But I suppose the Grand Canyon is at a high altitude and that's what causes it to snow.

The snow on the actual canyons had already melted, but the canyons were stunning nevertheless. We were only able to see the South Rim (there is a North Rim and South Rim) because the North Rim doesn't open until the warmer months.

I find it interesting that although California is considered to be a pretty warm state, Nevada and Arizona felt a lot warmer (even the Grand Canyon wasn't all that cold). When I got back home, I was pretty surprised by it. I guess that means Arizona and Nevada are really hot in the summertime, though. And I've heard that old people like to move to Arizona since it's a warm place. It helps with arthritis. (I've visited the Winchester House, which is pretty close to where I live, and I heard that Sarah Winchester had lots of heaters since she had arthritis.)

While I was on vacation, I would watch the Olympics at nighttime. I always hoped to see the skating, which I was interested in. The problem is, the skating didn't go on until late at night, so I'd be really tired by the time it was on TV.

I was watching the Pair Skating, and there was a pair from Russia, Yuko Kavaguti and Aleksandr Smirnov. Yuko Kavaguti is actually from Japan, but gave up her Japanese citizenship and moved to Russia to pursue her Olympic dream. I don't think I saw any Japanese pair skaters. I had heard on television that some people considered her a traitor for leaving Japan for Russia. But you know, making a decision like that couldn't have been easy. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to make other dreams come true.

I also watched some snowboarding. It seems like having longish hair is a common thing for male snowboarder, though Shaun White, one of the USA snowboarders, had especially long hair... My parents think snowboarding is a risky sport and all. Really, a lot of the Winter Olympic sports seem pretty dangerous. I also watched some of the women's alpine skiing. It was pretty scary seeing athletes get into crashes. It sure is dangerous to do these sports. No wonder when I was watching the skiing, a person commented, "It's like she's afraid of the speed." Wouldn't you be, if you had just nearly gotten yourself killed? Hockey also seemed to be quite the violent sport.

I kind of wonder why people still go into sports despite that they could really injure themselves badly. Do they try not to think about that? Do they feel it is worth the risk? I guess there is a kind of thrill in doing something dangerous, too.

I was really freaked out when I was standing near to the edge of the Grand Canyon, even though there are railings and all. There was a sign saying people have died by falling into the Grand Canyon. My dad said sometimes being by the edge gives him the urge to actually go and jump in. I often feel like I'm going to fall in or drop my camera or something like that, and sometimes I'm really scared of falling in, but at other times I think it will be really thrilling.

My imagination tends to go wild a lot, and I think of myself doing all sorts of amazing things that I would probably never be able to do. When I was younger, I thought of myself with magic powers, being able to control things like a rainbow swirling sort of thing. That was inspired by the old Fishtime Club I was a part of back in elementary school. In first grade, one of my friends decided he wanted to a form a club. We started out with just him, me, and his sister, and we would spend time digging up rocks and walking around the YMCA daycare at my elementary school. But then we met more people, and there were some really fun and happy times. Later on, though it kind of split up, as my friend and his sister stopped going to the YMCA, and eventually I think they must have moved away (I haven't seen them at my middle school). They might still live in this area. I saw someone who looked a whole lot like him at Target once. I don't know if he still remembers me or if my old friends still remember those fun times. (A lot of the people who I spent time with were a year younger than I was. I guess I get along better with younger people because I've always wondered what it's like to have siblings. I like to spend time with my friends' younger sisters, too.) I'd be really happy if they still have those memories.

Labels: alpine, arizona, arthritis, danger, fishtime club, grand canyon, japan, memory, nevada, olympics, pairs, russia, shaun white, ski, snow, snowboarding, sports, temperature, winchester, yuko kavaguti

It seems like I can never find the "perfect temperature" today. If I put on a coat, I start sweating, but if I take it off, my allergies/cold seem to get worse. I wonder what to do. (I don't want to use the medical nasal spray my mom keeps in the office since it hurts. It's made of seawater or some other weird substance. o_O)

Right now it's my Staff Learning Day, but it seems like some colleges are having their week of spring break now. I guess they don't have February Break (otherwise known as Midyear Recess) like my school dose. I guess that makes sense, seeing as the purpose of our week off in February is so that kids won't miss a week of school just because they want to be skiing in Lake Tahoe or something.

Earlier today, a man (presumably one of my mom's coworkers) tapped the side of the cubicle (since there is no door to cubicles). I thought he had something serious about work to discuss but it turns out he was bringing my mom an advertisement for a good deal on a vacation to Hawaii! First there was pizza the last time I came here, and now a vacation ad from a newspaper?! Does anyone work at my parents' offices?! (My mom sometimes goes shopping during her lunch break, and my dad checks his email and writes on his own blog...Apparently he has some friends who "look forward" to reading his blog)

Anyhow, I've noticed that my mom keeps two of the apples that I brought her from school on top of her computer. One has wrinkly skin because it's probably rotting inside and the other one looks okay but doesn't feel very hard when you touch it. I compared this to my grandma and my mom. My grandma is old, and has wrinkles and a hunched back, so you can tell, kind of like the first apple. My mom looks younger but she's aging, if you look at the grey hairs beneath her dyed head. My mom was miffed when I made such a comment to her. D:

Now, I'm not sure if y'all are familiar with KK Slider or not, but he's a well-known in the Animal Crossing games (now available for Game Cube, DS, and even Wii). He started out as a poor street musician named Totakeke, but now he's famous. In the Game Cube he sits on a crate next to the train station (pretty miserable when it rains, if you ask me) and in the DS he gets to use the stage in the museum cafe. As for the Wii (the game for that is called Animal Crossing: City Folk) I haven't tried that yet, so who knows. (I want it, and one of my friends who lives in Taiwan said she would get it if I got it and liked it, but I don't know...I mean, I might not have time to pick weeds and go fishing every single day.)

Back to my mom's office. Looks like her plant isn't dead yet. I was surprised seeing as my dad has the "greenest thumb" in the family (which reminds me of an inside joke I had with my friend in Taiwan. She used to live in CA. One day she was bored and decided to water the plants herself instead of turning on the sprinklers. Then the plants died. So I say she has a "dead thumb"). I was reading my planner a few years back, and it said in one of the corners, "Never go to a doctor's office that has dead office plants." I wonder if that advice is sound.

Labels: animal crossing, apple, blog, break, decay, free time, health, kk slider, memories, nasal spray, pizza, sick, simile, ski, staff learning day, vacation, video games

It's been pouring buckets lately, and I was braindead about what to name my blog post, so there it is.

This morning, my piano class was at 11:15 (weird, because nowadays it's usually 11:30). As always my mother and the piano teacher started off with their strange middle-aged/old lady talk. They talked about how a lot of piano students have been skiing, and how one of the kids was very sick with a cold, yet he was still going to go skiing. Wow. The two older folks, however, kept saying how they don't like camping and things like that (my mom says "So many bugs and dirty ground!") but all the same, a lot of people like to go back in time (y'know? Because sleeping in the "outdoors" and cooking stuff over a fire is basically going how life was a long time ago).

Everyday when I walk home I continue to keep an eye out for the black cat. He, or she (I can't tell the gender of it) doesn't come out if it rained that day, it seems. I guess felines aren't too fond of the wet weather. Most cats, after all, are freaked out by that sensation. Maybe their fur isn't completely waterproof, or they just aren't used to it, or something.

I'm impatiently waiting for more magazines to arrive in the mail. I constantly read the magazines Reader's Digest, National Geographic, and Nintendo Power. I got a new Nintendo Power issue yesterday, but I've read almost all the interesting stuff already (I didn't want to read about an Indiana Jones game) and I haven't seen a new RD lately. I don't know if any new NGs came, either, because they tend to get scattered around the house.

Last night I was reminiscing about not going swimming for several months. I kind of miss it. The last time I went was in late November, swimming in the Venetian hotel pool (that's in Las Vegas). Ever since I stopped my swim lessons, as I don't have much free time for them, I haven't had much chance to go swimming. Oh well...As long as I don't completely forget how to swim, I suppose it'll be okay.

Oh yeah, we bought some Milanos today. It's a kind of cookie of sorts, from the Pepperidge Farm company, whatever that is. There are many flavors - regular, milk chocolate, mint, dark chocolate, double chocolate, black&white, raspberry, and orange. I bought one raspberry and one double chocolate (they're tasty and have less calories). My mom actually likes the raspberry, so that's cool.

Labels: blah, camping, cat, food, gossip, magazine, milanos, old folks, rain, ski, swim

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