So Flippin' Excited!

I went to a Roller Derby Bout with sisters in Kansas City and am totally in love w/the sport. I just found a local league and am going to start helping out. And re-learning how to skate. Anyone want to come along?

250 Steps...

...and it was drizzly and gray and we ended up with wet hair by the time we were done, but it was worth every step.

Happy Fourth of July!

Paul Revere's statue, Paul Revere Mall, Boston, MA

I just wanted to give a shout-out to all who are serving our country right now in the Armed Forces. My father and father-in-law both served their country and I'm proud of them. I'm proud of anyone who decided to serve.

I'm also incredibly grateful for the blessings we enjoy because we live in a free country. My work with the Korean newspaper program helps me see just how lucky we are (not because the Koreans are oppressed, but because we often cover news stories about those that are.)

So take some time today to sing the National Anthem. Sing it with pride. If you know the last verse, sing it too. If you don't, I'd like to leave you with the last verse of the Star-Spangled Banner:

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

What NOT to do with a cell phone

Motorola KrV or "Crave" R.I.P

Let me start by saying that I'd had this phone less than a year. I broke my last phone just a week before our 2 year upgrade by dropping it a couple of times within the same week. Not my best work. So when I got this new, flashy, fancy, touchscreen piece of junk, I was very careful with it. This time, it broke BECAUSE I OPENED IT TO MAKE A CALL! Seriously, I pulled it out of my pocket to make a call, and it fell apart in my hands. To be fair, I hated this phone. As soon as the "new phone glow" had worn off, I realized that the touchscreen lagged and often entered the letter right next to the letter you really wanted. But because I'm cheap, I was living with it. Now, of course, this particular phone is probably on a list of the "world's most useless phones." Luckily I have an awesome friend who gave me her cast-off phone (she had just upgraded) and I am quite pleased with it. It's funny that it's also a Motorola phone--but it works like a dream. Just goes to show you that you can find lemons in just about anything. When I took the pieces of my phone to the store so I could get my information transferred, the manager of the store was quite surprised by the damage, since my phone was in such good shape. "It looks brand-new!" he exclaimed, "Uh, yeah," I said, "Except for the fact that it's IN TWO PIECES, it's in GREAT shape." He then admitted that they also hated this particular phone and stopped selling it nearly immediately after it was released. Ah well. At least I had the blessing of a new phone without too much hassle, and it was easy to fix this particular problem.

Which brings me to how disposable our society has become. When I got the different phone, I needed a new car charger. So I toodled down to our local Goodwill store and found hundreds of wall chargers, car chargers, cables and whatever whatnot you could possibly need to stay technologically connected. $6.00 later, not only did I have a new car charger ($30 in the store) but a car charger for my iPod touch  as well (no idea what the retail on that was). My thoughts on this--before you buy new, check out your local thrift stores. You might find exactly what you need for a fraction of the cost. And it helps cut down on consumer waste. That's a win-win for all!

And be careful when you open your cell phone. You never know what might happen...