Year of the Dog

I've read that Chinese astrologers are predicting this Year of the Dog will bring disease, war, and natural disasters. Read any news lately? They might as well have 'predicted' death and taxes would continue.

I've been doing a poor job so far with my New Year's resolution to keep up my blog. Fortunately, the lunar calendar gives me another crack at making a fresh start in the New Year. And if things don't work out this time, I can try again when Persian New Year rolls around in March. Ain't multicultaralism great?!?!?!

Now that I've fully recovered from the holidays, I'm now trying to lose the extra 2-1/2 kilos I put on while Apameh the Temptress was offering to get Burger Fuel every time I got too busy to cook. A couple weeks ago, Ali and I agreed to a friendly weight loss challenge. My official goal is to drop 5 kilos by the time I finish my LLM degree in June. Not being one to set 'unrealistic goals' when it comes to weight loss, I'll be happy to lose half of it by then - especially if I can drop the rest by the end of the year. (Yes, those would be the same 5 pounds I've been trying to lose since Bush became president. Bush senior, that is.)

Anyway, the last couple weeks I've been spending some extra time in the gym. And this should get a little easier to do since I was informed last week that enrollments - particularly Chinese international students - are way down and the Employment Law class I was supposed to be teaching has been cancelled. Since I haven't gotten my new teaching assignment yet, I've been able to enjoy the illusion of extra free time, during which I've been trying to get caught up with stuff - such as organizing pictures. Hence, the last entry. Now I've got a selection of pictures from last Thanksgiving when our friends Ashish and Anjali came to visit. (Click View Shutterfly Album to see them.)

Hope you're not having a dog of a year, but even if you are, hang in there. I predict that a new chance for a fresh start is just around the corner.

Cheers,
Sandie

Pictures: Amiry Family Reunion (otherwise known as the Chaos Club)

Pictures from Sandie Caruba		From: Sandie Caruba  (1 of 174 pictures)
I've whittled the collection down to 'only' 174 photos. They're not all labled and I can't seem to make them stay in any order but, as you can see, a good time was had by all. View album

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We Survived!

Yesterday our last guest left. This morning we slept in past 11. Four weeks, almost two dozen trips to the airport, and twenty Amirys. Those stunts on Survivor are for babies.

I was going to post photos today, but it turns out there are over 2,000(!), so it's going to take hours just to download them all. I'll get a selection uploaded as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I've been catching up on the world and it looks like this Abramoff scandal might actually have the potential to wake Americans up to the incredible level of corruption in their midst. Or not. After all, none of the previous blockbuster revelations - from the Administration's fraudulent build-up to the war in Iraq, to its support for torture and extraordinary rendition, or even the wiretapping of American citizens - seems to have had much effect on the public at large. But hope springs eternal. Meanwhile, I found an interesting story about how the latest scandal broke - Bang the Manicurist Slowly - when Scanlon jilted his former finacee for a nail technician and she went to the Feds. As the saying goes, hell hath no fury.

After months of being inundated with school and work and house guests, my break time is pretty limited. Tomorrow I need to begin preparing lectures for the course I'll be teaching in the fall, since the power point slides have to be submitted by 9 Feb. Also, the summer school class I'm teaching resumes this week, so I've got work to do for that, too. No rest for the weary, but I'll survive this, too.

Cheers,
Sandie

Enjoy Every Second

On New Year's Even we welcomed in 2006 at Armaz & Angelique's home in Brown's Bay, 17 kilometers north of our place. But what a difference 10 miles makes - when we walked to the beach, just before midnight, we could see the Milky Way! I'm still not familiar with Southern Hemisphere constellations, except for the Southern Cross - there's too much light pollution in Auckland, and most nights are too cloudy anyway - but the stars were gorgeous and provided an acceptable alternative to fireworks.

Most of the family has left by now, catching flights to London, Germany, and California; however, we still have Azam, her sons, and Maman for a few more days. We were expecting Keywan to stay with us until the end of February - he's been studying law in Berlin and London, and I helped him find an internship with a local barrister/solicitor here - but a last minute change in his exam schedule meant he had to cancel and head back to the Northern cold. It's a shame, but I hope he'll be able to reschedule and come back later in the year.

After several weeks in Karekare with virtually no computer access, I used my New Year's Day free time - including the extra leap second - surfing the 'net, and came across the following rant (it's actually by Steve Martin, but he's got O'Reilly down cold):

Leap Second Lovers Are Traitors Says Bill O'Reilly

"This year's leap second is an assault on the American public," says commentator Bill O'Reilly. "The reason the leap second is even being proposed is because of America Haters, because of Iraqi hate mongers, and let's be honest, Shiites. Why would you add a second to the year unless you're an anti-American hate monger?

I remember liberals at a party saying, 'let's add a second to the year' and I was the only one who spoke up against it. Why would they want to add a second to the year? Because it gives them a second longer to hate Bush.

"Look, look, look, look. A leap second is a denial of everything American, of everything good, of everything moral. They're saying we need this second because the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the earth, well this is the no spin zone. So we don't need a leap second. Though I would rather have a leap second than some of these hate-mongers who go around hating even their own ideas! They need to hate their own ideas so much that you have many liberals proposing the leap second, which is an idea that they hate, yet, they propose.

"I am so so so so upset with these people, who actually believe their ideas, yet, I have no hate in my heart. I am a simple guy, who only has my own true beliefs and a few products that are my cornerstone to fight against the leap second poobah. Let me say it aloud: Leap Second, leap second, leap second. Doesn't it sound ugly?

"Please, don't let these Darwinian leap-seconders, who believe that the planets revolve around the sun, who believe that rocks are sedimentary, igneous and stalactites, who are innocent dim-wit believers in a faith bordering on hating everything religious like trees and fruitcake, yet, who don't believe in John 7:12:45:67:89, have their say.

"But you know what I love? Dialogue. Rational dialogue which allows me to say that aliens from a Iraqi loving planet want to abolish Christmas by adding a leap second to the Darwinian anti-God year. Dialogue is what keeps the American system God-loving and anti non-God. It also keeps the anti-God loving non-Iraqi loving insurgent deniers able to voice their hideous so-called opinions over the American loving tolerant airways. And now let's take some calls."

Wishing you a Happy New Year and All the Best in 2006!

Cheers,
Sandie