./janella.com

I’m sure someone in the US would sue Burger King if they tried this here.

Monday started off well. We had an early morning appointment where we were able to hear the baby’s heartbeat again. It is always a great thing to hear. But after lunch, my noise canceling headphones decided to break on me. I’ve had them for over two years, which I guess is a decent amount of time. But now I can hear all the talking in the office. It makes it a bit more difficult to concentrate.

I’ll need to hop onto Amazon to search for new headphones.

Japan-The Strange Country (English translated ver.) from Kenichi Tanaka on Vimeo.

This Is Informative, You Should Watch It of the Day: Graphic designer Kenichi Tanaka’s animated infographic “Japan — The Strange Country” covers everything you wanted to know about Japan, but were too busy warbling along to the Cowboy Bebop closing credits song to ask.

[discovered via thedailywhat who found it via feingut.]

Update 2: Looks like the video has been taken down. I found it (here)[www.youtube.com/watch though. Update: For some reason, Kenichi had to take down the English version of the video. It’s still available on YouTube here.

I’ve always watched way too much television. I’m sure this will change soon, but things are staying the same for now. Here are a few shows we are watching, a few we are looking forward to seeing again, and a few we’ve given up on.

Still Enjoying

• Lost - This year there are more answers then questions. This final season is turning out to be their best season. It almost makes me sad to see it go.
• Human Target - New action series. Likable characters, combined with action and light zippy dialog, make this series successful.
• The Amazing Race - Fun to watch the team conflicts taking place in great locales. I just wish they’d shoot it in HD.
• The Real Housewives of New York City - Out of all the “Housewives” series on Bravo, this is the one to watch. Did I just type that?
• Big Bang Theory - The only comedy show I watch consistently. Not gut-busting funny, but funny enough.
• Criminal Minds - Solid CBS crime drama. It’s just a bit on the violent side.
• CSI - Still fun to watch even without William Petersen in the cast.
• The Vampire Diaries - This is a show Farrah watches, so I’ll deny it if asked, but I actually like this show. I haven’t sat down and watched a full episode. But I’ve had my back to the television while Farrah is watching. The characters are likable and have some edge to them. The only thing I don’t like is the flashback scenes. They seem poorly done.

Watching, But Not Sure Why

• 24 - Jack Bauer is still fighting the good fight. Too bad his storyline is the only interesting one. All the other supporting characters, with the exception of Chloe, are very dull.
• Project Runway - It’s still a good show, but this season I haven’t found anyone to root for. I’m happy that the show is back in New York!
• America’s Next Top Model - Tyra Banks can get very annoying with her antics. Luckily, there seems to be some interesting contenders this year.
• Shear Genius - Why did they get rid of Jaclyn Smith? I can barely watch the new host.
• Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice - A few shows I happen to watch because I’m in the same room at the time they’re airing. Of the three, I think I find Grey’s the most interesting.

Gave Up On

• American Idol - I only found one of the singers interesting. This show is no longer in the DVR rotation. Honestly, I probably should have stopped watching a few seasons ago.

Recently Wrapped Up

• Burn Notice - A solid season ending on a nice cliffhanger. I can’t wait until the next season.
• Leverage - A weak second season. Character development and interaction seemed off this season. Hopefully, they can recover next season.
• Numb3rs - My Friday night staple has unofficially ended its series run. It was a weak ending for the show. I’m sure it was intentionally so, just in case the show is picked up for another season.
• Big Love - I really couldn’t get into this season’s episodes. I may need to watch them in reruns because I forgot what happened. It’s all just a jumble.

Wait and See

• Fringe - I never was into X-Files, which this show seems similar to in nature. This show works very well on the mysteriously creepy level. New episodes are starting up again soon.
• Dancing with the Stars - Interested in seeing how certain celebrity do this season.
• Top Chef Masters - The series was good the first time around. I hear some of the same Masters are returning. Hopefully, that won’t be a bad thing.
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent - The show has been getting stale lately. I don’t think it helps that Vincent D’Onofrio is leaving. But Law and Order shows always had a revolving cast. It should survive.
• Royal Pains - When is this show starting again? It feels like it’s been off the air for a long time. Hopefully, the magic of the first season carries over to the second.
• True Blood - New season looks like it’ll start in the summer. Can this season be as good as the last? Possibly.

via Pascal Terjan on flickr.

More photos can be found here

Looks as if IKEA did a minor upgrade to a few Paris Metro stations. I wonder how dirty the furniture was after a week. (via Urlesque)

• This fight is very boring at this point. #
• I came into work today and found someone else in my cube. I was beginning to wonder if my boss forgot to tell me something last Friday? #
• @ Paper Source http://loopt.us/0V113g.t #
• @ H&M http://loopt.us/k_R5nw.t #
• @ The Counter Santana Row http://loopt.us/r-HIcQ.t #
• I’ve just re-enabled commenting on my blog. I didn’t realize that Akismet wasn’t enabled. We’ll see how much spam it catches. #
• It’s looks like a beautiful day outside. Wish I didn’t have to work indoors. Oh well, the weekend is almost here. #
• @sarahcuda Oh, that’s for the tip. Heading over to Ustream now. in reply to sarahcuda #
• Chatting about McDonaldland characters. Who knows them all? http://bit.ly/bHtzj0 #
• Somehow we missed last week’s Project Runway. How the heck did that happen? #
• Thinking the new theme on the website is not working. My wife may hate me for changing it again, I’ll probably do it before next week. #
• I hope the person in the next cube only has allergies. Otherwise, I hope I don’t catch what they got. They’re coughing up a storm! #
• Sleepy for some reason. But it’s only 6:30pm! #
• @ejacqui That’s a good start to the weekend. in reply to ejacqui #
• I guess I should start the errands we need to finish today. #
• Haven’t been here in a long long time. @ Fish Market Restaurant http://loopt.us/32WaEA.t #

via juliasegal

We are having a girl!

We reconfirmed this with an ultrasound earlier this week. Farrah had an ultrasound about four weeks ago. During that ultrasound, measurements were taken then and we could find out the sex of our baby. We shared the news with a few people. But not long after that ultrasound was completed, we were called by the hospital asking to schedule another ultrasound. It seems the technician couldn’t record a good enough view of the heart to satisfy whoever reviews the scans. We had the follow-up ultrasound this past Monday.

The technician performing the scan at this appointment appeared to be more thorough. He provided better commentary on what we were looking at on screen than the previous technician. We were able to watch her heart beating, watching the blood flow in and out. We also saw, through color mapping, how blood was flowing through the umbilical cord. It’s an amazing sight to see. So, Button is coming along nicely.

Wait, who or what is Button?

Names

Button is the current nickname for our future bundle of joy.

We have been thinking about names ever since we found out Farrah is pregnant, even more so after finding out the sex. Until she is born, we’ve decided to use nicknames. The first name we gave her before we knew it was her, was Jazzy. The origins of this name came from movements she made during one of Farrah’s first ultrasounds. It looked as if she was waving both of her hands at us, showing us her jazz hands.

Several weeks later, after another ultrasound, the name Box popped into my head. At this point we still didn’t know the sex. I thought that since this fact was hidden from us, it was basically like being in a box, almost like a present. Yes, I could have gone with something like Gift or Present, but Box seemed to fit. I know, it sounds odd.

And finally, we arrive at Button. The phrase “Cute as a button” popped into my head. And so, Button is where it currently stands.

Don’t worry, she won’t end up with any of these nicknames when she makes her entrance. But we are still thinking of names and haven’t settled on a particular one yet. You’ll know our decision soon enough.

It’s dogs in slow-mo-catching treats. What could be better?

Steak and corn for dinner tonight!

To celebrate the nice day outside, I decided to throw a couple of ribeye steaks and corn-on-the-cob on the grill. Farrah is making bibingka as well.

How do you take your steak?

Three new albums are posted on our Smugmug page today.  They are:

• Celebrating Farrah’s Birthday
• Celebrating Kayla’s 16th Birthday
• Kaleb’s Baptism

I know I haven’t been posting photos in a timely manner after the events.  There are several reasons why this is the case.  I hope to write about these reasons in future posts.

As always, the albums are accessible by simply answering the following question when prompted:

What was the name of Farrah's first dog?

The answer should be in lowercase letters.  If you need the password, don’t hesitate to email me or inbox me on Facebook.

Just because I’m hurting
Doesn’t mean I’m hurt
Doesn’t mean I didn’t get what I deserve
No better and no worse
— Lost! by Coldplay

I was laid off yesterday. I was let go. I was kicked-to-the-curb. My services were no longer required. And yet I feel fine today.

Honestly, there is no bitterness behind my words. This is not my first layoff, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. Yesterday’s events were completely expected. I’ve been laid off three times before, once having the opportunity to relocate but choosing not to do so. All of the times this has happened its been expected. And yes, waiting for the axe to fall is more difficult than the actual axing. But the most difficult part of yesterday, as with the other times I’ve been through this process, was saying goodbye to the people I worked with over the years. It’s tough.

I don’t like writing about work for fear of getting dooced, so I won’t go much further on this subject.

I’ll spend a few days gathering my wits, then plunge ahead with the job search. I’m a glass-half-full-type-of-guy. There’s a silver lining in this situation. I just need to find it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon I’ll realize what it is - to badly paraphrase a line from Casablanca.

Silver linings do exists. It’s all a matter of perspective.