What doesn't kill us will only make us stronger...I don't buy it.

It is with a heavy heart that I report that the mighty BYU cougars...lost, that's the good news. The bad news, it was to to... the *cough* *gagging sound* Utes. What is up with THAT! I would like the Ute fans to remember that I did not rub anything in last year, or the year before.

Some people ask why I am such a cougar fan. The only response is that I was raised this way, the right way. In all seriousness, I am glad that we still have something to cheer or get excited about. College sports is a great diversion when the outlook for the economy and job losses can seem so down.

A friend of mine, who is a cougar, and I were talking and she doesn't see the point of college football. I was a bit speechless, but here is my response. Competitive sports are traditional in every culture. It is a way of binding a society together. It helps to identify a hero and a villain. Us versus them. People can get aggression out in a way which will help them to move beyond cultural differences and break barriers, sometimes without the violence associated. We can see this in Jesse Owens during the Olympics, Jackie Robinson and baseball, Tiger Woods and the PGA. Societies that aren't necessarily ready to accept change socially can accept it through athletics. Then eventually they will ask themselves, I cheer for them in sports, why can't I cheer for them outside of the sport.

Which is why I still like Max Hall. We still had a great season and I'm still a cougar.

I don't have TiVo but I love TV

It seems that everyone has TiVo or DVR these days. I WISH I had either of them. However, I do not. Instead, I watch many of my shows on Sunday on my laptop. I love it!

Television viewing used to be either you snooze you lose. However, now people can make their TV fit their schedule. I don't know if this is dangerous idea or not. I'll give you an example.

My cousin Larry Moeaki (shout out whoo! hoo!) and I lived in my family's home in Provo when I first got back from my LDS mission. He was addicted to two shows at the time, The Practice and The Sopranos. I was not allowed to talk or even think about coming home during those two shows. WHY, you ask because he had formed "The Practice" club. To which he was the only member. On Sunday's I had to either go home to Salt Lake or stay at a friends house. If I did not, for the rest of the week Larry would not talk to me. So, to get around this rule, I petitioned to join the practice club. I wrote a formal letter and all. I was accepted only after a series of what can only be describes as hazing. We did bond and I know I am his second favorite roommate EVER, after his wife.

If I had owned a TiVo we may not have been able to have those hazing/bonding experiences.

I watch the following shows on the poor mans TiVo the Internet full episodes: Greys Anatomy, Ugly Betty & HOUSE.

P.S. Shout out to Jacqueline Crowther (who is not black) my Grey's Anatomy buddy and facebook complicated relationship friend. ;)

Bad Boys vs. Good Guys

I was having a conversation with a cousin of mine this weekend. She was telling me that she is in love with this guy. He is always drunk, he's a gang banger and basically a "bad boy." She told me that she has always been attracted to "bad boys." While I was trying to tell her about her options and that she can do better, I found myself having dejavu. I have had this conversation with other friends and cousins about "bad boys." Why do women like them?

I have no idea. I think it might have to do with the idea of taming them or rebelling. I've always been attracted to good guys. I like the idea that I won't go through an emotional roller coaster. Maybe girls that like bad boys like drama. While we were having this conversation she told me about three other cousins who like bad boys. I guess I'll be having dejavu again.

P.S. I promised my cousin Larry Moeaki he would get a shout out in my blog. He's a good guy, sometimes. ;)

Am I :D or :( ... emoticons...why I can't type without them. ;)

It all began with simple ha! ha! ha!'s at the end of my sentences. Then I started writing lol. Later it was WTH-k. (I try not to swear even in text form, although I am not perfect). Now, I don't know how to type without them or worse...emoticons.

I just get nervous and question myself, will they know I'm kidding if I don't write LM@O or ;). A friend of mine who holds degrees in English and French Literature chastised me a while back after I sent her a sarcastic email with a "LOL" & :D at the end of the sentence. She commented that I had become "one of them." By "them" she meant the masses who do not know how to express themselves properly through punctuation and diction.

My main form of communication between clients is through email. I usually only speak with them when I am actually in negotiations, even then usually I type to clarify. However, I find that many of them use emoticons in business language. It makes me uncomfortable, however I feel as if I HAVE to return the LOL or ROFLM@O.

It must be indicative of the sarcastic nature of our society that we really can't just say what we mean. Our humor can be so biting and our punctuation so lackadaisical that we can not decipher what the other person means or is trying to say without them adding a :o) or a >:). I enjoy a good joke, but where does that leave our language if we can not properly punctuate. How will we understand one another? Is the English language doomed or am I just going to have to make up new ways of expressing myself. :-P.

Man Hands...yeah that's me ;)

So, in a previous post I discussed that a physical feature I like about myself are my hands. What I failed to tell you, is that my hands are pretty big. My friend and work and I laugh about our hands and if you've ever seen the Jerry Seinfeld episode, we call them our "Man hands."

I wear a size 9 in ring. YEAH! I know. Crazy. I can't buy any of the nice feminine gloves because one size does NOT fit ALL!

I conjure up images of "So, I Married an Axe Murderer" and say "Hand move now" and laugh. One of my mahu (gay male feminine) cousins tried to make me feel better, he said "They are not Man Hands, they are elegant and graceful, like Queen Salote." That's why I love my mahu cousins.

I really don't mind that they're big, its funny how some things make you sensitive and others you just brush your shoulder. Now, if they made fun of my old red-framed glasses it would be ON! ;)

Confessions of a Social Network Addict

Hello, my name is Hola and I am a social network addict. It started out as just something fun and casual. I thought, hey all my friends are doing it. It began with a casual profile on myspace. Then my cousins all told me they were on bebo. Then all my classmates and siblings were on facebook. Next thing I knew, I was writing on other peoples walls. I couldn't even go a whole day without checking on my phone. While I was in line at the grocery store, I would check on other peoples walls. When sitting in doctors appointments I would be facebook stalking. Then people began poking me. At first, I thought it was strange and then I started to like it. *sobbing* I couldn't stop.

I told myself, I could handle it. I mean, I wasn't hurting anyone. All of the games were free. However, I started comparing myself to others. Are we "best friends," are we "soul mates." Who did I need to cut out because our pet peeves are "same difference" or worse..."miles apart." I began avoiding my friends because I know that they would wonder why I did not accept their flowers. *screams* I can only save so much rain forest a day.

SO, I lost my phone. (I don't want to hear it) It has forced me to re-evaluate my life. I have had to take a hard long look at how many of my 192 really close friends can I keep in touch. How many pieces of flair really mean something to me. One day at a time. One day at a time.

Am I being too picky????

I have an Uncle, well I have many actually. But, this one particular Uncle, every time I see him tells me to tell my mother to stop being so picky. He is referring to my marital status. He thinks I should just get married. As if I can just pick a husband up at the local McDonald's. Well, he actually may not be too far off.

This past weekend, I had to open the store as usual. However, I also had to make the bank deposit from the night before. The store opens at 8:30am and the bank opens at 9:00 am. We always try to have two people in the store. I told my cousin I didn't think it would be that busy this morning because of the LDS General Conference, later definitely, but only between sessions. So, I told her I would drop off the deposit and I needed to weigh in at weight watchers. I said, it would take me about 30 minutes and I would buy her some McDonald's. She agreed and so I ran my errands. When I pulled into the McDonald's parking lot, the line to the drive in was waaay to long. I thought for sure the line inside would be shorter, plus I try not to idle my car, for the environment and my wallet...ha. Next time I'm going to let the car idle and cause a hole in the ozone. Here is what happened.

So, I parked the car and went inside. I was standing in a huge crowd and trying to get to the line. A small hispanic man with a strong accent, told me I could go ahead of him. I smiled and said thank you. Then we proceeded to have the following conversation.

Him: Where is your husband?
Me: huh?

Him: Boyfriend?
Me: (When will I learn to lie) *Awkward smile*. No.

Him: Do you want a boyfriend?
Me: (the lady in front of me kept making the guy repeat back her order, he hardly spoke English and the line was taking FOREVER, I wanted to kill them) Not really.

Him: Are you sure?
Me: Yeah, I'm good.

Him: So, am I. (He started to laugh, ick)
Me: ( I Quickly turn to the cashier and give her my order and money and feel sick to my stomach and move to the side to wait for my food. As I am waiting a kid comes up to the man and says, "Dad is the food done yet?")

Don't ever be picking up girls at McDonald's while your KIDS are waiting for their food. Am I being too picky...I don't think so. Sheesh!