Welcome 2013

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Yoshi

And just like that, it’s 2013. How about that. So do any of you remember 2012? It went by so fast, I’m not even sure what to think. But I do have to say that a lot of things happened in 2012. Some things are good, but there are a lot of bad things too.

I for one, am glad it’s over. I just want the new year to be exactly that. A NEW start. I’m ready for change, and change needs to happen soon.

I’d like to start the new year with a clean slate though. By that, I mean debt free. I want to be debt free so I can go back into debt again. LOL. I want to buy a house for us, and to do that, I gotta pay off all my stupid debt I have. I am lucky that I own my car at least. So if there’s ever a New Year’s Resolution, it’s definitely the same as always, plus to become debt free.

Did you make any resolutions? What are they? I always want to be a better person than I was last year and to help people more than I did last year.

Custom Title for Posts

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Yoshi

I know that almost everyone probably has some SEO plugin or package that already replaces the title per post, but I got this request from Katie because her SEO package for some reason or another did not have custom titles. She didn’t want to change the SEO plugin to a different one, since it was already established. She asked if I could write a plugin for this, but lo behold, it was as easy as customizing your header.php file in your theme. Granted, every time you change your theme, you will need to edit your header file, however, it’s so easy, it’s not even funny. Here’s the code segment, and the documentation is within the comments.

/*
* Custom title for Katie. Make sure you have a custom field in your
*     posts called "title" in order for the
*     custom title to show up. Replace the line:
*            wp_title( '|', true, 'right' );
* with everything within the Custom Title code. It's that easy.
*/
$custom_title = get_post_meta($wp_query->post->ID, 'title', true);
if (empty($custom_title)) {
wp_title( '|', true, 'right' );
} else {
echo $custom_title . " | ";
}
// END Custom Title Code

U.S. Adds 4 Million Jobs But In St. Louis

Link

U.S. Adds 4 Million Jobs But In St. Louis - Gotta love The Onion!

Anticipating Autumn: The best time of the year

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Yoshi

I’m really looking forward to spending time with my wife for my birthday. So many things have been going on in our lives and we just haven’t had much time for ourselves.

I’m not entirely sure what we’ll do. Since I know it’ll be cold, I think the Oregon coastline and a tour of a few lighthouses is out. Unless we want to go ahead and torture ourselves.

I love Autumn. Not because my birthday is in the Autumn, but because this is the time of year when things can slow down. We can take a deep breath and enjoy the cooler weather.

It’s also the time of my favorite holiday, Halloween! We’ve gotta carve pumpkins this year! If we do, I’ll be sure to take pics.

I had a dream…

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Yoshi

Last night, I had a dream. It was more of a nightmare. But not quite. I was waking up trying to pull down some cobwebs that seemed to be everywhere. It was something straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Then I turned, and everything was different. I was suddenly walking down my hallway from my bedroom. I was then looking out my sliding glass doors and saw a litter of kittens and I tried to get them because they were drowning and trying to jump out of the box they were in. I kept reaching for them but couldn’t and finally, I realized it was only a dream. But I still reached for them because I wanted to save them. I finally managed to get a stick only to realize the kittens disappeared. I was suddenly very sad and I woke up.

I’m sure any psychiatrist would have fun with that one.

Showing your support for the Japan relief effort

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Yoshi

So I finally received my wrist band from the Lady Gaga Japan Earthquake Relief. It’s understandable if you don’t show your support by wearing the wristband since it’s really gihugic. I mean it’s big. I didn’t think it would be the size it is, but hey, what can ya do. Still, I did buy it and it’s a great cause. I also bought one of the Linkin Park Disaster Relief T-shirts as well. This looks really cool and anyone who knows me knows I love my tees. There are numerous other ways to show support. Please consider buying a t-shirt or wristband today.

Google has put together a Crisis Response site and I think it’s really great because it shows resources for many disasters that could use the help. Please don’t forget about the other areas of disaster. They could also use your help.

How are you helping out in any relief effort?

How do you eat sushi while sympathizing with Japan?

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Yoshi

Recently there was a post at 8asians that cracked me up. It references a Dear Prudence article that basically asks the question of “how to eat sushi while sympathizing with Japan”. Personally, I just don’t really understand WTH the awkward diner is really asking. Are they really that compelled to go table to table to tell them that they sympathize? Does she really think that all Sushi restaurants are even run by Japanese people? I know a majority of Japanese restaurants in my area is run by Asians who are not Japanese. So how would we treat that situation? Wouldn’t that be an insult already since it would seem like you’re assuming that all Asians look the same? I mean really. Sometimes it’s just better to not say a word!

I’m loving the responses at 8asians. Very funny. I thought I’d answer this one too. Here’s the original question.

Dear Prudence,
I was having lunch today at a Japanese restaurant, and I felt very insensitive enjoying my sushi without having a way to express my sympathy for the people of Japan over the recent earthquake and tsunami. I was at a loss as to how one might state that, though, without appearing rude or overstepping boundaries. After all, I didn’t want to act as if the people in the restaurant were more Japanese than American, but most were speaking Japanese to one another, so I’m betting more than a few have ongoing connections to the country. I felt that I was acting as an insulated American by not acknowledging the situation. What is the appropriate gesture at a time like this?

—Awkward Diner

Here’s my response:

Dear Awkward Diner,

Have you ever heard the expression: “If you’ve got nothing nice to say, it’s better not to say anything at all”? Maybe in this case, if you have something really nice to say, but you have doubts on how to say it, it’s better not to say anything at all. Sometimes inaction is best. Why not just show your support by donating to the Red Cross? If you saw me and said something about that to me in a restaurant, I would admit that I would be very thankful. Just give to a cause. It’s easier to remain anonymous.

Stop the madness

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Yoshi

So this will be a classic “bulleted post” about things. The picture really has nothing to do with this post, it’s a random picture that just showed up.

What’s up with all the talk about the earthquake in Japan not being the “big” one? We don’t need any more giant earthquakes and enough with the aftershocks already!
Car seat laws for the toddlers? I like them, but I have to admit it’s a pain in the butt when you have a rear facing seat and you can see your baby/child in the mirror. Are these actual laws or is it just a recommendation? I can’t see a cop pulling you over because your child isn’t facing the right way.
I’m ready for a do-over for 2011. I mean seriously, it seems like one bad thing to the next. How many natural disasters have happened so far? Did Australia happen this year or in 2010? Regardless, enough mother nature, we get it, OK, you’re bad-ass.
Is it really Spring? I don’t believe it myself. When the temps reach 70 in my area, then I’ll believe it’s spring. Until then, it’s still winter in my opinion. Just ask all the folks who had snow fall on them today.
Don’t forget about all the various other disaster areas. Don’t contribute to just Japan. There are many other places you can donate your time or money to. Giving to the Red Cross is always a win-win situation I think.
I’m still really blown away with all the negativity towards the Japanese. All the comments and posts about how “they deserved it” or “they attacked Pearl Harbor for no reason” is really just driving me crazy. I’m not even gonna say more than that. It just makes me ill thinking about it.
Finally, inspired by the Animal Planet show, Must Love Cats, please vote on which one you prefer. This poll is multiple choice, so you can vote for dogs and cats if you’re an overall animal lover. Please vote!

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Happy Pi Day!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Yoshi

As most of you probably don’t know, today is Pi Day. Yes, that’s right, us geeky, nerdy types (wait, I’m not talking about myself) celebrate the good ol’ 3.14 number. Well, that’s not entirely true. I don’t really do anything for it except get a free blog post out of it and talk about how nerdy I (allegedly) am. Perhaps you’d like to bake a pie to celebrate the occasion?

The obligatory Charlie Sheen post

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Yoshi

I almost feel obligated to post something about Charlie Sheen. I’ve been a big Two and a Half Men watcher since the beginning. I love the show. It’s hilarious. I have to admit that a lot of the dynamics of the show probably wouldn’t work without Charlie Sheen. I mean it’s at his house on the beach, and a lot of the funny jokes come from the banter between the brothers. But now, I think Jon Cryer could probably carry an episode without any problems. I think we’ve developed enough of the “loser” brother situation where we can laugh at that and not even miss the character of Charlie. Enough talk of the show. It’s quite obvious I think the show can go on without Charlie. Nevermind that the title is Two and a Half Men.

So Charlie Sheen comes out and speaks about his thoughts of the actions of CBS and about everything else. He’s drug free, has a drug test to prove it, and is definitely anti-AA. Now, I’m not necessarily an AA endorser, but isn’t it a proven method? I guess Charlie doesn’t feel it’s for him. That’s ok with me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about that. But seriously, Charlie, do you have to go about it in an almost psychotic way? Ok, perhaps psychotic is a bit too harsh. But you have to admit that he’s got a little bit of crazy going on.

I’m also shocked (or maybe not so shocked) about the way he looks. He must have a lot of help when he goes to film the show because the Charlie in the show does not look like the Charlie Sheen we see in the interview. Essentially, the man is really becoming Charlie Harper, the character from the show. I guess he could be looking like that because he’s no longer on the drugs and alcohol. He could easily be battling the withdrawal effects. No matter how strong willed the man is, the physical part of recovery doesn’t change too much.

I’m sure I could get a lot of flack from the Charlie Sheen fans out there, but seriously if Charlie Sheen were to just quit the show of Two and a Half Men and go back to doing something else, would he really get a bunch of offers? Is he falling into the graveyard of actors in Hollywood who are remembered not for their accomplishments, but because how they just lost it? You know, I really hope that he makes me eat my words and say, “wow, Charlie Sheen was right all this time!” but somehow I really, really, really doubt it will happen.