A long time coming....

Sorry if I had been conspicuously absent from my blog.  Let me break down the highlights of the past 3-4 months:

Opera time!

 I saw two operas at the San Diego Opera; one being the West Coast premier of a new opera, Moby Dick, by Jake Heggie and the libretto written by Gene Sheer.  Having read the book years ago as a teenager, I had a general idea of what went on during the opera.  It's obvious that the creators of the opera took some liberties (e.g. Ishmael was known as "Greenhorn" throughout most of the performance).  Going to the opera was part of my Christmas present from my mom so we both went to see it and we loved every minute.  It was a real treat to see this.  For those living in Northern California, Moby Dick will be at the San Francisco Opera in the 2012-2013 season and I encourage you to go see it!

The second opera my mom and I saw was one of Gioachino Rossini's most famous operas (and most pop-culturally referenced), The Barber of Seville.  I truly liked this one better than the previous opera that we saw.  This opera was based on a play and it is considered the "prequel" to The Marriage of Figaro opera by Wolfgang A. Mozart, which is also based on a play (I had seen Marriage of Figaro five years earlier).  Barber of Seville is notorious for the Largo al Factotum aria sung by Figaro, a barber and jack-of-all-trades, including veterinarian, beautician, and matchmaker.  Here's a clip of the aria and some might recognize the music:

Yes, it's that piece with "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro" in it.  In Largo al Factotum, Figaro sings about how important his job is (Largo al Factotum translates to "make way for the factotum" or "make way for the servant").  This piece is generally a tough one for baritones to sing.  The opera itself is about a barber named Figaro in 17th century Seville, Spain.  He plays Cupid for Count Almaviva who is smitten with the lovely Rosina who is held captive by her aging guardian, Don Bartolo, who is intent on marrying her solely for her dowry.  Hilarity and mistaken identity ensue. If your local opera house is presenting this, I highly encourage you to see it; it's funny and family friendly (well, somewhat).

Next season, Mom and I will go see The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti, Samson and Delilah by Camille Sant-Saens, Murder in the Cathedral by Ildebrando Pizzetti, and possibly Aida by Giuseppe Verdi (I had already seen a production of it in 2008 but this one has set designs by Zandra Rhodes).

Video games!

I got a Wii a year and a half ago and still didn't do much with it until I finally bought Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  I'm not too much of a gamer but I do like playing video games and two of my favorites are the game series(s): Call of Duty and Sid Meier's Civilization.

I have played a game or two from the Legend of Zelda series, which I have a basic understanding (the game series is now 26 years old), but I've pretty much immersed myself into Twilight Princess.  It's been out on the market for six years now but I didn't get around to buying it because I didn't have a Wii six years ago.  It's a fantastic game with awesome graphics and a great storyline.  It's a little dark for the kiddos but it's a great boredom killer on a rainy day or a sick day or a rainy-sick day.  Here's the trailer:

Disneyland!

Yep, I went to the "Happiest Place On Earth" with my mom and a friend of mine who lived nearby (I live in the San Diego, CA area, which is approximately 90 minutes south of Anaheim, where Disneyland is).  It was the first time my mom and I ever rode Amtrak (Mom refuses to drive the 90 minutes for fear of getting lost).  The trip was supposed to take 2 hours but took almost 3 hours for some apparently weird reason (Mom and I were frustrated about the delay so I sent an email to Amtrak, which probably won't be answered for another several weeks according to a "response" email I got).  So we were late getting to the park as was my friend (parking and waiting in line).

We went on almost every ride we could get our hands on.  The Matterhorn was closed for repairs, the Tiki Room show wasn't showing and the Monorail was also not working but we went on Splash Mountain twice, rode the Thunder Mountain railroad, enjoyed classic rides such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, and "drove" cars in Autopia.  Since that was a day trip, Mom and I decided to make it a vacation the next time around and stay for a few days to go see Disney's California Adventure.

That's all I've got for today.  Till then, stay happy everyone!

You can't always get what you want

We, as a society, sometimes pitch a figurative temper tantrum whenever we can't get what we want or not get our way.  Like a five-year-old in the candy section of the grocery store or the Barbie section of Toys-R-Us, we would figuratively fall on our backs, kicking our feet and waving our fists all while screaming at the top of our lungs because we didn't get our way.  Even I admit to having this selfish attribute although I don't really pitch a fit because I can't afford the latest edition of the iPad or a Kindle Fire. 

What inspired this blog post was something I saw on my work commute yesterday.  I had sat down on the bus that was to go from one trolley/metro station to another.  A mother and her young daughter, about three years old, sat in front of me.  Once the bus was approaching the intended stop, I pulled the stop cord to signal the driver to drop me off at the next bus stop.  Just a nanosecond after I had done that, the young girl tried to reach for the same cord so SHE could pull it down but her mother pulled her away from it.  The young girl then turned around and gave me the dirtiest look she could give, stuck her tongue out at me, shook her little tiny fist, and then pretended to throw something at me by doing a throwing motion with her hand.  I took all of this in stride and merely smiled at her, which probably made her angrier.  However, she didn't pitch a hissy fit or anything and was well behaved after they got off of the bus stop.

Most of the time when we don't get our way, we shrug it off but sometimes it tends to stew a bit in our egos and it sometimes leads to jealousy.  In the Bible in the book of Philippians 2:3, it states that nothing should be done in selfishness.  "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."  Also look at James 3:14-16.  "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

Yes folks, selfishness and envy, according to James 3:14-16, are "demonic."  It's human nature to lust or want something that someone else has or has done, but to dwell or stew in envious misery, is to sin against God.  Angry that your neighbor has a new big screen TV while all you could afford was one half that size?  Envy and jealousy do not make the "problem" bigger; they only compound it. 

From my experience, I've learned to forget what made me jealous in the first place.  It's best to count your blessings and be thankful for what you have, especially during the past holiday season when you were hoping Santa would drop an XBox 360 under the tree and finding out that you got a new blender instead.  After hoping and dreaming of a Kindle under the tree last month, I finally got the chance to rip all those boxes tagged "To Shannon" on them to shreds.  What I found was a new blouse, new pajamas, an apple slicer, a headset to plug into my TV (kinda like the TV Ears), and opera tickets (which made my Christmas), but no Kindle.  My dad confessed that he had intended to buy Kindles for both Mom and myself but unfortunately, only had enough money to buy one due to financial issues (his debit card was declined at the local grocery store the week prior, which made him very upset).  He promised that he would buy me one in the near future and until then, Mom and I had to share the Kindle (but technically, the e-reader still belonged to Mom).  I felt disappointed and I think most of us would feel that way, too, but I also felt jealous.  However, my jealousy made me feel ungrateful and selfish, knowing that my dad had me in mind when he went to Best Buy to pick out Mom's Christmas gift.  Plus, opera tickets are not cheap so getting those made up for my lack of an e-reader.  Still, perhaps I could save up my own money so Dad wouldn't have to buy me one but if he offered to do just that, then I won't complain.  :)  Besides, I have financial issues of my own so I can definitely empathize with my father.  I have learned to put aside my envy and selfishness knowing that my Dad had my best interests in heart and realizing that he needed to stay on a budget because of his financial situation.  And I still love my parents. :)

We all need to stop grimacing and shaking our fists at God and the world because we never got our way or got what we wanted.  We need to stop being ungrateful and being thankful for what we have in our lives and give thanks to God for being our Provider.  Just like The Rolling Stones song says, "You can't always get what you want."

The last blog entry of the year

Dear 2011,
You seemed bright and promising when you came into my life but occasionally, I felt lonely, depressed, and frustrated.  My only hope is that 2012 would be better than you.  Still, we had our bright moments but there were times that I wanted to slap you with a wet noodle.

From,

Me

A Christmas reflection

Christmas...my favorite day out of all the 365 days of the year.  My only problem is that it goes by rather quickly.  As a kid, it took forever to get "here," so to speak.  This Christmas was a bit minimalist as we didn't have enough money for presents, but then again, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, not about getting the latest LCD flatscreen.  Here is how my Christmas season began.

Although my shopping for Christmas presents began well before November, the shopping season "kicked off" on Thanksgiving night about 11:30 or so when my mom dragged me to Kohl's but then we gave up as we noticed that the line to get in had wrapped around the entire building so we hopped in the car and drove to the local mall.  It felt surreal being at the mall at a time when normally everyone would be asleep, but places like Orange Julius, McDonald's, Starbucks, Wal-Mart (yes, there's a Wally World at the local mall), and Macy's, the store my mom and I originally wanted to go to, were all open for business.  The line to get into the teeny bopper store, Tilly's, was understandably long but there was only a small crowd at Macy's.  As the clock chimed midnight Friday morning, people clapped, took pictures, and cheered as the employees opened Macy's for business.  Long story short, Mom and I grabbed a few things and I originally wanted a new pair of work pants but settled on a cute top that was on sale as I couldn't find anything that qualified for the coupon we had (the newspaper coupon wasn't good for "super buys," which included all the black jeans and slacks).  We stood in line for about 30 minutes before leaving with our stuff.  We spent about $40 that was originally $90 total (a savings of $50 for all you math majors).  The next day, I went to Penney's and picked up the pants that I wanted and met my mom to go to Kohl's where we spent the next hour standing in line to buy our stuff (we made small talk with a nice old lady and an expectant mom while standing in line).

While Christmas has been happy for me, my parents, on the other hand, weren't in a Christmas mood due to finances and such but my dad was able to get us tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert as part of an early Christmas present.  From time to time, I was able to contribute to Christmas gifts little by little so I can still pay my own bills.  Unfortunately, I still have trouble controlling my spending so my New Year's resolution is to take care of that.

I also limited my "musical diet" to that of Christmas music by cramming my smart phone with hours of carols, Celtic instrumentals, and Andrea Bocelli.  There was one station that would play Christmas music nonstop up until midnight Dec. 26th.  It seemed that every time I turned on this station, I would hear either the Beatles singing "A Wonderful Christmastime" or Rebecca St. James singing a "jazzy" version of "Hark the Harold Angels Sing."  My new favorite song is "Christmas Canon" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra along with "O Holy Night" and "Little Drummer Boy."  I still love listening to Relient K's version of "Angels We Have Heard on High."  As far as Christmas movies were concerned, I watched "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and found it to be cute and funny.  Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" was a little difficult because my family has similar problems to that of what George Bailey was experiencing.

Normally on Christmas Eve, we would attend a party at my aunt's house and then head on over to Midnight Mass.  Denominationally speaking, I'm Baptist but my mom is Catholic so we do this every Sunday.  Unfortunately, all of us were too tired to attend Midnight Mass after the party and my mom's sinus headache wasn't making anything better so we all opted to stay home instead.  Christmas morning, I woke up about 7:30 am and came downstairs to the smell of sausage links being cooked.  My parents then decided to go to Sunday morning Christmas Mass instead.  At first, I was too tired to even lift an eyelid but opted to go anyway.  The service was wonderful despite a few doctrinal stuff that I didn't agree with. 

We came home and unwrapped our gifts.  Unfortunately, some of the clothes I gave my parents were too snug but at least I have the receipts so I can exchange them.  Then my mom opened her gift and discovered that Dad had bought her a Kindle that could be powered by either a 3G network or Wi-Fi.  My mom was so overcome with emotion that she broke down crying; the two of them cried together which was the first time I saw my mom cry in about 25 years, which made me uncomfortable because I hate seeing my parents cry.  My big presents were a set of TV headphones that allowed me to watch TV and not annoy my parents with the volume.  The headphones could also be plugged in to MP3 players and smartphones....AND.....my mom bought us two sets of opera tickets so we could go see Moby Dick and The Barber of Seville at the San Diego Opera.  My dad almost bought me the same Kindle he bought my mom but he had ran out of money.  I was disappointed because I had been expecting a Kindle but my dad told me I could share Mom's Kindle until he would get one for me.  I am trying to stop being disappointed about this because it makes me feel ungrateful.  My dad's heart was in the right place so it's no big deal.

All in all, I got cool stuff, including new jammies, a Disneyland ticket, giftcards, candy, makeup, a big coupon savings book, a BRITA water bottle with a filter, and of course, time with my family, so I'm not going to complain :)

During the Christmas season, I took time to reflect on the holiday's rampant commercialism.  I noticed that Hannukah was not commercialized in any way and I feel that Christmas should be the same.  Christmas is about Christ, not about maxing out credit cards.  Commercialism takes all the joy and specialness in Christmas.  Sure, we could still sing carols, make cookies, exchange gifts, and stuff, but still keep the real meaning of Christmas at heart. 

There's one gift that I am truly thankful for and that is my salvation in Jesus Christ, who is the reason for the season. 

God bless you all and have a Merry Christmas!  I'm off to watch "A Christmas Story" and the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Shannon's Top Ten "O Holy Night" renditions

Forgive me for not blogging in like, forever.  Kthx.

O Holy Night.  This is my favorite Christmas song.  It's moving, romantic at times, and just beautiful.  It describes the night Christ was born, thus giving hope to everyone all around the world.  Based on a French poem/Christmas carol, the melody puts one in some sort of musical trance.  Needless to say, it's a beautiful song and I am deciding to document my Top Ten renditions of the song, courtesy of YouTube.  This is not going to be an easy task as I have a list of over ten artists that are incredibly good vocalists.  This idea came to me while I was riding the trolley home from work and I was listening to the song by an artist that shall remain anonymous because he/she/them may or may not make the list.  Also, feel free to comment with your own thoughts and suggestions of your own.  Drumroll please!

10. Mariah Carey

I like the R&B flavor that Carey adds to the song and gives it a bit of a twist.  Enjoy.

9. Rhema Marvanne

I haven't heard of her until now.  I stumbled randomly onto her singing in this video.  She does start off a little slow but brings it full swing into the song.  If she gets the vocal kinks fixed up, she should have an amazing sining career.

8. Susan Boyle

While she starts off slow as well, she goes into the song, giving O Holy Night that "kick" to it.  She has a marvelous singing voice.

7. Jennifer Hudson

I originally left her on my laundry list of people who sang and recorded O Holy Night but I decided to give her a shot and her R&B version is better than Mariah's, which is why she's higher on the list.  Despite not winning American Idol, Jennifer is quite successful.

6. Weezer

I was pleasantly surprised by Weezer recording O Holy Night.  For fans of Weezer and alternative rock, this is a great tune.  Their version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing is better, though.

5. Celine Dion

The way Celine Dion sings this song, I can totally forgive her for My Heart Will Go On from the Titanic movie soundtrack.

4. Jackie Evancho

This kid has the voice of an angel.  Period. 

3. Placido Domingo

I've listened to this version for years and years.  I love how he starts out singing it in the original French version and then switches to the English one.

2. Third Day

I love how rich the sound is from Third Day.  They give this song some good ol' rock n' roll flavor.

And number one is........::drumroll::


1. Andrea Bocelli

Although he's singing completely in French, his voice is powerful, commanding, yet gentle.  His take on O Come All Ye Faithful is better.

Now you've seen, in my opinion, the Top Ten renditions of O Holy Night.  If you agree or diagree, drop me a line or a comment or whatever.  Here's a list of honorable mentions.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
*Martina McBride
*Josh Groban (although not as good as the rest, I still enjoy listening to his version)
*Faith Hill
*Mormon Tabernacle Choir
*Luciano Pavarotti (yes, hard to believe he didn't make the top ten)
*Mario Lanza
*Arethra Franklin (If this were a Top Eleven list, she'd make #11)

That's it for now.  Enjoy this little blog entry!

Cardboard Testimonies, a John Ford western, and a Greek yogurt commercial

Hello everyone out there in Blogger Land!

Last Sunday, I went to my usual church service and this one was pretty special.  Instead of having a typical sermon, the pastor had people come up front and share their testimonies with Christ - using cardboard.  It was a great way to see how people came to know Jesus.  There were people who did drugs, abused alcohol, were atheists, were abused or raped, or had severe emotional issues.  And their lives were turned around by Christ. 

I couldn't help but see myself in some of the cardboard testimonies.  I never abused drugs or anything of that sort but for me, I saw pride, spiritual atrophy, worry, etc.  I realize that I need to get back on my walk with God.  Here's something funny that transpired from this; one woman's cardboard read that she was a drug addict, attended the Woodstock concert, etc. and she flipped her board over to reveal that she had been saved by Christ.  When my dad saw that she attended Woodstock, he gave her the "thumbs up," because he never went to Woodstock (he was too young to attend).  At least he didn't stand up and sing "Freebird" by Lynard Skynard. 

Getting to the point, Jesus loves us and can turn anyone around if we just came to Him and acknowledges Him as Savior.  Just watching the service again on the website gets me a little weepy as these people share their testimonies and backgrounds.  God is good!  Here's a link to the service if you want to watch it.  Let me know if it doesn't work.

Where was I? Well...

I know this is a few days after the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks but I wanted to paint a picture of where I was and how I felt.

I remember waking up and getting ready for my morning classes at the local community college.  I was 20 years old and a sophomore, hoping to transfer to San Diego State University in the spring of 2002.  I packed my books and my dad gave me a lift to school.  We turn on the radio and listen to our favorite morning radio show; nothing out of our ordinary schedule or routine.  The moment we turn on the radio was when we heard the news.  The one thing I remember the DJ saying was that Manhattan Island was covered in smoke and that two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City.

I couldn't believe my ears.  For one commercial jet to fly into a building would've been interpreted as a horrible accident either by the plane itself, the pilot, or both.  For two planes to fly into both buildings was an act of war.  Dad then dropped me off at school and I made my way into the school's cafeteria and student center to get breakfast.  The televisions in the student center were never turned on even though they graced the area with their presence.  On that fateful day, the televisions were turned on to almost every news network; CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CBS, etc.  That's when I learned that there were two other planes that crashed.  One plane crashed into the Pentagon and another crashed in Pennsylvania.  As my eyes fixated on the blurry images of two smoking buildings, a woman standing next to me told me that her uncle worked at the Pentagon and she hoped that he would be all right.  I secretly prayed for that woman's uncle in my head.

The incident certainly had an affect on the day's lessons.  My physical anthropology instructor observed a moment of silence before class began.  After classes, the news of this heinous attack was the talk of the community.  All I wanted was to put my head in the sand and pretend that it didn't happen but I knew I couldn't do such a thing.  At the time, I was struggling with my faith in God and this event didn't help anything.  My heart was aching, not just for myself but for this great nation that had been hit by a sucker punch from terrorists.  I remember the Sunday after the attacks.  I went to church as usual to see how I could absolve my doubts and it was the very first and only time (so far) I had to sit in a plastic picnic chair in church as every seat was taken.  There were no sermon programs available as they were all distributed to the throngs of church goers that attended services.  I participated in the altar call and I could not recall the advice that the lady who prayed with me gave.

A few weeks later, I had strengthened and retained my faith in God and in Christ but I still felt angry for what had happened.  Still, I felt that God would deal with those responsible and comfort those who have lost loved ones in the attack. 

That was how I felt in a nutshell; a decade really blurred what went on but that's all that I can remember.  Now I can tell you what went on during the Great Power Outage of September 8th, 2011 as San Diego County was without power for 8-15 hours during one of the hottest days of the year.

I was on the bus ride home from doing a little clothes shopping. I had bought a cute blouse on sale at JC Penney's and I had turned on my phone to check my Facebook status and sure enough, there were people posting on FB about a power outage in my area.  I sighed and rolled my eyes, figuring this was the result of a screw up at San Diego Gas and Electric (or SDG&E for short).  I get off at my stop and as I was about to cross the intersection near my neighborhood, I noticed that the stoplights were off.  I get home and discovered that the air conditioner was no longer "whirring" and that the cable box, oven, microwave, and fridge were missing electricity to keep them running.  I then decide to go to the store to pick up an issue of The San Diego Reader and all the fast food eateries and the Albertsons grocery store were all closed.  I went home, did the crossword puzzle in the Reader as I am wont to do and went for a dip in the neighborhood pool (I live in a condo complex that has a rather nice pool).  Well, the water was certainly warm and my neighbors gathered around, lamenting about their lack of electricity.  One guy, who was playing with his kids in the pool, wondered how he would call his work the next day if there was no power.  At this time, we didn't know when the power would be on.  It could be either that evening or even the next evening.

I got out of the pool, showered, and sat in the living room where it was the coolest and finished reading Not Less than Gods by sci-fi writer Kage Baker (really cool Victorian steampunk stuff; check it out).  In fact, I spent the ENTIRE evening finishing up the last 220 pages of that book.  For dinner, we had leftover steak that was about medium rare.  I had the gall to tell my parents that "this steak is kinda rare" during a power outage.  They told me that this was not the time to complain about food; either I consume the meat or I don't.  I decided to eat a little bit, accompanied by some potato chips. 

About 9:25 in the evening, I finish my book and decided that, since there was nothing else to do, I should call it a day.  I then took my alarm clock, glasses, and a bottle of water and headed downstairs to sleep on the couch in the living room where it was much cooler than the heat trap in my bedroom.  I then laid down to rest, looking at the pitch darkness of the living room through my blurry, myopic eyes.  I can't remember when I fell asleep but I do remember waking up and occasionally falling asleep until about 12:40 when I heard the whirring sound of the air conditioner come on simultaneously with the cable box, the oven, the microwave, and the downstairs night light in the dining room.  The power finally came back on.   I couldn't go back to sleep for another hour as I was just too wide awake from the "excitement" of getting electricity.  This kind of stuff makes me thankful that I wasn't born two hundred years ago. 

One of the causes of the blackout was a line running from Yuma, AZ got tripped as well as a line running from Northern California.  Another cause was a screw up from a power technician in Yuma, AZ.  As a result of the blackout, schools were closed Friday, which didn't effect me as I no longer attend school.  You can google the whole thing for more info.

Today, I decided to finally watch the first four parts of the 1979 BBC miniseries Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy based on John LeCarre's spy novel of the same name after the DVDs from Blockbuster were collecting dust on my desk.  I read the book and the film seems to reflect it very well.  Alec Guinness shines as retired secret agent George Smiley and Michael Jayson shines as his fellow agent, Peter Guillam (he also looks quite handsome).  Since my subscription plan allows me to keep two DVDs at a time, I have to turn in the first two DVDs of the series so that the third DVD (parts five and six) can be mailed to me.  I am totally looking forward to the 2011 film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (featuring Gary Oldman as George Smiley and Benedict Cumberbatch as Peter Guillam) which seems to get pushed back from month to month.  Now, I have to wait until December to see it.  Here's a clip from the 1979 miniseries featuring Peter Guillam (Michael Jayston) and George Smiley (Alec Guinness):

And here's the trailer for the 2011 film which is NOW slated to come out in December instead of September, which makes me sigh in frustration.



As of August 31st, I am one year older.  I am now the big three-oh, "dirty thirty," etc.  Yes, I am 30 years old but I feel like I'm 21 (I know people twice my age who feel 21).  Here are some pictures from my birthday dinner at Hooley's, an Irish themed restaurant in La Mesa, CA (there's also one in Rancho San Diego).

I'm modeling a bracelet I got from my cousin as my mom hands me a bag of stuff she got me (left).

I smile for the camera before reading a card.

Cute shirt alert!  It didn't fit but I'm keeping it so I can lose weight to fit into it.

A picture of me reading my birthday card.

God bless and Godspeed.  Fin.

P.S. Take a look at a cheesy fanfiction series written by me featuring the characters of Jane Eyre and monsters and stuff.  Go here.