social gaffe

I brought my computer to the city library today since they offer free wireless internet. while doing some work, I thought it would be nice to listen to music with earphones. after pressing play, I adjusted the volume to a comfortable level, thinking, "wow, the sound quality is really different today." not quite perfect but subtle and soothing.

then I noticed the young lady sitting across the way stealing glances at me. and even smiling. checking me out? "nah," I told my big head. probably not. besides I wasn't in the mood for conversation. Brushing it off, I bowed my head back into my work, looking up only to change the music selection on my computer.

Then I noticed something that caused me to turn a deep shade of red in embarrassment. While I had put the earbuds into my ears, I had inserted the other end into the mic input. So when I had adjusted the volume for a more "live" effect wondering why the music had sounded so muted, I was treating the entire vicinity to my music. this was confirmed when I slipped off the earphones to hear the library silence was no longer quite so silent.

SMAAAAAAAAAART. S-M-R-T. I am so smart... at least the nice woman seemed to enjoy the G.ypsy K.ings too.

okay, i'm gonna sign off since my nuts are getting roasted under this notebook.

some random OC history/trivia for you:

The first successful settlement was Anaheim. It was laid out by George Hansen and Charles Kohler, and the settlement of Anaheim largely attracted German immigrants in the late 1850's through the 1860's. The name Anaheim stands for the home next to the Santa Ana River, with "Ana" coming from Santa Ana and "-heim" meaning home in German. This new settlement was successful: most of the settlers grew plants and crops, but others grew grapes with the intention of making wine. And indeed wine was produced in Anaheim. But the settlement needed a port from which they could ship their goods to the outside markets as well as receive goods. The answer was Alamitos Bay, located today between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. However, a couple of years after the building of a small port there, the course of the San Gabriel River changed and deemed Anaheim Bay no longer a good port.

There were other settlements that were important during this time period in the 1870's. Santa Ana developed after the first colony of Anaheim. It was envisioned by a man named William Spurgeon. He got the stagecoach line that ran from Los Angeles to San Diego to make a stop at his new settlement, complete with a goods store and a post office, which greatly increased the publicity afforded to his new community. And people did come to settle in Santa Ana, and its importance was getting close to that of Anaheim.

Other important settlements included Tustin, Fullerton, Orange, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach. Tustin was founded by a guy named Columbus Tustin, but the town never got to be as important as nearby Santa Ana, mostly because the stagecoach line would not stop there. But it grew quickly with the introduction of the railroad. Fullerton was conceived by the Amerige brothers, who named their new town after the man who lent them the money to start it. Mr. Fullerton didn't want the honor, but the brothers decided to name it after him anyway. Fullerton soon became an important stop, and housed some important industries. Orange was the brainchild of two lawyers: Andrew Glassell and Alfred Chapman. The two lawyers received the rights to the land as a payment for services rendered to a client. They wanted to name it Richland (to imply the rich fields where settlers can grow their crops), but there was already one in California so they couldn't. Finally they decided on Orange, which was the county in Virginia where one of the two men was born. It is interesting that the beautiful Orange Circle is where Glassell St. and Chapman Ave. intersect. And that circle is where Orange all began.