scrumdiddlyumptious

Safe to say that I'd been craving a holiday meal for weeks and the family Thanksgiving did not disappoint. I can't contain the excitement for Christmas and New Year's gatherings, more good times and good foods! I'm fairly certain I've already gained a couple pounds over the past two days. Yay.

Of course, I must re-create the savory evening. We arrived and pretty much dove into the turkey, gathered 'round the kitchen island eating pieces as my aunt and uncle cut. None of us could wait. After some discussion, we decided to lay out everything nicely on the dining table for our family pics, then take everything back to the kitchen for buffet style eating, because that is how we do.

Green bean casserole with chopped onion, topped with fried onion crisps! Louisiana style seafood Spanish rice! Apple bread stuffing! Buttercream corn! Rosemary, thyme, and veggie marinated turkey + turkey gravy! Mashed 'taters! Cranberry! Kimchi! Pickled, thinly sliced cucumbers! The last two, we just had to have to fulfill our Korean taste palettes. Dinner finished off with delish Pumpkin bundt cake and sweet potato pie which my aunt made from scratch. I pretty much made myself eat more and more and more alllll night, then knocked out.

To top off the meal I finished my first glass of wine, ever! Still found it disgusting and tasting like dimeatap, but my uncle could not have been more enthused to teach me how to properly receive and drink the wine. I'm glad I know for the future, though, since you're supposed to learn how to drink the right way with elders. Although, he wants me to up the glasses with each gathering. I'll have to let him down easy and turn down the position as his new drinking buddy.

I also faced a harsh reality when my eight-year-old cousin, who has always been peculiar, informed me that he's moved on from Disney, the JoeBros, Miley, Selena, Demi and "all that." He's "into politics and stocks." What is going on?! I still wanna go to Chuck E' Cheese's. =/

I drank two cokes at dinner, so after arriving back home, was unbelievably alert and went through the leftovers for round two. Officially fell asleep around 5am--which was probably long after some stores opened for Black Friday. That's not even the most horrifying; people had been sleeping outside Best Buy since the beginning of the week to get an "early" start. Disgusting. I seriously doubt I have enough energy to compete with the survivor women of shopping on this scary day. I wouldn't have made it anyway, since I slept through it all and woke up at 4pm. Yeaaayuh.
----------

[THE DARK KNIGHT] WHOAMG. Great except for the fact that I fell asleep at some random point in the middle. I also couldn't stand Batman's voice...sounded like someone who'd been smoking for 80 years. Heath Ledger was phenomenally disturbing and it just reminded me of what a waste it is that he is gone. Two thumbs up! I had my jaw dropped for the entire ending.

Semi-films outing after the film was also fun. My chance to indulge in all the Red Mango I could eat since the treat was comped!

[NOBEL SON] Crazy, disorienting film, but I loved the cast and who can say no to Alan Rickman?! It was a successful sneak and an entertaining Q&A. Of course there were the annoying, redundant questions posed to Alan about Harry Potter and Love Actually. Then we had attempted to protect Alan and Randall Miller (director/writer) from the crowd. Fun.

[GRIFFITH] Haven't been here since I was three or four so I couldn't remember anything. Yoko and I had a good ol' time running around like starry-eyed kids, taking pictures of everything, "Oooh ahhh" -ing at everything. I hope to go back on a clearer day and go on the hiking path they have at the base of the observatory. The view is amazing!

I also went to the gift shop, of course, but i bought NOTHING! Self-control! Yes. Though I was tempted to buy everything...giant pencils, mugs, 3d periodic table of elements, spacesuit. Gahh.

[LIFE] as for my life in general, things seem to be moving along okay. All of my classes worked out for next quarter, always a good thing.

I do have the internship with Film Independent for the Indie Spirit Awards in the production dep't. I am sacrificing Dance Marathon, disheartening, but I'm sure the internship will be well worth it. Hopefully I can still set up a fundraising account to collect donations, though I won't be able to dance.

I've also applied to be an Apple campus rep. This one's mainly out of interest, for kicks, and to keep some money coming in so I won't be flat broke.

Mom asked what I wanted to do again. I replied as I always do. "I dunno, I like everything." To which she replied, "That's good, but not good." I'd really like to figure out my life. Sure, carpe diem and living adventurously and spontaneously is great, but there's something to be said about having a plan, or at least an outline/rough draft on life? SIGH.



!!! Breaking news as I wrap up. I just found out that a Wal-mart employee was killed today, having been trampled by a stampede of shoppers. Uhhhhmmmm...

If that's not an indication of apocalypse now, it certainly alludes to the cold, hard truth of how sad people are. I love sales and coupons, perhaps a bit much sometimes, but at least I didn't kill someone because of my insatiable urge to buy something cheaper.

An Uneventful, Whiny Wednesday

Woke up, dozed off in lecture, killed time in office, trudged through another boring lab, micro-organized office, made/ate Korean comfort dinner with Danny, Ralph's run.

Went all out to end this woefully unexciting day by plopping down in lime green fold-out-chair, fork in hand and 15 inch box of impulsively bought Entenmann's Danish Raspberry Twist cake in lap, turned on the tube, ate a third of it.

Woooo yeah.

In addition to all that mind-boggling excitement, various unwelcome stress and problems have been coming up recently. Commence list of grievances:

1. Almost walked out the door in new H&M top with large, plastic security magnet still attached. I left my superhuman magnet at home so I'll have to take in store to get the darn thing removed.
2. Radio article never got posted by deadline to air. It will probably count as a missed report, which is frustrating because I finished/edited it and cannot figure out the technical glitch that prevents me from uploading.
3. Need to make decision asap about whether or not to take Spirit Awards internship next quarter. Several factors that are up in the air make me hesitate on just saying yes.
4. Is internship even relevant? --> What am I doing? constant stress.
5. Worth missing class and Dance Marathon? (big deal just because it is something I am dedicated to each year to raise the money and kids from camp will be there as well)
6. Petty drama from past has sort of come back for no good reason! I don't ask for things like that. ugh.
7. Den tickets wrongly charged to BAR account.
8. Am I getting sick or not?
9. Weather is too random right now, adding to Debbie Downer mood.
10. I'm poor.
11. Homesick. Thanksgiving is so close/so far.
12. Got midterm back. So-so.
13. Still disturbed by dead squirell sighting from yesterday. It was literally two feet from me, two feet too close.
14. Certain that one of my classes will fill up by second pass, throwing off whole schedule. So, so great.
15. Recently discovered that another HS acquaintance lost home in fires. Humbling.

...realizing how trivial my list seems and that, again, I always have much to be grateful for.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da. Life goes on.

weekend update

Technically it's Monday, but whatever.

In about an hour and a half, I'll be watching my fourth, possibly fifth? sunrise of the week. Some may find my ways stupid, some amazing, and others amazingly stupid. A longstanding goal of mine has been to check into a sleep clinic for some serious study. I'd like to think I would make an intriguing test subject.

Besides cleaning, I spent the weekend planning out my life for the umpteenth time.
My ideal schedule for next quarter is set, four classes, doable.
I updated my course plan spreadsheet (xoxo Excel) for the next two years. Whew to graduating on time and to not having to take four classes every quarter!

I'm hoping to get another internship with Film Independent working on the Independent Spirit Awards in February. They only ask for a day a week leading up to the event (and I'm willing to put in at least another) so it shouldn't be too stressful of a workload.

Winter break is looking to be a good time, annual Big Bear trip is set! Last winter was my first time experiencing snow. I know, right? Apparently I have seen snow when I was a baby in Korea, but I don't remember so it doesn't count. Hopefully after having fallen and bruising my butt countless times, snowboarding this year will go much more smoothly. Although, I still can't remember whether I'm regular or goofy. I end up facing front and center at the bottom of the hill either way and when it comes to taking off on a snowboard, my feet seem to be ambidextrous--my fancy way of saying that I haven't figured out which foot is better to start on.

Still researching some round-trip tix to NY for after Big Bear. I'm glad I have lots of family over there and now Kara too! giving me all the more reason to visit besides the fact that East coast = FOOD, glorious food!

As for the summer...what a doozy that's gonna be if all of my plans are realized.
LA Film Fest in June (internship beginning in May) right after school's out, followed by Unicamp (hopefully there is a session early July), Camp Kindle (late July), London travel study (July 31-Aug. 26), and I was hoping to visit Korea but I'd have to go immediately after London if I want to spend at least three weeks there before senior year starts. I can guarantee that this ridiculously ambitious summer plan won't go over well with my parents. Not that they aren't supportive of all these things, but my health comes first and they will freak out about me dying of exhaustion. I am worried too. LAFF is a rather demanding internship, to follow up with two summer camps (physical and mental exhaustion), then try to take Shakespeare for a month in London....Ridic. We'll see what happens.

I SO EXCITE TO SEE DARK KNIGHT FRIDAY!
only four sunrises away!

backtrack.

I take pride in my irregular blogging. With writing, I've never been a minimalist, always a rambler, but since I won't be submitting this to the New Yorker anytime soon, please enjoy (or don't) the massive update since my last post. That was probably a disgusting run-on with four, likely misplaced commas. Ugh.

[TODAY, accomplished]
I'm fairly certain the other roommate is stealing my magazine from the mail. Not cool, man.

Just did 2 loads of laundry and just realized I never checked the time after I put my clothes in the dryer...crap. Yet, I'm not motivated to run and check because I'm all engaged in my blogging. Also did all the dishes, dustbusted, febreezed, lysoled, clorox wiped, swiffered, and unecessarily micro-organized. So you can easily see the course of my life.

I know I won't be crazy cat lady, since I'm allergic, but I definitely see life in a bubble. These qualities will only get worse. Mom and dad seem to have created an o.c.d./germaphobic/perfectionist monster of a child. Wow, imagine when Alzheimer's starts to kick in and I forget that I cleaned...

Grazi, Maral for generously swiping me into Covel. I basically blanked out about how to use the dining hall, it's been that long. Immediate reaction to the crowd in covel: Ugh, no *shakes head.* It's quite sad how anti-social I've become. Sitting in the apartment all day long, moving outside to the couch, watching tv, and making my meals is perfectly satisfactory.

Not to mention that we ate with some of Peter's HS friends. They are 16. One had braces. All had i-phones. They rave.
Let me just grab my bifocals and 8-tracks and crochet another sweater for myself.
Boy, do I feel old--juniors to juniors, four years is a big difference. Being 20 is still a reality that has yet to sink in.

...god I need some answers.
what am I to do with my life?
how am I supposed to know what's right?

Britney, you said it, sister. Of course this is from "Overprotected," playing as I write this. Funny how despite all the singer-songwriter genius, miss pop princess describes my life so perfectly right now. I too have been overprotected and would like some answers to my vague life questions. Don't hate, Britney speaks truth. Plus, the video (pre-psycho mess) is just entertaining.

I got up to eat, but was distracted by our dirty toaster oven, thus, cleaned it and returned to my desk having forgotten to eat. So I've redeemed my fail by creating a delicious tri-cereal blend of Honey-O's (most underrated cereal!), Honey Bunches of Oats, and Honey Nut Cheerios. All the honeys is just a coincidence.

I now present the past two weeks, descending chronologically for my convenience and for your viewing and reading pleasure.

[TROPIC THUNDER, lolz]
staffed the $2 with Mads. Definitely glad I could watch this treasure again. I almost forgot about the line after line quotability of the movie, and it reaffirmed my infatuation with RDJr. I heart him and forgive his drug and drink issues.

[PUPPY, precious]
(hiding her in a tote to leave the apartment, doggie bag!)
Roomie brought her puppy for a visit. I desperately want a dog, preferably a big dog (generally can't stand the teeny ones that yelp at high pitches or that look like naked mole rats). Penney is an adorkable exception. Had a lovely photobooth shoot with her sittin on my lap. Kim and I had also had a serious discussion about adopting a dog from the local pound and how we could illegally keep it in our apartment. That was pretty productive until we came across this beauty, almost peed our pants laughing.

[SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, rich]
One of the best films I've seen in a while. Rich indeed in color, sights and sounds, story and action. Heck, I even loved the cheesy Bollywood at the end. Highly recommended, whether or not you're a fan of Danny Boyle.

[LACMA, lovely]
Loves it, even the streetlamp display which has been the set of many a facebook photoshoot. We visited on a good, sunny Veteran's day, for FREE. Got in trouble for being too close to the works, also shrieked inside the echoing display because Alex decided to scare me. They probably don't like me very much over there now. I'm going back anyway to see the Vanity Fair exhibition.

[GRIDDLE, comatose]


Why had I never heard of the marvelous Griddle Cafe?! Many thanks, Meesh. New best place to eat larger-than-face sized pancakes and slump over in food coma.

[CINESPACE, woo!]
I'd always wanted to go here and finally made it for Danny's birthday. Overall experience wasn't the best since it was mainly a DSP event and I didn't really know anyone, but the venue itself was fantastic. Multiple rooms, plenty of seating, cool bars. Definitely a place to visit again.

[PETA, perfection]
Props to DLV for finally making the group. This is probably something I've been longing to do since I came to college: share my passion for the art of eating, especially meat, with a crew, embarking on frequent adventures to explore all the foods that LA has to offer. Weee!

[YELP, intriguing]
What an interesting online tool. I never knew how expansive yelp and the yelp community was. Finally made a profile and started reviewing some eateries. I've always used it as reference, but I figure it gives me more opportunity to write and share my thoughts about something I love dearly, food. Since I started mine so late, I certainly won't be joining the ranks of Elite yelper, Noah. Youz krazy.

[KOREAN BBQ, smelly]

I think I still smelled a bit after one shower. So powerful, the stink of grilling meat. Tripe was an adventure in itself, but more a one-hit-wonder. Once you've tasted one stomach lining, you've tasted them all...

[PIZZA PIZZA, fun]
Delightful attempts to make fancy pizza's at Alex's. Verdict: butter + bacon + cheese = everything dericious.
Also gave into the devil of a deal: 10 for $10 chocolate bars during Ralph's run. I rank this as one of the best savings ever, which means it is legit given my freeloading, penny-pinching persona and all the coupon experience I have.

[SPRING AWAKENING, shocking]

Definitely meant to shock and push the limits in subject matter, just like RENT. Love, sex, oppression, innocence lost and gained, masturbation, rebellion, death, interpreted through song and dance. Could be better than HSM3?! Close call.
The set was artistic and simple. The cast had such amazing voices and carried the songs well. Ahmanson Theatre is a great venue with some beautiful architecture in and around. 2 thumbs up! If you love the musicals, go see it!

[PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, hah]
Another quotable favorite I was happy to see again. Staffed with Hanna; had a little too much fun with the Hulk hand trivia prizes. If they release a DVD double pack with this and Tropic Thunder, I'd be ecstatic. Related recommendation: SAVING GRACE, an indie British comedy involving Mary Jane.

[FRAT PARTY, ew]
Haven't been to one since, oh, I don't know, maybe once early last year? Had nothing to do that Thursday night and the brothers of PiKapp are good people, so I went to their Cali Love party with some friends. I was immediately reminded of why I hate frat parties. Went to a bunch first quarter, freshmen year to get the "college experience." Learned the hard way to just say no. Sure, I danced wide with my buddies this time, but there is no need to try to dance among freshmen girls having sex and making babies with god knows who.

[AMI'S, aZn]
Went for Maral's birthday. Nice reunion with friends. Inhaled 3 orders of food. I'd forgotten that Ami's is owned by Koreans. They'd split the tab in two and kept nagging about this one unpaid crunch roll. Maral went Persian on them at the end of the night, accusing them of this and that, which was very amusing. Turns out we did have a second crunch roll, it was just on the other tab. Left awkwardly after her outburst. Ami's = always a good time.

[ECHOPLEX, insane]

Election night party with Telepathe, Abe Vigoda, Boy 8 Bit, and Diplo. The evening was heightened with the announcements of Obama's win. Diplo's set was insane and priceless. He's also kind of a McHottie, but too bad he's not with M.I.A. anymore because she might have made a surprise visit. Echoplex is a chill venue. I like that there is a detached lounging space far back from the stage so you can take a little break and relax in the back if you want. The stage itself is small and cozy. I much prefer these kind of intimate stage venues over stadiums.

[OBAMA, yay]
Still in shock and awe. So many stereotypes shattered. Wasn't my ideal turnout with Hilary knocked so early, but definitely Obama/Biden over McPain. I am anxious to see how and where he will lead us.

[JASON MRAZ, lover]

So he may be mainstream, pop acoustic, or whatever people wanna label him, but there's no denying that Jason Mraz is musically talented and a darn good singer. He's got a sharp ear for music; pitch perfect, complex melodies and harmonies, can do amazing things with his voice. CDs don't do him justice, which is why you see him releasing live/recording sessions of all his songs. He's also a fine lyricist for a modern-day singer-songwriter.

It was good to see Nat and Drew! We had a such a blast at the concert. One of the best I've been to, minus the stacked parking on a grass hill in front of a bathroom and the belligerent drunkards behind us. I definitely recommend catching a show at the Greek Theatre. It's a perfectly sized outdoor venue, rain or shine. I saw Alison Krauss and Union Station there last year sitting in an entirely different area and it was amazing. The acoustics are good anywhere you sit.

The food isn't all too bad. Of course, I had to eat something. Got a might tasty chicken tender basket with fries.

Observation: I'd say the Jason crowd was a good 30-40% Asian. We Asians do love him. He's toured Korea for sure.

Oh, and Toca Rivera is my new favorite. He and Jason are a dynamic duo that create beautiful harmonies, the likes of Simon & Garfunkel.

HARDly boring.

HARDfest. aakdfhgwuekyhdjbsdomgdjamcrystalcastlesjusticeamazingaksjfkldsfj.

I don't know if I can even listen to my Crystal Castles album. It simply won't even come close to their live set. sigh.

Justice. o m g z.

This was probably the most exciting Halloween I've experienced at UCLA.
Aside from the 5000 gallons of wo-man sweat, a mixture of 102931092 substances stinking up my clothes, and incredibly rude and aggressive people (coachella is definitely a more polite festival, understandable, as it is not a semi-rave), I had a genuinely awesometastic time.

I also admired some of the creative costumes: Ziggy Stardust, Clockwork Orange, of course Cakes and Chuck's Dorothy and cowardly lion. so precious.

Those were a breath of fresh air from the usual:
underwear + ______ = slutty ______
a. badge, cop
b. red cross, nurse
c. cat ears, cat
d. wings, bird/VS angel/regular angel/fairy.

I think I did pretty decently in dressing it up as some sort of neon-80s mismatched nerd, accessorized by Thank You Mart for under $20.

I'm fairly certain I went through almost 100, if not 100 texts today, the majority of those at HARD. Never have I sent/received that many texts within one night. My text speed sucks horribly. In my hurry I sent some painfully misspelled texts which would appear as if a drunk person typed them. My abnormally squat thumbs don't help. Another reason I could never text off an i-phone because I'd probably push 4 letters at once.
--------
Backtracking a bit, I'm glad I was able to spend a little time with old high school friends before HARD. Thanks for visiting me guys! They went off to Weho afterward...which I'm sure was equally ridiculous and fun.

Now, to add to my numerous FAILs of the night, the sun will be rising shortly. oh joy.
Sad thing is, I'm wide awake.

I'll try and get a few hours of sleep, then study until the Jason Mraz concert tonight, a crazy switch from HARD, but just as wonderful in it's own Jason-can-sing-me-the-phone-book-and-it'd-be-lovely kinda way. Lost my voice at the fest, of course, so I shall be that obnoxious girl who sings along to every song sounding like honking donkey. I just realized I'll be driving to the Greek Theatre as well...in Saturday traffic. Going places can be frustrating, but everywhere has been worth the drive.
-------
New train of thought: I just looked at my phone and realized HOW DISGUSTING EVERYTHING IS RIGHT NOW. UNSANITARY. EW. freaking out. =(

Now, I'll be watching the sunrise in it's entirety while I sanitize everything I took to HARD.

Ah, and the Norm's dinner we had about an hour ago is metabolized so I is hungry again. Surprise, surprise.
-----

Whatever happens. Do the dance.