born again from the rhythm

almost ready to become a korean housewife

2009-01-15T15:24:00.003-05:00

after yet another successful batch of kimchi jjigae, i'm pretty sure i would make a kick ass korean housewife. if only i didn't suck so much at making rice.

i suppose that's what rice steamers are for. perhaps i'll invest in one somewhere down the line.

such a sap

2009-01-12T16:47:00.003-05:00

let it be known that i just watched marley & me and am now a sobbing wreck.

i haven't cried this hard since reading the sixth harry potter book.

it's funny, the things that affect me. marley & me reminded me so much of blondie, the super dog we were lucky enough to have in our lives from when i was a kindergarten-er all the way up to my college years.

not to spoil too much, but the final scenes hit close to home and i was flooded with memories of my mom and me, on the vet's floor, saying goodbye to blondie and thanking her over and over for being such a good dog.

blondie, wherever you are - feel free to come haunt us and teach kimchi a lesson or two on what a good dog should be.

so maybe that's my problem...

2008-12-31T12:46:00.005-05:00

"A December 31 Capricorn responds to their heart, not their head. They may be impractical in the extreme, but they also paint their world in vibrant and extreme colors. A certain brilliance does not shield them from a great deal of instability. This can be a drawback to maturation, yet it also provides them with the emotional exhilaration they crave.

Capricorn Information for December 31
You should embrace:
Receptiveness, fantasy, the creative muse

You should avoid:
Willfulness, flattery, ego issues

Friends and Lovers

Even though December 31 individuals enjoy being surrounded by a large group of friends, they are anxious to have time in the spotlight. This is generally based on a lack of self-esteem. They often experience a great deal of heartbreak in love, linked to their inability to make good romantic choices.

Children and Family

December 31 people love family life. It's often the anticipated pleasures of a family that prompts them to settle down. Even though they may seek to work out issues from their childhood in their relationship with offspring, they brim with love and tenderness.

Health

December 31 natives often ignore health issues until they notice a problem. Luckily, they possess natural vitality that allows them to neglect exercise and nutrition without seriously affecting their health. They may experience periodic problems with sleep, usually brought on by worry.

Career and Finances

It isn't uncommon for December 31 natives to change careers several times. They have a hard time settling on what they want. Although they have an instinct to make money and lead a stable, productive life, they also possess an emotional instability that is at war with their other instincts. Though adept at making money, they are better at spending it.

Dreams and Goals

People born on this date need to feel loved and valued. This is more important to them than professional success. If they are able to conquer their insecurities, they can be successful in their career. They have enormous creative talent."

Wow, for once I feel at one with my astrology writeup. I can't count how many times I've read Capricorn traits thinking "yeah, I'm organized and practical in my own way... but not in the business/money-making sense that they seem to be talking about."

I guess being born at the end of the month changes things a bit. This is by far the most accurate depiction of my personality any horoscope has ever given me. I'm a wanderlust, schemer, and dreamer at heart.

And so another year ends, and I'm 26. Plans for today are unfortunately the least desirable I've ever had on a birthday. Hostessing at the restaurant. As everyone puts it, at least I'm bringing in the New Year making money, and it will be a festive atmosphere.

After much soul searching and employment issues, my new year's resolution is to enter grad school ASAP.

The professional procrastinator that I am, I just kept thinking "I'll work straight through the year and do grad school later." Part of my problem is that I didn't know what I wanted to go to school for, nor how to finance it.

Being jobless in a bad economy changed all that, and I decided that now is the best time to suck it up and do it. I just couldn't see myself half-heartedly working yet another job that had nothing to do with my goals. I'm applying to SUNY Cortland to pursue my master's in ESL. In state tuition and living with my grandma will be a much better route than trying to support myself while going through school (which is a partial reason why Hamline didn't work out).

Grad school is a pretty good resolution to have. Also on the list: I need to stay in better contact with people. Hopefully 2009 will prove to be the year of fruitful changes.

so do washing machines...

2008-11-11T20:04:00.006-05:00

it's tuesday night, and for the first time i'm finding myself with absolutely nothing to do. no laundry, no dinners, no shopping excursions. a chance to properly update!

all i have to do is listen to christmas music on pandora (god help me), eat leftover pizza, enjoy some buffalo trace on the rocks, and catch up on the past two months.

it's been a hell of a two months.

it seems to have all started when kimchi swallowed the needle. life started going and wouldn't stop. up until mid-october pretty much every weekend was spent traveling somewhere - celeste's shower, grandpa yusko's funeral, celeste's bachelorette party, celeste's wedding.

in light of losing two grandfathers, i did gain one amazing brother-in-law. welcome to the family, chris. it only took you seven years to get here, but you made it. three cheers for chris. hip hip hooray.

the wedding was gorgeous. perfect october weather, at peak foliage. the ceremony took place in a little circular courtyard outside. the reception was inside, at the corning country club.

my personal favorite part of the wedding was when celeste's dress broke not once, but twice. being that the second time meant the dress was beyond repair, she sent diane and myself in a frenzy to get her jeans and my t-shirt so she wouldn't have to be the naked bride.

i thought it was rather funny that the t-shirt i wore that day was a mondale '84 t-shirt. she obviously didn't have a clue who mondale was. that is, until some guest told her and i heard from across the dance floor, "TANYA! MONDALE'S A DEMOCRAT?!?!"

good times.

if you would like to peruse pictures, you can look at them here. the password is bubble.

for now, here is mi famila:

da bridal party:

the ceremony:

i think that according to the last apartment update, arthur and i were trying to get the downstairs apartment. turns out we just ended up keeping the one i'm currently in. it really looks like a different place from the one i lived in for an entire year. with the help of debbie and phil, we painted the living room, kitchen, and hallway yellow. with arthur's craftsmanship, we also have a breakfast bar and stools now. a proper place to eat! and drink...

after a few stops at ikea, we also now have a new entertainment center and bookshelves. i think we're both rather proud of how the place turned out.

i ended up taking melissa's room after she moved out, which means i now have my own bathroom. it's the best feeling in the world to know that i can pretty much stay in bed all day without having to meet the outside world (or apartment). have to go to the bathroom? covered. need a refill of water? covered. kimchi has to go to the bathroom? covered. oh wait, nope, still have to take him outside for that.

and finally, for the future. i tried my best to bleach my bathroom this evening and ensure everything is clean, because my parents are visiting this weekend. but wait, that's not all! they're bringing hetty, vespa, and felix with them. hetty and vespa are only here for the visit, but felix will be here to stay. i can't even count how many times i've gone home during college, or even recently, and said something to the effect of "aren't you going to miss felix when i take him with me?" or "do you think he'll fit in my suitcase all right?"

after telling my mom that arthur and i were thinking about getting a kitten, she decided felix, our much-beloved 14 year old black cat, would be better off living with us, away from the four beastly dogs. apparently judson yelled at him not too long ago when he tried to jump up on the couch onto my mom's lap. since then, he hasn't been too keen on getting up on the couch and isn't getting the attention he deserves.

anyway, at least here he will only have a little terrorist chihuahua to put up with. felix is kimchi's buddy. kimchi really enjoys chasing felix around or forming the "kimchi conga line" with him. we're just like the brady bunch. a twisted verson at that.

after this weekend, celeste and chris (hopefully) are visiting. not sure what the plans entail, but it will probably involve a historic tour of some sort.

then comes thanksgiving, hurrah! only my favorite holiday. we are renting a car to drive out to horseheads, because traveling with chihuahuas is a a bitch, and with two people the cost is manageable.

that's about it in terms of updates. maybe one day we'll have pictures of the apartment to put up, so everyone can see just how amazing it looks. nope, not biased at all.

yes we did

2008-11-04T23:27:00.001-05:00

it's loud outside, yo.

the scariest of them all

2008-10-26T20:44:00.004-04:00

...and the reason why i would sleep with a crucifix when especially scared at night.

in the halloween spirit

2008-10-26T20:37:00.002-04:00

the 4:15 mark... one of the scarier things i saw as an impressionable young mind.

... and the reason i couldn't sleep with my back to a wall for the greater part of my youth.

large marge scared the crap out of me, too. (right around 1:20)

reason number 59345 that i love brooklyn

2008-09-12T20:47:00.007-04:00

this article comes from the new york sun and discusses the drastic changes taking place on franklin avenue:

"A main thoroughfare in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, an increasingly powerful magnet for recent college graduates and young professionals seeking affordable rent and access to mass transit, is undergoing a transformation. The bodegas, hair salons, and fast-food restaurants lining the section of Franklin Avenue that runs between Eastern Parkway and Atlantic Avenue, on the western boundary of Crown Heights, are slowly being replaced by organic markets, cafés, and clothing boutiques.
'Williamsburg has moved over here,' Anthony Fisher, whose family has owned Fisher's Supermarket on the corner of Lincoln Place and Franklin Avenue since 1981, said recently. The market has begun stocking organic produce, and even organic beer, to satisfy the growing demand from health-conscious residents.

As rental prices rise in other areas of Brooklyn, such as Williamsburg and Prospect Heights, young New Yorkers are moving eastward into Crown Heights in search of more affordable homes, according to a sales agent at Lang Realty, Joseph Brikman. 'The same thing you'd find in Prospect Heights, the same amenities, you can get for at least $300 cheaper in Crown Heights,' he said. On average, a one-bedroom in the neighborhood is about $1,200 a month, compared with as much as $1,700 a month in Prospect Heights.

Retail rents are also cheaper on Franklin Avenue than other Brooklyn shopping streets. To rent a storefront on the Crown Heights thoroughfare costs about $2.50 a square foot. In comparison, retail rents in Prospect Heights range between $3.50 and $4.50 a square foot, according to a commercial broker at Woodbury Real Estate Solutions, Sonni Woodbury.

'Over the next five years, it's going to become like Boerum Hill's Smith Street or Park Slope's Fifth Avenue,' the co-owner of a recently opened beer garden in the neighborhood, Matthew Roff, said of Franklin Avenue. The beer garden, Franklin Park, launched in April on St. John's Place, and is now a popular gathering place for newcomers, longtime West Indian residents, and chasidim, who mingle around picnic tables in the leafy, brick-walled courtyard. Mr. Roff is planning to eventually double the 2,000-square-foot space that once was a garage with a litter-strewn yard.

Around the corner, the Point de Couture boutique features up-and-coming designers. 'I wanted to bring a little SoHo to this area,' the owner, Emanuelle Christian, said. She opened the space last year in a storefront that was being vacated by a tax accountant.

Chadon Bell launched his tattoo parlor, Brooklyn Ink Spot, at Franklin Avenue and Park Place in 2006. 'I'm into the culture of ink, and people moving into the neighborhood are obviously into it,' he said, adding that the business is seeing its sales increase by about $2,000 a month. Over the last two years, Mr. Bell said, police patrols and sweeps of drug dens have encouraged merchants to open more stores in the area.

While the retail scene is rapidly changing, there is also a transformation in the residential market. A shopkeeper who owned a variety store at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue for 21 years, Eli Mazon, is now developing the building into an eight floor, 62-unit rental building. The project, which is set for completion in the spring 2010, will include studios, and one and two bedrooms, in addition to commercial office space. While the rents have not yet been finalized, the development, which will also boast a garage, gym, and doorman, will range from $2,000 a month to $3,500 a month.

'There's a massive change on Franklin now and I wanted to be part of that,' the owner of Bristen's Eatery, Carleen Haughton, said. The café, on Franklin Avenue and Sterling Place, serves salads and paninis named for local streets and boasts a spacious backyard, where Ms. Haughton, who moved from Clinton Hill in March, hosts outdoor concerts."

for all those who aren't aware, eastern parkway and franklin avenue was a notorious drug corner. crown heights has seen its share of riots, violence, gangs, and drug dealings in the past, but is slowly turning into a good residential area.

i live at that intersection and have never seen anything suspicious, aside from random men using the construction border as their own personal urinals.

but that's beside the point. i am trying to finagle rent down in the basement unit of my building, so arthur and i can live there and not pay an arm and a leg. i rather enjoy having four limbs. not to mention the basement unit is much smaller and not as nice. on the plus side, it does have access to the "backyard" aka broken glass receptacle. we're trying to offer our handiwork in exchange for a rent reduction. we emailed a proposal to the management company, saying we will gladly landscape the front and backyards, finish the floors, paint the walls in like colors, etc. at this rate, however, we're not so sure the landlord is going to go for it.

either way, i am so 100% happy with where i live, both building- and location-wise that we probably will end up just taking the apartment for the asking price if all else fails.

my wallet will hurt, but i think i'm due for a raise.

i can't imagine another year in brooklyn without walking kimchi down the tree-lined eastern parkway, grabbing hummus from fisher's, running in prospect park, enjoying a beer at franklin park, or getting breakfast at bristen's.

we've gone on a whirlwind tour of apartments in crown heights, prospect heights, clinton hill, fort greene, and bed-stuy, and none of them holds a candle to this place (walking 15 steps to the subway is probably the best part).

shh, don't tell anyone. in keeping with the "hipster olympics" theme, i would even go as far to say crown heights it's the new williamsburg. except it's not. it still has the ethnic vibe, and i'm hoping the neighborhood can co-exist peacefully while continuing the clean up to make it a safer place for families. i'll be pissed if it picks up that williamsburg pretension. plus it's affordable... though with just two of us living here, there will be a drastic increase in rent compared to what i'm paying now.

though i have to admit, the construction lot next door is worrisome. they are building an 8-story condo building, and rumor is a starbucks is going in the ground level along with some other retail shops. come 2010, i can kiss affordable rent goodbye.

keep your eyes, fingers, and toes crossed.

so ironic it's not, so unironic it is

2008-09-11T19:34:00.000-04:00

celebrity spottings #9 and 10 and other fun things

2008-09-09T20:14:00.006-04:00

finally catching up with that growing pile of laundry in my closet, i find myself with an hour to kill before dooming myself to laundry folding hell.

what shall i blog about?

my thoughts on palin?
...nah

the whereabouts of the reclusive kim jong-il?
...not interesting enough

the most recent gossip girl cast spotting?
...why yes, of course!

blake lively and penn badgley were standing directly in front of the restaurant today, looking across hudson street. at first, i thought they were waiting to cross, until i noticed cameras all around. blake was standing behind penn, as if trying to hide from the cameras, while penn was busy "hailing" a taxi.

i assumed the cameras were paparazzi until a server at the restaurant explained that they were filming video (no audio), presumably for the show. this was my first chance to watch a celebrity from afar, so i wasn't at all ashamed to take a picture with my camera phone. i should be allowed a little celebrity indulgence every now and then.

and this brings my sightings to 9 and 10... a nice, round number for my first year in the city.

for all those wondering who else i've spied with my little eye, the list is as follows:

- anthony rapp
- catherine zeta-jones
- drea de matteo
- julia stiles
- heather graham
- alicia keyes
- cole haan
- eugene levy

half of these people have dined in the restaurant, the other half were just seen out and about in manhattan.

i would really like to believe that eugene levy was in fact eugene levy, because he was pretty awesome. i was was by myself, staring as he walked by, trying to figure out if it was really him. he kind of raised his eyebrows at me - not in that creepy old man way, but in the "i'm an awesome friendly guy" kind of way.

dang. that didn't take long at all to write. i still have twenty-five minutes to kill.

well, to save face from all that celebrity talk, i will now discuss... the merits of pop culture.

i recently finished reading everything bad is good for you.

generally, steven johnson explains that a lot of the things commonly thought to hinder people's intelligence (especially children) can quite often do just the opposite. video games, internet use, and popular tv shows have actually been advancing cognitive development when it comes to certain brain functions like problem-solving skills and understanding complex ideas. it's form, not content. people have been getting too hung up on the violence of the sopranos and not paying enough attention to how much the viewers have to use their brains to follow the complicated multi-thread stories. compared to the days of starsky and hutch, tv has gotten a lot more complex

i think where he won me over was in his epilogue, where he makes the clear point that everything in life is about a balance. video games and tv aren't necessarily harmful, but it's just as important to go out and play baseball or read books to be an overall healthy, intelligent person. pop culture can enhance some forms of intelligence, but knowledge and emotional intelligence must be obtained elsewhere. the clincher is that he and his wife decided that, for the sake of balance, they would raise their family near prospect park in brooklyn. this way, his kids can enjoy everything city life has to offer while still having access to nature. isn't prospect park wonderful?

and with that, it is time to do my laundry.

i <3 bklyn

2008-08-31T20:57:00.004-04:00

boy does new york come alive in the summer.

i walked out a few mornings ago and noticed some porta-potties sitting on the other side of eastern parkway. confused, i turned around and noticed signs along the block saying eastern parkway would be closed on monday.

hooray, an event!!!

i quickly ran inside and googled that sh!t. according to the west indian-american day carnival association, there is a huge labor day parade that goes right along my street. and i mean huge. after reading the website, it says about 4 million people participated in the parade in 2001. that's a lot of people.

too bad i'm the only person in the u s of a that has to work on labor day. what's with that?

as of today, the barricades are up along the sidewalks. the nypd is at the franklin avenue stop right now, setting up a barricaded path outside of the exit to ease congestion in that area. i imagine leaving for work at 9 am won't be too big of an issue seeing how the parade starts at 11, but i'm starting to worry that that 30 foot walk to the station is going to be a battle.

but that's not all the wonderful world of new york has in store!

i got a bike this weekend! now i can travel around brooklyn with ease, no longer having to do such silly things as ride all the way to union square to connect to the l if i want to go to williamsburg!

i've already put it to good use. after picking it up in long island, i caught the lirr back to nostrand ave. a word of caution: if you are planning on taking your bike on the lirr, you need a permit. it's $5 and you can get it here. i wasn't aware of the permit, so when the conductor asked for it, i said "what?" apparently arthur knew what he was talking about, though, and said we literally just bought the bike. crisis averted.

after that, we headed to clinton hill to pick up arthur's bike and rode to bed-stuy to check out an apartment. after waiting for a half hour for the broker (who said he was on his way when we got there) and watching neighborhood kids take down tree limbs with a pocketknife and throw things at their neighbor's windows, we decided we'd had it and didn't want to live there.

later on, we rode to park slope, grabbed some food at union hall, then saw pineapple express. pineapple express was good for the most part, but i wasn't digging the spy/action parts, especially towards the end.

and finally, today i went to brighton beach. only after saying i would all summer...

it was amazing. it's really sad that that was my only beach time, but well worth it. and it's that much more satisfying after riding there on your bike!

this is an awesome reference for people who like to bike around brooklyn. (listen to me trying to come off as a biker now).

but what we did was cut through the park, and took the bike path on ocean parkway all the way down to the beach. we laid in the sun for a few hours, then got some food at tatiana's. it was ok food, but the scenery more than makes up for it.

oh, and i sustained my first injury! after heading back, and riding through prospect park (making a detour for the wiadca drumming group), i stupidly wanted to turn, and arthur stopped, and i didn't stop in time, and fell over onto my knee.

only scratched it a bit, but it makes me feel tuff.

can't. sleep.

2008-08-18T03:52:00.004-04:00

4 am on a monday morning. i woke up at 2 and haven't been able to fall back asleep.

accompanied by a glass of vino, i'm hoping writing this will tire me out.

on the update front, kimchi is doing very well. i picked him up the monday following the operation. he was back to normal in no time, trying to swallow inedible objects.

i got a hold of his x-ray, so you no longer have to look at my ghetto photoshop version:

as i so accurately depicted earlier, the needle is at the front of the stomach, straight up and down. on the bright side, the surgery wasn't nearly as expensive as first estimated. a mere $2500. it is sad that compared to the inital $4500, $2500 seems cheap.

life in brooklyn is good. i'm enjoying the neighborhood more and more. every time i take a walk around i notice something new - cafes, churches, little shops. prospect park is great for day trips and runs. today was spent lazing around (ha! use of scrabble word!), eating breakfast at bristen's with deb, phil, and arthur, and then playing scrabble and scattergories in the park.

the roommates and i caught a late viewing of vicky cristina barcelona on friday night. it was good. in fact, very good. as a result i was left wishing i could spend a month in barcelona, drinking wine and painting with crazed fervor. but again, i am quite content with nyc.

and let's not forget my oh-so-productive saturday consisting of sucking up all of the dead cockroaches from our cupboards with melissa. at least the nyc cockroaches aren't as large as the media depicts.

and so, i am beginning to wind down... in enough time to wake up in a few hours. i've got a lot of planning on my plate for tomorrow and tuesday. my grandfather's service will be on wednesday, and celeste's shower is on saturday. in order to avoid two trips, i am going to work from home on thursday and friday.

- and end late-night update -

r.i.p.

2008-08-16T19:22:00.005-04:00

r.i.p. grandpa - you will be missed.

i don't mean for the second picture (or this blog) to be depressing - these pictures were only taken back in may, the second one being in front of his grandfather's grave. i've always found my grandfather and his family history to be very fascinating - he was in WWII and went to Normandy. my great-great grandpa oscar was a civil war vet who, at the age of 15, had to lie about his age to join the army.

while he only passed yesterday, and it was a shock to say the least, i figure this is the least i can do to pay tribute to a great man.

while i'm at it...

2008-07-27T15:24:00.013-04:00

just to prove that not the whole weekend was about needles in a chihuahua:

mugshot 1

mugshot 2

posing in front of death star?

i like bears

doe in middle is jealous

we probably spent the most amount of time playing in the gift shop

hung like a whale?

bang a gong

lots of posing

and just for good measure, the last picture pre-needle:

oh what a night

2008-07-27T13:06:00.006-04:00

a glimpse into my weekend:

started off fun. had dinner at the restaurant. played rock band and crashed at debbie's. nice breakfast. oodles of fun at the museum of natural history. pizza. trip the emergency vet.

back up there, i think i missed something. oh yes, put "kimchi swallows sewing needle" between "pizza" and "vet."

that's more like it. and finish with "in the hole at least $4500."

seriously, it was an enjoyable weekend until the last incident. arthur was visiting and we were eating pizza at my place, discussing kimchi's stomach o' steel. cheeky me was bragging all about how he has eaten everything from plastic to metal to unidentifiable objects.

9:45 pm: i look down and kimchi is chew chew chewing away on something, giving me that "i'm chewing something i shouldn't be, what are you going to do about it?" look.

i recognize the sharp metal object dangling from his mouth as a sewing needle that had been left on the coffee table. he was rather enjoying the pink thread it was attached to.

attempt to retrieve 1.) i said in a cheerful voice "want a treat?"

no success.

attempt to retrieve 2.) i got the high pitch corrector and hit the "no" button many times.

no success.

attempt to retrieve 3.) arthur and i cornered him. every time my hand went in i was afraid he would bite me or try to swallow it whole to keep me from getting his newfound prize possession.

no success.

attempt to retrieve 4.) i put kibble in his bowl, assuming he would drop it from his mouth to eat.

what does he do? SWALLOWS IT WITH THE FOOD. it disappears. we looked all over for it, thinking "he seems fine, but it's definitely nowhere around, which means he must have swallowed it."

i obviously knew a vet was the next step but the following thoughts crossed my mind:

a.) how do i find a 24 hour vet?
b.) how do i get to said vet?
c.) this is brooklyn, how the hell do i find a taxi?
d.) i have 0 dollars. how do i pay for it?

so i called celeste.

q. what do i do if i think kimchi swallowed a needle?
a. call the vet now.

miraculously the internet, which hadn't worked all week, was working and we located the vet emergency group. they said all i had to do was come in. they gave me the price for the visit fee and x-ray. eep.

it took us forever to find a taxi - arthur went outside to flag one down while i googled taxi services in brooklyn (p.s. i don't think you can call for a yellow cab in brooklyn. seriously, they need to fix this problem).

arthur finally flagged one down, and the nice man actually waited on busy eastern parkway for arthur to run back and get me. the only problem with yellow cabs in brooklyn is they don't know where the hell they are, and they probably unluckily got stuck picking up a brooklynite in manhattan and had to return him to his native land. so we used the shoddy gps map in the back to direct him to the place.

on the bright side, i HIGHLY recommend this emergency vet group. located in cobble hill, the place is large and immaculate. he staff is VERY friendly. lots of doctors on staff. a + service.

they took him in right away to x-ray him, and then called me to the back to take a look. with my superior photoshop skillz, this is roughly what it looked like:

yes, that shit was straight up and down in his stomach. the doctor said the first step would be an endoscopy. given that things could be slimy and they didn't want to waste too much time trying to retrieve it before it moved to the intestines, the next step would be surgery.

with the 2 hour wait time and the $1300 estimate, we went to the chocolate room where i got wound up on coffee and arthur enjoyed a chocolate mint float. bonus points to the place for playing a beatles mix.

after leaving at midnight and walking for a bit, i got a call from the vet. endoscopy unsuccessful. he will be held until monday. go in for another estimate. yikes. $3000. arthur wins the prestigious "friend of the year award."

we go home (in yet another lost manhattan taxi), arthur crashes on the couch, and i fall asleep around 2 am. the doctor calls at 2:10 am and says the needle is out, and the surgery went fine. i wake up at 8 am and call my mom. we loaf around for a bit. i call for an update at noon. everything is still good, kimchi is sedate but wagged his tail when the doctor came in to say hi. they will feed him at 1 or 2 am tonight, and depending on how it goes, i will pick him up tomorrow, elizabethan collar and all.

what have i learned from this weekend?

- do not leave sewing needles laying around (actually i knew this one but it's worth pointing out if your or someone you live with has a dog).

- if you have a credit line attached to your bank account, make sure you actually get the card and activate it. don't just think "some day i'll get it."

- get a part time job. and finding an apartment in october is going to suck.

a message to all of my fans

2008-05-30T21:13:00.003-04:00

after many emails, messages, and random comments, i have decided it was time to update this blog so you, my loyal readers, would no longer be subject to the atrocity that is simon cowell's man boobs.

and now, i invite you to a very special viewing of a very cute puppy:

i know i have to stop watching american idol when...

2008-04-25T09:26:00.003-04:00

i have a dream that i'm spooning with simon cowell. simon cowell. the one that i find absolutely repulsive in real life. and i was enjoying it.

what a hunk of man.

what is it about april?

2008-04-23T21:17:00.002-04:00

i feel so completely content with life right now.

not that i was depressed over the past few months, but my annual change in psyche as soon as the weather warms, the flowers bloom, and the birds chirp away never ceases to amaze me.

i'm enjoying my job, the weather, the city, the apartment, and everything else in between. i had an amazing walk through prospect park today, while chatting away with erik on the phone, and came back content to just sit in the window and watch pedestrians and traffic.

i went to dc last weekend to hang out with kate, steph, and katherine. this was the first time since college that the four of us have been together in the same city. i also got to see some other faces i haven't seen in a while AND got an awesome sunburn while enjoying the sunny 85 degree weather on saturday.

sidenote: the meat loaf at&t commercial is on. i can't help but think it was created just for me.

and now we return to scheduled programming. debbie's wedding is this weekend, where i will be seeing a ton of college people again. excitement. celeste's wedding is getting closer, and we are now planning for her shower at brown's pub. more excitement.

i think that's about all i've got for now.

affidavit: at no time during this post was i on any sort of stimulant.

2008-04-11T07:29:00.002-04:00

update: 7 days later. 7:30am and still no hot water.

keyspan did finally come friday evening to turn everything back on, but apparently it's not so good when your boiler emits carbon monoxide.

we do have heat and gas, but it turns out the boiler is completely busted. no set plans on getting the new one anytime soon (the landlord is still in nigeria).

i'm high-tailing it home tonight for a weekend of proper hot showers and stank erasing. and perhaps some parental pampering.

the heat is on

2008-04-04T09:14:00.003-04:00

can't. get. warm.

my story begins on a dark and stormy monday night. and by dark and stormy, i mean it was fair weather for the final day of march. i was super excited to come home from work and make my archer farms frozen spinach and goat cheese pizza.

i preheated the oven and proceeded to do some things around the house.

ten minutes later i threw the pizza into the gas-powered oven. correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't these oven things supposed to be some source of heat?

melissa came out of the shower about an hour later and announced that we had no hot water.

we both sent texts to our super (aka guy who lives upstairs) and received no response. the next day came, and still no heat. i tried calling him, but his phone told me it was sorry, but at the request of the owner it was not accepting incoming calls.

then i had to go upstairs and ask if he's had any heat or hot water. "ohhh, it's happening to you guys too? i noticed it this morning in the shower but didn't have time to check it out. yeah, i haven't been able to cook, either."

i hinted that we were on to the fact that they probably haven't paid the keyspan bill (or, i flat out said "my thinking is either the bill wasn't paid or the heater in the basement is busted.")

he said he would check it out tomorrow.

turns out we were right, they didn't pay the bill. on wednesday, he called and said he had the check and would pay it thursday morning. i got a text from melissa thursday afternoon asking if one of us could be in the apartment until 6pm on friday so they can come and turn the heat back on.

and so, here i am working from home on this rainy friday morning, alternating coffee cup hand to hand to keep warm, hoping that they come to turn on our heat. our landlord best not be expectin' a full month's rent from this.

at least it's not february.

in other news, i'm also anticipating celeste's arrival today. she'll be getting in this afternoon and i'm really excited for our agenda:

tonight we're going to the sushi place my boss owns to meet up with my cousin eric, who i've seen a total of once in the past ten years. it will be good to see him, plus the sushi place is a lot of fun and drinks are half price until 9.

tomorrow will be the tartan day parade. nothing like a good excuse to drink beer and watch men in kilts.

we'll also grab some brunch tomorrow morning, pre-parade, and who knows what the rest of the day holds for us. hopefully a hot shower will fall in there somewhere.

건ㅂㅒ!

2008-03-13T20:36:00.004-04:00

packing, packing, and more packing.

minneapolis was exhausting. and fun. and boring. wait, i'm confusing myself.

after getting majorly messed up on sleep last weekend, i think my body has finally caught up with things. loss of sleep started thursday night-- i was sent by my boss to one of his bars to do some bar spotting. because it just so happened to be a gay bar, i dragged jude with me, along with the guy i mentioned before (how's that for a second date?) we were totally busted when i walked in and the bartender and i looked at each other and asked simultaneously, "what are you doing here?" as it turns out, he works at both the gay bar and the restaurant i work from. knowing there was no way i could do a fair report (not to mention he found out why i was there), we decided to just stay and have drinks. to sum up the night: i drank a lot, stayed out too late, and i'm not interested in pursuing a third date.

after only three hours of sleep, i was already off to a rocky start to the weekend (and work day). imagine my delight when my 9:30 pm flight was rescheduled to 11 pm! not only that, we didn't board until after 11, and we were then stuck on the runway until 12:15.

thankfully, erik picked me up at 2 am when i finally reached minnesota turf. the good old apartment couch was a beautiful sight to behold, and i slept soundly until salsa picked me up for day one of the gift show battle.

ok, "battle" isn't exactly the right terminology. long story short, the day was long and uneventful. and cold and snowy.

we met al, chris, and erik for dinner that night at wasabi. delicious.

salsa peaced out to get some sleep like a good little girl, and we ended up meeting alex and two of his friends at a game bar. caution: do not play balderdash if you aren't really in the mood to think. it can be painful. aside from that, the game was a blast.

not a lot of sleep was followed by another day at the show was followed by my flight home. end of trip.

and so, on this fine thursday evening, i've packed yet again to go home for the weekend. on the schedule: the st. patrick's day parade, starring the schenectady pipe band, and some bar hopping.

but the travels don't stop there, folks. erik is vising a week from friday, and it's his first trip to the city. too bad we've got to skedaddle to get out of the way of salsa's visiting family. i managed to get the day off, so we'll do a bit of sight seeing and then head down to visit katherine in philly. i'm sure we'll end up drinking wine and watching flight of the conchords. and all will be well.

i <3 mpls

2008-03-03T20:27:00.002-05:00

this day was just destined to be awesome. i stopped by the little market on my way to work this morning to get my cheap ass coffee. i also wanted to pick up some breakfast because it's monday, which means the restaurant is closed and i'm left to fend for myself.

turns out the little deli inside had lox, which made my stomach do a dance in anticipation. for all those who are counting, a bagel with lox and cream cheese is the way to win my taste buds, which indirectly leads to my heart.

that in itself was enough for my monday to be successful. imagine my surprise when miss salsa called from the great mn asking if i wanted to come to minneapolis this weekend. thinking we were playing a game and she wasn't enjoying her stay, i said "of course, if you pay for my plane ticket."

and who's got a free trip to mpls? this girl!

good ol' p.b.loco is short handed for the minneapolis trade show, so salsa and i will single-handedly rule the roost and force peanut butter onto the palates of unsuspecting consumers. it will be a short stay (friday night-sunday)... of course i am excited to see alisun and erik, but i think what i'm most excited about is THE APARTMENT. i'm staying there whether they like it or not. it was a great apartment. i miss it. fin.

nicessness and ramblings

2008-02-25T19:04:00.004-05:00

first of all, i want to be him. it's been a while since i watched this, and i happened upon it the other day. if i could have one job in the world, it would be that (is it even a job?)

i became very excited for spring today. for the most part, i detest february and march and wish it would skip right from valentine's day to prime spring weather. today was on the warm side, and the smells of streetcar barbeque invaded my senses while i was out walking. i'm definitely yearning for the days of no jackets, cook outs, and beach trips.

on the other hand, i'm really sad that i won't have a yard to sleep in whenever i please this year. that's one point for you, minneapolis.

i also realized it has been eons since i last ran. it's time to get my ass into gear. prospect park is about the same size as lake calhoun. what have i been waiting for???

resolutions: i will save enough money to buy a grill AND i will start running this week.

spring awakenings, indeed.

ow my body

2008-02-20T19:15:00.003-05:00

note to self:

you are a stupid girl. if you go out when you are sick, you will only get sicker. you are not eighteen anymore. or even twenty-four. don't make me warn you again.

on that note, this weekend was oodles of excitement. or something close to it. amy and mike got in on saturday afternoon. i dragged them first to macy's (naturally, why would they want to go anywhere else?) to get a gift for debbie's wedding shower. hello, marth stewart spice rack.

we ate dinner in koreatown, where mike experienced korean food and sake for the first time. happily, i think he enjoyed both. that night we went to crocodile lounge, where high school colin works (and was shocked to see amy in his territory). we ate pizza, consumed beer, and decided it was too crowded to stay. also, amy just wanted to dance.

i google texted the nearest karaoke bar and we were off in the direction of sing sing karaoke. convinced i could actually get amy to sing, i requested a few tried and true songs. she rejected them all, which left me stuck on duetting on summer nights with the karaoke bogart guy sitting next to me. mike was a trooper, though, and sang all songs that i demanded.

somehow i managed to be in bed by 4am, a record thus far. sunday morning i was up bright and early, minus one voice, traveling the long island railroad to debbie's shower. i will not mention the fact that lesley DITCHED ME at penn station and i went all by my lonesome. damn you, lesley's boyfriend, for thinking sunday morning is a perfectly reasonable time to drive down to the city and surprise her.

the rest of the day was filled with chinese food, movie trivia, chinese food, phil trivia, chinese food, presents, cake, and chinese food. when i got home i somehow had enough room left to order food from saje with amy and mike.

i finally got around to eating at the spotted pig on monday. definitely worth the long wait.

and, alas, my company stayed an extra night because amy's car was towed. bummer, but i was happy to have people around for an extra day. to keep amy upbeat, and to atone for the fact that we didn't go out the night before, we downed some drinks and headed out once again. my expectations for the night were exceeded with a two-hour noraebang song fest. amy channeled her inner diva and did not put the mic down once.

after my own personal body smackdown, i'm pretty sure i got me some laryngitis. it's been a fun past couple of days, but my body disagrees.

the train is getting way too loud

2008-02-14T19:54:00.005-05:00

happy valentine's day to all you schmoes out there.

though the day was uneventful, i did get a gold star by giving jude and melissa each a red rose (and being the only girl in a random west village flower shop was a funny experience in itself). it isn't too horrible being alone on valentine's day, considering i do have a "post v-day" dinner planned with a guy who is out of town at the moment.

the rest of life has been for the most part enjoyable. my internship is over (hooray). after working with p.b.loco for a bit, i got a new job working for an alcohol inventory company. the job is low stress and a welcome change. plus, i work from a restaurant in the village and lunches are free. i'm pretty sure i will save crazy sums of money this way.

i'm feeling good about living in the city. i still have those "korea pangs," but i have to admit life in nyc is pretty rad. now that i'm making a bit more money, i'm scheming and dreaming more. not to say that money is the be all end all, but it is certainly helpful in reaching goals. ultimately, i'd like to get back into the music world. i'm not necessarily looking at music as a career, but i'd like to take flute lessons (and piano if possible) and get back to the level i was once at to teach privately.

i'm also excited for what the coming year has in store. more than ever, i'm at a phase in my life where i feel like anything is possible. i've gotten to know some pretty cool people and have had some great nights out meeting random people. i figure it can only go up from here. plus, minneapolis greg is moving out here in a month, so a reunion is definitely in store. though i'm a little sad that mike and his keyboard aren't making the move with him.

i have failed to mention the happenings over the past month. our very own alibaster abbott visited and we got to see the rick-meister(!!!)'s buckets and taps tap tap tapping away. after the show we went to dinner at a ho-hum italian place in the village and then al, rick, dan, and i noraebanged it away until the wee hours of sunday morning.

things memories are made of: during rick and dan's rendition of play that funky music, the korean bartender comes out of nowhere with a sax for a jam session.

i really think i have a sick addiction to microphones. and tambourines.

perhaps the biggest highlight of the past month was celeste and chris' visit. which coincided with al's visit. saturday night, the four of us were merrily walking through central park. al and i turned around and noticed we were minus one set of lovebirds. of course, the ring chris showed me the night before was more than a hint of what they were up to, so we hung out for a bit, wondering if we should keep walking or wait for them to catch up. a few minutes later, celeste emerged with the rock on her finger.

hooray, they are engaged! the wedding is in october, and they already have most of it planned. how's that for being on top of things?

to continue the fun, amy is coming this weekend. and i demanded that she (and her new beau in tow) bring a digital camera so i will once again have pictures. one of these days i'll get my camera fixed. pictures of our shenanigans soon to follow.

celebrity sighting?

2008-01-24T20:07:00.000-05:00

i think i've had my first official nyc celebrity sighting.

i boarded the brooklyn-bound red line subway like any other day. it was the typical busy thursday, and i ran car to car to find one with enough room to fit one more weary worker. after assuming the "not enough room to hold onto a pole" stance, i looked up and saw none other than anthony rapp standing (facing) me. he was reading his book on poker, and i was reading... and i swear i am not lying... his brother's novel, the year of endless sorrows.

honestly, i'm still not 100% sure it was him, but i'm pretty damn sure. because i was standing so close to him, i tried to lift my book as high as i could hoping it would garner some sort of attention or reaction from him. he got off at 14th street, and that was when his eyes met my book.

i, a once freak-ish (and still slightly obsessed) renthead, considered saying something to him, but decided he'd probably rather be left alone. with that, he left the train. he may not be a celebrity everyone knows, but for someone who: can quote dazed and confused in its entirety; can sing the entire soundtrack of rent without the aid of music; grew up watching "adventures in babysitting" repeatedly; and read his (slightly indulgent) autobiography, it's pretty effing cool.

it's gonna be a happy new year

2008-01-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

what a way to start 2008. i'm feeling very refreshed after the weekend. having four days off in a row was a much needed routine change. all said and done, i'm happy to say it was one of those times when i enjoyed every minute. and yes, this is another one of those self-serving posts where i write about everything i did. i promise, it's not meant to bore you. it's more for my own good when a year from now i want to remember what i did on new year's and can access it at the click of a button. oh technology. i love you and i loathe you.

jeni, amy, and scott came in on friday night, so we got up bright and early saturday morning... to sit around for a few hours before going out to a leisurely breakfast at sage. after that, we headed into manhattan. we wandered around midtown, first looking at the ridiculously priced engagement rings at tiffany's, then visiting jude at work next door at the trump tower. after getting some free coffee, we headed over to central park just in time for a street show. lo and behold, i was dragged and they made me bend over (what?) in a line of people so the ridiculously skinny jumper (have you ever seen him?) could somersault over us.

after that, we grabbed a quick lunch at a cafe and wandered all the way down to bryant park in search of an unlocked bathroom. after waiting in the longest line ever, we went back to see the christmas tree. i've never seen rockefeller center as busy as it was... and i thought it was crowded the night i went with my parents, which was the weekend before christmas. at one point, i think we were all just kind of lodged into the crowd and couldn't move in any direction, because everyone was heading toward us. we were the black hole of the christmas crowd, sucking in all people who dared go near.

finally we got out and wandered around some more until it was time to meet jude and go to dinner. we had reservations at the elephant, which was pretty good. everything was going really well until scott and i decided to each get a scotch on the rocks for dessert... somehow the bartender thought we wouldn't notice if he put a bit of vodka in the drink to save some money. of course this would not slide so i very politely went to the bartender and said something tasted off and perhaps the ice sat in it a bit too long. he automatically got defensive and said he only put scotch in it. he did give us two new drinks, though, with ice on the side this time.

after that, we headed back and played fact or crap. i've discovered that i'm a pretty solid player, even when i have some scotch in me and hold up the opposite answer that i want. i won, which is all that matters... at games and life.

we got up again on sunday morning and lazed around the apartment until jude had to go to work. then we went to target and amy bought us a garbage can. thanks, amy.

finally, our adventure had to come to an end and it was time for them to leave... just in time for arthur to get in that night. we played catch up while playing scrabble (i won) and headed to bed.

which brings me to... my birthday. we got up rather early and went all around the city. first we went to midtown to look at the restoration on the hearst tower. we visited both jude and debbie at work and went down to greenwich village for some lunch. we ended up continuing south (past the ghostbusters firehouse, hooray!) and ended up seeing the world trade center site. i hadn't been yet, and it is pretty amazing. definitely one of those places that takes you immediately back in time.

we realized soon enough that if we didn't leave then i would be late to my own party. after getting some snacks at balducci's and some alcomohol, we got back to my apartment only to find alex waiting outside of my apartment. and soon enough, one person showed up after another... megan, katherine, margaret, phil, and kevin. we spent so long sitting and drinking that we missed the first dinner reservations i had made. luckily my cancellation at the second place never went through thanks to them putting me on hold, so we made it to dinner at two boots (we also met deb there, who was held up at work).

i actually think it worked out for the best, because the place definitely had crazy energy. the jazz band was absolutely amazing. not to mention that i won a stuffed duck for making the best car alarm noise. but i'm not bragging... it was a fixed contest. and i couldn't keep the duck.

we were thinking of going to see the fireworks at midnight, but when we ordered a bottle of champagne to take with us, the waitress started to pour it for everyone. of course we decided to just stay and drink it. so, we stayed for the new year and danced and drank and drank and danced. eventually we figured it was time to head out. half of the group went back to my apartment and the other half (including me) went to loki bar. at first katherine, deb, and i were the only ones dancing. but all it took was a little song called jump around to get the dance party started.

long story short, the crowd dwindled out, and eventually it was just katherine, kevin, and me getting kicked out when the bar closed. at 5:15 am we were home safe and sound, eating stale french bread and thawing out from the cold. most people left early that morning, so katherine and i went out for brunch and then lazed around watching flight of the conchords and friends.

and now it is january 2nd and i am basking in the glow of having great visits with great friends. and now if they would all be kind enough to move to nyc my life would be complete.

the restaurant experience

2007-12-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

my parents are visting this weekend. today is also my mom's birthday. to celebrate the occasion, i gathered opinions on restaurants to find the perfect place for dinner. when people at work suggested i drop the magazine connection to secure a table i decided it wasn't a bad idea. i made reservations at centro vinoteca, a west village restaurant i heard good things about.

i mentioned to my parents that it would be great if they seated us in a nice section because of the name drop. sure enough, they led us upstairs to the more private dining area, took our coats, sat us down, and gave us the menus. we decided amongst ourselves that we'd try two of the piccolini before our entrees: the truffled deviled eggs (which i'd heard great things about) and the eggplant cakes. i was unsure whether or not the portions would be big enough or if we had to order a dish from each course.

but before we could say cipolline, they had placed four dishes of piccolini in front of us: truffled deviled eggs, pate, arancine, pumpin cakes with goat cheese, and a gorgonzola cake (i think). all compliments of chef anne burrell. it was then i realized "oh shit i hope they don't think i'm that important." we ate everything and placed our orders. my dad decided to get the oxtail cake as an appetizer after i mentioned the rave reviews i'd heard about them. in addition to the cake, they brought the seppioline salad. i'm not huge on seppioline, but the squash, pumpkin seeds, and salad underneath were amazing.

as if that wasn't enough, after clearing the antipasti, they brought two first course dishes: ravioli with sage butter (by far the best thing i've had in a long time) and pici pasta with sweet and spicy sausage ragu.

finally, FINALLY, after finishing the pasta, we had something we actually ordered-- my dad the rabbit involtino, my mom the rosemary crusted baby chicken, and i the tortellini (though i think it's funny i didn't order anything from the secondi menu).

we all agreed that, while we consumed a lot, none of us were stuffed. enough room for dessert. my dad had the hazelnut cake with nutella mousse, i had the green apple and crystallized ginger prosecco float, and my mom had some flavored gelatti (complete with a birthday candle).

i will most definitely send the chef a nice thank you note on magazine letterhead come monday.

and the funny part is, i can't even begin to tell you how much i had to reference the online menu while writing this to get the terminology right and to figure out what i was eating.

dear subway gods

2007-12-17T20:26:00.000-05:00

why is it that 9 times out of 10, when i sit on the subway, the person next to me decides that it's nap time and i make a perfectly good pillow? the awkward game ensues: do i tap this person on the shoulder? move abruptly? or just go with it, hoping the next stop will jerk them awake?

i thought this was normal, but apparently this has never happened to melissa and jude. should i take it personally? am i that boring of a person?

eat, drink, and be merry

2007-12-16T19:10:00.000-05:00

(insert oh-so-typical "i haven't written in my blog for so long" comment here).

yes, it's been a while. time here in new york city has been a paradox of fast and slow. the days are flying by, but i still feel like i haven't been here for very long. my internship is almost over. it's been difficult, but i can say that i'm learning a lot about the magazine industry and my strengths and weaknesses. truth be told, financially, i'll be very happy when it is finished and i can seek a higher paying job. working for p.b.loco full-time, or even part-time along with another part-time job, will be a welcome change.

i'm extremely excited that it's december. i've been looking forward to this month more so than any other year. my month has been booked right through, though it hasn't exactly gone according to plan. last weekend i went to dc to do some p.b.loco demos. the days were long, though, and the only dc/friend time i had was in the form of meeting kate and the clarks for lunch. unfortunately, the timing was off yet again and i only ended up with about 10 minutes... just enough time to order my food to go and take it back to the bus.

celeste and chris were supposed to visit this weekend, but the snow ultimately got the better of us and they stayed home. luckily, when celeste told me on friday morning that they weren't going to make it, i was too hungover to fully process and it didn't hit me as hard. thank you, sales day party, for getting me drunk enough to numb the pain of my sister not visiting.

this weekend instead was spent wandering around the west village, consuming irish cream and egg nog, and reading. i haven't had a weekend with no plans in a while, so it was a nice change of pace. i also purchased the snl christmas special and a random christmas movie (noel) to watch in the living room, all nice and cozy with my fiber optic tree.

as for next weekend, my parents are finally visiting. i'm excited to show them around park slope (not to mention my apartment). this weekend won't come fast enough.

after their visit, i will work half a day on christmas eve, take the greyhound home, spend the night/day with my family, and take the bus back on christmas night. definitely a short visit, but i opted to work on christmas eve so i could take off...

...NEW YEAR'S EVE. this is the most excited i've been about new year's since... well, ever. a bunch of people are coming to visit including, but not limited to (in alphabetical order), alex, arthur, deb, katherine, kevin (?), jeni, joe, margaret, matt, and phil. some people have yet to determine whether or not they will be there, but we will hope for the best.

the evening will commence with a cocktails soiree hosted by my apartment. afterwards, jeni, joe, and matt will remain behind with jude, and they will cook dinner and play games. the rest of us will proceed to dinner and drinks in park slope. at midnight, we will watch fireworks at grand army plaza. and who knows what the rest of the night will have in store.

city of brotherly love

2007-11-06T21:34:00.000-05:00

last weekend marked my first visit to philadelphia. kate was planning on visiting katherine, and we thought it would be a good idea for me to surprise her. the plan worked out rather well, despite the fact that i accidentally got on the chinatown bus an hour early. kate's bus got in an hour late, and katherine, who is working in dc (don't ask) got in right on time. since i was early, i headed to a restaurant to get some dinner. kate told katherine to meet her there, little did she know she was meeting me instead. then i got on one knee and popped the question-- can i crash on your couch tonight?

but the joke was on me, because katherine doesn't even have a couch.

it was a lot of fun, even though we didn't get to see the rocky steps. it's always really refreshing to see college friends. whenever i see one, i go home feeling sad that we don't live in the same city anymore. in a perfect world, my friends and i would all be in the same area and getting together would be no problem. the weekend was too short, but i left feeling good about the realization that visits to dc and philly are really easy and cheap (just like me. wait...). i will throw out this invitation to whoever is reading right now: you are cordially invited to crash on my couch/bed/mattress/floor for new year's eve. no birthday presents necessary - hosting a bunch of people on my first four-day new year's weekend in a while is a gift in itself. katherine for one is already signed up.

and now for the apartment situation. the heat and hot water were a false alarm. we have a mess of wires downstairs at the gas tank in the basement and still no electricity in the basement to run the crappy old boiler. to remedy that, the construction worker and broker had the brilliant idea to run a cord from our apartment all the way down stairs via a bunch of exension cords. it's amazing we haven't had a fire yet.

we filed a complaint to the housing preservation department last week and someone came last night to check it out. for once i feel like the apartment heavens aligned, because all three of us were there and the inspector was the first person we've encountered in a long while that actually listened and didn't seem in a hurry. according to him, people like him are few and far between. he said his coworkers all do their visits in a rush... which explains why, when no one answered after ringing our broken doorbell after the first two visit attempts, the inspectors left. we couldn't have asked for a better examiner- this one had the brains to wait a few seconds and then tap on the window. apparently, after the third visit attempt, the case is thrown out if no one answers. we were lucky. he was very thorough, took the time to answer our questions, and understood what a crappy situation it was. he had a sense of humor and felt for us. when he left, we felt like he had taken pieces of our hearts with him. robert, wherever you may be, we will miss you.

in reality, it was a nice change of pace to have someone empathize with us. between our landlord, construction worker, broker, electric company, and gas company, it's been hell. he cited four emergency violations to be repaired immediately, plus smaller things to be fixed. we also sent a certified letter to the landlord. we shall see what comes of it.

squatter's rights

2007-10-31T20:10:00.000-04:00

life in the apartment has been less than ideal. we just got hot water two days ago. we have yet to get heat. since when are heat and hot water considered luxuries? the construction still hasn't been finished. melissa is still staying at her friend's because her bathroom still has no shower wall or toilet seat. after having a pow wow tonight, the roommates decided they are banding together to pursue some sort of landlord ultimatum. wish us luck.

on the bright side, we did get a new refrigerator (a huge step up from the unusable old one with a cut cord and mold growing inside). my room is coming along, i got a 5-shelf bookcase (taller than me) at target for only $30. let me remind you that a bookcase has been on my wish list since minneapolis. this is a big deal for me.

also on the noteworthy list is my $200 brand-spankin-new couch. i'm sure that anyone who has ever been in a crummy apartment situation can testify that having a couch is a serious silver lining. even more, we got it delivered for cheap that very same day (not to mention a free ride back in the delivery truck).

i've also ordered a new bedspread (no more country quilt motif) and some curtains for the giant living room window. i'm determined to make this a real place, as opposed to a cheaply-furnished apartment, because really, an awesome home may be the only thing to keep me from deciding to do tokyo or korea again at the end of the internship.

i'm really looking forward to being settled. in all, it will be a great place to live - it will be a nice apartment once everything is finished. and prospect park is amazing.

in my previous post, i failed to mention what i had been up to outside of work and the place. celeste visited two weekends ago, and it was more fun than i'd had in a long time. we walked all over the city and even stumbled upon bon jovi's new video shoot. we got some food with melissa that night in korea town. that sunday we drove back upstate for my cousin dylan's wedding. it was a lot of fun and we danced a lot. and by "a lot," i mean we danced the first two songs and realized it was time to get me back to the bus station. we won't talk about the buses running late and me not getting home until 3:30 am.

the weekend before that i also went home to gather the rest of my things and drive back in a huge u-haul (side note: successfully driving this into brooklyn is definitely one of my prouder moments in life). i also got a new tattoo. my mom, celeste, and i thought it would be a good idea to get one on the same day while i was home. my mom got a celtic band around her ankle with a (prepare yourself) scottish deerhound profile in the center and thistle at either side. celeste got the mackenzie clan coat of arms on her hip. i got a lotus flower on my back/left shoulder. thank god for needlewurks, because they really do an amazing job. all three of the tattoos turned out incredible. eventually i want the artist to get the flowers going all the way down the left side of my back. the colors and design are perfect and i'm glad i finally got a korea-inspired tattoo, considering i had been waiting about two years to get one.

with that said, it is time to unload more books onto my bookcase.

live from new york

2007-10-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

guess it's time for an update. life has had its ups and downs lately, to say the least. i'm writing from my apartment, but we are far from settled. miraculously, jude and i discovered that we have a wireless signal and are both currently lost in internetland. it's especially amazing considering the fact that we don't have power.

that's right. when we moved in, i was aware that the apartment would still be under construction. i was aware that i would have to call to have the electricity set up. i WASN'T aware of the fact that we don't even have a meter. apparently, according to the electric company, the last tenants were so behind on bills that the marshall ordered the meter to be removed. it isn't just a simple matter of flipping a switch and turning the power back on. i had to fax some paperwork, which they have to review to make sure we have nothing to do with the previous tenants. after that, they will send someone to install a meter. the lady on sunday told me that because cases like this aren't common, we would be given priority.

this in itself has been an endeavor. after trying to fax the paperwork last night (not to mention a whirlwind of phone calls and meetings with the broker to get the lease to fax), the fax machine failed. i arrived to work early this morning to try again and called the electric company to check if any of the faxes were received. more tears ensued after the lady this time told me that they can only track back to faxes received on 10/9, because those were the cases currently being handled. she claimed she couldn't even get into the files to see if my fax was successfully sent. having a hard time believing that this was the answer, that i would have to wait days for a fax that may not have even gotten there to be reviewed, i called celeste in tears. she took it upon herself to call the company saying it's ludicrous for three young girls to be living in brooklyn without power. the guy she talked to this time said he found the fax and would expedite it, and maybe they would be able to install a meter tomorrow. keep your fingers crossed.

that being said, life has been stressful and i feel drained in every way, shape, and form. there has been one problem after another and i'm getting to the point where i'm just ready for everything to be done and settled.

in the meantime, jude, kimchi, and i are staying here while melissa stays with a friend. jude and i decided it's just easier to stay here, construction, no hot water, darkness, and all, so we just go to her friend's to shower. the broker did bring a cord connecting to the basement along with a power strip, so we are able to charge things, hook up our lamps, and watch tv. and the internet is a nice little surprise.

my job is getting there. basically i have two bosses so things can get kind of hectic, which is what i expected from a magazine job. i feel in over my head sometimes, but that goes with all new jobs. it's definitely a nice environment to work in, and i'm learning a lot about publishing, food, and (you guessed it) wine.

i think i'm spent for the night. time to turn out the light(no s).

c'mon life...

2007-09-28T16:27:00.000-04:00

this blog's previous post was definitely of the "high on life" variety. today i'm feeling a bit more helpless and am just waiting for everything to come together... or at least flash forward a week when i will have the first few days of my job over and done with and a place of my own to stay.

we're trying to negotiate rent, and i found out yesterday that the apartment won't be ready for move in until the following weekend because of renovations. not to mention the fact that we still haven't gotten an ok for the lease. thinking "ok, i'll find someone to stay with in the meantime," i asked lesley if i could stay with her for a few days and possibly someone else for the rest of the week. lesley won't be home and will be busy with auditions at the beginning of the week. i'm still waiting to hear back from other people.

all the while, i still hadn't heard anything about the clearance of my background check for work. i emailed my supervisor to see if we were still planning on monday as the start date and she told me to call the employment company. i called them and they said it could possibly be cleared later today, but definitely by monnday so she suggested a tuesday start date.

so this leaves me at starting my job on tuesday and still no place to stay at during the beginning of the week. on the positive side, at least i have an extra day to figure everything out. but, i'm sitting here stressed on a friday night and there's not a damn thing i can do about it until i hear from all parties involved.

perhaps someday i will be enjoying my new job in my own apartment. until then i will wallow in my sorrows with an ice cold magic hat.

somebody pinch me

2007-09-26T16:20:00.001-04:00

have you ever had a moment in your life when you realize you're doing exactly what you want to be doing? have you ever wanted to tap dance gleefully down the street a la gene kelley? i had one of those moments yesterday.

i was in nyc, sitting in bryant park. it was a gorgeous day and i was enjoying a soy latte and the free wireless the park was providing me. i decided to check my phone messages and discovered that the magazine had called. i called them back and found out that i GOT THE INTERNSHIP. i really don't think i've been more ecstatic in my life... there was of course nobody around to celebrate wtih, and i really considered waking up the guy sleeping two tables away from me just to be able to tell someone. it's like everything i've ever dreamed for in my life is happening. i'm now moving to nyc to work for one of my favorite magazines in one of the best sections of manhattan. bryant park is the next block over. times square is in front of me. i get my own id badge and have to walk into one of those big buildings because i work there.

the job sounds amazing too. i'll be working with the promotion and marketing department, researching premiums, sitting in on sales meetings, handling inventory, controlling event guest lists and making travel arrangements. i've got a lot on my plate, seeing how i'll still be doing up to 15 hours a week with p.b.loco. that's a fifty-five hour work week. yikes.

i was in the city yesterday looking for an apartment. i found an amazing one in brooklyn and we're in the process of applying for it. i've been up to my ears in paperwork today, working from eight to four making sure i had all of my apartment and work forms in order. hopefully everything will come together because i start my job monday. as in this monday. i hope i'm ready.

i want to be a part of it

2007-09-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

so far my time has been, to say the least, busy. i think i've actually been in my house for a total of five days. not having any down time really puts a strain on new york planning.

mentally, i'm consumed by three and only three things: selling my car, finding a job, and finding an apartment. i feel like i'm finally getting closer to two of the three - as luck would have it, jeni and joe decided to buy my car, but it will be even nicer to have that check in my account. i must have patience, as they are paying me this week. i am heading down to the city tomorrow night where i will crash at lesley's (who i haven't seen in over a year) for a job interview tuesday morning. keep your fingers crossed, it's for a paid internship with a magazine, which is my dream job. i've probably jinxed myself by mentioning it on here, but i'm still hopeful.

as for the apartment, we're still trying to figure it out. melissa, jude, and i are going to live together, but finding an apartment when you're not in the city is tricky. especially when most posted apartments are available immediately and we're looking for a lease starting in october. jude and i went kind of for fun, kind of to look around, last monday to no avail. we did find a decent one, but bedford-stuyvesant isn't exactly the ideal location.

as for the rest of life, i've been in and out of schaghticoke quite a bit. i came back today from a trip to horseheads, where i took a wine tour in the finger lakes. it was pretty awesome, and i didn't realize how many wineries there really are in that area. we only made it to five on seneca lake before we'd had our fill and had a considerable dent in our wallets. it might just be a little life-long mission of mine to visit every winery on the lakes.

for now, i must relax before my big day tomorrow: looking up directions, making sure everything for my trip is in order, and getting a new outfit that says "you must hire me." much luck is needed.

ohio!

2007-08-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

it has come to my attention that this blog is in drastic need of an update. for starters, i am currently writing from a hotel room in milan, oh. i've completed more than half of my scheduled roadtrip back to good ol' upstate ny.

what else is new? oh, not much except for the fact that it is more than likely that salsa and i will be moving to nyc instead of seoul. turns out when melissa told p.b.loco of her korea plans, they used nyc as a tool of persuasion to stay with the company. and somehow i got into the deal. they've offered me to start 15 hours/week and hopefully as the company brings in more money (maybe winter?) i could be working full-time. so i would have to find a part-time job to supplement my income, but that is a small price to pay considering how madly in love i am with ny.

it's still not 100% definite because salsa hasn't told the bosses she'd do it, but the odds are definitely in america's favor.

and soon the headache of finding affordable housing around the city shall begin.

on the agenda for my first week home: camping out at the altamont fairgrounds in the family's new camper for the scottish games (lots of guinness and no driving = inebriated tanya) and then a week with celeste where we will do girly sister things.

in terms of minneapolis, i am sure i will miss it. i've become close with a lot of people there that i never quite expected, but sadly enough it was only in the past month.

but my last month has been a great one, consisting of many nights spent stooping in the front yard and chatting with the neighbors until 2. or 3. or 4.

also i've been thinking a lot about things i never expected my time in minnesota to bring me, such as:

1) renting a giant inflatable jumper which fit perfectly in the front yard.
2) sleeping in the jumper.
3) managing a store in the mall of america.
4) working for a peanut butter company.
5) having such "colorful" neighbors.
6) the decision to move back to korea.
7) changing my mind and deciding to move to nyc.
8) meeting al franken.
9) doing a photo shoot for a magazine ad.

i was going to round it out to an even ten, but i can't think of anything else and "don't tell mom the babysitter's dead" is on tv. could the night be any more perfect?

alive and well

2007-08-01T22:13:00.000-04:00

for anyone who's watching the news, i want to assure you that i am alive and breathing. in case you don't know what i'm talking about, the bridge on interstate 35 west collapsed, which is the same interstate that i take every day. i honestly think there was some divine interference on my behalf because, while i usually don't travel on that section of the highway, i just so happened to be working from diamonds cafe in northeast minneapolis.

i generally know how to get back home, but i missed the exit because it was a few lanes over. i continued to drive through downtown, all the way to the metrodome thinking "eh, i may be going the long way and out of the way, but i kind of like exploring." it was when i hit downtown that police cars and ambulances and fire trucks were racing by all around me and i thought "wow, it must be a really big accident or fire."

i finally got home and had literally just stepped into my apartment when melissa called and said "thank god you're alive!" i had to ask what was going on and it was then that she told me that the entire bridge had collapsed. she knew that i was leaving the cafe right around that time and would be taking 35 so she called to make sure i wasn't there. i turned on the tv and sure enough every channel was featuring the story. while i was on the phone with her, celeste called on the other line and i thought, "wow i wonder if this has already gotten on the news back home."

instead, celeste started talking my ear off about an upcoming trip to nyc and i had to interrupt to tell her that my lack of direction could possibly have prevented me from serious injury. of course, celeste started freaking out and saying over and over that if anything ever happened to me or my mom she wouldn't know what to do with herself. i left her to call my mom so i could make other calls, and celeste proceeded to be hysterical. my mom had to tell her to stop because i was fine. it's nice to know she cares, though.

i made a call to chris, who was supposed to be meeting alisun, to make sure they were both ok. chris had apparently just crossed the bridge a minute or two before it happened and got stuck in traffic afterwards, wondering why there was a ton of smoke coming from behind him. alisun was still safe at work. the immediate people i care for here in minneapolis are all present and accounted for, thankfully. overall, it seems pretty amazing that there aren't more severe injuries/fatalities, though it's still kind of early. so there you are, my version of the story and proof that i am well.

hooray for friday

2007-07-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

it's always nice to not leave for work until 11 only to get there and find that there are no orders to pack because there's a problem with the computer. yes, it sucks, but at least i got to leave at 2:30. that most definitely makes up for yesterday's hungover work day.

you may be asking yourself "why on earth would tanya be hungover on a thursday?"

it happened unexpectedly, that's for sure.

alisun and i took our last $10 and bought a very large bottle of merlot for a leisurely wednesday night consumption. but of course, we forgot that a night spent sitting at the picnic table in our yard can never be a solo endeavor. before we knew it, we were in a neighborhood block party of sorts.

so i was up until 4 am sitting in our neighbor's amazing backyard garden/oasis, playing the "if..." game and enjoying the unexpected company. i finally decided it was time to sleep when my neighbors put in stand by me and i knew that i wouldn't be able to last for another two hours. no matter how much i love that movie, sleep was a bigger priority.

and man, i could tell the next day was going to be rough when i went into our bathroom only to find alisun sleeping away in the bathtub (full of water, naturally). sure enough, i woke up at 7:30 and thought "hmm, i'll call salsa to see if she wants to pick me up before she goes into pbhq at noon, instead of meeting her to work on the project." luckily, that worked out and i got three more hours to sleep off a large portion of the hangover. alisun wasn't so lucky and was still hurting when we got home from work.

anyway, i've been keeping myself busy and enjoying work and am generally happy to be living stree-free. last night was another good night, consisting of molly's birthday party, some live music at bunkers, and then back to greg and mike's, where, even though i was exhausted, i stuck around for an hour or so while they jammed away in the basement.

and i am now the biggest loser because my boss jodene asked about my weekend plans and i said i had a hot date with a wizard. but at least there are a few of us planning on going to the release party and i won't be doing it alone.

oh weekends, it's nice to have you back. <3

work work work

2007-07-17T20:00:00.000-04:00

or not really. i started working at pbhq (nerdspeak for peanut butter headquarters) thursday night and so far so good. i'm not even doing any project-y type work with melissa yet. they are one person short in the office, so i'm basically handling online orders/customer service right now. although i wouldn't exactly say i'm doing what i love, it's really nice to not be doing what i hate. really, i've been enjoying myself and a nine hour day today barely even phased me.

tomorrow salsa and i are supposed to meet at my place to get the project started, so we'll see how everything continues.

no korea job lined up, but i have a few prospects. i've decided to go against my first job offer. sounds like a potentially easy job, but a few things don't sit well with me: i don't want to be in the total northern end of seoul, i don't really dig the calling students every day thing, and i'm not too sure how i feel about the director pretty much leaving it all up to the current teacher to get in contact with me (not to mention the fact that said teacher wasn't even aware they weren't renewing his contract and they were looking for a replacement.) anyway, he called today and kind of gave the "if you don't call back soon we're gonna find someone else" vibe. it's probably time i send the recruiter an email to say that the job isn't really a good match.

i'm specifically looking for a sinchon/hongdae or kangnam position, so that's pretty much what i'm focusing on in my search for now.

ok i have to stop because i'm majorly distracted by trash tv.

you know you're a wino when...

2007-07-11T20:06:00.001-04:00

...you walk into the liquor store, throw down your twelve pack of beer, and the liquor store guy says "what, no wine today?"

then he went on to tell me that my haircut looks really nice. i didn't have the heart to tell him that i haven't had a haircut in two months, i think it's just because the last few times i've beeen in i've been wearing a headband. but his intentions were much appreciated.

beware: dork post below.

2007-07-11T17:42:00.000-04:00

i've been thoroughly enjoying my time off by doing a whole lot of nothing. the best part of it all is that i no longer feel like a permanently on-call babysitter.

yesterday i was able indulge in one of my guilty pleasures: going to the movies by myself. i decided on once after hearing a glowing radio review. it's an irish indie "musical" of sorts. i was kind of thinking it would be along the lines of rent, but i was pleasantly surprised. it was a very low-key story- a gifted irish musician meets a czech flower girl and they work together on an album so the guy can go to london, get back together with his girlfriend, and sign a record deal. sounds like the recipe for a cheesy hollywood romance, but, fortunately for the film, it was handled in a much better way. i was really surprised to see that the movie was rated 'r,' because other than a few dropped f-bombs, there wasn't much indecency for the eyes or ears.

in all honesty, i wasn't sure how i felt about the movie until it was over, and it was then that i decided that i really liked it, because:

a) they didn't exactly follow a "typical" storyline (one could almost argue that there was no storyline)
b) there were many routes the film could have taken, but the storytellers were very crafty to not sell out for the sake of "appealing" to a certain crowd
c) the music was great. scratch that, the musicians were great. honestly, i haven't seen anyone perform with as much emotion as glen hansard in a long time. and, much to my surprise, i found out in staying for the credits, that the actors actually wrote their own music.

all in all, it was enjoyable. i don't necessarily know that i'd want to watch it again, but it's definitely worth a viewing.

in light of my positive movie experience, i decided to make it 2 for 2, and today i went to see harry potter and the order of the phoenix.

if memory serves, i wasn't all too impressed with number four (which happened to be my favorite book), and wasn't expecting much more than to be slightly entertained by number five. i couldn't have been more wrong. my favorite of the movies so far has been the first one, if only for the "la di da, magic is great and this is a wonderful new experience" feeling. the movie had a comforting, home-y feel to it, and it really is the only one i like to watch over and over. the second and third were ok, but the storylines weren't my favorite. and by this point, and especially with number four, a lot of the story elements were outright cheesy. the fourth one was the worst, because in reality it is the first "dark" storyline and they tried to lighten it up with things that just didn't work. i remember the film finishing with an eye roll on my part- harry soaring through the air on his broom was too much for my stomach to handle.

the latest movie turned me into one giant goosebump. maybe it's because of the final book coming out, maybe it's because of the tragic turns books 5 and 6 take, but really i think it's because they didn't try too hard to make it emotional. this particular story deals with some great issues, and i love the prominent topic of good vs. evil (not to mention non-conformity and some other underlying political ideas). i particularly liked what david yates did with it and for the most part, he did his best to avoid cheesiness. it felt a bit more real and as a result i felt much more emotionally connected. admittedly, i was kind of weepy throughout a lot of it. and daniel radcliffe gets better and better with every movie.

i vowed to myself that i will not go to see the sixth movie at the theaters, only because i would be reduced to a puddle of tears and they would have to scrape me off of the floor afterwards. call me a sap, but i cried for hours after reading the book. i can only imagine how i would react to the movie.

finally, the book comes out a week from tomorrow. i already have mine ordered, so expect me to be completely unavailable for the entire weekend.

777

2007-07-08T15:09:00.000-04:00

while the rest of the twin cities were busy catching one of three prince shows, we decided to throw a barbeque shindig for those of us who were too unfortunate to get those golden tickets.

mais le barbeque... c'est magnifique!

it's amazing how a simple idea can snowball into a grand fiesta. originally al, rick, and i were on our way to the wedge to get some fixins to make a meal. we stopped along the way to molly's new cafe's party and invited mike and molly over. mike came to the wedge with us, and we ran into stephanie, the girlfriend of greg's brother, dan. we invited them over as well, and went to town on finding kebob fixin's. two shopping bags later, we swung by the french meadow to extend invitations.

and then the work began. the result? pure awesomeness- homemade bruschetta, a bean and corn dip, roasted potatoes, marinated mushrooms, and the most amazing veggie kebobs (complete with pineapple) i've had in a long while. our neighbors even ended up joining us, and good fun was had by all. nothing beats a hot (borderline unbearable) summer night like good beer, good barbeque, and good company.

pure bliss.

mike and stephanie, barbeque-style.

time for some eats: l-r and front-back: stephanie, molly, mike, greg, (ben, dominic, and ben in back), sarah, me, dan

dan and greg being posers

rick and kimchi

greg and me... and attempt one million and one for a decent picture

and this is what happens when our neighbors get a hold of my camera.

left to right (pardon the possible name misspellings:) sarah, molly, mike, me, claude, kaylen, greg, al

i'm on vacation

2007-07-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

i have to admit it, my family is the best group of people to vacation with. ever. we're all naturally goofy people, and the release of stress and responsibility makes us even weirder. my dad, in particular, likes to justify his actions- extra ice cream, kahlua in his coffee, speeding a little in his car, by declaring in a hick-y voice "i'm on vacation!" it may not be funny to you, but it makes great memories for me.

i'm on a little vacation of my own, and life is good right now. in other words, i just finished my last day at p.b.loco. i have a wide open schedule until thursday, when i start working again. at the moment, i am enjoying a chipotle veggie burrito and a czech lager (the name of which escapes me). i'm in communication-mode with three schools in seoul. i think one's a no go because it invoves teaching kindergarten. translation: morning work, and possibly split-shifts. the other two are on opposite ends of the city- one in bangbaedong (in the south) and the other in banghak-dong (in the north). the first location would probably more ideal and centrally located, but i'm sure the second would be much more peaceful, as it's more residential.

i have a good feeling that by the end of this week, i will have a job in seoul and the visa process will begin.

botox: the review

2007-07-05T18:54:00.000-04:00

i got my hands on minneapolis star tribune gossip columnist c.j.'s review of the previously mentioned botox party. if you click on the link, it's about halfway down, but if you want a shortcut (or to avoid registration), here's the short version:

"Care for some botox?

PR diva Stacy Bee threw herself a house-warming party billed as "Sex & the City" meets "Entourage" meets "Dr. 90210."

It wasn't as naughty as all that, as most of the action was above the neck with Dr. Mark Rawson of Aesthetics MD providing the Botox.

Somebody broke the news to the owner of EsBee PR, whose new home is super fab, that this was not the Twin Cities' first Botox party. Participation was not required, and the people who were partaking didn't want their names mentioned.

Khay Outhonsack wasn't really considering getting an injection, but she texted the "admirer" who had purchased the dress she was wearing to ask whether she should have the toxin injected into her face. "Botox is not necessary for someone who is already beautiful," Outhonsack's "admirer" texted in reply.

There was talk about me having my scowl relaxed. I declined on the grounds that I liked my scowl because it scares people.

Underwater Adventure's Todd Peterson, a client of EsBee's, wasn't trying to get me to buy into Botox.

"You need one of these," he said, tugging as something on a rawhide necklace. "It's a shark tooth."

Aren't we both too old for this, I asked the Osmond family look-alike?

"You're never too old for this when you own an aquarium," Peterson said.

When the party announcement came about Botox injections being available on the patio, Peterson said, "I'm going to need some wine for this."

Just when you thought there was no way to distinguish Peterson from the Osmonds, here are two: The Osmonds don't drink, and they probably don't attend Botox parties, either."

the rest of life

2007-07-05T17:36:00.000-04:00

two nights ago was the police concert. they were ah. may. zing. in seeing a legendary band reunited, you must keep your expectations low in order to avoid being disappointed. i know they have the tendency to get experimental and jazzy, but they flat-out rocked. they did all the great songs (my personal favorite was "synchronicity II," the second song in the set). although sting doesn't quite hit the high notes anymore, they sound remarkably like they did in their prime. there certainly were some cheesy moments, though. case in point: the skeletal dinosaur feet constantly walking on the mega-screen during "walking in your footsteps." a bit contrived, i must say. but no matter how cheesy things got, the fact that they are three incredibly talented musicians (way above the rock star sense) cannot be denied. stewart copeland is something else entirely. when i was younger, i fantasized about sitting down to a dinner with sting. i was certain we would be able to have deep, meaningful conversations. by comparison, i imagine meeting stewart copeland would be a whole lot more intimidating. he's got a lot going on in that brain of his. i would probably make a fool out of myself.

not to leave the fourth of july out, it was rather relaxing. al, chris, and i went to pepitos where i enjoyed a margarita and nachos. after that we went for a swim in lake calhoun as the sun set and we waited for fireworks. it was a pleasant experience, despite the pesky mosquitos using me as their own personal blood bank. after the fireworks i went home and peacefully drifted away to slumberland. wait, no i didn't. instead, i laid in my bed until 5 am because my neighbors were letting off fireworks of their own until about 3:30 in the morning. haven't they learned anything from those "i've been blinded by fireworks" news stories?

i shall return

2007-07-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

it's official, i've decided to move back to korea this october. destination: seoul. i am going to take korea by storm and kick its ass this time around.

i've got a list of goals brewing, including: trips to japan, china, thailand, vietnam, and singapore; intensive korean studies; taekwondo classes; saving for grad school; and lots of inner-country hikes and sightseeing. i'm excited at the notion of living and getting lost in a huge city- minneapolis is nice, but small and not at all intimidating. seoul will be the perfect setting. to my surprise, i also found out that some old pals from korea will be returning (most likely to daejeon) around the same time.

things seem to be naturally working out. i was worried about finding pay in between leaving the cafe and leaving home for new york, but p.b.loco took me on for an aggressive wholesales campaign where i'll be working with salsa for a month. it will definitely be fun to learn some new aspects of business life, not to mention work and scheme with salsa and get paid for it.

i worked up the nerve to tell my family and al, and it went over well in both regards. my mom i'm sure isn't exactly thrilled about it but knows i'll probably always feel the need to travel and she gave me her blessings. my dad is thrilled that i really want to save money this time around. celeste said she figured she'd get that phone call sooner or later. although i feel bad about backing out on living with alisun, she says she's glad that i know what will make me happy and that i'm actually going for it. she knows i haven't exactly been happy here, for lack of really trying to make friends (like i said, i never fully felt like myself) and her not being fully available as a friend and roommate- and that's tough when you feel like you only have one friend in a city.

tomorrow is my last p.b.loco day, and luckily it's only for a short while- i just have to go in to make sure that shantel is fully comfortable resuming her role as manager. i have today off and it's been relaxing at that. i've surfed around looking for jobs and reading korean blogs and i went to the midtown global market. i have to remind myself that seoul is very much an international city, because i was kind of feeling like i had to relish in the range of diversity of the shoppers and international foods while shopping. but it's nice that i'll be in a city where most of the comforts of home will still be available to a certain (albeit more expensive) extent.

after tomorrow, i will have saturday-wednesday off, and i don't know what to do with myself! i'm imagining long runs, swimming in the lakes, and lots of korean research. i was spoiled by my school the first time around, and i would love to find a school in seoul with a similar working situation.

already, october seems far away when i start to daydream about returning to meals of kimchi dopbap, alcohol runs to 7-11 at any hour of the night, adorable students, anonymity, catchy commercial jingles, obsessing over cute fellow foreign boys, and the ultimate sense of freedom.

and so, kimchi will return to his motherland. i'm hoping he will have a complete 180 and become the sweet chihuahua he once was. maybe all he needs is a familiar setting: ondol floors, a cozy apartment, and just the two of us. maybe.

bitten again?

2007-06-30T12:26:00.000-04:00

that damn travel bug. time for some honesty: all i can think about is korea.

to be honest, i feel like i've never exactly felt at home in minneapolis. it's a great place and people are nice, but from day one i for some reason don't feel like myself here. i'm generally a pretty positive person, but between work and lack of community, i've been feeling downright negative and depressed lately.

and in some thorough life evaluations and help from some angel cards, i've realized that my happiest time in life (aside from college) was korea. i felt the most comfortable, most on top of life, most adventurous there. and not that i live by what cards predict, but the angels and fairies have constantly been telling me new location, safe travels, new opportunity, retreat, and stress management. at first i thought it was because of my job, but now i'm realizing i just may to relocate myself.

there, now two people and the blogging community know my secret.

still not sure what will come of it.

in and around the apartment part 2

2007-06-29T19:09:00.000-04:00

in and around the apartment

2007-06-29T18:48:00.001-04:00

worth a thousand words

2007-06-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

my life here in minneapolis will no longer be illustrated with mere words. i've finally gotten a cord to upload my pictures to my computer.

we'll start with last week's trip to duluth. al and i left on saturday night, and the first stop was toby's for a famous caramel cinnamon roll.

we stopped at fitgers upon arrival where i was finally able to try the wild rice burger al had been raving about since, well, forever. and it was amazing, moist, perfection. my apricot brew washed everything down nicely.

after the food, we found the secluded beach area to call it a night. i wasn't sure what "sleeping on the beach" would really entail, but i was picturing looking like a sand monster in the morning. in reality, the beach was a bunch of flat rocks, perfect for laying down a blanket and hitting snoozeville. unfortunately, i had to tie kimchi to me because he refused to sleep soundly in his crate. a chihuahua attached to my waist makes for a hard night's sleep.

we spent most of the morning after reading, sunning, drinking coffee, and painting rocks. when noon came around we realized we were starved for some good beer. unfortunately it was sunday and all of the liquor stores were closed. a wisconsin beer run was the only option. we brought our beers in an ice bucket to another beach where we continued to bake away in the sun. note to self: when using 15 spf, you still must reapply like you would with 8 spf.

hours later and hungry for dinner, we picked up some sandwiches and iced coffee and went to a creek. we tried to enjoy the rest of our time as much as we could, but alas 5 o'clock rolled around and we had to head on back.

my impression of duluth? it's definitely nice but surprisingly industrial. really, nothing beats the adirondacks or the east coast beaches.

new directions

2007-06-22T22:42:00.000-04:00

today, june 22nd, marks the day that i put in my two weeks notice. in two weeks i may or not be a bum living on the streets, which is completely dependant on my finding a new job. overall, i'm feeling good about it. i wasn't passionate about the job like i should be. the mall isn't my kind of environment to work in, and it will be nice to not have to stress anymore over the things i shouldn't have to stress about in the first place... snooty customers, stolen money, missed shifts, etc., etc., etc...

i am thankful for how smooth the job made my transition to minnesota, and i still love the company, but it just isn't for me. i don't think i'll be getting the financial aid that i need for hamline, but in worrying over this i've come to the conclusion that i'm not so sure it would be worth throwing down thousands of dollars for a degree in something that isn't my life goal. i still love the idea of teaching esl, but i've said from day one that i don't think i would want to do it forever. i think the right path for me is to pursue journalism and get into the fields of publishing, copyediting, and eventually perhaps become a travel journalist. i desperately want to have our cookbook published and see where things go from there. i think leaving p.b.loco and pursuing journalism will open up doors to what i really want to do... namely working with words and writing and traveling.

if by some strange chance anyone associated with the university of minnesota is reading this, what i really want to do is get a job with the u and take a free class or two. that way i can get the official journalism and computer training i need to branch out and make this work. i'd also be able to save money and hopefully get my master's sooner or later. keep your fingers crossed. ah, the quarter-life crisis. it sucks.

and now for something completely different...

p.b.loco was featured on thepalestra.com as a stop on their college tour. watch the video below and see me in my natural state of dorkiness. thanks to tori, arthur, and steph for pointing out my resemblance to smalls from the sandlot wearing my hat. i really appreciate it. i do. the good news is i only have to don it for two more weeks!

http://www.thepalestra.com/summer_tour2007.php#

minnesota strange

2007-06-19T19:48:00.000-04:00

i'd heard about "minnesota nice" before my midwestern move, but no one had warned me about minnesota strange. over the past week i've encountered a few situations that i can't help but chalk up to being just plain weird.

situation 1: party of the century.

i went to a party thrown by al's boss. the theme? sex and the city meets entourage meets dr. 90210. not knowing what to expect, i showed up in my sunday best. of course we showed up just in time for the botox demo! i wasn't entirely interested in seeing what all the fuss was about, so while everyone scurried away to watch the volunteer youth away before their very eyes, i opted to stay inside and check out the wines brought by the south african wine distributors. but the fun doesn't stop there... after the demo people were encouraged to get botox of their own. who woulda thunk that you could get a little slice of los angeles right here in good ol' minneapolis?

situation 2: banana hammock on wheels.

after the botox party, al and i needed a bit of sanity, so we headed over to grumpy's for a few bloody marys. picture this: two girls wearing nice cocktail dresses walk into a bar full of people wearing nothing but underwear. "you guys look way overdressed" was a severe understatement. but thank you for noticing anyway, mr. thong man. upon al's explaination, i discovered that there is a bicycle group in the twin cities that arranges to go out once a month(?) and ride around in nothing but their underwear. and apparently grumpy's was a spot along the way. of course, it definitely made for some good eye candy and conversation pieces. and alisun and i couldn't help but wonder what we would be wearing if we were brave enough to join the group. but alas, before you could say "hanes her way," the group was off and cycling to their next party spot.

situation 3: stop or i'll shoot.

the day following botox and nearly-naked biking proved to be no-less interesting. after i opened the store, a group of five men came walking in. and these men looked like they were on a mission. i almost wanted to make a joke that they looked like a group out of the sopranos, but caught myself before i realized that they were in fact four bodyguards protecting one unidentifiable man. the four men spread out along the store and took their positions looking out into the mall while their client tasted some peanut butter. i still can't figure out who it was, but i am assuming it was some sort of politician because he definitely didn't look like an actor. so if anyone can help me identify who it was by the following description, i'd be really grateful. he was middle-aged, balding, brown hair, short/average height, sort of chubby. kind of generic, don't you think?

those dang fairies

2007-06-14T01:57:00.000-04:00

i've been playing a lot with those fairy cards, courtesy of al. yesterday and today i've done a lot of "soul searching" and continuously came up with the same card, but until now i didn't have the booklet behind the meaning. i won't reveal my specific question, but i can safely say that many times i had a question with the same result: "problem resolved." i couldn't help but find myself wondering "what does that even mean?" to the card. after looking the meaning up, i discovered the following:

"you're on the cusp of experiencing welcome relief from a problem that's been bothering you. the fairies want you to know that you have reason to smile, as heaven is working on a solution that is so creative that you'll chuckle with delight at God's sense of humor. basically, it's a win-win for everyone.

you'll soon be receiving good news, such as the healing of a strained relationship, an unexpected financial resource, a resolved health issue, a happy addition to your home, a new career opportunity, or a romantic proposal. please don't strain to figure out "how" this solution will be achieved, or in what form it will manifest. instead, let yourself enjoy feelings of excitement and gratitude as you allow heaven to help you."

we shall see, fairies. we shall see.

and all i got was this lousy sunburn

2007-06-14T01:19:00.000-04:00

enough said.

in other news, i finally got around to watching oldboy. only about a month and a half after i received it from netflix. amazing, as expected. amazing photography, amazing twists and turns (which, unfortunately, came as no surprise because i had heard about them), and an altogether amazing storyline.

in other news, i think i'm finally realizing more specifics on what i want from a job and what i want in a job. that's good, right?

and continuing right along...

2007-06-06T21:18:00.000-04:00

i am *trying* to relax right now by watching so you think you can dance. i get sharp pangs of nostalgia when i watch this because i was watching it last year in korea. in fact, this day last year, i vividly remember having a nice meal of kimchi jjigae and then meeting salsa to see the omen. after that we met al and walked around the park by her apartment. and the night before was rika's last meal, when we hiked that abandoned building. oh how simple life was.

strange note, i talked to salsa on the phone the other day, after her trip to ny. i told her about how at one point last sunday, while handing a customer a sandwich, a jolt rode through me and i thought specifically about how i'd be spending my sunday in korea, probably walking to emart to get cheese and wine, then meeting salsa or al for a movie or downloaded tv or a trip to the mountain or whatever we really felt like, and i missed it like no other time before. not to sound like we're reading too much into it, but i had mentioned it to al earlier and she said she got that same feeling on sunday, and even more strangely, salsa said she got it at a specific time on sunday on the plane. she thought about how she'd meet me at a corner to see a movie and maybe just wander around the city. i like to think some entity made us all feel that pang at the same time. a korean god, perhaps?

oh how i wish i could go back in time.

things i like

2007-06-06T19:26:00.000-04:00

red wine
lazy mornings with coffee and the news
finishing a long run
feeling connected with a book
a good cry
time with my family
beach days
dinner in a nice restaurant
ordering in
laughing while laying on my back
thunderstorms
exchanging hellos on a neighborhood walk
flying
coming home to a dog
accomplishing goals
little kids being goofy
fresh cilantro
exploring a new part of a city
french movies

things i don't like:
customers who say "give me"
i am too diplomatic to write the rest

just keep truckin' on

2007-06-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

summer is fast approaching and work is largely unnotable, aside from staying until midnight removing paint from the tiles last night by order of the health inspector. not fun, and i think i now harbor a hatred for paint remover. i'm finding myself living for my days off, and in general, they've been largely productive so far. my running is getting easier and easier and i'm pretty much in the same shape i was in last summer- i was going to take it easy today and just do a three mile run, but as i started going i felt the need to keep going and explore the city a little more. i found lake nokomis, which is beautiful and crammed with beach-goers. i'm excited at the prospect of a new lake to run around (according to wikipedia, which is *always* reliable, the distance around is about three miles). not too far off from a lake calhoun run. that three mile run turned into a six mile run, which is good because i've fallen behind with my trip home and everything.

speaking of productive days, i failed to mention my day off last thursday, where i cleaned the apartment top to bottom (something that hasn't been done since moving in here because of the lack of a broom and floor polish). after that, i painted the kitchen chairs, so they finally match the yellow table. still feeling inspired, i took the broken red window just sitting in the basement, cleaned it up, knocked out the broken glass, and hung it in my bedroom. finally, i treated myself to veggie sushi and sake with rick. all in all, i felt very accomplished.

as for today, i grabbed some lunch at turtle bread, bought some bottles of wine (10% off on tuesdays!), and am relaxing for the rest of the day. i wish everyday was a day off.

back again

2007-06-01T20:30:00.000-04:00

and i'm back in the great state of mn after a long but all-too-brief weekend home. i flew in on friday morning to surprise celeste for her graduation from ccc. she wasn't completely surprised due to some slips of the tongue, but it was still a great present (not to toot my own horn) from my parents nonetheless.

more importantly, it was my first full weekend off since starting work here. and it was much needed. so i flew in on friday, went straight to celeste's, played some guitar hero, went to her graduation, and slept the best night's sleep i'd had in a while (thanks to the absence of the air mattress i'd been sleeping on since february.) saturday we went to diane's for the graduation party. played the ladder game, drank dad's home brew, and taught the parents how to play guitar hero. got back to celeste's to play more guitar hero while celeste and chris counted out $300 and some odd dollars in change from chris' coin jar. on sunday celeste and i lounged around a bit, went to barnes and noble for some grub, and then headed over to bainbridge to meet my parents at the dog races. i drove back home with my parents, got some good ol' richie's pizza, and met up with jeni, jude, matt, and joe. we played some games, chatted for a few hours, and i was back in slumberland only to wake up bright and early, say goodbye to my parents, and head to the airport. i arrived back in mpls monday night and wasn't feeling quite ready to be back.

and now some random thoughts:

i love minneapolis pizza delivery guys.
river phoenix in stand by me still gives me chills.
i need a legit vacation.

ok, i suppose that's all i have from the thought department for now.

week one

2007-05-21T23:48:00.001-04:00

today officially marked week one in my marathon training. i was supposed to run 3 miles, and was originally planning on going to the lake, but instead i opted for a neighborhood run. like i said before, my running lately hasn't been so great, but today's run definitely helped me get back into the swing of things by realizing a number of things:

1) i have much better concentration/overall sense of pleasure when listening to slower music on my ipod. my past few runs have been set to my specially designed "running mix." today i ran, oddly enough, to my "sleep mix." with this mix, it is so much easier to get lost in my thoughts. therefore, i don't focus too much on how much distance is left. faster music is just too stressful for me.

2) i hate loops. running around the lake is beautiful, but again i find myself constantly glancing to see how much further i have left. my runs go by much quicker when i don't run a pre-determined course.

3) night runs are better than morning runs. this didn't use to be the case with me. i used to be good to go after waking up and downing a quick cup of coffee. doing that lately just leaves me feeling shaky. running later in the day, when it's cooler and after i've gotten a good amount of food in me is definitely the way to go.

4) i definitely need my pedometer. i forgot it at home and it will be very helpful in the future. like i said, my original goal for the day was three miles. i got home surprised to see that i had been gone for almost an hour. granted, i walked quite a bit for my cooldown, but i was gone about twenty minutes longer than anticipated. i mapquested (is that the proper verb?) my route and discovered i ran about 4.5 miles. not a huge distance, but i really don't want to get ahead of myself in the training.

5) i need new running shoes. i'm long overdue.

all in all, i'm feeling rather good about this whole thing.

i really have nothing else of importance to write about. i have the feeling this blog is soon going to become purely about running. exciting, i know, but aside from work, not much else is going on in my life. still waiting to hear about financial aid for hamline. maybe my life will become interesting when i start school. maybe.

funniest. day. ever.

2007-05-08T19:22:00.000-04:00

i thought today would be another boring tuesday. not so! i walked into the mall this morning to open the store, and there was a very loud soundcheck. keep in mind tuesdays at the moa are usually toddler tuesdays, so the stage right outside of the store is used for kiddie entertainment. i heard a girl warming up and thought "hmm, she's got a nice voice. who the heck is she?"

i checked the calendar and saw that american idol season five's paris bennett was having her cd release party. i pretty much thought that was the funniest thing ever, but i haven't even gotten to the funny part yet. i proceeded to open the store, and then stood in the entrance, peering over to the stage to see if i could catch a glimpse of her. she was standing right at the roped off section, speaking with a few people. they left, and she was by herself. i took it upon myself to grab a jar each of white chocolate, dark chocolate, and banana peanut butter, threw them into a gift box, and ran over to her.

the following conversation ensued:

me: hi, i work at this store. i have some peanut butter for you in different flavors.
princess p: thank you!
me: i have to tell you, i was in korea last year and watched the show from there. i'm a big fan.
princess p: thanks! i love peanut butter!

and then i scurried away.

pure improv right there, ladies and gentlemen. i don't know why i thought it necessary to bring up the korea part, i guess i thought she would think it was cool that i was watching american idol halfway around the world. but i spewed that line out so quickly that i don't think she caught it. plus being a big fan was a slight exaggeration. i love the show, but she wasn't necessarily my favorite.

what do you think the odds are that she'll actually eat it? oh, the things i encounter at the mall of america.

let the sunshine in

2007-05-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

or lack thereof. last week was beautiful. this week, not so much. i registered for the marathon last week. it's extremely hard to get motivated when the weather is so dreary. cinco de mayo didn't seem so festive with all. instead, al, salsa, chris, and i found ourselves getting breakfast at turtle bread, getting rained out of a garage sale, and loafing around the apartment with nothing to do before heading in to work.

i have this morning off, and got up to drink a pre-run cup of coffee. instead, i find myself craigslisting away for cape cod vacation rentals. not that i'm planning a trip to the cape. wishful thinking, i suppose. but i was really shocked to find some GREAT homes for rent, in good locations, for $1500-$2000/month. that's less than we spent for the week last year. it would be nice to have the dillas and the job that would allow me a month off to bask away in the sun.

this marathon is starting to scare me a bit. october seems far enough away, but i know the time will fly by. for some reason i seem to be struggling in my running. i get winded a lot quicker than i used to. must be the lingering side-effects of getting older.

in regards to my last post about lusting for a camera memory card, i finally got one, but realized i still don't have my cord to upload the pictures to my computer. d'oh! someday, i promise you faithful readers, you will be able to see my new hair, my bed-less bedroom, my rockin' kitchen, and the shabby-chic furniture we have picked up roadside along the way.

oh camera, i miss you

2007-04-24T01:27:00.000-04:00

if anyone has been reading this regularly (i know i have a huge fan base out there), it has probably been noted that there is an overall lack of pictures, pretty much since the summer. part of me keeps this blog going to preserve memories, because i really enjoy looking back on what i was doing a year ago and thinking "oh, what a great time." pictures are even better because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

i still have my camera, but for some reason i'm seriously unmotivated to get a new memory card for it. the contents of the card that i had all along were erased sometime after my cape cod vacation, and i wasn't able to take pictures on it anymore. i never quite figured out what happened. i religiously cleared the card after uploading the pictures on my computer. that is, aside from the videos i took on it. long story short, i lost some good videos, including the one on rika's last night where i sat with her, kevin, and tom, in the back of a taxi and "walk on the wild side" miraculously played on the radio and we all jammed to it. and i know it isn't that difficult to buy a new memory card, but for some reason i never do it. all in all, a lot of memories have been created, especially of late, that i wish were caught on film.

pay day is tomorrow. maybe i'll find myself on my day off actually putting forth that effort so i'll be able to take pictures of minneapolis life to share with everyone.

life has been enjoyable this past week. the weather has been fantastic, so i've been able to get out a lot. like today, for example, when al and i went to greg and mike's to have an impromptu brunch- waffles, salad of the fruit and veggie varieties, and hash browns. all before i rolled on over to p.b.loco for a closing shift. so i have tomorrow off and i find myself with three netflix selections: harold and maude, all about my mother, and venus beauty institute. i'm also hoping to hit up the weisman art museum to see that bob dylan exhibit i've been planning on seeing since february. it's sure to be a great day. maybe even a kodak moment.

lucky #135

2007-04-19T03:44:00.000-04:00

whew, this marks 135 post for me. honestly i wouldn't notice these things if it wasn't blatantly pointed out when i sign on.

it's GORGEOUS here in minneapolis. i almost feel guilty about the crappy ny weather they've been going through. my sister got a foot of snow on monday. funny because my monday morning was spent eating outside at a raw restaurant, working on a sunburn. for the record, ecopolitan is an awesome place for feel-good food.

guess i'm in a good mood overall. it's amazing how weather can affect a person so much. i got out of work 2-3 hours early both yesterday and today, which meant it was still nice and sunny upon leaving and i got a good run in both days. plus i have tomorrow off, so the goodness just doesn't stop.

i just got back from going to pi, a gay bar, for karaoke night with al and mike. it was entertaining, to say the least. we got there pretty late due to navigational errors, so none of us had the time to sing. but that didn't stop us from consuming $3 cocktails, nachos, and tots,

side note: i have my first saturday off here, which is quite exciting. also exciting: sanjaya got the boot. sad part is i almost felt sorry for him. almost.

happy easter

2007-04-09T12:51:00.000-04:00

even if it's a day late, happy easter. i had a surprisingly pleasant one. it helps when i don't really think about what i'm doing on holidays until the day comes. that way there are no expectations to live up to.

the mall was fairly busy on saturday, but for some reason p.b.loco wasn't, aside from a few rushes. thus, a nice, stress-free day. after that i took the liberty of getting a new outfit to go straight to an easter vigil mass. sunday morning alisun and i got up bright and early to pick up greg and surprise mike, who is a choir director/organ player, at his easter service. it ended up being a bit different than we were expecting. for some reason i thought we were going to a big baptist or evangelical service, but it was episcopalian and very quiet.

after that alisun and i stopped at the wedge to get some cheese and bread to take to her mom's for an easter lunch/dinner. i finally got to meet al's famous grandmother, who was pretty damn funny. it was a bit too much seeing al's whole family together. when you get used to one person's mannerisms, it's always funny to see them in their family setting and realize there's an entire group of people EXACTLY the same.

time was limited because al had to work, so we set out at 3:30. i came home, made some family phone calls, and then met salsa and her friend andrew for wine at the french meadow. somehow during that time i consumed an entire sesame salad, a glass of wine, and half a beer. and this was on top of the feast i just had at al's.

i hung around there until greg got off, where we went to yet ANOTHER easter dinner, this one prepared by mike. and it was amazing. the french meadow desserts we brought didn't hurt either. after a lot of games of guitar hero and some random japanese drumming game, we peaced out at 2:15-ish. and i slept, my little stomach full of easter goodness and my little mind dreaming of cadbury cream eggs.

je gagne

2007-04-04T18:50:00.000-04:00

i win at life... or shopping. i took my $75 federal tax refund (big money) and invested it wisely. with it i got:
1) an awesome bedside lamp
2) a ridiculous skull-and-crossbones-pirate-motif lamp shade
3) a bathroom rug
4) a shower curtain
5) a coffee maker
6) coffee
7) coffee filters
8) light bulbs
9) a pillow for the couch
10) a shower curtain rod
11) a mirror
12) a bathroom garbage can

"why tanya," you may be asking, "how on earth did you get such great deals?"

thrifting, i tell you. there's a pretty cool salvation army here that sells overstock/past season/sample target items, so i got a good deal there. to be fair, the shower curtain, rug, and rod were from the real target and the coffee was from t.j.maxx. alisun went in on a few items, as well. but even the people at the second salvation army were impressed with the coffee maker and mirror still in original packaging that i found for $12.

i'm beginning to feel much more content with the apartment. we're slowly adding pieces of furniture. not all pictures are hung, we still have a way to go with decorating, and we need to paint the table and chairs and some other furniture. but at least the bathroom is good now.

i should probably go now and rearrange my room a bit. i never really liked the way i hung my pictures, and i have a few more to put up, so that should keep me busy until american idol starts.

screw the system

2007-03-29T11:09:00.000-04:00

i have the day off, and already at the ripe hour of 10 am i have my previous day off beat in terms of overall goodness. in other words, though i'm $260 and some change down, at least i have my car.

let me bring you back to monday night, 11 pm. i'm laying on the couch watching the station agent through my eyelids. pajamas on, face washed, contacts out. alisun calls and says i have to come meet them for a drink at bar abilene. i decline, saying i'm in for the night. somewhere between realizing i have the next day off and that greg and mike are back from playing new york, i decide to go out.

i circle around the block, unable to find a parking lot. then i realize, "why not park in the cheapo parking lot, seeing how they're closed?" i park my car and go enjoy a margarita.

fast forward about an hour or two, and we're standing in the same parking lot, minus one chevy lumina. alisun calls gopher towing and makes up a story about how we were paying customers and we just ran to talk to someone and now the car is gone. they say there's nothing they can do and we'd have to take it up with cheapo. then alisun decides to run around to the front of the store and dig through the trash to find a receipt. not only did she find a receipt, but she found one for midnight, the latest possible time. keep in mind the time frame that my car was towed at 12:30.

by this point i had abandoned hope and knew that i would be owing a considerable chunk of change. i went to greg and mike's where we proceeded to have a hardcore jam session. humorous as the early 90s songs were, all i kept thinking was "this sucks."

we stayed there till about 6 am or so and came home and crashed. alisun called cheapo and they said they'd call us back after they talked to the night manager. hours later i got a call saying there was nothing they could do, so grudgingly i picked up my car at 11:30 pm. the ultimate irony is that i talked to someone just that night about towing and ticketing in minneapolis. little did i know what was around the corner. dun dun dun...

otherwise, life hasn't been too terrible lately. i'm giving myself today to catch up on lost and netflix. i watched lost last night, and i felt like i was watching some sort of scooby doo mystery. it was pretty entertaining. i missed last week's, however, and really would like to find out how locke ended up in that dang wheelchair. i also have a theory going that the "real" sawyer, who sawyer is so desperately trying to find, is really locke's father. think about it. locke's dad is a con man who messes around with women all the time. there's got to be some sort of connection there. besides, i totally called that claire was jack's sister. i win.

i've also got le diner de cons and antonia's line to watch. i've already watched part of the first one, which was pretty amusing, so i'm looking forward to the rest. and i've got happy feet due to arrive tomorrow. i'll hold jude responsible if i don't like it, considering she was the one who talked it up so much. and after that i'm getting grizzly man, which i just saw listed just this morning and moved to the top of my queue on a whim. i'm pretty interested in seeing that one because i've read so many articles about timothy treadwell. what a creepy situation.

time to watch lost.

a hot date

2007-03-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

...with lake calhoun. today's weather was g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s. sunny, warm, perfection. i finally got out to lake calhoun, where al, mr. kim, and i took a nice stroll around. i was extremely excited to find out the pedestrian path around the lake measures 3.1 miles. perfect for running. twice around the lake and i'll be good to go- no need for measuring or mapping or pedometers. come saturday morning the lake won't know what hit it.

finally...

2007-03-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

a chance to update. really all i've been doing is working. and dreaming about going to school, which would definitely get my mind off of work when i'm not working. it's been crazy there lately with backed up food orders and busy weekends and missed shifts. i worked a 6 day week last week, which royally sucked. i was planning on going in on sunday, my day off, to help sell jars of peanut butter at a booth upstairs from the store. a little part of me was even looking forward to it. when i got to the store there was only one person working, so i had to join him behind the counter. thank god i didn't wear the skirt/boots i was originally planning on wearing, they would have been covered in peanut butter by the end of the day.

all in all i got extremely keyed up this weekend with lack of staff and crazy customers and lots of running around not being able to get everything done. and it's times like this when i think korea is just a plane ride away and i could be making a lot more and working a lot less. thank god grad school is in the near future.

speaking of excitement over school, a major congratulations goes to celeste, who was accepted to oregon state university to get her masters in environmental science. she'll be taking the online courses and might even move in the near future. she mentioned moving to northern california to work in the national parks or to san diego to work for the zoo. i said i would definitely move there if she did. that's all it would take to get me out west in the permanent warmth. plus there's a huge esl need out there. overall it feels good to have someone in the same boat. we're both moaning and groaning over our jobs because we know there are better jobs out there that we will soon have with diplomas in hand. plus we're both waiting to hear about fafsa and loans and such. paying for school blows.

alas, i have tomorrow off.

it hasn't been *all* work no play the past week or two, though work has definitely been occupying most of my time. i have enjoyed some thrifting around and some nights out that may or may not end in a long jam session where i can practice my mad tambourine skills and then sleep in a bed with three other people (none of whom own the bed).

i've been having a grand ol' time with netflix, also. i just got around to watching tsotsi and babel. both were good, not exactly my favorite, but worth watching. i'm getting into a huge french kick and have happenstance and the dinner game coming next. thumbsucker, ma vie en rose, and the science of sleep are definitely my wisest selections thus far. i may or may not have illegally watched volver, also. i had to throw that in for a recommendation. it was surprisingly not very dark for an almodovar film. more reviews to come.

but for now i must enjoy my smithwicks and watch american idol.

coming up roses

2007-03-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

today was one of those surprisingly good days. this morning al, melissa, and i headed over to the minneapolis nbc affiliate's station to help keri set up for the segment on showcase minnesota. the morning was interesting to say the least. overall the segment went very well and it was fun to be doing something a bit different for the company. not to mention i met some interesting people. rob hudson, the male anchor, was quite the character. ironically he kind of reminded me of ted baxter from the mary tyler moore show. and corbin seitz, the female anchor, reminded me of a martha stewart wannabe.

there was a lot going on in the studio, and we got to stick around to watch a lot of the show, including a creepy visit from dora the explorer, her cousin(?), and disney on ice. quote of the day belongs to the intern who was helping me with food and suddenly left, saying, "i have to go get the disney princesses." and somehow that was supposed to be normal.

michael york was also in the studio because he's on tour for camelot. rob hudson was a tool on air saying that his favorite michael york film was austin powers... pure class right there. michael york being there was a strange coincidence, because lesley was touring with this show up until december. it's too bad she didn't continue with it after their break because it would've been awesome if we could have met up here in minneapolis.

finally, i got accepted to hamline! i was really surprised to hear about it so early, but i got a voicemail from the head of the esl department. i figured it was just a message to say my application was complete, because they just got the last recommendation letter yesterday. strange to hear an acceptance over the phone. i'm feeling really good about this because they've been so on top of getting in contact with me this whole time. i might even be starting a bit earlier with summer classes, depending on how much i can get in student loans. my mind is mush right now because i've spent the past two hours filing my taxes and filling out my fafsa application. and i'm sure somewhere in there i made a mistake, but we shall see.

je travaille

2007-03-06T16:04:00.000-05:00

i am working now. i also need to be at work in less than an hour. i feel like i've entered the twilight zone.

i've been sitting in a cafe since 11 am, plunking away on the sales spreadsheet, coming up with sales goals for the following months. my brain is starting to melt, and somehow, i have to trek over to the mall and continue to work until 10 pm. when did my life start to revolve around peanut butter and when did i become ok with this?

i actually met keri here, but she just ran up to her apartment while i continue to plunk away. hopefully she gets back in time with those dang quesadillas.

i doubt anyone from minnesota is reading this, but just in case you are, be sure to watch showcase minnesota tomorrow morning. p.b.loco will be on and al, salsa, and i are going over to help set up.

time to eat. and run.

i'll be watching you

2007-03-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

not much time to write, but i definitely just got tickets to see the police. my bank account will surely be hurting. thank god i get paid this friday.

do it all

2007-03-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

oh, catholic university, i am teeming with pride. really, i had no idea that antonella barba is a fellow student. her best friend is, too. i just know how the school LOVES when their name is connected with controversial pictures and ideas. according to kate, the school was loving the free advertising until her pictures came out. i wonder what their reaction will be now.

i'm sure they'll react in the same crappy way they have with everything else controversial... pretend it never happened. remember when stanley tucci came to speak at the italian film fest? no? oh that's because he was DISinvited after it was found out that he indirectly supported the pro-choice movement.

really, i'm over it.

i was surprised though, upon getting an email from mr. burns which said (and i quote) "so did you know this skank antonella barba when you went to catholic?" i had absolutely no idea what he was talking about until kate emailed about her. i personally find it hilarious.

in other news, we were hit by a snow storm AGAIN. i ended up not even going in to work yesterday because keri called and said we were best off just shutting the store down. which was fine by me, but it got a little boring after a while, having no internet, radio, or tv. at least the book i'm reading is good.

i ended up coming in early to work because, as it turns out, my neighbor works at the moa too. she couldn't get her car out of the parking lot so i offered to drive her in. which worked out well because i ended up with time to get a french press, coffee, and use my computer. let's hope the store isn't completely dead. for the sake of my own sanity. it's been a slow week.

finally, i just found out that the police are coming here in july. that would be the third and final thing on my list of life goals to cross off. tickets go on sale monday. i'm there.

quack

2007-02-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

my neighbors are bastards. they put up a password on their wireless account AND somebody keeps parking in our spots, leaving us to the streets. which royally sucks when there are snow banks where our cars should be. now i have to resort to internet at cafes, which isn't too bad now that i have a car. though i can't download music and movies at my leisure anymore. at least i got the new modest mouse in time.

i have an extreme sugar high. after not eating, i found that i'm a bottomless pit again, and my rate of sugar consumption has skyrocketed. i already had split a scone and cranberry bread for breakfast and i'm eating a giant cookie as i type. and i might throw up any second from eating so much. i know these things are very important for you to know.

i lived through my first snowstorm of the year. seems i'd been dodging them, leaving new york and all, but winter finally caught up with me. it wasn't too bad, but the mall was completely dead on sunday and the day was really boring.

we did venture out on saturday night to go to the opening of the shamrock in st. paul. good ol' college fun... a classic rock cover band playing bar staples, wall to wall people, drunken girls stumbling out of the toilet stalls thinking everyone is either their new best friend of their worst enemy. oh man, that took me right back to my college days and going out with kate. she never failed to make the night interesting.

on the way back we decided to go to mickey's diner. i'd never heard of it, but apparently it's an important st. paul landmark, as seen in the classic film "the mighty ducks." hence, the quacking. small, cozy, and greasy. perfection.

in the parental update department, my mom ended up throwing up on the plane ride to austin. though i'm glad it didn't happen to me and it sucks that it happened, you have to admit it makes for a funny story. she ended up feeling a lot better (sooner than i did even) and enjoyed the visit with amber.

still waiting for my hamline application to be 100% complete. i shot an email to mr. burns asking when i could expect his letter of recommendation to be sent, because that's all i need. he responded by saying he sent one the week i asked for it. which means hamline never got it. i hope he gets it sent again soon, because i'm getting kind of anxious to see what's going to happen with everything.

my mind is completely melting. i think it's time to check out of bob's java hut.

oh, what fun

2007-02-21T11:08:00.000-05:00

it all started sunday after my parent's arrival. we started the visit off right with dinner at loring pasta bar in dinkytown. it was perfect- the food, the atmosphere, the live tango music and dancers. after that i took my car home, where alisun was unloading the last of her stuff. i decided to go out with her and some of her work friends, so we took my car over to the red dragon. after (probably midnight-ish) we went to grumpy's to do/watch karaoke. bear in mind that i was the driver, so i had only one drink. that was when the monster headache set in. you know the kind of headache where you just want to cry and curl up and not talk to anyone? that's what it was. i was feeling strangely drained and emotional.

because i was driving a bunch of people home, i ended up at their mercy in regards to when we were leaving. so i sat quietly in the booth, afraid that if i spoke i would burst into tears. i didn't get out until between 2-2:30 (which i was really unhappy about, considering i also had to get up to meet my parents in the morning). finally heading to bed between 3:30 and 4, i woke up at 9 not feeling any better. i felt like i had been out drinking all night, which wasn't the case. i met my parents at their hotel and we headed over to the mall of america. we did some shopping, ate at koko island (a tourist trap) did some more shopping, and headed back to the hotel. and by "ate at koko island" i mean they ate, i couldn't really stomach my salad.

the original plan was to rest up at the hotel and then eat dinner at the french meadow, but i wasn't feeling up to it and wanted to go on a night when i would really enjoy it. so when we got to the hotel, we just laid around and ordered snakes on a plane to watch. then we went to the restaurant downstairs for dinner.

it only took one bite of my veggie wrap for my stomach to speak loud and clear "stop! i can't handle you right now!" so i put it down and quietly waited for my parents to finish their meals. i drove myself home, with that same drained and emotional feeling, thinking a good night's sleep was all i needed to get back into the swing of things. my body had other plans, and i woke up at 2:30 running for the bathroom. a crappy night's sleep, indeed.

at 9 am i called my parents and told them they were best off finding their own way here, i wouldn't be able to drive to the hotel. they got a taxi and stopped at walgreens on the way to pick up some imodium, and in the process were warned by many people that people were dying from the flu. thanks for the positive thoughts, people.

the imodium definitely helped the main problem, but i still had a fever, chills, and body/muscle aches. good ol' gastroenteritis. my parents took it upon themselves to go to kowalski's to get some grocery shopping done for me, seeing how i have absolutely no food. when they got back they sat around my apartment, reading and doing their laundry. i slept on and off.

they ended up going to the french meadow by themselves for dinner, which made me a little happier, and they enjoyed it very much. by the end of the day i was feeling better, and i ended up getting a good night's sleep (finally!)

i slept in this morning, and just got word from my parents, who are at the airport waiting to get on their flight to fly to austin to visit amber. turns out my mom woke up this morning at 5 am after having a dream that she was lying on the floor in her office with a stomachache. turns out it wasn't just a dream, and poor ol' dad had to get a taxi, go to the nearest pharmacy, and get her some imodium. lucky for her they got the medicine early enough, so she's feeling better for the flight, though she still doesn't feel great. she made the good point though that i had a tougher time because i was more drained to begin with and it took me a while before i got any medicine.

so all in all, a lousy trip. i was so excited to have these days off to see my parents. i couldn't wait to see the city with them (i still haven't seen much of it), and instead we hung around like a couple of bums. of course my mom also brought up the point that it was kind of like divine intervention, because if i had gotten sick any other time i would have been stuck in the apartment with nothing but water (and alisun wasn't here all day). so it kind of worked out that my parents were here to take care of me.

so i don't know what it is with me getting sick when people visit, but celeste, i'll dry my damn hardest to not get tonsillitis again when you visit.

realization

2007-02-18T00:42:00.000-05:00

11:42 pm. heading to bed. suddenly realize that i am out of shape and in serious need of starting my marathon training. boy that's hard when it's the freezing winter and i can't afford a gym membership. and all i eat is peanut butter. will i train in time? stay tuned for the shocking conclusion.

in reality, i just realized it's been a WHILE since i ran and i think i could only get about three miles in without huffing and puffing. and i was doing so well.

oh, the thoughts that cloud your mind when you're not out drinking on a saturday night...

OCTOBER 7th, I WILL OWN YOU!

short update

2007-02-16T22:12:00.000-05:00

thanks arthur for nagging me into an update. not much has changed from when i first got here. i still feel very new to the city mainly because i don't have a car and feel like a hostage in my apartment when i'm not working. alisun still hasn't moved in yet, but she and chris are on their way now to bring some stuff and some beer (bless their hearts, i really need one). she's got most of her things here, but it's quite the process moving out of her aunt's house between cleaning and organizing (and i'm not sure organizing in a timely fashion is exactly her strong suit). we also have a table and a couch. boy were they ordeals to get into the apartment. thanks to everyone who volunteered their resources and minivans for that. i also have a nice dresser i acquired from the salvation army. i lucked out on this one because it's quite nice. my room is definitely looking more roomy now because of it.

works getting better, i'm getting more comfortable with my role as manager and increasing sales. and by "more comfortable" i mean i actually know what my sales goals are, which is a big help.

my parents, weather-permitting, are due to arrive in the twin cities on sunday. they'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, so wish them luck on their travels. my mom's having back pain right now, too. i'm sure a twenty hour car ride is EXACTLY the remedy.

no huge plans for when they come. i have sunday-tuesday off. we'll hit up the moa i'm sure at least once, dine at the french meadow because i'm in love, and perhaps check out famous daves and other tourist attractions. i'm certain they'll want to see the mary tyler moore statue, too (which i saw for the first time last week when i went downtown for the first time).

speaking of downtown, i went there to go to borders to use up my $50 gift card. i only got to order a soy latte before salsa scooped me up in her car for bloody marys. so i still have $48 left, which i intend on using soon. i think i heard/saw the manager who scolded me via phone there, too. i could recognize that voice anywhere. pure evil.

feeling good

2007-02-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

...even if i am feeling bad.

i'll say it again. i love that my living room is barren. i love that if you open the refrigerator you'll only find hummus, soy milk, oj, jarred middle eastern mixed veggies, pita bread, and leftover soup. i love that half of my clothes are hung in the closet, because i could only afford that many hangers. and that the rest of my clothes are nicely folded on the floor next to the closet. i love that my only piece of furniture currently is my aerobed, which gets quite uncomfortable after a while, resulting in me leaning against the radiator covering myself with a borrowed quilt.

i'm honestly not complaining. no matter how little i have, it feels good to be in my own place.

yesterday i boldly downloaded the devil wears prada and the latest office for my viewing pleasure. the devil wears prada should never be mentioned again, aside from the killer clothes worn in said movie. salsa picked me up in the afternoon and we went to the p.b.loco headquarters so i could fill out employment forms and salsa could do a quick training for something. the funny part is they're very secretive about what goes on in their headquarters, so only the founders and people working at the headquarters (c'mon that's just a fun word to say) are allowed in the room. i had to sit in the room next door. mind you this is a factory building, so there was little to no heat and i kept my jacket on while filling out my w-4's and such.

after that we thrifted around a bit, hoping to score an awesome $3 dresser. it was getting late so only one goodwill was open. as a compromise i got an awesome $3 hanging shelf/coat rack. with some good paint it will look great hanging in my room, serving as a shelf/necklace holder.

made a quick stop at target apres goodwill where i got a few basics i couldn't get at the co-op: 98 cent wine glasses (we had to get them because we got a bottle of wine to split back at the apartment. speaking of which, i have a newfound love for yellow tail shiraz/cabernet blend. god bless you and your seven dollar ways. i also got a shower curtain liner, which made for a very successful splash-free shower this morning. and three sets of eight hangers. and they were lime green, my favorite home decor color.

famished, we headed over to holy land deli and split the vegetarian sampler. i also picked up some pita bread and mixed veggies to satiate aforementioned fridge. for a $9 meal, we were very content (and it's vegan-friendly). we even brought home some leftovers that we devoured after the wine.

the plan for the night was to watch volver, which i attempted to download, but that never happened because it's still downloading as we speak. it's ok, almodovar, i will wait until you are ready.

the cold i caught at the beginning of the week seems to be declaring war on my body. i surprised myself by sleeping until nearly nine am, even though i went to bed at eleven the night before.

in about an hour i am looking at an apartment with salsa. because nyc teaching fellows didn't work out for her, she thinks she might just stick around here and wants her own place. after that we're going to her brother's for his superbowl party. that might be funny to hang out with a bunch of brawny married 30-somethings. i'm wearing a dress and we're bringing wine for the celebration. i am sure we will fit right in.

happy 120!

2007-02-02T22:51:00.000-05:00

according to my post counter, this is my 120th blog. how am i celebrating?

by sitting in my brand-spankin'-new apartment!

i moved (correction, alisun moved) myself into the apartment today. al probably won't be moving herself in for a while because she's got a lot on her plate with work and figuring out how to move everything here. it was a bit easier in my case because i have only two suitcases and the rest will be in transit in a few weeks.

i will put pictures up as soon as i can, but it will probably be a while because
1) i need a new memory card for my camera
and
2) i left my cable cord home in ny and i refuse to buy a new one here.

the apartment is sparse, to say the least, but it feels fantastic to be in my own place. plus i'm no longer at the mercy of having someone drive me around, which was the case at al's aunt's house. at the moment i am on an aerobed borrowed from chris' parents, blogging away with my free wireless (god bless whichever neighbor got that hooked up because i'm getting a strong signal.)

i also got to stop at the wedge (the co-op) to pick up just a few basics for fuel. al and i are going vegan this month, which is i've found to be surprisingly easy, aside from the moment of stupidity we experienced yesterday walking into a gas station thinking we'd be able to get a snack there. not so much. also, thank god french meadow makes incredible vegan food. it's only been two days, though. we'll see how i feel about it a week from now.

perhaps the most exciting news is that i got an awesome job. i am now the manager of p.b.loco cafe. in the mall of america. how hilarious is that? salsa works for the company in st. paul and put in a good word for me. i went today to meet keri, one of the owners, and the job was mine. i'm really excited about this because i think it will be a great company to work for (read: not crazy corporate). how can you go wrong with a job where they give you a sandwich to eat during the interview? and it was GOOD. curry peanut butter, pickles, and potato chips. anyway it's still a rather new company that's trying to get its name out there. they've gotten awfully close. they were going to be featured on oprah's favorite things but they discontinued the favorite things altogether. so for me this means that i'll be able to be involved with them because it's a small company and they want as much creative input as possible which means i'll get to do promotions and recipes up the wazoo.

so i start monday. which meant i had to call borders to let them know that i wouldn't be coming in. that was AWKWARD and i ended up feeling like a scolded child. i talked to the store manager and after apologizing profusely and telling her why i wouldn't be coming on board, she gave me a long pause and said slowly "oookayyy..." as if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, she took it to the "we weighed a lot of decisions based on this. i just had to voice that." i said that was fair, said i was sorry again, and then thanked her. after i hung up though, i thought maybe that wasn't so fair of her to say. i'm glad i won't be working for her. seriously, borders is a freakin' corporation and they can't get mad if a better opportunity presents itself for somebody. especially since this job was just a regular cafe position. most people in my shoes would have taken this manager job, but not everybody would have called to say they were sorry they wouldn't be able to work for people they haven't even met yet. that's what i get for being a good citizen. if it was somebody else, borders might have just had a no show come monday. now THAT would have been a problem.

i should probably head to bed now. i really need to catch up on sleep, i haven't been getting an exorbitant amount lately. but it has been fun, going to see shows and such. and it's such a great community to be in because all of the musicians know each other and they aren't pretentious and don't give off the vibe that they're doing it just to show off.

if you're looking for some fun, go to http://pbloco.com/

how can you tell me working for them won't be fun?

ok enough rambling, time for sleep.

throwing my hat in the air

2007-01-29T19:18:00.000-05:00

i'm here in minneapolis. at bob's java hut. sitting in front of the window all the way at the end. do you see me?

stalker.

so minneapolis is great so far. i'm in love with the fact that i'm in love with every restaurant/cafe/shop i've stepped foot into thus far. i'm also applying to a few cafes and such because i need a new job. i don't want to work six hour days at a downtown borders fully of smelly shopping cart people. i love borders. but not that much. i'm supposed to start a week from today, i'm hoping i'll find something else soon so i can call them and let them know i may or may not be working there full-time.

what have i done so far? al and salsa picked me up on saturday, we stopped to get lunch at al's work and brought it back to her aunt's house. it was delicious. i took kimchi outside and discovered he's a pathetic hunkered-down-legs-slipping-out-from-under-him-ice cube if he has to walk on snow or ice. i finally found a patch of dirt, so he no longer stands there shaking and alternatively picking up his back legs so they don't freeze.

it's not even that much colder than nueva york, the ground is just more snowy and icy.

saturday night we went to grumpy's, a bar, and had bloody marys before going to a club to see al's coworker play in his band. they were pretty good and the place was pretty full. after that we considered going to see redman because we had free tickets, but decided we were too tired and headed back.

yesterday i met salsa at muddy waters and we sat at our computers mooching off of the wireless internet and drinking coffee. after that we went down the street to al's work and mooched for food, coffee, wine, and a chili chocolate truffle.

today al and i went to chris' for lunch and finally got to meet the beloved pooch nino. then i met salsa here and FINISHED MY GRAD SCHOOL APPLICATION. hooray! i really hope that this goes through all fine and dandy, because i just want the closure to know yes, i'm getting my masters, and yes, there will be a career at the end of the tunnel.

that is all.

what am i doing?!

2007-01-26T14:19:00.000-05:00

i don't know why i'm taking the time to write this, but i figured this might be the last time for a while, at least until i get all situated.

i'm in the midst of packing... aka a mad rush trying to figure out how to get everything organized, considering all i can really take with me are two suitcases of clothes. i have to get everything else packed up so my parents can just throw them in the car when they drive out to see me.

took kimchi to the vet today to get his health certificate to fly. seemed just like old times, except i could actually converse with the vets there.

i got together with everyone last night, jude even made a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting decorated as a crying face. it was awesome. we also ate a ton of artichoke dip, cheese, triscuits, and a stick of french bread. the french bread, which i refuse to call a baguette, was disappointing. much too soft. damn you, hannaford french bread!

and a final note, i am in the application process for hamline university in st. paul. i started looking at schools other than the u of m and discovered hamline, the number one rated school in minnesota, is much cheaper than the u even if you are a resident. so i'm just going to go for it. i requested the transcripts, my letters of recommendation are being written, and the application form is filled out. all that is left is my essay, which i already have a very rough first draft of.

i'm actually very excited about this program. part of the requirement is either two years of a high school second language or one year at a university. that was very exciting considering i took four years of french that will actually count for something. i found it amusing that i needed my high school transcript to get into grad school. but man i can't wait to study french again.

i also realized that after i graduate, maybe i'll take my degree and move to france to teach english there. that would be simply amazing.

i don't want to get too ahead of myself, considering i haven't even been accepted. keep your fingers crossed.

such a sap

2007-01-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

some things never change. old yeller was on tv and i watched it for the first time in probably ten to fifteen years. still get teary eyed.

i'm at celeste's now, waiting for her to get home from class so we can go to diane's and have "christmas" all together. celeste and i traded presents last night because we couldn't wait. she and chris got me three months of netflix, three movies at a time. super exciting. it's also super exciting that i'm going to have a roommate again who can also get excited over things like that. i got celeste the first season of 21 jump street on dvd and little miss sunshine. i'm such a great sister.

other than that, what are your thoughts about training to be a court stenographer? they make anywhere from $17.95-28.40 an hour. i've always been a great typist and i didn't win the outstanding student award in my high school typing class for nothing. seriously though, it's something to consider. especially considering i just got my hours at the borders store i'm transferring to and i'm only getting six hours a day. something is telling me it's time to look for a better job.

it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine

2007-01-17T06:51:00.000-05:00

i've been watching too much wayne's world in the break room at work.

it's official. the "fabulous apartment" is ours. you have to admit that's exciting. i had a good feeling about it from the beginning, taking the green walls as a sign that it was meant to be because my bedroom is the same color.

also noteworthy, american idol's first city on the list of auditions was minneapolis. it actually was kind of boring. tonight's episode in seattle looks to be much more interesting. maybe i'll move there instead.

no, i think i'd rather be in prince's native land. because nothing compares 2 him.

edited to add...

2007-01-15T11:39:00.000-05:00

the day turns more interesting. about an hour ago i heard a loud bang. i looked outside, thinking something had fallen, but didn't see anything. about a half hour later i let the dogs out. hetty came right back in, wanting nothing to do with the ice. my mom looked outside a few minutes later and said something along the lines of "oh my god!" i thought that an old person had slipped and fallen at the post office or something, unaware that the post office was closed due to the holiday. instead, she said "judson's outside!"

turns out the loud bang was a HUGE branch from our giant maple tree that had cracked and fallen under the pressure of the ice, thus creating an opening large enough in our fence to allow dogs of all shapes and sizes to sneak out and create heart attacks. luckily exhibit a was dumb enough to forego his newfound freedom and came galloping right over the second he saw a bag of treats. so now i am stuck on dog duty... no dog is allowed out without a leash. and at some point we're going to have to remove that damn branch.

really?

2007-01-15T07:59:00.000-05:00

the time is just past 8 am. why am i not at work? as i write, the streets of schaghticoke are covered with ice. my mom woke me up a little before my alarm went off at 6 and said i was best off not driving in. we were going to carpool, but dr. gleason told her not to come in until 11:30/12. i spent the first hour and a half of the morning trying to find another number for borders because they don't answer the regular number in the morning. finally i was able to get through at 7:30-ish by randomly hitting numbers after dialing the regular number. genius! i told them there was no way i could drive in today, but my mom might be going into clifton park later today so for now i was calling out but i might come in later. they said ok, and call later if i was going to come in. i'll probably just end up staying here because really i never call in (see previous post) and i slept like crap last night, which brings me to my next topic:

the move. things are slowly coming together. the past week or two have been full of questions such as "how am i really going to get there?," "who is going to drive with me?," and "are we really going to find an apartment for february 1?" plans that i never bothered writing about have been changing left and right, but this is the (seemingly) final one. i bought a plane ticket to fly to minneapolis on saturday january 27th. even kimchi made his reservations, and this time he gets to fly in cabin with me! i'll be getting in at 1:20 in the afternoon, just keep your fingers crossed that the weather allows that, considering i have a 1.5 hour layover in chicago. either celeste or my parents are going to drive my car out there later in february. none of us were keen on making the trip at this time of the year.

as for apartments, alisun looked at and fell in love with an apartment yesterday. and it has green walls! she said everything's nice and new and clean, and the landlord seems to be a good guy. though i haven't met him, he seemed quite nice in the email.

al called last night to give me her renting history so i could fill out and send in the online application. the problem with that was i had already been asleep for a few hours, so when i went back to bed, i couldn't fall asleep for another couple of hours. as a result, i slept like crap and i can feel my damn swollen lymph nodes when i swallow. oh how i love the lingering effects of mono. at least i have the day off to catch up on sleep and relax. and hopefully by tomorrow we'll know if the apartment is ours.

saranghae, kim jong kook

2007-01-01T07:21:00.000-05:00

first of all, it's a little after seven on new year's day, so obviously i didn't have a big night out. i have to work today (thankfully the store doesn't open till eleven, which means i don't have to be there till ten... whoo!)

the original plan, a month or two ago, was to get a hotel room in saratoga on new year's eve with some friends, but we procrastinated too long on that and they were all booked. then we were just going to go out, but that too never came to fruition. jude and i decided we'd maybe do a potluck at my house and then head out to saratoga, but a few factors were working against us: jeni was sick, which means joe was out, too; amy couldn't do dinner; and the weather was possibly going to become icy and crappy. and secretly, i was kind of tired and not feeling like going out. amy went to some parties in saratoga which we opted out of. instead, jude and matt, who were on the same wavelength as me, came over and we had a mini feast and called it an early night. it was a nice quiet new year, which is what i was craving. by the way, thanks everyone for your happy birthday/new year messages. and boy do i have questions for some of you...

i now have a minneapolis date, which is making me even more excited. i'm planning on heading out there the last full weekend of january, maybe friday the twenty-sixth. that way i can get my bearings before starting work and moving into our new place, which we're hoping to have by february first. also fun, my mom is considering taking the road trip with me. i'm sure she's not too keen on the idea of me doing the drive all by myself. that made alisun excited because she thinks our mothers would really get along. i talked to the store manager at the downtown minneapolis store yesterday, she sounds really nice, and it sounds like i'll be working a schedule of tuesday-saturday, or maybe if it opens up monday-friday. and just like the store here they need daytime workers, so it sounds like i'll have a cushy set schedule. she told me to call her when i get out there and they'll just add me on.

as for the apartment, alisun is doing most of the dirty work. turns out it's just me and her, because salsa is applying to a million teaching programs and doesn't want to screw us over by making us find a new roommate later in the year. but it will be nice to just have two people sharing the space. al is looking at places uptown, and we're hoping to find a decently priced home or duplex instead of an apartment.

ANYWAY. that wasn't even why i really wanted to write this morning. i was surfing around and found this video.

this was my ring tone in korea... it's really called sarang surowon, but the song was translated for youtube. how can you not bop around to this? i love it plainly for its cheese factor. the video is like a korean wake me up before you go go. many a times have i busted out into a spontaneous dance party at the local 7-11 because this song was playing. i even had a class of kids, who knew i loved this song, print out the lyrics so they could play the song and sing along to it for me.

apparently this song was such a big hit because (at least according to a student) kim jong kook usually sings "slow sad songs" and this is a very "happy song."

so sit back, relax, and let your toes tap away to a classic piece of korean pop culture.

and the leaves that are green...

2006-12-31T10:53:00.000-05:00

i was twenty-two years when i wrote this blog
i'm twenty-four now but i won't be for long
time hurries on
and the leaves that are green turn to brown
and they wither with the wind
and they crumble in your hand

today is my birthday. this simon and garfunkel song ALWAYS goes through my head on my birthday. i remember being young and listening to the sounds of silence, and whenever this song came on i would think "whoa, one day i'm going to be twenty-one." it's really strange that i'm even older than twenty-one now. i'm hoping that next year when i hit twenty-five the birthdays will just stop, because that's the age i want to remain forever.

i'm sitting at the computer enjoying a mimosa right now, made with some really good champagne. the twilight zone marathon is on in the living room... feels good to be home. it's hilarious to think at this time last year i was probably making drunken phone calls and being fed tangerines by creepy cameramen. NOTHING will ever top last year's birthday.

i celebrated my birthday last night with my parents. we went to yono's in albany for dinner. it was IN-CRE-DI-BLE. yono is pretty much the top chef in the capital district area, so i was really excited about going. the fun part of the restaurant is that yono is indonesian, so one page of the (huge) menu is all indonesian food, while the other page is continental cuisine (featuring game such as alligator and ostrich...) my parents and i went for the indonesian food, it was REALLY good. i'd never had it before, but it kind of reminded me of vietnamese food with a bit of a chinese influence. for appetizers we got started with a complimentary slice of cucumber with a chicken and chick pea hummous on top. then we ordered the ikan tongul surabaya- an appetizer that featured "sesame encrusted big eye tuna atop a bed of asian slaw with a wasabi and ginger emulsion"- this was probably the best part of the meal. i ordered the nasi rames for dinner, which was an "indonesian tasting featuring sate, kepiting goreng, bakmi goreng, babi kecap, daging rendang, ayam panggang, and served with krupuk, acar, sambal, and peanut sauce." what does that even mean? deliciousness for my body. my parents each ordered different kinds of noodle dishes, my mom's came with shrimp and my dad's came with chicken.

and for dessert i had a disarrono on the rocks, my mom had a chambord on the rocks, and we all shared a slice of the chocolate rendezvous- "lady fingers surrounding a chocolate truffle layer topped with a layer of raspberry and chocolate mousse." that even came with a birthday candle, and when the waitress was bringing it out the live band changed to a rendition of happy birthday. it was a good birthday, indeed. and i got a new pair of earrings and an old navy gift card, to boot!

things that irk me

2006-12-28T18:09:00.000-05:00

i'm talking about you, white haired man who comes in every day with THE SAME COUPON for a free dessert. i know technically we're not supposed to honor it day in and day out, but if we're gonna toss the food at the end of the night, there's no point in NOT honoring it. this guy drives me nuts. he had a coupon that expired on december 15th. the next day i thought "ahh i don't have to see him anymore." WRONG. turns out the old coupon was for his wife's birthday, and his birthday is right after, so the new one expires in ANOTHER fifteen days. luckily tomorrow is the last day i'll see him. i'm gonna draw the line if he brings in a daughter's birthday coupon. go away. don't TRY to be nice just to cover up the fact that you're a cheapskate. you're nothing short of a major annoyance. i will be glad i don't have to force a fake smile at you anymore.

i also hate sick days. i UNDERSTAND if you're truly sick. if you're puking or completely miserable or about to faint i understand. i think it's coming more from the viewpoint of a person who never gets sick and therefore never has a legit reason to do so. i just don't have it in me to take a day off (aside from that bout of tonsillitis, and that's because staying home sick was a compromise so i didn't have to spend a few nights terrified in a korean hospital.) all in all i suppose it's a blessing that i'm always (knock on wood) healthy.

in other news, i think i have a borders job lined up in minneapolis... two of the three requested stores got back to us, and one sounds very interested. keep those fingers crossed.

what else is new

2006-12-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

i've been trying to keep myself busy over the past few weeks. dc was a lot of fun, although i wasn't feeling well through a majority of my time there. i just know you want to know how i spent every waking moment there, so here you go:

thursday night i flew in and stayed at arthur's, who lives right near the capital. on friday i got up and met kate at chipotle for lunch (heaven on earth) and then hung out at her place, where we caught up on the latest episode of the office. yes, the second kate and i reunited, we watched tv. it was just like being roommates again. later on i met katherine at the air and space museum, and then we met arthur, steph, and her boyfriend at mandu, a new korean restaurant in dupont. this was my first time eating at a korean place since being home, and it was quite strange. the restaurant was definitely more trendy than i was expecting, and not in a cool "fusion-asian decor" kind of way... more like an up and coming normal restaurant. and it was BUSY.

dinner was good, although i nearly choked on my rice when i saw that bottles of soju, which cost a mere 1,000 won in korea, were priced at $18. but that didn't stop us from ordering a bottle for shots. my friends rather enjoyed it and thought it was "smooth," though i tried convincing them that after a few too many 7-11 stops on a night out the stuff gets toxic and leaves you with a nasty hangover.

i ordered kimchi jjigae, and i must say that it tasted EXACTLY like the batch i made here a few months ago. apparently the owner got all of his recipes from his grandmother, so all of the food tastes homemade. i was actually a little sad that it didn't taste like the stuff i got at kimbap nara day in and day out.

after dinner we stopped at a few bars and then headed home to katherine's (who lives in the columbia heights area). saturday i woke up feeling hungover at first, then i realized that it was more than a hangover, thanks to the ear infection i was battling all week, and i couldn't get up without feeling sick. that meant the entire day was spent on the couch watching season seven of friends. fun!

sunday morning i was feeling better and katherine and i met kate and the clarks at mimi's in dupont for brunch. it was nice seeing the clarks again, even if for just an hour... see you guys in another nineteen months. after that katherine and i shopped around and then went to WHOLE FOODS to get stuff for dinner. oh whole foods, i missed you so.

my final night was spent at kate's, who lives in the dupont/foggy bottom area now, and then i flew out monday afternoon. all in all a pleasant weekend, but it would have been a thousand times better if steph was there. then it would have felt like a true trailer thirteen reunion.

i had an interesting night last saturday. some people from my high school class ended up meeting at ryan's wake for a reunion of sorts. i saw a lot of people i haven't seen since graduation, so there was a lot of catching up to do. the problem with this for me is it's a bunch of people i never really had too much in common with, so after that "catch up" conversation, there isn't much else left to say. the night was definitely amusing- i drove myself and stayed sober, so as people got more drunk i had even more fun watching everyone. oh and i think i'm one of just a handful of girls left in my class who isn't engaged or anywhere near it. and i mean no disrespect to anyone who's engaged, but GAG ME WITH A SPOON. good for you if you're ready for that step, but when did we get old enough for marriages and babies and mortgages? i felt like an entirely different species there, a person living and loving her quarter-life crisis. i still enjoy that sense of adventure and not knowing EXACTLY what i'll be doing a year or two down the road.

finally, i requested a transfer to a couple of borders in minneapolis for the end of january/beginning of february so keep your fingers crossed that at least one of those places will add me on. i should be hearing about that in a few days. i'm getting mega excited about the move, partially because i'm SO BORED here in new york and really need some city life and partially because i can't wait to have my OWN PLACE (even if i am sharing it.)

joyeux noel

2006-12-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

merry christmas. merry christmas. merry christmas. merry christmas. kiss my ass. kiss his ass. kiss your ass. happy channukah.

the stockings are no longer hung by the chimney with care... because i tore through them in a feverish holiday-induced frenzy. so far it's been a very merry christmas indeed. i was both surprised and delighted with my presents, and i'm sure my parents and grandma felt the same way. after playing the christmas vigil mass last night, we came home where my mom gave me, my grandma, and herself the first of the presents- red pajamas. very stylish.

they even came with eye masks!

after that, we ate some INCREDIBLE spinach lasagna that my mom made all by her little lonesome, which was followed by a viewing of it's a wonderful life. i was the first to get tired so i headed to bed...

which meant i was the first one up! this year i had to shout up to my parents bedroom that they were missing christmas and had to wake up... a little after 7 am. we made some irish coffee, complete with whiskey and irish cream, and gathered around the tree. notable presents this year:

for my mother i got "i know this much is true," by wally lamb. that was the book we all read and passed on in korea and i think my mom's going to like it. i also got her an awesome coffee mug from persnickety's... if it's missing when i move out to minnesota, i have no idea where it went...

for my dad i got "santa's favorite piping tunes" for his (you guessed it) bagpipes and some hemp pipe resin.

and for my grandma i got a tea caboodle, a box filled with different types of holiday tea.

kimchi got a warm coat, which he wanted nothing to do with.

my father got my mom the first season of the dog whisperer on dvd, a pair of ed levin earrings, and a wine making kit. apparently she hasn't figured out how to use it yet.

my mother got my father things scotland- and bagpipe-related, most noteworthy the "bagpipes are dead sexy" t-shirt.

i got a gift card for gap, where i can finally get some things from the red collection (the card was signed "from oprah and bono"), an ed levin bracelet, and a bose ipod player- completely awesome and totally unexpected.

here, my bracelet, my grandma's bracelet, and my mom's earrings, all compliments of ed levin... and dad.

still on today's agenda: eat and drink until we all explode... i even made a fudge torte, which i'm muy excited about.

oh, and hey. if any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, i have one. i'd like frank shirley, my boss, right here tonight. i want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on melody lane with all the other rich people and i want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and i want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. hallelujah. holy shit. where's the tylenol?

what's with that?

2006-12-12T18:25:00.000-05:00

so somehow my blog must've gotten out to the general public (aside from the korean blog list that it's on) because as you may have noticed i've been getting a lot of strange comments.

but if you want viagra, apparently you need look no further than right here.

two days until dc. i'm so excited.

thanksgiving, santa baby, and washington dc

2006-12-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

before i get started on yesterday's trip, i just have to say that thanksgiving was fabulous. it was so nice to get a lazy day to do nothing but eat, work on a puzzle, and spend time with family. i saw some family members that i haven't seen since before korea, which was great. i also brought the puzzle we got for last year's korean thanksgiving but were too inebriated to work on (puzzles are a thanksgiving tradition in my family). what i didn't realize was that we usually do a 500 piece puzzle and i brought a 1000 piece puzzle. my family started complaining that it was too big, so i was completely focused on finishing it that day. i did not stray from the puzzle table until it was complete. and somehow we managed to finish it before dinner. bummer: there were two pieces missing. i'm figuring someone dropped them and a dog snatched them up or something.

yesterday i took an unexpected trip to nyc. my mom's office was going down there for their christmas party, someone dropped out at the last minute, and i was invited to come along. compliments of dr. gleason, the entire staff (and one guest each) took a charter bus down, saw the radio city christmas show, ate lunch at carmine's, did some shopping, and took a bus back. it was an amazing day, although i don't think i'll ever be able to handle the touristy parts of the city during the christmas season again. i've realized my asian attitude can come in handy when i want to weave through a crowd- i have absolutely no shame anymore in just bumping people out of the way.

the show itself was great, but a word of caution: if you're planning on catching said show and you're female and have to go to the bathroom make sure to get there early enough so you're not standing around the block in line only to get inside and stand in a ridiculously long line for the ladies room. as a result, i missed the very first rockettes number. but that didn't bother me to much because the rest of the show made up for it... especially the toy soldiers number where i was just waiting to see some rockettes bump into each other, which never happened.

carmine's was loud and fun, and i got to talk to a coworker of my mom's and her husband about their two years spent in korea when they were in the army. it was nice talking to people again about foods and places and culture and soju (of course). the food was great- we had two appetizer courses (first course salad and calamari, second two types of penne pasta), the main course (veal marsala and chicken parmigiana), a huge dessert platter, and plenty of beer and wine for all.

after we stuffed ourselves, i went shopping with my parents at macy's and then bryant park. i got an awesome skirt from a kiosk at bryant park . after that we took our bus home, but not before dr. gleason gave us all snack money at a rest stop. how thoughtful.

all in all, a very nice day. thanks, dr. gleason.

one more thing, i'm finally going to dc in two weekends to visit good friends, get good eats, and have a good time. obviously i'm quite excited.

there's ultra power in it

2006-11-17T00:24:00.000-05:00

i get to sleep in tomorrow. and saturday. and sunday. awesome. but what could be even more awesome than that? i only work monday and tuesday of next week, thus giving me wednesday-sunday of thanksgiving week off. i don't know how i lucked out on that one, but i'm stoked.

time is getting weirder and weirder for me. i'm glad i'm working to keep myself busy, because otherwise i feel an overall lack of stimulation. it's so strange that next week is thanksgiving. i'm incredibly excited to be home for it but oddly enough i keep thinking about how awesome last year's makeshift thanksgiving was. and thoughts of last year's thanksgiving lead to thoughts of last year's christmas season lead to thoughts of new year's and so on. needless to say i'm missing people and places, both korea and dc-related, and i feel the need to do some visiting and take a break from upstate life.

friends here are great, of course. i had a fairly amusing night at jeni's. i ate my weight in food, joe and matt kicked our asses at cranium (but i showed off my mad humming skills. wait, what?) while jeni and jude straggled behind, and matt randomly said that he could see mr. clean and me being very happy together. and no, that's not some sort of code name a la mr. big, he literally means mr. clean. so, apparently i have a very bright future with the fictional cleanliness icon himself.

mr. clean. <3saranghae<3

happy halloween

2006-10-31T22:56:00.000-05:00

it's hard to believe that a year ago i was dressed as tinkerbell, downing whiskey shots with my dad at j-rock. my, how time flies. also scary: i'll be 24 in two months.

in the updates department, i'm working at a borders cafe. i started last friday, and it feels good to have something to do other than work as my parents' house slave. the cafes are now run by seattle's best so it's a little different from the old borders cafe, but i think things run a lot more smoothly because of it. we also have a dress code: black or white "structured shirts" and khaki or black pants. as a result, i got some great buys at jcpenney today because most things were on clearance. because i refuse to wear khakis, i ended up with a ton of black clothes.

as a result of getting this job and the fact that kimchi isn't welcome in alisun's aunt's house, i decided that i won't be moving out to minneapolis until february. i'm ok with this because it means i'll be able to save more money and squeeze in a dc visit (although i'm sure most people down there refuse to believe that i'll ever get around to visiting... but i swear i will).

for halloween, i went to jeni's for game night. very halloweeny, i know. thanks to coinstar, i got $17 and used it to buy some frozen hannaford appetizers (spinach and feta in phyllo, cranberries and brie in phyllo, and bruschetta), and jeni made a scalloped potato soup. don't ask, it was good. matt showed up to surprise jude, which was good fun. after the feasting we played scattergories (finally!) and the friends trivia game. i schooled them in the latter game... and also got so overly-excited that i shoved jude while trying to beat her at answering a question. apparently i need to practice a little self-control.

anyway, i'm happy to say that i have tomorrow off. which, of course, means i have to clean the house. oh and lost is on tomorrow night. this will be episode five in the new season, which means after this one we have one episode left before they bring in repeats for a while. bitches.

happy halloween to all, and to all a good night.

typical conversation with dad

2006-10-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

dad, referring to girl with short hair on "heroes": she kind of looks like you
me: because i have short hair
dad: well, yeah, she looks like you from a distance
me: he (referring to indian guy) has short hair, do i look like him?
dad: yeah. well, except your moustache is darker.

what to do when bored

2006-10-05T14:26:00.000-04:00

i just finished cleaning the house and don't really feel like doing anything. perfect opportunity to put up a long-ass survey. and i am officially a loser.

Full Name: if i told you i would have to kill you.
Birthday: 12/31
Birthplace: albany
Eye Color: brown
Hair Color: brown
Height: 5'8"
Weight: never ask a girl her weight
Right handed or Left handed? righty
Your Heritage: slovak/scottish/pennsylvania dutch/french/english
My Worst Habit: constantly shaking my leg/foot
Zodiac Sign: capricorn
Shoe Size: 8.5
Pants Size: 4
Innie or Outie? innie
Parents Still Together? 28 years and counting
The Shoes You Wore Today: imitation uggs
Your Weakness: food
Your Fears: never finding exactly what i want in life
Your Perfect Pizza: hot peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: enter grad school or find a kick ass job
Your Most Overused Phrase On An Instant Messenger: haven't been on that for a while
Thoughts First Waking Up: what time is it?
Your Best Physical Feature: eyes
Your Bedtime: anytime between 9 and 1, depends on how much coffee i drink in the day
Your Most Missed Memory: being young and care-free (how cliche)

MY FAVORITES
Favorite color? blue
Food? kick ass pizza
Sport? running
Animal? dog
Ice Cream? cherry garcia
Candy? sour patch kids
Store? elves
Salad Dressing? vinaigrette or honey dijon
Actor? johnny depp or cary grant
Song? depends on my mood
Letter? don't have a favorite
Number? ditto
Gum? trident whitening
Holiday? thanksgiving
Season? summer
Toothpaste Flavor? anything ridiculously minty, but not spearmint
Radio Station? pyx 106
Perfume? ralph
Scent besides perfume? midsummer's night by yankee candle... or freshly baked bread
Body part on the opposite sex? i'm an arm person

FRIENDS AND LIFE
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? i don't know
How Do You Want To Die? happily of old age
Turn ons: sense of humor and confidence
Turn offs: cockiness and taking yourself too seriously
Which One Of Your Friends Acts The Most Like You? celeste, but she's my sister
Who's The Loudest? i don't know
Who Makes You Laugh The Most? they all do. i couldn't be friends with unfunny people.
Who Have You Known The Longest? jeni
Who's The Shyist? is that how you spell shyest?
When Have You Cried The Most? i don't know
What Is The Best Feeling In The World? laughing. i also like sneezing.
Worst Feeling? dreading something you have to do the next day.
Where Do You Want To Live When You Grow Up? someplace warm would be nice.
If You Could Change One Thing About You What Would It Be? i don't know.
How Long Do You Think You'll Live? hopefully a long time

FINISH EACH SENTENCE
Let's walk on the beach
Let's look at the... shark
What a nice... "day (oh yeah!)" that's totally a korean elem. school song
Where did all the... cats go?
Why can't we... walk
Silly, little... pig
Isn't it weird... that there are no pajamas here?
Never under any circumstance... will i finish this sentence
I wish... i had a fish
Everyone has a... fish
I am... the walrus

HAVE YOU EVER
Been In Love? nope
Been To Juvie? nope
Mooned Someone? i think when i was like 8
Been Rejected? i suppose so
Ran Away From Home? nope
Pictured Your Crush Naked? yep
Skipped School? college yes, high school no
Thought About Suicide? nope
Slept Outside? yep
Laughed So Hard You Cried? yep
Cried In School? i don't remember
Thrown Up In School? oh bad memories of first grade
Wanted To Be a Model? yep
Done Something Really Stupid That You Still Laugh At Today? yep
Seen A Dead Body? yes
Been Bitched Out? i don't think so
Drank Alcohol? yes
Smoked? not cigarettes
Been On Drugs? oh ganja
Eaten Sushi? yes
Been On Stage? yes
Gone Skinny Dipping? no
Shoplifted? no
Been Drunk? yes
Been Called A Tease? probably
Been Beaten Up? no

DO YOU
Swear? yes
Sing Well? define "well"
Shower Daily? yes
Want To Go To College? been there done that
Want To Get Married? yes
Believe In Yourself? yes
Get Motion Sickness? only when drunk
Think You Are Attractive? yes
Get Along With Your Parents? yes
Like Thunderstorms? yes
Play An Instrument? yes
Own An IPOD? yes
Pray? yes
Go To Church? yes
Sleep With Stuffed Animals? no
Keep A Journal/Diary? does this blog count?
Dance In The Rain? yes
Sing In The Shower? yes

THIS OR THAT
Pepsi or Coke? diet coke
McDonald's or Burger King? neither
Single or Group Dates? single
Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate
Strawberries or Blueberries? strawberries
Meat or Veggies? veggies
TV or Movie? movie
Guitar or Drums? drums
Adidas or Nike? neither
Chinese or Mexican? mexican
Cheerios or Corn Flakes? cheerios
Cake or Pie? pie
MTV or VH1? vh1
Blind or Deaf? blind
Boxers or Briefs? boxers

CAN YOU
Do The Splits? what does that even mean?
Write With Both Hands? not well
Whistle? not well
Blow A Bubble? yes
Roll Your Tongue In A Circle? no
Cross Your Eyes? yes
Walk With Your Toes Curled? yes
Touch Your Tongue to Your Nose? yes
Dance? ha ha ha
Eat Whatever You Want And Not Worry? yes

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON
You Touched: is it sad that i can't remember?
You Talked To On The Phone: celeste
You Instant Messaged: i don't remember
You Hugged: my mom
You Yelled At: is kimchi a person?
You Played A Sport With: i don't remember

WHAT'S THE LAST
Time You Laughed? about an hour ago
Time You Cried? about a week ago
Movie You Watched? might've been the wedding singer
Flavor Of Gum You Chewed? some sort of minty thing
Joke You Told? i don't remember
Song You've Sung? i think it was that "a day! a day! what a nice day oh yeah!" from a few questions back.

RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT
Where Are You? in my den
What Can You See Out Your Window? if i turn around i see the post office
Are You Listening To Music? no
What Are You Wearing? a long sleeve shirt and my "sunset glory" konglish tshirt and jeans
What's On Your Mousepad? we have a special mouse that requires no pad

BELIEFS
Do you believe there is life on other planets? yeah
Do you believe in miracles? yes
Magic? no
Love at first sight? maybe "lust at first sight" or a "strong sense that we should date at first sight"
God? yes
Satan? i believe there's evil in the world
Ghosts? yes
Santa? of course
Evolution? yes

IN A BOY...
Fav Eye Color: brown or green
Fav Hair Color: brown
Short or Long Hair: whatever works for them
Height: taller than me
Weight: height/weight proportionate
Best Clothing Style: pay careful attention to how your jeans go with your shoes. seriously, whatever works for them

RANDOM
What Country Would You Most Like To Visit? spain or greece
Number Of CD's I Own: lots
Your Good Luck Charm: don't have one
How many pillows do you sleep with? i have a ton but i only use 1
Do you drink milk? only with cereal
Person You Hate Most: i don't hate anyone
Most Outdated Phrase: i don't know
Do you think God has a gender? no
Where do you think we go when we die? heaven
How many rings until you answer the phone? about 3
What is something scientists need to invent? i should make a list
Are you a health freak? off and on
If you could travel into space, where would you go? to another galaxy
What is the worst weather? the end of winter when everything is gloomy and mushy
Did you play with Barbies as a child? like it was my job
How many grades have you failed? none

happy anniversary

2006-10-01T10:22:00.000-04:00

as i was changing my calendar to october today, i realized something... wasn't it this time last year that i was united with a pipsqueak of a tan furball?

that's right, checking back at the date in my blog, it's been officially one year (taking the time difference into account) since i got kimchi.

it's funny to look back at those days now and think "wow, that was an entire year ago."

for those who may be wondering about kim-man's progress, i can safely tell you he's turned into a little shithead. he used to be very sweet (well most of the time), but he can't seem to find his alpha place living with two people and two dogs. he almost seems bipolar. he'll lay on your lap one second loving every second of contact, and the second you try to move him he turns into the spawn of satan (a new nickname which he has acquired since his us arrival). hopefully cesar gave celeste aka dog whisperer, jr. some good tips on dealing with pint-sized terrorists.

happy anniversary mr. kim. it's been a whirlwind of a year.

doncha know

2006-09-30T08:59:00.000-04:00

well kiddies i am officially very excited. i will be moving out to the twin cities right after thanksgiving to live with al, one of her friends, and possibly salsa in al's aunt's house. we'll be there for a few months housesitting and then we'll get an apartment together.

i don't have a job, but am going to apply to just about every place that's hiring... cafes, state jobs, entry level jobs, you name it, i want it. it would be nice to get out there and work a steady job and save up to allow me time and money to look at grad schools. i'm also selling my car as soon as i can- that will give me a nice little nest egg to start out with. i figured i'd be ok with no car seeing how al and salsa both have cars and i have no problem with buses. if worse comes to worse i can always get a cheaper car with that money (though i love my lumina so...).

i'm house/dogsitting this weekend because my mom and celeste got tickets to see a lecture by cesar millan, so they went with my dad and chris down to staten island. the plan is to use this time and silence wisely to research jobs and such.

i should also seriously be looking into heavy duty parkas and snow shoes. word is it's COLD out there.

let the good times roll.

good vibrations

2006-09-26T20:46:00.000-04:00

back from vacation. amber left for the airport this morning. it was a great time and the house was AMAZING.

i think after a bed count we determined that 20 people could easily sleep in the house with room to spare. you could fit more if you wanted to have more than 2 people in the king-sized beds. seriously. even hetty had her own bed.

so what did we do with our time? a whole lot of nothing. after having a great time at the irish fest on saturday (which involved inviting some pipe band members to the house with the king-sized beds as the incentive), we got up early sunday morning and got to the cape at around 3. after some confusion as to which house was actually OURS (which involved trying to open every door on house 15... turns out we were 45), we were inside and unloading. the house was on the bayside of wellfleet, just down the road from the harbor, where we always used to drive by and say how amazing it would be to rent one of those houses. we had our own beach and a view to kill... wait, what?

we went to dinner at the bookstore, which started a string of good luck with restaurants. celeste called that night and decided she was going to leave that night and get there at 1 am instead of leaving the following morning, so we waited up for her.

on monday we went to head of the meadow national seashore in truro and had goulash for dinner. kimchi and i really enjoyed the ocean breeze.

tuesday we spent all day at our beach and went to nauset beach club (possibly one of the nicest restaurants i've ever been to) for dinner. i was able to finally get my snorting mojito fix.

wednesday was spent in provincetown, where we did some shopping. side story: my parents told us that they would get us each something. thinking we had a $20-30 limit, i found an awesome turquoise necklace in a jewelry store where everything was half off. i thought the original price was fifty something dollars, turned out i read it wrong and it was ninety something, so my dad ended up spending $47. "oops."

we had a tasty lunch at governor bradford's.

we also got some tasty fudge.

then, i made roasted red pepper lasagna for dinner. amber really liked it!

on thursday we went to the vineyards for a wine tasting and came home with a few bottles of a merlot blend, a cranberry blend, and some sickeningly sweet white wine.

we had dinner at duck creeke, where i definitely had the best meal of the week- "shrimp margarita"- tequila cooked shrimp with rice and beans and really good veggies.

we also got some key lime pie, but celeste and i decided we'd enjoy it more by wearing it.

on friday we did some shopping in wellfleet and hung around at our beach again. celeste and i went clamming and ended up with a ton of topneck clams.

my family got fresh lobster to have a seafood feast. i wanted no part in the lobster. as celeste can show you, lobsters aren't the only ones that get hurt during the meal.

my dad, however, couldn't have been happier.

saturday was our only day of lousy weather... very windy and cloudy. celeste decided to go home a day early, and the rest of us went to see little miss sunshine (finally... it was really good). after, we went to dinner at winslow's tavern, which completed our week of amazing food. i also enjoyed a few gin martinis.

of course, we cheated a little in choosing the restaurants because my parents and i had been to these places before, so we kind of chose on a "best of" basis.

all in all, good family, good food, good times.

we were sad to leave.

no, really. it was very sad.

good times good eats

2006-09-14T08:56:00.000-04:00

being home isn't all bad. it's nice to have a neverending monetary supply when it comes to buying food. i've been keeping myself pretty busy with dreaming up and cooking dinners every day. with every meal i make, that cookbook al and i are working on seems a bit more real.

last night i got a little cross-cultural. i made tabouli-stuffed eggplant and a mexican lasagna. the night before i made a really good pesto pizza. and the day before that i made my best spinach and artichoke dip yet. last week i made an AMAZING roasted red pepper lasagna, but we won't talk about that because i followed a recipe. it was good, nonetheless.

it's a lot easier to indulge in foods now that i have my own treadmill again and an watch tv while i run. those miles really go by quickly and i'm beginning to feel my muscles again.

at the moment i should be cleaning the house, but i decided to sit back and enjoy my coffee first. tonight my mom and i are going to make baked macaroni and cheese. it's one of the best dishes in the family and i've decided it's about time i learned how to make it. but we're really making it because AMBER'S COMING HOME TONIGHT! oh how exciting. i haven't seen her since may of last year. i'm not sure what tomorrow holds... perhaps shopping. saturday we'll be going to the irish fest at the altamont fairgrounds because my dad is playing with the pipe band. and of course the next day we'll be leaving for THE CAPE!

we've already decided one night will have to be sister's night out, another night all of us will go to a karaoke bar (where i can release all of my pent up noraebang energy), and in addition to visiting the vineyard and days at the beach we'll have to spend a day in provincetown.

let's hope the weather gods will bestow us with plentiful sunshine.