Quick update. I saw Juno on Friday, loved loved loved it. So far, favorite movie of the year is still Waitress. Then followed by Michael Clayton, Juno, and Atonement, in no special order. I still feel conflicted about how much I like Atonement, but I just think it was really well done.

Will be back in HK on the night of the 25th. Am so looking forward to it. Need to rest the synapses in my brain, thoroughly.

Finished "Atonement" the book on Saturday, went to see "Atonement" the film on Sunday. My review is it's the most visually stunning film I've ever seen, and the sound effects/ music really added to the visual too. However, because the story is rather complicated, many many people were discussing the plot and all confused after the film. It's worth just seeing it for the sensory aspects though.

Today faced a work crisis which isn't really a crisis says my level head as it was totally not my fault and rather the direct fault of my customer. Trying not to freak.

Then I couldn't stop beaming because I got a corporate gift from Tiffany & Co.! My contact person sent me a holiday gift!! This is what she sent me, except each square is different (two pieces of each flavor). This made my month. I didn't like caramels until now! Yum, they are sooo good. But that's not the point. I got a corporate gift!

Today was lecture day at my voice lesson. As in, I got lectured. About how I should be doing more to achieve greatness, basically. Makes me go Argh.

There's a theme to my favorite TV ads. I only recently realized. Take a showtune. Add a celebrity. Add elation. They make me oh so very happy. (Funny how the screencaps of the middle and last vids are similar.)

Maris Sharapova, Nike


Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson, Gap


Penelope Fortier, MasterCard

how much i heart my friends

I talked to Vivian last night and she is practically forcing me to read "Atonement," so we can "discuss" it, so I bought it at Barnes & Noble, since all 15 or so copies at the public library are checked out, probably because the movie's coming out in 1 week. I hope to finish it before the movie comes out, since it sucks doing it the other way around. I've never heard her--or anyone--so excited about literature.

Just finished "Kafka on the Shore." OK maybe I'm dumb or lazy to think, but I didn't really get it. Now I can catch up on my Time magazines, woohoo!

"...slung between a neurotic and an iceberg, Amelie retreats into her imagination."

This week

So I had to do origami at a big trade show from Sunday to Wednesday. It's a metal fabrication and welding show. Booo. I hated it because I had to wake up at 7. Had to take two trains to get there. Had to wear a suit (possibly the worst part). 95% of attendance were men, and everyone assumed I was one of those trade-show models instead of a legitimate businesswoman.

Problem was, my recital was Sunday night. I think I did well, like maybe a 8.5 out of 10. The only problem was a high note at the end that was not brilliant, but there were reasons for that--my teacher decided I was gonna do that note only last week so I had never rehearsed it, etc. And also the accompaniment was a bit problematic as he didn't give me room to breathe. But all in all, I think it was good. I just wish my teacher would stop insulting me with the order she chooses to have people sing in--as in, either put me before intermission or have me close the show, k?

Then on Monday night, we had to go see a free screening of the Battlestar Galactica Razor movie, showing 2 weeks before it airs on TV. We really had to see this because we don't get SciFi channel anyway, add that to it being free, and in Evanston, so I had to go even though it meant having no time to take care of any other orders at the time.

Therefore, I've been completely swamped with filling orders yesterday and today, hoping to get them to customers before we leave for California. I am exhausted.

I am swamped and freaked out with all the orders I have to fill... I always doubt how fast I can really fold and assemble and cut, but I know I can pull it out in the end. And really, it's rewarding when you get customers who are probably the best people on the continent (versus, say, if I sold grenades or something), you want to do it well for them.

Normally, I'd be cool with sleeping less and stuff. But I have to work at a trade show for 4 days next week and have to be on a normal sleep schedule in order to wake up for it. Also, I've been juicing everyday and have never felt healthier. Plus, I have a recital on Sunday. I have to HAVE TO do well.

I went to my voice lesson today and my teacher was just about gonna kiss my feet for singing the absolute best I've ever sung, especially after an abysmal rehearsal two weeks ago. It's been so much crazy singer shit I've been doing, like mad visualization, mental rehearsal crap, focusing, singing in front of a mirror, fixing my tongue, fixing my posture, reading books, warming up at home, diva-ing it up in the car, eating breathing this, but I swear the juicing is what did it. (But I hate to say it out loud b/c then it's not gonna work anymore.)

Which is why I'm feeling very guilty right now drinking coffee and eating a pumpkin muffin from Panera. I haven't had coffee in over a week, k? But I realize I shouldn't be drinking it now that I'm trying to sleep earlier and earlier (last night I slept at 2:15). Anyhoo, sorta decided on what's gonna be in my juice: carrot, celery, cucumber, kale, Romaine lettuce, and pear. It tastes awesome as long as you don't put too much kale in.

Last weekend we got a juicer and made juice with celery, cucumber, apples, pears, and carrots.

I was very inspired by Kris Carr, who appeared on Oprah to talk about her documentary and book. She was a 31-year-old model and actress who found out she had stage-4 cancer, as in, incurable. Instead of waiting to die, she decided to look into every kind of way to improve her health, mostly with diet, but she tried every single thing you can do. Her cancer becomes stable and she is doing well. One of the things she did was to make juice from vegetables. It's a small thing, but considering the fact that I usually only ingest coffee during the entire day before dinner, having fresh organic vegetable juice will probably make a difference for me. (Although I wonder why I don't just EAT the stuff, so I think it would make more sense to juice some worse-tasting vegetables that are even healthier, 'cause that's the whole point of drinking it right? It's not supposed to taste this good!)

Funny, I just went to her blog and the top entry is about how gross milk is. V.Li just told me the exact same thing a few days ago! OK no milk for me.

And one day, it hit me...

I'm Tiffany's bitch!

just a few examples

I hate being forced to continue patroning companies that have wronged me in the past.

1. FedEx. They charged a shipment to me instead of the recipient. I called and told them to change the charge to the recipient. The person said there is a $10 service charge for that. I was looking right at the shipment online, where it says the shipment is to be billed to the recipient. She accused me of doing the online thing wrong and said she can transfer me to IT so they can teach me how to use it. Um, I've prepared like 30 FedEx shipments online, every one was billed to recipient or 3rd party and never did it wrong, including this one. And I was staring RIGHT AT IT, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, where it says bill to recipient (followed by the recipient's FedEx number). Of course, these customer service people don't know how the online thing works so she has no idea what I was talking about anyway. This is putting me in a stabbing mood.

2. The Post Office. Even Ned Flanders hates the Post Office. But can't live without it.

3. Landlords. Well, you can't just pack up and move every time they do something assholey.

4. Comcast Cable. Yup, they have a monopoly on cable television in Illinois. Trust me when I say: they've wronged me.

been meaning to introduce to the world...

These are the best shoes ever! I bought them in March of this year and have been in love ever since. I love the short, round toe, the bow that's actually the wrong side of a piece of leather folded intricately, the distressed color, the heel, and comfort. They were on clearance!! Original price US$149. The tag said $75. I was ecstatic they came in my size. Then when the salesman rang them up, they were actually $46! I couldn't believe it, especially after I started wearing them and found them to be pretty much the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. I love these shoes, they are so perfect.

(Max Studio)

Very Victorious cacti

I can only keep cacti alive. I've had these for over two years and love how one of them is currently making a peace sign.

I also have an orchid plant but it hasn't flowered since I bought it four years ago. The leaves are nice.

Spammers, how to get me to read your emails

Dear Spammers and Scammers: You are all morons!!! If you really want someone to read and believe your sob story and millions of funds are legit, you have to write your emails according to proper conventions. Geeeezzzzzz. You give yourselves away too easily.

Why must you make up stupid names like "David John" or "John Davids"? How many people have the last name "John"? Tacking an "s" on the end of a name doesn't automatically make it a last name either. Or sometimes there's something like "Mary Goodness" or "Teresa Sincerity." Argh! Stop using fake last names that are supposed to tug at our Christian heartstrings! It just screams SCAM!

Also, seriously, no one uses the name "Mr.John Smith" or Mrs, Miss, etc in the names that show up in the Inbox. NO ONE DOES THIS except you. It doesn't make your email look more legit or more formal. And there is always a space after a freaking punctuation mark.

OK next thing, subject line. Don't use your fake name as your subject. Do not write "From Mr.John Smith" as the subject. This is redundant information, that's why no one does it! Automatic deletion!

Why one earth do you even bother sending an email that starts "Dear,"? "Dear" followed by comma, that is just not the way you write a letter. If you don't even have time to write my name, why should I believe that you really need me and only me to help transfer your billion dollars? And don't even get me started on "Dear Sir,". If you get me to take a peek into your email just to make sure it's not spam, the "Dear Sir" is a deal breaker in getting me to continue reading. I'm not a Sir. Sorry to disappoint.

Tulum

We got back from Mexico on Tuesday. It was so beyond awesome. I love Tulum. I love Mexican decor and crafts, all the Mexican people we encountered, the food, the beaches, the Mayan ruins, everything.

That Umbrella Song

I've previously blogged about my dislike for that Rihanna singer. I know, she's hecka huge now, but my husband still changes the radio channel when her songs come on, even if it's to the classical channel. That's how influential I am in his musical taste.

However, I am sometimes captivated by her. Sometimes purely by how awesomely bad she sounds. Sometimes by her bangs or hotpants. Sometimes just to ponder how appropriate the song "Shut Up and Drive" would be as a theme song for the short-lived TV series "Drive." As for the song "Umbrella"... I know it's like this summer's anthem, but I can't stand her nasally "ella ella ella eh eh eh", yet it captivates me with its awesomely bad catchiness...

I am in love with this acoustic version by Marie Digby. Anyone who can improve a Rihanna song enough for me to love it is a master.

This version by Mandy Moore is so not good in comparison. Too slow, for one.

Just finished "Prisoner of Trebekistan." It was really GOOD. I highly recommend it to anyone who's even seen "Jeopardy!" (of course, I am a huge fan). It's not what I expected at all. Great writing, funny writing, intricate writing, and it's not just about the game show, it's a poignant, heartfelt, insightful, good-humored memoir. I love this book and this guy. It will change the way you see Jeopardy! and the world.

I started to read "Seat of the Soul" and stopped after the first chapter. It was lame. Just some guy rambling on about what I can only describe as a religion he made up.

7 days 'til Mexico.

Pack rat

Just finished Cloud Atlas. Fun to read with endearing characters, I miss some of them. But overall the book is very tiring and mind-boggling. My mind needs to rest now. Going to check out Prisoner of Trebekistan tomorrow. Currently listening to the opera Manon from YouTube, it's so beautiful it hurts. Hurts, I tells ya. Hurts as much as realizing "Firefly" (the TV show) isn't real.

I am the biggest pack rat. Considering the fact that I've moved 11 times in the past 11 years, if you count each year packing up all my stuff before the summer and moving into a new dorm room in the fall. Yet, I still have "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" from 10th grade. I loved that book. That's why I still have it. It went into the boxes and came back out 10 times. More shockingly, I realized I still have a lipstick I bought in the 6th grade. It survived my cross-continental move before 10th grade, until now. It was during a time when frosted light pink lipstick was THE thing. The only place in HK I could find the "right" shade was the estee lauder counter, so I splurged, after thinking about it for a long time. Of course, it looks ridiculous by today's fashion, especially on non-white skintones. I think I finally threw it out a few weeks ago, or did I?

I have a problem. But I'm getting better. I hardly buy anything nowadays except during our quarterly shopping spree at the outlet mall 50 minutes away. And by "spree"... well, it's an overstatement. Anyway, most of my elective spending is on voice lessons and other singing-related items, such as books, CDs, pitch pipe (I've graduated from the pitch fork), etc. But I digress. I am emotionally less attached to stuff, which I think is a healthier but somehow sad, like I care less now. Bygones are bygones? The memories live in my mind and not in objects? Something like that.

As a side note, my favorite lip gloss right now (because lipstick is so eight years ago) is one that V. Li gave me about 3 years ago that's Urban Decay. Oddly, I was inspired by one of Lindsay Lohan's pre-glaze-eyed red-carpet appearances in which she has dark hair, a fabulous navy dress, and a bright but not garish pink lip. I'm not delusional, I matched it to the lipgloss from V. Li and it looks great on me!

Dean

I've been obsessively following Hurricane Dean on TV and online (lots of maps), because I, my husband, Tim, and Busta just booked a fun-filled trip to Tulum, Mexico, for mid-Sept. I don't want to seem super insensitive, but I really hope there will not be a lot of damage where we are going. They are saying Category 5. They are talking about the paths (below) with certainty. Having lived in Florida for 1.5 years, let me tell you, around northern Florida where I lived during that time, not once was the projected path or hurricane category accurate. So I am just hoping that this one will turn into something much smaller instead of their predicted 5.


As of this post, this is the projected wind damage for the area:



As you can see, Tulum is predicted to be right on the cusp between orange and yellow.

line crime!

This summer has so far been a summer of a very VERY large number of very well-reviewed movies, such as Sicko, Knocked Up, Simpsons Movie, Hairspray, Ratatouille, Rescue Dawn, and some decently reviewed ones, such as Die Hard 4, Harry Potter 5, Spider Man 3, Pirates 3, Ocean's 13 (that's a 3), Transformers. Just thought I'd point that out.

We went to see Bourne 3 today (and Simpsons). This movie is very well-reviewed. I would say that I enjoyed it most this summer. I pretty much like all the Bourne movies. I remember after seeing the second one with Tim, when we came out he said it was pretty lame, and I was like, I thought it was pretty awesome. Heeheehoohoo. That song they play right before the credits start rolling always makes me smile.

However, Bourne 3 committed a line crime in my mind (pretty slick huh) that I am so sick of. It's when there's a high-up person, usually a cop or director of a government agency, yelling orders at the people working for him/her, and he/she says "I need that information yesterday!" or "I want it on my desk fifteen minutes ago!" UGH... not only is it an impossibe demand, which just makes the person sound idiotic and tyrannical (when the character is not), but who on earth actually talks like that in real life? Not that I've ever been around a similar person or situation, but I bet they don't talk like that.

[Other than that, I also hope the line "I threw up in my mouth a little," which has come in vogue in the past few years, will die.]

Bourne was just fun spying and punching and MacGuyver-ing. My experience was further enhanced by the couple sitting behind me. The guy announced out loud every new city Bourne went to, even when it was written on the screen. I wasn't annoyed but rather amused; although I initially thought he was doing it because his companion was illiterate or something, but turns out he is just one big show-off. The woman "woo"ed after every long bit of hands-on combat, but it was funny during this really intense scene (hint, it ends in a bathroom), she would gasp and "oooh!" and "woah," which made me LOL. What was unusual was after that scene, people in the audience audibly went Oh my god. Bourne rocks.

A Few Things

1. This cool article in Time Magazine about icebergs that makes me happy. It's really short, check it out!

2. Hilary Clinton for President!

3. I got a call today, my super crappy audition resulted in a chorus position. [Makes me strongly question the quality of the chorus.] I accepted and am happy. I once swore I would never work for free unless for charity; but there's a reason artists are starving.

4. So far intrigued by Cloud Atlas, 60 pages in.

5. So far undefeated this season against my husband on the tennis court.

6. Can't type, have to either origami or brush teeth. Byes.

7. OK last thing. Steve was here last weekend and this is the message I got after we dropped him off at the airport early: "Guess what, I took an earlier flight to nyc but half way through wehad 'fuel' problems and returned to ohare. Then we had to take a newflight to JFK instead. Now I'm getting in at 2am, much later than theoriginal. Funny how things work out."

One of the best hours of my life: picnicking by the lake with my husband.

Man I love Evanston in the summer and all the naysayers are in denial.

OK now I'm gonna blog about a big pet peeve I have when watching movies! It is when the young and old versions of characters don't look anything alike! This drives me nuts!

1st case in point:

Jack's son from Will & Grace and Tobey Maguire in "Seabiscuit"

I was pretty offended that the casting people thought the audience would accept this pairing as young/old versions. And what age difference are they supposed to play? Tobey Maguire has such a baby face he looks only 5 yrs older, in which case the change in appearance would be way too great.

2nd case in point:
Edison/Andy Lau, Yue Man Lok/ Tony Leung in "Infernal Affairs"

There are some similarities, but I am against the use of different actors for full-grown adults who are supposed to have a mere 10 year age difference. I know, I know, the two younger ones were at least partially used to attract the some screaming girls into the theaters, but still.

3rd case in point:
Wentworth Miller and Anthony Hopkins in "The Human Stain"

Um. People have issues with the casting choice for this movie because this character plays a pale black person, and people think it's impossible to think of Hopkins as black. Well... I think the young/old casting choice is even harder to believe.

4th case in point:

That kid and Christian Bale in "Batman Begins"

They may have cast this kid purely because he's got that traumatized look.

EXAMPLES OF GOOD YOUNG/OLD VERSIONS:

That awesome kid and Audrey in "Amelie"

That kid and Ethan Hawke in "Great Expectations"

That kid and Matt Damon in "The Departed"

EDITED TO ADD: another pairing I think is great is that kid and Collin Farrell in "Alexander."

Gonna lie down and die a little

Short version: I totally bombed an audition and now I feel like crap.

Long version:

I know it's trivial in the "bigger scheme of things," like one simple, not very important audition's not gonna kill me or anyone else. In fact, I should probably say What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger. I shouldn't be super pissed and dwell upon it and replay it in my head 100 times. However, this is a huge deal to me. 1) I normally sing this song very well. I'm pissed that I am such a nervous wreck I can't keep it together for 10 minutes. 2) My teacher said I will do great. It's bad enough to let yourself down, but to let ur teacher down... 3) My nerves are not improving, does not bode well for anything in the future.

So anyway, I'm not over it.

I need to chill

I leed to cheew

Or heart failure is imminent

Got out of bed because officially can't sleep at 5:30AM.

A few days ago I came across the magazine that has my stuff in it in the supermarket. Here are the scans.

I ended up borrowing Cloud Atlas and returned Nausea, as it was unenjoyable.

However, I first read The Complete Professional Audition. Only half of it (the part about singing) is partially relevant for me, because half of it talks about monologues, which I also read through and found interesting.

Currently reading A Soprano on Her Head, which, in short, is about movement in music. I initially thought the writer sounded a bit too aging-hippy, but quickly found it very intersting. The class she teaches musicians is to dance to a piece of music that you have to perform, and the emotions will come out in one's music performance. To not think, just feel. Well, at least it made sense when I read it.

Got back to cross-stitching today after not being able to for about 2 weeks. Is looking good, yay!

Ninja Cat with built-in night vision

THAT IS SO COOL!!!

...is something I find myself saying a lot these days, concerning my high school. The boarding school I went to has undergone massive changes in the past few years, and the newest cool thing is what I received in the mail today:

NMH has a new address as of July 1, 2007!
Northfield Mount Hermon School
One Lamplighter Way
Mount Hermon, MA 01354

HOW COOL IS THAT? "One Lamplighter Way" is sooo much cooler than "206 Main Street." OMG. I am once again jealous of the peeps going there now. They are going to get the greatest arts building ever built by mankind soon, which is what I have been most jealous about recently. It's gonna house visual arts, music, and dance together under one building with state-of-the-art acoustics and floors and exhibit halls and whatnot. Some benefactor donated 10 million or something... what was the number? It was the largest ever.

(Yup, I guess now everyone realizes that the emblem is a "lamplighter".)

reading, singing

I forgot there was a different book I wanted to read, so I ended up checking that one out instead. It is Nausea by Sartre. We'll see how it goes.

And, currently singing "Poor Wandering One" from Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. I need to figure out acting in musical theater.

Just have to tout someone's horn

Why Avril Lavigne was destined to be a star (live acoustic performance of Nobody's Home):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66MFvu4-VaA
Live performance of When You're Gone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8oWY_0dMk8
(love what she does at 3:14.)

So good, so so so good. And so pretty! As V.Li and I (professional unbiased critics) conclude, Avril is the best live performer (ever).

There's just something about watching her sing, an awe that that sound is coming out of this person and that wavy mesmerizing vampire mouth.

Very shaky

Me singing Innocence by Avril Lavigne. Well, I pretty much belt all of the verses (not chorus), which is really hard for me and is why I'm verging on cracking all the time. I think I do the last chorus best. The bridge sucks! This is one of my least favorite bridges of any Avril song (bridges are definitely a staple of Avril songs), but I love the song overall.

EDITED to add: OK I've made this video private again so sorry it can't be viewed anymore.

to read

Just want to say that I finished East of Eden last week, and it was life-changing. It had a most important, touching, and profound message. But I cannot see myself ever reading it through again due to the length, writing style that was somehow harsh, and not-pretty plot. I've decided not to read Cannery Row, because I want to preserve East of Eden purely in my mind and not distort it with another book by the same author (like you know how authors tend to write about the same subjects over and over again).

So, probably gonna read Cloud Atlas, as recommended by my brother, mostly because of its name (heh). I can just see someone looking at the clouds, like maybe from a "Laputa, Castle in the Sky," with quill and parchment, drawing an atlas of clouds.

Pics from weekend

Arr, as expected, I suddenly went from bored to much self-induced busyness. Other than business, now I'm working on a very large cross-stitch project and doing my youtube singing videos. Argh, it would've been better if these ideas weren't put in my head at the same time. I found out about a website that lets you create cross-stitch patterns for free with an image. I just couldn't resist. It's pretty fun seeing how your patterns would turn out. Here's the link.

Oh and today I walked by Gap again and went in to see if the dress I wanted was further reduced, and it was! So I got it.

We didn't follow the arrow HAHAHA...


Florence's graduation reception. Second year in a row we attended someone's graduation from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

How to Kill 2 Hours

I have been very bored in the past few days. Actually, bored out of my mind. I know, I'll be missing this relaxation when I get busy again. But right now I haven't been busy with work, don't have much social life, don't really have any craftsy projects in the works, and (again) lacking in the area of media entertainment...

Anyway. Very bored. Drove to downtown Evanston. Fed an hour into the meter. Found the origami book I wanted but decided I don't want it. Got distracted by Gap's "biggest sale" (or something) on the way to Dunkin' Donuts. Tried on dresses. Revelation! I do not fit Gap's size 0 dresses?! Wanted one of them (size 4) but it was only discounted by $10. Must pass. Looked at watch. Egads! Must feed meter. Walked back to meter to feed another hour. Walked back to Dunkin' Donuts. Used coupon. The owner/manager is mean but is only mean to me. I've only been there a few times but have tried things to see if they make him not mean but doesn't work. Now he hates me more because I use coupons HA! Got my small iced coffee in hazelnut flavor (they were out of chocolate flavor. Or maybe he just says that to me.). Went to Barnes & Noble and browsed. I love Hokusai prints. Checked to see if the magazine that's gonna have my origami stuff in it is out yet (it's not). Oh well.

Then I went home and listed about 10 books on ebay--which is the most boring, tedious, mind-numbing thing ever.

Library Adventures

My voice teacher has been demanding that I listen to and watch loads of opera. So I finally got my butt to the Evanston Public Library yesterday to check out some CDs, since the NU library does not lend out recordings. It never occurred to me that the public library would have things I would want that a university library doesn't have. I am very excited about this. There's an origami book I wanted to get that they have.

Well, the thing about the EPL, it has an AMAZING sculpture in the stairwell:

From far away it looks like a head, but up close it is a complex mobile of tiny metal objects:

This is the artists' website.

Fruity Oaty Bar!

I've been meaning to get a new apron, since my old one is gross even on the inside. I ended up making this one today:

It's from the Fruity Oaty Bar advertisement in Serenity!! It's an iron-on transfer. I got the idea from a post on craftster.org, so not entirely original. I didn't sew the apron, I bought it at an art store, which is why it's an artist apron and not chef's apron. Also had to buy a new color cartridge, since the one in my printer was obviously out of red. And bought the transfer paper. This just goes to show how much more it costs to make stuff than to buy it at Wal-Mart. I haven't had a high success rate with iron-on transfers in the past, so I made sure I followed the instructions and read tutorials, and YES, SUCCESS! I love it.

You can see the ad in the context of the movie here, although the aspect ratio is wrong in the video, which is really annoying, since I love this scene:

Tuesday thoughts

I want to quit. Singing sucks. Except I love it. And hate it. And can't be without it. I don't need to study it. But when I do I learn. Ack.

Oprah announced her new Book Club book today: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I read this book about 2 years ago, and it was amazing. Well it did win the Pulitzer Prize. Even Oprah said she is slow in adding this book to the Club since she just got around to reading it. However, I really have no feelings left for Middlesex or most other novels for that matter since I read the one book that I most strenuously recommend, called The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer-Prize winner... unless you are one of my friends who has an aversion to books with over 600 pages (I think Middlesex is also 600 pages). It is my hands-down favorite.

Right now I am reading East of Eden (coincidentally, it's called "the book that brought back Oprah's Book Club" or something). It was recommended by Stephen Hui. And I don't get many book recommendations so I run with what I've got. The thing about it is the writing's not beautiful, in my opinion. And I don't think I want to read anymore family epics for a while. However, it's pretty riveting, and I'm not done yet... it's a 650-pager. I checked out the book from the NU library, and it's a recently-published (doesn't look like it's been checked out before, non-disgusting) collection of Steinbeck books, so I plan to also read Cannery Row before returning it.

And confession time... I have been very bad. Nothing's on TV, absolutely nothing (um well except reruns, fluff and filler). So we have been re-watching Firefly episodes, and I am crazy infatuated with every character. Also, we rented Slither last weekend--I know, I'm so bad. But Nathan Fillion! And Elizabeth Banks (except we call her Steak Dinner--I guess it's pretty impossible to guess why. Guess right and you get a gold star)!

Please go away

Saw these at a store today, countdown to Bush's last day in office:

I love 'em but refuse to let Bush influence what I will waste money on.

Movies, no spoilers

We got a movie pass again. It is a 2-week free trial at Blockbuster that's like an in-store and online combo thing that's just a crazy good deal, which only exists because obviously Blockbuster wants to stop people from using their nemesis Netflix any way they can, which in this case is just give away movie rentals. (For anyone interested, here's the deal. They send you movies and you send them back, and you can have three at a time. But that's not all! Each mailed movie can be returned in-store in exchange for an in-store movie, which does NOT count toward your three-movie maximum. Moreover, they give you one free in-store rental coupon. Of course, per Blockbuster's new-ish policy, no late fees (I'm not gonna go into the catch). All of this free for two weeks. In addition, supposedly you can keep getting the two-week free trial over and over again and no one cares.)

OK I didn't mean for that to be that long. Anyway, here is what we've rented: Children of Men, Night at the Museum, Notes on a Scandal, Wordplay, Deja Vu, Borat, Munich, Blood Diamond, A Scanner Darkly, The Last King of Scotland, Superman Returns, An Inconvenient Truth, Rocky Balboa. The last four of which have yet to be watched, and I've got a thing or two to say about each... which I won't do here... but so far all have been pretty good to great, except Borat, which I found extremely disturbing, excruciating to watch, and by the way, those were all unknowing/innocent people except for Pamela Anderson, so it really sucks for them. I would recommend people not see Borat. Even if you are curious, it's not worth knowing how dispicable it is. Secondly, Deja Vu has a huge plot hole! If you don't think about it TOO hard (because honestly you have to think about it pretty hard to sort out the plot and its hole), it's okay to watch. But my husband, being some mathematic/logic psychotic person, put the plot hole together right away, which makes Deja Vu the dumbest movie of 2006. Otherwise, I enjoyed or appreciated all the others very much, although none of them are for repeated viewing, as they are mostly hard to watch or very serious.

Even amidst our two-week rental extravaganza, we made time to see the very wonderful Waitress, which I must rave about so anyone reading this will be nudged to see it. Sadly, it is only in 116 theaters, but one of those theaters is Century in Evanston--so I'm not sad! I would probably see any film that has Nathan Fillion, and I sorta love Keri Russell after her small role in M:I 3, but it is also critically beloved, with a 89% tomatometer rating on rottentomatoes. It will make you smile in an Amelie kind of way, except it's not at all in utopia.

Goodbye Gilmores

Last night was the Gilmore Girls series finale. It was sad and extremely heartfelt. It ended with Rory getting a job and leaving, which makes total sense that the show would end when Rory graduates and leaves forever. Loralei and Luke were left open-ended. And the last shot was really sad but the absolute perfect ending. It's not exactly appropriate to mourn a TV show, but for Gilmore Girls fans, it is something to be mourned--at least for a short while. I feel like crying just writing this, which is something only its loyal viewers would understand. We will miss the Gilmores, Stars Hollow, it's inhabitants, and the hour we spent once a week in their lives.

Heroes

Tonight's Heroes episode has been my favorite so far. Problem is, I think my husband has a crush on Peter Petrelli (played by Milo Ventimiglia). Of course I am way ahead of him, since I've been crushing on Jess in Gilmore Girls (played by the same) since the turn of the century. Peter Petrelli is almost TOO cool and amazing, it's sickeningly sweet:

Weekend

Fri: Vietnamese dinner in Argyle, episode of Firefly

Sat: Brunch at Sola, Lincoln Park Zoo, dinner in Chinatown

Sun: Tennis

Lincoln Park Zoo (it's free!) has a very cool greenhouse/plant area. This is our second visit, the last time was two years ago right before a huge controversy/scandal when elephants died. Animals in zoos will always be controversial, but plants are equally fun to look at and do not carry controversy. These are da bomb:

And lamas are da bomb. I would want a lama if I ever have acres:

Cool pic of my flowers in Tiffany

from Cecilia in NYC. There's nothing like this in Chicago. Love it.

SUV moment

I love peace and am trying to be a big person, trying to say It's okay I'll do fine, trying to say I can innovate, but it pisses me off that I have two new competitors who are not playing fair by ripping off others. My mind is consumed by how I am going to crush them. I mean, that's how any normal business owner would react, right? It's not me being malicious, this is just a normal reaction!

Dear Competitors:

First Competitor, your website is an obvious copy of mine. You know, some people try to be creative and take pride in their original work. Maybe you should try it, you'll know what I mean. People say imitation is the best compliment, but I am highly offended that you would flat-out rip me off! Honestly, if you changed your site to not resemble mine, I'd be cool with you. But now I'm sorry to tell you this pool is not big enough for two fish. I've got tricks up my sleeve.

Second Competitor, you are hogging all the ad space. You are entitled to that, because all it takes is $, but it is totally unethical of you to steal an image from another person's site. If it were from my site, I would hunt you down and bitch slap you for that. You can't take a simple picture yourself, you have to steal it from someone else? And your aggressive ad placement just screams inferiority complex.

Prepare to get crushed.

in a pressure cooker

It's insane how much I've learned about singing and being a performer in the past 8 months or so. I know this is hard to believe, but being a singer/musician is a lot like being an athlete:
I. Physical aspects
a) muscle memory--training your muscles to have an automatic response from repeatedly practicing the action. First you build the muscles, then they move automatically when required. In singers, these are mostly abdominal muscles and muscles around ur mouth/throat, which are not easy to control (when compared to the bicep, for example), and the movement/contraction should be almost involuntary.

b) stamina. My singing sucks if I haven't eaten, which is why I stockpile bananas. I know it's "just" singing, but it's so tiring... for example, a recital that is about an hour long is quite difficult for a singer.

II. Mental aspects
a) concentration--both athletes and singers have to be "in the zone" to perform well. There are all sorts of weird exercises to help them tune everything else out.
b) evil mental garbage--ever see the movie "Wimbledon"? Thinking you'll mess up, thinking you're not good enough, what ifs... affect performance. You know how just some days you can't filter through the garbage, whether you're working or eating or reading, etc?

Well right now I'm singing a very beautiful aria called the Bell Song, from Lakme. My last lesson did not go well, because I couldn't stop thinking about the People Who Owe Me Money.

I'M BACK!!!

I've been living a hermetic blog life for a while but OK I have stuff to say.

Let me start of with the issue of PEOPLE WHO OWE ME MONEY.

Dear People Who Owe Me an amount of money large enough to be the down payment on a house, as in, you large corporation that rakes in the bucks but has issues paying vendors in a timely manner: I love you, I really do, you gave me loads of business and have been very nice to me and loose with money the whole time... [edited out details] ...and for that, I thank you.

However, it is not cool for you to pay me 1 - 2 months after your very complex order has been successfully delivered--early, even--without a single problem. I know this is not an outrageous amount of time for most large companies, but I am small, and if I had the money you owe me, I can put it into a CD account, for example, which is why there is such a thing as "interest" that occurs as time passes, to make up for those hundreds of dollars in earnings lost.

Again, you are awesome, I would probably want to work for you if I had a 9-5 job, and your products are legendary, but, this is just not cool.

To anyone who's reading...
I highly recommend the series finale of some dumb 5-season show called "Alias." OK I sorta love that show. I (badly) stayed up unnecessarily late to rewatch the finale. Some scenes feel like Mission Impossible 3. The bad guy REALLY gets it. I mean, the worst thing that can happen to a bad guy who wants to take over the world. The ending is very bittersweet, which is exactly how a finale should be. Surprisingly, every character is accounted for in the end. I appreciated that the creators did not rush through the story to end the flailing series. As a bonus, both the series finale and series premiere have scenes in Hong Kong. I would also recommend the first 2 seasons, especially the series premiere. Have you noticed that Sydney cries in every single episode (and I mean, in all 5 seasons, that's more than 100 times--because sometimes she cries more than once)? Of course one of the premises that makes the series work is that Sydney is extremely emotional--a very emotional CIA double agent woman who saves the world with her once-estranged father, her ex-fiance who got married to someone else when he thought she was dead, and her ex-fiance's new wife (who turns out to be working with evil terrorists), her half-sister whom she didn't know existed, and at times, her ex-KGB mother whom she believed to be dead most of her life who killed her ex-fiance's father among many, and the bad guy who is also her half-sister's father. Drama ensues.

It doesn't sound like it, but I've been very busy! Until this moment, now I'm not very busy again. Yay.

I think I might be going crazy. My mind's having these images or stories flash in and out that I sometimes can't figure out are dreams or reality.

I have been very busy making a living ever since getting back from HK but can finally breathe as I shipped off the order yesterday, yay!! However, I was able to carve out time to see the best movie of the year in the opinion of the wong-ko household: PAN'S LABYRINTH. It is disturbing and depressing but oh so glorious. It's a movie that sticks with you. I am rooting for them for all their Oscar noms.

Too bad for the Departed, only got acting nom for Mark Wahlberg.

Hong Kong

Holiday in HK was fun. Got to see important people. It always gives me a lot to think about, which might not always be good... Some pics...

BEFORE the trip:

Me with major Christmas decorations and a sea of people in the background:
Jared fixing his hair:

At Florence's wedding: