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:

Tuesday Syndrome

Tuesdays are i-hate-me days. I work my butt off practicing an aria about 100 times in a week, then go to my lesson and totally mess it up! Man, opera is freaking hard. There's everything technical, then there's emoting. I personally, humbly speaking, find it very hard to emote in a language I don't speak! It's too easy to forget what you're singing.

And my teacher totally coddles me! She is very unmean! But I still feel like crap.

On a different note, see an absolutely AMAZING Eponine here. "One more day all on my own! One more day with him not caring!" Original Broadway cast of Les Miserables. Kinda scary Marius and Cosette (why does Cosette have to wear the ugly black dress with lace collar BTW?). Everyone else is beyond brilliant. I've watched this video like 15 times.

Paris

My husband surprised me with a trip to Paris over thanksgiving so we went for 5 days!! It was fun. We went to see all the touristy stuff. France is so craaazy I could've taken a thousand pictures. Like all the ornamentation on the buildings, those boggle my mind. Fashion-wise, there was a huge trend of wearing your boots over your pants, I guess that's kind of an 80s comeback. And it is very strange, there are really no fat people in Paris. But I must say their subway is really disgusting; I've been spoiled by the MTR in HK.

Shot of the river:

A store window with a fancy castle:
PRINCESS MONONOKE!!! (At the Louvre):
Notre Dame:
Crepes:
At Versailles. Since we went in the winter, Versailles wasn't looking its best. This fountain was sooo cool though, the bottom tier has four merfolk (split-tail style, like the Starbucks logo), then cherub mer-kids above, then fish, then lobsters on top. HOW COOL:

Self-explanatory. I am thankful that a steady-handed tourist girl walked by at this moment:

I can't believe I watched 4 episodes of X-Files while folding and chatting tonight. I'm so happy I got to chat with Karen for a long time tonight :)

SCULLY: That was Detective Manners. He said they just found your bleeping UFO.

ok i didn't actually watch 2.5 of the episodes since I was chatting. Another one's starting right now but I am going to sleep!

hi world

For the past week, every day has seemed like a grind repeating itself over and over again. Every night when I turn my light out at (avg) 3:45am, I feel like where did the day go, this is just like yesterday. There's so much in my head that I wish to calm by reading or writing, neither of which I can do, because I've been doing a project that has me working from the moment I wake until the moment I turn the light out... but I'm shipping that order off today!

One exception was Casino Royale and Babel that we saw on Saturday.

Casino Royale: the new Bond is very... sinewy. If the world is a buffet and we are all food, the new Bond would be roasted prime rib. A yummy, juicy hunk of steak. The Bond girl (Eva Green) would be molton chocolate cake.

(Me: an out-of-season mango.)

Babel: remind me never to see another Babel/Traffic/Syriana type movie ever again. You know the ones--1) three separate stories that are connected, 2) involves children dying or in danger, 3) scenes that take place in the desert or Mexico or both in the case of Babel, 4) stars a cast member from "Ocean's 11", 5) moody cinematography and music and reality-style camera work, 6) and don't forget the political issues such as drug trafficking, oil, gun control, illegal immigration! OK I liked Syriana a lot. But these movies are so depressing and disturbing, I can't deal. I will stay away from any future movies that give off a Babel/Traffic/Syriana vibe.

Confession:

I LOVE "SPY GAME" (the movie)

I'm a dork

No wonder I'm a K(nock)O(ut) :P

Time's Op-Ed article last week I found very funny. It's about a study that shows people form opinions about other people in a 100-millisecond glance based on their faces, using a very low-level part of our brains. For example, Clinton looks like an "affable rascal" and Putin is "less gentle grandpa than live mink." The interesting question posed is to what extent do our personalities form our faces VS. our faces forming our personalities. Here is an excerpt (it's not on their website):

"Faciel symmetry appeals to us too. Dick Cheney's least trustworthy feature is easily his smile, a lopsided thing that makes him look as if half his face is pleased with something while the other half is paying bills....

The mingling of face and temperament raises the question of whether the two co-evolve or one produces the other. Was John Kerry's hangdog face responsible for his sodden campaigning? Did Richard Nixon grow his shadowy stubble, or did his shadowy stubble grow him? The British weekly New Scientist has touched on this, exploring what is known as nominative determinism--the common case of people whose names echo their jobs. There is a director of penal reform Frances Crook, the marine biologist Steven Haddock. American culture has been rife with such synchonicity--pitcher Rollie Fingers, Senator George McGovern. 'Are these whimsicalities of chance," Carl Jung once asked, "or the suggestive effects of the name?'

If name drives careers and faces drive personalities, we should have sympathy for politicians consigned by countenance to personalities they might not have chosen. As the midterm elections end and presidential hopefuls look ahead to 2008, there are perils for both the lovely and the unlovely. Those easy on the eye should take care not to overstate the point (MITT ROMNEY: MORE SYMMETRICAL THAN EVER!). Those with aesthetic hurdles should consider whther it's finally time for that eye lift or chin tuck...."

Recital

Today was the recital for my teacher's students. First off, it was in a house that had the most stunning entertaining area I'd ever seen; they obviously only bothered with the 2 living room areas, dining room, and kitchen; their bedrooms and basement was just so-so. It had a contemporary style with clean lines and spacious rooms and large beautiful wall art, huge ceiling-to-floor windows stretching and wrapping around the whole area. The room we sang in is made just for this type of thing (the homeowner's a huge opera fan), with a Steinway grand piano, friendly acoustics, hardwood floors, and light flooding in from the glass walls and skylights. OK I just had to start with that.

About 14 people sang (my teacher has 32 students though). My song went okay I guess. Well basically, every person who sang, I'd be like "OMG this person is SO GOOD." I was so focused on how good everyone else was, I don't really know how I did.

The order went like this: 2 ladies who aren't very "serious" singers went first, then 8 advanced students, then intermission, then 4 less-advanced students. I was in the "advanced" section, something that increased nervousness... and these people were freaking GOOD...

In the advanced section 1) there were 2 musical-theater girls abt 25 yrs old who were amazing show stoppers, just perfect and showy. I didn't really get to talk to them, but they sounded completely pro to me. One of them had been with my teacher since she was 10, which makes it 14 yrs with her, waa?

2) There were 4 opera men who were REALLY good, at least I though so! One of them is 27 and is my teacher's star student who's going pro soon. However, I was more blown away by a teenage tenor, who, unfortunately, went right before me.

3) And there was 1 opera girl and me. She was good. I guess it didn't blow me away. Dunno.

For the less advanced people, 2 of them were like 17-18 I guess, and I know one of them wants to apply to music school this yr, and they were yeah not very impressive. Although everyone COULD sing, just not all great, sorta like how everyone on America's Next Top Model could be a small-time model somewhere. Anyway, of the less advanced, one of them was 15, and she was sweet, and one was 12, and she was such a charmer, cute to the extreme, and a decent musical theater singer... actually, she is EXACTLY like the little girl in "You've Got Mail" (Tom's Hank's aunt) who sings "Tomorrow," remember? Anyway, she did three songs and finished with "I Feel Pretty." She nailed the "for I'm loved by a pretty wonderful boy!" Everyone died of her cuteness.

I even suck at blogging

There's stuff I want to blog about but just can't be bothered sometimes because... my thoughts are so trivial! I'll provide a smattering...

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL: had me in stitches last night! I loved Caridee from the beginning and think she will win (she's soooo pretty and really good at modeling), but last night she was freaking hilarious... that show rocks.

RECITAL: this Sunday. I'd rather not talk about it because it nauseates me. Before my lessons I feel good about my singing. Then I get there and my teacher tells me everything I need to work on and then I feel bad about it. Then I practice a lot and then feel good again. Then go to the lesson and realize everything I still have to work on. Etc.

CURRENTLY READING: Acting for Singers. I wish I wasn't reading this book because reading about singing/acting is very weird/pointless.

BIZ: very busy as I've been saying... which is good but I want a day off. At this very moment I'm not super swamped because I'm waiting for some paper and can't do this order until it arrives--it's for the Oilily store window displays, so I'm excited I'll get to see them (2 Oilily stores in Chicago area).

LOST: last night was their "fall finale" or whatever. They've decided to do two finales per season... I know, weird... but basically they had new shows for 7 weeks, then a 2 month break, and back with 16 straight weeks. So 2 finales. Anyways... Mal was in it! Mal from Serenity/Firefly! He was in Kate's flashback. (Again, for those who don't watch Lost, I know you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about.) Ah, Mal. He played a cop who married Kate. Kate's flashbacks are my favorite, I like her stories.

OPERA: I really want to go see Salome at the Lyric Opera. The diva's supposedly crazy good. A voice that comes along "once in a hundred years," according to my teacher. And I want to see Salome, the most screwed up opera ever written! It was banned from the Met for a long time.

X-FILES: I watched 3 episodes last Monday night. Um, as a reminder, I watch while origami-ing. I really didn't want to see those episodes. One was the one where zoo animals were getting abducted by aliens. The next was the boat that made people age really quickly (I really dislike this ep and had been afraid it would come on). The 3rd ep was the sideshow circus people, Fiji Mermaid.

more of evolution, creation, etc.

This made me chuckle. Letter to the Editor in response to Time's cover article "What Makes Us Different" that explains the differences and similarities between humans and chimps (who share 99% DNA):

"'What Makes Us Different?' We're made in the image of God; chimpanzees are not. In understanding the genome, scientists can neither add to nor take away from this truth. Spiritual realities are not the province of the natural sciences. What is truly different between human beings and even our closest cousins in the animal kingdom is the ability to reason. The great apes are not reasoninig creatures, which doesn't mean they are unable to think in their own way. They just aren't able to sit around and pose questions like, What makes us different?"

had to share

u know what I realized from watching X-Files reruns? The guy who plays Alex Krycek appeared as a different minor character less than a year before he started playing Krycek!

blah blah blah

arrrr
I'm gonna send my submission to the RTHK/The Standard Short Story Competition 2006 tomorrow. I read this article online abt last year's competition receiving a record-breaking 800 entries in the junior and senior categories!! This is very disappointing because that means my chances are much lower than I thought. I don't know how many entries they got before when they were with the SCMP, but I came in co-3rd runner-up in 2004 (there was a 1st prize, a 1st runner-up, a 2nd runner-up, and two 3rd runners-up), so I thought there can't be THAT many entries. Now the task of winning seems much more daunting. How am I supposed to beat 400 people (that is if one estimates abt half of the entries are the junior category)? I don't think I'm gonna enter anymore if there are that many entries!!

I've been running on the treadmill now that there's a gym in our apartment building. I am literally in the last 3rd percentile worldwide when it comes to running. But I've actually not died yet so I think I got better stamina from all the tennis.

And I am officially very swamped... um, swamped and trying to be a singer, and write my short story, and go to the gym, and go to church, and... see Marie Antoinette and the Queen and the Prestige. Whatever, no biggie.

OH by the way, I am totally addicted to X-files rerun marathons while origami-ing on every Monday night from 11pm - 4am (which, I'm only up 'til like 3am, I sleep from 3am to 11am), sometimes Fridays, and right now it's Thursday and it's on, yay but I sometimes hate watching X-files reruns really late b/c it can get to be freaky. Like I had to not watch during that Brady Bunch house episode. It was kinda like the Shining! But a few months ago there was one of the funny episodes, and the local small-town sheriff was Luke Wilson and it was funny hahahaha... that's my favorite episode I guess... I sorta dislike the monster episodes most... the gov't conspiracy/alien ones used to be my favorite but they're maybe too serious, like sometimes you just want to watch a silly Buffy episode, not the ones about killing the "big bad." Anyway, yeah I like the funny X-files and ones that are kinda different, like the hallucination mushroom one, and the one that was like "Groundhog Day," those were good ones, and I think they were back-to-back. The one on right now is another small-town, log-cabin, sheriffs and rangers, and mysterious death ones. Sometimes I try to keep track of how many times Mulder has died. I think it's somewhere around 15, if you include misunderstandings.

I should NOT be blogging. What I should be doing now is threading tiny little needles with tiny little threads, then stringing them into tiny little cranes, adding a tiny little bead with a tiny little hole, then tying a tiny little knot. Repeat 175 times. It can make a girl crazy, lemme tell ya.

VERY EXCITED ABOUT (ramblings)

MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE PRESTIGE!!! Both coming out this Friday. I KNOW they'll be good. How can Sofia Coppola or Christopher Nolan mess up? I know lots of people who consider Batman Begins the best movie of the year last year, including myself, although it's sort of a tie with Serenity. Weird huh? Last year's movies were so unremarkable, a BATMAN movie is considered best. And Sofia! Some high-budgetry going on with Marie Antoinette. Kirsten Dunst better be good. I loved Jason Schwartzman in I Heart Huckabees and Shopgirl. (But I loved Mark Wahlberg more in Huckabees.)

opera

Currently singing: "Batti, Batti" from Don Giovanni

I was previously singing "Ah! Je Veux Vivre" from Romeo et Juliette. I think my teacher realized I can't handle it, although she says "we just did that one to mess around." The recital is coming up, and I guess she realized I need something easier. She already pushed back the recital by a week, since people aren't doing very well (myself included, I know). The person who comes in after my lesson thought she should push it back by a month, which I would've totally agreed with if I were still doing "Ah! Je Veux Vivre."

I am swamped with work too so I haven't even been able to practice as much as I'd like. I guess Christmas orders start about now.

it was good

I am still giddy about the Departed. I can go on and on about the differences between it and Infernal Affairs and the effect of those differences... as well as the weird stuff they chose to keep... but I won't. Mostly the characters were sooo much more developed in the Departed, it's beautiful to watch them unfold. I seriously want to see it again. It was especially entertaining because I didn't have to think about the complex plot, since I already knew it. I've never been much of a Leo DiCaprio fan, and I had trouble picturing him as a tough guy before seeing this, but he should win best actor, not kidding.

BY THE WAY, THIS MOVIE IS HILARIOUS. Mark Wahlberg should win best comedic performance. And his hair... man the hair... it's the most hideous hair ever... but he's funnier with the hair...

The Departed

Just saw The Departed with Tim and Busta. I felt physically sick afterwards, partially b/c I was hungry, but also because it was so stressful and I felt bad for all the characters. It was better than Infernal Affairs, of course. I loved Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, they are geniuses. Jack Nicholson was genius but too freaky. I found it very weird that they stuck with so many random scenes from the original! Why would you do that? First of all, the overall plot is exactly the same--except a little bit of the ending, which is to be expected anyway since the there are two versions to the ending of Internal Affairs. I guess the HK version was just TOO GOOD to change HUH? Like, they kept all the little details like meeting on the roof, and coming out the movie theater with the phone ringing, and the cast on the arm, and trying to spot who's a cop, etc etc. But they totally embellished on the characters of DiCaprio's boss (not Wong Sir) and Nicholson. And thankfully, they made Sammy Cheung and Kelly Chan's characters into one. The original girls were excruciating to watch--Sammy's shrieking (does she ever stop?) and Kelly's bad crying as usual.

have been very busy

moving to out new apt, major craziness... haven't forgotten abt my emails and blog, will get back soon (to: VLi). However, I must say I was very excited when V. Li told me she read Kavalier and Clay and officially calls it her favorite book. See? I don't lie.

A picture I took of Korben in the dark

HAHAHA BAD CAT

My voice teacher, like another teacher before, said I lack ego to be a good singer. Yes, they can tell by the way I sing that I hate myself. But people who think they are good singers when they are not are really embarrassing. I know those people. I've seen those people on American Idol. Maybe I need hypnosis. I'm not gonna just snap out of it! I'm doomed.

middle child syndrome

I've always been very interested in middle child syndrome, but it seems like information about it is extremely conflicting... some say they are "black sheep" loner types who end up in jail, some say they are creative, quiet pushovers, but ultimately the conclusion is always that middle children suffer inwardly.

Weird thing is, an overwhelming portion of my close friends are middle children. Among my friends who come from families of 3 children, something like 80% of the time, the middle child is the most outwardly put together. I'd say that some of them are inwardly the most messed up people I know HAHAHA, sad but true.

I've always thought that one of the worst things I can imagine is discovering I have an identical twin separated from birth, then finding out she is outgoing, smart, successful, selfless, confident, dresses perfectly, sings, and has a Nobel Prize. I'd just DIE. Because then I would know that I was nurtured wrong, not that I was just born this way.

Maria! Say it loud and there's music playing, say it soft and it's almost like praying

I can't get over how good Maria Sharapova's hair/head wear looks at the US Open. Like her day dress, don't like the evening dress. She rocked today!!!

Day--black visor and black ribbon in honey blond hair, genius!:

Night--black ribbon barrett, side-swept bangs, I'd wear this hair to a formal event!:

stupid throat thing

OK I went to the doctor and he said he can't see anything in my throat and doesn't know what it is. Which is weird because when I look in the mirror and say Ah and use a flashlight, I'm pretty sure I see something! There are several possibilities but one is a canker sore on my soft palette or tonsil. I actually think this is it. But it might be an infection. Canker sores have to have a white center but what I think I see doesn't have that. It might be something lower in my throat that I can't see (because it's hard to tell exactly where the pain's coming from since it radiates all over the place). This is making me crazy. My appointment with ENT is in 2 weeks! Stupid.

Another clue is that it tastes weird, which tells me it should be an open sore or something... I know this sounds totally gross but really it's not very... I don't even have much pain, it's just annoying...

Right now I don't know if I should stop singing. If it's a canker sore, there's no point in stopping singing. Problem is, I don't know for sure if this is non-singing related. I actually starting having a sore throat from when I sang a bad high note, BUT I dunno if this is the same sore or something totally different that just happened to feel the same...

happy birthday V. Li

Got back from Boston a few days ago. I really didn't want to come back to Illinois. Not that I like Boston, I just didn't want to be here. I don't know where I want to live. I don't think I'll be happy anywhere.

I've had a sore throat thing for 4 weeks so I'm gonna see a doctor in half an hour. I think it has something to do with singing. I'm the worst singer that ever lived. Anyway hope it goes away. I've been making hot water with honey and lemon, mostly because it's my comfort drink. I doubt its usefulness in curing throats. It never occurred to me that the type of flower the bees get their pollen from influences the taste of their honey. The honey I got from Chinatown is "lychee honey." As in, they honey comes from pollen from lychee tree flowers? Bees are cool. Except big ones close-up are nasty.

Hmmm have a lot on my mind... actually right now I'm swamped with work. I'm sure all at-home crafters feel my pain when I say I can't stand that people don't think my work is a full-time job and then some just because I work from home and make stuff.

I LOVE this...

This ad... is da bomb. One of my favorite show tunes! I Feel Pretty, sung by Maria (how appropriate) in West Side Story. I want to play Maria (as in, be in the musical, not play with Sharapova!). I can't stop watching it hAHAH.. it's so cute.

If you're Rihanna, don't read this! --FURTHER BASHING ADDED!

Puh-leeze...
RIHANNA... what a sorry excuse for a pop singer. What did the producers see or hear in her? Her voice is instantly recognizable by its extremely nasal sound. And she's not physically attractive (I'm SORRY, she's just NOT) nor is she an exceptional performer like many of her female pop/R&B contemporaries with one name. The fact that she does so many cameos and appearance in non-music related shows (Bring It On 2, My Super Sweet Sixteen, etc.) tells me that she needs all this extra publicity that's obviously put together by her powerful producers as a desperate attempt to boost popularity and record sales. Her song "Unfaithful," how inappropriate for someone like her to be singing it. She 18, it's just awkward that she's singing about how she's mentally murdering her husband/boyfriend by cheating on him. Wassup? You're 18, CHILL. And I can totally see someone like Christina Aguilera or Kelly Clarkson making this terrible song (so partially not her fault) non-excruciating. It's just the nasally thing is not for this very BAD song.

OK about that song "Unfaithful" (I previously thought it was called "Murderer" OK whatever). Is it JUST ME? Has anyone else noticed the similarities to Rob Thomas's "Lonely No More"??? If you don't know these two songs, here are the lyrics of the chorus, which are VERY similar, and I'M NOT KIDDING, the melodies are ALMOST IDENTICAL (well except Lonely No More is better).

Unfaithful (youtube here, OMG, it's SOOO BAD):
I don't wanna do this anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why
Every time I walk out the door
I see him die a little more inside

Lonely No More (youtube here):
I don't wanna be lonely no more
I don't wanna have to pay for this
I don't want to know the lover at my door
Is just another heartache on my list

HERE COMES SURVIVOR

I know this officially makes me the biggest dork ever, but I am excited out of my mind about the new season of "Survivor"!!! The teams are gonna be divided up by race--blacks, whites, hispanics, asians--isn't that awesome?! Will citizens of the world ever cease to be intrigued by race? It's gonna premiere on September 14. I can't wait I can't wait!

Survivor talk makes me feel seriously deprived of a fulfilling TV schedule during the summer months. I'm not complaining; I quite like not having TV control my primetime hours. This summer, the only show for which I had appointment viewing is "The Closer," which rocks any other crime show's pants off. I am soooo excited about "Survivor" and having something to look forward to every Thursday! OK and "Lost" and "ANTM" on Wednesdays. And "Veronica Mars" on Tuesdays. But on a scale of 1 to 10, my excitement about "Survivor" is always a 10, while the other ones are just 9 HAHAHA.

Quote of the day

"I wanna be the light that burns out your eyes 'cause I know little things about me that would sing in the silence." --Counting Crows, "Catapult"

"Catapult" is one crazy-ass song.

BTW, the tape player didn't work, hafta get another one. The saga continues...

ashitaka and yakul

Movies, crises

Firstly, I bought a good/new tape recorder/player on Ebay for pretty cheap. I'm gonna try to sell my digital one, which is so argh because I'm gonna lose so much money on it. I'm gonna try to post for sale ads in the Medill (NU School of Journalism) buildings, since it's really a voice recorder and not a music recorder.

Secondly, we found an apartment and will sign lease soon. Yay... I pretty much found out there are mid-rise buildings (7-story) on the 800th block of Hinman Ave, so I drove over there to check 'em out. Ended up walking in one building, looked at the available apts, got my husband to look after work, submitted application the next day, and I am loving our future apartment so far.

This weekend we saw Little Miss Sunshine, which my husband loved and says best movie of the year so far. I liked it but don't feel strongly about it. Actually some parts made me sad, even though it's not a sad movie at all, I'm just messed up. But I liked Steve Carell best.... On Saturday, while doing my work of cutting and folding (total bummer: I had to buy a roll of over-priced paper and cut 110 squares, when they sell the pre-cut squares for MUCH cheaper online, but I couldn't wait for shipping), I put in A Very Long Engagement, and has anyone seen this? I love it, but even though I've seen it 3 times, I can't get the characters straight... and the music is so saaaad... and the seaside-lighthouse-tuba parts are saaad... see it.

And I am having a crisis about booking plane tickets home, which will end tomorrow will lots of dollars.

And I am having a crisis about a large order... due to various payment-related complications... I am waiting for a check... and I HATE waiting for transactions... and people who are sending me money who don't return emails promptly... because I'm a control freak.

I SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have really low self-esteem! I SUCK! I hate me!

I hate that I have really low self-esteem! I hate that I hate me!

I hate that: 1) no one will ever hire me to sing in a paying chorus because I sight sing at a high-school level; 2) no one will ever hire me for musical theater because I can't dance; 3) no one will ever audition me for opera because I don't have a resume.

I hate that I can't find my TWO pitch forks, which are both A's, by the way. (I hate that I don't have perfect pitch). I have (HAD) two because I misplace things so easily. Such as my foot-long ruler that I use everyday to measure boxes and ribbon and string (origami stuff), I literally spend about 10 minutes per day looking for my ruler (in a 1-bedroom apartment). Today I found it in my toiletry bag in the bathroom. Yesterday under a pile of papers. Not to mention scissors and needles--it's a miracle that I haven't permanently lost any needles to date.

I hate that it's almost 2AM and I'm still up while I have to get up in the morning to go look at apartments! And go to a barbecue!

How weird is this

Video Games Live

"Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event featuring music from the most popular video games of all time. Top orchestras & choirs perform along with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive entertainment experience!"

Apartments and voice lessons

I hate moving. There is an exciting aspect. Especially this time it will be at most 30 mins away, so there isn't the stress factor of all your stuff arriving in good order. Anyway, our lease ends on 9/30, and my husband says he 100% wants to move out of the dump we currently inhabit (while I am more like 50%, but 100% trumps any other percentage above 0%). My goal is a newish mid-rise building above the 3rd floor for under $1250/mo including parking spaces. Definitely not "vintage-style" (Amelie-esque) or courtyard-type. I've contacted the usual suspects in Evanston and there are no availabilities, although some might open up in August but not looking good. For over $1550 (incl. parking), there are availabilities, but those are not worth it, because they are nice but small and close to campus, which inflates the price. I've already looked at a place across the street, and it's not gonna work... due to a very dark brown carpet, very little light, a dumpster for a view, general oldness, a baby crying, and extremely rank smoke smell that I'm sure won't be there once the place gets cleaned up but still.

I'd want most to live in Glenview, where my husband works (and my voice lessons are!), but the only non-bad apartments there are these extremely nice ones that are really expensive. We are seriously considering Arlington Heights, which has nice new good-location ones for about $1100 (incl. parking). My only concern is the distance from downtown Chicago and downtown Evanston. Argh... I'm sure I can live with it.

And my voice lessons.... My teacher thinks I can really be something, and because I can't afford to go every week, she's gonna give me 2 free lessons to go 4 weeks in a row! YAY! But she is also making me buy a tape player--AFTER I got a digital recorder (that I can't return), b/c I didn't want to buy a newly manufactured relic, but she thinks the digital recorder doesn't sound real. Anyone have an old tape player? AND she wants me to get a keyboard (since I can't afford a piano, of course). I need a scholarship.

What about the dinosaurs?

This entry is about my thoughts on the book "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief" by Francis S. Collins

I am a very scientific and a very troubled person. Therefore, I was excited to read this book by one of the most prominent scientists in the world right now who is also a devoted Christian. He led the Genome Project and is the highest authority on all-things genetic, and things genetic are very cutting-edge, the newest of the new.

I was particularly excited to find out how it's possible that the world was created in seven days. See, everything I've read and seen and studied my whole life (except the Bible) tells me that the first few chapters of Genesis are NOT possible and that the world is more than a few billion years old. I guess it dates back to at least seventh grade, where at the end of our science exam on evolution, the question was posed: Do you believe in evolution or creation? I only answered in a very badly-phrased sentence: "Evolution, because what about the dinosaurs?" OK apparently our teacher wanted us to give a more detailed explanation of how we feel, so I didn't get many points on that question, but it shoulda said so. Over the years, I've cited the dinosaurs as a major question I have about Christianity. Many MANY people have looked at me like I'm really weird or questioned why that's my main concern when there can be so many others. But it is! I can't help it. Also I've always wondered why would God create humans and chimps to have such similar genes but be unrelated, what's the point of that? Genesis just doesn't sit in my brain the way it does to others. So I was excited that a scientist was gonna tell me how it's all possible.

Unfortunately, he says that everything I think is correct. Which technically isn't bad.

Genetic science proves (in his opinion, without a shadow of a doubt) that people and monkeys and dogs and cats and every other animal are descended from one ancestor and evolved to where we are over time, just as Darwin said. The reasoning is our genes are really similar, and there are even some "junk" genes that don't seem to serve any function that are similar... okay there is a really detailed scientific explanation so this is just a summary. He says evolution is not a theory but a fact, and the Big Bang is true. So he says there's no way the world was created in seven days, and he even uses scripture to argue that the word for "day" in Genesis could mean a period of time and not a 24-hr day, which would make more sense. Moreover, he argues that Genesis is written poetically and allegorically, as Psalms is, and God doesn't intend for us to take it literally. So obviously, he doesn't think Adam and Eve were the first people, that in the story of Adam and Eve, there could've been some kind of civilization, while the story centered on them two (one scriptural support is the existence of Cain's wife).

Now one time I came upon a show on the Christian channel where a guy was explaining how dinosaurs and people lives together in harmony, and he attempted to prove this by showing fossils of footprints and stuff that showed the dinosaurs to be a soft creature and non-predatory, etc., which made me say This is the lamest thing I've ever seen (but, who am I to say). Well, Collins (again) wholeheartedly agrees, using harsh words against the view of Young Earth Creationism, which comes up with all these bogus things like soft dinosaurs and missing links and inaccuracy of radioactive dating of rocks, that contradicts everything and all we know about science. He also criticized the widely-accepted Intelligent Design, as every living thing is evolved and God did not just plop new species on Earth. He also thinks Christians who believe these things are not truly trying to understand the world God created.

The absolute most dissapointing thing about this book (which I was kinda expecting, because I read a review that pointed this out) is that it doesn't "prove" God exists but rather "proves" God MAY exist, that it's possible, since the world is so complex and we don't know exactly how it all got started. Although he doesn't really have an argument for belief, he definitely argues that atheism is just plain stupid, considering no one can be sure that God DOESN'T exist, while agnosticism is better but those who do not try to figure out the truth are just lazy.

His whole explanation of his faith can be summed up in "Mere Christianity," most notably the Moral Law. OK, been there, read that.

M. Night Shyamalan

Yesterday we saw Lady in the Water and Monster House.

*NO SPOILERS* Lady in the Water got really bad reviews. However, my deep love for M. Night Shyamalan's past movies (except Unbreakable) made me really sure I would still like this movie. And I'd been waiting for it to come out for a very long time. I kind of think M. Night is really mean because he always has to have some scenes that make me cry buckets, for example...

6th Sense: the conversation that Cole has with his mom in the car to tell her he sees dead people.

Signs: when Mel Gibson tells his kids individually what their mom said when they were born.

The Village: the scene where Lucius pulls Ivy from the porch into the basement, and the scene where Ivy is walking through the forest and there is a kinda narration by one of the characters: "She is more capable than most in this village. And she is led by love. The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe."

And the music he uses is pretty similar, especially in the Village and Lady in the Water... it's so so good... so about Lady in the Water... the most cry-inducing scene is unexpected... the "Lady" is talking to another character (not to give anything away for ppl who are gonna see it), kinda telling him a story, and THAT music is playing, the one that is sad and uplifting...

What I have to say about this movie is the critics aren't wrong but it depends on what kind of person you are... Botton line is, you hafta be geeky to love M. Night's movies... and not be obsessed with hidden agendas... and only care about characters... and I don't need realism... most of my favorite movies are "unrealistic"... for me, everything in a movie is real during the time I am watching it, so it doesn't matter how weird the created world is, as long as the characters and emotions are real... but for those who are not like that, who are grounded in the real world, then I get that you might not like this movie for this reason...

On a side note... I LOVE THE VILLAGE. Another poorly reviewed film. Sorta SPOILER>> With this one, the created reality is not exactly fantastical, as in, it is possible that the events that occur in this movie could be real, once u get to the end. It got bad reviews because it's not creepy enough and the surprise ending isn't cool enough... but Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) are so beyond brilliant... how about just watch the two scenes mentioned above--the one on the porch and the one with Ivy in the forest...

Monster House (computer animated story about kids and a haunted house) is "Ain't It Cool News' 10th Anniversary Film Event" as in, Harry Knowles's favorite film of the summer so far. As for me, I was surprised that I somewhat enjoyed it, since I'm not much for most animated films, due to the fact that they are targeting kids. One thing I don't like about Disney movies is the "funny" lines that are so rated G. Monster House (not Disney) doesn't have those lines and features real emotion in the characters, and it is pretty easy to see this not as animation if the characters' heads weren't disproportionately big.

dunno

So I'm taking voice lessons now. I guess they are not tax deductible. My teacher seems really good, but then again I've only had 2 teachers in the past to compare to. Also I read somewhere it's really important to have a well-connected teacher who can get you jobs. And I really don't know how connected mine is. The thing is, she knows I am interested in paid choruses, and she thinks that's lame, as she thinks I can do opera. I know I should discuss this with her, but seriously, Who's gonna hire me when I have no resume? I haven't been in a stage production since 3rd grade.

I already went into my voice lessons professing zero knowledge and sophistication: I don't have a repertoire, I don't listen to classical singers and don't know who they are, I don't have a music degree, I didn't even know what kind of soprano I was, I suck at sight singing... my dream job was just to sing in a paying chorus. There are two here I think that are full-time and unionized, but the competition is murder. But if I can do opera, no one would opt for chorus instead. However, being an opera singer sounds like a nightmare to me. Auditions all the time, lots of travel, need connections, need to be famous to get jobs, lots of anxiety.

They're not that bad.

Saw some movies lately...

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest -- why do the critics dislike this movie so much? OK when I'm watching it, I keep thinking, This scene must've been expensive, so I agree that the script should've been more focused on the characters and less on the special effects and action, fine but it's not that big a deal, the film still entertained me the whole time and I was happy to be sitting there... it's not THAT BAD... I mean, it's still good, despite the script problems. And my favorite part is the 3-way sword fight ah ha ha... the first five minutes of it rocked!

The Family Stone -- I heart Rachel McAdams big time, ever since the Notebook, then Mean Girls (!!!), and even Red Eye, she is awesome! And she's awesome in this too. Even though she plays the mean girl again, I just feel so bad for her character... especially if you watch the deleted scenes. I'm probably the only person on the planet who sympathizes with her character, actually. Boo hiss.

Syriana -- I really liked this movie. The dialog is insanity, it's like they don't want anyone to get what the heck's going on. Seriously, I concentrated really hard, and I had no clue what they were talking about. Until the very end, then you go "oh, that's what the whole movie's about," and everything makes sense. It was nice to look at, the scenes were shot nicely, etc.

Conan and the People's Court

For those who don't know, "Celebrity Survey" is a segment on Conan O'Brien in which they throw out a survey question and make up answers for 3 celebrities. The first two answers are always serious, then the third one is funny. On last night's Celebrity Survey:

Q: When all else fails, I...

Matt Lauer says: Go to commercial.

Joy Behar says: Improvise.

Ben Affleck says: Start filming "All Else 2."

------------------------

OK there is a "Judge" show that I actually like... well more than the others, I guess. And it's "The People's Court." For those who don't know, these judges try small-claims cases in about 15 minutes per case on TV. At the end of each case on "The People's Court," a guy interviews the defendants and plaintiffs in the hallway for about 15 seconds each on how they feel about the verdict and whatnot. On today's show, after a case, interviewing a (not very sophisticated type of) guy after a trial:

Interviewer: I notice the musical note tattoo on your ear. What's that about?
Guy: It's a musical note tattoo.
Interviewer: Yeah, does it signify anything?
Guy: Uh... I play music.
Interviewer: What do you play?
Guy: What do I play?
Interviewer: Yeah what instruments to you play?
Guy: I play the jukebox... and the radio.

HAHAHAHAHA.

What a downer

I finished re-reading the God of Small Things. I recommend anyone who's read it once to read it again. Once you know the plot, the beginning is much easier (less impossible) to understand. But it's even more of a downer the second time....

This passage I like:

"It was he who had introduced them to Raudra Bhima--crazed, bloodthirsty Bhima in search of death and vengeance. He is searching for the beast that lives in him, Comrade Pillai had told them--frioghtened, wide-eyed children--when the ordinarily good-natured Bhima began to bay and snarl.

Which beast in particular, Comrade Pillai didn't say. Searching for the Man who lives in him was perhaps what he really meant, because certainly no beast has essayed the boundless, infinitely inventive art of human hatred. No beast can match its range and power."

ravinia

Last night went to Ravinia to watch Verdi's Requiem performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, tonight performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Northwestern's Summer Orchestra and Chorus. There was one guy with binoculars hahaha. I left Jacksonville right before we were gonna do Verdi's Requiem, arrr why?

I've realized that most people in the chorus are annoying or weird. Oh well. High school choir rocked. Even though everyone was annoying or weird.

Today I found the skirt on clearance at macys.com (refer to previous entry)! HERE. I got it.

What I did

Went to Sacramento from July 1 - 5, it was cooool. There were various mini family reunions, a really nice kitten, fireworks at home (I've never had that before, another fear overcome), perfect weather (not the stupid San Francisco type), corks, sweet smells....

If one had the choice, like really had the choice, of where in the world to live, how is one ever to choose between, say, the seashore of Monterey teeming with sea life, and the rolling hills and ancient nature of Napa Valley. If one had the choice, how can one not choose such places to spend one's days, to breathe the air that we are meant to breathe. "Master of beauty, craftsman of the snowflake, inimitable contriver, endower of Earth so gorgeous & different from the boring Moon, thank you for such as it is my gift." A quote I love, by John Berryman.

Here are some pictures. I only took a few while we were in Napa, which is why I had to preface this with the reunions and fireworks etc etc, which are not documented in the following photos. OK here's one of my cousin's daughters (technically my mom's cousin). They are SPECIAL, for real, they were adopted from China as one-year-olds and they are so cool. They just played with their new stuffed animals at the restaurant and giggled at their own indecipherable conversations for a few hours. The older one is the biggest tomboy (soccer, Power Rangers) while the younger one is the biggest girly girl (dance, fashion, Barbie movies), it's uncanny.

Next one is of my dad on the putting green outside the condo in Napa:

And... me with a skirt that I loved but couldn't justify buying, because, um, how many skirts is too many skirts? The number I have, possibly.

The only sports team I care about

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University football coach Randy Walker died of an apparent heart attack Thursday night. He was 52.

Walker died after feeling chest pains around 10 p.m. at his suburban Chicago home, said Mike Wolf, the school's assistant athletic director for media services.

"He will go down as a person who added a great deal to football," Northwestern president Henry Bienen said at a news conference Friday.

Walker was the first Northwestern coach to lead the school to three bowl games. The Wildcats lost to UCLA 50-38 in the Sun Bowl last December.

"He was a tough, demanding coach," athletic director Mark Murphy said.

In October 2004, Walker checked himself into a hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle; the condition is not a common ailment, and is usually caused by a virus.

Walker was out of the hospital in two days, and said he was taking a new approach to his diet and work schedule.

"I've really taken my doctor's orders to heart, because frankly, I want to see my grandkids someday," he said at the time.

Two months ago, Northwestern gave Walker a four-year extension through the 2011 season. He joined the school in 1999 after nine years at Miami of Ohio.

Walker's Wildcats posted 37 wins, going 7-5 last season. He led the team to three bowl games since 2000.

Northwestern shared the Big Ten title in 2000 and went to the Alamo Bowl. The Wildcats also went to the 2003 Motor City Bowl.

Walker was the first Wildcats coach to guide the team to four seasons with at least six wins since C.M. Hollister in 1899-1902.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Walker will be sorely missed.

"Not only was Randy a great friend to the conference, but to his players, his staff and fans," Delany said in a statement. "Randy accomplished a great deal at every institution he worked for, but most importantly he personified the values of intercollegiate athletics — he was positive, resilient and honest."

freude

The person who sat next to me tonight at chorus rehearsal is probably the best singer I've ever sat next to, EVER. Someone told me she just graduated from UIC, so I guess she's around 22. Anyway, she was so good, arrr, this is exactly why I joined, to be trained and inspired and given a reality check. She is my new goal. ARRR. It's the EASE, how EASY a high B flat is for her, and amazing sound.

[Warning: rambling to follow] THEN... there was a surprise placement audition to determine soprano 1 and soprano 2. OK not a "surprise" like an evil pop quiz, more like, Hey all the sopranos are now gonna sing so we know who can do what. In front of each other. Run by two girls (one of them my new goal). If you know me, you know why this is a big deal--I'm overly shy, twitchy, hang-nail bitey, nervous laughy. This is not the best thing that can happen to me. I am usually completely spent after an audition just from the 5 days of mental preparation. This usually does not apply to placement auditions because you are already "in." But in front of your peers? They were letting us size each other up, how evil. Although logically it is a good thing that I didn't know about it beforehand or I would've had a nervous breakdown. Anyway, we had to sing the first 3 lines of "My Country 'Tis of Thee," starting on C, then D, then if they think you can keep going, you do E (which yields a high note of A). I don't even know why they had to do this, I already had a placement audition with the conductor. Anyway, I was so nervous I totally squeaked and creeked between notes, major lack of breath support, had to clutch my diaphragm, which I HATE, I always need to push it with my hand when I'm nervous. Anyway, for those of you just dying to know: Soprano 1.

I think there are only like 5 soprano 1's, erm, there aren't even that many sopranos, like maybe 25 on a good day (more altos), which is unusual. Which I normally would think is cool, because then I feel like they need me, it's not like I'm just taking up another seat. Except there are only like 5 soprano 1's. There is a descant (especially high) part in one piece, and my new goal sitting next to me was singing it, and I was singing it, and she high-fived me afterward, but it was bad because... she rocked! I sucked! OMG SHE ROCKS. CRAAAAAP, I'm gonna be her (because I don't believe I can beat her).

And for anyone in the know or who did choir with me in high school... one of the pieces we are doing is "Choose Something Like A Star" by Randall Thompson, which is amazing, which I did in high school, I did some really amazing ones in high school, the two "O Magnum Mysterium" pieces (Vittoria and Lauridsen (sp? x 2)), ahh.

I am so frustrated and pumped up right now to pull out the old tapes of voice lessons to start practicing. I know I need a voice teacher. I've contacted two who for various reasons, I'm probably not gonna be seeing. The last person I'm gonna contact is a total hotshot "by audition only" teacher in Glenview (a big plus), whom I am guessing will cost more.

I feel petty, oh so petty

My boss had to pull another act of mathematic ineptitude on my last day at work. I told him $0.32 is 0.32% of $100 and his reaction? "NOOooo." Oh and he types really hard. Like serious hard--ooh I'm such a confident computer whiz, I literally "hit" enter--like he's trying to burn a hole into the screen with his finger strength via the keyboard. I can't stand that, it makes me NUTS! Can you imagine? And everytime he goes on about how great Shanghai is, I just give him this "Oh REAlly, congratulations" look. You know, how Scarlett Johansson looks at Anna Faris whenever she opens her mouth in "Lost in Translation." Oh and he has to get his 4-yr-old daughter involved in his self-importance by telling everyone (completely serious) he thinks she might look like Zhang ZiYi when she grows up. O-KAY. And he's obsessed with Zhang ZiYi.

Stuff we did today:
Woke up
Watched some World Cup
Did some work
LePeep for brunch (spinach bacon omelette)
Went to art festival
Went to Marshalls (socks)
Played tennis (2.5 hrs)
Showered
Went to Anam Cafe (beef noodles)
Watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The art festival was so cool, it's pretty much the same stalls every year (in downtown Evanston) with new stuff. I'm gonna go back tomorrow to get some prints. There's this one guy who does these crazy cool paintings and sells 'em for $8,800 for the highest ones. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang rocked! It's funny. Don't watch it if you are anti- swearing, guns, nudity, humor. Robert Downey Jr. is crazy good, he should be really happy he can act, with all the issues he's had with drugs.

Where's my free steak?

I'm only gonna be working at my job for 2.5 more days and the free steak hasn't arrived yet. (Refer to previous "doop di doo" entry.) OK maybe she was lying. But after today, I won't be able to take the steak because my boss will be back from China and I'd have to let him have them. Oh well.

Went to first Chorus rehearsal last night. It was okay. I like the singing aspects of it, but don't like the social aspects. I wish people just went to rehearsal to sing. I don't know any of the students, and since they all know each other, it's not like I'm gonna butt in. And the non-students are all like 40 - 65 AND all know each other--probably go to the same gym or something. Which is why I just go to sing.

Congratulations, Lo Sai

Went to Steve's graduation from MBA (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University) yesterday. Went inside Ryan Field auditorium for the first time, HA. Sweltering hot, you can ask Steve, he was the one in a tie and gown. We couldn't find a seat arrr... sat on the "mountain top," the speaker was CEO of American Express, a speech that I thought was really good... simple, stuck to the theme (ethics, morals, values of companies, as in corporations that try to be charitable), non-lame. And... I don't think I've seen such a high percentage of Indian people in a large venue before. Just everywhere you look, Indians. Proud mamas plus every other kind of family member. Can it be said that it's an unofficial cultural requirement for Indian kids to get an MBA?

Anyway, here's a pic of Steve, can you find him?:

A picture of the three of us, thought my dress was extremely graduationy:

Here's a pic I took, because I was obsessed with the red dress this girl was wearing, and her bag, and they went together so well. The dress was ruched on the top, halter ties, little white leafy petal print, I wanted her outfit. But I'd have no place to wear it to, as usual. The dress I am wearing is the first time after getting it 2 yrs ago. Anyway, I also happen to love the Kate Spade bag that other woman is carrying. I hope none of these people see this pic:

Time

In case you don't read Time Magazine, the last article is always an Op-Ed article, which I happen to always read and think "I KNOW, right? I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way!" Part of this week's article pasted below. Didn't want to paste the entire article... I just think in our society, people unanimously agree to lie about certain things, one of them being how perfectly great it is to have kids. I think it's really sad for some young people to believe the lie without question, only to get a harsh reality check after it's too late.

Except from "Does Fatherhood Make You Happy?" Time, June 19, 2006

Studies reveal that most married couples start out happy and then become progressively less satisfied over the course of their lives, becoming especially disconsolate when their children are in diapers and in adolescence, and returning to their initial levels of happiness only after their children have had the decency to grow up and go away. When the popular press invented a malady called "empty-nest syndrome," it failed to mention that its primary symptom is a marked increase in smiling.

Psychologists have measured how people feel as they go about their daily activities, and have found that people are less happy when they are interacting with their children than when they are eating, exercising, shopping or watching television. Indeed, an act of parenting makes most people about as happy as an act of housework. Economists have modeled the impact of many variables on people's overall happiness and have consistently found that children have only a small impact. A small negative impact.

Those findings are hard to swallow because they fly in the face of our most compelling intuitions. We love our children! We talk about them to anyone who will listen, show their photographs to anyone who will look and hide our refrigerators behind vast collages of their drawings, notes, pictures and report cards. We feel confident that we are happy with our kids, about our kids, for our kids and because of our kids--so why is our personal experience at odds with the scientific data?

See full (not long) article here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1202940,00.html

what's the word?

I quit, my last day is June 23. Hmm, pretty on-schedule. I've been saying I was gonna quit around mid-June for months. "You poor unfortunate soul, it's sad, but true. If you want to cross the bridge my sweet you've got to pay the toll, take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll."

Now, I will attempt a most daring feat! I will become a paid chorister! Somehow. (In addition to origamist, by the way.)

"I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now, watch and you'll see, someday I'll be, part of your world."

Why is it we always want more? Will I want more if I become a paid chorister? (Ariel was a princess, the most talented singer among her sisters, but all she wanted was to be human. I guess Ariel and I would love to trade places huh.) I'm living in Chicago, no time is better than the present, it IS possible to be paid to be in a chorus, you know. I have a plan muhahaha. First, I find a teacher. "My dear sweet child, it's what I do. It's what I liiive for. To help poor unfortunate merfolk, like yourself."

Somebody should write an opera for the Little Mermaid.

Maybe I'll get the DVD.

"I'm ready to know what the people know, ask 'em my questions and get some answers, what's a fire, and why does it, what's the word, burn? When's it my turn, wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above? Out of the sea, wish I could be, part of that world."

Goodbye, sweaty summer

Our apartment is not air conditioned. It is torturous. There is sweat everywhere in the summer.
Today we came back from tennis to find a very large air conditioner next to the dumpster with a note reading "a little old and worn but works like a champ!" We carried it upstairs. I can't believe I actually had to convince him of the greatness of the event ("you mean you'd rather not take this for free and have to buy one one day for a hundred something dollars?") ; it looked non-sketchy and I was positive it would work great. Decided which window it had to go in. Opened the window to find a freakin huge-ass bee dead between the window and the screen, approximately 1.5 inches long and half an inch fat, it was really gross. Fixed this one broken part on the AC, stuck it in the window, plugged it in, and voila...

doop di doo

Found out today that the Ocean's 13 prospect is over. The set decorator had contacted me previously, interested in using many (approx 200) large (1 ft) origami cherry blossoms to cover a set wall, and ordered a few samples, said she loved them and would get back to me. Hadn't heard from her after 7 weeks so emailed to check up, anyway she said they aren't using 'em anymore. Oh well. I wouldn't want to encourage people to see Ocean's 13 anyway (after what happened with "12"). That would be my version of the "bright side of things" :P

I've joined Northwestern's Summer Chorus. We are doing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (don't people get sick of this? EVER? At least I won't have to practice outside of rehearsal), and a piece called American Impressions. Hmm. Anyway, the whole program is only 1 month + 4 days long. Rehearsal starts on June 19.

If you want to be really depressed, watch Avril here. Again, it's totally worth it!

Just got a really weird phone call (at work). We get lots of telemarketers calling here. This woman called and said a guy who used to work here entered a sweepstakes at a trade show and won 4 Omaha steaks and since he doesn't work here anymore she's just gonna send them to me. Then she started pitching a monitor-cleaning product to me. I said no thanks to the product, and she was nice about it. So I guess we're getting free steak??

My glamorous life continues...

Had a get together with the Treblemakers on Saturday, and the weirdest funniest thing... well it's a long story... let's just say, the world is HKers is small if you seek them out. The rest of world is still big though. I can't wait to tell V.Li the whole story, I think she'll freak.

Jensen Wong was here this weekend so that's what we did all weekend. Watched X2 (4th time) at Steve's place with them and Florence. Pretended to play tennis. Ate Indian, ice cream, pancakes, dim sum, French, Pocky, etc. We also watched this HK movie "One Bamboo Shoot" (I think), supposed to be a comedy according to Steve (but really not haha), and I really liked it, until the last five minutes. Take out the last five minutes and I would really like it.

Tonight, watched Serenity (3rd time), man that movie is so sad, what the heck. Right now, the Fifth Element on TV, approx. 20th viewing, can't believe every time I watch it I notice or see something new. My favorite line is:
Fog: "We're sending somebody in to negotiate!"
Korben: [shoots bad leader in the head] "Anybody else want to negotiate?"
Fog: "W-w-where did he learn to negotiate like that?"
President: [looks at the General] "I wonder."
[General sheepishly looks away.]

Can't wait for the new Luc Besson-directed movie. Also can't wait for Lady in the Water. I loved 6th Sense, loved Signs, LOOVVED the Village.

arrr

I... don't feel like blogging about anything "important" such as how much I suck at working for other people, and how I am conflicted about the "group," and my biz, and I hate my wrist and I hate sucking at tennis...

On Monday, Memorial Day, Steve, my husband, and I had plans to see X-Men: the Last Stand. Anyway, I had invited Justin Wong to come with us and told him to call me if he wanted to go. Well 25 mins before the show he hadn't called and I accidentally left my phone at home, but whatever I was assuming he wasn't coming or he can just run into us in the theater. Then yesterday he messaged me and said he went and sat on the edge of our row, and how there was a seat next to Steve, and I was like "yeah right," and he said it's true. WHAT? Turns out he waited for us outside the theater after the show, but of COURSE, being the major geeks we are, the three of us stayed to watch the hidden scene after the credits. He wondered where we went. So I didn't even know he went at all! Ha.

OK I'm gonna have to change subjects now. I am still mourning the X3 that could've been. I haven't read the comics, but just from what I know about it, it makes me sad that they just kinda let X3 go, let it be bad. There is basically one scene I love. The scene that starts where Jean Grey wakes up in the infirmary until when she leggily storms out of the room. Other than that, nothing is right. I have been reminiscing about X2 by reading Harry Knowles's review. I really feel like watching it right now actually. OMG I hate my job. If I didn't have to work there I could watch X2 right now.