US$200 vs. US$8 (or yeah for cheap labor)

Have a wedding to go to tomorrow, a family one. I've noticed that I frequently have a problem in wedding pictures, which is that my hair looks like shit. Instead of making a hair appointment, I decided to get a way-over-the-top headband and that'll make up for everything else. Got a headband but then decided I don't have a dress that goes with an over-the-top headband, because the dress needs to be simple/solid color, so got a dress at H&M that I'm in love with. I was totally inspired by this website/store called ban.do.

Theirs, US$200:
Mine, HK$62 (US$8) from Sheung Wan:
Yeah theirs is nicer but imho not 25 times nicer :)

girl crush

Last weekend I was walking down Granville Road as a detour on my way home with my husband and someone tapped me on the arm. I turn and it's the female General Manager of the most historical hotel in HK (enough hints right). Thing is, she's like my idol. She's awesome. I can wax inspirational about her. She started from the bottom by chance in the US and now she's head honcho of what might be considered the most reputable hotel in the world. And SHE recognised ME, the random journalist who interviewed her once and goes to her events sometimes. And lemme tell ya, she was the most honest person I've ever interviewed. Love her.

Fully taken aback and starstruck, I was like "HI" and eyes wide and all fumbly, and she was like, oh these are my sisters, we're just shopping around, k bye!

I am such a dork, that made my day. I was floating for hours.

It's so easy to make fun of Gwyneth Paltrow's website/blog called goop. I contemplated creating a blog purely for that purpose. She doesn't even have that many "newsletters" or blog entries so the "counterblog" wouldn't even be all that time-consuming.

Well anyway. While I find a lot of the things she writes on there awkward, if not questionable, the recipes she posts look and sound seriously good and, best of all, easy. I finally tried the eggplant parmesan recipe for knockout dad's birthday and it was perfection. Yummy, pretty, vegetarian and not too unhealthy.

Movies

Saw Inglourious Basterds. Loved but... can't help but compare it to Kill Bill, and it makes me love Kill Bill Vol. 2 even more.

On the plane to Hokkaido 2 weeks ago, watched Star Trek again, LOVED again... I just love that movie.

Also watched Duplicity on the way back. It was OK. Actually the ending ruined it. It was like they spent time and effort on the film but got tired by the end. Other than the ending, loved the interaction between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Somehow realistic.

Also watched Push on the plane (though couldn't finish it) starring Dakota Fanning which takes place entirely in Hong Kong and was bad to epic proportions, but the cinematography I found beautiful... imdb-ed it and found out the cinematographer also did Lucky Number Slevin. Makes sense.

LOL

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/blog/busted_racquet/post/OMG-Rafa-Nadal-gets-a-haircut-and-it-looks-a-l?urn=ten,186602

major procrastination blog

Quote of last week...

"i miean technically carnival is mardi gras, halfnaked women, crazy costumes dancing rite? whereas a carnival in hk is like ham tasting in citysuper with a prize of the best ham"

--V.Li via chat

Sigh, ugh, fug

As I had anticipated, the most annoying thing about living near Lan Kwai Fong is totally alive and well... girls in tops-passed-off-as-dresses, so crotch-tastic. I'm so sick of crotches. Sluts in stripper shoes who aren't strippers - fine. Have bad taste. Perpetuate the cheap-ass, stupid, gold-digging, slutty, local HK girl image. I don't care. BUT as the fug girls would say: LOOK INTO PANTS. Ya know why I'm looking at you? It's not cos you're hot and I'm jealous. It's cos you're not wearing pants, in public. It's cos you're fug. Hm a pic should definitely be included in this post. I will look into that.

I really like this week's batch of Post Secrets.

In response to this one:

I say this all the time: the only things I learned from my university education is the answers to a lot of Jeopardy! questions.

I've been waiting...!!!

A year after completely scrapping a 500-page follow-up to “Eat, Pray, Love,” Elizabeth Gilbert’s mega-best-selling spiritual travelogue, she has delivered a new book that Viking will publish in January. Here for NYT article

Brilliant

wtf

Kee Wah Bakery has rolled out an elaborate, captivating ad campaign for its bridal cakes which I am forced to watch in outrage at the MTR station. It features a pretty celebrity (apparently) looking aspirational and pure, since all marriagable females are virgins. She's not-so-subtly wearing white and holding a delicate bouquet no doubt crafted by a disgruntled, punky props person in the dingy backroom. The ad's design is modern and emotional. The man who's in it for a second looks hot.

This is the tagline: "Giving girls a home, that is marriage"

Aw. Sweet. Am I the only one who finds these ads SUPER SEXIST?! Seriously? Where's the uproar? Sigh.

I really hate Nickelback

I'm not above mainstream music. It's what I listen to. But having left the US for well over 1 year now, when listening to radio streaming from Chicago, I still cringe when they play Nickelback. The lyrics, so cliche and horribly unpoetic. Check out this opening line that was just blasted into my ears: "My best friend gave me the best advice / He said each day's a gift and not a given right." Ugh. Deeper thoughts have been uttered in fortune cookies. And the raspy, ANGSTY voice is the same for every song. Like for these opening lines: "Look at this photograph / Every time I do it makes me laugh." Oh readers. The dude actually shouts these lines like he's about to jump off a cliff from the pain. And it pains me to hear it this CRAP NARRATIVE and rhyming of a 13 year old. Why does Nickelback exist? So wrong.

More store display origami. This one is cool. Pearls and Cashmere at New World Centre. Really elaborately set up. It's art. I like.

This is not my best day ever.

On a 2-week free trial at Pure Fitness right now, so been going a lot to get my non-money's worth! Anyways I don't think I'll join but dunno... I thought about joining a pilates studio but I think cost-wise is about the same (meaning, really expensive). Well I love the free trial though. Location-wise it's awesome, exactly halfway btwn my office and home. I love not having to bring anything except shoes, b/c they provide clothes (don't even need shoes if doing yoga/pilates class). I like showering there, in general, can launder my own towels less and not worry about running out of hot water, etc. And steam room, good for detox. Hm I like pilates a lot more but yoga is supposed to be more om, so I guess it depends what I'm going for.

It's no secret that I have a thing for Langham Place Hotel in Mong Kok. It's modern, cool and artsy - and I mean downright dedicated to contemporary Chinese art. It's 5-star. It has a Michelin-starred restaurant. Its spa is fancy schmancy. Its theme colors are baby pink, gray and gold. So cool. It's part of Langham Place, an awesome mall. Langham Place offices have the most interesting and innovative elevator system I've ever seen (yes... elevators are fascinating). Langham Hotels also has an elaborate Press Club that's specifically for buttering up the media with gifts and events, but I am being entirely (somewhat) objective here.

Langham Place's website and press releases are written in their characteristically young and casual style, which I kind of love. And they have also produced my favorite problematic headline in one of their press releases from May touting a new spa treatment for men:
TENSION DESTROYING MASCULINE BLISS AT CHUAN SPA

I was perplexed for about 5 seconds upon reading the above headline. A few thoughts that crossed my mind: There is a problem at Chuan Spa. Sexual tension causing problems? And they are announcing this... why? Destroyed masculinity - sounds dire. Is this about a botched massage? Is this about sexual frustration? This is supposed to be funny, right? Are they addressing a virus that renders men impotent?

Well, a hyphen would make a big difference:
TENSION-DESTROYING MASCULINE BLISS AT CHUAN SPA

(Adding a verb wouldn' t hurt either: Experience Tension-Destroying Masculine Bliss at Chuan Spa)

I'm in love with this... this choir makes me tear. And this is one of my all-time favorite songs. Of course I think the soloist is awesome.

To just simply quote crazysexylife.com: "The P.S. 22 chrous is lead by music teacher Mr. Breinberg, more fondly referred to his students as Mr. B. Mr. B, who arrived at P.S. 22 in 1999, convinced the administration to let him become a full-time music teacher and start a chorus choir at the school in spite of financial cutbacks in the arts. Instead of teaching traditional children’s songs, he had his students singing contemporary adult songs. In addition to “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay, the P.S. 22 chorus have also tackled covers of songs by Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, Bjork, Journey, and others."

Beyond inspirational.

How I feel about the new apartment

We moved to a new place that's on Glenealy. The only entirely accurate thing I can say about it now is that our apt is a mess of boxed up junk of course and I have no desire to unpack. I had major reservations about moving here because it's right above Lan Kwai Fong and I dunno how I felt about that... you know? Because I can't stand posers and whatnot. And also the apt is smaller. And also no more sea view, just carpark/back alley view. And old building. Well, so far, I'm freaking in love with living here. I walked to work for the first time yesterday and was like, OMG THIS IS SO CLOSE. This morning I walked to work again but cut through LKF, and you know how LKF is so dead quiet in the mornings/daytime? Well, it's just magic. So is Soho, quiet. It's so nice. And today I walked home and cut through Soho and took Wyndham, and it was of course all "happening" with the restaurants and bars all loud and stuff, but I loved it. I felt so part of the darn world. And then I get on Glenealy and it's completely empty again, and in my apt it's totally silent.

9 days

So much to blog about. So what happened was I took a week off and went to Singapore for 2.5 days to Stephen H.'s wedding. Then Viv and I went to Tioman Island, Malaysia, together by boat, ferry and 4WD to do sea turtle conservation for 5 days. Then back to Singapore, then back to HK.

The sea turtle project is not very hardcore conservation. It's definitely half vacation. I can't even properly blog about it because the whole experience was way too rich to sum it up in a few paragraphs. But basically, we got to live on this practically empty, gorgeous beach for cheap, watch the red sunrise every morning right smack in the middle of the ocean, float around, snorkel around scarce small tropical fish, hike this crazy not-easy trail, ride bikes, get eaten alive by an insane variety of bugs, eat the best freaking little village food ever, have blue-ass skies everyday except when it was going all torrential downpour, experience true kitten loyalty, handle a blind 3-year-old turtle, handle a nest's worth of freakin cute baby turtles, meet cool people, learn to use water pumping machinery, overdose on insect repellent via skin absorption, take cold showers, drink mountain water from the tap, and generally be thrown into a totally new, foreign, opposite situation.

This is where the turtle project was, blue skies, palm trees, sand and all:

Luckily, we got to witness the release of baby sea turtles on our last morning:

The cutest kittens alive:

Sunrise:
Thought I'd throw in a pic from Singapore that I love. In this pic, all of us Northwestern peeps (except the table behind us is HKIS) traveled to Singapore for the wedding. I love this pic oh and my new camera (Canon G10!):

Define irony

This totally qualifies as ironic.

I've been dying to go on an overseas media trip for work. I mean, it's my freaking dream. Travel for free! Get paid to write about it! Be wined and dined like a king! Free airfare! TRAVEL FOR FREE! Leave on the jetplane for free! Eat! Sleep! See! FREE!

Finally today, I get an invitation to go to Malaysia in July for 5 days, a trip which my boss WANTS me to go on. But guess what? It overlaps with my vacation next week--to Malaysia.

That's freakin ironic.

Quote of the day

"suen la... this world is ruined by morons"

--Tim, via chat

Next time, please remind me...

not to join a chorus.

I am crazy stressed out from work, moving, upcoming vacation and other things, and chorus is such a time suckage. The performance will be this Sunday. Verdi's Requiem. It is beautiful. It is even more beautiful to perform it (than to just hear it). But the rehearsals are such a killer when doing a full-time job and living in a crazy city.

However, this is by far the most professional chorus I've ever been in (Opera Hong Kong Chorus). It's quite an amazing experience.

Call me crazy

but I find this very cool. Super impractical brooch included.

(Just Cavalli)

Really lame line from the Stylista finale last night:

Joe Zee: "Elle covers are known for their wow factor."

Really? Wow. I never noticed.

I'm dreaming... of a dense sticky greasy choco espresso caramel cake topped with vanilla ice cream at Ocean Grill that I didn't think I'd like but o. m. g. can I have all the sugar I want if I turn vegetarian?

Cavil to Boomer:

"You should stay and have a heart to heart with your creator, standing there. You could ask her why she made you the way you are: self-destructive, hyper-emotional, torn apart by conflicting impulses... tell her how extraordinarily happy this makes you!"

--Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5

More adventures in real estate

Have to move again very soon. A few months ago we walked into a realtor's office (but we were "wun bun" actually) near Soho asking to see Soho apartments. She took us to this AMAZING refurbished "tong lau" right on Peel Street (practically above Brunch Club). I was in love with this place. One unit had rooftop terrace. Another had ground floor terrace. It was a dream. This time around, no such luck. We looked in Central and Sheung Wan on Saturday. Some really promising places but nothing wowed.

Moving a lot actually satisfies my character trait of being extremely fickle and unpredictable. The first time around (over a year ago) my priority was newness/cleanliness, cost, seaview, closet space and convenience, in that order. Yup I got that, so over that; this time around, my priority is oldness (I WANT TO LIVE IN A TONG LAU), urbanness and cost. (Who knows, the third time around I might insist on rural white picket fence.) Our current frontrunner is an old apartment with view of a back alley in Central. One sick pad we visited was a SICK 700 sq ft studio, with rooftop, and 1 block from my office in Sheung Wan, and dirt cheap (er, well, by HK standards, $14,500/mo.), but won't work because it doesn't have walls--not good with a Korben.

Hong Kong International Art Fair

On to a more traditional knockoutgirl post.

The fair known also as ART HK 09 (yeah good job PRs, it is catchier than the full name) opened two weeks ago and lasted four days. It was fun. But looking at my camera phone pictures (I use my phone for no particular reason. I had my regular camera with me. I just felt like it was somehow tradition to use my phone), I noticed something about the pieces I choose to photograph. While the most striking pieces were the many strange or shocking sculptures, I find that I am most interested in keeping visual record of the most traditional - possibly most boring - paintings.

Gotta love Damien Hirst butterflies.

I didn't squash the photo; these two sculptures are actually squashed like if you are watching TV in widescreen when the aspect ratio of the show is the old kind... hate it when that happens.

These are actually deconstructed high heels made to look like insects. They are amazing.

Part of a portrait.

I LOVE this. I don't really know what is going on in this painting but it's something cultural... butterflies flying, feathered mask, photo-realism with the surreal...

Detail of a nude.

I thought this was just a giant butterfly done with loads of paint and two canvases slapped together and pulled apart, but I only realized from the photo that it is also a person's face! Wa!

I accidentally started reading a forum thread that was talking about people's poor health and evil pharmaceuticals (on Amazon. Why do retail websites host non-product-related forums? So distracting. You don't need to be everything to everybody.). One person commented that air conditioning is partially to blame for people's staying indoors watching TV and not getting exercise or spending time with other human beings, whereas without the A/C, people are much more inclined to get out of the hot house in the summer.

I agree completely that lack of A/C forces people to go outside and possibly exercise! When my husband and I were living in a particular apartment in Evanston, we didn't have air conditioning for about 1 year, and Chicago summers are hot. That summer I voluntarily (meaning no whining involved) went to play tennis everyday because I was sweating profusely just sitting at the computer. It was really disgusting, just dripping with sweat not doing anything, and I preferred to sweat on purpose under the sun while moving, wearing athleticwear, and trying to beat someone at a game, with the possibility of feeling a breeze every once in a while.

Ah. Evanston which teeters between upscale college town and suburban ghetto, how oddly conflicting it feels. Hippie art fair under the train tracks. Muggings at gunpoint by the moonlit lake. Darkness and light. Take me, free me.

Saturday, very interesting day.

It is the day that I attempted to fast, and I would classify it as successful. It is also the day that I went bicycling for 5 hrs (with like 1 hr "lunch" break in the middle) at the surreally beautiful beyond-Shatin area. Just look at that sky, and sea, and mountains, and pristine techy paradise-of-the-future california-meets-hk sight. It is also the day I was an accessory at my in-laws' mother's day dinner. It is also the day I enjoyed a concert. It is also the day I didn't go to a toga/luau party. It is also the day I was very hungry and kept falling over from fatigue. It is also the day I became very sore.

Throughout the day I had green veggie drinks, lemon water and a watermelon juice (which I think is somewhat kosher for the fast). To make a long story short, I DID cheat a little with half of a glorious shrimp spring roll and two small bites of bread stick. Around 11pm I had at least 2 bowls of miso soup and 1/4 pear...

I would've thought it'd be easy for me to fast, seeing as how I could go through days barely eating anything in college and post-college. But living here and being out is SO HARD because the food is SO GOOD, and you are bombarded with the smells, and I am never attempting a fast again if I have to be out doing stuff.

Next day, I felt SO GOOD and not hungry and got up to this by guru Kris Carr:

"Remember, it’s not about weight, disease reversal, fixing the blues (or your marriage). Start small. Love yourself at the cellular level."

Oh, the torture!

Really, trying to be good about food.

But, again, writing about food.

Currently craving... feel like if I could only choose one sweet dessert to have for the rest of my life, it would have to be the fritters at Peking Garden. Of course I said the same thing about ice cream mochi when I was eating that. I would've probably said the same thing about a Napoleon I was having on Tuesday.

Back to the fritters. OMG. The menu says taro, but apparently it's a mistake (confirmed)because there is no taro inside, just starchy potato/rice paste with some red date paste. Candied. OMG. (That fateful day six pieces arrived for our table of four, and while each person having one pieces would be 6-4=2, instead of devouring the remaining two like I normally would - the other people weren't as into it as I was - I just had an extra one. Ah, restraint.)

Thing is, I have come to realize I'M NOT NORMAL. Normal people are NOT like this. They do not have these insane cravings for certain dishes, like obsessively salivatingly. I mean, this is a revelation. I've always been 10 times more ravenous when it comes to eating junk food or any other food I like. I've always wondered how people can hold back and not "stuff their face" when eating chips or Corn Caramel, which is literally what I do. I used to think people are just being polite, but now I realize... there's something wrong with me.

It's not until I get really REALLY "this time it's for real" serious about no sugar that I realize just how bad my addiction is. I tried doing no sugar, bread, alcohol and caffeine but literally cannot because of my job but I also really crave it like crazy and find myself cheating even outside of work. However, I have cut WAY back.

For example, last weekend out for dinner, my mom ordered garlic bread, which came in six pieces. I am obsessed with garlic bread. But I was so good I only had one piece. Normally, I'm not kidding, I would for sure have had five pieces in five minutes - leaving one just out of the goodness of my heart to the other diners. Which makes me realize how gross I "normally" eat.

Went to H&M's new Kowloon flagship store media event on Friday night, 20% discount on all clothing. Four things I purchased: 1) white tee that's super me, 2) tulipy tissuey skirt with lavendar animalish print that's super me, 3) navy shorts that can be let down to be a little longer, very Abercrombie actually, 4) tattoo-print cardigan, obviously me...

I could do one of those mix-and-match editorials with these four things, a la "a week's worth of outfits" haha...

Good test

(Detailed and accurate test with 24 possible results!)

Your result for The Which Lost Character Are You Test ...

Kate

You scored 63% kindness, 41% courage, 50% seedy past, and 67% secretiveness!

JUST SAYIN'!

After multiple people urged me to watch Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent , I made an occasion of it by actually turning on my home computer - seeing as how my work one has no speakers (and I am too low-tech to figure out where to plug in my headphones. Forgive me, I work on a PC from the stoneage, not very user-friendly to begin with).

OK before hearing her, I had already read that she sang I Dreamed a Dream and wowed everyone. I knew her voice was especially surprising given her appearance, general spastic demeanor and possible channeling of William Hung in the department of naive confidence. Oh and apparently she has a disability, although I am not going to make assumptions about what that is referring to.

Looking at the screenshots, I tried to imagine a buttery I Dreamed a Dream coming out of this woman's voice. I tried but could not imagine it, partly because of the song. I wouldn't consider it the easiest song to blow people away.

So finally, I get home and it's my chance to hear the person who's caused so much hype, to be truly surprised, and... People! The segment was totally packaged to be a tear-jerker, first of all, with the background music. There was also the "cutting away" to the audience's reactions (initial disgust, then awe), which I'm guessing were taken entirely out of context (as in, those poor people's disgusted facial expressions were made during a truly disgusting moment and not when Susan Boyle was speaking).

On to the singing. UGH. I get it, I get that she is confident and has a good personality. Kudos, really! Screw everyone who ever made fun of her, because that's not nice. But her voice only comes as a surprise because she didn't SOUND LIKE WILLIAM HUNG... but that's IT. This is making me all frowny face because it's not talent... it's just... better-than-william-hungness. I don't know how else to put it. The vibrato is scary terrible. She has no low notes. Actually, zero technique. And no emotion to go with this super depressing song. Why is everyone reacting? Because of the darn packaging of the segment! If this were American Idol she would've been one of the BAD ones. Got Talent is a less cynical show than Idol so they decided to go this route with Susan Boyle, but... still... this is such a stretch. She can't sing.

Interesting chat convo from a while back...

[This was December 26, I think.]

me: are u working today?
A: ya...in office...my life sucks...
me: hey i am in office too
so that means my life sucks
but i think u r the first person i know who's working today (other than my colleagues)
A: they are independent, and somewhat overlapping, but causal, but just happened both to be true for me....if that makes sense..haha

Super quick post re: BSG

Watched the series finale of Battlestar Galactica two nights ago.

Quoting the Watcher (IMHO best TV blog): "That's it. 'Battlestar' got into my soul. No other show has reached into the core of my being and made me physically feel so much: Fear, nausea, anxiety, excitement, tension, exhilaration, joy. Sometimes I cried, other times -- as during much of the first hour of the finale -- it made me want to stand up and cheer."

I felt nausea and anxiety through almost every episode... it's just too freaky.

Love this guy.

Butterfly Dreams

Coldplay concert last night was SO GOOD. Of course I couldn't get good photos or anything with it being dark, except the "Lovers in Japan" butterflies (yay posted!). The media comp was in the most expensive section but still way too far away booo.

It's really not fair how talented Chris Martin is. Freak.

I love how the first pic has the big screen...

I read about 75% of Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain but am a little disappointed. It's supposed to be scandalous but it's not THAT scandalous. I have a feeling it's not the book, it's me, I'm just jaded. Also, Bourdain was quite self-congratulatory over and over again... which I don't like AT ALL in a memoir... I LOVE self-deprecation. Is that weird?

Well now I'm reading Outliers, you know, another bestseller churned out by the guy who wrote Blink. His books are great fun to read, but I actually sort of detest Blink. It's a pop psychology book that could've been written by anyone who did a few hours of research and interviewed a few key people. It's formulaic. And actually, I don't think Blink really had one overarching argument, just that, in general, intuition is powerful. Uh... yeah. I am finding Outliers much more interesting and pointful - so far. Definitely recommended so far! hee.

By the way it's not for the faint of heart

Seriously this weekend has been really very interesting and cool and great... I hate to say it, even, because I'm so not a "birthday" person, but lots of fun stuff occurred this weekend, one of which was...

In Bruges.

OMG. V.Li had couriered to me about 15 movies two weeks ago. Courier, because it's just fun and hilarious, OK? Anyway, I finally popped one in which I'd been very interested in seeing.

So I think this completes the trifecta of recent funny assassin movies loved by me: 1) Lucky Number Slevin, 2) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, 3) In Bruges

Edited to add: LOL just found out In Bruges was nominated for best original screenplay for 2008.

birthday weekend and other notes

I'm not much into my birthday, although I think this year's was pretty good. Got some really nice gifts :) Had several birthday-related meals. My innards are champagne-laden. Played Guitar Hero. Good.

On Saturday I went shopping by myself, which is actually my favorite mode of shopping... I had to go to buy Murad face stuff and they don't sell it in many places in HK so I had to go to Harbour City's Lane Crawford Faces. OK I have never gushed about Murad in my blog but I really ought to because I absolutively swear by it. Like the infomercial interviewees say, Murad acne complex has changed my life. I'm making it sound like I had really bad skin before which isn't exactly accurate, but it was far from blemish-free. And blemishes are day-ruining bastards. About 2 months after using Murad acne complex, my skin was comPLETEly clear and has pretty much stayed that way for the past 1.5 years. As in, it has changed my life. Oh and have I mentioned that I have tried EVERYTHING? An amassment of an enormous collection of trials and errors since the age of 13.

So anyway I ran out and went to Faces to buy it, and of course the Murad counter has no customers... since no one knows about it here, no surprise (the Bliss counter also empty teehee), which, if I really think about it, just means all the better for me, since I am now possibly like their best customer. I had extensive discussions with the salesgirl about the products because I also wanted to get the brightening serum and an eye cream (ever notice how you manage to run out of every face thing at the exact same moment? It's one of those cosmic mysteries). So the deal's done and she throws in, like, HK$500 worth of samples. UH, YAY.

Also: dilemma. I really need some advice about this. I get a free facial from Murad. I don't know if I should accept the offer, because I am terrified of going to the facial and they expect me to buy something! Oh and they just called me and told me to go pick up a birthday gift from Murad HAHA I'm feeling very locked-in to this relationship.

After my little Faces excursion (also signed up for the Faces VIP card... sigh, have I become their bitch?... and the free gift was a Bliss sample, YES!), on to my next stop, one of my top 5 favorite stores in the world: BCBGeneration... formerly known as BCBGirls... yeah it sells all the lower lines under BCBG... and half the store was 70% off. OMG. I tried on 8 things. Went home with 3.

One of the most eventful things of this weekend didn't even happen to me. Well it's more like, one of the most holy-frick things I can imagine occurring... Tim went to a concert by himself (uh, sorry for outing your awesome level of lonerdom - but hey I'm going to the Coldplay concert by myself this Wednesday! (Only managed to get one media comp, you see.)) and ran into none other than Marie Digby! He went up to her and started talking to her about his friend who's obsessed with her. Hahaha! They took pictures! THEN he was really pissed because he should've asked her to record a birthday message for me LOL omg... I would've flipped. That would've been insane. Woulda coulda shoulda. Heehee.

Quest for the pretty

Our company camera's lens is in the repair shop right now (OK, it miiight have been my fault...) so I borrowed one of my dad's 300 cameras to take pix for work. The one I borrowed rocks... it's small (no big lens or anything) and good looking and the pictures turned out really well. I'm just so happy with how these pix turned out so here... and I'm guessing the camera is way beyond my budget.

Look, I used major zoom and it turned out crystal clear:

And I am very adept at flower function now. "Macro," I know:

This one was just pretty. Hong Kong Park is pretty amazing, really really:

And... I adore this pic:

Finally uploaded the pics that have been on my camera for months...

I took this picture a long time ago in front of Links of London... origami hydrangeas... very cool and very much like what I used to do... ok I'm really interested in display-case origami, for obvious reasons... but I tried taking a picture with my normal camera and got shooed away, wtf! Haha. Just taking a pic of your window display, geez. Why are stores so anal. Anyway, I found this cool... all white, pretty typical... showcases the products very well when the products are colored... by the way, I have grown to love Links of London. They have some really cool stuff, although the prices are outrageous.

Another note about the Oscars

I just want to say that I really enjoyed those category introductions at the Oscars this year. I love those kinds of montages. And they were very well done. Heartfelt. Succinct. Well written. I was very impressed. They actually made me want to keep watching. They made every award seem more significant. And the nominee introductions were nice too.

I really want to see Man On Wire!

1:30AM

I'm usually not up at 1:30 at night. My capacity for sleep is astounding these days, and I get a lot of it. But I'm up now because I took a 3 hr nap after getting home from Slumdog Millionaire. And I'm sitting here and out my window in the apartment building literally a stone's throw away there were a few lights on just moments ago. It makes me wonder what they're doing in there. What they're watching on TV, whether they are happily reading in bed, who they're getting ready to sleep next to, and whether they are in the winter of their discontent, like me.

Went to Jennifer's birthday dinner tonight, bet they're still having fun right now with the ice louge hahaha (I bowed out early le).

Watched Slumdog Millionaire today *SPOILER ALERT*

My opinion... it was filmed well. It's conflicting though, because the story... it's like a fairytale, as V.Li says. But at the same time it shows you some really brutal things. It's like Pan's Labyrinth except without the fantasy adventures. Or Life is Beautiful.

It also seems to have a very intentional goal of showcasing many facets of India, all tied together a bit too conveniently by Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Again, it was filmed really well. But the story... it's as if the writer had to tie a bunch of somewhat unrelated scenes together with some kind of theme... the unifying element will be the questions in Who Wants to be a Millionaire, that'd do it! It's like the default solution when trying to insert a symbolic scene that seems totally out of place, or showing something about a character's psyche--a dream sequence, that'd take care of that! You know what I mean, too easy.

Also, speaking as someone who has watched loads of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (although not the Indian version), the way it was done was pretty off. The last question would not be about novel character names! Too easy. Also, the fact that he had a phone-a-friend was downplayed until the very last minute, which obviously is driven by plot/script needs, was super unrealistic.

My favorite line. The second time she says "I'm Latika" toward the end, but flashbacking to her saying it in the beginning as a girl. I love that kinda crap.

Procrastination

OK so I only recently finished The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which I really did not enjoy.

Then I read a piece online that slams Kavalier & Clay.

"But I do not at all agree with the common line that Kavalier & Clay is Chabon’s best book, or even that it is a good book. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was small, but it was piercingly direct; Kavalier & Clay attains breadth, but at the loss of focus. Larger in scope, it is smaller—and shallower—in spirit."

He makes a fine argument but how can Kavalier & Clay ever be described as being shallow in spirit... that's just... stop ruining the book for me!

Strange, indecipherable, beautiful Counting Crows lyrics in my head...

"I'll wait for you where Saturday's a memory and Sunday comes to gather me into the arms of God who welcomes me because I believe oh I believe"

(From "Cowboys." I love this song.)

Top of my wishlist: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mini1000/hpmini1000_vivienne.html

OK just kidding. I will settle for the black one. Seeing as how the Vivienne Tam edition (which I find stunning) is double the price. So the hp mini! Because I want to be able to write stuff on-the-go. I want to fit a laptop in my purse. And I like anything that has the word "mini" attached to its name.

One thing I realized a long time ago: I write better when I am sick/tired/dizzy/drunk. Actually I do just about everything better when I'm tipsy. I sing better, I talk better, I probably drive better, not that I'm going to try that.

I am totally serious about the driving thing, by the way. My main problem in life is that I am a control freak. There are merits to being a control freak, but thsoe are vastly outweighed by the problems that arise from this malady.

Well yesterday I was sick and at work, and although it took me three times as long to read things, I could write three times as fast. So I'm thinking, once I get my hp mini (in my current semi-sick state I think it is an inevitability), I can go out and have alcohol and then go hide somewhere and finish a week's worth of writing in say 2 hrs!

Please excuse my current condition. I haven't been getting much sleep b/c of my lack of oxygen due to congestion.

Maria Elena!

I was at work during the Oscars but V.Li and Tim kept updating me via chat. It was pretty funny, actually. But anyway I watched a lot of it that night during the evening re-run, and Penelope Cruz's acceptance was the best. I was really surprised when I was informed that she won, but really excited!! And I have even more of a crush on Maria Elena now, or rather the whole crazy-artist-lovers-who-want-to-kill-each-other concept. I heart Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Well, I was reading Kris Carr's website and felt motivated again to eat healthy and fast and juice. That was about 30 minutes ago. Now I feel like my lunch is going to consist of coffee. Just coffee. I'm so bad at life. But then I feel like people are constantly saying things along the lines of "stop having a stick up your ass, live life, have a Brownie (thanks Bliss Spa), have lots of wine (thanks parents), have our signature mojito and 3 set lunches and coffee (thanks PRs), go on vacation," blah blah. But then here's Kris Carr's website telling me "live life as long as you eat bland and raw, try fasting, rock it out girl!, don't stress!, be anal about food or you'll die a horrible death some time too soon, ok have fun!" So I dunno... this is causing me a lot of stress, know what I mean?

I know there's a way to reconcile it all but I can't be bothered to figure it all out.

Last night I watched Proof on cable. The first time I watched it, in an Evanston theater, I liked it enough, and it was great again last night.

Yesterday I was sleep deprived and wired on caffeine, big time. I'd taken four of those painkillers full of caffeine that says Don't drink too much coffee or tea with this, but of course since I was sleep deprived, and the label said "not too much," I had my cup of coffee. So I was feeling a little crazy with all the no sleep too much caffeine.

Then Proof was on and I was like, "Wow, I can really identify with Gwyneth Paltrow's character. Like, omg!"

She's kinda crazy, spacey, thinks a lot, depressed, sleep deprived, whiny, and argumentative. And it made me feel even more insane. She and Anthony Hopkins get into this whole discussion about how crazy people would never admit to being crazy, and how... well I don't remember exactly, but it made sense at the time. And I love how so much of the movie's dialogue is arguing logically - yeah, tie-in to the whole idea of "proof." What you can and cannot prove in life...

(Although I do dislike how the movie, adapted from a play, really feels like a play, especially multiple sequences when people are arguing REALLY loudly, and yet other people in the house have no idea what's going on.)

Of course, another reason I like this movie is Chicago. One of the best lines: "You actually want to live in Evanston?" - Anthony Hopkins, upon hearing that Gwyneth Paltrow will attend Northwestern. The score is also beautiful and really reminds me of A Beautiful Mind's score, which makes me feel like there's probably some kind of formula for writing scores for movies about math and geniuses.

Well, the whole thing made a lot of sense to me last night when I was feeling like I had multiple Red Bulls, and it was really sad and smart and... well, there IS something dissatisfying about the ending though.

I only slept maybe 2 hours last night so I'm not sure what I'm thinking now.

Wells. You know what blows?

I am officially scared of Chinese New Year. Forever and ever. And must be far far away from it.

On the other hand, after the holidays, for about a week, my bus stops and supermarkets and work email are so empty and quiet and ahhh nice, I'm gonna miss it once things start to pick up again.

Anyhoo...

My magazine started doing regular spa features again since January, after not really having done them for over a year, and while I am far from a spa connoisseur and have only been to a few, I pretty much get the gist and must say I am already quite certain of my favourite. I can't imagine a cooler spa, basically. It's the one in the W Hotel. Bliss Spa. I love Bliss products and was really excited to go for the treatments, just b/c it's freakin' BLISS. Best smelling (and great working) beauty products ever. The hotel had set up two treatments for me: oxygen blast facial and double choc pedicure. OMG! I was excited just hearing the names. How can oxygen be bad? And chocolate? I had no idea what a chocolate pedicure is but I'll take it!

Anyway, it was ultra cool. That's all I'm gonna say. Read all about it in our March issue. Teehee. Oh, sidenote, I love W Hotel (at least the one here). It helps that it's brand spankin' new, but it's the coolest hotel (hyperbole coming...) EVER. People who think it's too modern, pointless and random... well I don't understand those peeps. All new hotels are gravitating toward the modern look, so they better get used to it. The PR took me on a tour and I was gasping at everything in the rooms, the avant garde art in the restaurants, the cool employees in their cool outfits, aiii I love it. And sometimes I see how jaded people are and it's sad in a way to be jaded about modern marvels, technology, design, luxury, etc. Let's all be dai heung lei's and aliens and find everything fascinating.

BTW, Bliss Spa is freakin' expensive. I think BEST VALUE high-end spa in HK (from the ones I know at least) is Landmark Mandarin Oriental's Oriental Spa, especially their monthly specials.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (oh oops, edited to say: no spoilers!)

Sigh. So depressed during and after watching this movie.

I could go into a long spiel about the various themes of this movie that I find interesting... but maybe not...

Thing is, epics like these always make me depressed, which is I guess why books always depress me. They are more often epics. And the thing about epic movies that cover a person's life from birth to death, is that a person's life is covered in the 2 or so hours... it's like a person's life in a nutshell, no matter how detailed the movie is, it's still just a few hours... which is a reflection of the length of a real life, just a blink on this speck of blue.

This just in: Oscar noms

OF COURSE, currently living in Hong Kong, I have hardly had the opportunity to see any of the Oscar-nominated movies. Except of course I've seen the Dark Knight. And Benjamin Button arrived yesterday in theaters, but other than that... which is depressing to me. The fact that I am BEHIND in movies is depressing to me. And the fact that I find that depressing is depressing to me. I am a troubled girl.

But let me just say... Penelope Cruz! I must say that my favorite movie of the year is a tie between Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Dark Knight and Iron Man. Actually I hardly liked any movies this whole year and didn't watch very many either, so these three are my favorites but compared to last year's favorites the degree to which I like these pales in comparison.

But back to Penelope Cruz. She is so great in VCB! I'm guessing she's not going to win, just because I'm sure the films she's up against, which I haven't seen, are major award types. But I heart VCB and Penelope Cruz in it.

"If I am half a scrap of paper, let me turn into a butterfly"

So obviously, origami will always have a special place in my heart.

I would estimate that each contemporary English-language novel makes on average one mention of the word origami. I haven't always been diligent about marking passages that use this word but am trying to do so more and more. I just find it very interesting in a weird obsessive way. Since these are pretty good authors I am reading, the word origami isn't written haphazardly. It's always just the right word. It implies intricacy, elegance, foldedness, balance, etc., what origami is all about. I guess I can't stop thinking about "American Pastoral" (Philip Roth) which, in passing, uses origami to describe a vagina.

From "Survivor" (Chuck Palahniuk):

"The journalist sits across from me. How her legs look with the rest of her body is not too long. She shows just enough ear for earrings. All her problems are hidden inside. All her flaws are underneath. The only smell she gives off, even her breath, is hair spray. How she's folded into her chair, her legs crossed at the knee, her hands folded in her lap, is less good posture than it is some flesh-and-blood origami."

The above passage is this whole multi-sentence description that gets wrapped up in one last word. Origami--intricate, elegant, folded, balanced, etc.--says it all.

From "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" (Michael Chabon) (Thanks althealthfreak for the lend!

"I gathered up my books and papers and noticed that the Spanish Potboiler Guy had left. Where he'd been sitting there were a small empty can of pineapple juice and a little scrap of origami that was like a dog or a saxophone."

Well, Chabon's "origami" is literal. But anyway. I, in my obsessive way, find the use of this word/description very interesting/cool... it also makes me wonder how it's possible that so many people in the US do not know what origami is. I mean, it's a pretty commonly used term. (Having lived in Florida, I would guess that only 50% of the population knows what origami is, crazy as it sounds.)

I also collect moments in movies and TV shows when origami is used. I have a bunch of screencaps. Weird huh. This unicorn from "Bladerunner," I made 70 for a wedding back in the day.

Stop Me

I am crazy about this song...
Interestingly, for a Marie song, no "bridge" section...
Oh Marie, u r so talented and awesome and I heart this song.

Saw "Twilight" two weekends ago.

I guess the whole situation was kinda funny. I was really dying to see Twilight because I was craving an entertaining no-brain-required somewhat-actiony slick movie. This was before Stephen H. started gushing about it. OK I've always known he is partial to chick flicks in a weird way, and he made this Anne Rice connection which makes him even more biased... because he LOVES Interview with a Vampire (the book). But he couldn't stop gushing about Kristen Stewart. And I sort of have a girl crush on Kristen Stewart, which was another reason I really wanted to watch this.

So I drag my husband to the midnight show (although I said I was perfectly fine with seeing it myself), as did many a spouse around the world, or so I hear, and he really didn't like it.

I didn't love it, ar! I wasn't exactly expecting to love it because of the Tomatometer rating, but I still wanted it to be a slick entertaining movie. I think I should read the books because I might love the books. But the main reason I didn't love it was the filmmaking was sloppy. I want to love this movie! The characters/acting was great, and I love Bella's dork posse actually. Those were realistic high school kids. But it was edited all weird, and I didn't particularly like the special effects when it came to the super powers. And Kristen Stewart didn't mesmerize me like I'd hoped.

Boo. Anyway, can't wait for Benjamin Button.

Went to Osaka for a few days. I like Osaka. It's not expensive, not suffocating and so picturesque. Oh and I bought riding boots for cheap! Oh and Japanese girls fearlessly wear mini skirts and riding boots in near-freezing weather, which I will never get over.

X'mas morning

Love this pic my mom took. Tim and me.

I read...
"Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk (the guy who penned Fight Club)

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. The whole book is like a parody. Hyper symbolic. But his sentences and passages are really smart. Like each and every one is mocking. Well I think I just prefer lushness.

It makes me think of Fight Club, the film. The thing I really didn't like about the film was the narration, because it was so sharp and scathing. I actually thought that the narration would work fine in a book but it's just too much when spoken outloud.

So I can totally see that this Palahniuk guy is sort of a genius with words but I dunno, I will never like mean-spiritedness, hostility, mockery, etc.

Glorious wares

I’ve been having fashion on my mind lately for the following reasons: 1) V.Li started a fashion blog that loves discussing two recurring fashion-related themes in my life: Marc Jacobs and Kate Moss; 2) I bought Lucky magazine’s Dec issue and Tim brought back the Jan issue, which never fails to inspire me to buy a crapload of stuff; 3) this particular winter in HK sees very wearable and cute fashion, namely the combo of riding boots, fancy tights, and mini skirts (top and outerwear styles are flexible), which makes me feel like I have to try extra hard to not be a jeans-and-tee wallflower.

Hence all the stuff I bought over the weekend, which must be chronicled! Too fabulous to be forgotten! This is them in order of purchase (I hope photos are to come):

1. Biker jacket, grey denim, DKNY, 60% off, I’m in love
2. Two of the same things that I can’t disclose because one is for V.Li, 66% off
3. Super amazing perfect little black minidress (pictured), French Connection, at least 60% off
4. Black knit top with craftsy embroidered crown and FC logo, French Connection, 50% off
5. Black short pleated preppy skirt with buckle, French Connection, around 40% off
6. Small blue shoulder bag with thin knotted strap, H&M, cheap

Still no black moccasin boots. I’m also coveting riding boots but the selection overwhelms me.

Shallow thought of the week...

-I am so in the market for a pair of black moccasin boots and miniskirts to go with them. Can't find them (the boots) though.

Re: the restaurant I featured as being really good that my parents said was really bad. They went to the right restaurant this time and said it was REALLY good, which makes me feel a lot better. Yeah they managed to go to an entirely different restaurant last time and not know it... I also went back and it was really good again... so it's true, M---- R-- in D-Bay is really good!

This month I went to three places for afternoon tea and surprisingly, InterContinental was amazing... they served their future set that won't be out until February... the set came with two scones, two mini CHURROS (!!!), a madeleine and a canelle... which is a French carb thing that was yums... but OK I have never seen churros in HK :) unusual reason to be excited I know but... it's very nostalgic American carnivale...

Anyway their sandwiches were to die for too... best tiny sandwiches ever... and the tea (from this major French company Mariage Frères) was soo goood... I would post pics but might seem inappropriate since it's still Dec... and it would give away my not very secret blogger identity... but anyway... yah, InterContinental for afternoon tea!

i know i know, no blogging forever...
nothing to say,
approaching insanity,
but a crazy person doesn't know they are crazy...
so that means i can't be crazy...
according to catch-22...

ahhh must do amazon shopping before tim comes home...

Recently watched "Ella Enchanted" when it was on cable... love these lines:

[Ella confronts three thugs who have captured Slannen]
Ella: Look, I think it's only fair to warn you that I'm practiced in the ancient art... of origami.
Bluto: Paper folding?
Ella: Oh... I was hoping you wouldn't know what that was.

Oh yeah, I read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I liked it OK.

I love my team... aww...

They give me heart attacks, thanks guys!

"The Wildcats have also been nicknamed the "Cardiac 'Cats" after several seasons with highly contested games, with victories in the final seconds or in overtime." --Wikipedia

Current record 7-2

Watch out, Ohio State, another week and it'll be another ESPN Instant Classic in the making, RE: October 2, 2004
[insert sarcastic evil laugh]

sunday blog post

Northwestern, 6-1, rebounds from only loss with win over Purdue

grr.

Writers are such egomaniacs I can't stand it.

(Myself inclusive.)

Over the past few months I've tried to read various books but haven' t been satisfied or able to finish any...

How to Read Literature Like a Professor--
This one has OK information, but the writing is terrible. It's actually subtitled "A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines." False. This professor is obviously a skilled reader but crappy writer who I find to be patronizing. And totally boring. He's not clever as he fancies himself to be. It's the worst thing when a writer tries to be clever but just sounds lame.

The Art and Craft of Feature Writing--
I love this book, but it's not something you can finish in a few sittings. You'll get your money's worth though with all the insights. The stories used as examples are great reads in themselves. And this one is truly written in a lively and entertaining fashion, but that is to be expected since he is the expert on feature writing...

and other books not worth a mention. I've resorted to re-reading the Virgin Suicides. Off to Dymocks now!

Tasted on Monday...

And couldn't think straight or write about anything yesterday every time I looked at this pic. Vietnamese coffee-flavored creme brulee with yummy crunchy things. OMG. Mouth watering. Should've complimented the chef more on this one. White dude from Boston makes Vietnamese food. We talked about Red Sox and Patriots.

new reason to feel like an idiot

[In MTR station on the way back to office] The following conversation is not verbatim (but close). Changed for dramatic effect.

Me: I bought a plant last weekend and discovered there's a worm in it.

Coworker: [gasp] ew!

Me: But it's really cute.

Her: What?

Me: Yeah it's really cute, all tiny and fuzzy and crawly.

Her: ... you should get rid of it, it will kill your plant.

Me: That's OK.

Her: [laughs] So you actually bought a worm and are feeding it a plant.

Me: Yes exactly.

Her: [laughs]

Me: I mean, it's really small. It's like this [shows her about an inch and a half between fingers]

Her: That's big enough!

Me: But it's really nice because it won't leave the plant.

Her: Yeah where would it go?

Me: Well I've already named it.

Her: [Laughs] V------! I'm getting goosebumps.

Me: Yeah it's name is Ah Mo.

Her: Ah Mo. Are you afraid your cat will see it?

Me: He won't see it, but I'm afraid he will get jealous of it. Because I'm always looking at the plant now. He might get jealous of the plant.

Her: What kind of plant is it?

Me: I don't know. But doesn't matter, it was only HK$15.

Her: That's pretty cheap. The one on my desk was $20.

Me: Yeah.

Her: You should take a picture of it.

Me: Yeah but my camera gets fuzzy when I try to take close-ups.

Her: You're supposed to use the "flower" function.

Me: [dumbfounded] REALLY? THAT'S for close-ups?

Her: Yeah.

Me: I feel like an idiot, all this time I didn't know what the flower meant. I thought it was for outdoors or something.

Her: Well yeah it's for close-ups but they use the flower symbol because...

Me: Most people use it to photograph flowers.

Her: Yup.

I really feel like an idiot, because I have been frustrated about this FOREVER: why can't I take close-ups with any of my cameras? This is especially troubling because I went through 3.5 years of origami photographing without knowing about this function. How lame is that? Well I've been taking all kinda of pics now that I know about the flower function

And I can't keep plants alive except cacti, so my plant is almost dead. The flowers are really cool though, they have a wish bone-shaped membrame inside.

1. I mailed in my absentee voter registration last week...
2. Which is actually quite pointless.
3. I don't want to be all whiny about "my vote doesn't count"...
4. But it actually really doesn't.
- - a) I mean it will not affect anything.
- - b) Because I am an Illinois voter.
- - - i. And Obama is going to win in Illinois.
- - - ii. And I am voting for Obama.
- - - iii. But that doesn't really matter because Obama is still going to win in Illinois without my vote.
- - - iv. So my vote isn't going to help him become Prez.
5. See? The electoral college system is whack.

My last blog post made me really want to play the piano. I found a youtube vid with a girl who teaches the entire "Spell" accompaniment by demonstration, it's cool.

I'm also traumatized because my mom said she went to the restaurant I blogged about (two posts ago) and said it was really bad. Now I'm all paranoid that they normally suck and were just good when the magazine went.

It's heresy.

Marié Digby, I bow down to your brilliance.

I'm obsessed.

And if I had a keyboard in my apartment I wouldn't sleep until I figured out how to play the "Spell" accompaniment.

Writing about food makes me... so hungry.

What I want to write about this dish: Best. Gnocchi. Ever. OMG.

Food writing is so hard for me. How many adjectives can one use to say something is delicious? I'm so not a foodie. This particular restaurant I am reviewing (or featuring, which is diff), located in Discovery Bay, called M---- R-- (don't want it to be searchable to my blog!), which is not very pricey, also had the best tartar ever (tuna and crab) and REALLY good mussels, amazing desserts, amazing prawn soup, wish it was more conveniently located than Discovery Bay though, but maybe that's asking too much.

My mouth is watering just from thinking about it, which makes it hard to write, and makes me eat more for lunch, which makes me feel gross (since it was a recent revelation that the reason I'd been able to be skinny for like the past 5 yrs but is a struggle now is because I NEVER ate breakfast or lunch until now that I have job with normal hours).

Typhoons crack me up

Received this by email today because of the suspicious/funny projected typhoon path... notice the very sharp angle at the blue dot. In case the legend on the left upper corner is too small to read, we are currently at the green dot. The red, blue, and grey dots are the projected path for the next 3 days. The red star, right next to the grey dot, is HK.

My initial thought was Yay, typhoon! But my next thought was BOO!!! Can't this be on a weekday??? Our last typhoon 8, which was a week ago I think, occurred between 6pm and 6am over a weeknight! Stupid typhoon, stop defeating your PURPOSE! Which is to help me get out of WORK!

5-0 baby... and none of it's on my tv screen

"IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern's best start in 46 years was met with a fair amount of skepticism because of its weak schedule. After the way the Wildcats beat Iowa on Saturday, expect many of those doubters to become believers." --AP


Feel like I should trash talk or something. Um... we're even smarter than you! Suck that, the rest of Big Ten! Yeah, that should do.