stop me if you've heard this one before

My top eleven resolutions for the year 0-11 (not in any particular order):

11. Be nice to my long suffering mother, who has a son who wouldn't listen to her. All the poor woman wants is to see her son marry and have kids. It's not rocket science.

10. Be more present. I am always drifting off into the abyss when I am talking with people. I think people might be on to me.

9. Exercise more. I really should, knowing that I have "issues."

8. Eat more healthfully and smaller portion. I really should eat half of what's put in front of me.

7. Read. It's pathetic that I only finished one book this past year.

6. Go and get her. Hey Jude.

5. Stop buying crap off the internet. Granted - I am going to buy the new iPad when it comes out, but other than that, I really need to control myself. I honestly do not need to participate in every sale there is.

4. Have a positive attitude. Or more like, stop hating everything, including myself. Low self-esteem is not very becoming. And besides, life is not that bad.

3. Develop my photography skills.

2. Write. I am actually kinda excited cuz I finally have a story that to me is quite interesting and has a lot of potential. The idea actually came upon me just a few nights back. I am kinda brainstorming right now, but I will put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) tomorrow on Chapter 1.

1. Help someone. I really, really want to do some good in this world. I just haven't found my way. But every time I watch some ordinary people doing extraordinary things on Oprah (like this janitor who uses her own salary to help the kids in her school), I just wish I could do my part. But what is my cause? What do I care about other than myself???

So, boo-yah, 2010! See ya. I am gonna own this next year like it's my bitch. And stop talking like a poser gangsta.

bests and worsts

Random bests and worsts of 2010:

Worst natural disaster: Haiti earthquake
Worst man-made disaster: BP's Gulf of Mexico three-month oil spill
Best sports team win for a sports I don't give a damn about: Scrappy Giants winning World Series
Best example of how you cannot keep a good athlete down: Return of Wes Welker of my Patriots
Worst example of how you cannot keep a dog killer down: Return of Michael Vick
Best blog: Film Experience Blog
Worst tv show I've never watched a full episode of: The Real Housewives of Something, Keeping Up with Anything about the Kardashians, and Jersey Shore (three-way tie)
Best real life event for tv movie adaptation: Chilean miner rescue
Worst Princess Diana stand-in: Kate Middleton
Best (or worst, same difference) Showgirl stand-in: Burlesque
Best discovery: Garrett Hedlund as a country singer
Best evolution from child star to future A-list actress: Emma Watson
Best evolution from child star to soon-to-be Oscar winning actress: Natalie Portman (she'll win for Black Swan, but what'll she wear to work with that baby bump?)
Worst cheater: Tiger Woods and Jesse James, tied
Best class act: Sandra Bullock
Best second wind: Betty White
Worst second wind: Cloris Leachman
Best drool-worthy invention: iPad (I am so getting one when the next generation comes out)
Best/worst splurge of the year: My BMW
Worst nightmare come true: Got drafted for review at work requiring at least six weeks of travel
Worst overexposure: Lady Gaga - enough already; her explanation of the meat dress on Ellen is non-sensical and exposes to me that, contrary to public belief, there is no art/substance behind the weirdness
Worst loss of a legend: JD Salinger
Best Korean I've never heard of til this year: Kim Yu-Na
Worst Korean I've never heard of til this year: Kim Jon-Un
Worst decline of a show I liked not too long ago: Glee (the writing is just so uneven, and the characters increasingly unlikable)
Worst gay: Kurt/Chris Colfer on Glee (so freaking whiny and tortured)
Best gay: Blaine/Darren Criss on Glee, particularly the two minutes when he is performing Teenage Dream
Worst sequel to a good movie: Iron Man 2
Best two-plus hours spent: Watching Billy Elliot the musical on Broadway in NYC
Best color: Orange
Best breakout, female: Emma Stone in Easy A
Best breakout, male: Tom Hardy in Inception
Worst breakouts: Jayden Smith and Willow Smith - dang, they spawn
Best scene, fictional: Joseph Gordon Levitt anti-gravity scene in Inception
Best scene, reality show: Watermelon sling on Amazing Race 17
Best freakout: Steven Slater of Jet Blue
Worst freakout: Mel Gibson
Worst literary phenomenon I don't get: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Millennium series by Stieg Larsson
Best literary pheonmenon I know nothing about: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Best music video: Arcade Fire, We Used To Wait
Best tv series not from America: Skins
Best tv series I forgot to put on my top ten list: So You Think You Can Dance
Worst curse: All the troubles befalling on The Hobbit production
Worst curse part deux: All the troubles befalling on Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark production
Best food trend: Food trucks
Best food truck: Biryani Cart in Manhattan NYC
Best customer service: Dexter from Schweetboks
Worst customer service: Shuttle driver/asshole on trip from hotel to JFK in May
Worst use of Johnny Depp: Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist, tied
Best use of a few minutes on screen: Rooney Mara in The Social Network
Best use of time: James Franco, who acts in soaps, makes movies, write books, goes to college, guest stars on sitcoms, hosts Oscars, and cuts off his arms in 127 hours.
Best Oprah giveaway: VW Beetle to every audience member
Worst Oprah giveaway: Free flight to Australia to every audience member, but piloted by...John Travolta (I mean, flying is scary enough - I don't have the utmost confidence in crossing the ocean with a celebrity pilot. Granted, if Oprah is on the flight, it's probably like flying in Air Force One.)
Best onscreen couple: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
Best drink: Horchata, especially in December
Best musical news about 2011: Fiona Apple is back!!!
Best movie news about 2011: That it's only one year away from 2012, which is when The Hobbit and The Dark Knight Rises are coming!!!!!!

they are country strong

Gwyneth's new movie Country Strong is coming out in Jan, and I gotta say, not being a country music fan and all, I am thoroughly impressed by what I am seeing:

Gwyneth singing Country Strong at the CMA Awards:


Garrett Hedlund from Tron singing Chances Are: (The guy supposedly never sang or played guitar prior to this role - dang. Actually he is also going to play Dean Moriarty in On The Road. He is going to be a huge star.)


Garrett with Leighton Meester singing Give In To Me:


Leighton Meester's video for Summer Girl:

it was all a dream

There are plenty of 2010 movies I haven't been able to catch yet, including 127 Hours, The Fighter, Black Swan, Never Let Me Go, and Norwegian Wood (which I probably won't see til way late into next year since we probably won't get a US release here). Regardless, these are my top five movies of 2010:

5. Shutter Island - As was with Inception, I am still not sure what happened at the end. I think I know, but I am not sure. Atmospheric, intense, and superbly acted by the underrated Leo, this kept me edgy and uneasy for the entire movie, and call me crazy (and put me on a loony bin island), but I like it.

4. Toy Story 3 - Touching without being sappy. It's a fine line most Pixar movies are able to walk (and most regular movies can't). Watching Toy Story 3 is like welcoming back old friends from your childhood, or like drinking hot porridge (or hot soup or chocolate if you are not Chinese) when it's freezing old outside.

3. The Social Network - Andrew Garfield (the friend), Rooney Mara (the ex-girlfriend), and the dialogues are the standouts in this. Despite the raving reviews and that it's directed by the sure-hands of David Fincher, I actually didn't expect to like this, but yeah, it was compelling storytelling, and does effectively make me hate Facebook, Harvard (and Ivy League colleges in general), and Sean Parker. Oh, how I hate Sean Parker!

2. Kick-Ass - Hit Girl is the best female character in all of this year. I want to adopt her.

1. Inception - It's got Leo, JGL, Tom Hardy, AND Marion Cotillard, and it's by one of my favorite directors ever. This one would have been a major letdown if it didn't work. But it turned out to be a dreamy, mesmerizing, thrilling, and confusing masterwork. I don't care that I don't completely get it. I never care about things like that. I just care that it took me for a ride, and I loved every subconscious minute of it.

Speaking of dreams, last night, I dreamed that I was traveling for work with Jasen (whom I actually don't work with, so I have no idea why he was there), and I had forgotten my luggage, including all my toiletries, at home. In the dream, I had supposedly been traveling a lot and was really tired, and the morning I left, I woke up late and ran out of the house for the airport without any luggage and didn't realize it til I was mid-air sitting in my seat. Then, while I was all panicky about what to do about clothes and stuff for the week, the flight attendants brought me back a package that I apparently did bring and asked me to put it under the seat in front of me. The box had sticker on top that said something like "Inspected. No medicine needed. Need to be fed." Inside was, as it turned out, my little kitten (which obviously I don't have in real and don't ever want - not a cat person at all). Sigmund Freud or Christopher Nolan, analyze this. (Bam, I got a Madonna reference in - I am good!)

the other asian's favorite tv shows

My top ten tv shows of 2010:

10. House Hunters International - It's a rather odd choice. But I really like seeing how people live in other countries and how much it would cost me in my fantasy to move from the US to some remote European countryside and raise European kids and grow olives for a living.

9. Desperate Housewives - Yeah it would be hipper to say Mad Men, Breaking Bad, or True Blood (nope, can't sink my teeth into any of these). Nah, give me a Vanessa Williams-Eva Longoria (minus the Parker) catfight anytime.

8. Community - This is the most brainiac comedy on tv. They fire so many pop culture references at you that you feel like you are in a paintball war. I spent a couple of years in a community college myself, so this reminds me of back in the days when one Christmas, my Spanish study group and I got turned into claymation characters. Ah, good times.

7. Raising Hope - Cloris Leachman's Maw Maw is grotesque and unwatchable, but everything else about this freshman sitcom is endearing and hilarious. Jimmy: Hey, I thought I talked to you about this. You can't smoke around the baby. Virginia: Jimmy, smoke rises. She's not gonna be tall enough to breathe it for a long time. Come on, how can you not love that?

6. Cougartown - These people seriously drink too much, but I guess now I know why white people enjoy alcohol so much - it turns them into really wacky and endearingly neurotic sitcom characters.

5. Modern Family - You need a family sitcom to be likable, and this one is as likable as they come. These are the families you want for your own. But of course, if these people were my family, I would be the adopted Asian kid.

4. Lost - So long, the Hatch. Farewell, the Others. And goodbye, Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Locke and Hurley and the Asian and the other Asian (oops, wrong show). You were like the coolest show ever, and I am not just blowing Smoke Monster up your ass.

3. Conan - I am with Coco. I am so happy for his turning a most crushing blow (getting fired from his dream job, The Tonight Show) into a phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes career move. Once again, every night now, I fall asleep to Conan and Andy's high jinx. Yes, that is me chuckling from under the blanket in the dark at a grouchy Ted Turner riding in on his bull to berate Coco.

2. Better Off Ted - Do I blame America or do I blame the network for the demise of this witty, biting, and hilarious absurdist workplace sitcom, starring a never-better or weirder Portia Di Rossi and charming straight-man Jay Harrington? I think I need to move to a country, or a planet, that appreciates good tv and that would never let a Kardashian or a Snookie become popular tv personalities.

1. Amazing Race - When Chi Young was little, we used to spend every Sunday evening watching Amazing Race, but then he went and grew up and starting doing other things and developing other interests like playing games online. Well, this season, because of the participation of KevJumba, Chi Young began watching with me again. So yeah, Amazing Race is made all the more amazing because now Sunday nights are once again what they used to be. KevJumba and his dad may have gotten eliminated by middle of the season, but Chi Young stayed the whole way through.

christmas lights

This is my xmas playlist this year. There are perennial favorites mixed with a number of new discoveries and new releases. I am rather ambivalent about this time of year. I hate the parking at the malls and long lines everywhere and the winter hiatus all my favorite shows go on. But I love having a break from work, and I love the lights. I seriously love trees decorated with lights. It's magical to me.

1	.	Christmas Lights	Coldplay
2	.	Baby, It's Cold Outside	Leon Redbone And Zooey Deschanel
3	.	Frosty The Snowman	Fiona Apple
4	.	Christmas Isn't Christmas	The Boy Least Likely To
5	.	It's Christmas	Coconut Records
6	.	2000 Miles (The Pretenders Cover)	Coldplay
7	.	All I Want For Christmas Is New Year's Day	Hurts
8	.	I Don't Want It To Be Me	Scrooge & Marley
9	.	Silent Sigh	Badly Drawn Boy
10	.	River	Travis
11	.	Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas	Coldplay
12	.	I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun	Beach House
13	.	Just Like Christmas	Snow Patrol
14	.	Last Christmas	Savage Garden

oh i wish i had a river

This might be my favorite Christmas song ever - Joni Mitchell's River covered by Travis:



And then there's the Pretender's 2000 Miles covered by Coldplay:

if it helps you fall in love with me

Here are my top 100 songs of 2010:

100	.	Always	Junip
99	.	Haven't Met You Yet	Michael Bublé
98	.	Live Like We're Dying	Kris Allen
97	.	Just The Way You Are	Bruno Mars
96	.	Runaway [Explicit]	Kanye West
95	.	Soldier of Love	Sade
94	.	The Weary Kind	Ryan Bingham
93	.	Please Don't Let Me Go	Olly Murs
92	.	The High Road	Broken Bells
91	.	Out Of The Walls	Tom McRae
90	.	You Were a Kindness	The National
89	.	Saturday Come Slow	Massive Attack (feat. Damon Albarn)
88	.	I Won't Be Found (Daytrotter Session)	The Tallest Man On Earth
87	.	Hurtful	Erik Hassle
86	.	O.N.E.	Yeasayer
85	.	Animal	Neon Tree
84	.	All Summer	Kid Cudi, Best Coast and Rostam of VW
83	.	Heartbreaker	Girls
82	.	Sleep All Summer	The National & St. Vincent
81	.	No Surprises	Regina Spektor
80	.	You And Your Heart	Jack Johnson
79	.	Golden Haze	Wild Nothing
78	.	Something Good Can Work	Two Door Cinema Club
77	.	Wonderful Life	Hurts
76	.	Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith)	Crystal Castles
75	.	Thieves In The Night	Hot Chip
74	.	Ghost Pressure	Wolf Parade
73	.	Fool's Day	Blur
72	.	Let's Go Surfing	Drums
71	.	Boy	Ra Ra Riot
70	.	Bluish	Sondre Lerche
69	.	Ambling Alp	Yeasayer
68	.	Get Outta My Way	Kylie Minogue
67	.	Home	LCD Soundsystem
66	.	By Some Miracle	Philip Selway
65	.	Leave Me Alone	Pretty Good Dance Moves
64	.	I'm In Love	Antony and the Johnsons
63	.	Nothin' On You	B.O.B. featuring Bruno Mars
62	.	She Wolf	Shakira
61	.	Stylo (feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack)	Gorillaz
60	.	Cousins	Vampire Weekend
59	.	Hot Mess (12 Inch Revised w/La Roux)	Chromeo
58	.	Erase Me Main	Kid Cudi / Kanye West
57	.	Lover Of Mine	Beach House
56	.	Indestructible	Robyn
55	.	Billionaire (Feat. Bruno Mars)	Travie McCoy
54	.	World Sick	Broken Social Scene
53	.	Me and You	She & Him
52	.	The Cave	Mumford and Sons
51	.	Great Big Mind	Josh Ritter
50	.	Shark In the Water	V.V. Brown
49	.	Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi)	Janelle Monáe
48	.	Grenade	Bruno Mars
47	.	Go Do	Jónsi
46	.	Don't Turn The Lights On	Chromeo
45	.	Hang With Me	Robyn
44	.	Somebody To Love Me	Mark Ronson & The Business Intl
43	.	Love the Way You Lie	Eminem, featuring Rihanna
42	.	Fuck You	Cee-Lo Green
41	.	Call Your Girlfriend	Robyn
40	.	The Worse It Gets	Penguin Prison
39	.	The Suburbs	Arcade Fire
38	.	Shake	Jesse McCartney
37	.	California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)	Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
36	.	All The Lovers	Kylie Minogue
35	.	On The Subject Of Our Past Selves	The Seedy Seeds
34	.	Let Go	jj
33	.	The New Improved Hypocrisy	The Radio Dept.
32	.	One Life Stand	Hot Chip
31	.	Aeroboy	Brotherhood of Broken Hearts
30	.	Afraid of Everyone	The National
29	.	It Will All End In Tears	Drums
28	.	Bloodline	Matt Morris
27	.	Enchanting Ghost	Sufjan Stevens
26	.	Just Breathe	Pearl Jam
25	.	No Intention	Dirty Projectors
24	.	I Could Be Wrong (feat. Ezra Koenig)	Chromeo
23	.	Norway	Beach House
22	.	Thank You For Your Love	Antony & The Johnsons
21	.	Get Some	Lykke Li
20	.	All I Want	LCD Soundsystem
19	.	Too Much	Sufjan Stevens
18	.	Ready to Start	Arcade Fire
17	.	22	Wakey! Wakey!
16	.	Zebra	Beach House
15	.	Congratulations	MGMT
14	.	On Melancholy Hill	Gorillaz
13	.	Excuses	The Morning Benders
12	.	Teenage Dream	Katy Perry
11	.	Bloodbuzz Ohio	The National
10	.	Fall Hard	Shout Out Louds
9	.	Down By The Water	Drums
8	.	We Used to Wait	Arcade Fire
7	.	I Walked	Sufjan Stevens
6	.	Excuses (The Morning Benders cover)	Andy Fitch & Brian Russo
5	.	I Think Ur A Contra	Vampire Weekend
4	.	Dancing On My Own	Robyn
3	.	Horchata	Vampire Weekend
2	.	Teenage Dream (Glee Cast Version)	Glee Cast
1	.	I Can Change	LCD Soundsystem

the age of the contra is happening

My top ten albums of 2010:

10. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
9. Chromeo - Business Casual
8. Beach House - Teen Dream
7. The Drums - The Drums
6. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
5. The National - High Violet
4. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
3. Robyn - Body Talk
2. Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz
1. Vampire Weekend - Contra

just breathe

Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam are musical geniuses. This is dedicated to people who live and die bravely. "I am a lucky man, to count on both hands, the ones I love."

do the right things

Things are finally going right this week.

- I bought a new Tivo Premiere machine and needed a cablecard to make it work with Comcast. They said I couldn't just pick it up from the Comcast service center, and that I needed to have someone come out to install it. Of course, the installation would cost me $30. Ok whatev. The scheduled appointment was last Sunday. Well, after the technician left, certain channels went missing. I called and scheduled a follow-up appointment for Monday. Monday the guy showed up and spent an hour and a half fixing the connectors to all my coaxial cable lines even though I said I think I just have a bad cablecard and need it replaced. He kept saying you never know what it really is. Well after all that fuzzing the channels were still missing. He spent another twenty minutes on the phone with Comcast command center somewhere, and the person at the other end kept questioning whether I am even supposed to have those channels. I was like, come on, I get those channels on all my other tv's. Finally he relented and said he will switch out my card. He went to his truck and brought up a new card, only to realize he has only a single-tuner card, instead of the multi-stream card that I need (and specifically requested when I made the appointment). He said I would need to make another appointment for Tues. Tues came, and nobody showed up during the scheduled time. I called fifteen minutes later and was told something happened to the technician and he cannot come any longer. I went into a little tirade (as much of a tirade as I can muster anyway - I am not a yelling sort of guy). They scheduled an appointment then for Wed, between 6-8pm. I got home at 5:55pm Wed, and a Comcast truck was already at the door. Two guys showed up. The older guy said, "You are lucky. We are about to leave." I thought to myself, "Oh shit - here we go again." But as it turned out, the older guy was some cablecard Yoda. As soon as he pulled out my card, he knew they had given me the wrong card. He said for Tivo Premieres, you need a gold-tipped cablecard. The card that I had gotten would only work one out of twenty times. So as soon as he put in the new, gold-tipped card, the clouds parted and the angels sang. I got all my channels. I shook the guy's hand as if he had just given me an iPad and a trip to Australia.

- I had opened up a Bank Of The West checking account just to get a free iPod Touch. Not sure why I want an iPod Touch since I already got a few iPods and an iPhone. I'll likely sell it on eBay. Anyways, coworkers of mine checked their accounts a few weeks back and saw that their iPods were being shipped out. I saw nothing in my account, so I called last week. I was told I did not qualify. I went through the qualifying criteria, including setting up direct deposits of at least $500 a month by 10/31, and told the lady on the phone I met every single requirement. She said I have to go down to a branch to show proof that I set up the direct deposit. I said, "Why do I need to go down to a branch, when you can see clearly from the online activities that I had direct deposits of $500 going into the account?" She had me on hold and then came back and said, "You had to have the direct deposits in effect by 10/31, and your direct deposits did not begin until September." I went, "Uh...okay...September is before October, so what's your point?" She thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, I'll write up a dispute for you." Well, after waiting about a week, I got an email that I did qualify and that my iPod is on its way. Woohoo.

- My kitchen light has been dead for almost a month now. I bought a new one in the same model for over $100, but I ultimately decided to just keep the original light but buy a replacement ballast. I looked online and found a place in Florida that sold the ballast for less than $20 with shipping. It came this week, and I got help putting the light back up with the new ballast. It didn't go without a hitch though. When I first turned on the light, one of the two bulbs didn't work. I was like, crap - what now? But it turned out that the bulb was cracked. So as soon as I made my way to Home Depot and rebought the bulb, everything works. For the first time in a month, I have a working kitchen ceiling light.

- I also replaced my dying microwave, with a Sharp from Costco. I got it on sale for $80. It's stainless steel just like my old one. By old, I mean it's only less than two years old. Hope the Sharp lives longer than the Panasonic.

- The Patriots beat the Jets in the AFC showdown of the season. 45-3!!! 'Nuff said. I don't even care now if Tom Brady cuts his hair or not.

- For months now, I've been carrying around my iPhone with unsightly bubbles in my screen protector. It was a crying shame. Lisa found some new screen protectors that didn't bubble on her, so she kindly gave me a set and even helped me put them on. She did such a good job that you can't even tell there are protectors on the front or the back. She is awesome. And now finally my iPhone is the beauty she deserved to be. Actually, to be honest, I don't really think of my iPhone as a girl. So I should say, my iPhone is as handsome as he was meant to be. (Hmm...do you guys think of your phone as a boy or girl? I should ask the French, since they always have to decide whether an object is male or female - le or la.)

eat pray snooze

- Apparently there is some game now where teenagers try to strangle each other until they almost pass out. My coworker in Denver told me that her daughters are friends with girls who were playing this game, and one of them collapsed in the school bathroom, hit her head on the sink and cracked her skull. Everyone involved obviously got into deep shit. Ah to think, when I was a wee teen, all I did after school was to go home and watch Batman reruns and eat instant noodles. I was totally deprived.

- The Pope says condoms are acceptable in certain circumstances. When? Like when priests molest little boys? I'd say.

- Oh Emma Watson...you are just about the most awesome young actress there is. I am so excited for what you'll do with your career post-Harry Potter (after you finish your History studies at Brown). Please always stay who you are and not success, adulthood, or Hollywood ruin you.

- But Harry Potter movie is actually quite boring, especially since I haven't read any but the first book and don't follow the plot at all. I cannot for the life of me remember what happened in the previous movies, even though I've seen them all.

- 29 trapped New Zealand miners die in second coal mine explosion.

- But New Zealand teens, presumed dead after being lost at sea for 50 days, have just been rescued. God takes, and God gives.

- Amazon Video On Demand offered $.99 rentals this weekend on some movies, and I have a $8 credit on my account, so I decided to watch Letters To Juliet, Eat Pray Love, and Date Night. I quite enjoyed Letters To Juliet. Italy is of course beautiful, and Amanda Seyfried is sort of the go-to girl now for this type of movie. Although I am one of the minority who doesn't find either Tina Fey or Steve Carrell to be particularly funny, Date Night was somewhat mildly amusing and serviceable. But Eat Pray Love was a total bore and actually total crockery. How did that book become a bestseller? It's basically about a bored middle-aged white American who has to go to some other continent to find herself when there was barely anything wrong with her life to begin with. I don't like stories about spoiled people with pretend problems. Now, if the balance of Middle Earth is at stake, that's a story!

- So tomorrow I am off to Baltimore for work for a week. I actually have to give two presentations. Yeah it's gonna suck. Not to mention the ordeal at the airport tomorrow and Friday. I wonder whether I should choose to be groped or to have naked photo taken of me. It's like Sophie's choice, except minus the Holocaust and Meryl Streep's Polish accent. As tempting as the physical groping is (yo, more action that I've gotten in a long, long time), I think I might opt for the more efficient naked scanning. I just hope they can keep the laughter to themselves and under control.

leave you shakin'

I am loving this song Shake by Jesse McCartney:



As much as I liked his Leavin':

last christmases

Well it's almost xmas time. Right after tomorrow (Thanksgiving), Christmas kicks in for reals. Last Christmas has got to be like in my top three xmas songs ever. So here it is, in various incarnations:

Travis:


Coldplay:


Savage Garden:


And of course Wham:

traffic cameras

Monday morning I was driving down Oak crossing Octavia when I noticed a bright flash. I immediately thought, Shit, did I run a red light? I quickly looked and saw that the light was still green, and there was a car behind me and a car next to me. That didn't stop me from worrying though.

Tuesday morning I confirmed that there were in fact traffic cameras installed at the intersections.

Now I am all freaking out. I am anxiously waiting for a moving violation ticket in the mail and then a fight ahead of me. I hear the fine is about $500 plus cost of traffic school to get this off your record. Damn, that's an iPad right there. I also hear that these traffic camera violations are impossible to fight since the court relies completely in the accuracy of the cameras, unlike tickets issued by traffic cops, in which case you have a chance that the cop won't show up in court to testify and the citation would be thrown out.

Yeah, things like this just piss me off. I guess I'll be worrying about this for the next few weeks, and a ticket will either come or not come. I am in fact the worrying kind.

like a surgeon

So I stand completely corrected on the awesome-ness of surgical mask fashion. I was wrong. Now I secretly wish we have a (fake) bird flu scare so I can rock the surgical mask look. I have so many choices to go with:

highway robbery

Today's thoughts floating around in my head:

- Dang it. Noticed first scratches on new car, near right bottom of bumper. I don't even know when it happened - must have hit some curb or something while parking. Ugh! As they say, first scratch is the deepest. Okay - they actually say cut, but same idea. I just need to adopt some zen attitude and convince myself it's not a big deal. It's gotta happen eventually, I suppose.

- Seems as if my mom's cataract surgeries have gone well and her eyes are healing properly. Thank goodness she's found a good doctor.

- They are asking me to take a lead role in a work project and offering a temporary promotion for it. I have really mixed feeling about it. I honestly just want to be left alone and do my own little thing. Why do they keep coming at me with these things? But then this is only temporary and they promised there will be no additional travel - so would it really hurt to have a few extra bucks in my pocket for four months? I guess I will probably do it. I keep saying to myself that I have to say yes more often. I really wasn't thinking about work but rather in my personal life. But I suppose it can apply. Or not.

- I went and redeemed my other coupon for That Takes The Cake cupcakes. I got lemon drops, snowballs (coconut), bunny bites (carrot cake), and strawberry blonde. I am not a huge fan of cupcakes but it's nice to have been able to try these out with the coupons.

- Sarah Palin says she can beat Obama in the next Presidential election. Unfortunately I think she can too. I mean, just look at how well her teenage-mother-daughter Bristol is doing on Dancing With The Stars despite being a sucky dancer (Mark Ballas might as well be dancing with a log). I think the fact that Bristol is in the DWTS finals is all about the Obama/Democrat backlash. American voters are as crazy as Palin and her Tea Party friends are. Eeks!!!

- I was researching Japanese restaurants to try for Winston's birthday this Saturday, and I came upon this place called Volcano Curry on Geary Blvd. Since I was off work today, I decided to give it a try myself. It was delicious. Love Japanese curry over rice. Question remains, where should we take Winston for his birthday? I think this place, albeit delicious, is a little too much on cheap-eats side for a birthday dinner.

- San Francisco is thinking about charging a $3 toll for crossing the border between San Francisco and San Mateo County. So that's $6 every time I go to Target or Costco. That's highway robbery (literally). Why doesn't the city charge its residents for breathing its air?

- Uh oh. First case of bird flu in years found in Hong Kong. Here we go again. The return of the surgical masks. It's really not my favorite of looks.

youtube saturday

The infinitely sad video to the infinitely sad song Somebody To Love Me. It's a fake Boy George in fake 1982. I smell a comeback:


Further evidence that Robyn can mop the floor with Gaga:


My favorite British rapping bloke is back, with Computers and Blues:


Chromeo is a Hot Mess:


Broken Bells' The Ghost Inside by Hall & Oates???


KevJumba recaps his swan song on Amazing Race:

so f*cking bad

A guy shuts down the Bay Bridge this morning, threatening to blow up the bridge and then commit suicide because his wife cheated on him. He was actually driving on the bridge with his 15-year-old daughter when all this went down. Man, talk about embarrassing parents! I don't know how this girl will be able to live this down at school. Mom's a skank, and dad's a looney...Marie Osmond was on Oprah today talking about the suicide of her eighteen year old son. I cannot imagine what would be harder to deal with in this life than the death of your child. Oprah also asked her about her allegedly abusive marriage, which ended after twenty bad years. She gave a wonderful answer - "you marry to the level of your self-esteem." I think that is quite profound, and accurate...I am totally gay for Darren Criss' performance of Teenage Dream on Glee this week. I know the storyline is tired and non-sensical most of the times, but every once in a while, they hit one out of the ballpark - and Darren Criss' Teenage Dream might be the most delightful performance on the show since Don't Stop Believing in the pilot...I just saw this guy Grant Achatz featured on Martha Stewart. He is at the forefront of molecular gastronomy and is the owner of this restaurant in Chicago called Alinea. The way he approaches food is just equal parts art and science and all parts genius. I just have mad respect for people who push their craft forward and expand the possibilities of what can be...Should we talk about the euphoria of our city in the last few weeks as the Giants won the World Series against all odds? I am a declared football fan and have never watched a full baseball game my entire life. But there was no denying how much joy and excitement this victory run brought to my home town. Thank you, Giants! I fear and bow to the beard!...I don't know what's happening, but things in my remodeled kitchen are breaking down. My microwave oven is dying on me, the ceiling light went out (not just the bulbs but the light is kaput period), and the faucet spray won't function properly. They really don't make things like they used to. My old microwave oven lasted me at least five years. In fact, when I remodeled the kitchen, it was still working and it was just sitting in my garage until a couple of months ago when I decided to purge and donated it away. I regret getting rid of it, cuz I have to now spend money on a new one. I honestly think I should just buy cheap stuff from now on. What is the point of spending good money when everything breaks down so fast anyway?...My friend Jasen got married this past weekend. I am happy for him and wish him a long, happy life with his wife Laura. She is Korean, and he doesn't do spicy food. But they are both Christians, so I guess God trumps kim chee...And yes, I am continuing my downward spiral. I don't want to despair, because despair helps no one. Faith is what you need to get through life, so faith I shall have. I keep reminding myself of the line from John Irving - "keep walking past open windows." Yup, one foot in front of the other. I am going to break through one day...And finally should I talk of the tragedy of this past Sunday? I almost don't want to talk about it, but I guess I must - Team Jumba got eliminated from The Amazing Race. It was basically KevJumba misreading the clues that ended up doing him and his dad in. I don't think I ever believed they would make it all the way, but it really, really sucked to see them go. Well, it was good while it lasted (Chi Young even started watching Amazing Race again because of Team Jumba). There are actually a number of likable teams on this season, so I'll find someone to root for, like the father/daughter team (that daughter Mallory is nuts and lovable) and the home shopping network hosts (anybody who got served by a watermelon deserved a place in the finals). Oh next season's Amazing Race is filmed in HD! I love seeing the world in HD!...I am listening now to Billionaire. I want to be a billionaire so fucking bad, so I can buy meself an iPad...

teenage acapella dream

I kinda stopped liking Glee and definitely cannot stand Kurt (so freaking whiney), but dang this is good.

blue sky, orange sky

A couple of photos to bookend the day.

hit girls

Inspired by how awesome Hit Girl was in Kick-Ass, here are my favorite fictional girls who kick ass:

10. The Bionic Woman


9, Ripley from Alien


8. Michelle Yeoh's Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon


7. Charlie's Angels


6. Hit Girl from Kick-Ass


5. Dana Scully from X-Files


4. The Bride from Kill Bill


3. Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer, not Halle Berry, as if I needed to clarify)


2. Trinity from Matrix


1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

like crack

Things that are like crack to me, for better or worse:

- saltine crackers
- internet
- television
- checking my iPhone (and it's not even because there is anything to check for)
- work emails
- online shopping
- worrying about thinning hair
- self pity
- potato chips
- music
- Madonna
- little people (midgets/dwarves) porn

I am totally kidding about the last one. Or am I?

you gon get some

10. I Do My Thing - Kid Cudi (Chi Young's favorite artist)
9. Don't Turn The Lights On - Chromeo
8. Paris Blue - Lykke Li
7. Not In Love - Crystal Castle
6. Mine - Taylor Swift
5. Billionaire - Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars
4. I Want To Be Well - Sufjan Stevens
3. Limit To Your Love - James Blake
2. I Could be Wrong - Chromeo
1. Get Some - Lykke Li (Holy crap - this track, available for free download, is sick! Who doesn't like lyrics like "Like the shotgun, I can't be outdone. I am your prostitute - you gon get some.")



And check out how perfect this sounds against The Bride kicking Crazy 88 ass (fans are so creative):

orange glad to be orange

The city's awash with Giants fever. I have never seen so many people wear orange before. And they lit up Coit Tower, City Hall, and the Ferry Building in orange. I am no baseball fan, but even I am getting excited (mainly for all the photo ops and all the catch phrases, my favorite of which is Fear the Beard). Go, orange team!!!

here's bilbo

The Hobbit gets its cast, even though there is still much union trouble that could jeopardize the whole production.

Yeah, this truly is a jinxed movie (actually movies, since there will be a two-parter). So the casting news is a nice ray of light. I have no idea when I will get to sit my butt down in an IMAX theatre with my 3-D glasses to see Bilbo Baggins fight off Smaug the dragon, but all good things are worth the wait.

lord of the reunion

Some photos from the EW Cast Reunion issue that just arrived in the mail. Obviously it's the LOTR cast reunion that got my attention. But where is Aragorn???

extraordinary news

Great news.

- Chile miners rescued after 69 days. That's an awesome story of the human spirit. And yes, I am going to ignore the part where one of the miners, upon his rescue, was greeted by his mistress instead of his wife.

- The Hobbit finally greenlit, with Peter Jackson directing and principal photography in Feb 2011. Oh my precious.

- Fiona Apple hard at work on follow-up to Extraordinary Machine. About damn time, you crazy mad genius girl.

- KevJumba and dad did not get eliminated last week on The Amazing Race. I seriously had a heart attack. Although I have to say, I am really not hating on any team this season.

- Tom Hardy has snagged a lead role in Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie. Pow!

- Did I already mention that The Hobbit is finally going to get made?! In 3-D no less. I can't even tell you how stoked I am at this news. It's like telling me that Madonna is reuniting with Pat Leonard and William Orbit and David Fincher. Or telling me that Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater are now in Prague filming a sequel to Before Sunset. Or that they've found a cure for neuromuscular disorders. Or that they've canceled all my upcoming work trips. Or that I've won the lottery and can walk into work and give everyone the middle finger. Well not everyone. In fact, not anyone. I am going to be one of those classy rich people and just pack my mug and photos and ride off the sunset quietly.

my so-called make-up

This is just crazy. How to look like Jordan Catalano. Angela Chase would be so in love.

everything is tickety-boo

Anonymous used the term "tickety-boo" in a comment to a post a few weeks back. I have no idea what tickety-boo is, so I looked it up:

my light of eärendil to the yutes

The new Dove Self-Esteem for Girls campaign asks people to share What I wish I had known at 13.

My advice to any youths out there is, try everything. Good or bad - just try it. Of course I don't mean try becoming a teenage mother or something silly like that. But I mean, try sushi, try beef tripe, try piano and guitar and dance, try befriending that outcast everyone makes fun of, try suffering the fool, try being the fool, try knitting, try raising that hand, try applying for things you know for sure you wouldn't get, try foreign movies, try putting ketchup where it doesn't belong, try to wear things that don't go together, try to grow your hair out, try chopping it all off, try to read James Joyce when it's not assigned, try to sign up for foreign exchange programs, try to work at as many odd jobs as possible, try to date out of your league, try choosing Vietnam instead of Hawaii, and try durian ice cream. Yes, it's gross and it stinks, but liking it's not the point. It's like the point of taking Calculus in school, for most of us, is not actually learning Calculus; it's learning to learn. (It annoys the heck out of me when people, young or old, say, when am I ever going to use that?)

If you just try to experience everything there is to experience, the opportunities will unfold themselves in unexpected, and perhaps spectacular, ways. That's what I wanted to know at 13. And what I want to believe now.

Oh, a P.S. for the youths - also never run away from failures and never live in fear of mistakes. It's taking me a long time to believe it, but you really do grow more from failures and mistakes than your victories and successes. As long as you recognize it for what it really is, every failure is added ammunition in your tool belt for future use. You will need it somehow, some way down the road. It's like that Light of Eärendil that Frodo gets from the Elf Queen. When he first got it, he was probably like, "Great, more excess crap to carry with me on this long as heck journey." But later, when he gets attacked by giant spiders, he was like, "Aha!"

By the way, everytime I say youth, it reminds me of that exchange in My Cousin Vinny between Fred Gwynne and Joe Pesci. "What is a yute?" Haha.



Yeah, I know I am a total badass for connecting the dots between LOTR, Doves soap, durian ice cream and My Cousin Vinny.

(iphone) photo sunday

Recent photos from my iPhone.


Vitasoy 70th anniversary packaging. Been drinking Vitasoy since I can remember.


Nothing better than simple soy sauce chow mein for breakfast on a Sunday morning.


Off The Grid food trucks at Civic Center. I really like the Seoul On Wheels tacos, not so much the Korrito (Korean burrito).


Got to work really early. I like the way the ceiling lights reflect off the window. We have curvy ceilings.


I like the way moss looks. Does this not look like a map?


After over five years of tender loving care, my dwarf Meyer's lemon tree finally has a few lemons.


This is a hotel called the Good Hotel near my office. Love the sign. Love bad girls.


Chairman Bao's pork belly (with picked daikons) and duck confit (with mango relish) baos, with a ginger lychee shaved ice. The pork belly and duck confit were delicious with the relish on top, but the bao itself and the drink are pretty standard.


It's Halloween. Check out the albino pumpkin on display in my kitchen.