City Girl, Part 2

I shouldn’t have worn these shoes today.

Painfully stumbling into an open window seat behind the bus driver, I regret not bringing sandals to change into. Swinging my legs to the aisle, I slip my right heel out of my overpriced Kenneth Cole pumps and massage the blisters that are beginning to form on the back of my foot. It’s only the start of the day and I can’t even fathom taking another step in these shoes. The sacrifices one must make for fashion. For beauty.

Never again, I mutter to myself as I smooth out the wrinkles in my skirt. Never again.

I glance around and do what I do best: observe. I have a knack for remembering random facts about people. Birthdays. Last time you went to a club. Your ex-boyfriend’s pet’s name. Alma Mater. You name it. On today’s bus westbound to Downtown, there are at least 15 other passengers, with more than half listening to some mp3 device, a few mouthing the words to their favorite songs while others are nodding their heads in sync with silent beats. Everyone isolated in their defined space, defined time.

Hidden in the back corner, he sits with pen and paper in hand. The scene is striking; he doesn’t appear much older but he’s still clearly in school with his schoolbag situated beside him. I can’t tell if he’s writing or drawing, but whatever it is, he is doing so with such fervor and speed. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen someone work with so much intensity.

The bus jerks as it halts at the cross-section between Grand Avenue and Second Street. He glances up to survey his surroundings and accidentally meets my eye. I greet him with a smile but he immediately returns to his work—head down, pen in hand, pen to paper. Surprised at his reaction, I turn around and fumble with my watch for the time.

Though I can’t see him, I can feel him staring at me, his eyes piercing through my back, my soul, as if I were a translucent ghost.

I can’t stop shuddering.

City Girl, part 1

She doesn’t blend in like the rest of the passengers on the bus. She stands out, sitting perfectly upright in her fitted A-line skirt, cross-legged with her leather-patent black pumps dangling toward the aisle. Clearly heading for the city, she stares ahead with a soft and peaceful expression on her face. She reaches into her purse, unzips a small makeup case, and applies some chapstick.

I wish I could know what she’s thinking.

I’ve been staring at her since she got on at Union Station. I don’t know why, but she appeals to me, this city girl. Though she gives off that working-woman vibe and look, something about the way she tightly clutches her purse and searches randomly through her wallet tells me that there’s something awfully tragic about her. She’s looking for something, for someone. It makes me yearn to know what it is that’s breaking her down.

Taking my eyes off of her for the first time since she sat down, I look down at my shoes and survey the outfit I haphazardly chose five minutes before I left the apartment. I have on a Threadless shirt that I got on sale for five bucks. It’s the one with the running refridgerator. Gap pants. Converses that really should have been tossed months ago. Not a good day to make an impression.

 

 

 

My brother is infamous.

Newsweek just had a feature article about suicide bombers from Libya. 

My family and I always joke around that my younger brother David looks like a jihadist. Well, this Newsweek article just confirmed everything we’ve always said about him:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/132938

From Newsweek

David in real life.

SEE?!

 

Wicked!

April reunions: part dos.

Met up with Kyle, “Chicken-Breast” Jiesi, Jiesi’s boyfriend, Christina, Chiching, & Connie to watch Wicked at the Pantages in Hollywood. It was so good! I was surprised at how funny it turned out to be. I love the venue, too; I really should go back and watch more shows there. Yes!

So it was a fun night! We went to Mel’s Diner beforehand and I had two really good drinks – ah, happy hour is the best! Only crappy part of the evening was when Kyle and I were stuck on the 101 S ramp for 45 minutes because they closed both sides of the freeway due to a fatal car collision. >.< Everyone on the ramp basically had to back out of the ramp and back onto the streets … it was pretty crazy.

Anyway, I took a lot of cute pictures. Here’s a preview:

w Kyle, rockin’ our somewhat matching outfits – military jackets!

Jiesi w her man, Dr. Blake.

w the ladies in Hollywood.

… intermission …

Pantages at night. Beautiful.

 

 

Japanese People and their Tanukis

I was uploading some photos from my Japan 06 vacation to the “Photographer” section and needed help identifying some Japanese folklore characters. These fat-buddha-bellied animals are everywhere in Japan and it really bothered me that I didn’t know what this thing was called or even the type of animal this character was supposed to represent (I always thought it was a cross between an owl/monkey/bear).

But with the help of my Caroline, I figured out they are called tanukis (raccoon dogs). 

Proceed to read this brilliant wikipedia explanation of what these animals are about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

An excerpt of my favorite part:

“Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,

Kaze mo nai no ni,

Bura bura

(Roughly translated, this means “Tan-tan-tanuki’s/Raccoon-raccoon-raccoon dog’s testicles, there isn’t even any wind but still go swing-swing-swing”.^[1] It then proceeds to continue for several verses, with many regional variations. It is sung to the melody of an American Baptist hymn called Shall We Gather At The River?.^[2])”

 

Ah, the Japanese and their sexual innuendoes. For reference, please click on the Photographer section, scroll down about halfway and you will find some tanuki goodness.

 

Bring Your Daughter/Son to Work Day

You’re in for a treat. A happy post involving kids!

Today was “Bring Your Daughter/Son to Work” Day and I volunteered to be a team captain to lead activities with the kids of Deloitte professionals. After talking to my group throughout the day, I realized that I must’ve been really stupid as a child. Some of these kids are geniuses/rising superstars. Perhaps it’s because their parents are partners/managers at a top firm … but really, they are so bright these days. And some of them are unbearably cute, too!

Keeping in line with our firm’s “greening” initiative, our theme for today was ”How to make the world a better place.” The main project was to create a city out of recycleable materials. Our team’s city ROCKED. We were totally going to win the competition but they didn’t announce the winner at the end!! Sad. I hope all my kids felt like champions though … we did an awesome job! Check out the little cars on our pseudo-highway system. Yep, my masterpiece.

Our project: “D. City”

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the “Career Panel” that we had for the kids. There were firefighters … and that is all I will say ;D.

Another fun thing I did today: I took the Foothill Transit bus to downtown this morning all by myself. *Brushes dirt off shoulder* So convenient and so much cheaper than paying for parking. I will definitely try to do this more often whenever I’m in the office. I felt accomplished and proud; such a big girl at 23.

I’m pretty tired right now, but I should practice my writing tonight. As I was leaving the building last night at 830, I felt so calm despite being upset all day. Something about leaving a long day of work in complete solitude while overlooking LA city lights just moved me. I wish I took five minutes to sit down in the middle of the lobby to jot down my thoughts at that moment. That’s when I write best: when my emotions are peaked and my mind is clear. Next time.

Today’s song: Guster – So Long

The Road, Review

Spoiler:

 

One of the saddest, most heartfelt stories I’ve ever read. You just ache after reading this book. There is so much tenderness, so much love crafted in the father-son relationship. McCarthy is pure talent. I even cried when the father died in the end. It was too much to take. You can’t help but mourn because you want so bad for the two to make it in the end even though you know they won’t. That’s the story: hoping when there isn’t any reason to hope anymore. But there is nothing so pure as the love that the father and son have for each other. So many aspects of this book that I love: 1) the anonymity of father and son 2) the father’s character (EXCELLENT development) 3) the dialogue between father and son. Not a happy book, but it definitely opens your eyes to the depths of love. 

In sum, absolutely moving. To add to my “favorites” list. Now, I need to get out of this slump by reading a “happier” book. My heart can’t take all of this sadness.

The Road, Continued

One of the most satisfying experiences is reading a great book that you cannot put down. The best part is when you’re about half-way and the plot just thickens. It’s like a tennis match; the ball just keeps bouncing back and forth until you get dizzy from watching. It’s exciting and entertaining and you just can’t change channels because you’re afraid of missing that one move that decides the game.

The Road … is so intense! I really enjoy this book. I have not read a book I enjoyed this much since Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara. So many good motifs and themes going on. It’s a dark book; I don’t think I’ve read a book that made me feel this level of fear before. I am on edge while reading … it’s kinda funny.

I hope I can finish by tonight. Will give a review after. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be 5 stars.

I’m doing recruiting stuff tomorrow for work. I’m driving to Bruin territory … wish me luck.

Back to the Basics

An interesting Sunday. An appropriate theme would be “Back to the Basics” since I returned to two past-time favorites: leisure reading and watching the Lakers. I went over to Bak’s the other day and picked up one of his books that he hasn’t touched, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I’m about 30 pages in and it’s pretty good. I really enjoy his writing style. It’s precise, yet full of emotion and meaning. Exactly what I am not, yet always striving to be. 

The Laker game was a good one. I don’t want everyone to think that I’m jumping on the bandwagon. I’ve been a Laker fan since high school … remember my Horace Grant days?! I will admit that I have not watched an entire Laker game in a while. I could list some excuses but I’ll just take the hit. But hey, I’m dedicated now. #1 in the West baby! Gasol – my new favorite player. 

In the evening, I treated Alex and Jamie, my former coworkers at the American Language Institute (where I used to work at USC) to dinner. We were originally supposed to eat at Corner Place, this Korean BBQ restaurant in Ktown, but it was closed!! GAH. Instead, we went to Jamie’s favorite – CPK. Good times. I got to catch up on ALI/ITA gossip … I am so envious that the two are still in school. I kept reminding Jamie to live his last two weeks at SC to its fullest; I cannot believe that it’s been almost a year since I graduated! Sadness. Anyway, we plan on meeting up again soon to celebrate Jamie’s graduation. Champagne Wednesdays, I say!

Jamie and his pizza. He’s a New Yorker – what can I expect?

w Alex, the baby of the ALI family. I’m ashamed that she’s so much taller than me. : D

Anyway, after returning home, I felt super gross from eating my entire pizza so I decided to work out. I did my sets of diamond crunches and lunges and started to feel really, really dizzy. In fact, my heart rate was up so high that I couldn’t talk and couldn’t hear anything but a ringing noise. Soon enough, my vision started to fade out and I felt like I was going to throw up. This has happened to me once before during freshman year of college and I blacked out for 3 solid minutes. My vision didn’t fade out completely but I definitely felt like I was going to pass out. Luckily, I didn’t, but damn, that was a scare. I guess that means no marathons for me. : (

Allen said I lost brain cells during my blackout. The PharmD candidate confirmed that I am becoming even more stupid by the moment. Double sadness. : ( x 2

External HD, where are you?!

I’m frustrated.

 

I only have two pet peeves:

1. Drivers who don’t use their blinkers when changing lanes.
2. Losing things and not being able to find them.

 

I cannot, for the life of me, locate my external hard drive. I swear, it was on my desk and now I can’t find it and it’s driving me insane! x.x If David took it, he’s going to get hurt. I have EVERYTHING in that HD … a lifetime of work! I was hoping to post some older pieces (written in jr high and throughout hs) but now I can’t because I don’t know where they are! HMPH. I had some awesome work, too. Remember my poems about Kobe and USC vs. UCLA? Classic. Those are so publish-worthy.

I was able to, however, find a hardcopy of the Faulknerian paragraph I wrote for Ms. Parker’s class during junior year of high school. I posted that under the new “Writer” section so feel free to check it out.

Anyway, I bought a pair of Mary Jane crocs today. I’m a dork, but they should be good for walking and climbing the stairs of Angkor Wat this summer. One and a half more months!