momolo's Xanga

good grief

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:50:05 GMT

Must stop Google-stalking old classmates.

off to the old country

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:51:10 GMT

I used to think Emperor Tamarins were my favorite.

But now I am torn after seeing photos of snub-nose monkeys.

Decisions, decisions.

whoa

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:46:30 GMT

Happened to watch some Olympic Trials in Track/Field and swimming. The 100 butterfly trial was on and I noticed a familiar name: Mary Descenza. Wow! Her older sister was in the orchestra with me - viola section - until 8th grade or freshman year. We were in the same grade so I think her sister was two grades behind. Katie was pretty quiet (and had big boobs, even in middle school, which I both envied and was afraid of). Mary was pretty skinny but quiet, too. I remember her being intensely pale blonde and somewhat nebbish. She ended up going to Benet, a private Catholic high school, so we never knew much about her until she won some state titles in butterfly.

Butterfly is pretty amazing visually but totally sucks your energy. M, a friend of mine who also joined swim team freshman year, showed some talent for it and got assigned to it for the rest of the season. I remember one meet where she came out of the water crying...Ugh. I only had to do it once for the 100 IM and that was enough.

So Mary just won 3rd place in her heat for the trials! Wow. I think our town was hoping for Jessica Wagner, who was a year above me, to go to the Olympics. She was very good in breaststroke and only recently was her state record broken. So for about five or six years she held the record. But I think she was seventh in the breaststroke prelims for the summer 2004 Olympics and I haven't heard much about her swimming since.

The only other Olympian I can think of from Naperville is Evan Lysacek. He was in my sister's grade and I think she mobbed him once for his autograph, jokingly, before he went away to practice figure skating seriously.

Everyone is sporting those new space-age LZR swimsuits from Speedo. They're pretty tight. During the men's 100 IM, I was hoping desperately for Michael Phelps' buttcrack not to pop out. He was wearing his pretty low-cut. Dude, your mom is in the audience!

ARAGAH

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:30:23 GMT

Wow. I hate shopping with other people.
How does shopping last four hours?
I wanted to tear my hair out.

For example, Z wanted to buy some face wash at Estee Lauder/Lancome or something. I walked around the cosmetics area, came back, and she was still talking to the makeup lady. Then I got dragged over to the Shiseido counter where I mournfully looked at their skincare products and the makeup lady told me that 15 SPF wasn't good enough, I had spots, gas was so high and she drove and SUV, blah blah blah.

Finally able to pull away from that fricking trajectory, Z was still there. Turns out that she wanted the free gift with the purchase of $30, but her face wash was ONLY $20. And there is nothing at the counter worth $10 only. Even with E and me hovering around, irritatedly, she didn't get the clue. GIFT WITH PURCHASE IS A SCAM.

When I was younger, my mom would dutifully accompany me to find a dress at the mall for the school dance.
I hated everything I saw and even the dresses we finally bought. Maybe because everything tended to be either too sexy or froufrou; I cannot look good in either. Yesterday, accompanying my classmates, I felt what it might have felt like for mom.

After that, Z had to return stuff at Express and then we found ourselves at Victoria's Secret because there was a sale. I waited outside and ate a bad pretzel. VS smells like a perfume factory exploded and looking at all the lingerie was making me feel bad about my boobs, even though I like my small boobs! It wasn't over until after 9pm, when we had gone into REI to return stuff and buy more stuff, with Z being indecisive about buying bday gifts for her sort-of boyfriend.

On the way home, Z giggled and was like "thanks for putting up with me!" I could only look out the window while everyone else was like "no, it was so much fun!" I felt like such a guy. It's like, these people are so smart but why do they act so stupid and annoying like this? And why can't I hide my irritation like everyone else. Y used to tell me it was really evident on my face when I was pissed off or bored with someone.

food foood fooood

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:01:52 GMT

Because I share a house with three other people, we do not get a lot of space in the fridge. I have taken over one of the crispers though, and no one has complained.

I don't cook well, but it's easier for me to stomach my own cooking than to spend money everyday buying lunch and dinner. A few of my housemates take advantage of the $1 deals and Happy Meals at the local McD's very liberally, but the idea of that grosses me out. Ramen and fast food everyday?

Returning from Illinois, my fridge space is once again filled to the brim. But I haven't been very hungry even though I have time-sensitive foods (watermelon, ginseng chicken soup, etc). Aunt B also gave me a nice portion of mango pudding, so I've been feeling really rich.

I wish I could take some of this stuff to work for lunch, but I can't really imagine myself eating a quarter of a watermelon in the office.

tsk

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:40:22 GMT

The drive back up to Mpls wasn't too bad this time around! Because of all the construction and a missed turn - thanks for not yielding, jerks - it took me nearly 8 hours to complete a 6.5 hour trip going to Illinois. I missed the exit onto 39 S and I tried to exit off 90 asap, which took me into the country side for nearly an hour. Creepy places with no shoulders to turn around on. Small towns of 500 or less! I finally ended up in Kirkland, IL before I conceded to call my sister.

"Help, I'm lost in the middle of fucking nowhere!" I shouted to her when she picked up. "This is so shitty, I hate construction."

She garbled something back that I couldn't hear, so I repeated myself. Then my dad picked up. Oh hai, was I cursing?

But I found myself a way out. Thank god for the Byron country nuclear power plants. My dad, when he drove me up to Madison during my undergrad years, remarked about them on 39 S. From the distant and clone-like country roads, I could see it! I was close to civilization!

Thanks, Exelon Byron Nuclear Generating Station!

Home was good. I didn't accomplish much though. But at least it's lounging about the house with people I care for! Back in Minneapolis, eating week-old kimchi fried rice by myself, I feel a little shitty about not getting it together enough to find an internship nearer to home.

a father's day gift

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:50:29 GMT

On the way home from Chinatown, I saw a woman jogging slowly. Lagging right behind her were two overweight kids, in a whole-hearted attempt to keep up. This was around 9p? It was hilarious and touching at the same time. When I mentioned this to my parents, my dad asked, "How do you know you're not overweight?"

My weight has stayed consistent for the past six years, fluctuating up and down between three pounds. I consider this a minor miracle, because my exercise regime has been extremely spotty. Like, VERY spotty. So I answered honestly that I've stayed around the same weight although I could work out more. Dad interrupted me in the middle of this and said, yes I could work out more, lalala.

If I were any other type of girl I probably would have pitched a minor fit, even if it were the truth. But because I'm too lazy to start fights with my family members and that it is almost Father's Day, I just nodded and went "yup."

stupid oil dependence

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:19:05 GMT

Filled up the car today. Wow.

However, these photos make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside and cheered me right up. Dumpling cheeks!

those koreans

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:33:07 GMT

Is it just me, or do Korean celebrities always look...really good? Smashing in a way that US celebrities kind of miss. I mean, everyone ALWAYS looks attractive, but sort of in the same way. Females have puffy lips and HUGE eyes, males have puffy lips and sometimes huge eyes...SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN. Is it just extraordinarily good genetics? Plastic surgery?

To be clear, I don't zealously follow entertainment, the stuff just falls in my lap sometimes. I don't understand Rain, but I saw this old photo and I immediately coveted this haircut. I don't have the right face though. Arg.

Just watched 200 Pounds Beauty. For free! It was pretty good. At least the climax wasn't horribly drawn out as some of the other Korean movies I've seen. Kim A-Joong has a surprisingly good singing voice.

Still, it's always kind of painful to watch these type of shows. At least it wasn't as bad as TVB's To Grow with Love. How much was Myolie supposed to weight? She looked like 140-150 pounds yet all the gags were based as if she was 300 pounds or something. But I guess that is about right in HK...people look kind of horrified when they see me on the street.

A few years back I was by myself in Causeway Bay and a woman holding up flyers came up to me and starting talking. I thought I could be clever and act like a dumb jook sing what she was saying but then she immediately switched to perfect English. And of course, she was trying to sell me on some diet pill system. I told her I liked my body - I didn't then - and ran off. This happened one more time on the same trip, too. My body-image was looking somewhat beat up when I returned to the US.

Anyway, I had to stop watching To Grow With Love because the humor was so cruel. And the storyline was kind of bad, too, from what I read in the spoilers.

A couple of my friends are going to HK this week. I sent them a list of things to do/see, but writing a list of shopping was difficult. I just left it to shoes and electronics and camera stuff. Why? Both of them probably will not find some cute shirt in their size. Arg. Are there places that offer clothes in sizes above XL/44?

Also, WHY AM I NOT THERE?!

As for Taiwanese dramas, I have only watched Hana Kimi. Yay gender bending! I'd like to watch another, ostensibly to learn Mandarin, because I feel their accents are really clear.

i hate you, mr tire

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:44:27 GMT

I walked to Mr Tire to retrieve my car, whose PGR valve was messed up. Another $300 down the drain, totaling the squirrel damage to around $600.

But as I drove home, I noticed that the engine light was BACK ON, which was the reason that I took it back in the first place. The repair men had told me on the phone that they had driven it about 24 miles to see if it would happen. Apparently, they were short one mile. DAMMIT.

I decided to drive home anyway since I noticed earlier that there were no mechanics. At the intersection of Stinson and Hennepin, I was making my way across when I noticed a huge black SUV speeding at my car. RED LIGHT, ASSHOLE, RED LIGHT. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Also, I just ate this fruit and yogurt bar from Target and found not one, but TWO fingernail clippings. WTF. FRIDAYS SUCK.

I'm just going to sit in bed and read josei manga.

EDIT: nevermind about the fingernail clippings, i guess those were mine. haha!