2007 memorable books/movies/restaurants/events

although i already posted these lists on facebook, i feel weird not following my yearly tradition of posting them on xanga. perhaps next year i will be able to detach myself completely from my old ways. each of the listed items below is intimately intertwined with unforgettable moments of 2007, such that the act of enumerating them has costed me an hour of reliving the past..

2007 BOOKS (out of 20 read - an embarrassingly small number)

• Best Written - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
• Most Thought-Provoking - The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Book That I Related to the Most - A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
• Most Overrated - Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson
• Other Noteworthy Books - Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, With Their Backs to the World by Asne Seierstad

• Best Movie Seen - Harold and Maude (Runner-Up - Pan's Labrynth)
• Best Action - Bourne Ultimatum (Runner-Up - Transformers)
• Scariest - Sorum
• Most Thought-Provoking - Hollywoodland (Runner-Up - Match Point)
• Most Disturbing - Alexandra's Project
• Best Chick-Flick - Pride and Prejudice BBC version (Runner-Up - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
• Best Animated Movie - Ratatouille
• Other Noteworthy Movies - Lost in Translation, Billy Elliot, Babel

• Best Sushi - Wild Ginger, Englewood, NJ
• Best Seafood - Hoopers, Ocean City, MD
• Best Asian - Jin Da Leh, Flushing, NY (authentic Yanbien food)
• Best Mojito - White Rabbit, NY
• Best Dessert - Max Brenner's, NY
• Most Memorable - Sooee, Virginia Beach, VA (American)
• Most Overrated - Cocoro, Franklin Lakes, NJ (sushi)
• Other Noteworthy Restaurant - Pio Pio, NY (Peruvian)

• PSALT revival (January)
• Elley Kim's wedding (2/17)
• Seeing Piermont at night (3/17)
• Getting a digital camera for my birthday
• DC group trip
• Demonstration in front of the Ch. Embassy (4/28)
• Julie Shin's wedding (5/18)
• My brother received green card (6/21)
• Last day of work - received two bags (one Louis Voutton), a $50 AmEx gift card (6/29)
• Translating for the Polaris Project and learning about the horrors of human traficking in America (6/29)
• Boston group trip (7/3 - 7/4)
• Wisdom teeth pulled (7/10)
• Biloxi, MS trip for Habitat for Humanity with Doo Ip (7/15-17)
• Virginia Beach group trip (8/2-4)
• Leaving for Michigan (8/13)
• Seeing a shooting star (9/23)
• ...and many more events

it's been snowing almost nonstop for the past 5 days. the average temperature's been ~ 10-15 deg F. scarves/hats/gloves/boots have gained a new value in my eyes, shoveling has become a daily chore, and driving on six inches of snow is whatever.

so who's up for a visit? =)

i wonder how many people still check xanga.. i do like the simple, blog-style layout of xanga, as opposed to facebook with gazillion possible add-ons. did you know that gazillion is an actual word? i learn so much on scrabulous. which is the primary reason i spend more time now on facebook than xanga.

just wanted to post some pics that're already on my facebook:

view of houghton from hancock

this is aaron's place, where we usually hang out. wally's on the left, aaron's on the right. aaron's a second year physics grad student who shares my office suite

from left: kim, bar (kris), and amalia.. amalia's the other physics second year grad student i spend a lot of time with. she's environmentally conscious vegetarian who likes to read, like me. =)

menchie, chris, and me. they're both from hawaii. i asked chris about grasshoppers. they don't eat them.

rumors, future plans, and a louis vuitton bag

with my own brother telling people that i'm dating, it's hard to control rumors. in case anyone was wondering: i'm not dating anyone and i'm not interested in anyone at chodae. i'm not going to seminary, and yes, i do go to church.

there's a 99% probability that i'm going to michigan tech this year (i'll be leaving in mid-august). i'm going to be enrolled in a phd program for physics. my plan is to transfer after a year to stony brook, which has a better program and is closer to home.

my ex-boss gave me a louis vuitton bag on my "last" day of work as a thank you gift. the first thoughts that came to my mind were "what am i gonna do with it" and "where am i gonna put it in my already crowded closet". it wouldn't go well with all my sweatshirts and physics books either. i ended up giving it to my mom, who is very happy as a result. 

this led me to come up with a definition for a girly girl, which i'm not: a girly girl has a healthy appreciation for fine bags and shoes, and actually has clothes to go with them.