Curious Notions

I’m been feeling displaced and fragmented lately.

I’ve been staying at my friends, Deesh and Bing’s place since Friday. I’ve been officially homeless since Monday night. My things are stored in my first storage place ever rented (new thing), Selina and Ryan’s place, my brother’s place, Deesh and Bing’s place, and my car. Fragmented.

I haven’t read since last Wednesday before bed. That’s my bedtime routine.. reading and journaling. I haven’t done both actually since last Wednesday. Does not help the displaced and fragmented feeling. I haven’t done either because I’ve been without a night stand lamp since… well, last Wednesday. I’m almost going out of my mind.

Last night I became addicted to a Nintendo DS game called Puzzle Quest. (uh oh) You don’t need a reading light for that addiction.

Friday, I’m heading up to Dallas to visit Michael and do a whole slew of Dallas-related new things. Am excited. Never actually drove on my own to Dallas before. I’m a nightmare behind the wheel. Unfortunately, I do nothing to dispel the Asian driving stereotype.

I haven’t had a new entry up in a while. Not to say that I haven’t had my fair share of new things. I’ve just been internet free mostly and am cursed with a horrible short-term memory. So I don’t remember what I did the week before last or if I even posted..

This past week, I finally tried Dan’s Hamburgers. I heard praises and praises and it was tied with first for best hamburger with Hut’s a few years back. I love me some Huts so Thomas and I investigated last Thursday before seeing Knocked Up. We were very very pleased. I went to the one across the street from Half Priced Books on Lamar. Thomas loved how it was all windows.. I loved the old time feel of the joint. He had the hickory grilled something or other burger, I had the Jalapeno Cheeseburger with curly fries. My mouth is watering as I type this. Mmm. I may have to go back sometime this next week. Reminded me of In -N- Out burger when I went to California.

In between Thursday and Sunday we introduced everyone else to a slew of new things. The Domain, Flip Happy Crepes, Threadgills, 219 West, Cuba Libre, Saba, Foundation… new places for everyone. All great places to go to when you’re in Austin. (Though I’m partial to Hoovers over Threadgills when it comes to Southern Comfort cuisine.)

My second new thing of the week for myself was Yen Ching Noodle House on the drag. I’ve seen this place since I moved to Austin 6 years ago and never actually went in. Chris swore that their noodle soups are to die for. Man, are they good. I had the spicy seafood noodle soup. The noodles were handmade, delicious, and authentic. I think I found another place to frequent whenever the mood for Chinese noodle soups strikes.

I’m now very hungry.

The girls on 4th Saturday night :) Blurry but the only somewhat sober photo I managed to scounge up.

Our ‘dance’ faces on 6th. I don’t know how I made that face but it cracks me up. Yeah and the fingers? Don’t know how that came to be either.

Photos courtesy of Thomas.

Last weekend I had dinner with 2 boys and a girl. We girls forced the boys into girly-slumber-party-like questions and conversation. We called it game of “Truth or Truth.” Poor boys. We asked them fun questions from last time they cried to weirdest place they had sex. The juvenile game soon morphed into a conversation about gender differences. One guy wondered why females have a tendency to go into this silent psychological warfare where they are grading their significant other silently, going through a “check list.” He likened it to a ticking bomb.

“Tick tick tick.. and all of a sudden they go off and do something drastic, like break up or start a blow out fight.”

The other girl and I nodded knowingly. We’ve done this ‘ticking bomb’ thing. We’re both sticking to our guns that the “ticking bomb” is a fantastic last resort. Often times we find ourselves voicing what we want over and over again. It’s not fun. It could be as small as “You don’t ever ask me how my day is” to something bigger such as, “I’m not going to wait for you to get your shit together another year, it’s already been 6 years.” Eventually, the asker gets tired of hearing her (or his) own voice so she (or he) stops asking.

Cue “Ticking Bomb” phase.

This is the point where they’re deciding on whether to fold and walk away with least amount of damage to themselves. I like calling it the silent tally. Silently counting how many times the party in question is falling short. No more reminders. No more gentle coaxing. No more arguments. So my hint to mainly the men out there. If your significant other has been nagging you about something for a long while and all of a sudden, she’s quiet. Contrary to what my male friend thought it was (“I thought she changed her wants”), you’re probably being silently monitored and about to approach a tipping point in the relationship. :) Beware of silence.

Why I will stand by it? People generally don’t change. Unless the pain of their not changing exceeds the pain of changing.. right? Why fix something that ain’t broke? So if someone doesn’t embody something you think you need in a relationship, the “ticking bomb” helps illustrates the futility of waiting for someone to change… Count the tally marks then fold and walk away with what you have.

I just practiced drawing blood at work today over lunch. It’s a bit disheartening.

Stuck Erica thrice, missed thrice.

Stuck Kim twice, missed twice.

Stuck Noemi once, drew once :)

Stuck Alison twice, missed twice.

This weekend, I watched Stranger Than Fiction with my brother on Friday. I give it 4/5 stars. Loved it. Will Farrell was adorable in the movie and it was just a cute and clever script. It’s hard to pull off cute and clever.

Saturday, got up butt early and had an oil changing/passport picture taking/shopping/lunch date with Brandi. We’re adorable, aren’t we? Oil changing date. Who does that? After shopping with her, I went to dinner out with 7 rowdy boys for a celebration of 2 birthdays and 2 graduations. Then out to Trudy’s and Sixth. New thing of the week, a bar.. called The Jackalope.

Umi’s for sushi.

Trudy’s for Mexican martinis

Finally, yesterday, lunched with the younger brother and then I worked out for the first time since February. Brandi, Jessica, and I walked 4 and some miles at Town Lake. I saw three guitars I haven’t seen before on our walk. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera, so I’d have to take care of that. I’m a few shades darker despite layering on tons of sunscreen.

Thus concludes my weekend.

So Joy Luck commenced yesterday. We’re no longer meeting to take turns cooking on Grey’s Anatomy night. During the off season we decided to do take our club on land and do happy hours instead. First noncooking outing we had was last night at Trudy’s. True to form, I only finished a fourth of my drink. Damn, being a lightweight!

And again, since I don’t have Internet at home for the next month.. I may fall behind in reporting the new thing of the week. Last week’s new thing of the week?

- Seaweed cookies – Sounds gross doesn’t it? Not bad. Interesting. Bing was snacking on them last weekend when I was over there for a board game night. I didn’t have anything new at the time (funny that I managed 2 more things before the weekend was over and my new cycle cycles). So I remember making a slight face after my first bite, but then I found myself snacking on them through out the evening. They came in packs of 2 in cute little tiny bite size packages.

- Cheez Geek - a geeky card game. After Cranium ended up being such a quick game (the girls effortlessly showed the boys how it’s done), we had time for another game. A card game.. Everyone draws for a profession and everyone playing are ‘roommates’ with different professions (ranging from Slacker to Corporate Drone to Webdesigner) and the object of the game is to reach your pt goals before anyone else. Game’s all about not letting your roommates sleep, screw, or play computer games. I guess you’d have to see for yourself.

- Cannoli Joe’s – New Italian buffet restaurant- opened last month, owned by County Line. Lovely place. Fattening place. I went with Ryan, Selina, Dawn, and G on Sunday. Again, it sure beats Gatti’s and Cici’s the closet thing to Italian Buffet Austin had before Cannoli Joe’s. Here’s a shot of Ryan cheezing it up infront of the fake window Italian scene.