Category: the grind

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 21)

October 1st, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), lists, savory, scary thing(s) of the week, the grind, the not so single life 11 comments - Tags: ,


1.

Tuesday morning, a library I spent many many hours in as an undergraduate made national news. A 19 year old student shot a few rounds from an AK-47 on campus, didn’t hit anyone, then ran into the library and shot himself. I work on campus. The university was terrorized the next four hours as SWAT and Texas Rangers searched for a possible second shooter. Everyone on campus had a lot of adrenaline and many unleashed their anxiety onto Twitter and Facebook (An apology to my twitter followers for flooding ya’ll). I remained cooped up in my lab with another lab member as she listened to the radio and I stalked Twitter. The university ceased lockdown when it became clear the shooter acted alone. We were left bewildered and a little emotionally exhausted. I have to say it jarred me and made me grateful for life.

I currently have a bunch of books checked out from that library. Eek.


2.

I finally cooked something after a month of hiatus from my stove. It was so therapeutic to create something delicious. When I make the time to cook something and actually am present through the process and not minding my long to-do list, it relaxes me and pacifies my mind chatter. What did I make? Bucatini All’ Amatriciana with Spicy Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs.


3.

A girlfriend from Houston came up for a night on Wednesday and we had a sleepover. It always goes the same way when girls have sleepovers no matter the age. At 17 I remember having sleepovers with girlfriends and talking late into the next morning. Many declarations of, “Okay, for real, good night!” were followed with, “Oh, and…” At 27, it’s the same. I have a fantasy that when we’re all married and with families, we’ll steal away once a year to do the same til we’re 37, and then 47. And then, and then, and then. Here’s hoping.


4.


Mister Bossman and his colleague and I have spent months organizing a regional conference. D-Day is today! I’m working the entire weekend and am hoping it all goes smoothly. This is the first experience I have planning a this big of an event and it was quite a learning experience. I gots new skills to hone!


5.


Alan’s birthday is next week. I’ve spent a total of 6 hours shopping for him and still no idea what I’m going to get him. IDEAS are welcomed. He’s been really good to me. Least I can do is get him a gift for his birthday. Ha!


6.


I had a very welcomed “couch and veg in front of the TV” date last night with Alan. I really needed it; my brain has been super mushy at the end of every work day. I had to run some work errands after work so it was perfect when I got a text from Alan. “I won’t be home til 8.” Relieved with more time I texted back a quick, “Cool.”

I don’t know if my dear boyfriend was disappointed I didn’t question him on his whereabouts but his next text said, “I’m at the range, not at the whorehouse.”

Dude makes me laugh.


7.

Speaking of dude making me laugh. He called last night while I was girl-talk-ing with the girlfriend mentioned in Take 3. I informed him I wasn’t alone to kind of cue him it couldn’t be a long conversation. When he found out who was staying over, he told me to tell her “be careful sleeping.”

“What? Why?”

“Just tell her.”

And then I remembered what happened the last time this friend of mine stayed over and shared my queen sized bed. In the middle of the night, I saw her back and just assumed it was Alan. I sleepily and very lovingly carressed her back. Oops! We all laughed and later that night just to be safe, girlfriend and I kept a pillow in between us.

I came home to this note.



Question: What kind of sleeper are you?

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 20)

September 24th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), lists, on the nightstand, resolutions 2010, the grind, the not so single life 17 comments - Tags: ,


1.

It’s been one of those weeks at work. You know, where it’s going by SO slowly and at the same time you can’t believe it’s Friday already and still have a mountain of stuff to do before a weekend work event in exactly 7 days. Panic!!


2.


Dates during the week make the week go by faster. Work’s been supremely busy this week and will continue to be so til after next weekend so it was nice to have a home cooked meal by Deesh and Bing on Monday, a delicious seafood meal on a rainy day with my my man on Wednesday, and a date by my lonesome yesterday. I went to see Easy A on my own. Friend date, boyfriend date, date with myself. Good balance, no?


3.

What’s he thinking about? Football? Fantasy football? Where’s our dessert? Ultimate Fighter episode on the DVR? That he wishes date night was every night? All good guesses. :)


4.

The aforementioned dessert was too pretty not to share.


5.


I finished reading Anthony Bourdain’s Cook’s Tour this weekend putting my year’s total of finished book at 28. 12 more to go before I reach my new year’s resolution of 40. My favorite exerpt from Cook’s Tour is about the spirit of Vietnam. Currently in the middle of Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Work Week, and Eating Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (Amazon Affliliate links).


6.

A year ago today, Alan surprised me by coming back from Korea about 2-4 months early.


7.


This week’s small indulgences (aside from the dates) include bubble tea, greasy noodles for lunch, pumpkin spice lattes, breakfast burritos, chocolate croissants, and dancing home alone while I clean.


Question: If you could treat yourself to a luxury under 300 dollars right this instant, what would you choose?

I need a dietary cleanse.

September 19th, 2010 · · pursuit of happiness, savory, still-frames, the grind, the not so single life 9 comments - Tags: , ,

It’s not a secret that one of my biggest vices is junk food. Last week, in an effort to not eat out so I can pay off my credit card bill as I do every month (If you’re just tuning it, I had car trouble last month which threw a wrench into my monthly spending), I brought chips and sandwiches for lunch. My sandwich to chips proportion were equal. Then at home, I’d snack on Doritos on the couch. Luckily, it was a short week and I didn’t eat at home for dinner every night. Anyway, I totally overdid it on the chips all week. And aside from the salad Alan cajoled me to eat during our date night last week, I can’t remember the last time I ate something green.

This past weekend, I went to a small town with Alan for a wedding. We stayed up late Friday and Saturday night and small town eats do not cater to night owls. We ended up watching TV in the wee hours of the morning in bed and eating bags and bags and bags of chips. We even took a romantic stroll down the hall to the vending machine to load up at 2 a.m. It was fantastically fun in a juvenile and guilty pleasure kind of way at the time, but now my body is begging me to eat something good for me.

Instead of sandwiches and chips (one last month of tight purse strings), I bought bananas, yogurt, cheeses, and nuts to bring for lunch. I always know when I’ve gone too far in my terrible eating habits when my body is SCREAMING for something nutritional and/or unprocessed, and maybe even green. It’s really embarrassing that I let it get this bad. Once I over did it on the junk food eating (my entire diet for months was different shades of brown), that my body was craving nutrients as soon as possible. I was in the middle of a night time job and couldn’t leave, so I got the only thing nutritional we had in our vending machine, something I find absolutely disgusting normally. A V8. Tomato juice! I gulped that sucker down and couldn’t get it down fast enough.

Yuck. V8′s. I’m not that desperate yet, but I’m getting there.

I’m 27 years old. I should get my eating in control. This is unacceptable.

P.S. The wedding was beautiful. Here are a few photos.




Question: What are your vices?

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 18)

September 10th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), Personal Finance, quotations, still-frames, the grind, the not so single life 7 comments - Tags: , , ,


1.


I relate to this:

“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.”-Sylvia Plath


2.

Lily, Jamie, and I try to see each other at least once a month for dinner. A while back, I bought a Groupon for a restaurant none of us have been to, which allowed me to join them for dinner without shelling out additional bucks! I say I have about a month more before I’m comfortable financially again without dipping into savings. What’s a little significant for us and this blog is that I think Lily gets to finally make a debut on one of my blogs. I often food blog our dinners but Lily is always the missing face. For the first time in 4 years, she’s allowed me to take ONE picture of her. I thought I’d get more mileage from this photo if I double blog it. Here and whenever I get to writing up the restaurant review.


Lily, Jamie, Me


Jamie is never camera shy with me.


3.

I try to start every day with 3 stream of consciousness pages written in my journal as per The Artist Way (affiliate link). I’m on my 5th week and I did very poorly this week. I kept going to bed too late and last night I stayed up to canoodle with the boyfriend and watch Jersey Shore. Alan’s in the middle of a move into a house with four new roommates so I’ve been giving him some space to take care of stuff and get to know his roomies. I’ve missed him! So spending time with him trumped going to bed early which trumped writing my pages.


4.

This week’s writing prompt was “punishment.” Kind of timely because before we drew it, I had just have a conversation with coworkers about the kinds of punishments we endured as children from our parents. My parents spanked my younger brother and me. Younger brother got spanked pretty often whereas I rarely got the wooden spoon from mom. The only memorable spanking I had was on my open palms with a metal ruler and it was 20 licks. I missed every single word on my first spelling test. I almost spelled “delayed” right but I spelled it like so, “de-layed.” The next year, I won the spelling bee.

Aside from spankings, Asian parents can be pretty brutally creative with their punishments. Alan said his parents made him stand with his arms raised. This reminded me that on occasion I had to do the same thing! Another popular one is kneeling. Not lazy kneeling where you have your legs tucked comfortably underneath your butt, but as if you’re praying on a kneeler in a Catholic church. They’ve also had us stand with our noses pressed against the wall.


5.

Next time I’m in Houston I want to borrow (or steal?) my mom’s sewing machine and jump into sewing and thrifting. This blog is my inspiration. Momma has stopped sewing anyway unless I bring her home clothes to alter or straps to reattach.


6.

I’m always engaged in some kind of self improvement project or dabbling in a new skill. On my horizon right now is to educate myself and gain experience in investing. I’ve already saved up my year’s worth of expenses in an emergency fund, I have no consumer debt. So my new goal is to pay off my $24,000 student loan in 5 years and instead of padding up my emergency fund, I will start an investing fund. I realize this has been one of Neville’s advice to me for a while but I was overwhelmed with my lack of knowledge and kept putting it off. I will dedicate 5 hours a week to read and learn. I got my 5 hours out of the way this week when I read and finished Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant (affiliate link).


7.


Let me share a helpful link: How to disable Places on Facebook.

See, my phone is pretty simple. I get a lot of compliments on it because it’s skinny and tiny and sleek looking. I picked it out as my first birthday gift from Alan because it was purple and because it was simple. I just wanted a telephone number pad. Dinky camera is nice. It also has a radio and mp3 player I never use. It is not a smart phone and it does not do geotagging. So when Facebook released Places where you can geotag your locations, I almost didn’t bother disabling it. I disabled it on the off chance that a friend would tag my location and an apartment burglar would know I’m not home. Unlikely, but that’s why I took the time to disable Places.

Last week, it actually ended up being unexpected blessing. I lost a coin flip with a group mostly guy friends and I found myself in a strip club. Not really a big deal but unbeknownst to me, a friend attempted to tag me. My facebook friends and work friends would have had a chance to see on their newsfeed that on a work night at 2am, I was at strip club. Not very kosher, yes? I recommend disabling.


Questions: How were you disciplined as a child?

What? Being Married = money?

September 9th, 2010 · · Personal Finance, the grind 11 comments

I told you I’m broke for another month or so right? Well, here’s a conversation I had with the just turned 7 year old kid I’ve babysat since he was born. (I don’t think I’ll ever leave this family. I have unofficially adopted them.)

New 7 Year Old:
You should buy me that toy on TV. Since you didn’t buy me anything for my birthday.

Me:
Dude, I owe you one but right now I have no money.

New 7 Year Old:
Oh that’s right, you’re not married yet.

P.S. As pointed out in a comment from my BFF, this is a single mom household and his mom is totally a superhero of a mother. Kind of weird for him to think marriage is a source of money.

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 17)

August 27th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), lists, silver screen, the grind, VEDA, videos, wanderlust 11 comments - Tags: , , ,


1.


I’m about finished with my 4th week doing The Artist’s Way (affiliate link). Week 4′s big assignment is to not read. No leisurely reading. For me this translates to no blog reading, no reading in waiting rooms, no reading if I hop on a campus bus, no reading during lunch hours, no reading before bed. It was torture and I definitely flailed and failed. More on the whys and hows regarding my no reading experience next week. I cannot wait til Sunday, when I can read my blogs without guilt.


2.


I’ve spent a pretty penny on my car this week which has me bummed. I had to bail out on social engagements and looks like I’ll have a skeletal social calendar the next 1.5 months. One of the silver linings is I know a lot more about how tires are graded than I did before this week. Other silver linings are the good health of myself and loved ones, I’m employed, and I have good people in my life.


3.

Speaking of skeletal social calendars and good people in my life, my friend Cindy is coming for a visit from Houston this weekend. I think I can afford a cupcake. I told her other than that I plan on staring at her pretty face for free. I’m going to introduce her to Polkadot Cupcakes after work today.


4.

Yesterday’s VEDA topic was “somewhere you want to travel.”


Youtube link


5.

I’m astounded that we’re already flirting with September. Wha?!?!? There’s so much to do still! I don’t think I’ll be getting out of the country as hoped in light of my pocketbook taking dips lately (other personal dips). I’m bummed about that.


6.

I still don’t know what I want to do with my life but I feel optimistic and ready.


7.

In this morning’s VEDA recording I talk movies and TV shows.


Youtube Link


Questions: Favorite movies? Places you plan on traveling to?

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 15)

August 13th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America, lists, misadventures, on the nightstand, the grind, VEDA, videos, wanderlust 11 comments - Tags: , , ,


1.


VEDA – Um this was the most blooper filled experience I’ve had taping a vlog. I have one clip ready for the day we reveal some bloopers. I don’t know why but I think I was the most nervous doing this vlog because I could not stop stuttering. Which resulted in 2-3 jumpy cuts in the final product. I just had to give it up. This is good practice for something that might later be useful in life, no? Blah, whatever, here it is.


2.

Just a random picture of a tower of boxes. I’ve been collecting boxes in my cave of an office at work for the boyfriend’s looming move.


3.


I had dinner with my little (Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America) a couple of nights ago and it’s like she sprouts a few inches every time I see her. She went from little tiny 8 year old to an almost 11 year old and it’s unsettling in numerous ways. For starters, she’s going to be taller than me real soon. That’s no fair, right? Second, our conversations are getting a little more mature. She told me she can’t wait to get old enough to get a tattoo. I said, “Oh yeah? What would you get?”

“Oh, I want a tattoo of my boyfriend’s name.”

I almost pulled over. Instead I vehemently discouraged her. I’m like, “No, really, really, really don’t ever do this.”

“What?! But wwwhhhy?”

“Because, Little, I know you’ll meet someone and you’ll think you’ll be together forever, but the odds are against you. Really. They’re against you. Most likely you’ll break up – I’m sorry I’ve seen this and been through this. It’s what usually happens. And when you do break up, you’ll be that girl who just got broken up with with his NAME on whatever body party you tattooed it. Trust me, I’ve seen youtube videos of people trying to remove tattoos, it ain’t pretty.”

To which she huffs. “I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t do it unless I knew we’d be together forever.”

Face to palm. FACE to fricking PALM. My best friend suggested I take her to a tattoo parlor and let her talk to a tattoo artist. Ha. Too bad this conversation didn’t happen before I already discussed piercings and tattoos for VEDA.


4.

While we’re on the topic of my crazy little. Here’s a self portrait she took of herself with my camera.

She thinks I’m a grandma or something because she started to quiz me on Internet speak. Used to be called AIM speak but I guess AIM is all outdated now. She asked, “Do you know what BRB means?”

Ha. I almost said, “Child, please!” (Yes, I’m channeling Chad Ochocinco.) “BRB was around before you were even BORN.” But I never belittle my little and was chill and answered her a plain, “Yeah, be right back.” She was shocked I knew. She then confirmed my level of competency by further quizzing me about LOL and TTYL. :) I’m glad I passed.


5.

Current book: Eat, Pray, Love (Amazon affiliated link)



Random excerpt: “Generally speaking, though, Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one. Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused with everything from porn to theme parks to wars, but that’s not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment. Americans work harder and longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today. But as Luca Spaghetti pointed out, we seem to like it. Alarming statistics back this observation up, showing that many Americans feel more happy and fulfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas, eating cereal straight out of the box and staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure). ”


6.

I was debating on posting this video. I cursed a lot. Bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep bleep. But uh, cursing is what I do when I freak out. I freaked out because there was a lizard in my apartment. I videoed it under Brittany and Martin’s suggestion and because I was reminded fondly of Chitown’s insect video. This isn’t hardly as funny. So in case for some reason I find myself on the job market, I uploaded the video but it’s unlisted. If you’z friends of mine want to see a freak out of yours truly, you can ping me.

I cashed in a favor from Deesh and called him at 11pm for my reptilian emergency. Offering of course to treat him to lunch :). He was over in a jiffy and freed the imprisoned lizard (I trapped it in a shoebox against my wall). He hardly reads my blog (which is on par with most of my real life friends), but just in case he peeks in, thanks again, friend!


7.

Because I ran out of takes and this will tie in neatly with take #1, here’s a picture of the miniature snow globes I have at work.

Happy Friday, ya’ll!


Question: Do you collect anything?

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 14)

August 6th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), lists, on the nightstand, resolutions 2008, resolutions 2009, resolutions 2010, the grind, VEDA, videos 8 comments - Tags: , , , ,


1.


So I mentioned my morning routine in yesterday’s VEDA video blog but I had originally planned on unveiling my new personal project as a Quick Take and link my friend Martin. So, as an excuse to plug a friend (haha!), I’ll mention it again anyway. In August I started a 10 week personal project called The Artist’s Way. As part of the Artist’s Way, I will be writing 3 stream of consciousness pages in my journal every morning before I go on with the day. I first read about it on Martin’s blog but though I was slightly intrigued, I was not motivated to follow suit. When Alex visited me a few weeks ago, she gave me The Artist’s Way as a birthday gift so I took it as a sign to go ahead and embark. So far, it’s painful. I won’t lie. Today’s morning pages I ran out of things to talk about and kept writing, “I’m sleepy. I don’t want to do this. I’m going to Houston!!” Over and over again.


2.

I haven’t danced or witness a dance circle since middle school. Dance circles were ALL the rage in middle school. Mainly because I went to a private Catholic school and the circle prevented the nuns from seeing the freaking going on in the middle of the circle. Not very wholesome, my middle school. However! I witnessed my first dance circle as an adult and it was pretty wholesome! I noted a fun phenomenon. If you build a decently sized dance circle, it will invite strangers to join your little dance party. If you build it, dancers will come. It’s true. Anyway, here’s my video proof. The preview screen shot is of my man, breaking it down.


Youtube Link


3.

Today is my third consecutive day of partaking in VEDA (Vlog Every Day in August), here’s my video for this morning. It was very very rushed. I did it in one take and did not bother editing even slightly. I talk about things I’m bad at.


Youtube Link


4.

I’m going to Houston for the weekend. I’m not quite sure how to pull off this VEDA thing without Internet access. I may rope Kim and Cindy into letting me use their Internet and also starring in a vlog! I haven’t told them yet…Hoping they won’t see this blog post til after I call them later today. I always love my weekends in Houston. Good food, good people, mommy hugs. Good for my soul. I also get to add to the 4 restaurants already backlogged for my food blog.


5.

Current book: A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut.

Random excerpt: “The biggest truth to face now – what is probably making me unfunny now for the remainder of my life – is that I don’t think people give a damn whether the planet goes on or not. It seems to me as if everyone is living as members of Alcoholics Anonymous do, day by day. And a few more days will be enough. I know of very little people who are dreaming of a world for their grandchildren.”


6.


One of my 2010 resolutions is to read 40 books. Yesterday I finished Who Moved My Cheese?, bringing up my total finished books to 20. Yeah, I’m behind. I hope to finish A Man Without a Country and I’ll grab a couple of books off my bookshelf for Houston. Feeling the pressure!


7.


Man, the last really good year I had in terms of New Years Resolutions is 2008. I made 17 whopping goals and completed them all but 2 (the one about the passport isn’t crossed out but I did complete it!). In 2009 I made 17 resolutions and met only 3. This year, I’m on track to complete 13 (not counting the books) out of 20. I guess that’s not bad but being on track doesn’t quite mean I’ll make the cut.


Question: What’s going on with you?

Going Without Water

August 3rd, 2010 · · the grind 3 comments

I think the dudes trying to fix a water pipe in my apartment building goofed.

Cheers to a new and productive week!

June 14th, 2010 · · still-frames, the grind 3 comments - Tags: ,

Happy Monday!! Back to the nitty gritty. This week is going to be particularly stressful for me. I realized this past weekend that June 20th, my move out date from my current 2 bedroom apartment to a 1 bedroom apartment is THIS weekend. June 20th sounded like a faraway date. My roomie kept dropping hints that it was closer than I think and I just kind of la de da’ed her. So yes, I must scramble to put all my clutter into boxes, stuff it with balled up newspaper for lack of luxurious bubble wrap, do all those fun transfers of accounts. Stress!

I had a fairly productive weekend. Packed maybe 6 boxes, worked out which brings my working out average this year to once every 2 months (ha!), food explored, and quality time with the roomie (our days are numbered) and zee dude. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a productive week to come.


Cheers to a new week!

A couple of cute photos from my weekend: