So accomplished

Look what I remembered how to do from our 5th grade Excel tutorials! A graph! That's right, I made it meself. Since it's almost the end of the year, I've been thinking back over how 2009 has gone for me personally. I decided to quantify the year in terms of my stress level and voila, this tidy graph was born:Fortunately the level never rose to 10, which would have meant me packing my bags and moving home and hanging out with Ben & Jerry for quite some time. That would have happened come the end of August, after a summer of interviews and job rejections and not having any money to pay my rent. Fortunately, that crisis was averted.

And looky, I'm ending up at the same level as I started the year. Guess that's because this question still hasn't left my mind: What I am doing with my life?? Though honestly I feel better about it now than I did 12 months ago. What I'm really stressed about now is getting home for the holidays. I'm crossing my fingers I will arrive absurdly early at the airport only to find all the whinings about airport security lines have been greatly exaggerated, and then I will sit around waiting for my flight in restless boredom. The one time boredom is preferred over all else!

So yes, admire my mad Excel and Paint skills, and feel free to speculate on the highs (STRESS!) and lows (CALMMMM) that was my 2009.

China, China, Maine

If I posted reviews about the books I have read, would anyone read/care? Well this here post is a trial to see what would happen, based on the last three books I have read in the last month. [Note: FTC disclosure or whatever: I got these books from the library. And my mom. And no one told me to write about them. The end.]


Over Thanksgiving break, while I sat in the airport as my flight was delayed and delayed and delayed, I finished this little lighthearted romp. Just kidding (not about the flight delay). It was mad depressing. And yet it had a happy and touching ending, so I guess that made up for the 300 pages of heartbreak and physical abuse and soul crushing soul-crushingness? Hmmm... Not really.

Of course the majority of the novel is set during the Chinese-Japanese war and the subsequent take over of the Communists, so it's bound to be hard times for everyone. But most particularly for Winnie, who is married to this UTTERLY MALEVOLENT man and he is so horrible to her that she has to hide her entire past from her daughter, who has grown up in the States and therefore led a completely different life than anything her mother experienced. Thus the silence and the tension, which Winnie decides to break and then boy does she let it all pour out. I think I liked this better than the Joy Luck Club because it was easier to follow and more detailed with just one narrative, but on the other hand it does kind of drag with all the TERRIBLE DEPRESSINGNESS at times.

Let's move on to another tale of China, this one about underpants. That's right. One Kiwi journalist decided to make it his personal mission to travel to China and search out the factories/people/companies that really make up all the components of a single pair of underpants, bought in the Western world but made in China (duh). He falls into the same traps that all journalists do when they write a singular nonfiction work about China: he throws in as much modern Chinese history as possible, even though he has never really studied China except to write this book. Oh well, I just skim over all that because a) I already know it and b) I'd rather just read about the underpants.

So there are some funny bits in here about his struggles with chopsticks and complete lack of mastery over the Chinese language, but most of it just serves as a reminder for how much the Western world (yes ok fine I am extrapolating him to represents all Westerners) just doesn't get China. And doesn't really try to, for that matter. And even when they try, they mostly fail. I enjoyed this book because at least the author is self reflective and realizes these patterns, and comes away with a great deal more respect for the Chinese than he went in with (sort of... since basically he went in with a base prejudicial fear (again, like most Westerners)). Anyway it just made me want to read Factory Girls and get the real dirt on how Chinese workers live out their lives in factory conditions. Oh and it made me want to go back to Shanghai and eat.

Lastly: about as far from China as you can get. Mom gave this to me for the plane ride back to NY but I ended up making it my subway read this week. And got done with it much quicker than anticipated, due to be stuck on the train for 2 HOURS one night on the way home from work. Gahhhhh.

Anyway, what Mom shouldn't have told me was that the author originally wrote a bunch of short stories, realized there was a reoccurring character in these stories, and then decided to string them together into a novel. Because that's all I could think of as I read this! And I like novels and I like short stories (sometimes) but I don't like short story collections masquerading as novels. So I was ultimately left wanting more. Like, if you name your novel after a character then s/he better be all over that novel. (I had this problem with Oliver Twist and now it will never go away). And the chapters I most enjoyed were the ones with Olive... so why was her story interspersed with all these other stories of random people that I didn't care about and who never reoccurred? It kind of disrupted my reading. They all had similar themes of misunderstood relationships and lots of emotional anguish (all very well written, so it was enjoyable to read even though it was quite sad) but sometimes I was just like, meh I could've done without that chapter.

Oh and DON'T READ THE READING GROUP STUFF AT THE END. Why is that there? Obviously any reading group that selects this novel is going to be savvy enough to think of their own discussion questions, and laugh at the silly suggestions in the back. So, fail on Random House. And I'm still conflicted about the format of this one, so overall not a 5/5.

If you've made it this far, congratulations, you get a fingertag. Also you get my advice to watch Community, even though I just referenced 30 Rock. Go! You will not be disappointed, especially by the holiday episode. And in conclusion: I should probably read some happy novels now. Feel free to buy me something humorous for Christmas.

Christmastime means

goodies in the workplace, I've discovered! So far we have brownies and Harry and David treats courtesy of our wonderful clients. Oh man, I'm starting to like this aspect of December. But all the presents serve as a reminder that I still need to buy gifts FOR EVERYONE. Gah I am behind. No worries, I have plans to attend a sample sale and scope out a bookstore tonight, so hopefully I will get some people crossed off my list.

I honestly did not realize that December is almost already over... kinda. But it's going by fast and that means the year is almost over and that means the DECADE is almost over and I totally didn't grasp that fact until like a week ago. Well the first decade of every century is bad, right? I'm crossing my fingers it only get better from here, meaning that all areas in life improve, for everyone! That's not an impossible wish, right? Let's start with the publishing industry getting back on its feet and embracing change (aka the digital age), and I'm sure others will follow (ie healthcare reform, employment rates, environmental protection etc). I am optimistic and slightly terrified. Optimistically terrified.

Is it too early for New Year's resolutions? I figure the earlier I commit to them and starting putting them into practice, the better off I'll be. So hear goes:
1. Be healthier. [Except not during the holidays, they don't count. I'll stop eating cookies in January, I swear.]
2. Write more.
3. Be less of a Grandma. [This is for Cynthia and may be difficult to accomplish during the months of January and February, when all I want to do is hibernate. But I promise to make an effort.]

That's good enough for now, right? I mean if the list gets too long it's just impractical, so I'll stick to these and really focus on them. Although now that I think about it, #3 might actually be a direct contradiction to #1... hmmmm.... we shall see.

Friday, right before lunch

seems like a good time to update. So how has my week been? In terms of health: terrible! Somehow (flu shot + plane ride = my theory) I came down with a head cold Monday night and have been fighting it all week. Luckily last night I discovered that vodka is a good remedy, and today I am feeling much better. Just kidding. But not really.

Explanation: last night we had cocktails after work and I had a little bit of vod mixed with lots of mixers. And I had a cup of tea. And then this morning I could actually get out of bed without feeling like death. So take that, head cold. Also Dayquil, you fail.

Backing up a day-- on Wednesday night there was the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. Naturally, I got out of here as fast as possible and retreated to the warmth of a friend's apt to watch the show on TV. Which was much better because it meant not standing in the cold and rain pressed up against 100,000 tourists (allegedly... I don't know how 100,000 people could actually fit in the space around the rink here). And we ate turkey! Kwangs decided to treat us to Thanksgiving v2.0 and it was quite delicious. Unfortunately it did not prove to be the cure for the common cold. Andddd I might have infected J. Oops.

The other thing I wanted to rant about is books. Mainly this week's bestselling books. Now, I missed the lists from last week on account of leaving early for the holidays but I think that was a good thing, because otherwise I would have gone home in a funk about not only the stupid airlines (delayed of course >:( !!) but also about women writers today. That's right, I'm talking to you Stephenie Meyer and Sarah Palin! Somehow they are both allllll over the best seller lists and it just makes me sad. I want to be proud of women writers (esp after the whole PW best books of 2009 debacle) but I just... can't be happy for these two. Sarah Palin is... Sarah Palin and I don't even know where to begin. Stephenie Meyer has, in my opinion, created one of the worst female protagonists in modern literature and yet young girls eat her crap up! Obviously this is because of her stunningly perfect male protagonist but COME ON. How hard have women worked to get to a point where we are respected as smart, strong, independent etc and then along comes this Twilight mess. Basically: bad writing + misogynistic storyline = feminist fail. Whyyyy Stephenie Meyer and general female public whyyyy.

Ok rant over. Now I would like to praise the weather for being so not-Decemberish the past couple days. Please stay just the way you are. 50 degrees is a perfectly acceptable winter temperature, thanks.

Starstruck

Whew, I just did a pilates workout and am now cooling down. I added a yoga DVD to my amazon wishlist for Christmas. Trying to be healthier, one baby step at a time.

Cynthia and I went to see Jonathan Safran Foer read at BN tonight. He's got a new book out that's stirring up some controversy because WOW he says he doesn't eat meat (actually I think he's full vegan) anymore and NEITHER SHOULD YOU. Well I didn't think there was much new there, seeing as I already read Fast Food Nation, but I bet this book has some pretty prose. In any case, I hope he sticks to novels in the future.

Anyway, there I was saving a seat for Cynthia and getting antsy bc she was late and they were making people give up their seats for all the other people waiting. Of course 2 mins after the mean guy makes me let some other lady sit next to me Cynthia calls to say she had arrived. She had to stand in the back :( But somehow her eagle celebrity spotting eyes saw Natalie Portman arrive and sit in the front row, so that was exciting. By the time Mr Foer was finished I was over my bout of anger and that world and while not laughing heartily at his jokes, at least appreciating his well-spoken arguments on behalf of vegetables everywhere.

But here's where the starstruck part comes in. As I go to meet Cynthia in the back, Natalie Portman gets up to come meet a friend back there and walks right in front of us. Cynthia called out "Natalie we love you!" and asked for a picture, but she quickly declined. SAD. Then she tried to go back to the front but the security dude wouldn't let her. I thought it was hilarious because he was like, "Are you in publishing?" and she was like "No I just need to go tell me friends that I'm leaving" and I thought "Wow, the only time being in publishing would get you something and being a celebrity is not working so well." HAH. Well then the manager came up and of course let her through and afterwards was like "That was Natalie!" The security guy totally didn't care and still didn't know what that meant. Lawls.

Then we spent some time dithering as she talked to a friend and a couple people came up to talk to her but eventually we decided just to go. LE SIGH. This ALWAYS happens to me. I should just stop meeting famous people, because I ALWAYS get tongue-tied or can't find the courage to say anything and then I am SO MAD AT MYSELF later on. I should have gone up to her and just said, "Hey I really loved you on Top Chef and just so you know, I came for Jonathan because he's one of my favorite writers, but seeing you is an extra bonus. K bye!" But instead I was the awkward girl who stood in the corner whispering to her friend and laughing that the guard wanted to know if she was in publishing.

Morale of my story: celebrities are best observed from afar. For me, at least. Good thing I'm not in PR or anything.

Back by popular demand

Let's just skip all those other weeks in October and start with an update from this past week. It's November now! It's cold! There is a mouse still presumably hiding in our kitchen and refusing to eat the sweet sweet poison that we have set out for it. I read on the interwebs that mice don't like the smell of peppermint, so now our apartment smells very strongly of peppermint oil. It clears the sinuses! It stimulates the senses! But really I just hope it is to mice what garlic is to vampires, you know?

On Sunday I had a lunch rendezvous with Cathy (visiting from DC) and we went to a Korean place on St Mark's called Bon Chon for some fried chicken. Now, this was not your ordinary KFC FC (unless KFC stands for Korean frickin crazydelicious). One bite and I knew I would be back for more. Indeed I have been thinking about it all week. Maybe the C should stand for crackilicious instead. Oh also it was good to see Cathy, haha.

Wednesday one of Cynthia's former classmates had a book launch party at the Taschen store in Soho. We went, along with all of RISD, and it was really nice. The book was something like "design for Obama" and somehow co-authored by Spike Lee, so he was there! Unfortunately I took too long getting up the courage to ask him for a picture/authograph, so by the time we shuffled up to the table he was leaving :( For the Yankees game, apparently. Oh well, then Cynthia and I went to get noodles in Chinatown and all was well.

Last night went to Mooncake with the usual crew and got some Sapporo with our dinner. Then J and I went home to do pilates even though Gaodi warned us not to exercise with alcohol in our bellies. I think it was fine though because I have yet to feel sore. Tonight we are having a party at our office for one of our authors and lots of important publishing people are coming. Eep! I hope it goes well. In any case, can't complain about free drinks on a Friday evening. I should probably go study the guest list now and try to memorize people's titles.

Will try to post pics next time, promise!

happy mid-autumn festival/national day

As I was walking home from work today I saw this Chinese man who I often see walking his two dogs (one is a pomeranian and the other Pekinese). His dogs were all play-biting with each other and I started imaging a scenario in which I went over and said "ah, ni de xiao gou zhende ke'ai!" and then proceeded to have a little conversation in my head in Chinese as I made my way to my apartment.

I sometimes have to moments where I just really, really want to have a conversation with a Chinese person and go through the familiar exchange of, me: "anything-in-chinese", them: "oh you speak chinese! you speak so well," me: "nali, nali..." etc. Rather boring, really, but it has a familiarity to it that is soothing and used to be so much a part of my everyday life.

I think because it's fall (and I've finally got around to putting up my pictures from China in a collage on my wall) that I'm feeling nostalgic for the good PRofC. I realized that this time one year ago I would have been on a train back to Beijing from Nanjing, after having spent a crazy and fun filled long weekend in Shanghai (we had to take a train to Nanjing from Shanghai bc all the ticket back to Beijing from Shanghai were sold out because of (surprise!) the holiday day). And the sight that greeted us when we got back to Beijing was hundreds of thousands of people descending on Tiananmen Square to pay homage to... the ugly government buildings? Mao's mausoleum? The hugest public space in the world with a very sketchy history?

But enough with the memories. I know now that the main reason I am so nostalgic for China is not the country itself, but the people that shared the experience with me. Friends combined with an exciting new city and culture and language is the best possible mix. I think if I were to go back anytime soon I would be longing for a camaraderie that can't be recreated and best lives on in the moments captured by our cameras, or when we get together and retell stories. I feel so so lucky that all the elements were working in my favor last fall, and only hope that someday I can return to China to revisit acquaintances and see some places that I did not have time to discover. But in the meantime, We'll always have Beijing.

you are so lucky

another post! already! let's have a recap then:

Friday after work I met Will at the ShakeShack aka the most glorious hamburger stand in the land and had a lovely post-work week dinner. It was a little chilly out but at least this time I was smart enough to wear jeans so the mosquitos could not get to my legs... again. After that we went for some celebratory drinks and then on the way home, waited 30 mins for a single downtown 1/2/3 train to appear whilst four uptown trains went by on the other track.

Saturday there was an arts festival in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, which I had never really been around before (except to go to the ice cream factory). So after brunch in Brooklyn Heights, we headed to the waterfront Fulton Ferry landing area to check out the exhibits and galleries. Witness the weirdness:

glorious friday

I'm kind of confused as to why the subway is always deserted on Fridays. I mean, do most people not have to go to work on Friday? The rest of the week I have to smoosh on the train and stand for pretty much the whole ride, but Friday is like a magical breath of fresh air. Or maybe people sleep in on Fridays? Can that be my schedule?

Last night there was a little publishing people get together after work (happy hour, woohoo) and I got to meet a lot of nice young professionals. Aw. Usually I'm pretty quiet and somewhat awkward in social situations where I know one, maybe two people. I tend to cling to them and not volunteer stories much. So I brought along a friend (who happens to be a fellow Ohioan) but she had to leave early. Not to worry though! I soon discovered what I should have already known: publishing people are totally chill. We talked about *gasp* what books we are reading and what our guilty pleasures were in high school (again, in terms of books.. duh). So despite being at a table of people I had pretty much never met before, I was quite at ease.

Ah, books. What do you call an object/idea/something you are intimately familiar with that always makes you comfortable? Like if I were a ship captain, books would be my helm. If I were a tech person, books would be my computer. If I were a graphic designer, books would be my inDesign... and so on. Just walking into a bookstore restores in me a sense of calm and also excitement. It it called a bedrock? Is that the word I'm looking for? My brain must be too crowded with thoughts of anticipation for the weekend to present this answer.

promise

I've been procrastinating on updating this thing because I've been telling myself that I need to figure out what I'm doing here. Should I just keep randomly updating about my life? Should I pick a theme for the posts (book reviews, food porn, etc) and try to stick with it?

But now I think that was really just me be lazy and you know what, I'm just going to post whatever I feel like posting (for real, not like once every three weeks). What you have missed in the meantime: Rosa came to visit (from Texas!). She is the mouse in this picture.
Then Cheng and friends came to visit (from Ohio... duh).
Plus Angela and friends came to visit for her bday. So basically the last days of my summer were filled with wonderful visitations but alas, that means I was too lazy to take any pictures for myself which means I haven't got any more evidence of recent shenanigans. Not that I've been up to much... just work, laundry, and catching up on TV watching.

Which, btw, is pretty exciting. I mean the Gossip Girl kids are at NYU making me all nostalgic (except when they make things up like ROOFTOP DRINKING PARTIES and then I just get angry). Mad Men is beautifully written (as usual) and yet still shocking (lawnmower in the office + drinking = bad things). SYTYCD is back and I can't wait for the 30 Rock premiere, especially since I saw them filming an awesome looking episode outside my office building recently.

And yes exciting things are happening in publishing too (though not, I should note, in movies. I can't remember the last time I saw a really good contemporary movie). No I haven't gotten myself a copy of The Lost Symbol and no, it's not even on my reading list. I did spend a good deal of time at The Strand the other day and found some cool East Asian books to add to that list, however. Now I just have to get my butt over to the library to request them.

Lastly, in terms of food the most recent new restaurant I have tried was the Hand Pulled Noodle place on Doyer St. Beijing niu rou mian it was not, so needless to say my undying craving for that 6 kuai bowl of noodles/beef/veggies/quail eggs has not been fulfilled. But for only 5 bucks it was definitely satisfying.

I'm not going to leave off by revealing my weekend plans because then I will be forced to blog about them at a later date, instead of waiting till next week to recap. Hah. Let's see if I can outwit my own laziness-ness.

i heart office supplies

I'm not ashamed. I do. I heart post-it notes, and paperclips, and files, and of course pens. They are all awesome bc being organized is awesome. At least that is how I feel at the end of this first work week, when I'm still figuring out where everything is and what everything is. My desk is pretty much good to go, but I'm going to start tackling the other offices next week. That's right, on my watch there will be no such thing as a missing or disappearing folder. Big dreams, I know.

I'd just like to say that Rockefeller Center is pretty frickin cool. I've been wandering around the concourse, which is this underground maze of stores and shops connecting all the buildings in the complex so that one theoretically never has to step outside during the workday. You just go straight from the subway to the deli and into your building without ever seeing the light of day. This is nice now because it's 5 million degrees out, and I suspect I will appreciate it even more in the winter when I don't have to trudge through any sludge and worry about ruining my boots.

Also the shops pretty much run the gamut... There's Subway and Dunkin, of course, plus Starbucks and the necessary Chinese and Japanese places. They've got all the major food place covered (including Burger King for some reason) and Duane Reade and even a place to shine your shoes! I saw a bunch of business men sitting there and I had a serious Mad Men moment. Or is shoe shining still cool now?

Anywho, looking forward to next week for several reasons, one of them being I'll get my first real paycheck (sorry past part-time jobs, you don't count). I'm also a little nervous bc I'll officially be on my own to figure things out at the office, but I think since my colleagues have been so nice and helpful so far, I'll be ok. Fingers crossed.

you can't stop the heat

I'm sorry, but August is a worthless month in terms of weather. I have modified my schedule so that I now take two showers a day: one in the morning to wake up for work, and one when I get home bc I'm all sweaty from my walk back from the subway. Sorry impending water shortage, mother nature is making it impossible for me to care at this point.

Work is going well... I can't believe the week is almost over and then I will be officially on my own to run things! I guess the one good thing about August in this case is that it's a slow month for the industry, so I suspect I'll be eased gently into my position. Already I feel pretty official about it--I mean I have a spiffy photo ID now, that I keep in the same place as my unlimited metrocard. If that doesn't spell working woman, I don't know what does.

Not having a TV means that I have to find other ways to amuse myself when I do get home in the evening. Tonight: ironing and cooking for lunches. Excitinggggg I know. And I go to bed really early now. Though I still get more sleep than the UPS guy, cuz apparently he goes to bed at 11 and gets up at 5. In the AM! And I thought 7:30 was bad.

Next week Beijing Friend Rosa comes to visit!

Beautiful Day

It was in the 70's and partly sunny. Nice weather to reflect my nice mood. New York, I re-love you. I once was bitter but now am satisfied, was terrified but now I'm calm.

So 10 interviews and 3 months of searching, pulling out my hair, having near-heartattacks, and eating lots of icecream to stave off depression, I finally have a job offer! And I have accepted, and start work a week from Monday. Calloo callay! It happens to be perfect timing to go home for a week, too, so that's an extra added bonus. Basically, everything is falling nicely into place... finally.

After a wonderful day of walking around in the city, celebrating with margaritas, an arepa, and a Chickalicious cupcake, I'm now watching SYTYCD with J. You'd think it couldn't get much better, but actually tomorrow I'm going to meet up with China friends in Chinatown for (a Chinese) lunch :) And the day after that, Cheng and his mom come to visit. We're hoping to make another Brighton Beach run (and therefore hopefully eat some more vareniki).

I realize I've been very terrible the last couple months on keeping this thing updated, so I promise to do better now that I have good things to say. Now, off to enjoy the summer's last dose of Cat Deeley!

Weekend in Brooklyn

This is what I have consumed this weekend:

1 platter of 2 pupusas from the flea market red hook vendors (pupusa = fried tortilla stuffed with cheese/beans/meat and covered in homemade slaw and sauce)

1 mini marble scoop of blackberry icecream

cereal with fresh strawberries

1 iced coffee from ozzie's

1 frozen chocolate covered banana from louie g's

1 bread thing with artichokes, onions, eggplant, and goat cheese from grand army green market

Also this weekend we attended free first Saturday at the Brooklyn museum and caught the end of this cool concert thing outside the Brooklyn library. Also went shopping in Park Slope. What I didn't do was go to brunch or check out the botanic gardens... these things will have to wait for next week, when my lovely guests from Ohio arrive :) I just hope the super finally shows up to make the repairs on our apt by then... grrrr....

Graduation food

If you want to see real pics from graduation, here they are:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033040&id=33901973&l=8ba2c56443

If you want to see some food porn (Kwanghee!) you have come to the right place.


We went to the Union Square Cafe for lunch after commencement. Here's our soft shell crab appetizer:
Melody (and my dad) got the lamb bolognese lasagna and Cathy got a yummy pasta with peas (and I forget what else...)
Mom and I shared this pasta with fresh asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, and an egg (obviously). We also split my steak over greens with mushrooms. I realize now that I am terrible at describing food but hey, that's what the pictures are for.Lastly, they gave us a free desert in honor of our graduation. We had also ordered two other deserts, so it might have been a bit much, but it was sooooo goood. This was a honey glazed banana on a thin tart with ice cream. And those round things are macadamia nuts, NOT mini donuts haha.

But I'm not done yet! The next morning the padres and I went to breakfast at Noho Star and this proved to be a wonderful decision. I ordered the breakfast bruschette, which was scrambled eggs and sundried tomatoes on top of toast and goat cheese. Behold:
And lastly, Dad's challah French toast with lots of berries:

All right that's the last of it! Whew that took awhile, so I hope ya'll appreciate it :)

CRITICAL DECISION

I'm not sure why I'm posting this here bc I dunno who's actually going to give me feedback, but I need to decide this soon:

Should I go to the all-university graduation ceremony OR have lunch at Union Square Cafe?

On one hand, it IS my once in a lifetime graduation from college and Hillary is speaking (though I'm sort of indifferent about that). On the other hand, it's all the way at Yankee Stadium for four hours and you just sit there.

BUT this is my once in a lifetime opportunity to have my parents take me to USC, and it's basically a foodie's nirvana, so I should jump all over that. And I need to make a reservation like ASAP.

I wonder if it would be possible to do both. And to hang out with people that afternoon. Considering we wouldn't get dinner till like... 8... maybe it would be possible to have my cake and eat it too. Hm.

Spring Break wooohooo

Have some free time so I thought I would update, even though tis the last day of vacation now. It's been a really great spring break though. Started out in DC where it was cold and rainy but nonetheless wonderful bc I got to hang with my peeps who I hadn't seen in forever. Who knew I had so many friends in the nation's capital.

Moving along to Texas: first couple days in Houston were nice and relaxing, in which I ate a lot of wonderful food prepared by Amy's mom. Then we drove to Austin where it is beautiful and weird and endlessly interesting. I really can't get enough of the weather here. I just checked the forecast for NY tomorrow and it's going to be a high of 40. I'm crying already.

We're about to go out to brunch and then spend the rest of our day with nothing particular to do. I plan to finish my book. Will update more later when I get back to my NY pad.

The Great Umbrella Exchange

I had a presentation this morning that I was all nervous about but thankfully it went well. UNFORTUNATELY sometime between my preparations and giving the speech I lost my umbrella somewhere :( But after the class left and as I was looking around I spotted another umbrella someone had left under the table. All's fair in love and umbrella's! So I took that one to replace the one someone else had undoubtedly taken from me. This made me wonder: does our society have a grand umbrella exchange, of losing and finding umbrellas? People shouldn't need to buy them anymore, they should just look around until they find one that's been left behind.

Midterms are almost over! This is what I have left: a conclusion for one paper, final look-over of another paper, and.... three pages and a thesis for the last paper. Errr.

But I have much to look forward to so I'm over the worst of the midterms depression/stress. Friday night we're making margs and tacos at J's and Saturday I'm going to DC for approx 24 hours to see friends from Beijing, and hopefully my lovely former roommate as well. Then Monday it's off to TX for spring break, where I may get the chance to meet up with another Beijinger (in Chinatown there, of course!). omgcan'twait.

Ahnold in Ohio

I wanted to call my fb photo album AHNOLD but I didn't actually get to see him :( We did see some muscle-y ppl and some fencers at the convention center when we went to help set up Friday night though. But Daylight Savings ruined our plans to see the governator on Sunday.

However! I did get to see lots of NA ppl and that made me happy :) On Friday Cheng and I stuffed our faces with sushi at Jacob's restuarant and it was delicious. Then we saw Watchmen and it was... long, and pretty good, and I've still got mixed feelings on it. But Cheng loved it, so that's good.

Then Saturday we had brunch with Tristan and Jessica at North Star Cafe, chatting about wedding stuff and eatind delicious food. Though I should have tried something other than the pancakes... oh well, next time!

Had dinner at home (more food... apparently this is all I do in Ohio) and then had some birrrr at BW3's n high with Cheng's friends. $4 for a 32oz budlight, Cynthia, it was crazy good! Never can find such a thing here in NYC tho :(

After that we mosied on over to Jill's place for a good old fashioned OSU party (with some pajamas involved, though I think most ppl missed that memo). Got to catch up with more ppl, though not as much as I would have liked bc it was a party with lots of ppl and all. There was some twister action going on too. Good times.

But I wish I had had another day! I came back to NYC and the trains were all messed up and it started to rain and now I have all these midterms to finish :*( Luckily spring break is officially a week away! Can't wait for more traveling!

Even though I don't have a TV

I am supremely good at wasting time watching television. Case in point: I recently watched two seasons of the show Mad Men, which airs on AMC and will be starting its third season in the near future.

I kinda hate getting addicted to new shows because then I do indeed waste all this time catching up and becoming obsessed... but at least I can pretend I'm learning something from this show. It's set in the late 50's early 60's in Manhattan so I get my dose of New York culture and world politics from that time, which I can somehow link up to my Vietnam class since we're currently studying the Kennedy administration.

Ok but really it's about the characters and how ridiculously well their stories are written. Of course the costumes and all that help set the tone, and there are funny moments of circumstances that seem so ridiculously racist/sexist/inappropriate watching from this day and age. So I've been really enjoying all that while at the same time cringing at how much these people smoke (even on the airplanes! and while pregnant!) and thinking how glad I am to be entering the workforce as a woman in this era instead of back then.

Unfortunately one of the pervasive themes of the show is adultry: these "mad men" work on Madison Ave all day and then go off to meet up with their mistress in a hotel and then return to their wives and children in the suburbs after dark. Basically. Which is sad, and yet so seemingly common. And it's just made so much worse by the fact that television is supposed to allow a person to escape, and yet it seems impossible to escape this culture of deception. I'm lucky to have what I have, and I know I'm lucky, and that makes it all the worse when friends of mine are not so lucky. What I mean is... it's hard to watch a show (though it may be set 50 years ago) about people who cheat and lie in relationships and then have it echo back in real life.

I guess I just have to come to terms with the fact that television--that is, smart, savvy television--isn't scripted in a void, as much as we would like to turn to it for an escape. And actually I appreciate this show much more than others that are too over-the-top or gloss over more important issues (coughcoughGGcoughcough). So affairs and duplicitous men aside, I recommend watching Mad Men and would love to have more people to discuss it with, since it really is one of those shows that inspires dialogue.

Overheard in NY by YT

Last Sunday I mistakenly went out in search of dumplings for dinner (all the restaurants in Chinatown were closed for New Years, natch) and as I'm walking down Mulberry I hear this shopkeeper guy say, "None of the crazies are out tonight. It's so cold even the crazies aren't out!"

Except for me and my rumbly tummy, of course.

Also just wanted to say that skinny boys wearing skinny jeans but still trying to be "cool" should probably not sag their pants. I mean, it just doesn't look right.

Lastly: Worst weather ever today. Took the bus both ways to campus and really should have worn my wellies. Too bad we don't get school canceled for inches and inches of rain on top of really slippery snow.

In a haze

I've been going through the travel motions since I got back without really paying attention but just sort of knowing where I am going thanks to traveling the same routes all summer. If that makes sense. Well, the problem is that today I was on my way back from an interview (went well! fingers crossed!) near Herald Square and whilst sitting on the B train got lost in my thoughts and missed my stop. Oops. I looked up and saw that we were at Grant street, so I figured I would get off and switch trains to go uptown (I could've walked back, I suppose, but I was wearing heels so no).

While I'm getting off I notice all these Chinese people! And across the way on the other platform: more Chinese people! So I happily stand there waiting for the train and listening to/looking at all the Chinese-ness going on around me. There was an erhu war with one played on each platform, lots of old people with groceries, and even crazily dressed children. Oh Zhongguo! I miss you!

Only bad thing was that everyone was speaking Cantonese. Wth. Also these two blonde girls came to stand in front of me (what are YOU doing here?? clearly this area is the new Chinatown, I thought) and I realized they, too, were not speaking English. Because of all the Canto-craziness around I swear it sounded like they were also speaking Cantonese, but given the circumstances a better guess would be some Scandanavian language. Or German.

Right so as if I weren't missing Zhongguo enough already, that pretty much did it for me. Now I'm going to eat "Chinese" food tonight and cry internally that I am paying $7 for my meal instead of $1.

I would just like to say that

It is very hard living in the city (and especially having classes all afternoon) and not being able to properly eat a sandwich. How am I supposed to eat on the run??

An Historic Day

Well, for someone other than me, I suppose. Today was the first day of classes, which meant running lots of errands and standing in lots of lines. I still don't understand why the Brits are stereotyped as loving to queue, when clearly no one does it better than New Yorkers. Ugh.

Anyway, classes look good so far except that they will entail a LOT of reading. But I'm pretty good at that so yeah, it's just a matter of getting my hands on the books. I have a very full day tomorrow of class, checking out the job fair, meeting with the EAS dean, then class, then going to see my Chinese professor (and perhaps auditing his class, har).

What else? Oh yes, some random lady came up to me at Whole Foods and started going off on how she felt offended by Obama's speech as a white woman because she helped with the Civil Rights movement in the 60's etc etc and I felt very awkward. But then I saw her go up to two other people after me and repeat the same schpeel, so I guess it's whatever. Reverse culture shock, episode 153.65!

So yeah, I miss China and my friends from there lots. Prices here are already making me sad. I can't hardly eat! Well that's not true, because of this wonderful thing called the "Recession special" that some restaurants have now. For example, Amy and I ate at Calcutta the other night for 9.95 and we each got: a samosa, soup, a chicken entree (mine was korma), rice, and naan bread. Nice! Portions were slightly smaller, but still. And the tax and tip basically killed, but still. 9.95 for delicious Indian food.

And the last note: I bought a bunch of yogurt on sale and it's possibly the weirdest texture ever. Not feeling it.