Fascination. Inspiration. Perspiration.

hope you all had a merry christmas (and to my favorite jew tribe, a merry december 25th).

nothing much to report except that the family xmas dinner was the "united nations of christmas" (thx hazzy) - two of yuj's friends from dc came to our dinner. granny was most fascinated at watching us play guesstures afterwards...i think her exact (translated) words are, "i'm fascinated."

oh, due to a.i.'s ridiculous run of non-play before the denver trade, my fantasy bball team "don't lose to a girl" has dropped from 1st to 4th in a matter of two weeks. i'm okay with melo sitting out for 15 games so that a.i. makes up for his absence for my team by scoring 28 like he did last night.

speaking of sports, i've been camping out in front of the tv to watch every sports movie that's come on - coach carter, rudy, hoosiers, happy gilmore, field of dreams, cinderella man - i'm quite inspired. maybe i'll go for a workout. nah.

anyhoo, i'm changing genres. it's only 10 am and i've already watched hitch. why is kevin james the funniest man on earth? well, life is good when there's no school or work.

oh, santa granny says hello!

mr. fob

speaking of fob...

my friends and i are starting business through bschool called mr. fob (http://www.mrfob.com/). it's a new way to explore new authentic ethnic restaurants in LA. bascially, you attend a mr. fob food safari, which is led by a tour guide, to learn and try new cuisines. thus far, we've done safaris to a korean bbq and a northern chinese dumpling house, and we're looking to do a bunch more different ones in the new year.

anyhoo, if you're in the LA area, i'm sure you'll get emails from me regarding these upcoming events...but for now...we (as in laura) had fun with our mr. fob name and came up with a little fobby holiday card (click on the image to enlarge).

enjoy!

Welcome Home Sister

yuj came home last weekend and her first reaction when she saw my new truck:

"unni, you're either a really weird fob or you're...um....white."

aww, good to have you home. and you too, s-nora and hazzy.

More Picking Up

few clarifications. the random truck dude who gave me his number...it wasn't like the guy was suddenly infatuated with my glamorous looks at first sight. he and i were driving almost side-by-side from about fairfax to larchmont (like 20-30 minutes) and getting caught at almost every light together. i know me. i'm not the type of girl who turns heads at bars but hey, give me some time and i'll do my best to reel you in...even if it's on the road! haha, i'm totally kidding.

second clarification for willets. white dodge rams might be the most common car in america, but my dear, i live in LA - the city of plastic surgeries and flashy foreign automobiles. so, right now, i feel quite special. ed.

but i got another funny pickup story for you. i went to the dmv today to register my new truck (btw, online appointments rule!). the dmv employee who was helping me was this young semi-fobby guy, who was super nice and efficient. while he was processing my transfer payment, he asked me to fill out a survey about my visit. i complied but had left the "optional" personal information portion blank. i hand it to him, he looks at it, hands it back to me and says, "fill out this part please!" so, just to be nice, i do. then, he takes the survey with my personal info side face up and sticks it next to his monitor!

anyhoo, i've gotten two mystery unidentified no-message calls tonight. i wonder. (my two days of boy attention is getting to my head obviously.)

xmas present status check = 11 days to go = 0 presents bought

Pick Ups

last weekend, my durango left me to join my papa. my uncle had bought a new car last week and knowing that my dad was in the market for a replacement car as well, i asked my uncle if i could buy his old car off of him so that i can pass my durango to my dad (phew, long sentence). after all was said and done, i ended up with my uncle's white dodge ram 1500 pickup truck...it's um...GINORMOUS. so huge that it doesn't fit at my work's parking lot anymore. so, the parking lady hooked me up with one of the reserved spots in another lot...i feel so VIP.

anyhoo, one of the first things that happened in my pickup truck was...getting picked up. i was driving past some dude in the same dodge truck near larchmont. we were stuck at a light, and he rolled down his window and was shouting something. i gestured that i couldn't hear him and he hand-motioned to pull over. so i turned right and stopped (he didn't look sketchy and i thought maybe he just needed directions). he leapt out of his truck and came to my window and said, "nice truck...blah blah blah...if you happen to be single, give me a call" and handed me his number! i couldn't stop giggling like a little girl. but no, i don't plan to call him.

on random dudes note, i've been obsessed with this dorky sounding host of "marketplace" on npr - kai ryssdal. he sounds like someone on the same nerd / dork tier as phil gordon. anyhoo, i finally remembered to look his picture up. hmm.

Like A Proud Mama

yesterday was the last day of classes for the fall quarter. the section of 72 first-years that i co-led during orientation had afternoon classes...and before class, the crowd went to get brunch, bloody maries and mimosas at the shack. 52 (including me) of them showed up. can i tell you how proud i am of these little drunken peeps? :)

and in the afternoon, my group gave our final presentation in our consumer behavior class. the presentation was regarding the results of our personal space vs. mood experiment we conducted earlier in the quarter. right before we had to present, gabe suggested that we spice up the presentation and that everyone try to work some random word into their presentation sections. whoever said the word the most would get a free dinner.

so we got a third party judge, sarah, to give us the word ("chicken") and to tally our score.
final tally: gabe = 4; billy = 0 (lame!); stan = 2; me = 14. yup, FOURTEEN. are you proud?

oh, the latest holiday tune to catch my ear: 98 degrees' "christmas wish". still lovin' sirius channel 2.

hmm, btw, now i'm kind of in the mood for fried chicken.

Xmas Carols Rockout

just fyi. the 24-hours a day holiday tunes channels on sirius radio have made my commute time just fabulous. it's my replacement for kost 103.5 during this time of year. there's nothing like rocking out to christina's version of "o holy night," amy grant's "rocking around the christmas tree, and otown. yup, just otown.

LA Wuv

this is what i'm staring at right now. doing a little academic internship gig -- and really, 50% of the time, i stare out my window and try to locate people, cars, buildings. kinda like "where's waldo?" without...um...waldo.

anyhoo, LA is nice, huh? it's not all about beaches.



nothing too fun to report here. on last week of classes for the quarter, looking forward to next week when finals, presentations, and papers are all done. then, i can xmas shop!

Tins

on this beautiful sunday morning, i'm catching up on everyone's blogs. the one that caught my eye was steph's x-mas list entry. http://www.xanga.com/stckgrl/550674458/item.html (why she's writing this at like 4:30 am, who knows...)

anyhoo, i think i've written about this before, but every bday or xmas she posts a list of her gift wishlist. it's genius, really. we don't have to think about what she wants and she gets something she desires.

the funniest part every year was that steph would post "cupcake tins" and no one would get it for her. but tina broke the trend in the last round and got her some tins. so, my proposal to spoon / tina / whoever gets steph presents, can we flip this sucker around and only get her cupcake tins from now on?

Yum-o

i'm at the parental unit's now...about to have thanksgiving meal #3. already had two servings of stuffing, ham, yam, mashed potatoes, etc. at other places, and now i'm here about to indulge in some more grubbin' lovin'.

there's something about being home at the parents. you feel all grown up and like a kid at the same time.

- they pamper you = kid.
- they talk to you about business = adult.
- you play with your old toys (i found a deflated pogo ball in the garage...do you remember this thang?) = kid
- you look at pictures of yourself from high school = adult! (oh how i've grown up.)

anyhoo, the weirdest thing that's happened today is how technologically advanced my parents have gotten. my mom is printing address labels on her computer as my dad is showing me his high school class's community website. these guys have all posted pictures from their sons' and daughters' weddings, etc....it's like myspace / wiki for korean dads. totally weirds me out.

anyhoo, happy ham / kimchee day everyone! and yuj, we miss you very much. i had to cook up the korean egg-wrapped zucchini dish just now and it sure doesn't taste as good as when you cook 'em up.

okay, off to eat. again.

Gobble

happy early thanksgiving everyone! hope you have mucho good eats planned for turkey day. or as in the yi household = "ham and kimchee" day. my fam decided years ago that turkey was too bland and boring.

speaking of food, yesterday, i engulfed subway's footlong meatball sub (with chips and soda combo) for lunch. it was so good, and man, i had such food coma afterwards. i just consider it stomach stretch / warm-up for tomorrow. wooooo hoooo!

and to continue with my bday tributes, happy bday rappypoo!

Refleccccion

i guess it's that time in our lives when notable life-changing events are happening all at once...weddings, babies, funerals...and people seem to be reflecting on the past. in a "my name is earl" style, i got an apology this weekend from someone (who is about to get married / is a born again christian) who used to torment me in my early high school days. my reaction? a very adult-like "that's cool, no worries" and came home to mess around with my newest tech toy: the ipod shuffle. this thang is tiny!!!!! i feel like i can accidentally swallow it. yeah, you heard right. while others are bettering themselves and making right of their wrongs, i am...listening to jt on my shuffle-licious. am i really 27?

speaking of age, happy birthday (1 hour and 20 minutes early), crystal!

Made Me Laugh

yeah, it's about time that they crack down on the ridiculous performance enhancing drug problem at lady golfers have....

LPGA planning to implement drug testing - see article here

200th Post!

according to the blogger controlbox, this is my 200th entry. can you believe that? me, the queen of ADD has made it to the two century mark. and to think this all started because i quite my job, killed my first beta fish (blue i...aw, i miss you man), and hated my first time at yoga.

i feel like a 200th post deserves a big...i mean BIG...entry. so here it is. this was my monday afternoon. i met the dancing cowboy = emmitt smith. i hope he wins tonight!

sigh. he's so handsome!

More Backwards

when i was at the parentals over the weekend, i saw that mama yi had filled the fridge with a new batch of beverages. no, not alcoholic ones. capri suns! i haven't had these in a while and i got excited. it used to be my second favorite thing to freeze and eat...grapes being #1 of course.

anyhoo, when i grabbed a capri sun, i automatically flipped it around and punctured the bottom of the pouch with the yellow straw. no thought, no hesitation. didn't even consider using the designated straw hole area. ah, you don't forget old habits...capri sun straw action is analogous to bike riding. such deep thoughts by such a deep thinker.

and you know what else i open backwards? bananas. i think it was kevin from college who told me monkeys eat it that way...and dude, if anyone knows how to eat a banana correctly, it's a monkey. i mean, you wouldn't ask a white girl how to properly eat dim sum, would ya?

Tummy Ache

i'm officially disgusting. i just went to the kitchen to scarf down another 1/4 more of pie. i now have a bad tummy ache. (will i be obese when i grow up? i worry.)

but hey, at least i got up. and you thought i was lazy.

Mmm

on the way home tonight, i went to marie callender's with laura. after enjoying our little happy hour appys, i bought a whole pumpkin pie to go. about 15 minutes after i arrived at home, i ate 3/8th of the pie. at first, i only cut a little sliver for a "taste"...then i cut another...yet another...why is pumpkin pie so delish? (or why do i have no self control?)

reminds me of one of my bdays in college when the mccormick girls baked me like 5 pumpkin pies instead of getting me a cake. such good friends i had.

speaking of good friends, thx willets for calling me about my fob-versary (as tom put it). and yes, i vouch that your friend speaks korean quite well.

hmm, i kind of want another piece of pie. but i'm too lazy to walk all the way to the kitchen right now. go me!

Backwards

it's november and it was over 90 degrees out today. even for LA, it was kinda weird.

and you know what deep thought it made me think of? (don't ask me for a connection today.. it's hot out.) how much fun it used to be to call each other by our names spelled backwards. well, it was really just me calling steph "einahpets" and she referring to me as "nijuas"...but hey, it was fun. and quite clever is you ask me.

revelc. clever.

Random Thoughts: Stream of Consciousness Style

i was at lola's on friday night for two seconds celebrating traci bday. as i'm talking to aly, i see the laker-sonics game on the tv monitor...and kobe is sporting a new number: 24. who does he think he is? mj after his prof baseball career? i guess 24 was his number in hs and he wants to go back to his roots. my guess is that #8 reminded him of his time with shaq. what a chick.

let's see. i also had lunch with my long-lost friend ben from my elementary and junior high school days. it was fun reminiscing about singing weird al songs (o-o-o-o o-o-reo, what's in the middle...the white stuff!), and our 1-5000 ymca basketball team record. our team, the lakers (see? connection!), won exactly ONE game. in the last second, ben (or sam...they're twins) scored and the team piled on top of each other in the middle of the court like we won the NBA championships. anyhoo, the randomest part of our reminiscing conversation? he said, "your english has gotten so much better." i forget i was a total fob then.

speaking of fob, today is our family's fob anniversary day. well, more like f-o-p since we were fresh-off-the-plane from korea on this 5th day of november back like 20 years ago.

Hallo-weeny

it's official. i am lame. i got invited to four halloween parties (including the school's event) for the last five days...and i didn't go to a single one. i didn't really have a great reason except that i was tired and didn't feel too halloweeny. the only h-weeny thing i did was to pass out candy tonight to the little kiddies that came by the house. and yes, i greeted them as a "slutty party pooper" as katie so eloquently put it.

i learned from a class today that 85% of people who own cameras use them tonight. i also learned from another class that people fart 13 times a day. go beano.

Fooled by My Own Technology

i got one of those nifty self-setting alarm clocks earlier this year. after spending a whopping 20 bucks at target on this sucker, i brought it home, plugged it in, and ooooh-ed and ahhhhed over it auto setting itself to the correct satellite-approved time. but that novelty wore off in about oh...10 seconds...and it just became another bedside alarm clock for me.

then this morning happened. daylight un-savings day. i woke up and saw that it was 7:30 am and geniusly thought, "hey, it's only actually 6:30 am cause i'm smart and know it's fall back day. let's sleep in another hour." zzzzzz. then, i get my butt out of bed at 8:30 am to get ready to see big g for the first time in a long time...and bam! i see my microwave clock blinking 9:30 am!!!! oopsie. stupid auto-setting clock alarm gadget!

sigh. needless to say, i didn't make it to 8 am mass today. big g, i tried, man. i just got fooled.

BFreakin'F

tom just made an interesting point: "if i wanted to hear from sara, i'd read her blog!"

yup. you all should just admit it. you like me. so i'll just blabber for a bit longer.

so, my weekend was great. the weather was perfect. i ate well. i slept. AND...my mom did impressions of her students for me. (btw, my second favorite activity = doing impressions of my mom doing impressions of her students.)

anyhoo, i have some fobby revelations to share:
1. when someone says, "let's flesh that out and send," i always thought it was the phrase was "flushing it out." making it clean. pretty. smelling like roses.
2. when someone says, "it whet my appetite," i thought it was "wet"! like slobber all over yourself cause you're getting hungry.

ESL and sauj. best friends forever.

Guest Blog: Girlie Girl Goes to Boy Town

me: so i agreed to let my bschool friend and fellow blogger, lindy, to write a guest entry. i figured my friends can get to know my other friends. but i just forgot that she is way verbose (oooh, sat word). so i shrunk down the font a little. if you can get through it, enjoy! (and yes, you can write one too if you'd like.)

lindy:

Wow, do I feel special. I get to be a guest blogger! It’s akin to being some sort of famous author that has been invited to write a foreword for some new blockbuster best selling novel, except, I’m not a famous author, and Sauj’s blog isn’t a novel, nor is it a blockbuster best seller. Well I don’t know. Maybe you disagree w/ this last point. Oh btw, I’m not really sure if I was so much invited. It’s possible that may have kind of invited myself, I don’t know, it’s all semantics, who cares.

So, let’s see, I guess I can pretty much write about whatever I want. Let’s talk about this. Here we go. So last night was “girls’ night out.” You get dolled up, you tell your friend how “cute” they look, you giggle, you eat at a swanky restaurant and consume copious amounts of wine, you gossip, etc. etc. The single girls bitch and moan about being single and how there are no decent guys, some more than others, and by some I mean me, and the attached girls brainstorm possible set-ups. It’s all very nice and very sweet and lovely and very, umm, female.

It’s funny b/c it was in high contrast to my Friday afternoon, which I spent with several of my favorite boys: Popoff, Craig F. Sniffles, and Winnie. We had lunch at Juniors and then went and played golf. Yes, I do play golf, very badly I willingly add. My backswing looks ridiculous (well no as ridiculous as Winnie’s) and I somehow manage to get an occasional 10 on a par three course with holes that are like 10 yards long. But I’m digressing.

Anyway, I think I tend to be more of a girls’ girl; I’m pretty f’in prissy and I’m pretty much ok w/ that. But I love the change of pace that comes w/ being one of the boys once in a while. It’s just so different. We’re sitting at Juniors waiting for Joe (Winnie) to arrive. We see his car pull up. Popoff: “Ha. There’s Winnie. He looks stupid.” He didn’t look stupid, he looked perfectly normal. But I don’t think I’ve heard a girlfriend comment about another girlfriend like that. Note I’m indicating friendship. Anyway, on the golf course our conversation involved an extended discussion of alternate words for vagina (sorry I hope I’m not O-ffending), a debate of the word douchebag, and a series of bets involving Craig and eating non-food items. Craig picks up a little chunk of mud/grass and is like, “Dude, I’ll eat this for $5.” But he wants to see the money first. We pull out the money and he goes to eat it but then decides it “smells like poop” and he doesn’t eat it. I tried to get him to eat this one thing that looked like an acorn (a b-corn perhaps?) but that was a no-go. Then I picked up some sort of little pine needlish thing and was like “eat this.” Craig was like “Dude I’ll eat that for $1.” I upped the ante and said I’d buy him a slurpie as long as it was under $1.50. He ate it. I can’t recall the last time I was hanging out w/ a bunch of girls and placing bets on eating random pieces of shit off the ground. It’s something like being 10 again or something. I like it. And we capped off the afternoon with slurpies and magazine reading (or female cover model debating) at 7-11. The sad thing is I think there are lots of other details I’d like to share but I’ve forgotten them. Sucks dude.

So, the point here is that it’s good to have this balance b/t being all girlie and having occasional un-girlie time. And then there are some things that blend the two worlds together. Like this afternoon: I’m to yoga, w/ a friend, a guy friend…so that’s a nice little twist. Well then, on that note, I’ve probably out-written my welcome. Perhaps we’ll meet again sometime. In the meantime, you can always read the stuff that Saujin writes.

About Lindy: You may have seen a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Eva Longoria* driving around time in an adorable light blue VW Eos* lately. If so, that was probably Lindy!* Lindy lives in a newly renovated three bedroom townhouse on the Strand in Manhattan* that she just purchased with the help of her fabulous and handsome sugar daddy* who looks very similar to Jesse Metcalf*. Sugardaddy spends the night frequently* but of course, he comes to second in Lindy’s heart to her adorable and very lovable little mutt, Kirby*. Sara will graduate with highest honors* from UCLA Anderson this May, and will be working in brand management at Bottega Veneta* (which has just relocated to Santa Monica, CA*). Her base salary is $500,000* and her signing bonus is 10 Botega bags of her choice.*

*Indicates exaggeration and/or outright lie.

Halloween Prep

[this blog entry has been censored. due to the sensitive nature of the subject, i have removed the items from the entry and left only the non-controversial portion. ]

[censored portion]

anyhoo, here is an excerpt from our conversation tonight.

steph: "what are you going to be for halloween?"
me: "dunno. slutty something." (since obviously it's our duty as girls to carry out the slutty something every halloween.)
steph: "haha. that's just regular for you."

i love my supportive friends :)

Blue: Part Deux

i'm worse than a pavlov dog. i didn't learn my lesson from last week. i just couldn't divorse these pens over one mishap after over 10 years of marital bliss, right? well, i should have! the freakin' pen (new one from last week; i'm not that dumb) pooped all over my hand again during my consumer behavior class this afternoon. ironic, eh? consumer behavior!

well, this angry yet law-abiding consumer is behaving by simply following instructions: "if you're not completely satisfied with our product, simply return it for replacement or a full refund." a replacement? so ANOTHER pen can pop its guts all over me? no way jose, i want my refund, mr. sanford uni-ball roller pen manufacturer in bellwood, illnois. we are so over.

on a side note, i've adopted gabe's totally uber nerdy html tagging habits in emails and IMs. for example, from his recent email (oh, replace "(" with "<" in your mind. if i actually use the pointy parenthesis, the blog thinks it's a real tag!):

(napoleon dynamite> GOSH! (/napoleon dynamite>

it's so nerdy, yet so effective. can you see me do this right now for no reason?

(arms raised like rocky> WOO HOO! (/arms raised like rocky>

Blue. But Not About My Fish.

i love these uni-ball roller pens. especially the micro (0.2 mm) blue ones. i borrowed nikki's once in high school and thereafter, became a uni-pen-brand ho. well, that is until today.

i didn't think much of it when it happened to tom. he had borrowed one of my pens to write something during orientation and it totally leaked all over his fingers. like a biatch that i am, i actually laughed.

so, yeah, i deserved it. three hours before an internship interview today, i was putzing around in the courtyard at school. i took out my pen to write something and then...boom! the stupid pen threw up blue ink all over my right hand!

i went to wash it off with soap and hot water. didn't work. i rubbed it profusely. nada. laura googled remedies for my situation, but unfortunately, i did not have a can of shortening with me at school.

so yeah. i suited up like a young little professional, went to meet my interviewers, went to shake their hands and said, "nice to meet you. please don't mind the blue fingers."

uni-ball micro blue pens. you and i are no longer friends.

Too Wild

i've always been a rough sleeper. one time in korea when i was young, i was sleeping over at soojin's grandparents' house. the kids and moms all were sleeping on the floor in one room. since soojin knew how rough i sleep, she opted to sleep on the opposite side of the room, with like seven people sleeping in between us. but nevertheless, in the middle of the night in my sleep, i rolled over the seven people to soojin...and punched her. see? rough.

anyhoo, i woke up in the middle of the night yesterday because i bit my own tongue in my sleep! wtf. people always talk about sleeping funny and having a neckcramp or whatever...but biting your own tongue to have it swollen all day? petarded!

can someone rescue me from me?

Spooking Old Ladies

few days ago, i had to visit pep boys in my old hood. coming out of my car, i ran into my old neighbor, millie. she's this really cute, little grandma, who looks like that grandma in the movie wedding singer. she and her husband, len, are both quite old, but they are hip. steph and i asked them once for "permission" to throw a party in our apartment, and their response basically boiled down to, "party on!" (i remember she wanted to make sure we played good music.)

anyhoo, it's been about 2.5 years (wow!) since i've seen her. i said, "HIIII MILLIE! do you remember me? " and blah blah blah, explaining who i was. with the most frightened look on her face, she said, "oooooh!" but i really think she had no idea who the f i was. after a bit, i said bye and asking her to say hello to len for me.

my bet? she probably said, "len, some asian freak of a girl gave me a hug on the street today. how was your day?"

Playoffs

i should be oh so sad that my dodgers got swept in the playoffs last night...and i sort of am. but everything seems to just be a-ok when you learn that the dang yanks got swept as well. the sports guy picked the yankees as favorites to win it all a month or so ago, and i must say, thanks for the jinx, man!

Memorable Face

daily on the news, there is all this talk about "sectarian violence" in the middle east. everytime someone gets interviewed on this subject and provides his or her views on these "sects," i always giggle. sects. hehe. sects.

oh, the school cafe lady who was supposed to name the weekly stirfry special after me left for a better job. this afternoon, i got a personal email from her telling me that she misses my "happy face." (she's clearly confused since i do not sport any happy faces pre-coffee). not only was i was quite weirded out by this email, i was pissed that my "saujin stirfry" no longer exists. so much for my celebrity status. i was so close.

Student Extraordinaire

first thing first. sorry i misspelled byron on the last entry. rrrrr! you know that i know that you know that i know who he is. c'mon :) bschool hasn't soften me up that much.

which leads me to (doesn't really relate but whatever): why is grey's so dang depressing? can meredith be any more annoying? the end on this subject.

though speaking of abc shows, i tested the full episode online video capabilities by watching last night's desperate housewives on the net. due to "low bandwidth" and "limited commericials," it took me more than an hour to watch this 45 minute episode. conclusion? tivo is still #1. sorry i doubted you, my love. sexy's back. back again.

on a more fun note (haha), i got books. after a visit to the bookstore this afternoon, your friend sauj is a proud owner of $730 worth of useless bschool books...that i hope to sell next quarter for a wiiiiittle profit. of course, to be donated to charity since it seems unethical for me to keep it. or not.

and since i'm turning a new leaf on this student thang, i decided to read tonight in preparation for tomorrow's classes. but this task turned out to be the best inspiration to get every other task done...i paid bills, replied to emails, cooked up a little solo dinner (the jew crew didn't invite me to their yom kippur break fast)...maybe i should attempt to be a "good student" more often.

but i feel like i said that last quarter. hmm.

Camp

when did it become october? geez, time flies. apologies for the MIAness, but was caught up for two weeks orienting the new peeps of anderson. my friend tom and i were in charge of 1/5th of the incoming class...and believe it or not, they're still enrolled!

mba orientation is really like summer camp. there are improv classes, ropes courses, relay races, skits, karoake, cheering, costumes...i guess the only big difference is the amount of booze endorsed and provided by the school. i think booze does wonders for bonding. and gossip, of course.

as a gift for being a section leader, i got "two quarters worth of free coursepacks and textbooks." yeah, i laughed too. it's going to be the first time i own a bschool textbook...i get your joke, big g.

i wish i had more fun things to report, but tomorrow is the first day of classes and i only have whining noises in my head. wah wah.

i hope you're all well. here's a picture of the orientation crew right before the 80s party. i was #4 - bryon scott. i know i look like a 6'3" bald black bball guard with a little mustache.

Sneaky

after like nine years, my college hero heidi got engaged to her man. they had just recently moved down to san diego, so when i received a mass email titled, "our new address," i didn't bother to open it right away. i decided to clean out my inbox late last night and as i was ctrl-c /v-ing her new addy into my outlook, i saw a "p.s. by the way, we got engaged" at the bottom. so sneaky! i'm a little concerned about how fast they are jumping into this engagement, but i think they'll be okay. :) congrats!

on a totally different note, i got sick off of my damon and pythia's spinach salad few days ago. but don't worry though, your friend sauj is still alive. no e.coli deaths in this korean household. though if you see my old buddy popeye around, let him know that bok choi is the new spinach. so ethnic, so hip, so e.coli-free.

i just looked up what the "e" stands for in e.coli - escherichia. now, try to say that five times fast.

Da Boons

on thursday, i went to santa barbara with the other orientation leaders. it was bonding time before all the craziness begins tomorrow. the day was filled with horseback-riding, wine-tasting, and gossip-talking. though we only went on an hour ride on the horseys, my butt is pretty dang sore. my horse, dorito, was pretty tame...except i learn why we say, "i have to piss like a race horse"...it's some impressive volume flow!

anyhoo, i am in the 909 right now and it's quite windy. a two-foot tumbleweed just rolled by me. boonies!

Cut

i noticed recently that the older the (korean) ladies get, the shorter their haircuts are. you rarely see any middle-aged ladies (the "ahjummas") or grannies sporting long hair.

last saturday, i got inspired to look "older" and got my hair chopped once again. i am sporting a new short bob, 1 to 2 inches below my ears. but my plan backfired today. i was told that i now look like a high school student straight off the plane from korea. good info i could've used BEFORE the cut. darn it.

on an even sadder note, one of my favorite nba players from the jordan era, toni kukoc, announced today that he's likely to retire after not getting the bucks or the bulls to sign him. i know he was never that that good, but still, he always just seems so dang...nice. maybe phil can convince him to come hang out with the lakers for a season or two. he can totally be odom's smoke-out buddy! well, in any case, i'll miss ya, my euro boy.

Back to School

i can't believe my two weeks of freedom are already up. i head to school tomorrow for orientation leader training even though i have insisted to the directors that my orienting skillz need no training...i mean how hard will it be to tell the mba newbies to chill out and have fun because "b's get degrees" and "c's are cookies"?

in any case, i hope you all are getting in some quality vacays as well. remember the wise kermit the frog who once said, "time is fun when you are having flies"...

or as the korean tour guide would say, "time is fun when you are habbing the fries."

this entry made no sense. oh well. happy week, stinkerpoos!

Stupid Things That Made Me Laugh

i hope you can read the sign that says "all hoes will be removed during the screening process." don't worry, i made it through. crystal, i hope you're not planning to fly anytime soon. just kidding :)

i know the "pajo's" thing will only be funny to my high school posse, but had to post it anyway. ("paujo" was my vollyball team nickname.) the joint had some delicious fish & chips.

The Tour Group

crap, i still have the kid's comic book. oops. i'm a thief.

Yah, It Was Purty

Shady's Back

hola stinkers.

your favorite blogging mastermind is back from her short hiatus. i actually got back to LA few nights ago but drove immediately inland to nomansland...where there is plenty of sun, desert breeze, and golf. already got a few rounds in and will be waking up at the butt crack of dawn manana to golf some more. i head back to school next week for orientation prep and figured i better get my golfing, resorting, and massagin' (aka "ma-saujin'"...haha, i'm funny) in when i can. gosh, i love life when there is no work.

so, how was my canada trip? quite wonderful. just the outdoorsy lovin' that i needed. (will post more pix soon...)

one of the funniest voicemails i received while i was away was from alisa, who called during lunch of her last day of work: "they want me to move boxes on my last afternoon. do you think it's okay if i don't go back? i know you would because you're good, but i really don't want to. what are they going to do? fire me? hahaha." i haven't had a chance to call her yet, but will let you know if she made it back to the office. oh, the suspense.

here's picture #1. me and my new bf, elkipoo.

Eh?

still in the middle of bumplepoop canada and its awesome here. the weather is behaving even though it did snow two nights ago. it's def first time I saw snow in august. tis cool, the elks and i are bonding nevertheless.

so, the only prob with listening to a korean tour guide is his pronunciation of city and destination names. as you probably know, there are no f or th sounds in korean. it took me a trip to the gift shop to figure out that i had visited athabasca.

so for my entertainment, i had this korean-american kid making fun of the guide with me by saying "ben-pu" (banff) about a hundred times. soon after, his mom took him away from me cause i was being a bad influence.

it's okay though. i just went back to my music. there is nothing like the best of en vogue for a little pick-me-up. whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man.

Carmen Saujin-eggo

okay kids. way too many questions about auntie sauj's whereabouts. you little curious georges!

i am currently in the middle of the canadian rockies, sprawled out on my hotel bed (clothed and alone you sickos) flipping between food tv (jamie deen had his first kid? didn't even know my man was married!) and canadian idol (seriously), and on my bb writing about nothing important as usual.

the scenery is beautiful here. and i hear that my drive from jasper to banff tomorrow will be one of the highlights of this area and i am totally looking forward to it.

so, i am doing this part of the trip with a korean tour company and it's exactly what i envisioned. the bus is full of young families and old couples from korea and i have quickly become the tour guide sidekick. i am translating signs and menus for them while dodging questions about how I can possibly be single at the age of 27.

i tried to make up this elaborate story about how i was trying to be a singing nun (sister act-style) but got kicked out of the convent because i couldn't actually carry a tune. but the story was quickly foiled when one grandma recognized me from my hometown church. I got grilled on why i don't go to church anymore and then...everyone agreed that is the actual reason why i am single and that i must attend church immediately to remedy my singleness and find myself a hubby approve by big g.

ahha! so simple. and this whole time i thought church was for sissies.

My "Bday"

on my way to "mystery city" and was checking my vm...and got a message from a friend (I couldn't understand the name though...who are you? my fraud wo-man?): "...just wanted to wish you a happy birthday." huh? didn't know it was my bday but a 7 year old kid from korea sitting next to me just gave me his comic books, so hey, it might as well be my bday.

Summer Edition Prologue

katie just asked me to try emailing in an entry through the blogger email address...and it worked. maybe you won't be without me for two weeks. the entry looked like this:

Testing For Katie

1 2 3
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

wow. nerd heaven right here. tech people rule my world.

Upcoming MIAness

you are currently reading the summer season finale of "days of our sauj." today is my last summer intern day, and sadly or fortunately (if you are tina), i have to take a little vacay from the bloggin' for a week or two.

so, now you're wondering, "where's she going?" you see, in normal circumstances, i would have raved about my upcoming trip...oh, the things i'm so excited to see. but after my recent fraud events, i've become a bit paranoid. i'm paying cash for stuff. i'm ripping up my trash one or two more times (i think i'll go get a shredder later today). i mean, i haven't even greeted anyone with the sauj-signature "what's up man" hug in the last few days! stay away from me, people! just kidding.

well, i will tell you one thing about my trip. a portion of it includes an organized tour with a korean tour company, and i think it's going to be hilarious...hanging with middle-aged couples, random grannies, and kids. so, to prepare, i've acquired yet another fobby visor and a fanny pack / toolbelt. my goal is to blend in...

so, as i venture off and leave you with your own petarded selves, perhaps i can suggest you read some old entries and reminisce about our blog friendship. as they say for must-see tv, "if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!"

have a great weekend, buddies.

Fraud

i am an identity theft victim. some a-hole got my ss# and started a radio shack citi card with my almost-address, almost-name, almost-bday. of course, i knew nothing of this said card (started in march) until a collection agency rep tracked me down yesterday night to tell me that i owe over $1k on this phantom card.

and to take care of this problem, i've thus far had to speak to:
- scott, the collection agency dude
- caroline, the radio shack card customer service rep
- tony, the citi cards customer service rep
- janet, the radio shack fraud specialist
- shannon, my assigned citi identity theft agent
- lori from Transunion credit agency
- front desk lady of the gtown police department
- ftc voicemail system

seriously, this took all morning, and i am quite aggrevated at this above mentioned a-hole. i have no idea who you are, but i swear to my favorite dwarf planet pluto that i, saNjin, is coming after you.

Fobby Etymology

in my senior year in high school, i had dr. detlaff for my english teacher. she was this ridiculously proper old lady who spoke in the most perfect english...and kept her class completely silent and attentive. for a nice old granny, she had us totally controlled -- none of us dared to crack jokes or josh around in her class.

anyhoo, during that year, we read hamlet. one day, we were supposed to have read some passage for homework...blah blah. well, obviously, i hadn't. so to make sure i don't get called out, i was furiously reading ahead during class when i came to this passage:

...hoist with his own petard...

and oh man, i just could not hold it together. PEE-tard! how funny was that? i poked che-che, who sat next to me, and whispered, "look! PEEE-tard. hahahahahaha. you are a PEEE-tard." (i was very mature.) i proceeded to turn to everyone around me to call them a petard...and slowly the word was spreading through rest of the classroom.

then, dr. d arrived at the passage. she read (in her very serious tone), "hoist with his own peh-TARRRRD"...and the class just busted up. a peh-tard!!?! not peee-tard!!?!?! i don't buy it, dr. d.

thus, my revised dictionary entry, fob edition:

petard. n. 1) medival small bomb to blow up gates and walls. 2) trap. 3) one class above retard.

also can be petarded. adj. e.g. "sauj's blog is petarded." petardedly. adv. e.g. "sauj often acts petardedly."

Amigas

while going through pictures on my camera (to get the car wash one), i came across one from hazzy's bday last month. i felt like sharing a normal picture of my friends for once. has and kat will shoot me cause they hate their pictures on the net, but unfortunately for them, they can't pull a brett* on me and ask me to delete pictures from my blog. it's cause I rule this little universe. (have you HEARD of the yi dynasty???)

sorry for lack of humor / pizazz / mojo today. i lost it at the car wash.



*sorry for the inside joke. i hate when people do that too.

Get Yo Cah Washed

if you happen to drive by jefferson & overland, may i suggest a five-minute detour to get your car washed? for only six buckaroos on tuesdays, you can go through one of those automatic drive-through washes where two dudes to soap down your vehicle and then you sit through a two-minute conveyor belt ride in your car. it's like a little amusement park ride! or not.

but it did sorta spook me that i couldn't see out the window...and had to look down and google talk my friends on the crackberry.

Oh

everything comes full circle. this is my last internship week, and today, i ran into my elevator song / humming guy from early summer. on an awkward elevator ride up, i asked him, "so why do they cover up the elevator at times like this?" he said, "so people can have a little mosh pit without getting hurt." random answer, but i thought it was cute. i told him it was my last week here and he said, "oh." all i get is an "oh"??? how about "good luck"? or "cool"?

disappointed in the random dude, i decided to look up some pga hotties on the 'net. yes, i said p-g-a. check 'em out. mike weir and adam scott are pretty h-o-t.



oh, ringtone decision = pink panther. dum. do dum. duhdumduhdumduhdumduhdum duhhhhhhhh dummmmm. dododododum. (c'mon, you can hear it, i know you can.)

Perfect Sunday Night Task

i just logged onto t-mobile to download a new ringtone. i figured a new phone warrants a new tone, even though i kinda miss my super marios theme song.

and don't worry, steph, i learned my lesson with my old "zippideedoodah" ring when you openly expressed your wishes to destroy my phone. and me. so no more songs that would belong in the same category as "it's a small world"...

but as i look through my options (everything from "my humps" to "chariots of fire"), is it weird that i want to download "god bless america"?

Nerds R Us

to close out this lovely workweek, i wanted to remind you that your friend sauj is a big nerd.

at lunch today, i went over to the t-mobile store, thinking about upgrading my current phone. i debated with the saleslady...another samsung (to support my korean peeps)? a razr? ugh, but EVERYBODY has one now...f that. how about the sidekick 3 like snoop and paris hilton?

and as the conversation dragged on, i found myself with the blackberry 8700g in hand. NO! i don't know came over me. i've been so good w/o a bb for a whole year! but then, i really hadn't bought a new electronic gadget since last year...so i was due.

as i told sara - "sauj: electronics :: lindy : makeup"

i came back and showed the new bb to the assistant lady. told her that i gave in to my inner dork. she said, "just think, it's so dorky, that it's cool." kinda why coyote ugly is a good movie.

but of course, i couldn't just be a dork by myself. i had to email aisha, fellow ex-banker friend turned mba student who also couldn't live without her bb.

her words: "i totally approve of the banker nerd bb."

i feel better. misery loves company and so does uber geekiness. happy weekend all.

Scwabble

back in our hs days, steph, kat, and i used to play a lot of scrabble (along with pictionary and boggle). and we'd always get in an argument with kathy because she'd bust out words that weren't really words and argue forever about how they were in fact words (that really sucked as a sentence, but you know what i meant).

her methodology was to put short words on top of other words already on the board. for example, LIMECART. and WAYVOGUE.

and to make her point, she would use them in sentences for us, "that shirt is wayVOOOOOGuE" or "put that lime in the liiiiimecart." i mean, really. because of her, we had to switch to "ebonics scrabble" where you can spell and make up words as you please. for example, BEEMAH. and get killed on triple word points like FAXIZ.

anyhoo, the other day, i remembered something and emailed kat and steph: "you know how i kept saying there was a word that started it all? you know what it was? DUALPOWER!!!"

...and after 10 years, this is what kat writes back:

"GO DUALPOWER! i still think it's a word. Dualpower used in a sentence: the DUALPOWER of the chili and the cheese made the fries exceptionally tasty."

sigh.

Xmas in August

last night, i was at the local korean grocery store, hankook market, and gathered evidence for my upcoming phd thesis, "koreans aren't lazy. they are efficient." why take down your xmas decorations when you have to put it all up again the year after?


(if you can't tell, this is a camera phone pix of the produce aisle)

but then again, mama yi would disagree with me. exchange with her when i was little:

me: "why do i have to clean my room when it will get dirty again?"
mama yi: "why do you eat when you will get hungry again? should i not make you dinner?"

obviously, i got the point. a way to saujin's heart is through her stomach. and the way to her brain.

on a side note, i just yelped because a window washer glided down spidey-style outside my office window. he had a stupid grin on his face. he obviously enjoys this part of his job.

Upgrade

why do strangers feel the necessity to talk to me? i'm not even talking about the awkward elevator chitchat or the convos with security guards, etc. not even counting the verbose santa monica homeless people, four, and i really mean FOUR, people talked to me on my recent three block walk to the mall and back.

1. random foreign guy in the mongolian beef line: "they tell you not to squish the meat into the bowl, but i do it anyway."
2. blond lady coming out of mall: "that's a great jacket, where did you get it?" (i couldn't remember.)
3. indian lady on the promenade: "do you know which way wilshire is?" (mind you, there were like 10 people around me...she zoomed in on me. reminded me of the spain incident last year: http://saujpauj.blogspot.com/2005/08/sign-language.html)
4. some punk dude in front of rei asking me if i had a light. and no, i wasn't smoking...i was just walking by.

per these incidents, i feel i can put "friendly" and "approachable" on my pros list a la www.settleforbrian.com (thanks yuj and kevin & bean). quite a funny guy, this brian.

i am inspired. thinking about starting a website called www.upgradeforfob.com.

Like Free Throws

one of my old work buddies, debbie, recently wrote a mass email to announce the end of her peace corps stint in paraguay. in receiving this email, my other friend (who wanted to remain anonymous...her name ends with "-ora" and starts with an "n") and i were discussing how fast time has swooooped by since deb left. anonymous friend and i reminisced about our banking days, how we missed her, etc. etc. and immediately jumped into stupid girl talk: "do you think she's changed a lot?" and "i wonder how she looks now"...

then, we both catch ourselves being uber stupid. to quote her: "ohmigosh. she's angelina jolie and we're the hilton sisters. she's saving the world and we're designing purses. we suck."

so we stopped talking. and thus, i had to resort to web boggle again for entertainment. but somehow, i seem to have misplaced my skillz. maybe my brain only processes 1-point words in the summer. sit. bit. lit. mit. 1, 1, 1, 1. darn. 1.

happy hump day.

Classes. And Not for School

the lil sis made an observation on her blog that "stupid people marry stupid people," which triggered some thoughts for me.

i had this theory back in college that there were three types of people in the world - class A, B, and C.

class A = people were the hotties, who had it all (think celebrities)
class B = included most people (think mean of normal curve)
class C = the weirdos (e.g. the "stupid people" or better yet, for you mit peeps, think east campus)

the class A and C people seemed to find their mates within their own class, but B people...they were struggling. my theory was that the B people were delusional, thinking that they were class A, and reaching beyond their own class....and failing. these B people looked at other B's and thought, "oh, they're SO below me." and by being too busy looking up one class, they had a hard time finding their actual suitable "classmate"...oh so sad.

along these lines, i was another thought. when i bought my durango 1.5 years ago, i suddenly started to notice all the other durangos on the road. people in the same car would often pass by me and give me "hey durango twin buddy!" wave-slash-head nod. i mean, i would still notice all the badass convertibles or vintage vehicles on the road, but it wasn't the same when another durango passed me. so...what does that all mean? stupid people marry stupid people because they only really notice other stupid people and feel the need to say what's up. and vice versa for non-stupid people.

deep, eh? well, maybe not.

anyhoo, i hope i find my car buddy someday, but as i wait, i want to congratulate a few of my friends who recently got engaged. i definitely think it was a porsche meets porsche story. :)

Garfield Knows

jon = me and my blog.

Sign Spinners

what's up with the increasing number of sign spinners lately? these "spinners" are these dudes (haven't seen any girls...hmm) advertising new condos or restaurants or whatnot...holding and spinnning these arrow-shaped signs on street corners. and geez, some of these kids are quite talented. i mean, if you gave these guys tight, sequined unitards and flaming batons, they would definitely kick cheryl frasier's (miss rhode island / majorette) ass on miss congenality. they are that good!

on another note, i did something totally ocd last night. i was washing my dishes and realized that i only really use the top few plates (i don't like to have my dishes pile up and try to wash right away). i felt like i was neglecting all the plates below the top few...i mean, i was denying them serving their purpose to the world. so i rotated the pile, stared at my work, and felt totally retarded...then went to do the same thing with my socks in my sock drawer.

Woah-Man

there's an article in the economist this week regarding the difference between sexes. the studies show that the brains of the sexes are wired differently...blah blah blah...

"another proposal to explain the lack of women professors of maths and sciences is that even if there is little or no difference in average ability, there might be differences in the variation around this average, with more men found in the tails of the distribution curve and fewer in the middle. in other words, among males there are more idiots and more prodigies."

to my guy buddies, which category do you think you fall in? well, you're wrong. hehe.

have a great weekend, buddies...

*i posted again cause afty think tina's request was bs.

Afternoon Lull

come 3 pm-ish everyday, someone in the office comes by and says, "if i make coffee, will you have some?" and duh, my answer is usually yes. but to keep things real, i try to mix up my responses.

holla!
booooyah.
word.
surely shirley.
...

just now, unknowingly, i responded "score!" i mean, who does that post early 1990's? maybe i'm subsconsciously retro-fabulous and getting ready to bring wayne's world terminology back. swiiiing.

*per tina's comment regarding the over-saturated blogging frequency, yours truly will attempt to cut back down. sauj only exists to serve her customers. and friends.

Almost Friday Dumb Thoughts

fyi. ingrediants in the beef jerky i am currently consuming includes:

- beef (oh good)
- brown sugar
- water
- salt
- vinegar
- ground black pepper
- garlic powder
and
- papaya juice

who knew?

oh, all the scary stuff from this morning's news about heathrow and terrorists has sparked many interviews from all sorts of experts. the one that caught my attention is an expert in "asymmetric threat studies at the swedish national defence college in stockholm". whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? is there an expert in "symmetric threat studies" as well?

i don't want to hear it. i know that was dumb.

Letter to My BFF

dear beef jerky,

thank you for existing, oh so dependable friend of mine. i know we don't talk nearly enough, but in emergency situations of "sudden hunger," you have been and are always there for me. i know i can always turn to you for help. you're not flashy, you're not sexy (not everyone can be a ritz cracker)...but in the words of christina aguilera, you are beautiful no matter what they say.

i heart you, my steak-to-go.

your friend,
sauj

Gangsta Deep Thoughts

this morning on the radio, a reporter was talking about the decreasing crime rate in compton, a scary LA city that has 57 gangs with about 8,000 members. the report interviewed the police, local residents, etc. to get their opinions on what they thought was the reason for the decline in crime. my favorite one with a local:

question: "why do you think the number of drive-bys have gone down? do you think the police department is doing a better job?"
answer: "no way. it's the gas prices, man. with no gas, you ain't doing no drive-by."

Beep!

just now, billy wrote me an email that says blah blah blah and then "gotta take a mandatory rest break now...or the computer will beep and yell at me." he's serious! the company he's interning this summer forces breaks away from the computer.

i think that's a great idea. we shouldn't get so caught up in something for hours and hours...not good for your health.

so, what would that be for me then? take mandatory breaks from IMing? from all the alt-tabbing? oh, i got it. the computer should beep at me every hour to do some freakin' work and take a break from all the putzing around.

beep! yeah yeah.

Smells...Like...

on a warm summer workday, two things happen: 1) my office is way colder than usual (i'm looking for maintanence man hector to sos come rescuuuuue me) and 2) the elevator stinks like some g-nasty b.o. so, it's a catch 22, you see. i don't want to stay in the office and become a little popicle stick nor do i want to bear the one-minute elevator ride to go outside and thaw...the ride just makes me totally lose my appetite. even for my little bentos.

so, what do i do? i walk around the office, shoot the shit with peeps. i hear about one guy's pursuit of a music career (i told him i believe he'll make it big one day). i hear about a gal's trip to the farmer's market (i empathized about the decreasing size of avocados these days). then, the assistant lady gives me a gem that distracts me for a good 10 minutes - the uber detailed company retreat schedule.

the company that i'm with this summer is going on a three-day retreat to some lake in the moutains. the company = the partners plus associates less summer intern (me). since i'm officially done with my summer internship in less than three weeks, it definitely is a good call on their part not to waste any bonding dough on me.

but this retreat is awesome. filled with massages, biking, fishing, etc., i feel like it would be a trip i would've really enjoyed. there's even a slot of "campfire w/ smores" and "wine and cheese boat cruise"...even "cocktails on the patio"!!! i mean, bonding over smores with 10 white men...sounds like the perfect getaway to me. just kidding.

i'm jealous yet i'm excited about being left alone for three whole days. i'll have plenty of time for me to go outside and thaw on third street restaurant patios. and for that, i will even deal with the smelly 'vators. anybody wanna come play in SM in the next few days?

Fly With Me

you would think after a whole weekend, i'd have SOME fun material with which to entertain you. but alas, you be wrong. i went to pinnacle peak, a steak restaurant in san dimas, for the first time in a while. the place occupies an "large person" to normal-sized person ratio of about 2:1. there's nothing like a steakhouse in the inland empire to make you feel small, fit, and agile.

speaking of restaurants, elissa is calling around for reservations for orientation section dinners right now. she just called hard rock at universal and they answered the phone, "how can i rock your world?"

i think i need to spice up my phone greeting. any suggestions? i was thinking of going with, "this is saujin, the wind beneath your wings."

Last Words for the Week

while i was writing the last entry, some building dude came in screaming in his walkie talkie, "10-4!". i said, "dude, what's 10-4 really mean?" he said, "haha, look it up"

according to urban dictionary, it either means, "acknowledgement of a statement" or "a big ass ugly lady."

speaking of...why is there a silent "b" in words like "bomb" or "dumb"??? is it always silent? i think i'm going to bring the b out of its shell. from now on phrases from my mouth will include:
"you are getting dum-BER" or "what ever happened to the uni-bom-BER?"

i'm a trend setter. a trailblazer. watch it.

Veggies Do Your Body Good

when afty IMs me, his first line has always been, "eat more rutebegas!!!"

i asked him recently to change it up...and now he's busted out "eat more carrots!!!" or "eat more lettuce!!!" etc. i told him that he's going to run out of veggies soon and his challenge was to not repeat. he said, "no problem, there are a million vegetables out there"...

then i wondered. so with the help of katie's google / wikipedia / counting skills, we have landed the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vegetables

according to katie: "178, give or take 2." sorry afty.

"eat more elephant garlic!!!"

Result: Still Not Funny (But Let Me Be)

still bored and ran across an email from my good friend misty, stuck in bumblepoop, new mexico....engineering something like a good little nerd that she is. we were talking about her and willets' men and how they're kinda old (mid 30's / early 40's).

misty's deep thought: "i recommend the old men....better in bed generally. :)"

maybe it's time to revive the bar nights in ireland last year...when nora dubbed me, "anna nicole yi."

(...for talking to old dudes...only talking! rrrrrr)

Vocab Lesson for Moi

lil sis writes me today to tell me how her "soul is dying" and her "spirits are down" due to her crazy work. i know in "religious" settings, a total person is described by their body, soul (mind), and spirit...but i wanted to be clear on the definitions so i looked it up:

soul = the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
spirit = the vital principle or animating force within living things

so i guess yuj is much smarter than me. i would've just said, "me = no likey work."

oh, this reminds me of the S-A-R structure that Anderson has taught us to use in our resumes. so basically, every bullet to describe what you did at your old jobs is supposed to show i) situation; ii) action, and iii) result. so let me boil down this blog entry for you.

S - i'm bored and wanted to blog but had nothing interesting to say
A - i just looked at the top thing on my desktop, which was baby yi's messages and tried to write about it
R - this entry...totally random, not funny, semi-serious (totally un-sauj-like). and what sucks the most = i'm still bored.

dang it.

LA Story

i just went outside to grab a turkey wrap and smoothie for lunch. in front of the building, while i was staring at a homeless guy harrass a bunch of teenage girls in their little colorful bikinis, i almost got run over by a guy in his swimming trucks and flip flops...with a yoga mat on his back...riding his bike equipped with a surfboard and rack...talking on his cellphone.

go LA! yuj, come back already.

Still Amazed...

the poem still has me in disbelief...how bored i must have been to write such a brilliantly retarded piece of literary work.

in any case, a few of you have mentioned your favorite natural phenomenon so i thought i'd share before i forget.

- waterfall
- grand canyon
- tornado
- tsunami
- me

tee hee. flirt flirt. just kidding...that last one is from papa yi.

ESL Excuse

it always makes me laugh when my friends tell me things i used to do back in the day. hazzy saved and dug up a poem i wrote her in high school, and i must say, my poetic skills needed a little help before i was at par with my homeboy shakespeare.

I am Hasmik and I think I am cool
Because I always study 9 hrs afterschool
Calculus and Bio always excites me
But dang Alejandra won't let me be
Bio questions are the best
But IDs definitely beat the rest
I think I know how to breathe in and out
I can be a fob without a doubt
I will die if I don't watch melrose
Maybe because I am a boz
I love Phoebe on Friends-she rocks
I am glad her smelly cat won't hit me with a sock
I can beat anyone since I can bowl
I hate Republicans especially Dole
I can't ever pass the Literacy test
Finished that would leave me stressed
I am glad I got no zits
If I met Brad Pitt, having them would be the pits
Julia Roberts is the bomb
No one better mess with my mom
I love Calc because Saujin is there
But her dang songs I can't stand to bear!!

yes, there's a lot of inside jokes in this thang, but wtf. was i in kindergarten? and who is this alejandra? i think i have an early form of "all-timers." i think i need to go get some "napoleon" ice cream.

give me an E, E!
give me an S, S!
give me an L, L!
what's that spell? sauj.

Questionnaire Extraordinaire

in order to get to know somebody you ask questions. you ask them their favorite movie, food, hobby, etc. etc...and after a while, you sort of run out of questions so you have get creative. here's a few more for the next time you're on a third date and need some ammo...and for blog-sake, my answers.

what is your...

...favorite man-made structure?
the escalator at the eagle rock target where your cart rides up next to you on its own escalator

...favorite stuck-in-traffic moment?
spotting people singing to themselves in cars...and having them notice you notice them...and waving at them

...favorite people to make fun of?
people who wear fannypacks and call them toolbelts

...favorite nerds?
click and clack the tappit brothers of car talk radio

...favorite fruit that can also be used as a weapon?
frozen grapes

...favorite list?
my to-do list with "books to read"...that never gets checked off. oh and steph's bday present list so i can't ever buy her the wrong thing

...favorite way to get someone's attention?
throw a frozen grape at them

...favorite random name for sport practice drill?
"peppering" (volleyball) and "superman" (basketball)

...favorite natural phenomenon?
rainbow...wow, that's gay. hmm...volcano.

...favorite most appropriate saying for this moment?
"you have the mondays" (office space)

yupperoo. i do.

Chic

an email excerpt from crystal:

"...i just realized it's almost august...i swear it's like the twilight zone out here. i never know what day or month it is. when's school start up again? i don't know why i thought of this, but do you remember that staples back to school commercial where they're playing "it's the most wonderful time of the year" song? you remind me of the dad...i can see you prancing around in staples getting your school supplies..."

news flash. i've grown up. i shop for my school supplies like this:

Extra Extra

what kind of world do we live in when my top morning news headlines include the fighting in lebanon, the killings in afghanistan...and "lance bass reveals he's gay."

maybe we deserve this heat. it's big g's way of saying, dudes, wtf.

oh, and now, breaking report: lindsay lohan is overcome by heat. um, drink some water, stupid, and stop appearing on my yahoo news. thanks.

Eh

my "haha" entry has sparked a small controversy. afty is offended that he never gets a capital "HAHA." billy wants to know if i'll be changing my response pattern now that i've made this inside knowledge public. now, every time i write back to a message, i have to be careful..."does this person read my blog? does this person know?" and adjust from there. which takes me to another scale that i was telling katie about a few weeks back - the scale of how i feel about you.

i can either 1) love you; 2) like you; 3) dislike you; 4) hate you; or 5) don't care about you.

if i hate you that means i still think about you, which is better than if i don't care about you at all. the last notch means that i don't even want to waste an ounce of energy to even hate you. and honestly, that's pretty sad.

so haha's HAHA's and MU HA HA's aside, be sure to show me some love, tell me a joke, keep me entertained - so that i'm never be "eh" about you. now, get to it! :)

Autobots

all talk on the radio is about this recent, "unprecedented" heat wave. blame the mexican monsoons. blame global warming. blame the urban developments acting as heat sinks. blame canada. blame hasmik. blah blah blah.

i start to tune all this bs out...that is until someone says, "we have had to replace at least 850 transformers. so many transformers are down."

i think...the TRANSSSSSSFORMERS! the transformers! more than meets the eye...

sad. they're down. and fobby me had no idea there were more than 850 of them. wow.

Hot in Herre

duh. everyone knows it's hot. al gore told us so. but really, the irony = i'm so glad to be in an a/c office "working" today. haha.

speaking of "haha's," aly mentioned to me that even over IM and email, i have a very distinctive scale of laughter. here's what it boils down to:

haha = that was funny; most used, especially when i have nothing more interesting to say
hehe = sinister laugh, like i'm about to play an april fool's joke on someone
tee hee = "oh, you embarrass me, " flirt flirt
"that was funny" = one notch below "haha," pretty sad attempt, dude; not good enough for you to actually make me laugh out loud (lol)
lol = i don't use this one...so if i use it, i'm making fun of you for using it
HAHA = you truly made me laugh and the officemate just looked at me like i'm crazy.
MU HA HA = i win. bow down, biatch.

Ego Surf Result

friiiiiiday! yippee.

so i was "ego surfing" yesterday (i.e. googling yourself) to see what comes up. besides the fact that google thinks i'm a massive nerd, i'm also a piano brand. who knew.

anyhoo, during my search, i came across a picture that made me remember the first time i drank drank. only about a month into my freshman year in college, russ (jenn's bf at the time) convinced me to try out for a musical. yes, you heard right...a MUSICAL. obviously for those of you who have been blessed enough to hear me blech out a tone-deaf tune at karaoke, this was not a pretty sight. but nevertheless, they were short people so they asked me to try out. i didn't know the fully lyrics to any song...but made the cut with my sultry rendition of "take me out to the ball game." okay, it wasn't sultry.

this musical was quite...um...lame. i don't recall the premise except that it was called "robots" and there were in fact, robots. i played the role of some chancellor peon named whimper. i was always nervous and worried, and my big song was called, "what the heck is happening" where i'm running around frantically...okay, stop laughing already.

so the picture of this musical pops up on the web and i start cracking up. not only because i was almost a robot (can you imagine me in that outfit? thank goodness), but because this musical is the reason why i got drunk for the first time. after a friday night show, we had a crew party where i had about seven drinks. since i had no idea what being "drunk" felt like, i thought i was totally fine...that is, until i got back to my dorm, started feeling dizzy, and hurled all over my roomie's bed (she wasn't in it). let's just say my roomie was not a happy camper that night. but i mean, it's really her fault for picking the lower bunk in the first place, right? just kidding.

sigh. how i've grown up. or not.

crap, but now i have "what the heck is happening" in my head. and no, i won't sing it for you.

the picture:

S-M-R-T Convo II

intelligent conversations continue...doesn't this make you wish YOU can IM at work?

saujinator: tardo
jennlong79: stupido
saujinator: meano
jennlong79: lamo
saujinator: weirdo
jennlong79: smelly-o
saujinator: that doesn't work
saujinator: nice try
jennlong79: its close
saujinator: but no cigar
jennlong79: damn

Blame Hasmik-jan

my good friend hasmik is one paranoid armo. she is one of the reasons why i started blogging in the first place - she was seeking entertainment during her boring work day. then recently i asked her why she herself doesn't share her genius thoughts with the internet public and she told me it's due to "privacy issues"...

then i got paranoid. do i have privacy issues? do i need to be telling everyone where i was last weekend? what i will be eating for dinner tonight? hmm.

then i realized...what the heck will people do with my uber sensitive "private" info that i have a fish named bob? or that my friends call me up to figure out the right way to pronounce "economics" -- is it "eeeeconomics" or "eh-conomics"? or that i know the sign language to the word "donuts"?

i won't stop blogging for now. but you can blame hasmik anyway. i always do.

X.

in my junior year, we had a guy named armando as our editor-in-chief of our high school newspaper. he would always sign his articles "armando r. barragan" like he was super important...and steph and i got jealous. we were sans middle names and did not have cool middle initials to add to our bylines. so we made one up. i became saujin x. yi and stephanie z. hsu. then i asked, "what would x stand for?" and steph said, "um...xaviera. saujin xaviera yi." hmm, not sure why i'm writing about this. dang ADD.

on another note, isn't "baboon" such a funny word to say?

ha, i know you just said the word to yourself. loser! :)

lastly, i have to give a little shoutout to tina's yellow dress from saturday. it died during the wedding ceremony. tina had to change into another dress, but she kept getting called out: "did you change?" and "weren't you wearing something different earlier?"

next time you see tina, ask her what happened to her lovely bcbg yellow dress. here's a picture of what was left of it.



hehe, baboon.

K Overload

the big event for this weekend for me was alice and scott's wedding. for those of you who don't know alice, she was my mit bud (even though i knew her in high school) and my summer roomie during my stint at san jose. the wedding was such a contrast to aly and matt's wedding a few weekends ago because...well, it was very korean yet so alice.

i think i only spotted two whities in the sea of koreans, yet alice and scott entered the reception to beyonce's crazy in love and alice did the boob pump in her white gown. there was this fantastic chocolate fountain fondue table that tina went crazy over but next to it was the set up for this traditional korean ceremony. alice and scott changed into traditional "hanbok" and did this "paebaek," which is this wedding ritual where the new couple bows into the groom's family. the groom's fam throws dates across the table and the amount of dates you catch represents the number of kids you will have...hey, your korean lesson of the day.



anyhoo, this last part reminded me of the cermony you do on "dol," which is a kid's 100th day after birth. you stick the kid in traditional garb, put him/her behind the table with bunch random goodies, such as a bundle of thread, a pencil, a book, and money. the item the kid grabs is supposed to predict the child's future. we'll have to ask all the korean peeps we know about what they grabbed, but here are the ones i know:

my sis = bundle of thread, represents a long life
tina = a pencil, representing her big nerd life
me = money and a pencil...

supposedly, my mom kept yelling, "grab the money!" so i did, but then got greedy and starting grabbing everything else, starting with the pencil.

Woo

baby yi has put her foot down. she just told me that i'm not allowed to blog everyday and suddenly drop off for a few days...it's like training a monkey to eat bananas every day at 9 am and...hmm...i was going somewhere with that. well, before the weekend, i'll leave you with a few more random thoughts. woo woo (that's supposed to be a monkey sound.)

- mama yi came home from korea this week bearing gifts from the motherland. among my pile of gift items was a cd of korean pop music that my cuz sent me. i was playing it at work yesterday and my office neighbors did not quite know what to do with themselves. oh, have i told you that i sit with a jazz record label company?
- few days ago in an IM conversation, aly mentions, "where did 'close but no cigar' come from anyway?" google says it's from the 1800's slot machines that gave out free cigars as prizes. yay, trivia.
- on my morning drive to work every day, i pass a vietnamese noodle house called, "what the pho."
- yesterday morning on npr, this fire chief was getting interviewed about the recent inland wildfires. he says, "i believe these houses will be safe because as you can see, we have the retardation line set. do you see the retardation line?"

have a great weekend homies. woo woo.

Super Thoughts Lotto Mega Millions

my mind is like a lottery ball machine (i think it was rappy who coined this phrase in college). there are a ton of random thoughts bouncing around in my head, and voila, one random thought after another just comes out of my mouth. so, here are this morning's very random thoughts.

- hasmik told me about the 7-11 free slurpies yesterday (july 11th! ha). i drove by one on the way home yesterday and they were out of coke and cherry flavors. i say conspiracy.
- i hate ant invasions, but feel so bad spraying or squishing them dead. i mean, what a way to go...sad.
- oh, a few of you have asked...bob the fish is STILL alive! and eating more than his share of fish food like a true yi.
- crystal and i have been talking about how entertaining it would be if we implemented soccer's red card / yellow card system to bar scenes or any social gathering. you do something stupid, or some sleezeball hits on your friend, you bust out a whistle, red-card him, and kick him out of the venue.
- my boss's assistant brought in her little puppy that's literally the size of my coffee mug. i was just playing with him and he ran around in circles chasing a little toy that i had in my hand and right after, he ran straight into the wall. no, i didn't laugh. okay, maybe a little.
- a law firm that we're "dealing" with is called morrison and foerster. they can be found at mofo.com.
- lastly, i've been wondering, who the heck is bored enough to read my random thoughts on my blog? if you are reading this, please email and entertain me. i'm bored too.

Table for One

on my way home last night, i stopped at ralphs. with extra mushrooms and zucchinis at home, i decided to whip up a little pasta for dinner. i wasn't in grocery shopping mode though, so i only picked up a bag of pasta and a bottle of prego with meat. that's it. so with exactly two items, i got in a regular checkout line because the express line was uber packed. the lady in front of me (with 18 items...don't ask. i was bored and counted) looks back at me and says, "you must be single. that seems like a single person's meal. why don't you go ahead of me?" i said, "thanks"...but really, couldn't she just have offered to let me go without asserting her assumptions? didn't she learn in school that to "assume" makes a "ass" out of "u" and "me"?!?!?! oh well, at least i got to eat my pasta 18 items ahead. she was nice lady.

on a side note, i just enjoyed this drunken jackie chan story on the news. i love how official it sounds

Report: Drunken Jackie Chan disrupts show

HONG KONG - Jackie Chan disrupted a concert by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee and exchanged insults with the audience, a news report said Tuesday.

Ming Pao Daily News quoted the 52-year-old action star as saying onstage that he was drunk.
Chan suddenly jumped on the stage Monday night and demanded a duet with Lee. He then tried to conduct the band but stopped and restarted the music several times, the newspaper reported.

As the awkward interruption dragged on, audience members started to heckle Chan, who replied with an insult, according to the report.

G' Morning Sunshine! Sorta.

i'm not sure if you can see this (click on the picture to see a bigger version)...but this is my yahoo screen this morning when i went to look at my monday weather. wtf.

Intelligent Conversations

yay friday.

i love having deep conversations about philosophy, history, politics...life in general. instant messaging provides me with the intellectual stimulation that i so desire from my well-versed friends. recent example...

jennlong79: stupid
saujinator: stupider
jennlong79: stupidest
saujinator: stupidest to the infinity
jennlong79: stupidest to the infinity to the infinity power
saujinator: wow
saujinator: that's pretty stupid
jennlong79: yeah

Multi-Taskah

i usually pack myself a little bento box for lunch (along with my many other emergency snacks), and it usually lasts until about...oh, 10 am max before it's devoured by the hungry hungry hippo that is me. so i end up getting a real lunch thereafter. oh, and an afternoon snack after that. sean warned me yesterday, "you're so going to be fat."

but today, i even surprised myself of how barbaric i can be. even after a hearty breakfast before leaving the house, i got ridiculously hungry about 20 minutes into my trafficy drive on the 10. i couldn't find my usual ritz crackers or beef jerky within arm's reach...so...i took out my bento box from my bag and a spoon...and started eating...yes, while driving. your friend sauj is quite talented.

on another note, i was just on this conference call with a bunch of ny guys. one dude made a not-so-pc comment on the phone and promptly caught himself, "sorry, i forgot scott's summer intern was on the phone." i didn't even catch what he said, but his after-throught weirdly made me annoyed.

now i need a hot dog on a stick.

Fami-Haha

hope you all had a lovely 4th. back to the grind...

i just went to this high-end convenient store called famima to grab a quick bite for lunch. according to laura, these stores, which were huge successes in japan, came the la first in west hollywood and now on 3rd street. it was actually quite busy at lunch time, where they're busy heating up little asian pork buns, ringing up customers, etc. etc.

there was mostly asians in the store when i got there, and while i'm in line to ring up my order, i hear, "GINA DAVIS? order for gina davis!" and this fobby little asian girl goes up to get the order. then i hear, "order's ready for kevin! kevin bacon!?!?!"

yeah, asians. we got humor, yes we do. we got humor, how 'bout you?

Mazal Tov!

hope you are all having a lovely july fourth weekend. sorry for you suckers who have to work today.

on saturday, i attended my first jewish wedding. aly and matt's wedding was seriously one of the best planned weddings i've ever been to. one of my favorite parts (of course, besides the food) was aly's entrance. the wedding was at the skirball center in its round courtyard. while the audience is looking back in anticipation of her entrance, aly (with the hugest smile ever) appears in front of us on the balcony! i am not eloquent so i'm not doing this justice, but believe me, i was wowed and she looked gorgeous. here's a picture of the "marketing girls" on the reception dance floor...



speaking of weddings, i was able to meet up with heidi and neeli who were la for a wedding as well. we all met up with crystal in long beach for quick lunch yesterday. we were talking about how college reunions only really happen when there is a wedding, and seeing how crystal and i are holding down the tailend of the really truly single fort, i don't think we'll be seeing any mit 6-west kids anytime soon. it was nice to know you all. :)

More MySpacings

i got a message from my 7th grade math teacher, mr. punches, who found me on myspace. it was so neat to hear from him (he's married, teaching in middle school near san jose...he wants you to write him if you were in his class too: www.myspace.com/rspunches), but i realized something a bit trippy. it says on his site that he's 38 and that i had him as a teacher 15 years ago...that means he was 23 when he taught me (i can do math, yes). but 23! he seemed so much older and mature at the time. totally different perspective of how i think of 23 year olds now -- those young bucks.

and for those of you who i told that my summer gig is selling ice cream near the santa monica pier from a limegreen cart with pink polkdots...i was kidding. and when i said that i decided on the ice cream business because i'm a lactard and i won't eat my own inventory away...i was joking. and the thing about having a high-tech cart equipped with a laptop so i can take email orders and track my operations better...i was just joshing with you.

i'm really just telling fortunes on the 3rd street promenade. it's good business for bs-ing about someone's love life.

Phew

I cut off a motorcycle cop in the airport parking lot today and got pulled over. I have never been pulled over before, so the siren in the rearview mirror freaked me out. But once he approached me, I tried to turn on the charm as I have always seen in the movies. Oh, he = Mexican copper probably in early 30s...

Cop: “You cut me off. You made that left turn at like 15 miles per hour.”
Me: “Sir. No, it was like 5.”
Cop: “10. And you did not even stop. Didn’t you learn how to turn in traffic school?”
Me: “You were a black motorcycle in a dark parking lot.”
Cop: “That’s why you should be more careful. License please.”
Me: “C’mon. I’ll be careful.”
Cop: “You almost hit me!”
Me: “But I didn’t.” (BIG GRIN)
Cop: “Okay, fine. I won’t give you a ticket this time, but be more cautious.”
Me: “Okay. I guess I should have seen your very shiny white helmet.”
Cop: “Be careful.”
Me: “Thanks! Bye!”

Now that I think about it, I think I was so relieved that I sped down the ramp. Oops.

Only other notable thing was my weird inspiration to get a funky haircut. This is what it looks like:

#3

and you thought i would be writing about d.wade. he was freakin' awesome and i am so glad shaq had a chance to say f u to the lakers and kobe. but what my #3 was really about...

so, according to tina and steph, everyone has a top 5. well, here is my top 5 -- the hearttrobs that have luckily locked in positions on my list and beat out my other favs like mj and tyler florence...

#1: johnny depp
#2: (keeping it open)
#3: phil gordon
#4: richard jefferson
#5: bob costas

anyhoo, i've been keeping away from myspace, but due to some work research, i was forced back in. i noticed today that my #3 (who isn't hosting celebrity poker showdown anymore) has been kindly adding people to his network all this time, so i gave him a little shoutout and an "add me" holler...and he did! i am phil's friend. officially. yay!

oh, and he has frank sinatra playing on this homepage: www.myspace.com/philgordonpoker.

geez, what a hottie.

Obsession ADD

i believe this is the scientific medical term for the condition i suffer from. it's when you're totally engrossed in something for like whole...2 seconds...but for those 2 seconds, you can't be bothered by anything else. i think that's why my blogs are two lines long when people like yuj and lindy can write and write and write. well, at least you get 2 seconds of my geniusness.

i was thinking back to my various obsessions and remembered my nintendo / supernintendo days. remember dr. mario? street fighter ii, nba jam, and oh, mariokart? i suddenly wanted to play these games again, so i ebayed. supernintendo is going for like $40 and the games are like $7 each. i hope my bids win and then i'm challenging you all.

Cough Cough

being sick blows. i don't get sick often, but when i do, the illness gods usually knock me down solid. this weekend, i was supposed to be enjoying my favorite san jo roomy alice get down right silly in a debauchery i call bachelorette party in vegas. yes, SUPPOSED to be. i set out on my journey to vegas but felt so sick that i just ended up at the parentals...crawling into bed ODing on cold meds. cough. i'm still bummed. cough.

so today i took advantage of being stuck at home by watching korea tie france in the world cup match, phil mickelson totally choke and blow a win at the us open, and dwayne wade go nuts to win game 5 in OT....all of course with papa yi. it was father's day, you know. i had to whine about my cold/flu to somebody. wah.

the oddest story on the net today is about dustin diamond (screech powers on saved by the bell) selling t-shirts with his face on them to raise money so he doesn' t lose his house to a foreclosure... i am serious! see for yourself: www.getdshirts.com. so random. where did all the money he made go? he also looks like a bum. shave man, shave.

cough. wah.

La di la

you know when someone who is a horrible singer is like, "do you know this song?" and tries to sing it to you? they try singing it over and over with the same tonedeaf tune, getting more aggrevated by the second because you don't get it...and you're just smiling like an idiot because you have no idea what they're singing but you don't want them to feel like a total idiot for doing an unnecessary song and dance routine for you?

well, that just happened to me by the elevator with some stranger.

after i got a little fed up i said: "oooooooooooooooh, that song."
he replies: "you have no idea what i'm singing, huh?"
me: "no. but it was nice to meet you."

Fighting Korea

there is a great benefit to living in ktown during the world cup season. you just roll out of bed before 6 am and voila, you are at the heart of the party. with free red t-shirts, thundersticks, and ramen, the ktown koreans got together to watch our team beat togo 2-1 this morning. and of course my hottie, ahn, scored:



oh, today is free hog dog on a stick day after 5 pm. good thing are there two stands in walking distance from me and katie. weeeeeee.