Happy 2008!

wow, how has two full weeks already passed in 2008! i know it's a bit belated, but happy new year, everyone! that is of course to the two people who still read this thang :)

not too much going on here. i had told many people that i would just enjoy the holidays and figure out my life in 2008. i love you too, friends -- to all of you who greeted me with "happy new year; what are you going to do with your life," thank you for reminding me of my lovely bum status.

oh, speaking of bums, why do bums in cold cities just stay there? i mean, if i were a bum in boston, i'd walk my way to this lovely january LA weather -- if i'm sleeping on the sidewalks, i rather my sidewalks be warm, sunny and 75, no? yup, you're right, i only said that to make the point that it's lovely here in LA -- suckers!

hope everyone is enjoying all the fun sports too -- lakers (sad about bynum), ucla bball, pats, t.o. crying, and of course the most fun boxing match ever -- obama vs. hillary.

Sister Fashion

while at anthropologie at the grove few days ago, i saw few korean nuns walking around. and by the sales rack, my eyes met one of them so i said hello. as i sometimes do with random thoughts that pop into my head, i just blurted out and asked her why she was there at the store. in her peaceful nun way, she told me, "look closely at what all the sisters are wearing." as she continued to smile in her peaceful nun way at me, it dawned on me that they all wear normal clothes underneath their sister gowns. i laughed and then, we chatted about christmas, her home convent, etc. she was nice. but of course she was nice.

then this morning at noah's on larchmont, i spotted another group of korean nuns hanging out and having bagels. as i passed them, i nodded a little hello and of course noticed their individualitic garb underneath their black and white nun clothes. where did they get those clothes? are they donations? do they get shopping money from the priests? can they buy clothes at retail prices? oh, so many questions! but i behaved and just came home with my dozen bagels without opening my big mouth.

then it hit me. i had joked in a recent email about how i was a "korean nun-wanna-be" -- a joke i thought was appropriate and funny in light of jc's bday. but since, i've now spotted two groups of nuns in less than three days at my usual hangouts.

hmm. i don't think big g jokes around. i'm a bit weirded out.

Rain Rain

it's raining here in LA. the weather people on the news are loving this "storm watch 2007." on the 2 pm news, this one field reporter lady was standing outside in oxnard. she squats down to have the camera point at this little puddle of water and she says, "as you can see from this puddle here and the drops within it, the rain is really coming down!" so the puddle was like, 0.00000001 millimeters and there was like four puny drops of water -- no wonder people make fun of us LA people.

speaking of this "torrential" rain, i have a little window a/c unit that makes a whole lot of noise when the rain drops against its metal surface. i've been meaning to put a towel or something on top of it, but always forget since...it never really rains here. anyhoo, last night, after my first softball game in the "storm," i decided to wedge a cardboard box on my window railing as a little umbrella for the a/c. but this morning, i wake up to the rain "pounding" against the metal and think to myself that it was nearly impossible for that box to have fallen out. i go outside to examine the scene, hoping to just find the box lying near by...but no, there is no box near the window. instead, i spot the homeless lady at the bank next door sporting a new cardboard box hat in the same dimensions as my a/c rain cover!

no, i didn't ask for my box back. it is almost christmas. and she wears is very stylishly.

Oh Kids

hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving. not much to report from here in sauj's cabesa except one entertaining story from mama yi.

during dinner over the weekend, my mom asked me: "have you heard of a soldier boy? i think he dances." i answer her, "why are you asking?"

her reason: "one of my students walked in early to class one day and was doing some dance steps. he said, 'mrs. yi! this is soooo hard.' and proceeded to practice these really easy moves. and you know, saujin, i learn stuff like this quickly, so i just said, 'what's so hard?' and followed his steps. while this was happening, the rest of the class started to file in and they all stopped and started yelling, screaming, and applauding. i tried to settle them down but they kept begging me to do the dance one more time as they got out their camera phones and stuff. of course i refused. one kid who is failing my class promised to study for the next test if i did the dance again, but at that point, i knew it was something stupid."

so i explain to her who soulja boy is. and she exclaims, "i knew it! those [insert korean expletives here] kids! of course they were entertained by a middle-aged asian lady doing a rapper's dance!"

we laugh. then chew through dinner.

about ten minutes later she says, "...though it is my fault. the first boy didn't ask me to dance. it was just frustrating to watch him!"

more dinner.

then another comment, "...kids these days. they don't even know how to dance! how sad!"

so, bottom line: she's no marie osmond, but my mom does the superman. can yours?

The Juice

last week sometime, i had a battle with a pomegranate. seriously. i don't know what possessed me to buy a pomegranate. i think it was joann who once told me that getting information out of me was like juicing a pomegranate...and i think i was just curious when i saw one. oh, and my aunt had made me fresh pom juice once, so i figured, hey it can't be too hard! (and yes, this is what happens when you're in mini-retirement phase -- you stroll through the grocery store thinking thoughts such as this and you make fresh squeezed juices during the weekday to pass the time.)

anyhoo, if i were tina, i probably would have looked up 10 websites that told you how to properly make pomegranate juice. but that's no fun. so i just hacked at the durable fruit, removed and stuck the seeds in a blender, put it through a strainer, and tada, had a nice $3, 30-minute, 1 cup of juice. but for that one weenie cup of juice (which i drank very very slowly), i had to wash down the entire kitchen and take a shower because i had purplish red juice stains all over the place.

so, lesson learned? no, it's not "i need to get a job," sheesh. it's "juicing a pomegranate is a great way to waste time and i should do it way more often!"

except...it's one dang expensive fruit. i may need a job after all to afford this hobby. isn't it ironic, don't you think.

Remove Me From Me

sometime last week, elissa asked me, "can third cousins marry in korea?"

this question, which i have no answer to, sparked a debate. what does the term third cousins mean? i learned a while back that a second cousin is the child of a first cousin...or so i thought. princeton dictionary agrees with my defintion, but it pretty much stop there. according to matt, wikipedia, and rest of the world wide web, there's a whole another word that can clarify the generation gaps in the cousin-ish relationship -- "removed"...

so, first cousins share the same grandparents; second cousins share the same great-grandparents; and third cousins share the same great-great-grandparents. and if your second cousin has a kid, then that kid is your "second cousin once removed" and if your third cousin has a grandkid, then that grandkid is your "third cousin twice removed"....but are you thinking what i'm thinking? WHO THE F CARES.

well, giuliani's 14-year (second) marriage to his second cousin was supposedly annulled due to that relationship. in case you were keeping up with rudy's weird past, i wanted to make sure you knew his marriage was not to his first cousin once removed -- cause that would be really weird.

and with that, who else is oddly obsessed with mike huckabee!

Fishin' on the 16th Hole

i just saw an infomercial for the "instant fisherman" -- a portable, compact fishing pole that you can whip out, unfold, and use in a jiffy. it's weird enough to think that someone would need to bust out a fishing pole in an instant like a jack in the case of a flat-tire emergency. something like: "oh suzie, look at that pond, let me whip out the fisherman and catch you a fish for some roadside sushi."

but if that wasn't weird enough, the infomercial featured all the convenient places to store the handy tool: "...it will fit conveniently into the side pocket of your golf bag!"

A-minus Fan

the soxies just swept. and it's still good the second time around (especially when you still find yourself gasping and yelping at a ellsbury catch in bottom of the ninth inning up 3-0 in the series!).

so, i got questioned this weekend -- "i thought you liked the dodgers?" yeah, you called me out. in the nba, i only love the lakers (and cute players like richard jefferson, core maggette and d-wade). in the nfl, i only love the pats. but in the mlb, i like both the red sox and the dodgers. i justify it as my american league and national league teams -- and really, how likely is it that these two specific teams would meet in the world series in my lifetime?

well, i said that to my skeptical, questioning (a-hole) friend. and he asked, "what if they did. who would you root for?" then, i was torn. that's a toughy, but here it is:
though the heartbreaker of a ball club can't keep any franshiable players on its roster for more than a year, i live in LA. i listened to vin scully on the radio in my youth. and the excitment from dodgers getting into the playoffs in 2004 off of steve finley's grand slam still is unmatched to any red sox moment of this year. yeah, if i HAD to choose, i think i would have to bleed blue. but really, i hate you, skeptical friend, for making me feel like a bad fan. but for now...

go sox! and yankees suck.

Droopy

gosh. as i'm cruising for articles on the red sox's game 7 win (yay!), i come across an article about seattle's super duper sonic rookie kevin durant: "...durant realized a dream Saturday night when he was on the same court as his boyhood idol, tracy mcgrady."

boyhood idol? holy crap, we're getting old. sleepy-eyed, straight-out-of-high-school, born-the-same-year-as-me, could-be-cute-if-his-eyes-were-level tracy mcgrady is some nba star's boyhood idol? oh man oh man.

and yes i watched the entire red sox game tonight and no i'm not sure why i feel the need to look up articles of a game i watched in its entirety 30 minutes after it finished. but what else am i going to do? i'm not drunk. i already applied foot cream. hmm, maybe i should go check out the level of my small, sleepy, asian eyes....if i can see them. ha! i crack me up.

Da TeeVee

few days ago, i decided to indulge myself on some television the 2007 way -- via the internet. due to the shotty dsl in the ktown house, cbs and nbc's internet players were out (office, chuck, and how i met my mother will have to wait). but fox and abc's players worked quite well -- so i caught up on the simpsons, back to you, grey's, private practice, ugly betty, etc.

okay, granted that i have questionable taste in tv shows at times (i know you just said, back to you? are you 50? and yes, i used to like two and a half men at some point LONG ago in my life (okay, last year, you biatches)) but this one new show totally caught my eye. i heard some reviews about pushing daisies before, but didn't really quite understand the premise. i think you just have to watch it -- it's witty and funny...kinda the royal tennebaums humor. anyhoo, it's on abc's website...if you're bored, it's just one quick rec from your professional boredom curer friend. and no, it's not anything like two and a half men! sheesh. stop giving me a hard time about it!

Classic Me

i was reminded to tell my stupid story from last weekend in btown.

act 1 - during dinner with tina on friday
me: "hello?"
someone (a girl): "hey sauj! this is [muffled blah-blah]."
me: "who is this again?"
someone: "this is [muffled two syllable name]. don't tell me you don't know who this is!"
me (feeling weirdly pressured): "OOOOOH, hey! how are you?"
someone: "what are you up to?"
me: "we're gonna go hit up roads for old times sake tonight."
someone: "hahaha!"
me: "i know i know. what are you doing tomorrow?"
someone: "we're going to sanctuary at 10. come!"
me: "okay, i'll ask the girls and hopefully we'll join you!"...pause (thinking on my feet)..."oh, you wanna give me a buzz before you leave tomorrow?"
someone: "okay! cool. see ya tomorrow!"

tina: "who was that?"
me: "i have no idea."

act 1.1 through act 1.9 - all night and all morning the next day
me: "crap, who was that?"

act 2 - back at hotel room before dinner next day
me: "dang it, i still have no idea who that was. can someone just call the number and tell me who answers on the voicemail???"
others: "you're so stupid."
me: "tina, c'mon! call from the hotel phone so i don't feel stupid."
tina: "fine!"...dials...someone picks up....tina hangs up. "nice, i just crank called one of your friends."
jenn: "you are so stupid! what's the number. i'll look it up on the internet."...."okay, it says it's a wireless number. c'mon, who did you tell you were going to be in boston?"
me: "amy...neeli...christina...i already talked to all of them."
jenn: "you suck."

act 2.5 - 5 minutes later.
me: "ohhhh! jyoti! i told her!"
jenn: "okay, i'll look her up on the alum page"...(her picture and her cellie pop up)..."there you go! you really are stupid."

act 3 - 2 minutes later.
my nonchalant text to jyoti: "hey stinky. you still going out tonight?"
jyoti's text reply: "who is this?"

of course, i proceeded to give her a hard time about not remembering.

Cougar Rebuttal

sorry, i'm mistaken. tina says we can't be cougars unless 1) we're divorced or 2) over 40.

the world wide web defines "cougar" as
"a middle-aged (or above) woman, dressed to the nines, out on the prowl looking for young (20-35 year old) men"

...so relatively, aren't we cougars to these little college boys? haha. okay okay, sorry for the shot in confidence.

we are hot. the end.

Cougars

our weekend trip to beantown was fabulous. i hadn't been back to boston in almost six years, so i spent most of the weekend saying, "awwww, remember when..." it turns out most of the "..."s were drunken stories, which made me wonder if i did any learning at the masschusetts institute of technology.

anyhoo, one of the highlights of the weekend (besides jenn and katie confronting the logan bomb scare-slash-"it's just art" girl from few weeks ago as well as red sox clinching the division title) was when we were walking past fraternity row and saw the sigma chi house. we had spent many a nights at the basement bar of this house. upon a chorus of awww's, jenn decided we had to say hi to the bar. so she rings the doorbell, gets some dude to answer, and says, "hi. we used to hang out here. can you give us a drink?" (classy points. ding ding ding!)

and that's how we ended up at the basement, drinking busch light (see picture below). but unlike our experience 10 years ago, no guy at the house really wanted to pay attention to us. and it wasn't because we weren't wearing low-cut shirts or that we didn't exude "the sexy." my conclusion is that we had become the unthinkable...we had become cougars.

Efficient and a Half

just now upon arriving at lax from boston, the ground crew announced the connection gates:
"...for those connecting to jfk (new york), please proceed to gate xx..."

wtf. yes, I would like to book a trip to san fran via paris please.

more about beantown trip post-zzzzz's.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I'm Still Full

i promised some of you this picture -- my breakfast yesterday morning. no, i don't eat like this everyday. yesterday was chusuk (korean thanksgiving) and this is the table our fam set to remember and honor our ancestors (please refer to lil sister's blog for a better explanation).

and you ask, how much of this did i help with? i transported almost ALL of the plates from the kitchen to the living room. not only am i full still, but i'm sore.