Running commentary on the things I've seen, the places I've been and what I've done in my measly years. It might help some, entertain others or bore everyone (including me). Regardless, let's get this started...
i'm not usually a Halloween person. i tend to like to go trick-or-treating with my little sis or other kids but other than that i'm not a big dress-up-for-Halloween kind of person. so it's surprising that i broke the mold this year, but i did. my intention was to construct a costume where i didn't have to purchase anything additional and wouldn't have to spend much time getting ready or preparing. and i succeeded in that. however, the final result was a little...mixed. the only reason i dressed up at all was to attend the BLSPI talent show. i had a great time last year, and this year was no exception, altho the set-up this year felt a little sloppier than last year. regardless, there's always a few costumes that ppl come up with that i find truly ingenious. for instance, Egg was the guy from No Country For Old Men, and what's even more impressive is that he came up with the costume and idea only a few hours before he showed up at the event. yes, there was a Juno and Bleeker, which was cute but i didn't think it deserved to win. and when i showed up in the city, apparently it wasn't that novel of a costume idea either, because there were more than a few Junos and Bleekers. after drinking our fill of beers and wine, we headed over to the after-party at Mansion, which was held jointly with surrounding law schools. the turnout was actually really good, but then the downside was of course how packed it was because so many ppl showed up. i could see why the planners picked Mansion as the venue, and it was adequately big, but i think i've outgrown places where i can't move around without almost getting into a fight with someone because it's so packed. if you know me, i'm not usually out to start a fight (plus i'd probably get my ass whooped), but i did almost get into 2 fights that night, both times with obnoxious girls. go figure. i promise i don't go out seeking confrontation but if you want to start it, i'm not gonna just run away, even if you could kick my ass.speaking of ass kicking, what the hell is going on with this brooklyn neighborhood. this is my 3rd year living here and i've never encountered any violence or shadiness but all of a sudden 2 ppl i go to school with got their asses kicked and mugged for no reason. granted, 1 of them was while he was out in the LES, but the other 1 was right on Boerum Place while the poor guy was walking home from the BLS library. that's completely unacceptable. and so sad. that poor boy. and apparently it took place around 10 pm on saturday night, which you would think, since he was less than 3 blocks away from our apartment building, he could get back and forth in relative safety. word is that it was a gang of little 16 yr old boys who stole his phone and wallet and maybe an iPod. wtf is going on? it just breaks my heart a little, particularly since he's Six's friend which makes it hit even closer to home. in light of the above, i should consider myself very lucky for having gotten home safely after the party at Mansion around Halloween. the place was just too overwhelming and pricey ($40 for 2 mixed drinks) and DRC was too wasted and Cubed was too somber and i just wanted to leave. so i said my goodbyes and bounced out before i could be talked into staying, which is pretty stupid considering it was around 1:30 am and i was definitely not completely sober. how not sober was i? as i was walking towards the subway from Mansion, first i realized i walked in the wrong direction, which is always bad news in the Meatpacking District. then i turned back around, but couldn't find my iPod and believed i lost it so i was determined to go to the 24-hour iPod store in Columbus Circle to buy another one (i even called Egg for directions). i hopped into a cab only to find my iPod in my bag while in the cab so i promptly hopped out and found myself in Ktown where i bought some kimbap and soda and took the subway home. it was a weird mini-adventure to have. did i mention i was wearing my Halloween costume the whole time this was happening? o yea, my costume. i had planned to just go as a catholic school girl since that only requires a plaid skirt, a tie, a sweater vest/cardigan, and mary janes and i happen to have all those things (sans the sweater vest). but when i showed up, ppl kept trying to guess what i was and every time it was something different: a kindergardener, a Harry Potter character, Cho Chang from Harry Potter, a Japanese school girl, etc. so every 10 minutes i kept changing what i was.
Paul Giamatti walked by me on Boerum Place. what was really weird was that i had just been watching his movie Shoot 'Em Upon HBO the night before. and he couldn't have looked any more different from the character he played. o well, it was still a little thrill to see him. i guess it's one of the perks of living in NY. i was pretty surprised at myself for not turning into a simpering, shrieking idiot which is what i always think will happen when i see a celebrity. and it never does. weird.
BLS had a fundraising event at Ceol on Smith Street right before the weather started getting cold. what was even better was that ILS had their Mentor-Mentee event in Geraldo's right before with free beer. so of course we were all in Geraldo's maximizing the free beer before we headed out to the bar. we even got into a game of Kings, which is my favorite drinking card game. i like it because, unlike Asshole, it doesn't require too much thinking, but unlike Up the River Down the River, it doesn't require no thinking either. plus it's interactive and gets people really into the game since just about every turn involves getting somebody else involved. we don't play Kings too much tho, because everyone gets so turned off at the thought of learning the rules. here's what i've interpreted to be the simple, no nonsense, rules. of course there's way more complicated ones, but i'd stick to these when you're dealing with ppl with short attention spans who don't look convinced: 2 is for You 3 is for Me 4 is for Whores (yes, it's un-PC but it's an easy rhyme to remember) 5 is Social 6 is for Dicks 7 Heaven 8 Thumbmaster 9 Bust-a-Rhyme 10 Categories J Never Have I Ever Q Questions K Kings Cup A Waterfall
ok, i think that's pretty much the general gist of how we played. after the game, we finally headed over to Ceol which was reedonkulously packed with BLS kids but that's to be expected. it was a pretty random night, and since i had class the next day, i left at a respectable hour.
but not before i introduced Seven to JAK. as soon as i'd walked into the bar and i saw Six, i was informed that Seven was very interested in JAK and was dying for the introduction. so before i left the bar that night, i made the introduction and then left those 2 little hipsters to their own devices.
to go along with this lovey-dovey theme, i thought i'd post this video. it's a korean song by Humming Urban Stereo called Hawaiian Couple. the song's already really cute and catchy and the video's just as adorable. this keeps popping up on my iPod and i just can't help but bop around with it.
and who says big corps don't have a conscience? altho i don't think it really counts because voting, while i applaud the efforts, has become such a fad. it's like when P.Diddy did Vote or Die and Paris Hilton was 1 of the promoters and then she blatantly admitted she didn't vote. posers.
the family came into Chinatown for a haircut and dim sum on the weekend so of course i went to meet them. we ended up trying a dim sum place recommended by the stylist close to Bowery and Hester. eh... even tho Jing Fong doesn't cook their dim sum in the healthiest fashion all the other properties definitely win over all the places i've been so far: they have the best and widest selection, the best and fastest service, and the price is equal to all other places. i think it's best to stick to Jing Fong for dim sum.
afterwards i walked around with my parents while they did a little grocery shopping. my mom's under the impression that the groceries in Chinatown are fresher than in jersey. i think it all depends on where you shop. it looks like it's lobster and crab season and the prices on shelled seafood is pretty low so i got 3 stone crabs for $10, which is a great deal. i decided to steam 2 of them and then i got an idea. there's a delicious dish where you steam seasoned crab with rice which infuses the rice with the crab flavor and it's super delicious. i was all ready to do it except...
...the crab was still alive. and it really freaked me out. i mean, it was all lethargic and definitely on it's way out, but still. and every time i got close to it with the knife i kept imagining it would all of a sudden jump up and attack me, as if it was laying in wait for it's revenge just for me to put my face close up to it. it was kind of scary. for some moral guidance and physical courage i asked Egg to come over so i could ask his opinion about it. boy did i ask the wrong person for bravery support. Egg took one look at what i was contemplating about doing and told me how scary it was. and how cruel it was. and once he got started, it was all over for me and i just gave up on the idea and steamed it. we discussed how next time i'm contemplating this dish i should just have them pre-cut the crab for me.
i will not be dissuaded. i will make this dish. just with pre-cut crab.
i'm not usually a Halloween person. i tend to like to go trick-or-treating with my little sis or other kids but other than that i'm not a big dress-up-for-Halloween kind of person. so it's surprising that i broke the mold this year, but i did. my intention was to construct a costume where i didn't have to purchase anything additional and wouldn't have to spend much time getting ready or preparing. and i succeeded in that. however, the final result was a little...mixed.
the only reason i dressed up at all was to attend the BLSPI talent show. i had a great time last year, and this year was no exception, altho the set-up this year felt a little sloppier than last year. regardless, there's always a few costumes that ppl come up with that i find truly ingenious. for instance, Egg was the guy from No Country For Old Men, and what's even more impressive is that he came up with the costume and idea only a few hours before he showed up at the event. yes, there was a Juno and Bleeker, which was cute but i didn't think it deserved to win. and when i showed up in the city, apparently it wasn't that novel of a costume idea either, because there were more than a few Junos and Bleekers. after drinking our fill of beers and wine, we headed over to the after-party at Mansion, which was held jointly with surrounding law schools. the turnout was actually really good, but then the downside was of course how packed it was because so many ppl showed up.
i could see why the planners picked Mansion as the venue, and it was adequately big, but i think i've outgrown places where i can't move around without almost getting into a fight with someone because it's so packed. if you know me, i'm not usually out to start a fight (plus i'd probably get my ass whooped), but i did almost get into 2 fights that night, both times with obnoxious girls. go figure. i promise i don't go out seeking confrontation but if you want to start it, i'm not gonna just run away, even if you could kick my ass.
speaking of ass kicking, what the hell is going on with this brooklyn neighborhood. this is my 3rd year living here and i've never encountered any violence or shadiness but all of a sudden 2 ppl i go to school with got their asses kicked and mugged for no reason. granted, 1 of them was while he was out in the LES, but the other 1 was right on Boerum Place while the poor guy was walking home from the BLS library. that's completely unacceptable. and so sad. that poor boy. and apparently it took place around 10 pm on saturday night, which you would think, since he was less than 3 blocks away from our apartment building, he could get back and forth in relative safety. word is that it was a gang of little 16 yr old boys who stole his phone and wallet and maybe an iPod. wtf is going on? it just breaks my heart a little, particularly since he's Six's friend which makes it hit even closer to home.
in light of the above, i should consider myself very lucky for having gotten home safely after the party at Mansion around Halloween. the place was just too overwhelming and pricey ($40 for 2 mixed drinks) and DRC was too wasted and Cubed was too somber and i just wanted to leave. so i said my goodbyes and bounced out before i could be talked into staying, which is pretty stupid considering it was around 1:30 am and i was definitely not completely sober. how not sober was i? as i was walking towards the subway from Mansion, first i realized i walked in the wrong direction, which is always bad news in the Meatpacking District. then i turned back around, but couldn't find my iPod and believed i lost it so i was determined to go to the 24-hour iPod store in Columbus Circle to buy another one (i even called Egg for directions). i hopped into a cab only to find my iPod in my bag while in the cab so i promptly hopped out and found myself in Ktown where i bought some kimbap and soda and took the subway home. it was a weird mini-adventure to have. did i mention i was wearing my Halloween costume the whole time this was happening?
o yea, my costume. i had planned to just go as a catholic school girl since that only requires a plaid skirt, a tie, a sweater vest/cardigan, and mary janes and i happen to have all those things (sans the sweater vest). but when i showed up, ppl kept trying to guess what i was and every time it was something different: a kindergardener, a Harry Potter character, Cho Chang from Harry Potter, a Japanese school girl, etc. so every 10 minutes i kept changing what i was. 
