Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

As another year approaches its end and a new one is just around the corner, I have looked back and realized one thing: this has not been a very good year for blogging.

Literally, looking back at the entries I wrote this year, entries I sometimes scrambled to compose before the month was over just to complete a scheduled goal, most of them (especially those of the latter half of the year) are chock full of spontaneous drivel and false promises of more elaborate posting ahead which more often than not fails to deliver. I don't know if it was just a busy schedule or a blank slate of a mind or apathy, but I have a list of thoughts brainstormed which has increased in size as the months rolled by, and for one reason or another, these thoughts were put on the backburner or discarded completely.

I can truly say though that although the blogging may have not been very good, this year has ended very well. A lot of bad things have happened this year, but it truly could have been a million times worse when compared to years of the past. I have been able to make more friends, catch up with old friends, spend more quality time with family, work and work and work to points where I may have exhausted myself while still maintaining a love and enjoyment for my job, travel back to my hometown, take plenty of trips to Disneyland, and actually be happy again with where I am at. It's been a while since I have looked at my life without thinking I wish there could be something more, but I don't need more. I'm happy, and that feels good to write.

I know that 2012 will bring lots of ups and some downs, but I'm looking forward to them all. (But mostly the ups.)

If there is one thing I can put on my new 101 list, perhaps it would be to write more and write better. And so I just might do that. Or maybe I won't. But I'll still try my best. Thank you, 2011, here's to 2012!!

Holiday Hoorays!

Time for Christmas music and movies, hanging up the lights, and putting the tree up!

Here is my tree (old picture but the tree still looks great!):



Here are my lights (which still need to be put up):




And here is a Christmas cartoon:



I do enjoy this time of year. =)

Happy 100th Birthday Mary Blair!

Today's Google logo is awesome and puts a big smile on my face. I want to ride Small World on behalf of this:



Among other things on my mind are reminiscents of my vacation, pondering what to wear for Halloween, questioning my local relations, where to drive to today, and the most recent episode of Community which was nothing short of sheer genius. I'll only be touching on the last thought here for now. It's wrinkles my brain and makes me crave pizza:

SVU Tuesday > Taco Tuesday

Tuesday is upon us again. If there is one thing to anticipate on Tuesday even more than an indulgence of cheap tacos, it's a plethura of awesome SVU episodes. Whoever decided to broadcast a Law and Order: SVU marathon every Tuesday surely knew how to liven up a semi-eventful day that could otherwise be spent getting fat off good old Americanized Mexican food. I would call Tuesday "SVUesday" from now on, but it might take too much effort to add two more syllables to one day of the week while all of the others are still only two syllables each.

Law and Order: SVU has a great way of making life look so much better on this side of the fence when all seems a little more gloomy. If nothing else, I can watch and say, "Sure, my life has been rough, but at least I don't have to deal with this!" Of course, there is only so much I can take on before I realize that I need a feel good Disney movie immediately after marathoning. It's all right, when tacos fail to hit the spot, SVU sure does nail it right on. And BD Wong is awesome too. Okay they're all awesome.



Speaking of Asians, I would pay good money (once I have it) for Jackie Chan's Mandarin and Cantonese versions of "I'll Make a Man Out of You". I can only hope that a little bit of luck and searching will lead me there. I'd better keep that in mind three months from now. Hooray for Christmas! (And I suppose an extra hooray for birthdays is in order too.)

But to conclude on an SVU related note, I am also a big fan of the SVU drinking game which I appropriately play with a heavy and/or nasty tasting soda, and I just might do so before the next episode begins:



I have realized that lately I don't have very many days where I have this time to relax at home for a little bit longer than a few minutes running in and out. Being antisocial is a bugger (and reminds me that I could be turning even more into my father than I already am), but being relaxed is extremely helpful at the moment.

Romance is Overplayed

So I wrote this big BIG post just now, and Blogspot felt it was not worth saving, and maybe it was right for all of what I wrote to be erased. I'll save the big posts for the future. Relating to all I had just written though, this commercial still makes me laugh:

We All Have Emphatic Powers

Last night's awesome superhero themed dream included my powers of flight and The Force, and my stud of a boyfriend who in this case also had powers, one of which was the ability to walk through walls. We also had at least two other superheroes in our alliance, one male and one female, and our alliance had a catchy name that could make for a potentially great film title and involved fashion, which is as weird as it must sound. Or perhaps we were a comedic TV series, which if it involved me is more likely to be the case.

This time, my subconscious is probably telling me that I like even numbers, I am hot for the guy from Suits, and I have been on the Star Tours ride one too many times lately. In fact, all of this could probably be tied to Disneyland in one way or another.

One of the most interesting things about this dream was that when my guy and I had contact with each other we were able to take on each other's super powers. Is this reminiscent much of Heroes? Sure it is, and this could very well be viewed as a lame ripoff of Peter Petrelli. But in this case, the two of us already had our own powers, and it was only by making contact that we were able to use the other's power. Once the contact was broken, we were only left with our own powers.

Although I won't elaborate here, I can definitely see the parallels between these images from my subconscious and the happenings of real life. It even ties into the spiritual aspects of my life in a wonderful way, and whether I may be thinking too hard about it or reading into it too much is very likely. But I will say that walking through walls was a pretty sweet way to travel.

Tangled in Thought

I have the weirdest taste in my mouth. Among the little intricate and often bizarre details that spontaneously pop up in my dreams was this little feature of my nap this afternoon: me eating bits and pieces of a pen along with the ink. As a result, I woke up with a lingering taste of pen and a slightly nauseous tummy, both of which have yet to disappear. What does this mean? Probably that I should avoid eating pens.

I finally watched Tangled. The movie was good. The songs were slightly better than Princess and the Frog (my favorites had to be "When Will My Life Begin" and "I See the Light") but most of them kind of went over my head and I guess I was expecting more, especially with all of the rave I had heard where "Mother Knows Best" is concerned; sorry, it didn't do anything for me. On the downer, I didn't like how Flynn reminded me of a certain deceitful guy who broke my heart in the past. And the relationship between Rapunzel and Gothel is an extremely tame version of one I would rather forget in my own life. Still, in a similar fashion as Princess and the Frog, it was good, and I will probably warm up to Tangled and its songs in time, and with more viewings and keeping myself in check I can remember that 1. Flynn is much more awesome in several ways than the boy who ran away leaving me sad and heartbroken (plus Flynn can sing, and WELL too! Zachary Levi, really?) and 2. despite how imperfect it was and how much I wish it could have been easier, I am happy with my current family and living situation.

I also have thought about how lucky I really am, which upon looking back at previous entries, I am aware I say this a lot. It's not to say I didn't know before but sometimes these thoughts fade away as life keeps going. As I was spending time with a friend of mine this weekend and catching up with her and joking and sharing stories and anecdotes, I realized once more how great I have it: I have a wonderful job, a number of awesome friends, an amazing branch with lots of support, a good chunk of family who loves and respects me, and my own room where I can relax and sleep and stay warm (or cool depending on what Mother Nature throws our way) and expound on my thoughts. Not to mention after all of the sunlight I have received and walking I have done at Disneyland these last couple of days, and after the soreness in my legs and this slight sunburn go away, I am going to look and feel awesome. Wow, life is good.

Oh, and I am also grateful that I was able to see two completely different version of the new Star Tours ride (one word: AWESOME), as well as a viewing of The Little Mermaid ride, before they officially open to the general public! Lots of people today, but lots of good times too. And although I do like Tarzan, I was touched by the addition of Tangled to World of Color. The Pirates 4 addition felt a bit much, but it looked totally hot and had me giddy and cheering for the entire three minutes and twelve seconds.

Quick Decisions

With a few minutes to spare, I pondered what I could possibly write next. May is coming, and soon after it will be June and then summer will be upon us. I have a bajillion thoughts that could spawn into a better written and more thoughtful entry, stemming either from everyday occurances, recent discoveries and re-discoveries, or constant ponderings that continue to sprout as the cycle of life throws more and more experiences my way into a vast and complex web of feelings. I took a look at every post I had written prior to this one, and despite the ups and downs (namely the downs), I am happy with my progress.

I am also limited on time, and I miss the days where I could write more. For now, I will leave in hopes I can give myself more time to think and one day bust out another freakishly long and thought-provoking blog post that will clear my mind and make my few fellow readers go "Oooh!" Now I just have to make a choice as to what comes next. If only all decisions were as laid-back as this.

Prease Do Not Find Offensive

Last night, my subconscious invented powers of flight, super strength, invisibility, and shapeshifting (among other kick-A superpowers) that my male companion and I could use as we fought violent racist white supremacists.

My inspirations? Most likely massive consumptions of sugar, Disney movies, and Jimmy Wong:



I'm totally buying this song on iTunes. His Chinese food song is pretty awesome too.

I Heart Sundays

Maybe it was only a matter of time before this was bound to happen, but Sundays are starting to become my favorite day of the week. Close seconds would have to be either what becomes the designated Disneyland day, trek to the temple, institute indulgence, or an amalgam of all of the above (which has happened on a few occasions), and although Sundays do not contain any of these events, there is certainly something special about such a day. I am not sure I have appreciated Sunday for more than what it means to me now. It may have started as the time to sleep in, stay away from practice and exercise, spend three hours at church if not more. Aside from the sleeping in, this momentous day is still all of the same. Now, however, there is so much more to it. The major component of this is definitely the Spirit that has overwhelmed me each Sunday since I arrived here. How can such a simple change in location have such a BIG impact on one's own welfare? Well, as noted, another part of this can be attributed to this great area I now call home. It has reached a toasty 45 degrees tonight and it's hot here, proved by the fire alarm having just been set off. The people here are awesome and such a great example to me. They are amazing people who have taught me a lot and continue to help me grow and move forward with my life in several different ways. I know that I have been brought here for a reason, and if it was for nothing else but to find a place where I can be myself without question, concern, or judgment, I'm almost there. I don't know what will happen a week from today, how I may feel, where I will be, what I plan on doing, and I am nervous and excited for everything coming up. (Fortunately for me, the excitement is massively outweighing the nervousness.) One thing is for sure right now: I heart Sundays. Is this bound to change? Quite possibly, maybe in the next month, maybe in ten years, maybe sooner, maybe later, maybe never. But at the moment, it's simply delicious.

Childhood Reminiscents - Asian Edition

An amazing rediscovery has hit me in the last half hour. As I sat eating my reasonably sized portion of Rice-a-Roni, I was reminded of a delicious rice treat that I had mentioned only briefly in a previous post relating to haupia. This was one of my favorite treats to follow dinner, and one of the few foods that brewed in the kitchen that I actually enjoyed eating, which sadly I had been unable to enjoy after its recipe was immediately removed from our household once the upsetting totalitarian ways took over. With the sudden reminder of this nostalgic dessert, I promptly set aside my bowl of Rice-a-Roni and took my inquiry to Google. At the dinner table in what was once called "home", this yummy rice dish was referred to by name as "sticky rice", very original if you asked me. I made a Google search for those very words, but to no avail. The pictures and recipes that appeared were not what I had enjoyed as a child. Then I thought to type "sweet sticky rice", which thanks to Google's automatic typer, segued into a search for "Filipino sweet sticky rice", and sure enough my sweet sticky rice treat was restored to memory. It's called biko, and Google is littered with recipes which at some point I intend on indulging on when time, money, and health permits me.

It may seem insignificant, but this is actually quite a find for me. It is almost as epic as when I finally rediscovered Journey to the West last September. It's so much more intriguing watching it now too since I can understand more of what they're saying, and especially amusing when I notice that the English subtitles are wrong. I need to find a copy of this show on DVD somewhere.