Merry Third Day of Christmas!

On the third day of Christmas, my dather gave to me...

Three caballeros...

Two new tires...

And a cup full of broccoli cheese!

25 Days to Christmas

I do not have any of substance to actually write about tonight (then again, do I ever?), but I have also been meaning to post about a lot of different things. A lot of my thoughts are pretty insignificant, but I sometimes wonder if at some point I will write something that someone will stumble upon, perhaps by accident, that will be of some relevance to them. In the meantime, I am fairly content writing to myself, the three other people I know who read this blog, and the reader who keeps tuning in from Russia. Not sure who you are, but Здравствуйте!

I'm pretty excited because this has been a crazy month full of a lot of new and exciting things. (These thoughts are not necessarily in order of significance or chronology, I'm just writing as I spout.) Kind of an expansion on October 19th, but not quite. It'll always be October 19th... in here.

First, my friends finally got married, and I was able to celebrate as a part of the wedding party, which was incredible and full of fun memories, good times, great singing, dancing, and nail polish that is really showing wear and tear on my fingernails that I will not remove until the last possible moment.

Second, I have been indulging my ears in more Disney songs sung in Polish to assist me while I learn the language. The only little bugger is when I try to translate English into Polish, and vice versa, I end up mentally translating into Chinese. (Is this normal?) It's so exciting to find that the pronunciation is starting to make more sense. It's always the grammar that's my problem though. And these Polish pronouns are going to take a while.

Third, I tried sushi for the first time, and anyone who knows me well enough knows this is HUGE because I do not like seafood. The bad news about this is now I have something else to waste my money on, because sushi is freaking good! Yeah, total shocker.

Fourth, I put up my Christmas lights, which is great because 1. my Christmas lights are the best, 2. I missed hanging them up last year so they have been on hiatus for almost two years, and 3. my Christmas lights are the best.

Fifth, this past Thanksgiving was the best Thanksgiving EVER. Seriously. Anyone who knows I do not like fish also likely knows that Thanksgiving is not a holiday I enjoy, rather one that I dread every time it comes around. And yet, ever since I spent Thanksgiving by myself a few years ago, every Thanksgiving in the year following has trumped the previous year. I may be a fan of this holiday now. Well, maybe not quite a fan, but I can at least tolerate it now.

Finally, prayer works!!! As time goes by, I keep finding my testimony of prayer (among other things) growing. And that's as far as I will go in talking about that lest I get too personal. But it's pretty amazing. A number of prayers are being answered and I am sooo blessed in life right now.

What's next? Figuring out how to survive turning a year older. Bye-bye November, hello Birthmas countdown. Ah, life is good.

That's October 19th

Thanks to petty reasoning, disappointment came over me the weekend before last. And soon this disappointment turned into anticipation. I don't know how long I can wait, but perhaps this is only another test of patience in the most superficial form out there. One good lesson has emerged from this: October 19th is not just a date, it is a state of mind.

When autumn finally feels like autumn outside -- that's October 19th.

When someone says exactly what you need to hear at a given time -- that's October 19th.

When you break open a new jar of nutella -- that's October 19th.

When you go to Disneyland one hour before it closes just because you can -- that's October 19th.

Turning a four hour car drive into a one-woman karaoke room -- that's October 19th.

When you surprise a good friend on her birthday -- that's October 19th.

When prayers are answered -- that's October 19th.

When Christmas decorations arrive at the stores --that's October 19th.

When a four-year old you haven't seen in a few weeks voluntarily runs over to give you a hug -- that's October 19th.

When your favorite book series comes out with a new book -- that's October 19th.

Finding five and a half hours in one day to start indulging in musical expression -- that's October 19th.

When the Blue Man Group teaches you more about your eyes than you ever learned in any science class you took in school -- that's October 19th.

When opportunities arise to help others -- that's October 19th.

When you put together a fun Halloween costume on a very low budget and feel more than satisfied with the outcome -- that's October 19th.

Eating a four-course meal with great company without spending a cent -- that's October 19th.

When you lead a party with 22 babies/toddlers/kids and 40+ adults without getting a drop of paint on your fancy vest you borrowed -- that's October 19th.

When your co-workers save your butt with bubbles -- that's October 19th.

When you memorize a beautiful wedding song sooner than expected -- that's October 19th.

When gas prices drop below $4.00 -- that's October 19th.

Knowing that although it was supposed to air on October 19th, Community will be back for its fourth season someday -- that's October 19th.

Happy October 19th!!

Digging Holes

Somehow, whenever I try and be real in blog form, I end up distracted, distorted, dizzy, and direction-less (that's not a word, which just proves my point). This may be another one of those times.

A few days ago, I was thinking about the parable of the talents from the New Testament. I have grown up reading this story backwards and forward, seeing it from multiple Christian denominations' points of view. It wasn't until a few days ago, though, that it really hit me. I thought about the servant who received one talent and because he was afraid (or whatever that may translate to) he buried his talent under the ground. And then I thought about myself as that servant, metaphorically burying my talent under the ground, for lots of different reasons: I'm insecure, I'm hesitant to speak up and let others know what I can do, I'm not as talented as the next person, I have no way of contributing my talent or at least no way of knowing how to, I feel like my talent is useless. I found a spot in the ground, a VERY deep spot in the ground, to bury my talent, because I was (and perhaps, am still) afraid.

I don't want to be the servant who buried his talent, and now I'm working to try and dig it back out. I'm stuck in a rut though because I don't know where it is, what I can do, what I'm good at, what I can become good at. (I credit psychology courses for helping me realize what makes me this way, and that's all I'm going to say about that.) I don't know what my talents are, and for the last few months I have been digging around trying to find the exact spot where I buried these talents, but to no avail, and all I'm left with are a bunch empty dug-up holes. If I can find out where my talents are hidden, maybe I can finally figure out how to use them.

This talk of digging and holes just sorted a conglomerate of related songs and clips through the ipod of my mind (and makes me realize I might have a bit more of Abed in me):

1. The Dig It song from Holes, and the movie Holes in general:

2. The Sea of Holes from the movie Yellow Submarine:

3. Celebrity Skin by Hole:

4. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden:

5. This game of Scene to Rap from Whose Line:

6. Another amusing moment from Community:

Somehow it all comes back to Community, doesn't it? I think I just need to stop being serious in writing here specifically where I know other parties could be reading. (Yes, I'm referring to all two of you who actually read my blog!) All right, back to some more metaphorical digging in search of talent(s). Wish me luck, I need it. Dig it, oh oh oh...

No Pins For Me

I did it. I now have a Pinterest account. And I'm not sure what to do with it yet. My inspiration is gone. I wonder if there's a Pinterest board out there with ideas for Pinterest....

In other girly news, I'm actually watching Project Runway. Sort of. It's mostly background noise while I try to channel my inner girl, but I'm trying. Considering my extreme lack of TV watching as of late, I think this is the longest I may have ever been on the Lifetime channel. And I don't know how much more of this overdramatized fashion drama I can stand to listen to. Yikes, where is MXC, Whose Line, or an SVU marathon when I need it?

I'm also craving a Battle Royale with cheese, AKA a plain grilled cheese from In-N-Out. Perhaps with an extra slice of cheese. The story behind the name? Yup. Board idea? Maybe not.



Enjoy Eating Fiber and Watching The Mentalist

I'm only going to mention briefly that which is reflected in the title of my post. I have thought a lot recently about my maturity (or possibly lack of), and I need to grow up and start acting my age. Whatever that means. I don't really feel like a 20-something and I think I have a lot of growing up to do in certain aspects of my life. On the one hand, I like where I'm at and don't mind staying here, but at the same time, I'm going through a lot of self-actualization, which is eye opening, fascinating, and frustrating at the same time. Many other people my age have well-paying jobs, nice cars, are getting married or having babies (in many instances both), taking lavish vacations, settling into their living situations, and overall basically living a pretty good life. I have a good life too, in fact a great life, but I've wondered if I'm falling behind, if there is something more I am supposed to do with this life. The consolation is I suppose I'm not the only 20-something who feels this way. Until I can figure this all out, I'm going to take my time growing up.

In less thought-jumbling news, I also need to get in touch with my double X chromosome. I should start a pinterest account. Honestly, do guys use pinterest? I think not. As much as I love being an honorary bro to my fellow bros, it's nice to feel like I can indulge in something more girly when things like chick flicks, off-the-shoulder shirts, diet coke, reality TV, and accompanied trips to the restroom have absolutely NO appeal whatsoever.

And in random adorable news, I want to see a live puppy parade. And I want Dean Pelton to be the commentator. Hehe, puppies.

Disneylingual

A new fascination has emerged in the last few weeks: Disney songs in other languages.

This all started when I heard Jackie Chan's Cantonese and Mandarin versions of I'll Make a Man Out Of You. Then I went searching for 1. other Disney songs in Mandarin (mostly from Mulan, but a few others as well) to brush up on the language, 2. other songs sung in the native language of their country of origin, and 3. songs in other more lyrical sounding languages or those languages with certain sounds that would be fitting of certain tunes.

It's a given that the songs from Mulan would sound good in Chinese, so I thought to take a listen to other dubbed Disney songs in Chinese. Not too much success so far, but I can say I have fallen in love with I See the Light in Mandarin. I already love the song as is, but in Mandarin both singers sound amazing and the song actually translates fairly close and very nicely compared to the original English version. A friend of mine mentioned that I See the Light from Tangled has been one of the most popular songs played at weddings as a first dance recently. I won't cave into the cliche of having "our song" be the same as everyone else's song, but she did add if I chose that song as my first dance, I could always choose the Mandarin version instead. Eh, maybe if I marry a Chinese guy, who knows.

So naturally, if the songs of Mulan sound great in Chinese, how about the other Disney movies? So I searched a little bit more, and had the pleasure of listening to songs from Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback of Notre Dame in French, Aladdin in Arabic, Pinocchio in Italian, Jungle Book in Hindi, Lion King in Zulu, Hercules in Greek and Italian (I had to be creative with this one since Latin is kind of a dead language). One of my favorites which I will class in this category for the time being is Friends on the Other Side in French. It is Louisiana, and Dr. Facilier is kind of a hot villain already, so his hot points triple singing in French. Another one, this time one that also hit a tender spot in my heart, is Heaven's Light from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Since I was already on a roll, I thought I would search for Disney songs in other languages, not necessarily just those belonging to their respective geographic regions. For instance, there are no Disney songs that take their origins in Japanese per se, but I do enjoy the sound of Japanese in song and it is probably one of the more lyrical Asian dialects to listen to. Also, thanks to Abed from Community, I have been intrigued with the Polish language (that may be the next one to tackle after Chinese and Korean). I also find Portuguese a beautiful language, and aside from Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, it does not get too much exposure otherwise. There are also the languages I never thought to hear, like Icelandic, Flemish, Hebrew, among others. It's fascinating to hear the differences in languages and dialects and how they interpret the songs, and even more fascinating to view the cultural differences just in the translation of their lyrics back into English. A few awesome discoveries have resulted: Hellfire from The Hunckback of Notre Dame in German, Be Prepared from The Lion King in Korean, and Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid in Russian AND Japanese. These all coincidentally happen to be villain songs, but on the lighter side, I have found that many languages can rock I Won't Say I'm In Love:

And the highlight of tonight? The original band is back! I did not think I would be as exciting as I am about this; I cannot stop smiling and jumping in my seat.