Paprika

Successsssssss. I think that words needs some more s's to show how incredibly psyched I am that I have not only finished my first semester of law school (with only one nervous breakdown!), but I got my Yuletide fic done on time and was asked out twice this past weekend!

It's been such an incredibly ridiculous semester. People warned me what law school would be like, but I couldn't really appreciate their advice until I actually got into it. There's been some crazy ups and downs--but now that the semester's over, I can look back and say that I did enjoy it. Well enjoy the parts that weren't December and finals. Although, it was really fun going out after our last final on Friday and drinking as one class at the local bar at 12 noon.

As for Yuletide, I ended up writing it all during this past weekend since I didn't have any time to really work prior to Friday, when my last final ended, so Saturday and Sunday I was frantically trying to write while completely drawing a blank for plots. Luckily, two of my very amazing friends helped me think of a plot, dialogue, and edit for grammar. They were really fantastic.

Friday night was the first time that I was able to go out in forever--so I pretty much went all out with my friends. It was one of those nights that ended with me befriending gay asians and apparently giving my phone number to several guys X D Which is always slightly awkward, but I did get asked out twice over the weekend which is was really nice, especially since I hadn't been out since ... november?

I'm total shite at dates though, lol. Today I met up with E for coffee and I suddenly remembered that I'm super socially awkward when it comes to dates and pretty much run out of things to say immediately. And tonight, I'm also going on a date tonight with a brazillian guy that I met outside the bar last Friday. He suddenly asked at 4:30 this afternoon if I wouldn't mind doubling which left me scrambling to find a free friend to bring. Since most of my friends in the area are either solidly dating someone or male, it didn't leave me with a whole lot of options but I strong armed one of my single cousins into going lol.

Anyways, I'm just excited for the mini reprieve before i leave to go skiing on Saturday (!!) and then it's off to the east coast for a week and then...school starts again.... ))) : Three weeks seemed like a long time when I was planning everything but now I feel like I'm going to start school completely unrested. Oh well.

OH AND I SAW AVATAR. GO SEE IT NOW. I'll be honest--the plot was a total B plot, but the graphics, oh the graphics were so beautiful that I think they should invent letters above A so that I can properly grade them. The film was so gorgeous. I wanted to jump in and go to Pandora and see these beautiful things. I wish the plot had been stronger, but honestly, with graphics like that, I'm more than willing to let the plot be a little skimpy.

Happy holidays!

So now that I'm back at home, I've started the process of looking for a new apartment. I really have no idea where to start, so I've been mostly looking on westside rentals and craigslist. I also have to figure out the roommate situation. I want someone who's kind of like me in terms of social activities. I mean, I like to go out and have friends over, but I also like staying in and cooking food or watching tv and movies. I enjoy chilling in bars, but not clubs. I am not a club person. Every once in a while, my friends will succeed in guilting me into going to a club and I inevitably regret it. The only time that I've had a good time at a club was during my senior week when the club was reserved solely for members of the senior class. And, by some miracle, I knew most of the songs that they played! (I'm not really up on my current popular music )

I guess that I prefer a place that's more conducive to relaxing and talking. But, uh, anyways, I guess I'm looking for a roommate that I can also be friends with. We'll see how well that works?

On a different note, I just finished watching "Death At A Funeral" , a British black comedy. It's absolutely hilarious. The film follows the funeral of the patriarch of a family and one of his sons' attempts to honor his father with dignity. Unfortunately, that appears to be a bit difficult as everything that can go wrong, does, from unsuspecting relatives taking drugs to outrageous blackmail demands. It's with Matthew Macfadyen and Alan Tudyk and many other people, but those were the only two that I recognized by name. If anyone wants to watch it, I've started to upload my films to a community thatbitofpixiedust  and I just created calledfastpictures .

Wow...it's been a while since I posted last. The past semester has been a pretty crazy time for me--I think I've been more social oriented this semester than the last year and a half combined. Although that's kind of what school does to me. But now, being a second semester senior, I've finally been able to take a break! (i.e. get senioritis and not care about my performance in my classes...)

For better or worse, I will in fact be graduating in exactly three weeks and leaving the wonderful state of Maryland. I've done a lot of complaining about Maryland for the past three and a half years, but this semester it's finally dawned on me that I'll be leaving all of the good things of Maryland behind.

As a way to ease myself back into journal writing and to start getting out the immense urges from nostalgia that I've recently acquired, I've decided to do a post about what I love about Maryland.

First of all, Maryland is a gorgeous state. Everywhere I go, nature attacks me. Now I'm not the biggest lover of nature, but I can't help but appreciate how beautiful Maryland is. Even in the midst of Baltimore there are gardens and streams, as well as surprising areas of wilderness.

My favorite outdoor/nature parts of Maryland are 1) the tulip gardens about two blocks away from where I live. I discovered them freshmen year and since then, they've been my favorite place for picnics, runs, or just reading outside. I wanted to put up some pictures that I took, but unfortunately, imageshack was not complying with my requests.

I love the fact that it snows here. I think snow is so awesome and I'm from LA so I never get snow. One time, in high school, it slushed (rain/snow) for about five minutes. It was possibly the most thrilling five minutes of high school. Even though it stayed really cold for a pretty long time this winter, I didn't mind that much. Every time it snowed, I thought "this could be the last time that I get to see snow fall in Maryland."

Also, I love running behind the Hopkins House apartments on the running trail. It goes through this cute park area and then onto a wooden chip pathway that splits around a stream.

I love the music groups and movies that Johns Hopkins sponsors during the summer--it's free to everyone! It's so much fun to go with a few friends and have a picnic to eat. Last summer, I went with some friends and heard this great music group (I wish that I had their name!) and then watched "Some Like It Hot."

I guess that kind of bleeds into my next section--I love the Charles Theatre because it always shows the coolest new slightly out of mainstream films. Also, the Senator Theatre is gorgeous. It's my favorite place to go watch the coolest new action movie there (Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins.....) I'm really going to miss going there...and their pretty great ticket price ($9, oldest and most beautiful movie theatre in Maryland).

Most Saturdays I find myself at the Farmer's Market on 32st and Waverly with one of my best friends. We don't actually buy things that often, but it's great to just walk around. Occasionally, when I have the chance to cook, I'll buy some fresh spices or great lettuce. I also buy lots and lots of great bread here--but it goes fast, so if I get there after 10:30, I tend to be out of luck. After walking around, we always always ALWAYS go to Pete's Grill at 32st and Greenmount. It's counter style dining and let me tell you, nothing hits the spot better than Pete's. It's the kind of comforting breakfast food that will make your day better, no matter how it starts. Apparently Michael Phelps is a regular, so the place is covered in Michael Phelps paraphenelia.

As for more food? That's probably my favorite part of Baltimore! I've accumulated so many favorite places to eat. Here's a selection of my favorites.
Breakfast: Miss Shirley's, Blue Moon Cafe (also open from 11 p.m. -- dawn on Friday and Saturday evenings), Towson Dinner (open 24 hours :  DD )
Lunch: Azafran Cafe and Carma's
Snack: Chocolatea, Sofi's Crepes (mmm so good. i make my friends come with me all the time to get dessert crepes),
Dinner: Tabrizi's, Tapas Teatro, Jong-ka (???? I can never remember the name D : ), Famous Yakitori One, Balducci's

As for day trips, there's so many cool places within a relatively short drive. I love Annapolis--it's such a cute area. Hagerstown outlets are fantastic--i got the best deals there last fourth of july weekend. D.C. is obviously ridiculously close and there's a million things to do there.

I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to live here for the past couple of years. Maryland and Baltimore are great places and I don't think that I would have known this if I hadn't been willing to go somewhere completely new.

And now, even though I haven't been working too hard most of the semester, this week is slowly destroying my will to live. Off to go finish math homework and creative writing portfolio!

So I pretty much failed straight off the bat, for which I have to apologize. In my defense though, my brother was in town this weekend which meant that I've had absolutely no free time. He got in Friday evening, so I spent all of Friday after class cleaning my apartment. It was pretty much a cesspool of bacteria and disease. I wouldn't at all have been surprised to find something had died in my apartment and we hadn't noticed for months. But now, my apartment is sparkly and clean! I can even walk around barefoot again......

Having my brother come and visit was a lot of fun. We saw Quantum of Solace with my friend pregnant friend Jackie and her husband. Jackie's kind of an unofficial family member, so my mom demanded that I take lots of pictures of her. About Quantum of Solace.....hmmmm....lol.

I actually did enjoy the film a lot--there was a lot more action than the first one, which wasn't necessarily a good or bad thing. But, I think that the plot for Casino Royale was much tighter than the one for Quantum of Solace. Also the chemistry between Eva Green and Daniel Craig was much much better than the chemistry between the new bond girl and James Bond. Although I definitely understand that it's really hard to compare to the back story of Vesper and Bond, but still....NO CHEMISTRY.

I also visited the wonderful Wegman's with my brother and he was suitably impressed with the awesomeness. We bought a bunch of cheeses and sushi and just stared longingly at all the big fish. I also bought my brother a bunch of the Japanese soda which he had been craving from back home.

Then we get to the crux of my story: the parties. I had a french party that my french teacher was throwing for both students and faculty. I thought it was going to be pretty lame, but I actually had a really fantastic time. I bonded with a bunch of my classmates that I only barely knew. I also happened to really bond with the daughter of my professor. She was sixteen and we were making small talk when she asked me what my favorite tv shows were. I confided that I'm totally addicted to Gossip Girl, which she squealed at. We then talked about our extreme love for Ed, how we totally wanted Nate/Vanessa because Nate/Jenny was a little weird, and how awkward the Duchess/Stepson affair was.

Yep, that's me. I get along great with teenage high schoolers X D

After the French party, I had a party for the listeners at the peer counseling campus group that I work for. It was probably the best party that I've been to all year. So incredibly fantastic. I played beer pong and almost actually won. I also got incredibly drunk, danced with people suggestively, (although not nearly as much as other people--I have pictures of grinding trains) and then kissed someone that I probably shouldn't have. All in all, an excellent evening, made only slightly awkward by the fact that my brother was there. But, the good thing about my brother is that people always love him. Everyone at the party thought that he was in fact, way cooler than me. When people came up to me and asked me who my brother was and I called my brother over, everyone was like "...THIS IS YOUR BROTHER? He's so cool!" lol

Anyways, my weekend was a lot of fun. I've also been reseaching Thanksgiving recipes because this year our theme is Asian Fusion. Every year my dad picks a theme and we do traditional dishes as well as that theme inspired dishes. Last year we did southwestern cuisine and the year before it was the midwest.

A couple of my favorite so far are Wasabi mashed potatoes and miso-ginger marinated grilled salmon. What is everyone else's plans for thanksgiving?

Ok. Can I first say that this is why I really really love Japan. Getting vanilla from cow poop? No problem!

My shoulders are kind of sunburned, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to go buy aloe vera for it. It's just a minor sunburn and I've had way worse. I kind of expected to get a sunburn yesterday--on my way back from buying black flats for work, I had to wait outside for almost an hour for the shuttle to school.

Although, in view of how I got the sunburn, I'm not too upset about it. I got to hang out at the coolest shopping center near Baltimore. I explored Baltimore's public transportation to Hunt Valley's Shopping Complex. In the complex, there's a *gasp* WEGMAN'S aka the love of my life, a DSW, california pizza kitchen, ann taylor loft, panera etc. It was a very worthwhile trip. Now I don't have to wear my cheap target flats to work everyday!

Stolen from aoimidori :

• Open your WinAmp/Itunes
  

• Put the shuffle-mode on

• Find a picture of the first 20 artists. If the same artist comes again, skip

• Why you should do this? So that other people would know what you're listening and how the bands look like.

Stay tuned for the next post: I'll upload all the songs and have the correct bands!

So aoimidori and I decided to do a two hour fic writing challenge, and although she claims that I magicked her into it, we both kind of wanted to do something that forced us to get back into writing. Hers is here and mine is over here. I was a little skeptical at first of doing it for two hours because it seemed almost like too much time for a 700 to 1000 word fic, but it actually worked out perfectly. I'm immensely pleased that I wrote this pairing because I hadn't written it since November.  Also it was relaxed enough so that I could multi task while writing--i.e. help my younger brother with his math homework.

Which brings me to my next point--my brother had this really fun problem. It went something like this: Mary drives from her house to her parents' house at twenty miles an hour. How fast must she drive back to average thirty miles per hour?

I'm not sure if anyone here likes fun word problems, but if anyone wants to solve the problem and has the right answer (not just through guessing....) I will write them a drabble of their choice.....


On a side note, I'm so incredibly sore right now. I decided to go to the break dancing club and attempt to start learning how to break dance last night. The good thing was that everyone was incredibly nice to me, the bad thing is that I'm pretty sure I'm the worst dancer the world has ever seen. And I'm also incredibly out of shape. I iced my wrists and knees last night, so they don't feel horrendously bad. But my arms? Every time I lift them I feel like I'm lifting ten pound weights. I am such a weakling X D

Hey everyone! I've really been wanting to write lately, but I haven't had any inspiration. The words, plots, anythings, are coming, so I decided to turn to my flist. I can't promise anything, but if you give me a prompt from one of my fandoms or ships, then I'll definitely do my best to write it. The more detailed the plot the better!
Just so no one is confused, here's a list of my fandoms and/or ships in that fandoms.


I also made a list of 25 things that I want to do before I turn 25. By no means is this comprehensive, and I'll probably update with more things as time goes by. This is just what I was thinking of today!

Today my cousin, S, and I were driving to one of her older sister's wedding events. S has two sisters, one of whom is getting married this weekend, and the other one is getting married in a month. We were talking about weddings, and I was also telling her about the Hana Kimi news. She likes jdramas, especially Hana Yori Dango, but she doesn't follow the news as much as I do. So, I was telling her how Rui (Oguri Shun) is finallyfinallyfinally going to be the lead guy in a jdrama, and we were kind of gushing over that. We then kind of drifted back to weddings, and this is what we talked about.

On Thursday night, a friend of a friend had come into Los Angeles to visit from Bakersfield, and she made reservations for the three of us at the Upright Citizens Brigade. The UCB is a group of sketch comedians and improvisers that happen to be absolutely hilarious. There's one in Los Angeles and one in New York City (I think).
I've seen some of their shows before, but I've generally only seen improv or improv based shows, and the show that we ended up seeing happened to be a "play" and then a one-man narrative. Both were absolutely amazing. And shocking. But we'll get to that part later.
The first part of the show was called "Three Companeros." Not, I should point out, "Tres Companeros" or "Three Friends", but Three Companeros, a fact that I found highly amusing. So I went in kind of expecting a "Three Amigos" kind of thing. But, and I'm not even kidding here, it was kind of like fanfiction brought to life. (I swear, this stuff follows me around!)
The play followed Lance Armstrong (the bicycle player), Jake Gyllenhaal, and Matthew McConaughey during the course of one summer as they all lived together. Matthew and Jake were under the impression that they were living with Lance to help him get over his break up with Sheryl Crow. Lance really had them there to determine who he wanted to play in a movie of his life. Enter the neighbor's niece and trouble ensues.
I really liked how the play was put on. Each of the actors played their respective characters amazingly well. The play was somewhat stereotypical, but that's where its charm lay. McConaughey and Armstrong teased Gyllenhaal about Brokeback Mountain multiple times, but there was plenty of innuendo for the two every time they reenacted scenes. The neighbor's daughter, who the guys all ended up fighting for, had more to her than just appearances. And there was a crazy neighbor. In short, it turned out absolutely amazing.
What followed after "Three Companeros" was a retelling of one man's experience in Amsterdam. And wow. The guy had received a job offer from an improv company in Amsterdam and decided to take it. Over five years, he ended up changing so much. Partly from the large amount of drugs that he took, but also because of the completely different environment. He talked about self-acceptance, crazy girlfriends, managers that encouraged strange sexual fetishes, and Dutch clothing. He talked about the Wasteland: a yearly fetish party that's absolutely huge in Amsterdam. (and really scary. that's cool.) And most of all, he made all of these crazy experiences into a really funny narrative. I'd never thought that crazy exes could be so hilarious. AND HE HAD PICTURES! The saying that pictures are worth a thousand words have never been truer. Most of all, it was really interesting to see another American's perspective of Amsterdam having gone, stayed a long time, and then returned. Almost like I learned through proxy. And didn't have to take large amounts of ecstasy. Or wear tacky clothing : P