Project X

Worst. Project. Runway. EVER.

This show is going the way of America's Next Top Model- off my season pass list on my DVR.

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Blurb

Random things:

● I cannot stop thinking about last week's "Project Runway," when Michael Costello lost what was left of his mind on TV. Seriously, it's just a TV show. There is a time and a place for histrionics, generally involving death or severe illness. NOT because of a TV show.

● I am a stupid person, because while I am currently paying an obscenely tiny amount of money for rent, I went to go look at a (brand! new!) loft right near work today. I was just curious. Or that was my excuse. I saw two places, both of them the same size as my current apartment but about 55% more expensive. Yes, 55%, yet still only 1/3 of the price of my apartment in LA was (back when I lived alone). Weighing the pros and cons ... the new loft is literally a block and a half from work, which I LOVE. But it's also in downtown. Above a bar. Do I want to live over a bar, soundproofed loft or no? (One of my co-workers thinks it would be like I started living in a sitcom.) Hmm. It has an awesome gym, but also has a tanning room, which slightly creeps me out- why do condos need a tanning room? What to do, what to do?

● Albuquerque is FREEZING. I get up in the morning (not early, I am not a morning person) and it's below 40 degrees. Hovering around freezing. I hate turning on the heater because it's even drier now in the cold than it was during the heat of the summer (when we at least had pretty frequent monsoons). A co-worker told me that he wakes up with nosebleeds, it's so dry and cold. Gross.

● I made kimchi jjigae on Sunday night with the (horror of horrors) LAST of my kimchi. Yes, the kimchi that my mother brought me (three large jars) when she and my father were last here, a couple months ago. Yes, that is some old kimchi. But old and delicious kimchi is still delicious kimchi. It had become so overripe that I had to make jjigae. It's really a very delicious jjigae, but I'm very, very sad that my kimchi will be completely gone when I'm done eating this jjigae. Sigh.

● There is a co-worker of mine who says "truth" a lot, in a dry, sarcastic way, and for some reason, it cracks me up every time. "That was not really a very good sandwich." "TRUTH." "This bar has a lot of weirdos in it." "TRUTH."

● I am dreaming about where I want to move after this movie is over. London sounds so lovely, and I really love that city. I hear Vancouver is beautiful and a wonderful place to live. I'd like to see Sydney, and if it was just for a year, I could tolerate the summer ... I think. Singapore probably has weather that I'd hate, but it sounds fun. Korea, of course, is always on the list. I want to live there for at least a little while sometime in my life. For some reason, LA's not really on the list. I'm excited about where life will take me.

Back to work I go.

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Project Run-Away

I swear, if Gretchen wins this season of "Project Runway," I am going to boycott that show.

Whenever I start to get busier at work (60 hour weeks are in full effect), the only TV that I keep up with are reality shows or competition shows. I do not enjoy finding out the results of something via the internet or by idle water-cooler talk. I want to watch it and know it.

These days, the only show that I watch the night it airs is "Project Runway." This season's been pretty crap. A lot of needless drama, a 90-minute run time ... annoying. Just really annoying.

I attribute a lot of this to the move from Bravo to Lifetime. Lifetime is about hokey movie-of-the-weeks, isn't it? That's how I always thought of it. That, plus re-runs of "Will and Grace." (I am a sucker for that show, Karen Walker is my favorite.) Not the place for a show like "Project Runway," which had such a high standard set over at Bravo (a.k.a. the channel with more money).

ANYWAY. I don't like the contestants much this season. A lot of them were like cartoon characters, only more irritating. Michael Costello, Gretchen Jones, Ivy Higa, Valerie Mayen, AJ whatever-your-last-name-is, all trite, annoying people that I did not much enjoy watching. I understand how editing works, but they can't edit it if you don't provide it. Case in point, Andy South. I love him. He never came across as anything other than kind of quiet and really young because he never said all the obnoxious things that everyone else did.

The contestants that I did like are Andy South, Mondo Guerro, April Johnson, and Sarah Trost. At least two of them (my favorites) are in. If Mondo doesn't win, something is very wrong.

Plus, is it my imagination, or are the judges totally unhinged this season? I know Nina's pregnant, but she seems grouchier than usual. Heidi seems like she's off in her own little world. Michael's Michael, and I adore him, even when he's being catty.

Oh, "Project Runway," I devote at least 40 minutes to you every week. Please end on a good note so I won't be pissed about all the time I've wasted. Sigh.

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Culinary Monotony

Albuquerque is firmly entrenched in autumn now. Go outside, and it screams "AUTUMN!" at the top of its lungs.

Just a month ago, it was 90 degrees by this time of day. Today, it's hovering around 70 and very much thinking about whether it would like to dip into the 60's. When I get home from work, around 9:00 at night, it's in the 50's, with the temperature dropping lower and lower every day.

In conclusion, for this thin-skinned California-raised wuss, it's COLD!

Last month was about keeping cool- eating cucumbers, salads, iced beverages with actual ice cubes. This month is about soups, stews, a rice cooker that always has rice, and hot toddies. I switched to long-sleeves pajamas, wool socks, and even had to throw on an extra blanket.

Don't get me wrong, I love this weather. I like cardigans and jackets and scarves. I like closed-toed shoes (excuses not to get pedicures!) and fuzzy hats and gloves. But this cold weather here comes with an insane dryness. I thought the lack of humidity was bad before, but it is exponentially bad now. Granted, I have very sensitive skin, but I'm currently using night cream as my twice-a-day moisturizer because it's the only thing that prevents my face from chapping and then peeling (which has happened four times (!) in the past two weeks).

The thing that worries me is that Albuquerque has four seasons. We are not in the coldest season yet and I've already broken out all my outerwear. Is there anything more moisturizing than night cream? This does not bode well for me when, in a month, the temperatures drop below freezing at night. (My co-workers mock me every time I wear a scarf, because they all think it's not even cold yet. They're running about in flip-flops still.)

Plus, cold weather is much more evocative of Korean food to me. I miss the hearty, sweat-inducing winter warm-up Korean food that I grew up on. 김치찌개 and 설렁탕 most of all, but everyday soups, too, like 미역국 (my favorite!) and 된장 국 (one of my dad's favorites). A good soup with some hot rice and a few sheets of salted 김 make the cold less biting.

Here in the land of green chile, there's good food to be had. Enchiladas, carne adovada, plenty of green and/or red chile ... but nothing that feels as substantial or as hot (temperature-wise) as Korean food. Honestly, I don't know if it's the tongue-scalding temperature or what, but Korean soups and stews feel like they pack a much bigger punch to wintry weather.

My parents are currently in Korea, and I miss them. They should be back tomorrow. Even though I cannot see their faces, just to hear their voices will feel good.

My sister is off on a business trip tomorrow- it seems appropriate. We're a globe-trotting family that now finds it hard to spend any amount of time together.

Work, of course, is busy. I have no time to think. So I'm pushing off my existential crisis until this movie's over.

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Burnt Roast

Sums up work kind of perfectly, this coffee pot. Saw it in the kitchen as I was leaving.

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John Lennon's 70th

I love the Beatles.

(In all honesty, my favorite Beatle is George.)

I was introduced to the Beatles by my father. The first album I ever listened to was "Please Please Me," full of frothy, early-Beatles pop songs. People can say what they will, I still know the words to every single song and love them all.

Because of the way I was introduced to the band, I have a special place in my cold, dark little heart for the mushroom-hair-cuts, sharp little 60's suits, and skinny ties that the Beatles sported in their early career. I love the bubble-gum pop, the cheesy lyrics, and even the funny little dance moves they had. The more experimental music and shaggy hair are also great, but don't remind me of being nine years old. Nostalgia usually wins, in my book.

I think a lot of people are celebrating and mourning today, because had he survived, John Lennon would have turned 70 today.

I don't know where he would have done in life, but I do know that he died too early. So wherever he is, happy birthday!

(The Lennon of my childhood.)

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Pencils

I'm sure it's quite apparent that I've been bogged down at work lately. I've been working on Saturdays, checking in on Sundays, and still trying to live a somewhat normal life, which has been hard. Generally, the first thing to go is sleep. I haven't slept much in the past few weeks, and the delirium finally hit me around Tuesday or Wednesday. I've been in a haze, pretty much fighting to get my brain into work and functioning.

Trying to force a sleepy brain into productiveness is terrible- it's like herding a group of kittens. Kittens that are half hyena and half Tasmanian devil.

Despite my complete lack of brain cells, I had to post today because of these:

(images from designspartan)

Aren't these just amazing? They look like nubbly little pencil bits, the pencils that are just thrown about, picked up when needed, abused, and treated badly. Dalton Ghetti has managed to transform these afterthoughts into beautiful, delicate, lovely little things.

I really appreciate and love art like this.

My parents are now both in Korea, and though I already live far away from them, I somehow miss them more now that they are thousands of miles away, rather than merely hundreds.

I am fighting to get over this bout of melancholy and back into some semblance of contentment. It's a losing battle, so far. At least this means that I have nowhere to go but up... I think?

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