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It is currently 5:01 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30.
I am still at work.
I've been at work since Monday, June 29, 10:30 a.m.
To say that I am tired would be somewhat of an understatement. I'm hoping to be out of here before 6:00 a.m. so I can go snooze for a bit before coming back and starting all over again. We'll see how that goes.
Darwin asks, "Are we there yet?"
In the past 7 days (totaling 168 hours):
107 hours: spent at work
10.5 hours: spent in the car commuting
50.5 hours: the remaining time for sleeping, showering, complaining, and drinking heavily.
This is the last week, which is always hell week. Just trying to get through it!
Triangle:
Girl
Boy 1
Boy 2
Theorem:
Boys are not capable of grasping the constantly shifting and subtly changing emotions of any given girl (unless that girl is a floozy).
Proof:
1. If (A = Girl liking Boy 1), (B = Boy 1 and Boy 2 being close friends),
2. (A) will lead to a lot of (C = Girl, Boy 1, Boy 2 spending time together).
3. (C) will eventually lead to the end of (A) or to even more (A), depending on how likable Boy 1 really is.
4. (C) could lead to (D = Girl switches focus to Boy 2) or, more likely, to (E = everyone becomes friends).
5. (A) is possible to persist even if (E) comes about.
6. (B) may lead to Boy 1 confessing to Boy 2 that (F = Boy 1 likes Girl), or vice versa (G = Boy 2 likes Girl).
7. If (A) = true, Girl is acutely aware of Boy 1 and not very aware of Boy 2.
8. If (A) = true, it becomes more and more likely that (F) = false and (G) = true. Because life is never drama-free.
9. Sometime around #3, both Boy 1 and Boy 2 got lost and are still trying to figure out which is true: (A), (D), or (E). Clueless.
10. Q.E.D.
I first read "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" a couple years ago, while I was on a spa vacation with my best friend.
We took a few days and went to a beach town in Orange County (Balboa Beach or Newport Beach, I think) to just ... relax. We got massages, facials, had brunch on the beach-front terrace; it was lovely and serene.
In between spa treatments, we laid out by the pool and read whatever magazines and books my friend had brought along. I needed something to distract me from the horrible, burning sunshine (she's a bronze goddess and I am Snow White, dragged out into the light only under extreme duress), so I decided to go for the gorier book, which happened to be "The Devil in the White City."
I have a strange fascination with murderers and serial killers-- not because I want to be one, but because I cannot fathom why anyone would want to kill someone else or how someone could physically kill someone else. The how really gets to me and gives me the shivers. I think that if I hadn't found visual effects, I might have become a criminologist (certainly not a crime scene investigator- crime scenes are far too dirty).
So, on a sunny California day, lying out on a deck chaise, between a gently rippling blue pool and a slightly choppy Pacific Ocean, I started reading about a disgustingly innovative and freakishly cold serial killer.
I still remember how much my eyes stung, with the sunshine beating down on the cream-colored pages, making the text blur so that the serifs stood out but the remainders of the letters softened. It didn't matter how much I teared up; I couldn't stop reading.
The book is quiet, a clean, spare depiction of America in the 1880s and '90s. I loved Erik Larson's tone, his adjectives. I can't imagine the endless hours of research that he had to do, delving into the actions and mind of a monster- can't see how that didn't make Larson go insane.
He kept his sanity (thankfully) and turned out a book that is part novel, part biography, part history lesson. The World's Columbian Exposition has never been so intriguing before! I actually learned a lot (the man who invented the Ferris wheel, the politics of architecture back in the day) and was kept riveted by the gruesome true story.
This book is not for the squeamish- though it doesn't go into gory detail, just the plainly worded descriptions of some of his actions are despicable.
The way that Larson weaves together the life and times of H. H. Holmes and the architects of the World Expo is amazing. How he could come up with something like that is beyond me- it's weirdly coincidental and alarming how such an event of citywide and nationwide goodwill could be the stage for something so terrible.
Perhaps not the best read for a poolside vacation, but still a great book. I've read it a few more times since and it's still good, still hooks me every time. More fun than a biography, less sensationalist than a novel, perfect for a brain craving a lot of substance with a little sugar to make it go down easily.
Now if only I could find time to re-read this book ... or pick up any number of new books just sitting at home, waiting for me...
It’s amazing that I can think of a subject to write about in times when I have nothing going on, nothing to do, and yet when my life is filled to the brim with crap, my mind is a complete blank. I don’t know how I used to blog every single day, but I miss those days. I want them back!
So what’s going on, Internet?
All I’m doing lately is work. Then I complain about work, I work from home, I dream (nightmare) about work, I wake up in the middle of the night freaking out about work … it’s a little alarming, a little depressing, and altogether (sadly) expected. I think making a movie is like having a baby. In short:
1. Conception (Pre-Production): Fun in theory! Ideas! Adrenaline surge!
2. First Trimester (Filming): Nervousness, preparation, realization that preparation doesn’t matter, exhilaration and nausea from all that energy.
3. Second Trimester (Re-Shoots): Fatigue and a sense of dread … the end is near.
4. Third Trimester (Post-Production): HOLY CRAP, IT’S ALMOST TIME TO GET THIS SUCKER OUT OF HERE.
5. Birth (Opening Day): OWWWWWWWWWWW---- HOORAY!! I love it! It’s over! Hallelujah!
So I'm a week late.
In my defense, I'm insane trying to get all this work done. The movie comes out on July 24 and it is now June 20. The countdown is a very real thing in the last few months of post-production, and in these last weeks, as the reels lock, audio is mixed, color is dialed, it becomes pandemonium.
Last Saturday, June 13, my (very understanding) parents celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary.
Congratulations, 부모님!
They are the best.
Even (especially?) in cheesy couple tees:
Excuse the crappy photos, the sister took them on her phone. Despite the poor quality of multi-tasking phones, aren't my parents adorable?
They are completely atypical Korean parents:
- They hold hands. In public.
- They hug and kiss their children.
- They encouraged us to do whatever we wanted (I went into computer animation, my sister was a fine arts major- no doctors or lawyers here, move along).
- They don't tell us to hurry up and get married.
- They take walks together ... with the cat (yes, really).
- They have breakfast and dinner together every single day.
- They talk to each other.
Yes, my parents bicker at times. They are each other's strongest supporters but also worst critics. They can yell at each other the way no one else can yell at either of them.
They are a single unit, like a coin; opposite but the same.
In other words, they are best friends.
They have the most amazing marriage I have ever seen, and are my role models in what I would like for myself if/when I get married. Yes, it seems tough at times. But what in life is not tough? Anything worth anything is worth fighting for, and I would fight for a solid relationship like Mom and Dad's.
I love them and my sister more than anyone else in the world.
I pity the poor men that will eventually try to marry into our family!
This is the only time I'm going to write about this particular person.
This person, for some unknown, cryptic reason, decided that he really liked me.
That's all fine and dandy, like who you like, be who you are, listen to what you want, do what makes you happy. Really. As long as you are not harming or negatively impacting my life, go. Be. Do.
This person could not go or be or do. He wanted to go with me, be with me, do what I was doing.
Full disclosure: I am extremely touchy-feely with my family and my friends. I HATE IT when strangers touch me. They have germs. I don't know when the last time they showered was. I don't know if their clothes are clean. There are too many variables, and I am absolutely disgusted by anything that might be remotely dirty.
So. If you don't know me well and saw me with my friends, you might assume that, as a stranger or acquaintance, you can come up to me and hug me as a greeting. You would be mistaken. I need to suss a person out before they do something as inherently germy as touch me with more than the tip of their little finger.
This person. He's a nice person, which is the worst part. If he was a horrible person, perhaps I would have had no trouble telling him off (perhaps). If he was rude or mean or selfish or kicked puppies, I would not have remained civil and friendly, which is my autopilot.
He managed to alienate me and tear me away from my normally chipper facade by pushing me. Push, push, push. Tried to push me into some sort of relationship that I wasn't ready for. Tried to push me into spending more time with him. Tried to push into my personal (sacred) space. Push, push, push.
I don't respond well to pushes. I don't even respond well to subtle nudges. My instant reaction is to shove forcibly back.
So ... I shoved.
And when I shove, I do not look back. I have no regret or remorse. I am a cold, heartless wench when I want to be, and a good shove-off is indeed the perfect time for coldness and heartlessness.
Granted, getting to the stage where I am angry enough to overcome my passive-aggressiveness and actually shove takes a lot. I would rather put up with annoying people (generally) than deal with the fallout of confronting them. I know how the arguments would go, and I know that after the several hours of exhausting and pointless conversation, I will be even more irritated and angry, having lost hours of my life that I will never get back.
Besides, I'm always right. Why argue with people that will not admit/realize that?
Tonight was just ... poop.
I have not slept more than 6 hours in a few weeks. I am fatigued and stressed. I work every single day. This is not the time to try to talk to me when I have already shoved you out of my life and away from my conscious thoughts.
I'm sorry that I'm mean and I'm so evil. But as I give you license to live your own life, shouldn't you leave me to live mine? I don't want to "talk it out." I most certainly don't want to "hug it out." And I don't need "closure," I don't even know what that means.
I wish I could hibernate for about two months.
So, if you live under a rock and recently emerged or you don't work with a gaggle of boys, the Lakers won the NBA Championships last night against the Orlando Magic.
First of all, a team called the "Magic" will never be able to deliver. That's like naming a puppy "Killer" and wondering why it doesn't protect you from anything, it rolls over when a burglar comes in, and it wags its tail at the mailman.
So there's that.
And then there's the rapist (a.k.a. Kobe Bryant), who I won't even link to, the MVP this year.
Between the predictability (I thought the Lakers would win it easily in 4, didn't think it would even get to Game 5) and the yawning (Kobe has the ball again?), I wasn't all that sorry that I missed every game. Work beckons, after all, and I don't want to spend my precious few hours at home watching a bunch of overpaid and under-deodorized men running around in tank tops and shorts. Not my idea of leisurely relaxation time.
I realize I sound disproportionately angry, and it's mostly because I'm tired and cranky.
Hopefully, as things start to slow down, I will lose the crank and up the cheer. That whole thing about my birthday has really begun grating on my nerves. The more I think about, the more irritated I get.
I have very typically Korean anger- slow to burn, rages like a wildfire once released, and difficult to reign in at the very best of times. At the worst of times, I have fits of passive-aggressiveness that I intellectually can see as being insanely harsh, but am unable to control.
Going through a phase. I think it's the "work seven days a week" phase, and I'm trying to snap out of it already.
Although it's 10:30 at night on a Monday and I'm still at work, waiting for crap to get done. Not a good start to the week, I would say...
January 14: Diary/Candle Day
February 14: Valentine's Day
March 14: White Day
April 14: Black Day
May 14: Rose/Yellow Day
Today is Kiss Day, yet another rather meaningless quasi-holiday.
Guess what the purpose of Kiss Day is?
Yep, you got it.
Watching "The Dark Knight" and working right now (mostly working).
Had a birthday shindig last night in Koreatown. It was good, with mostly people that I really appreciate and wanted to see. There was a notable exception on both sides- one person showed up that I did not want to see, one person that I wanted to see didn't show up. The usual idiocy abounded, fueled by soju (everyone's unanimous favorite was yogurt soju).
I'm getting old.
And I have no one to celebrate Kiss Day with.
Depressing all around.
Despite my grumblings, I really do like the show "House, M.D."
I used to also admire the show for its subtly genius writing, but that's out the window now.
The way the season ended .... (spoilers ahead if you haven't watched it!) ...
REALLY??
House does not strike me as the hallucinating type, unless it's one long nightmare because he's in a coma from a terrible accident and can't wake up. Or if he's under a self-induced drug haze that makes him imagine dead people.
Either way, it's far too soapy a storyline, something that a show like "Desperate Housewives" might stoop to, but definitely not a plot point that I ever thought would pop up on "House." It's a bit disappointing, really.
Despite the ups and downs I've had with the show, one thing remains constant:
Hugh Laurie is awesome.
He takes every nincompoop character twist with aplomb and somehow makes the brash, gruff doctor likable. This is saying a lot, as I think the character always looks a bit like he would smell bad, and if there's one thing I cannot abide, it's smelly people.
So in spite of the fact that House looks like a cross between Einstein and a bum, I still love him. And I much appreciate an actor that can breathe such life into him.
So, Hugh Laurie, happy birthday! 50 is a big age, yet I think you have great things ahead of you, after "House."
Yes, in Shanghai, there is a Hello Kitty castle. This is just too funny.
Wouldn't you get sick of living in pink Kitty-land??
If I could, I would send my sister on a vacation to Hello Kitty Castle. She could eat Kitty-shaped food, sleep on a Kitty-shaped pillow, drive a Kitty gold cart, watch Kitty TV ... the list goes on and on.
p.s.- I have no idea what tag(s) to add to this post. So it's blank.
● I am utterly dumbstruck and completely horrified.
● I wish the reason for my lack of posts lately is because of hearty partying and copious amounts of fun and liquor, but that is (depressingly) not the case.
● My birthday was last Thursday (June 4). To celebrate, I worked for 14 hours, sat in a car for 2 hours, and saw my mother for 15 minutes. 27, you're not treating me well so far.
● Sadly, 14-hour-days have been in abundance lately. I'm trying to keep them to a minimum because the horrible cold is still afflicting me, though now it's just a hacking cough. One of my co-workers calls it the "Drag Me To Hell" cough. Nice.
● I know WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE who share (stole!) my birthday:
1 kid I've known all his life
2 college friends
1 ex-co-worker
The famous people that share my birthday (that I know of):
Angelina Jolie
Bar Refaeli
Cecilia Bartoli
Dennis Weaver
Evan Lysacek
Horatio Sanz
James Callis
Michelle Phillips
Noah Wyle
Rosalind Russell
Scott Wolf
Yoon Suk-Ho (윤석호)
● Went to several places to celebrate other peoples' birthdays. Will write those places up soon.
● Got an iPod Touch for my birthday (LOVE IT) and then get the news today that the newfangled iPhone is coming out in less than two weeks. Steve Jobs, couldn't you time it a little better than that??
● "Temptation of Wife" (아내의 유혹) is waaaaaay too long at 129 episodes, but it's FINALLY getting good, now that we're on #60 or so. I watch about one out of every five episodes because I'm generally not home when it's airing and I don't care enough about it to record it. My mother fills me in on what I've missed.
● "Queen of the Housewives" (내조의 여왕) is pretty dang funny. Again, I watch one out of every five or so episodes, so perhaps it's funny because it's not grating on my last nerve due to over-watching. Yoon Sang-Hyun (윤상현) is my new favorite actor. Hilarious and cute, even with the strangely fascinating and simultaneously horrifying perm.
● Re-reading "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," by Gregory Maguire. Much better the second time around. In all honesty, I didn't even like it the first time I read it. The musical really changed my mind about the whole story, really. Re-reading the book because I had just listened to the soundtrack and recalled the awesomeness of the musical.
● Still can't believe it. I am so saddened and disappointed in my country.
I love Björk.
Her album "Post" is awesome, one of my favorites.
Just an excuse to show off these lovely photos from her Interview magazine shoot.
Can you believe the woman is 43 years old?? That Icelandic water is good to her (albeit full of crazies, because WOW she can't style herself).
I admire her outspokenness, her unwillingness to compromise, and the firm decisions she makes, whether or not I agree with them. I also admire how much she's willing to go out on a limb with her music, even though I don't like all of it.
This was supposed to be a quick post about the Interview photos, but I got sucked in. Thom Yorke once said that "Unravel" is his favorite song, and Radiohead ended up doing a (great) cover of it:
And one of my favorite music videos, Björk being directed by Spike Jonze for "It's Oh So Quiet," one of the best songs off "Post":
As I have what I am now affectionately referring to as "the bubonic plague," I am in a foul mood. I opted not to come to work yesterday in favor of lying down in my living room, then in my den, then on my bed, always with a trusty box of Kleenex at my side. Kleenex is my new favorite accessory.
In lieu of spouting off about my cold/flu and irritating you lovely people, I am posting this video of a cat:
So enjoy the cat's magical abilities!
Artwalks are an interesting concept: self-guided tours to see art throughout a city/region.
ARTWALK Culver City is, obviously, Culver City's version of the artwalk. I believe there were 44 exhibition spaces this year, mostly right near downtown Culver City. "Downtown" is a big word for the area described- it's really about a three-block-length street with shops, restaurants, and bars on either side.
This event happened on Saturday, May 31, from 12:00 to 8:00. Guess where I was between those hours?? That's right, work.
Since I wasn't able to go to the artwalk, I thought going to the after party would be the next best thing. Plus, I love any reason to go to Royal/T.
The funny part of Saturday night was that it turned into a mini-pub crawl, because places in Culver City close at strange hours. I love Culver City for having everything in one central location, because I left my car at work and walked. Here's the path we took:
1. Royal/T (closed at 10:30 p.m. We had wine and partied in a Porta-Party)
8910 Washington Boulevard
2. Ford's Filling Station (closed at 11:00 p.m. We stayed until 11:20 or so)
9531 Culver Boulevard
3. Fraiche (was closed, so we walked in ... and then walked out)
9411 Culver Boulevard
4. The Culver Hotel (we just missed last call, so off we went, talking about the Munchkins that had stayed at the Culver Hotel during the filming of "The Wizard of Oz." I heard they had some craaaazy parties!)
9400 Culver Boulevard
5. Rush Street (the ol' standby! Unfortunately, some of the boys were wearing flip-flops and didn't meet the dress code. Ugggggghhhhh.)
9546 Washington Boulevard
6. Gyenari (had a drink, had a laugh)
9540 Washington Boulevard
It was strange but fun. Next year, if I'm still in this city, I hope I get to actually see the art instead of just doing for the party after all the art's been safely put away.
