I've been on "vacation" since Christmas day. I was supposed to go to brunch at a coworker's house but I felt crappy and stayed in. The roommate was back home, so that means that I had 4 uninterrupted days of couching, internetting, and napping. It was glorious. He came back Monday, and that was also the day that I left the house for the first time since Thursday. While on the bus to meet my BFF at the hotel bar where he works, I was pickpocketted - some jerkstore stole my bus pass and pass case out of my coat pocket. There was only a day left on the pass and my expired library card, some movie ticket stubs, my Kerry/Edwards sticker from 2004 and a package of dental cement for my crown. What a haul! Luckily for me I had my new pass already, so I just bought a case and am ready for action, but still...
The rest of the week was uneventful. I spend most of the day Tuesday waiting for my Best Gift to Myself Ever:
My big NYE plan is venturing to the corner store to buy some milk. New Year's Day will bring me Sherlock Holmes with the BFF and his wife. It's a new theater with VIP seating and a bar! And it's next to Target! I can't argue with any of that.
Since you've put up with this piffle for so long, I will include a pic of kiki and the Christmas tree.
I couldn't help but love this song very much.
I love you, say we're together baby, you and me
I can only give my life and show you all I am
in the breath I breathe
I will promise you my heart
and give you all you need if it takes some time
and if you tell me you don't need me anymore
that our love won't last forever
I will ask you for a chance to try again
to make our love a little better,
ooh...
I love you, say we're together baby,
say we're together, oh
I need you, I need you forever baby, you and me
You say you hardly know exactly who I am
so hard to understand
But I knew right from the start, the way I felt inside,
if you read my mind
and if you tell you don't need me anymore
that our love won't last forever, no
I will ask you for a chance to try again
to make our love a little better
I love you, say we're together baby,
say we're together, oh
I need you, I need you forever baby, you and me
Remember when you used to hold me,
remember when you made me cry
You said you loved me, oh, you did, yes you did
I love you, say we're together, baby, say we're together, oh
I need you, I need you forever, baby, you and me.
It's not a very bad cold. In fact it's one of the milder illnesses I can remember... My sinuses are about 40% stuffed up. My throat is just vaguely scratchy. I'm more tired and achey than usual, but not by much. Nonetheless I am taking the cue and lounging on my couch for the 2nd day in a row, swaddled in blankets, books, and handkerchiefs.
Sometimes when I'm sick I will do a juice & tea fast for the day - to keep myself hydrated and let my body concentrate on killing the virus, rather than digesting complicated foods. So today I've had emergen-c, water, yerba mate, and vegetable juice. And I really must not be all that sick, because I am STARVING. I think I will get some extra-spicy thai food for dinner.
And then perhaps I will watch the Dr. Who xmas special AGAIN! I can't believe it's the 2nd-to-last episode starring David Tennant.
I got a copy of The Talented Miss Highsmith for xmas (Patricia Highsmith's new biography). It's sort of fascinating, especially considering that the author seems to hold a certain amount of (justified) disdain for Highsmith. Apparently she was a racist and anti-Semite. Her personal life was chaotic, despite her solipsistic tendencies (it is even referred to on the inner flap as a "Pandora's Box"). She was an obsessive list-maker and left behind 8,000 pages of journals when she died. Her life is a rich territory. Still, this bio is a bit cumbersome... Mostly I'm interested in reading about writers' writing habits.
Being sick is dull. More tea!
There are people who deserve you and people who don’t.
If you have someone in your life who takes you for granted or doesn’t give you the respect that you deserve, leave them in the past where they belong.
via (TIMMAYYYYY!)
It’s not so hard to explain what I feel about San Francisco. But its going to be a long post. ^__^ coz there are so many things I love about San Francisco. So many things! When I first arrived it was like she was smiling at me and I enjoyed her warmth welcome very much.
I came to the U.S because of work. But I came to San Francisco because I wanted to find a place I can stop by and relax before I have to bear with the 20 hrs flight back home, and guess what I pick the right place. =)
We were crazy about this city. The first day we arrive. We walked the street all day, all over town and people smiled, friendly. The city was beautiful. And Most of the time people are the most things in San Francisco I enjoyed about. They are so many cultures ad ethnicities there. That makes me feel no difference being Asian anymore. I can see people cycling and jogging. They smile at each other more often. I then slowly realizing that I love San Francisco.
Some said San Francisco is young. You never get bore and always find some place to go something to do there. I think that is because there are so many cool places there including bas and restaurants.
But to me San Francisco is a little bit of everything… whatever East or West.
I also love coffee there. I begin the day with coffee and I often ordered cappuccino and espresso. There are many coffee shops around the city. The city is not that big and there are huge hills, but you can never get lost. I have a problem after one day I spent walked like crazy there. So we decided to take a train to explore the city. You can buy one day ticket and you can tour around by cable car, train or bus. I enjoyed cable car so then I can easily see all of San Francisco.
We also visited Pier39. It was fun walked around. It’s a great place to shop and eat at and they got arcade too which is also great. I think my favorite part of being at Pier39 is just being able to spent time in a nice environment and friendly atmosphere and when I look around I see the joy and happiness around. And its not everyday that you get a chance to see sea lions… right? =) There were totally cute.
we enjoyed our dinner in Bangkok. I meant it. The resto called "Bangkok". They served Phadthai there and it was amazing and also Kuayteaw Kua Kai another kind of Thai noodle as well. Both are not expensive but yummy!
Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Irish resto near Pier39. It was raining and we can’t go outside so we decided to spend morning having a nice breakfast there. The foods were amazing and I really enjoyed it there. I like to see they make iris coffee which I’m not allowed to try—as I don’t drink alcohol.
We walked around again in the evening and also we decided to have a dinner at "Bangkok" again-- the same Thai resto I ordered Crab Fried Rice. It was delicious but I enjoyed Phad thai the most.
We were exhausted but I still want to buy something before I could fall asleep in the cozy bed and say good bye to the city tomorrow as my colleague needs to catch the early morning flight...
Thank you Mayke. I really like this poem.
"We have someting special
that no one
no distance
no time
can take away....
we have each other.."
~ Andrew Tawney
See you in 2010!
It's been a weird year. I put together my photo "yearbook" in iPhoto yesterday and titled it: The Waiting Area; 2009 never happened. Because that's what this year has felt like. Limbo. I don't know if this feeling is specific to the year - will things suddenly start moving again when I peel open this year's wall calendar from my uncle? Probably not. But that's what we always hope for, right? That the new year will change something, and we can simply leave behind the things we don't want.
- President Barack Obama. Although I'm a bit non-plussed with the Copenhagen agreement, I am still SO GLAD he got elected. I trust him to make good decisions even if I may not agree 100% of the time, and it has been a long time since I trusted a president. I think I felt pretty good about Jimmy Carter when I was 6.
- Expanded unemployment benefits. If this money weren't available I would likely be homeless by now. That may sound a bit dramatic, but I have now joined the ranks of those just a couple of steps from financial disaster, and once you're on that ledge it's easy to slip off of it.
- Infinite Summer. I joined the ranks of David Foster Wallace fans who read or re-read Infinite Jest over the summer. I'm glad I finally read it, but it really needs a 2nd or 3rd reading...
- I went to San Francisco and finally met Patty, Laurel, Deborah, and karen. It felt like I've known them for years! I'm still kind of amazed by the connections I've made through Vox. It doesn't seem to happen anywhere else on the interwebs...
- My cousin bought a lake house. It's more of a "cabin" really... but it is a place I can stay on Lake Coeur d'Alene in the summertime for free.
- The birth of anemone. I don't really know where it will go at this point, but it has been an adventure planting the seed.
- I've made progress on my memoir and other writing projects. Not nearly as much progress as I wanted to make... but everything slows down in Limbo.
- I'm getting used to a healthier, simpler lifestyle. More cooking, less eating out, and simpler meals to boot. Less compulsive buying, or spending money on things like haircuts. It's really kind of nice.
- I was able to wean myself off antidepressants without major setbacks.
I swear I will. In the meantime, again, there's presents to you all from me and Edgar. And now here are two of my favourite Christmas songs/versions. Now it's off to Mom's. Later, kids.
