I Saw Saw.

Saw had a bad rap from the start. I remember when it came out in 2004. My intern cohort and I were both into horror movies and were joking about all of us skipping out on seminar day to go watch Saw I. We never went. Somehow we heard it was a bad horror from somebody. Well now, 4 years and 5 Saws later, I decided to give it a go. D had Saw I-II. We were able to record Saw III on TV. We bought Saw IV from amazon.com. After watching the first 4 Saws nearly in a row, we had to see Saw V. So, last night we went to watch Saw V. You'd think the same premise would get old. The whole ancient torture methods drawn from around the world many many hundreds of years ago might seem scary at first then trite. But I will tell you, I am thoroughly impressed by the Saw horror series' ability to keep me wanting more, to see what other torture vs. escape method is next, who the next victims are and what they have to do to survive, or not. Every Saw has kept me writhing in my seat, nearly covering my eyes, grimacing, saying Oh Shit, glad I'm not there!, and left me with a sense of unease. And i love it. I don't know if it will ever get old, but I do know that I am always impressed with the creative, sophisticated, and twisted ways the characters have to torture themselves in order to survive (most of the time). There's nothing more demented than having to get your hand and arm sliced in order to escape detonation, or getting your hand crushed so you're not gutted by a swinging pendulum of death or gouging out your eyes to get a key to a lock so nails won't spring into your face. Live or die. Make your choice.

In-n-Out (of shape)!!

more un-fun food facts:
In-n-out cheeseburger with everything on it 480 cal
French fries 400 cal

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! that's my usual in-n-out order. i had no idea i was eating 2 meals when i ate one!!

this bowl of porridge was just right..

too much porridge is a bad thing...

i like to make porridge with egg out of my leftover rice. i usually put scallions if i have any, beat 2 eggs, add salt and pepper and mix it all in. i also like to add pork sung to give it that MSG flavor. i also added some leftover chicken in.

my gramma makes the most awesome porridge. she usually uses leftover food too. usually she puts in some sort of ground meat, egg, vegie. she puts just the right amount of spice and seasoning mixed in with love. gosh i miss her porridge. my re-creation never comes close. i always end up regretting eating it.

i need a calorie discount, not a calorie count!

lately, looking at the nutrition facts for the things i've been putting into my mouth has been quite an eye-opener. i am far from being obsessed with counting calories, as that would be too much work and heartache, but i am definitely much more aware and thoughtful of what i actually eat or drink. some of the things i learned that don't sit well with me (or my weight for that matter), according to various calorie counter websites i found:

my weekly japanese green tea milk matcha without boba = approx 445 cal
flame broiler beef bowl = 435 cal
papa john's large slice of The Works pizza = 330 cal
outback's 12 oz. prime rib = approx 675 cal

i would be the last person to support depriving oneself of the things one enjoys eating. i have decided that the strategy to continue enjoying the things that make you happy when you put it into your mouth and tummy is curtailing your intake of calories for that day and exercising. if i do those two things, i can enjoy my fattening boba tea and eat the flame broiler delight guilt-free!

i need a calorie discount but at least i'm not calorie counting!

happy carving!

Tanaka Farms in Irvine is the bomb. it was there that we got our 5 pumpkins. one for me, d, the pug and the kitty. we also got an acne looking one for d's bro. they had a corn maze with a very sad center (there were dead sunflowers and some tattered windvane and dirt). it was hot but definitely a pumpkin pickin kind of day! it was especially fun carving all 4 pumpkins. lighting them up was the best part! i always feel like a kid when i carve pumpkins. i remember doing it in elementary school in 6th grade. then we gathered the pumpkin seeds, baked them and ate them. i can say i don't want to eat pumpkin seeds for another year. happy carving!

jack-o-lantern.

i think one of my favorite past-times of halloween is carving jack-o-lanterns. i don't always do a good job but i always have tons of fun doing it. i usually carve a big one for myself and a little one for my pug. i love the smell of the insides of the pumpkin with the candle burning lighting it up. it smells like roasted pumpkin. i enjoy the orange glow coming from the hopefully scary face of my pumpkin. i like to turn off all the lights and watch my lanterns glow. i like to bake the pumpkin seeds with salt and pepper and eat those crunchy snacks. i like perusing the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkin to catch my eye. the entire process is just so much fun. and we get to do it this weekend! yay!

it's nice to feel like a kid again without having to be one.

life's a bike.

i'm excited about biking again. for as long as i can remember, i have always had a bike. it was my recreation since i could walk to the present day. some of my happiest moments were riding my bike around my old hood, wind in my hair, sun on my back, smile on my face. i felt freeeee! of course they got more expensive and fancier as i got older. i remember one x'mas my parents got me a pink Barbie bike from Costco. i could tell what the present was from the shape even though it was wrapped. i loved it. but i always loved this old black boy's bike we inherited from the child of a family friend. i even remember, the boy's name was Winston. i loved that black bike and rode it everywhere. to this day, my gramma still has a picture of me on that bike hanging on her wall. i've upgraded since. i now have a black Giant mountain bike for women that cost me around $200. i haven't gotten on that thing for ages but i've kept it for a couple years now. it's in the shop for tune-up but as soon as we pick up our bikes tomorrow, trails beware!!

Pablo Francisco.

we went to the Improv in Irvine last night. it was my first time watching live comedy and i really enjoyed it. there were 4 comics on stage before Pablo went on that were all pretty funny. i even got a picture with Steve Monroe, the opening act for the show. and Pablo tapped my right arm as he walked away. yeah, i'm star-struck. i always get this way with famous people. but after looking on their myspace page, i realized they are just people like you and me who take craps and go biking on weekends.

the only thing uncool about the Improv is they make you buy 2 things minimum per person. a bit pricey but not too bad if you don't watch live comedy every night. some people might wonder why we don't just watch stand-up comedy on Comedy Central instead. d was right. when you see them live, their charisma makes them funnier.

when life gives you fat, make muscles!

i've resisted pumping iron for as long as i could. i am fine just doing cardio alone but many sources have told me i have to lift weights in order to lose weight more effectively and to tone up. so i began pumping a couple days ago. i'm more sore than a bad loser because i was supposed to take a day off between lifting but didn't. but here's to breaking down the muscle tissue and making muscle out of fat. when life gives you fat, make muscles!

Odyssey of the Mind.

Odyssey Of The Mind
by Enigma

.metsys troppus efil decnalab-yltbus ,xelpmoc A .erehpsoib a ,htraE
!ior el EVIV ,trom tse ior eL
segnahc era ereht ,llits dnA
segnahc gnihton tuB
gnignahc era sgnihT
.orez eerht-renin eno era uoy regoR .lortnoC noissiM si siht ,enO atleD yaR-X

There's no teacher who can teach anything new.
He can just help us to understand the things we always knew.

hair-do part deux.

so my hair didn't exactly turn out the way i wanted.
what i loved:
1. the triple shampoo and conditioner action. he must have washed and conditioned my hair at least 3 times. johnny had some masseuse-like hands! not only did my hair feel squeeky clean, he massaged the crap out of my scalp.
2. the layering and thinning of my hair. i have some thick ass hair and can always appreciate a good thinning. i also appreciated the cutting of dry ends and a new do altogether.
3. watching johnny comb dry, curl and tease my hair. it's always nice to learn from the experts how to make my hair look salon-good cuz i know it'll never look that way again til my next hair cut.
4. i think my hair looked better afterwards than the day i went to prom. i had to take pictures to memorialize what a fine do.
5. he nearly replicated the picture i handed him. i was wowed. except for the shorter and thinner bangs he gave me.
6. he was a no-nonsense hairdresser. i like that.
7. how the price included the shampooing, cutting and styling and drying of my hair.

what i didn't like:
1. how my hair looked after i showered.
2. the shorter and thinner bangs.

i was thoroughly amused watching another hairdresser or perhaps the owner while i was getting my hair done. she kinda had nappy hair in a ponytail. i watched her wash her own hair. then i saw her dry it. then i saw her put huge curlers in it. then i saw her take out the curlers, at which point her hair looked nice. but then i saw her put her hair back into her original nappy ponytail. and all i was thinking was, why did she go through all that trouble?

ninja danja!

yippee! we got our matching ninja uniforms today. mind you, these aren't costumes. they are actual ninja uniforms from the Academy Of Martial Arts Supplies. so that means, when i wear my uniform, i transform into a REAL ninja! haya!

will this make-over go under?

i need a make-over bad. i'm talking hair-do, wardrobe, attitude, make-up, beauty care all around. i don't quite have the budget to look stunning so i'm starting with an affordable new do. the danger of looking for new do's is that the picture you find might look awesome but those models get their hair styled in addition to cut. let's face it, their hair is teased, curled, combed, air dried and then teased some more. they also are models, so they can make almost anything look good. in fact it's their job to make whatever they are fashioning, whether it's clothing or hair look, well, fashionable. that's why it sells. i've learned this lesson multiple times, fingering pictures of beautiful actresses and pop stars to the hairdresser only to find my reflection less than impressive. well, this is the do i'm going to try out. kohana recommended her hairdresser, specifying i have to bring in a photo of what i want. we'll see how close the hairdresser can get. and whether i can prevent this make-over from going under.

We're all looking for Somebody.

Somebody


I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She'll get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
She'll hear me out
And won't easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact she'll often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and with every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to steer clear
Of those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I'll get away with it.

aaronkratenart.com

we went to d's friend's art show on saturday. it was held at The Living Room, a salon art gallery in CM. aside from aaron kraten's interesting art, there were loads of alternative-looking people, most of whom looked like they had their hair cut at the expensive salon, a live band, and free booze which we did not sample. the music was too loud. i did enjoy the art and thought, if only i could create something i called art and everyone would think the same too..

what i really wanna be for halloween.

murderface. cus he's the biggest underdog in the world.

or the guy from no country for old men. cus he's badass and creepy all at once.

they kinda have the same hairdo.

baking soda isn't just for baking anymore.

when i lifted the hood to my car yesterday, i noticed battery acid corrosion on my car battery. i called my friend's husband who was a mechanic b/c i knew there was a cheap home remedy for this. he said it's natural over time for the acid to leak out and when the people installed my battery, they did not spray an anti-corrosion chemical over it. he said to mix baking soda with water until it had the consistency of nonfat milk, pour it over the corrosion and after it was done fizzling, wipe it off then rinse with water. wala! it worked. aside from the pleasure of watching the nasty stuff fizz off, it's all clean, my car starts with more ease and i saved tons of money that a mechanic would have charged me to do the same thing. or those expensive bottles which would have mixed the baking soda for me. i love home remedies.

Charmed.

today we had some thai food at Charm Thai in the YL. i always get my famous Drunken Noodles. Gramma likes her yellow curry chicken. the food was average. however, the best thing about that place was refillable thai ice tea. that's right, you heard me, refillable $1.99 thai ice tea. at first when the waiter grabbed my almost empty glass and insisted on a refill without my request, i thought, hey, that's quite a sales strategy there. but when he tried to refill again, i knew i wasn't dreaming. another good thing was the really nice and helpful waitress who i think was the owner. she gave lots of tips on what type of chili flavor was good with either my noodles or gramma's curry.

overall I rate a B for food. I give an A for everything else.

The Nixon Library and Museum.

it's been a long time since i've been back to my old stomping ground, Yorba Linda. thanks to Tigress, grams and I were able to enjoy the Nixon Library and Museum free of charge. the grounds were nice and big and well-taken care of. I was especially impressed by the Berlin Wall, and I think every presidential library probably has one. The Reagan library had a piece too. What's interesting is the Watergate exhibit was down. Makes me wonder if it has ever been up. After all, I wouldn't want a museum dedicated to me to have anything that could possibly tarnish my reputation or legacy.

alter ego.

i always thought of costumes as alter egos, or projections of who we want to be. i have no clue what i am going to be this year at the costume party. i do like the harajuku goth. i wonder what that says about me? that i wanna be part of gwen stefani's posse?

got dice?

essential to every D&D player is his/her dice. from d20's to d4's, it's all how you roll and how you play, and often how you "roleplay." it determines whether you'll enact a crit on a monster or whether you'll accidentally hit yourself or your fellow travellers.

so here it is, my first very own dice. i wanted a red/orange marbled look, and as d assured me, the exact dice i was looking for, existed, b/c as he says, D&D players are very particular about their dice. my scarlet scarab dice awaits my rolling.

let's slay some dragons.

"Revolution changes nothing; Voting changes even less." - "Democracy" by the Damned

as cynical as i am about the American voting system (it's completely rigged), i registered to vote today. the driving force was the absolute fear of John McCain possibly becoming our next president. and sarah palin as his runner up if anything ever happened to him.

never thought we'd have a black man running for president. or a white woman as a running mate. this is truly history in the making. it's america. anything can happen.

Halloween.

i think halloween is my fave holiday. the core of it is just plain FUN. from the haunted houses, to pumpkin carving, to costumes, to candy, to the Halloween reruns they show on TV, it's just the funnest holiday in my book. and i can't wait to explore it OC style again!