It's just another Manic Mooooonday. I think this weekend should be remembered as the weekend of overeating and indulgence. Ugh. Friday night I went to small group and then hung out for awhile. Saturday morning I went with church people to a food bank to help sort and pack food, then a group of us got sushi. I ate a lot of sushi. For dinner on Saturday I went with some other church friends to Cafe Asia and had noodles. On Saturday night, my roommate and I decided it would be really smart to drink a whole lotta wine while we were baking. Baking cookies + too much wine= overdone cookies and big headache. Oy. After church on Sunday I ate pho. And then I curled up on the couch and tried not to think about how much I had eaten in the past 48 hours. So, although it was a very very fun weekend, starting today it's less food, less alchohol, less spending money.

Alright, so last night on TV I watched this Ha11mark Ha11 of Fame movie called "the Mag1c of 0rd1nary Days" with the chick from Fe1icity. I'm such a freakin sucker for these cheesy movies. She looked so pretty in her 40s clothes, although her character kind of sucked, and the dude in it was so good looking and stoic and gentlemanly. Siiiigh. And, the Asian girlfriend from Even Stevens (yes, I watch too much TV) was in it as a Japanese-Ameircan internee, and she was pretty good. Yay Ha11mark.

I think... I'm in a rut. A TV watching, food eating, trashy novel reading rut.

Still wearing my glasses! This is week 3! AAARRRGGH. It's driving me nuts. I scratched my cornea, and according to my eye doctor, it's still healing. So I still have to wear my dang glasses. I like my glasses. But I like to wear them at home, before I go to bed. Not 24/7. Argh.

Hannah, would you like some cheese with that whine???

I drive myself nuts sometimes. It's so easy for me to lose sight of what's right in front of my face and then complain complain complain. In reality, God has provided me with good friends, a great family, a good job and a great church. I'm blessed. Shouldn't my attitute be a reflection of that?

February's a brand new month. I have a good feeling about it.

Today I was bad.

I saw a lady on the metro who looked old enough that I would have gotten up to give her my seat. And I got the feeling she did want to sit down.

But I didn't.

I was reading and jotting some notes down, and I really didn't want to get up and deal with the rocking and swaying.

So I ignored my better instincts.

And I've been feeling a little guilty all day. Oy.

Thoughts....

Alias was SO CREEPY the other night. I don't know what it was, but the whole American suburbia scenario thing creeped the hell out of me. Sydney and Vaughn are pretty hot ass kickers. And what the heck is going on with Jack and Sloane?? What is this Irena Derevko plan? Why are the Russians looking for her? Isn't she DEAD? This show creeps me out/wears me out.

Also, Scrubs always makes me laugh out loud, and Gilmore Girls was both hilarious and sweet. Gilmore Girls is I think my favorite show on TV right now. I really dig it. Smart, funny, sweet, intelligent-- it's awesome. Lorelei and Christopher 4-Ever!

Last night I watched ER with my roommate, and it was SO SAD. The dad who killed himself? Oy. Neela with a crush on Luka? Funny. And I really like Neela and Abby's relationship. It's good they're showing them as friends, and I really like those two actresses. Anyways, I don't watch ER much anymore cause it's gotten a big heavy handed and cheesy lately. I used to be a fanatical viewer, but after Dr. Greene died, it was pretty much over for me. But my roommate likes it, so I watch it sometimes now. Last night's episode also guest starred Chad L0we, which is cool. I think I remember him being on a long time ago, so it was nice to see him on again. And he was pretty good. But when I see him, all I can think it-- you're married to Hillary Swank! Rob Lowe is your brother! What? And of course, he'll always be Jesse from Life Goes On.

Those are my TV thoughts for the week. Man. I need a hobby. Or a part-time job.

Birthday Shout outs!!!

Belated Birthday shout out to Ms. EmmyHong, who just turned the big 2-4!

Two of my best friends in the world also share a birthday today!! Happy Birthday to Ms. JaneKim, who I've known since I was, hmm, born! Getting older, wiser, hotter and goofier. Stay warm in Boston Jane the Pain! Also, happy birthday to Mr. AnkurBahl! My fellow Viking and Wildcat, this foo' is living and dancing in France and I miss him terribly. Happy Birthday to both you!!

SNOWED IN!

Basically, I spent my whole weekend inside, staying warm. It was cold and snowy all weekend. We only got about 5 inches, but the wind was fierce. From the reaction of the people around here though, you'd think we were in the middle of a blizzard. The news reports all warned of FIERCE WINDS! HEAVY SNOW! STOCK UP ON FOOD AND WATER! Puhhh-lease. Also, I guess I was spoiled living near Chicago, an area where they know how to clear snow. Here, sidewalks still haven't been shoveled and streets still haven't been treated. Ridiculous. But man o man, I wish we'd gotten two feet. Then we would have gotten off work, and who knows how long it would have taken the mofos around here to clean that crap up. We would have had days and days off! But alas-- not meant to be.

AT&T SUCKS! If you have any ideas how to get out of a contract with AT&T, please let me know. Thank you.

More on inaguration...

Laura Bush's dresses were all pretty. So were Barbara's. However, I thought Jenna's were all kinda ug. The cream and black one was blech, and the green one was just not so flattering. Even her inaguration ceremony suit was kind of ugly and a little too sequiny/matronly.

I wonder what those girls are like. I wonder what it would be like to be worth THAT much money. I wonder if there is any way they are down to earth, normal people. I wonder if they are best friends or if they really hate each other. Hmmm. Well, Jenna was a theta. Read into that what you will.

Every once in a while I read an article that I think is both incredibly funny and incredibly dumb. This is one of those articles.

From CNN.com:

Christians issue gay warning on SpongeBob video
Conservative groups criticize maker's 'tolerance pledge'
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian groups accuse the makers of a video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon characters of promoting homosexuality to children.
The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.
But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.
"A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality," wrote Ed Vitagliano in an article for the American Family Association.
The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family" using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and other TV cartoon characters. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to promote healing.
Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race.
"Their inclusion of the reference to 'sexual identity" within their 'tolerance pledge' is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line," James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said in a statement released Thursday.
Rodgers said he was astounded by the attack.
"That is so myopic and harsh," he told Reuters. "You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters."
Dobson was quoted by the New York Times on Thursday as having singled out the wildly popular SpongeBob during remarks about the video at dinner this week in Washington, D.C.
SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise are popular with gays. His creator, Stephen Hillenburg, said at the time that though SpongeBob was an oddball, he thought of all the characters in the show as asexual.
It is not the first time that children's TV favorites have come under the critical spotlight of the Christian right. In 1999, the Rev. Jerry Falwell described Tinky Winky, the purse-toting purple Teletubbie, as a gay role model.

I mean, PUHLEASE. Spongebob lives in a pineapple under the sea. You can have a problem with the tolerance pledge on the website, but who really thinks that Spongebob and other cartoon characters themselves are "celebrating homosexuality"? Are you freakin' kidding me?
And people wonder why "conservative christians" have such a stigma attached to their name. Hey 'conservative christian groups'! Hey "christian activist groups"! Hey American Family Association! STOP. You are making idiots of yourselves, and making the rest of us look bad! With the amount of time and effort you spend on this crap, you could really be making a difference and furthering God's kingdom. Instead, you're acting like clowns.

Yo. Yesterday was my day off, and it was pretty awesome. I slept A LOT. I have some sort of eye infection thing right now, so I have to wear my glasses all day. Which makes me really really sleepy for some reason. So I spent inaguration day sleeping.

Ah, inaguration day. From what I could tell, it was basically rich white people celebrating their richness. There were lots of men in tuxes and women wearing fur coats riding the metro on their way to the inaguration balls. And seriously, if you check out any of the photo coverage of the parade, the balls, etc.-- where are all the minorities? Man. The next four years are going to be awesome. It's going to be the rich white person's chance to finally be in power, and consolidate that power and influence and make things better for themselves, at the expense of the less fortunate, for generations and generations to come! It's really just what this country needs.

Oy, sarcasm. I do wear it well.

For the next four years, I am going to do my best to fight against what I believe is wrong and harmful to my country, point out injustice, inequality, and absurdity, keep the faith that God has some kind of good coming out of this crazy administration, and be an involved, engaged and active citizen and Christian. And then work like crazy to make sure the next president has the good of all people, not just the rich and the mighty, in mind.

Inaguration! Oh Joy.

It's inaguration time! Wooo. How can you tell? Well for one, DC looks like a fortress. There are fences and blockades EVERYWHERE. I got trapped behind one yesterday walking to work. Also, there are a butt load of tourists everywhere. They crowd the metros with their teenage tour groups and cranky children and stressed out parents. I saw many middle aged women with big, teased out hair and "patriotic" (aka TACKY) clothing.

Overall, it's crazy around here. Yesterday a dude threatened to blow up his van down the street, so we couldn't leave from the front entrance of the building. Down the street from my office, there are bleachers and a big viewing stand set up for the parade. I cannot believe they're spending 40 MILLION DOLLARS on this thing. This is the most that has ever been spent, no matter that we have a huge deficit and we're in the middle of a war. I mean really, couldn't just 20 million been spent, leaving 20 million to spend on, I don't know, anything from the war to schools to any myriad of things. Geez.

Since it's going to be madness getting in tomorrow, I think I will avoid downtown at all cost. I'm gonna sleep in, maybe catch a movie and go shopping, and pray for our country. We're gonna need it.

Also, saw the editor of Sojourners on the Daily Show last night. He was great. If you haven't already, check out Sojourners: http://www.sojo.net/ It's pretty awesome.

Memphis, TN: Home of Elvis, BBQ, and JOYPARK!!!

This weekend I headed to Memphis to visit the former roomie, along with Ms. CJByun. Good times were had by all. I flew in on Saturday morning, and we proceeded to start our day with a Southern breakfast-- I had sausage, eggs, home fries, Byun had cheese grits. Yum. After checking our La Casa de Park, we headed to downtown Memphis. Had a YUMMY orange cream slushie at Sonic (that place is genius), walked around Beale Street, drank some sweet tea, and then had us some real Memphis BBQ dry ribs. They were tasty. Ended our day hanging out at this blues club, where we saw this pretty good jam band perform. Sunday was church, and then Graceland! I think the main reason we went was the look at the cheesy souvenirs and take goofy pictures. Drank some more sweet tea, then ate some more bbq, this time wet ribs at Corky's. You sensing a theme here? We also ended up getting Sonic one more time, and Chick Fil A as well. It was a yummy, greasy, fatty, delicious time. By the end of the weekend I could feel myself getting chubbier, and as Christine said, really wanted to eat a salad and diet water.

Monday morning we got up early and went to the National Civil Rights Museum. The Museum is at the L0raine H0tel, where MLK was assasinated. They basically took out all the rooms, and made it a walk through museum. It was a great museum, with really interesting pictures, artifacts, documents, information. I always imagine what it would have been like to have grown up during that time period, and what I would have done. I admire the courage of the freedom riders, of all the teenagers who were beaten and arrested, of people like Fannie Lou Hamer. And I try to put myself in the shoes of the white people in the South whose worlds were being turned around and reacted in the way they thought was right. History hasn't been good to them, and rightly so, but I hope they eventually realized how wrong they were. I also wonder about those white people whose faces were eternally captured spewing hatred, evil and violence. Like the picture of a young black girl trying to walk into Central High School in Arkansas, and the white girl behind her yelling with such an expression of hatred on her face. I wonder how she felt later on when that picture became such an iconic image of school integration and the civil rights movement, and she was the example of the anger and opposition of whites in the south? I wonder how her kids felt? Anyways, it was an excellent museum, and I think it made me remember and appreciate the purpose of MLK Day.

Overall, my experience in Memphis was delicious. It was especially nice to hang out with my girls, listen to the same songs on the radio over and over again, and see Ms. Park before she goes on her Phillipine adventure. My first experience in the South was a delightful one.

But of course, it wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of people being dumb.
So here you are, the offensive moment of the weekend:
Christine flew back to DC with me for work stuff, so we sat next to each other. We were sitting in the emergency exit row, so if there was an emergency, we would be the ones who would have to open the emergency door.
Conversation during takeoff:
Stewardess: You realize you're in an exit row, if you have a problem with this please let us know blah blah blah.
Us: Yup, we're okay.
Stewardess: Do you speak English?
Us: Yes.

Conversation during landing:
Different stewardess: You realize you're in an exit row blah blah blah.
Me: Yes
Stewardess: Do you speak English?
Me: YES.
Stewardess: Do you speak a second language?
Me: Uh, I guess Korean.
Stewardess: Could you ask the people in front of you (an asian couple who apparantely didn't speak English) to make sure they do not get up during the last half hour of the flight?
Me: Uh, okay.

Turns out they were Chinese. Too bad we all don't just speak Asian to each other.

Anyways, thanks for having us over Joy! I have a new appreciation for the South.

THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY!! Seriously, this week has felt so bloody long. I'm so glad it's over. Next week is a three day week- SWEET! Monday off for MLK, Thursday off because of inaguration! I'm excited.

My roommate left for Hawaii today. Lucky bastard.

Headed to Memphis, TN tomorrow to hang out with Jpark and Cbyunnie. Can't wait! Gonna eat me some BBQ and walk on Bea1e Street.

Bush is cutting HUD funds, which provides some really awesome programs for homelessness and other housing issues. I mean, of course sending someone to Mars and making rich people richer is more important than taking care of our citizens and making housing affordable for all people. Why wouldn't it be? I think according to Bush, the only people who really matter are the people like him who are earning/inheriting a bajillion dollars. Everyone else-- let them eat cake! Or, at least go homeless.

This week is Restaurant Week. I looooove Restaurant Week. Last night I had dinner at 1789, this really fancy schmancy place in Georgetown. Tomorrow I'm going to eat lunch at DC Coast. Perhaps I'll go eat somewhere on Friday too. Man. I love food.

I'm thinking about taking a trip to Korea in April. I would love to go, but I don't know if I can afford it, or if I can take the time off. But I really want to go!

This article in the Washington Post really touched me: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59355-2005Jan8.html
I'm so glad my parents moved to the States and made so many sacrifices for us, and that we were able to live as a family.

So, my desk is right by the copy machine. Lately, me and the guy whose desk is right across from mine have been driven insane by some person who keeps coming over, making copies, and then doesn't shut the copy lid. When the lid is open, the bright copy light keeps flashing, and it becomes really annoying and distracting. I think we've figured out who the culprit is. IT'S ON!

Three more days until our mini reunion! Yay!

When I grow up, I wanna be a SPY

This weekend was incredibly slothful. I slept and slept and slept. Felt gooood. But another thing I did was watch a whole lot of TV. A whole lot of spy TV. Saturday on A&E, my roommate and I stumbled onto a marathon of this BBc show called MI5. It was super addicting. I think I watched like 6 or 7 episodes, then the season premiere. After it was done, I immediately googled the guy who played the lead, Matthew McFadden, and found out that in the next version of "Pr1de and Prejud1ce," with Keira Knight1ey as E1izabeth Bennett, he's going to play Mr. Darcy. Woo woo. I mean, he's no Co1in Firth, but I really dug him in MI5.

Then, last night I watched the season premiere of 24, mainly because I didn't feel like watching Extreme Home Makeover and crying and crying. I had caught a couple episodes last season, but didn't really become addicted. But last night! AAHH! I was on the edge of my freakin' seat man. What's going to happen with Debby? Is the kid from Witness going to be ok? How old is Kiefer Sutherland now? Wow. I must tape tonight's. Great. Another show I'm addicted to. Just what I need.

Moral of the story: spy shows rock!!

Some things I've been thinking about:

-How does one develop discipline?

- I think I should just accept that I am not a morning person, and stop trying to wake up early to do stuff. It just does not work. Perhaps I would be better served trying to get more stuff done between work and bed time instead of sitting in front of the TV.

- I get motion sick really easily. I was thinking about how much more I could get done on my 30 minute train ride if it weren't for the fact that I start feeling nauseous if I'm reading for too long.

- Lately, I've been more and more consumed with buying an ipod. A mini Ipod. Everytime I see one, it just calls out to me.

- Alias premieres tonight YAY!!!

- What's up with this crazy weather? It's been really warm here all week- in the 50s. Meanwhile, back home it's been really cold and rainy- in the 50s. And poor Sarah in Evanston is freezing through snowstorms.

- I'm really sad about the death of Rep. Bob Matsui. He wasn't my congressman, but I admired him as one of the first Asian-Americans to hold a leadership post in Congress. He was a really cool man and did a lot for his country and his community.

And finally:

"All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of authority
Whose building grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die..."
-- W.H. Auden

I just realized I forgot to write about one cool thing I did when I was at home. On the day after Christmas, me, Sarah and Susanna Kim drove up to SF to watch the musical version of "Wh1te Chr1stmas." Now, this is my all time favorite Christmas movie. I absolutely love it, to the point where you can catch me watching it in the middle of July. I thought the musical was also great. It was dumb and cheesy, of course, but it was also sooo fun to watch. The actors were all incredibly talented, and the production numbers rocked. It is so fun to watch big tap dance numbers, and the two dancing leads were AMAZING tap dancers. And Br1an D'Arcy James and the other girl were great singers. I mean, they're no B1ng Cr0sby and R0semary C1ooney, but they were still pretty dang good. The also added in a bunch of really classic Irving Berlin songs, like "I 1ove the Piano" (crazy awesome tap dance number!!), B1ue Skies, and "1'm Happy." Overall, it was a fun, fun night of theater. Yay. I love the theater.

Sitting at Phil and Justin's apartment right now, watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (again). The difference this time is that we're watching it on their 50" TV. Sweeeeet. It's so pretty and big. This movie is lovely in every which way. Too bad it's so daaaang long.

Happy New Year's!!!! It's 2005! My goal is to make the most of it.

Last night was a leeeeetle bit sad on my part. Hung out at home all day, then headed to a co-workers party at around 9:30ish. Stayed until 11, then I headed home. Where was I when the clock hit midnight? Walking home by myself! WOO! Now that's a celebration. But I did head to the recreation deck of my building, where I had a perfect view of the fireworks Alexandria put on. Then I stayed up late watching a movie. Yay me.

New Year's Resolutions:
1. Work out more in order to fit into bridesmaid dresses
2. Eat healthier
3. Work hard to develop discipline in all areas of my life
4. Cultivate compassion
5. Work hard to strengthen relationships-- with God, friends and family
6. Take advantage of living in a cool city
7. Be a better manager of money

Now it's down in writing. Go me.

I have so much to look forward to this year!