Things I Love

So its been a long time since I've posted but that's because of various things: a combination of work, volunteering at a research lab, extra curriculars and friends. Not that I'm not happy or anything. I actually like being busy and having things to do, to have a sense of purpose to my tasks. Last semester I had too much free time and sorta had no idea what to do with myself LOL. But now with O-Chem, research lab, other classes and life, I have just enough time for myself, which is the way it should be (albeit slightly hectic but never overly stressful). Even despite my busy schedule, I still have time for things that I love.

1. Family

Unfortunately, I don't have a car so I don't get to go back as often as I'd like but they are always a phone call away. Family is my foundation, my parents are fabulous. Last year, when I was thinking about what I would talk about if I had to give a speech at graduation, I realized just how much my parents love me and how much I love them. The luckiest person in the world isn't the one who wins the lottery, or strikes it rich, or is able to "have it all." I think I'm lucky because I was born to such great parents. They have let me become who I am not through ham fisted discipline, but by nurturing and encouraging me. They gave me the right amount of freedom so that I developed into a person who is personally driven. For that, and the unconditional support and affection they unfailingly give me, I am grateful. Some may believe that their life's purpose is to find something they love and which has importance to themselves and/or the world. I believe this too. But I would be nowhere if not for the financial, emotional, and mental support of my parents and my family. If I did not also work towards being able to support my parents and the rest of family later on, as they have supported me, then I am doing something very wrong.

Also, can we talk about how cute my cousin is? He's 8 and he has a voracious curiosity. He absolutely loves school. The day after President's Day, he called me:

"Happy President's Day!"
"Hey kiddo! How was school? Did you get President's Day off?"
"No! But that's a good thing because I get to learn more and I get a good education."

HE IS PRECIOUS.

2. Friends

Where would I be without my friends? Probably living in my room holed up and emerging into the outside world like a mole stunned by sunlight. My friends are my emotional support and foundation. Who else would listen to me bitch, rant, cry, and lament the problems of my rather first world life and still want to be around me? But more than that, my best friends, of which I have several, are the people that I don't have to hide things from. They give me counsel, memories, happiness and also sarcasm and sassy insults (also food. lots of food). In an interview that I had recently, I was asked what my spirit animal was. I thought about it in a subdued, panicked manner and came up with an answer that I think was quite appropriate for describing me: wolf. A wolf by itself can be an independent being, able to provide for itself and to function, to survive. But it actually lives, thrives, in a pack. That's how I am. I'm fine by myself because learning to be one's own company is a good thing to have. But I am happiest with a group of friends to surround myself with; there are times when I find myself descending into a funk when I have not had social contact. Friends buoy me up and the synergistic, exciting, intangible yet infectious attitude of being part of a group that enjoys each other's company is an irreplaceable thing. I need that in my life for me to be happy.

3. Cooking and Reading

I've loved reading since I was a child. I can proudly say that I was, and still am, the person who stays up late to read. By immersing myself into a different world, I learn truths and lessons that I experience through a different lens. I learn from mistakes that I haven't made myself. I'm also able to pick up a bunch of great comebacks and one liners. Sometimes the beauty of words just takes my breath away.

Cooking is a newer passion, developed in high school. One of my dream jobs would be to work in a test kitchen doing things that Alton Brown did in "Good Eats" or to work in the America's Test Kitchen/Bon Appetit magazine's test kitchen. Combining food and chemistry, what could be better? Creating wonderful food from a combination of delicious, unique flavors and textures is one part of why I love cooking and find it fascinating. It's not just sustenance, it can also be a sublime art and science. Being able to make other people happy through the simple act (or not so simple at times) of cooking is another part of why I love it so much.

4. Fencing

Fencing is a recent addition to my life. One of my friends invited me to go to practice with him one night and as one of the best decisions I've made recently, I said yes. Part of why I love it is because in the environment that I'm fencing in, there's no pressure to win or to be good. Honestly, I'm not that great of a fencer but I love it because I enjoy it. I fence as part of my school club, which is a nice mix of older, experienced fencers and beginners like me. I'm still learning about the many intricacies and fantastic idiosyncrasies of this expensive but interesting sport. But what I do know of it just makes me want to know more. Getting a great touch or having a great bout gives me a rush that I don't feel when playing other sports.

5. Delightfully elitist things

My mom and I frequently lament that I have expensive taste LOL. Why is that the tasteful, classic, and well made clothing items, shoes, and accessories that I so love usually cost so much? The world truly is an unjust place. Kate Spade, Fossil, Tory Burch, Banana Republic, Vera Wang, J Crew, Cole Haan, Tommy Hilfiger, Nicole Miller, beautiful, wonderfully designed and tailored gowns, etc. Sigh.

6. Up

The movie. Its beautiful and wonderful and moving and it makes me cry  and hope at the same time.


And that's it for now. Although there are many other things that I love, these are just the main things that I thought of first.

Awkward Valentine's Day Cards

So it's still early for Valentines posts but even if it's the dog days of summer, I can appreciate awkward Valentine's cards. Of course, I may be perpetually single when this day comes around and I do the obligatory mourning but I usually don't enable my self pity. Instead, this year I'm going to take the chance to have as much fun with the Valentine's traditions as possible. And by fun I mean turning the tables and being my usual sarcastic, sorta awkward self. I'll take my inspiration from these following gems:

Now with 1 cup of pudding mix!

LOVE

And my favorite set of Valentine's cards, Ben Kling's historical ones

And my favorite:

Now all I have to do is to go to the Student Computing Center, print them out in color, cut them out, and tape them haphazardly onto my friends' doors when the day comes around. 

Winter Break

So I went to Costa Rica for 10 days but after that most of my days were filled with: Game of Thrones, facebook, friends, boredom, and most of all, food.

That time my best friend and I made crepes from scratch YUM. Top: Strawberry mascarpone, Bottom: Walnut Praline with Maple whipped Cream

Food Truck food! "Yummyz" gyro and pulled pork sliders

That time I went to visit my high school and saw this in the outside library display window LOL. We have "Mole day" at our school to celebrate Avogadro's number (6.02 X 10^23) And for extra credit, some people make stuffed moles. Hence, Mole-ly Cyrus and her wrecking ball and on the bottom, Mole Direction.

Nu Cafe shaved ice after Crawfish <3

MFAH with my best friends. And then, of course, food truck food again for lunch. I love my friends. 

Homeroom reunion at Fat Bao! Pork belly bao and the dessert smores bao with marshmallow fluff and nutella. SO GOOD.

Homeroom family!

How can I accurately explain The Room? It's a movie so bad that it's good- freaking hilarious. I went to a screening with friends and it was pretty much the best thing ever. Seriously. For more information about The Room and screening traditions, go here and here. 

 Greg Sesteros, who plays Mark in the movie (ohai Mark), and the actor who plays Chris R. (the drug dealer in the film) were at the screening and did a Q&A after the movie. Needless to say, Tommy Wiseau is as crazy in real life as he is in his masterpiece.

The aftermath of spoon throwing

Miscellaneous: I started drawing again over the break. I prefer to draw animals so I like flipping through the National Geographic issues that we have around the house. 

New Experiences: Yoga

The impetus for going to yoga class is that I have been bored out of my mind at home. I didn't maintain connections with many people from high school after going to college, only the few that I really cared about. As a result, when half/most of those people are out of town, I am left with no one to hang out with (the sad reality of my life). Good thing I have George R. R. Martin's books but even that gets tiring after awhile.

And so I decided, why not try something new and maybe bring my best friends there when they get back later in the week? What's relatively cheap, non-commital, and doesn't involve just eating? Yoga! I searched the interwebz for some good, cheap yoga places and found Big Yoga. The people there were super friendly and I signed up for their $5 Flow class.

Disclaimer: I didn't take this photo and it wasn't from my class today but it was at the same studio

This was my first time doing yoga and I was by myself but the people were welcoming. The class was fast paced but by watching those around me, I was able to keep up. They keep the room at a sweat inducing 90 degrees so by the end of my one hour session, I was sweating from places I didn't know sweat could come from. Sounds super gross, but by the end of it I felt...better. I tend to over think everything and the class sorta just calmed me down. My body felt a lot better too- afterwards of course, not during. My thighs were screaming, my balance not at its best, and I was sore from exercising a few days ago but I left with the satisfied feeling of a good workout.

Also, brief interruption. Some of the people there...like damn. They weren't contortionists or anything but while I was busy hopping around trying not to fall and my hair was basically a bird's nest from the humidity and my sweat, others were graceful and concentrated.

Go ahead and try and hold this pose for 30 seconds. But with arms stretched behind your back instead of in front. I couldn't hold it for 15 seconds straight.

But I digress. All in all, this was a good experience and for only $5 it was worth it's value. If I can somehow convince my friends to go with me next time, I'm sure it'd be even better.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Game of Thrones Fan

I started reading the Game of Thrones series around two years ago. I don't have cable (and am too impatient to wait and torrent the episodes) so I don't really watch the TV series, although I've seen some episodes and they are really faithful to the books.

So I just finished the third book and I'm like auiongPIOFSDPUjfsadoi[h8eubdfjs;fds

Red Wedding, that is all.

George R. R. Martin is seriously running out of characters to write with if he keeps killing them off, especially the ones that I like. I bet he's laughing at us speculating about who eventually gets the Iron Throne because:

BUT ACTUALLY

Sigh, such is the life of a GoT fan. Starting book 4 because it's Winter Break and I have no life, I'm pretty sure the body count is going to quadruple. 

The Inspiration for This Blog's Name

My family has a subscription to TIME magazine and a few months ago I read a book review in its Culture section. The review was about the late David Rakoff's last novel, Love Dishonor Marry Die Cherish Perish. It is a different sort of novel, written in rhyming couplets instead of prose, a story told from different perspectives and characters.

It's beautiful. That's the most prominent thought that comes to mind when I think about this book. It is rich with vocabulary (so many words I had to look up) and rich with imagery, reproducing life on paper with words as it's medium. Rakoff writes in such a way that every emotion that a character feels is vividly defined, in such a way that a reader can connect and possibly imagine themselves as the character. It's a book with layers that I think are only visible with multiple readings, just as life is a layered tapestry made up of everyone's unique experience. 

While the book features the grim fates of several characters it still, somehow, maintains some sort of tenacious, witty optimism. In a way, I think this reflects Rakoff's outlook on life, which makes the novel resonate with me even more. Rakoff died in 2012 of cancer at the age of 47. Love was his last work and in knowing Rakoff's background, it is easy to see how he infused aspects of his life within this last labor of love. Most, if not all, of the characters possess some part of Rakoff's life or attitude; I guess in this way Rakoff lives on even if his body doesn't. 

But what struck me the most is that Rakoff, even while struggling through "a touch of cancer," never relinquished himself to the life sapping force in him. He was a prominent figure on the series This American Life, and one of the most popular segments he did for that series was an essay: "The Invisible Made Visible." He read it in front of an audience, a piece that explored the battle and effects of his cancer. Throughout it all, he maintained a sharp wit and self effacing humor. His cancer was his reality but he didn't view it with a defeatist, nor even a positive attitude. I think the best way I can put it is that he accepted his fate and made the best of what he had, choosing to live instead of to stay on a bed and wait to die, to let his fate crush him with it's weight. Rakoff, like a character in the book whose husband was paralyzed by a stroke, approached life with wit and whimsy. I have yet to read more of his essays, which I definitely plan on but it's the last line of Love that will stick with me: "She's standing and squinting, eyes half-closed from the sun / And laughing, delighted at what's still to come."