A Country Weekend

Weekend before last I left behind my comfy city life and internets for the country in Owensboro, KY. My friend Rachel was having a wedding shower. I carpooled with my friends Cassie and Matt. Matt and I were ashamedly late arriving to Cassie's apartment; thankfully, she was not too upset with us and did not give her teacher lecture. Despite the fact I was responsible for being late, I placed the blame on Matt saying he had to change four times before we left his apartment (note: he came up with the excuse and gave me permission to use it). Cassie drove to Owensboro as she was an expert at navigating back roads and had a car that would actually make the trip. The scenery was really pretty; we saw lots of farms with HORSES (yes, I'm still a 10 year old girl who gets excited at the sight of horses).

We only got lost a little bit due to missing/poorly placed signs and some street address confusion. We arrived at Rachel's and chilled for a little bit, playing with her kitties and puppy. Then we went out to the Bridesmaids luncheon at a new, slightly fancy international restuarant. I ordered a Mahi Mahi stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese served with pesto fries. The food was good, albeit the portion was rather small. Not having eaten all day, I was still starving. Cassie felt the same; we went to the Dollar General right after lunch to get cards and wrapping paper, but also bought a big bag of pretzels to share. We went back to the house where Rachel gave us our bridal party gifts; she gave me a spangly, bohemian necklace & earring set.

We hung out a little more at the house until it was time to go out to her Grandpa's (on her dad's side) house way out somewhere in the country further than we were before. The house was beautiful with the most fabulous screened porch and gazebo ever! There were also horses and barn kitties present. We ate a great dinner of ham, other stuff, and the best baked beans in Owensboro (that Rachel's dad made it a point to pick up personally). Rachel opened presents, and everyone just sat around drinking and talking the rest of the night.

We got to the swanky hotel Rachel's parents put us up in late that evening. Matt and I went in ahead of Cassie (she was doing something important, can't remember what). Matt mentioned how nice he felt in his business attire and it looked like he just came from an important business conference. I said to him, "Matt you know it looks like we're having an affair now right. We're both in business attire and walking into a hotel together. Men only go to business conferences to have affairs, you know." We had a good laugh over it. The next morning we got up early to eat breakfast and go to church. Cassie left super early for choir practice. That left Matt and me to get ready around the same time. I told Matt when we were both getting ready in front of the bathroom mirror, this was married couple behavior, and I fully expected him to leave his imaginary wife for me. As we were leaving the room, Matt said, "Damn, it does look like we had an affair. We're both leaving the room and getting in the elevator without looking at each other."

Rachel's church is a Methodist church. All of us joked about Matt and I being Catholic and not having been to Protestant church but once. We needed a little instruction as to what the proper behavior was. Rachel warned us her preacher was really wacky, and told us not to judge all Methodists/Protestants by him. The preacher made obvious jibes at Catholicism talking about the Sacrament; he compared Catholics to pagan heathens. He then went on random tangents about spiritual and physical gifts/talents and something about football; I got kinda lost in the Southern church metaphors. We all chuckled in church but refrained from inappropriate behavior since Rachel was getting married in the church and with many of the same people present (who were all very nice, I might add). I think the most notable moment of the service was when Cassie and Rachel sang a duet together; it was such a pretty number.

Following church we got lunch from Ritzy's; it's a local Steak-n-Shake type place that Cassie kept raving about for its cherry amaretto shakes. We took the food and at Rachel's aunt's farm. This was the first time I'd been to a real farm. We went to the pond and saw giant Coi and Catfish. There were chickens and Guinea fowl wandering all about the place. There was a really nice dog and barn kitties galore (all of whom where either black, black & white, or gray)! The barn kitties were really sociable unlike the ones we saw the previous night. We saw a momma goat and her two babies. We got to hold baby chicks (one had just hatched that morning)! The best part was when we got to pet the horses! There were five total, and one was a six-month-old colt! I probably acted like I was an elementary school kid the way I was squeeing and getting all excited about the animals.

We eventually had to leave to get back to the church for the second wedding shower. The basement was decorated to fit Rachel's western theme. We played some fun shower games, snacked, and watched Rachel open presents--best of which was the infamous "Ugly Bowl" which had been in her family for a long time. Rachel vowed to turn it into something beautiful. I said, "Rachel you can bedazzle it!" She said, "I'll bedazzle it and give it to you at your wedding. It's time the Ugly Bowl found a new home." After the presents were all opened, Cassie, Matt, and I booked it back to Louisville where I gushed to Dustin all night about going to the farm and petting the animals.

Home Sweet Home

I have three places I call home: my apartment in Louisville, my mom's house in SC, and my dad's house in NC. So it's always funny and occasionally confusing when I say "I'm home!" Back from a few days at the beach. The weather was wonderful, and there were lots of lovely tide pools to lay and relax in on our last day. I met my cousin Emily's cousin on her mother's side (so I guess she's like an extended cousin by marriage?). Her name is Marianne, and she's from Germany! Her mother is Vietnamese, and her father is French. She's really nice and fun. Also met the two most adorable twin Vietnamese girls! They were adopted by a couple who used to live next door and is good friends with one of my uncles. They were so small and cute and reminded me of me and my sister when we were little.

Hrrrmmm...not much to say. Nothing too particularly exciting. Went crab hunting one night and caught a crab with my bare hands! I got pinched twice in the process! I still have the marks on my finger. The crabs were really small, they're not in season this time of year. My uncle caught one really large rock crab using a trap. Also, my cousin Khoa saw Andrew Zimmerman eat sand crabs/sand fleas when he went to Thailand. So my family dug up a huge load of sand crabs, battered them, and deep fried them. I didn't try one, but my cousin Kim said they tasted like a combination of shrimp and crab. Such is my family; they are pretty hardcore when it comes to catching fresh seafood.

Now at Barnes and Noble just chilling and mooching off the free wi-fi. Going to Golden Corral shortly; my dad says he likes the buffet there better than the Chinese buffet. The only reason to go to the Chinese buffet is the unlimited crab legs and sushi. Posting a few pics of the vacation, more later.

Vacation: Take 2

On my second and last vacation of the summer. I was actually somewhat reluctant to go because I'm kind of vacationed out after Florida and the cruise to the Caribbean. Also, I just started my new job at the KY Center, and hate to lose hours not long after I've started. This time, I'm on vacation with MY FAMILY--a bunch of crazy Asians all of them, no exaggeration. I flew out of Louisville this morning with only a 15 minute delay and made it just in time for my connecting flight to Augusta--yay for no extensive delays or layovers!

Once in Augusta, my sister and I went to Atlanta Bread Company for lunch. We came home, she ran errands while I talked with my mom and attempted to sneak in a nap which lasted for about 5 minutes max. We went shopping at the Aiken mall because it's tax free weekend in SC. I came out with a sophisticated, white blazer jacket for about $17 from Dillards. I'm picky about my clothes and am unwilling to pay over $20 for a polyester cotton blend shirt much less $40 on a pair of pants--granted it was buy one get one for $1! Even though it was tax free weekend and my mother was paying, if I wouldn't pay for the clothes with my own money why should I make my mom? Then again I doubt my mom would consent. I kind of wanted to pick up a cool book of essays on True Blood and Philosphy. I read one about Sookie and how she reflects the conflicts between feminists and the feminists movement. It's philosophy "lite" and geared toward a much more casual, albeit educated audience--definitely not towards academics.

Tomorrow, my sister and I are driving to NC and will not be getting lost this time, especially because we are leaving early in the morning! We are going to see our Dad and all our relatives on his side. Monday, we're heading to the beach for several days (more driving); everyone's already there and waiting for us. I'm going to tan, enjoy listening to Vietnamese karaoke going on ALL DAY, hang out with my cousins, eat twenty times a day, and oh yeah, swim in the ocean and maybe read more of Pillars of the Earth. 

Hello, I Left My Brain in Faerie World

So last Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet one of my favorite writers, Holly Black. Dustin and I drove to Lexington to Jospeh-Beth Bookstore which was huge, gorgeous, and AH-MAY-ZING! I had one of the best moments of my life and one of the most embarassing. The book talk started at 7:00 PM, and we arrived a little late. I was surprised to see another person talking and standing next to Holly. I didn't know she was touring with another author. I originally thought it might be her agent or a PR person, but I quickly realized she was another writer of urban fantasy. Holly and the other writer began talking about their books and read excerpts from one of their books.

I went over to Dustin and quietly asked him to look up on his phone (he has the internet) who the second writer was. He looked it up and told me it was Cassandra Clare. I was a little puzzled because the book being talked about by the second writer didn't seem like any of the books published by Clare; Dustin mentioned she had said something about writing a prequel. So, I thought "Okay, maybe it's really new, and it's not on her site yet."I was kind of excited because I've been meaning to read Clare's books.

My attention went back to the talk, and when the time came for questions, I asked Holly Black, "Did you ever consider an alternate setting for Tithe because your faeries are very Old World, mysterious, violent, merciless as opposed to the modern, kind of 19th century faeries which are kind, benevolent and beautiful?" She responded, "No. I chose New Jersey because I lived there and it has these old, beautiful, rundown buildings in midst of this new, modern city. My mom and I actually broke into one of these old buildings. We found these beautiful, old carousel horses in one; my mom was a painter and wanted to take photographs of them so she could paint them. I liked the idea of these old creatures living in these rundown buildings in this city. So it made it more real, like you could actually spot them out of the corner of your eye." Some other cool info I learned, is that Tithe took five years to write; it was her first novel, and she struggled writing it and learned a lot. Tithe has also been picked up for a movie--though, I'm uncertain what to expect; crossing my fingers.

Eventually, everyone got the chance to meet and greet the authors and have books signed. I brought with me Tithe and purchased, Holly's new book, White Cat. I gave them to her to sign and talked with her. I told her, "I remember when Tithe first came out, and I loved it. I waited so long for Ironside [the sequel]." She was like, "I bet." There were five years in between the two: 2002-2007.  I meant to get a photograph; Dustin had my camera and everything, but I completely forgot.

I was going to pick up a book out of the second author's series on the table, entitled The Demon's Lexicon and ask the second writer to sign it. However, thinking it was Cassandra Clare, I had told Dustin before we got to the table, I'd like to have the older books (like I said earlier, I thought these were a prequel), such as City of Bones. Then I changed my mind and was going to get one of the books on the table signed, but Dustin was insistent I get City of Bones--he went and found it. So I tell the second writer hello, and say she's been on my to-read list for a while. And Dustin puts the book on the table, she looked puzzled, and nicely said, "That's great, but um, I didn't write that book." I thought, "OH NO! I just made a total idiot of myself, she probably hates me now because I don't know who she is." I profusely apologized, and she just smiled, laughed, and said it was no big deal.

I played it off well though, shifting the blame to Dustin. I said he had told me Cassandra Clare was touring with Holly. And Holly said, yeah the online site had said that, and they were originally, but something changed. I talked to the second writer, who's name was Sarah Rees Brennan, about YA fiction. I said, "I think YA fiction has some of the best stories. I'm 24, and kind of used to be embarrassed because I love YA fiction. However, reading more and talking to people (on book blogs), I realized so many other older people read these books." Sarah agreed with me. Holly added that she believed 90 percent of their readers were adults. We talked a little bit more about Zombies--relating to the current war among writers: Zombies VS. Unicorns; Sarah was Team Zombie (as was Dustin) and Holly and I were Team Unicorn. There's a book called Zombies VS. Unicorns coming out which Holly Black and several other writers duke it out in the form of short stories.

I left feeling exhilarated and embarrassed. I thought about getting the correct book and asking Sarah to sign afterward, but then I felt like, "Nah. I'll get it later, read it, and then twitter her saying 'Hey, I'm the girl who brought you the wrong book to sign, but I read your book now and loved it.'" I'm quite sure I will enjoy her books. As we were leaving the book signing area and going up the escalator, we turned around and saw a big banner that said "Welcome Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan." Felt like a big doofus. I met Holly Black and discovered a YA urban fantasy author, and that's the important part.

Travel Can Be a Little Creepy

So I'm home in SC for the second day. I got here on Friday around midnight. My flight got delayed before I even left Louisville, and I barely made it in time for my transfer flight from Charlotte to Augusta. My luggage didn't make the connection, and I had to wait an hour to figure it out and report my luggage missing. But that's all minor inconveniences. Usually on trips there are always annoyances like small, screaming children who don't shut up or kick the back of your seat or extremely fat people who take up more than one seat--spilling into yours.

The trip from Charlotte to Augusta, I was seated next to a creepy, drunk old man. At first I thought he was just really friendly, he gladly got up from his seat to let me into mine. He shook my hand and introduced himself. Then he asked where I was headed to. I told him Aiken, and he said he was too--specifically a town named something like Graville which was a mill town. Again, I thought he was just overly friendly and chatty, until I smelled his breath which stank of beer and alcohol. Then he kept repeating things, asking the same question about where I was from and proceeding to tell me where he was from. He also offered to buy me a drink right off the bat. He said, "Do you drink? Of course you drink! I'll buy you a drink!"

He proceeded to invite me to come over and visit his place sometime, which is apparently huge. He couldn't figure out how to lean the seat back, and asked me how to do so. I told him there should be a button on the side, but turns out there wasn't one. I told him he should pull down the middle arm rest because the button might be there. Really, I wanted it down to separate our seats because he was a little too close for comfort and his coat was stuffed halfway in my seat. He was perpetually trying to push and lean the seat back, asking everyone around how to do so, ignoring the fact he wasn't allowed to lean it back during take off, and finally gave up.

I tried the defensive reading tactic, but he leaned over and asked what I was reading. I told him just a novel. Finally he passed out. He was more of a nuisance up until we began our descent--that's when he got creepy. The fasten seat belt sign comes on, and the stewardess's voice comes on the intercom telling everyone to buckle up. He looks around for his seat belt, looks over at me, asks "Is your seat belt fastened?" and proceeds to reach over and try to grab and adjust it in my lap!!! I smacked his hand away, telling him I was fine. He looked around again for his seat belt, he found one half but not the other. He asked me, "Where's mine?" I was like, "I don't know [fuck off you creepy old man]" The brackets part is what I said internally. I was ready to punch the old man in the face if he tried anything again. Thankfully, he just fell back asleep for the next twenty to fifteen minutes it took us to land. I got off the plane and away from the old man as fast as I could.

California-Nia...

Is nice to the homeless... I love the South Park episode: Night of the Living Homeless. Their version of 2Pacs California Lovin' never fails to crack me up. Though I doubt the area of CA where all the wedding stuff is taking place is nice to the homeless. My mother is snoring like a beast; my sister is snoring too, but she sounds more human. I slept for maybe three or four hours. My body is all out of whack going from KY to CA.


Vacations for my family 8/10 times always end up more stressful, boring, and unfun than relaxing, exciting, and fun. Currently, we're in CA for my aunt Hanh's wedding. We had a to rent a car and drive ourselves around. This is really difficult because 1) we forgot the GPS 2) we're not from here 3) my aunts that live here are not much help because they are too busy running around with wedding stuff to drive us or guide us to locations. Thankfully, we discovered my mom's phone has a GPS system, and we can try it out for free for 30 days. My poor mom is so disoriented, frustrated, and stressed out. Thankfully, my aunt from Arizona and her family are staying in the same hotel as us. They're more comfortable and familiar with driving around the area, so we can follow them.

The rehearsal dinner tonight was at an Italian restuarant called Vero's. I was expecting a big, hearty pasta dinner. However, none of the dinner choices included pasta except the kids; they got to eat Bolognaise which looked really good. I ate red snapper in a tomatoe sauce (not like spaghetti tomatoe sauce); not bad, subtle flavor, but I really was craving pasta. I think the best part of the meal was dessert: tiramisu and cappucino. I keep thinking of the movie Super Bad (awesome movie by the way): When am I going to fucking need to know how to make fucking tiramisu! The actual quote according to IMDB is

"Look, we all know home-ec is a joke - no offense - it's just that everyone takes this class to get an A, and it's bullshit - and I'm sorry. I'm not putting down your profession, but it's just the way I feel. I don't want to sit here, all by myself, cooking this shitty food - no offense - and I just think that I don't need to cook tiramisu. Am I going to be a chef? No. There's three weeks left of school, give me a fuckin' break! I'm sorry for cursing."

It's kind of fun being with all my family. My cousins look so different; the last time I saw my cousins Nathaniel and Jonathan--they were both smaller. Nathan is now super tall, with long hair, and still very opinionated just on things like religion and politics. He likes arguing and doesn't  mind going up against the entire family when they're all start harping him about religion. He was also the only person in my family to know that Old English is Anglo-Saxon English and to be impressed by the fact I could read and translate it. Jonathan still has a baby face and looks so precious. He's twelve--too old for me to scoop him up, hug him, and kiss him. My cousin Theodore looks way different with a shaved head and long beard. I didn't even recognize him. I thought to myself, "who is this slightly creepy looking guy sitting at our family's table?" Then my aunt said this is your cousin, "Theo." "Oh...way to go..." was my mental response I think it's funny how my aunts think it's necessary to introduce me to all my relatives like I've never met them, even my grandparents--granted, I haven't seen them in over ten years.


Today is the wedding day. I love weddings and analyzing their different styles. I'm looking more forward to the reception. From what I've been told, there will be lots of good booze, 80s music, and dancing. The second is the most important factor to me because I can't drink heavily due to being small and Asian.

I'm seriously considering sleeping out in the lobby area of the hotel. There's a large solid but comfy wooden bench. There's a cushy couch in the front desk area...somehow I don't think the hotel manager would appreciate or allow me to sleep there long. My sister suggested the cushy lounge chairs in the pool area. I also thought about the bathtub in our room. Dustin tells me from personal experience that bathtubs are actually very comfortable. The door almost completely blocks the sound of my mother's snoring.

I feel like I should make a more interesting blog post than this. I actually made a lot of notes in my head during dinner about snarky and amusing things to say about the meal and guests. However, I feel they're more suited to actual conversation rather than blog post. I think I'm going to continue eating my pack of goldfishes and read a fantasy novel until I start feeling sleepy or finish the book.

One Week and Three Days...

I've been back in Louisville now for two days. Getting back was a mess. My flight from Columbia to Atlanta got delayed causing me to miss my connection. Luckily the airline was able to book me on another flight at 7:20 PM. I was stuck in the airport for about 4-5 hours. At least Atlanta's airport is nice and filled with lots of good restaurants, though I was not please with the quality of Sbarrao's I ate at. My slice of pepperoni pizza had too few pepperoni's to merit the price, and it was lukewarm to boot. However, I was too cranky & hungry to do anything but eat it.

Dustin picked me up at the airport, and we went to see Ponyo. I ate nachoes; I got two containers of cheese at no extra cost! The movie was adorable! It had some flaws to it and lacked a bit of epicness that was hinted at. I loved Lisa, the mom of the little boy Sōsuke, My favorite Miyazaki film, of the three I've seen, is Howl's Moving Castle--beautiful animation, music, fantastic epic story and great cast. After the movie, I felt majorly tired. We went through White Castle's drive-thru and home to eat. I went to bed pretty early.

It's becoming more real and comfortable being back in Louisville. I almost didn't recognize the place when I first landed. That tells you how disoriented I've been of late. My whole life seems to have existed in SC only the past week. I'm getting back to routine. I went to work today and start class tomorrow. I felt that little, heavy, knot in my chest that I first felt. However, after talking with Trena, a good friend and girl I work with, about stuff I felt better. I love Dustin; he's certainly great to talk to, however sometimes it's not enough to talk to him--mainly I need a girl friend. I'm letting go slowly. Sometimes the knot and a terrible ache will come up, but I find some way to make it go away. I sorely miss my family; I never have wanted to move home until now. My mom would be mad as hell if I did though. And I realize I have a responsibility to myself, to Dustin, to Lily (my cat), and my family; part of fulfilling that responsibility is finishing school and getting a real job.

Trena and I both talked about going back to church. She said she needs it to help her keep from wanting to physically hurt somebody. I think I need it for a little spiritual nourishment. I'm not particularly religious, but there's usually something comforting in church. I always admire people with strong religious faith, note that it's different from zealous religious faith. I generally live by the matra: just be a good a person, do good things.

So, now I'm done blogging. Going to get my stuff together for class tomorrow.

Bookstore Bliss

Bookstores always have a calming, happy feel to them. I know the ins and outs of each store whether used, new, local or chain. I weigh the pros and cons of the memberships of the main stores. Some people are shopaholics, go nuts and spend tons on designer clothes, shoes, accessories. All rules and budget ideas go out the window in the bookstore, especially if there's a good variety in the clearance section. Also, just simply being in a bookstore helps cure the blues and make you forget about life. It's a whole different world in the bookstore--each has their own ambiance. I bought the beautiful leather collector's edition of Wicked and Son of Witch (combined in one) for only $19.98.

I found a really great book which I didn't purchase, but am planning to. It's called More than Heaving Bosoms; it's all about the genre of romance novels and why women love them. I read bits and pieces in the store. It's so funny and doesn't make me feel guilty for wanting to read trashy romance novels or at least the smutty parts. One of the cool things discussed in the book is the transition in plot formulas from the 70s-80s to the 90s-2000s. The writers also have a blog called Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

Other books of note: 500 Manga Heroes and Villians and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane--the latter is recommended by Barnes and Noble and sounds really fascinating.

My other aunt from California is flying in tomorrow. It's becoming easier to forget somebody who really wasn't part of our family to begin with. My mom's biggest worries about the debt left behind have been eased; she's not responsible--thanks goodness. It's been the three of us for so long, and it's not hard to go back to it. I think it was the trauma of the event that made us all feel so horrible and sad. This is the last I'm talking/thinking about it today. No more. Hopefully, soon, I'll get to the point where I don't think about it at all.

Going back to watching the Starter Wife--I'm hooked. My sister and I rented it from the library and been watching non-stop.