Weekend Report

SK and I devoted Friday evening to Eagles football. We watched the football game and then headed over to the multiplex to watch Invincible. I was pleasantly surprised and I genuinely got caught up in Vince Papale's story. A small group of Eagles fans wearing jerseys and other paraphenelia was there being loud and obnoxious -- it made me miss Philly. They kept shouting at the movie and making funny comments. In a weird way, it made me proud to be a Philadelphian.

Afterwards, we went to an old-fashioned retro diner and had a milkshake and apple pie. Overall it was a very nice evening and I didn't feel widowed at all.












These are some pics from a daytrip to Point Reyes National Seashore with our friends BL/JL. As you can see, the weather was a little overcast, so no sunbathing for us, but we managed to have fun anyway. We visited a lighthouse and decided that it would be a lonely job to be a lighthouse keeper. And SK inspected the inside of a foghorn.

The highlight of our trip was probably the seal sighting. They were pretty far away from where we were standing, but we could hear them barking -- Ark! Ark! Ark! We did our best to imitate them and see if they turned to look at us, but no dice.

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Last but not least, SK and I had our first dinner party. It wasn't a big deal and we didn't go all fancy or anything (only had three friends over), but we both remarked at the end of the night, how nice it was to have our apartment filled with conversation and laughter. Our apartment is usually cold (unless we turn the heaters on), but the whole place was nice and cozy from the body heat of five people and the smell of good food.

Fan Death

My mom would always come in and turn the fan off on hot summer nights. It used to annoy me and I don't remember if she really explained why, except for some vague reason about it not being good for me... but maybe it had something to do with this weird urban legend:

From Wikipedia (free online encyclopedia):
Fan death is an urban legend that originated in South Korea, but has since spread to other countries in the Far East. The belief is that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, some people are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death." Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.

Who knew?

From Our Honeymoon....

Here's a couple random picures from our honeymoon.

We took this on the island of Capri, on it's highest point. I can't remember the name of the mountain (or peak), but we took these little chairs that were much like the lifts at ski resorts, except they were solo. So instead of hiking up, you just rode up to the top in this funny little ride. We were treated to some amazing views.

What we most liked about the top o' the mountain however was that it was so quiet and uncrowded. The town of Capri itself (in the picture behind us) is a humongous tourist trap and we were beginning to feeling like mindless lemmings that were following each other off a cliff. Once you get on the island, you're basically trapped with the other thousands of tourists that are visiting for the day, and they made you overpay for everything, include 1 euro for use of the bathroom.














Here's another picture from a museum in Rome. This is a humongous statue of Marcus Aurelius by Michaelangelo. See how small SK is? This is the same Marcus Aurelius from the movie Gladiator -- the great and noble emperor who Maximus (Russell Crowe) looks up to and was to succeed, until the evil son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) murders him. Yes, these people actually existed...I think. At least, I know Marcus Aurelius and Commodus existed.

It's sad that the extent of my Roman history knowledge comes from a Hollywood movie, but at least it was a good movie. More pics later....

Preparing for Football Widowhood

It's not yet the end of August, but I'm bracing myself for the oncoming football season when I will witness my new hubbie get sucked into the wild, wooly, world of the Great American Gridiron. I knew before we got married that he was a HUGE football fan and I've already been through one football season with him, so I know what to expect. Here's what I'm bracing myself for:

• Sundays after church will be largely devoted to watching football;
• intermittant fiddling with his TWO fantasy football teams;
• wild mood swings depending on the performance of his beloved Eagles;
• embarassing outbursts of Eagles pride in public places, including renditions of the Eagles song (perhaps even some solo performances in a town full of 49ers fans).

Already, this weekend will involve two football related activities. Friday night we'll be going to see Invincible, the Vince Papale movie. He's been looking forward to this movie since we saw the trailer before Superman Returns -- he got so excited during the trailer, I thought he was going to stand up and shout "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!" with all the hand motions. I had to semi-restrain him. And then Saturday morning will be devoted to the draft for one of his fantasy leagues. I think I may have to leave the house that morning.

I was expecting this, but I was hoping that it might be a bit subdued now that we're married. I'll have to wait and see. I expressed my concern of being widowed (especially since we now live far from my own friends), and his reply was, "It's ONLY 4 months out of the year!" I can laugh at his comment now, but when he pointed that out to me, it actually only made me more upset. ONLY 4 months?

Lazy Weekend

SK and I had a really lazy weekend. He was on call so we couldn't really stray far from home. It was a crappy weekend in terms of the weather anyway (it is seriously cold outside), so it was a good couple days to just stay in.

We watched a lot of the PGA championship on TV. Tiger Woods is amazing. He just wiped his goong-daeng-ee with everyone else's score cards. Inspired, SK and I went to the driving range twice over the weekend. I still suck and need to get some lessons.

SK and I are both quite happy to have found this driving range/golf course within a five minute drive of our apartment. The course is public, but it's pretty darn nice (newly renovated) and fairly affordable. Once I get good enough, I might give it a try.

Owing to the bad weather, we saw two movies this weekend -- Miami Vice at the theater and V for Vendetta on DVD. Miami Vice was okay, a video rental. SK and I both are big Michael Mann fans (director of Heat and Collateral), and while it was still in his signature striking cinematic style (dark, dazzling), poor performances from Colin Farrell and Gong Li really hurt the film. They play lovers and their relationship is totally unbelievable since they have absolutely zero chemistry. Also Colin Farrell looks bad in this movie. He's sporting too much facial hair and looks bloated.

V for Vendetta was a better movie. Very interesting. Done by the Wachovski (spelling?) brothers of Matrix fame. It has a political message to it of course, and you don't even get to see the main character's face, but I thought it was well done, even though Natalie Portman's British accent was a little off. Made me want to read the comic series. However, as a warning, it's fairly violent and is a dark interpretation of the future. Even when the good guys win, it's not all roses and sunshine.

Tagged!

This wasn't as easy or as fun as I thought it was going to be. It was too hard to whittle my choice down to ONE book. And pasting the pictures of the book covers is annoying. Computer whiz I am not.

One Book...
That Changed Your Life:

The Chronicles of Narnia. I was kinda scared of reading this book, since it had to do with an evil witch, a big friendly lion getting killed and kids my age going to battle and getting hurt. But it was the first book that made me realize that there was more going on than just the surface plot, i.e. the symbolism of Aslan, the old ways, and the Christian allegory that is weaved throughout. I recently realized what a big impact this book had on my life when I saw the movie and all my childhood heroes/heroines came to life. I couldn't stop myself from crying.

That You've Read More Than Once: ??? Many. As an English major in college, you kinda have to reread books and take them apart. There were a lot of books that I read when I was younger and then revisited as an adult. In junior high school/high school I liked re-reading Jane Eyre, because I could identify with the nerdy, quiet, plain-Jane main character and dreamed of a romantic Mr. Rochester who had the perspicacity to recognize Jane's inner beauty. Most recently, I reread The DaVinci Code because I wanted a vacation from my non-fiction book. It's not as exciting the second time around.

You'd Want On a Deserted Island: Just one book? Uh, I guess the Bible, but then I would reference books with me too. I find this impossible to answer.

That Made You Laugh: Lots. Even my last book, an autobiography of Katherine Graham, made me laugh. She tells a story of a how a Nixon government official who hated her after the Watergate story broke threatened to put her boobs through a laundry wringer if she purused the story any further. Somehow this quote was leaked to the public and some sympathetic reader who happened to be a dentist sent her a miniature breast and laundry wringer made of gold (used for fillings). She of course gave her editors and reporters at the Washington Post the green light to continue with the Watergate story and she wore these golden figurines as little charms on a necklace around her neck. TRUE STORY!

Some other books that made me laugh: Bridge Jones' Diary, Empire Falls (more of a chuckle-inducer rather than a gut-shaking laugh), Fever Pitch, Harry Potter books

That Made You Cry: I don't know why but books don't make me cry for some reason. A totally different story with movies -- just ask SK or anyone in my family. This book is the closest I got to crying. Oh and of course the Bible. Sometimes, I cry when I read certain Bible verses.

You Wish You Had Written: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I know the subject matter is a little gross, but the man was a genius and beautiful writer and I just wish I had his brain power. There would be societies formed to discuss my work! Also, I could reap the modest benefits of the movies that were produced based on this book. Or I wish I had written Pale Fire, also by Nabokov.

or

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I wish I could write like him. I wish I got to write about all the cool things he writes about. I wish I had his job.

That You Wish Had Never Been Written: Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I don't know why but I find this book annoying.

That You're Currently Reading: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke. So far so good. I'm about two-thirds through and while parts of it are creepy, there are a lot of moving parts that I hope come together by the end of the book.

That You've Been Meaning to Read: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro

That You Haven't Been Able to Get Through No Matter How Many Times You've Started It: Anna Karenina. Something about all those Russian names gets me discombobulated and eventually bored....

Reading

I spent a few lazy hours this morning reading my latest book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm not exactly a sci-fi/fantasy geek, but I do like some of the genre. Truth be told, I'll read just about anything. The book is along the lines of Harry Potter, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc. -- except a little bit more adult and moves a little slower. But I have faith that the author is just setting everything up in the first quarter of the book and things will soon all fall into place. This is the type of book where the author kinda creates an entire universe (like in Lord of the Rings) with all sorts of random footnotes and annotations.

So far, I like the book, but I just wish it would hurry up and get on with it. It's a little creepy because it has to do with magicians, but so far, the main characters are good (as opposed to evil) magicians. I could easily see Hollywood getting a whiff of this book and turning it into a movie.

I guess I just needed a change from my last book, "Personal History", an autobiography by Katherine Graham (former head of a media empire including the Washington Post, Newsweek, and various television stations). This is also a recommended read, although I found it interesting as a former reporter so I'm not sure if anyone else would be interested. I think it was on the NYT bestseller list for awhile when it was first released though. Here's a woman who led a very privileged life and hobnobbed with some of the most famous and powerful people of her time -- Kissinger, Kennedy, Truman Capote, Warren Buffett. She truly led a fascinating life. She talks about what it was like to be a powerful woman during a time when there were few women leaders. And while she remained devoted to her husband (who partly owed his position of power to her family's influence), the guy was an A1 jerk.

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I just wrote a paragraph on my systmatic way of reading the Sunday New York Times. When I reread it, I realized that I came off as a little obsessive/compulsive. So I erased it.

Anyway, the point I really wanted to make was that I would buy the Sunday Times for the magazine alone. Almost every article in this magazine is well-written and interesting. For journalists who write magazine articles, it is the creme-de-la-creme. Well... maybe it shares that spot with The New Yorker.

This week's cover story was on "microbesity and infectobesity". Basically, scientists are looking for other causes of obesity besides personal habits/dispositions (laziness, lack of motivation) and genetic causes (fat genes). Some scientists have found proof that microbes that live in your body (billions naturally colonize your body) may cause obesity in some people. Others are exploring the possibility that viruses could cause obesity. Interesting stuff.

Immediately after reading this article, I watched an episode of "Celebrity Fit Club" on MTV to dumb down my brain. It was a good balance.

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Lately, I've been missing my family. I can't wait for the holidays when we're reunited again under the same roof. I miss my dad and his drawn-out story-telling techniques. I miss how my mom cracks up at her own stories. I can't wait to see lil' GMK stumble around my parent's house like a little drunkard. And of course, I can't wait to have a "slumber party" with my sisters, piling into one bed and giggling in the dark. These days we have a new tradition of letting GMK pile in with us in the early morning. We create human borders so she doesn't tumble off the bed as she navigates the mountains of blanket and bodies (and whiffs of morning breath) created by her mom and aunties...

SoCal, Earthquakes, and Shamu

I haven't posted in awhile. We've had a series of out-of-town visitors so it's been keeping me busy. SK's sister was here for a week, hanging out around SF, vegging out and getting to know each other. It was nice to have company during the day, pick on SK together, and just veg out.

We even experienced my very first earthquake while she was visiting. It lasted all of 3 seconds and it felt like a large gust of wind was rattling our apartment building. My feet were propped up on our coffee table and I felt the whole table vibrate. Unfortunately, SK's sister missed the whole experience because she was lounging on the AeroBed and it must have absorbed the vibrations. I read in the paper the next day that the epicenter of the quake was in Sonoma County, more than an hour away, and measured a 4 on the Richter scale. No major damage, injuires or deaths. Whew.

We also took a weekend trip to SoCal (San Diego to be exact) to visit SK's grandmother. San Diego is a beautiful town with gorgeous weather. We wanted to take her out to do stuff around San Diego, so we went to SeaWorld. I really like SeaWorld, even though it's really sad to see those cute little dolphins, seals and majestic killer whales swimming around in their puddle-like tanks.

Before we left for San Diego, SK and I had been watching a BBC DVD series called Blue Planet about the vast underwater ecosystems. Yes, we are big nerds! But before you start pointing and laughing, you should try watching at least one of the discs (there are 4 discs in the series). It's amazing stuff.

For instance, the movie follows herds of killer whales as they hunt. I won't give away any details of the amazing footage the directors captured, but killer whales are cold and vicious hunters. There is a reason why they got their names! So, it seemed odd to us that the trainers at SeaWorld were depicting Shamu and fellow killer whales to be these cuddly, cute animals. I kept seeing the trainers diving into the tank with the whales and wondering when one of the animals would acquire a taste for wetsuit stuffed with Trainer Bob.

On the bright side, I really love dolphins. They are playful and SO smart. Blue Planet also captured some dolphin hunting techniques and they are just so clever! And they look like they're always having fun. If I were a deep sea animal, I would want to be a dolphin.