Day 27: A (bad) Advice Book

This is a hilarious book of advice written by comedians like Sarah Silverman, Jim Gaffigan, Judd Apatow and many more. The book was inspired by Amy Sedaris' advice column in the magazine "Believer."

Here's an excerpt from the book (from Amy Sedaris' chapter):

Dear Amy:
I've been single for about a year now, after a long-term relationship fizzled. All of a sudden, I'm starting to get those codependency urges again. Should I suppress these unwanted  feelings without the use of pills or alcohol?


Sincerely, 
Looking for an Out Without Slipping In


Dear Slippy:
What's wrong with pills and alcohol? Are you judging me? Whatever helps me through the hard times is a-okay with me. It kills the pain. I hate it when people start spewing out BS like, "You're going to have to deal with it sooner or later." Well, not really, because by the time "later" comes, my problem will be over because of the booze and the pills. I'm not stupid. You codependent people are all the same! Are you selling any pills?

-Amy.


Now, this is my kind of advice book.

Day 26: Prickly Balls

These prickly balls and I have a bad history. Whenever I see them on the ground, I feel fear and anxiety.

These prickly balls have been the cause of not one-- but two face plants. I think in my teenage and adult life I have had a total of 3 face plants, the most recent one resulted in a busted lip (but that was not caused by the prickly balls). In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly graceful.

The first incident was senior year in high school on my way to an after school physics tutoring session. By the way, I had a huge crush on my high school physics teacher. I was purposely bad at physics just so I could go to his tutoring lessons. Just kidding. I wish that were the reason. Anyway, it was a cold fall day, much like today, and the prickly balls were scattered all over the ground. Instead of stepping on the the asphalt, I stepped on a prickly ball, lost my balance and got pushed further down with my backpack filled with books. I fell first on my arm, then my face. A freshman basketball player walked up to me and asked if I was okay. Talk about insult to injury. I scraped the back of my arm and I walked into physics tutoring bleeding. My teacher then offered me a Band-aid.

After that first fall can you believe there was a second one? This time in college. That's right folks-- college and I wasn't even drunk. The college campus was filled with trees and you know what that means, prickly balls EVERYWHERE. It was another fall (maybe winter) day and I was walking to my English class and stung by the memory of my high school fall, I kept reminding myself to be careful and not to slip on a prickly ball. Of course that didn't work as I slipped again and this time I fell even harder on my face. I am absolutely certain that I heard a burst of laughter coming from a distance. My face was throbbing and I frantically searched for a bathroom where there would be the least amount of people so I can see if I was bleeding. After I walked through two buildings, I finally found a ladies room to face myself in the mirror. The good news is that I was not bleeding, but my face was beet red and there were tiny rocks lodged between my teeth. Even then I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Soon the sidewalks will be littered with prickly balls again and I will once again be in fear of slipping and face planting whenever I make that walk from my car to my office or even when I'm just out and about. 

Beware of the Pricks.

Day 25: A Soup Kind of Day

First I would like to say how awesome it is to bum around in your pajamas all day and not do any chores, any homework or anything productive. That is what I have done all day and I loved (still loving) every minute of it. I was suppose to work on a paper that I have to present on Monday, but all I have accomplished is making soup and catching up on Dexter.

The soup was fantastic and super easy to make. I got the recipe from Tyler Florence's book called "Dinner at My House." The soup is called Dr. Tyler's Chicken Meatball and Cheese Tortellini Soup.

I modified the recipe a bit to make it even simpler. Instead of turning chicken sausage into meatballs, I bought the apple smoked chicken sausage that's already cooked and browned it in the pan I used to make the broth. The tortellinis are already pre-made and store bought.

The soup is delicious and smells so good. Once again, Tyler Florence does not disappoint. I seriously think I am in love with him.

Broth (with celery, onions and carrots) and the Apple Smoked Sausage

Drinking a cold beer while eating hot soup is kind of the best thing ever. 

Day 24: Thanksgiving and Heroes

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did. As usual I stuffed myself to a coma. I had to take a nap after eating.

This year's Thanksgiving meal was served at my step brother and sis-in-law's house. As you can see, they even put effort in the place setting and didn't go for the typical paper plates/plastic forks. We even had little pilgrim hats made out of cookies and chocolate covered marshmallows as party favors.

Let this be a lesson: Never go all out on holiday meals because your family will always want you to host it.
Lesson 2: Defrost a frozen pie the night before. I brought a frozen pie because it didn't defrost in time.

Another sort of tradition I have started on Thanksgiving is to watch CNN Heros. Every year, CNN honors ordinary citizens from around the world who make incredible sacrifices to help make a difference in the world. This year's winner is Anurdha Koirala, an Indian woman who started an organization that has helped rescue more than 12,000 women and girls from sex slavery.

For the past three Thanksgiving I have watched this event and it's a good thing I watch it alone because it always makes me ball my eyes out. I know, that is incredibly cheesy, but I just cant help it. Maybe it's because I've eaten too much, maybe it's because of that silver fox Anderson Cooper (he hosts the show). 

The stories are heartbreaking and inspiring and what I love most about them is how they help put things in perspective. Perspective is an amazing thing and it helps especially when you've had a bad day, a broken heart or are going through some other tragedy. One of the people honored this year is a man who spends his life removing land mines in Cambodia -- land mines he helped put in the ground when he was forced to be a child soldier. Now, doesn't getting yelled at by your boss, or getting dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend pale in comparison to what other people in the world are going through? I guess what I'm saying is that it is almost selfish to spend time moping about your bad day. For me personally, when I find myself doing that (and I do often), I try to put things in perspective.

Anyway, the CNN heroes are extraordinary people and they're attempting to inspire people like me -- stuffed, sitting on the couch, Facebooking and blogging about absolutely nothing.

Day 23: Anthology Magazine

I started subscribing to this lifestyle magazine called Anthology. The magazine was created by these two women based out of San Francisco.

This is the Fall issue. This magazine is quarterly and I love the cover of this issue.

This issue features the anatomy of a cute bike.

I have that exact headlight and back rack that I still need to put on my bike although I really haven't been motivated to because I haven't ridden my bike much and it's starting to rain and get cold.

Why?

Does eHarmony keep sending me emails about matches? I thought I quit their sorry asses a long time ago.

I have to admit I am sometimes tempted to join again only because I feel like I didn't give eHarmony a fair chance, that is I didn't use the service to its full potential. After all, I did not even go on an actual date. I don't know if that's because of my initial skepticism for eHarm or that I am just not dateable.

If I get a coupon or something I'll consider rejoining and if I do, I would like to make some significant changes to my "preferences" to limit the wife-seeking ultra-conservative cat-loving men. I wonder if that's allowed? Could I join using a fake name?

Maybe there is just no hope for someone like me in online dating (or dating in the real world for that matter). I may have become too cynical for my own good.

Day 22: Hair and Haiku

i dyed my hair dark.

sorry about the hair post.

out of ideas.

I actually got rid of my highlights -- highlights I've had since senior year of high school. I still have brown highlights because my hair dresser insisted on them. She said having my natural hair color all over would be too boring. 

I look like:

I'm on the run so I dyed my hair black (as a disguise)

I'm Mexican and no longer a "fake" Asian (as what my brother likes to call it)

I'm fresh off the boat

Explanation for the awkward pose: Trying to show the brown highlights.

P.S. I think I may have reached my quota for photos of myself for this photo project.

Why? - Social Network Behavior

I am seeking answers. Perhaps there may not be one, but I thought I'd start putting these questions out in the universe, so I'm starting a series of posts called "Why?"

Today's theme: Social Network Behavior

1.) Why do people write messages to their ex-boyfriends/girlfriends on twitter (or even facebook) when their exes are neither their twitter follower or FB friend? (p.s. I think twitter may be the new My Space)
2.) Why does everyone take photos of themselves in front of a bathroom mirror? It's not just any mirror either, it has to be the bathroom mirror.
3.) Why do women do "kissy" faces when posing for photos?
4.) Why do people post cheesy quotes as if we lived in a world of unicorns and fairies?
5.) Why do the all the dogs in my neighborhood insist on barking at each other all night?

Ok, that last one has nothing to do with social networking, but it is a nuisance that I am dealing with as I write this post.

Day 21: Movember

I'm done with my exams, I don't know yet if I passed, but I am just so relieved I am done.
Now, I will be much more pleasant to be around and now I can do the more important things like read everyone's blog, shares on reader, catch up on Dexter, bake cupcakes, etc.

I didn't get to take a lot of photos the past two weeks because I literally was stuck in front of a computer all day at work, and all night at home. I thought I'd spare you the photos of me in my pjs infront of a computer. Here's an old photo that I thought would be appropriate for this month.

November is Movember and it's for men's health awareness. I know I'm not a man, but the idea is to grow a mustache this month to spread awareness on men's health issues. I know that growing mustaches don't actually spread awareness, but whatever... I'm all for PR gimmicks.

Here's one for the men... they're alright.

p.s. Is it a bad sign that I went to the McDonald's drive thru in the morning on my day off to study wearing my pjs, no bra and birkinstocks with socks? I think I might be getting close to Walmart Shopper status. I need an intervention.

Day 20: Apple Hill

I said I would take a hiatus for two more days, but since I am having a really hard time concentrating studying tonight, I thought I'd share some happy moments from my Saturday at Apple Hill.

Apple Hill is the perfect place to go to get you in the mood for the Holidays. It's a stretch of Apple Orchards and Vineyards off of Highway 50 in northern California.

This photo was taken at Boa Vista Farms on an idyllic day.

Here's some strange crafts and products I came across while shopping for pies (btw, I bought 5 pies).

Now, you can smell hippie all year long. The ironic thing about this product is that it assumes Hippies bathe or wash up.

Creepy-ass clown made of buttons. Why?

My exams are Thursday and Friday so wish me luck. I feel like I have been in a rut the last couple weeks, then things were great early this week, and not so great tonight. I'm so looking forward for this week to be over-- in fact so much that I might even Facebook about how much I wish it were Friday.

Day: I can't remember I am so behind...

I'm taking a hiatus from this photo project for just two more days.
After I take my exams I will have my life back.
I miss watching TV.
I miss blogging.
I'm sick of making 3x5 study cards.
I'm sick of looking at them.
I'm sick of school.
I'm sick of sitting at a desk.
I miss laying on the couch.

See you all again soon. I have lots of photos.

Meanwhile, here is a photo I took somewhere along Hwy 50 and they (whomever "they" are) say that November is the best time for sunsets and here is proof.

I would like to find a great spot to watch a sunset before November is over.

Day 19: In Memoriam

Today, on Veteran's Day, I thought it would be fitting to visit the Vietnam Memorial at the State Capitol.
This memorial is modeled after the one in Washington D.C. One night I sat at this memorial and as I looked at the names, I had a grim realization that the hundreds of soldiers etched on that wall were all within the ages of 18-25.

There were a couple of families at the memorial paying tribute.

On a lighter note (and I am really really sorry if this is totally disrespectful or offending anyone), but here's a bonus photo of my friend M playing with her breathalyzer at this brewery called Rubicon. I confess I doctored up the photo to depict a drunken haze. She was at level .00-.03, so we are good.

M is going to be super mad I posted this. Oh well, no one reads this blog anyway, besides the three of you reading right now.

Day 18: Capitol Stroll

I attended a meeting at the Capitol today so the work day was not that exciting.

Anyway, there is nothing better than a walk through a park on crisp fall day.

Here are photos I shot on the way back to my office. I'm posting a lot of photos because maybe the quantity might make up for the quality of my post.

Benches that are often occupied by homeless.

I seem to be on a "bench" theme. Does it say Heart or The Art? I ponder this every time I walk by. (This bench is not exactly at the Capitol, but a couple of blocks away)

I saw John Voigt wandering aimlessly at the Capitol a few months ago. That was an interesting celeb sighting. He looked lost.

I thought I'd share photos people don't normally take at the Capitol. My Android phone's photo application is starting to be one of my most favorite things. I just push random buttons (and have no idea what they mean) and voila! The photos look great! I somehow feel like I'm cheating somehow. 

Day 17: The Fortune

I received two fortune cookies today. One from lunch at Panda Express (which btw has 35 cal.) and one from my boss who was given two fortune cookies from P.F. Chang's.
This fortune is from the one my boss gave me and this can be either good or bad. Usually when you add "in bed" at the end of the fortunes they work out great, but I'm not sure about this one.

Maybe this means that in the future I will be qualified to get free lap-band... time to shop for some slutty clothes.

My other fortune (my first one of the day) was something about being admired by my peers (in bed).

P.S. My big exam is next week. I'm overwhelmed and studying has consumed almost every bit of my free time, so, once it's over, I am going to get slizzard (whatever that means. I heard it in a stupid song, but it sounds fun).

Day 16: The Queue

So, I spent most of my class time and part of my evening organizing my Netflix queue into themes. For example, I put in a row all the movies about crazy people, then music and I will come up with more categories at some point.

I know what you are all thinking, I need to join eHarmony again.

Day 15: Fall Back

It's daylight savings today and although I love the extra hour of sleep, it's always strange feeling like it is later than it should be.

In complete contrast to yesterday, today was cloudy and rainy but I didn't mind this weather either. I love   spending rainy days indoors in my sweats watching movies or shows-- not that this is different from a lot of my regular non-rainy days--but when it's wet outside, being lazy inside is justified.

Another perfect rainy day activity is getting together with a friend to have some cocktails... err.. I mean bake cupcakes.

These are Chocolate Guinness cupcakes (recipe from a previous post) and Maple cupcakes (recipe from Martha Stewart).

What's your favorite rainy day activity?

Day 14: So Nice I Posted Twice

I love this time of year and the conditions of today couldn't have been more pleasant. Today, I went to my old college to get in some intense studying time in the library, specifically the fourth floor where talking is absolutely not allowed. I spent countless hours in that library as an undergraduate student. When I got to the campus, there were hardly any annoying college students around so it was nice and quiet. I loved it so much I decided to go for a stroll. I had forgotten how much I loved the campus during the fall because of all the trees and the fall foliage. I found myself a solitary table and studied outside. It was perfect.

Since it was such a nice day and I was on a roll with getting things crossed off my to-do list, here's a revealing bonus photo-- evidence that I may be one cardigan away from crazy-cat-lady status. I always say, you can never have too many cardigans and I have 41.

I was in the process of putting clothes away when I took this photo and I thought it might be fun to count the cardis. It wasn't. It just gave me more work to do.

Day 13: A Belgian Lineup

I am on this project to try different Belgian beers. I took a trip to BevMo and got this line-up of goodies. I have had three of them and two of them are fruity girly beers and I love them.

The lineup (from left to right): New Belgium's organic Wit beer called Mothership, Framboise Lambic (raspberry), Delirium Tremens (which I bought because of the cool bottle and the cute elephant logo), Blue Chimay and Fruli Strawberry Beer.

I chose Belgian beers because I like them and I was inspired by Design Sponge's post on a Belgian beer theme dinner party on a rooftop in New York City. What more could you want? Here's a photo from the Design Sponge website. If you go to the webpage, there are recipes for Belgian fries with walnut/bacon/blue cheese dipping sauce and clams.

Photos by Raya Carlisle. Styling by Bash, Please.

I realize that about 4 out of my 12 photos have involved beer. Hmm.. I am not sure what that says about me. 

Day 12: Elevator Moments

I apologize this post is going to be a bit whiney. The downside to this photo blogging is having to do it everyday. I blog when I am typically in a good mood (which I am most of the time) or bored. Tonight is not that night.

This photo is of me in the elevator at my work building. I was going to go into this whole thing about awkward moments in elevators because I think that is the place where a lot of awkward moments happen. I would imagine the men's restroom is also another awkward place. It can't be comfortable standing next to another guy in a urinal while you both do your business.

So, instead of me going on about my elevator moments, why don't you tell me yours. Are they awkward, horrific, comical, sexual (ok, but if it is, I don't really want to know every nasty detail).

Day 11: M.I.A.

The walk to my favorite coffee shop isn't like a typical boring 3 block stroll. Depending on the route I take, I often encounter people on the sidewalk smoking either recreational or medicinal marijuana, or I run into a long line of people waiting for free food at a church, or I take a quick glance at the sidewalk sale at this vintage/thrift shop.

One of the coolest things I see every time I go to the coffee shop is this awesome graffiti art of M.I.A. The best part about this is that it is hidden in an alley, which is where the coffee shop is located.
There's also a smaller similar artwork of President Obama on this same wall.

Kinda makes me wonder, why M.I.A? She's got more records than the KGB... (I'm quoting one of her songs incase you didn't know). If you haven't listened to M.I.A., you should.

Anyway, congratulations to me for passing the 10-day mark and congratulations to my friend S.D., for rejoining the blogosphere. She has also taken up the 30 photos in 30 days project. You can keep track of her photos over on Nothing Better To Do.

Day 10: The American

I have a confession, I hate voting. I know this is blasphemy coming from someone who majored in politics and somewhat works in politics. Before stones are thrown, I don't hate democracy, I hate the act of voting. I hate having to drive to my designated poll, which is often located at a community center or worse a school where there is never any parking. I also hate waiting in line and I really hate seeing all of the stupid uninformed people vote. Yes, I know I should do absentee ballot, but I like getting the "I Voted" sticker.

I also have another sort of confession. Whenever I go to the polls, it baffles me that they never check for I.D. and they never check for proof of citizenship. I myself do not actually have proof of citizenship, the only proof I have is a U.S. Passport. My parents became citizens when I was under the age of 18, so I was automatically a citizen however, I have no proof of that. My passport has expired and when I get it renewed I suspect there's a good chance I will get denied. When I do, I will have a great exposé about the holes in the government's immigration and naturalization system. I have voted at every single election since I was 18 years old. I think that's a Pulitzer worthy story.

On a different, but not lesser subject, my friend and fellow blogger Amber has decided to also do the photo a day challenge and I am very excited to see what kind of photos she takes. Her first post happens to be today and I think she picked a great first day. You can follow her progress over on The Grundmans.

Day 9: A Fair Weather Fan

Tonight the Giants won the World Series and I learned a new term, Slutty Sports Enthusiasts (SSE). I'll go back that in a bit.

Today I weighed out my options about going to class. Should I sit for a 3 hour lecture I won't pay attention to, or study for a big exam and partly watching the World Series? The latter won. I am in no way a huge baseball fan, I am only a fan when a local (in this case, semi-local) team is in the finals of something. I am also a fan of physically attending baseball games, but for the beer and the garlic fries (especially at AT&T Park in SF).

So, I stayed late at work studying. My co-worker also stayed late so we watched part of the game in my boss' office. We both know very little about baseball but we jumped up for joy and cheered when the Giants won. We later met up with some friends who knew less about baseball than we did. That's when I learned the term Slutty Sports Enthusiast (SSE). There were a couple of SSE's wandering around midtown "woo-hoo-ing" to strangers.

Now that I think about it, the Giants playing in the World Series has benefited me in several ways:

1. I now have an awesome new term to describe slutty girls in sports gear. (The term could work for a number of things like Slutty Bike Enthusiasts (SBE) or Slutty Videogame Enthusiasts (SVE). You get the point).
2. My bro-in-law who is a big giants fan is taking me and my family out for some delicious Korean BBQ.
3. Had a great excuse to miss class.

This photo is of a pumpkin that sits in-front of my bro-in-law's house.