Where doth the time goeth?

It's been a really long, long, loooong time since I've posted anything on my blog. My apologies to all of my readers (hi mom). So now it is turkey season and they've started to play Christmas songs already (seriously cut it out) and I haven't posted anything since July. What the hell happened to me? Well, let me think. I get really lazy and I'm not really good about making journals. All of the diaries that I've every had (maybe 2 in my life time) have only max 3 entries in them. And that was during my glorious teenage years so it's mostly teenage dribble about how horrible life is, people I loathed, etc....typical right?

So what have I been up to you ask? Oh boy I've been up to a lot. Let me recap:

JUNE:

• I was part of Kimmy's bridal shower where Sam helped me make a really cute movie from all of her photos (circa 1980-present)
• Celebrated Sam's birthday at Ninja New York restaurant where we were served by
  clowns......j/k we were served by ninjas man!
• Participated in Freehold, NJ Relay for Life to support Dave and his family.
• Went to Will and Lindsay's wedding to see them get married at the Cloisters (lovely)

JULY:

• Spent the fourth with Theresa and Joseph, ate their yummy food, and watched the New Pornographers in the rain. I got a kick ass tshirt :)
• Sam got to go on a bachelor weekend w/Jason and Dave and go canoing and camping at Harper's Ferry....I wasn't allowed, even though I am closer friends w/Jason and Dave. It was always me, Sam. Don't you forget it you friend snatcher.
  
• Walked around Edgewater Park and got to see the underside of the George Washington Bridge. Pretty nifty.

AUGUST:

• Went to see Erasure...yeah I said Erasure....at McCarren Park Pool. Really cool venue in an old, huge pool.
• Went to the ballfields at Red Hook in Brooklyn for some really yummy Latino food and check out the waterfront. Cool warehouse buildings!
  
• Took part in Kim and Jason's wedding (my fourth tour of duty) which was nothing but beautiful.
  
• Helped my friend from work, Anna, move into her new place and ate at Song

SEPTEMBER:

• Holy moly....I went to my 10 year high school reunion. WHY? I touched base with one friend from school and a lot of people didn't show up so maybe next time I don't show up either! Not that I particularly even remotely enjoyed a minute of high school at all. Thanks for making my life miserable guys!
• Studio 1 bbq at my boss's farm in upstate New York. Cute farm.
• Went to a string of bbqs.
• Took part in planning the 6th floor party at my office. Pretty cool...red lights, black curtains, and awesome food....we had a whole roasted pig! Yummy.

OCTOBER:

• VACATION YEAH! Spent a week in Vancouver, Mt. Rainier National Park, Portland, and Seattle. Witnessed my friend Shannon get married to her moon god, Philippe. Ha, had to put that one in, since his parents were hippies.
• Halloween + Geraldine's birthday. I was a TGI Friday's waitress but some stupid people didn't seem to understand. People....

NOVEMBER:

• So far, I went to Wisconsin for this hotel project that I've been working on. Two have been built in Green Bay and Appleton (middle of nowhere) and they're really nice. Got to go to the Milwaukee Art Museum by Calatrava. Oh wow, breathtaking it is!
  

I went to Disneyworld!

I've been quite a bit behind with my posts, so here are a few (late) photos of my trip to Disneyworld with Sam and his friends, Justin and Kate. Justin and Kate had a timeshare down in sunny Orlando and they were looking for places to have their wedding (Tampa 2008) so they invited us to join them. I haven't been back to Disney since I was a kid in elementary school and it was me, my cousin Jiyoung, my mom, my aunt from Japan and her youngest daughter. It's gotten a lot bigger since then.

We went for four days about a month ago. Here are some highlights:



First day (and only day) at Epcot Center.















Is that somewhere in Mexico? That temple sure looks small. No....that's just the Mexican pavilion in Epcot. I got some awesome Day of the Dead figurines. It's funny that these were the only countries exhibited in the "World Showcase":

Mexico
Norway
China
Germany
Italy
American Adventure
Japan
Morocco
France
United Kingdom
Canada





An entire exhibit in the Japanese pavilion about these cool old tin robot toys. Sam was like a kid in a candy store. They were pretty neato (sorry Rachel Ray moment).












Here we are at the Seas (it's like a mini aquarium). Next we rode the Seas with Nemo & Friends and rode a "clamobile" through elaborate sets and screens to help Nemo's friends find Nemo.

















End of day 1. We had dinner at Friday's because we were starving and didn't want to look around too long. It's your typical Friday's, but they had an awesome balloon sculptor come around the tables. From left to right: a silver chopper, red teddy bear, yellow monkey, and a blue kitten. End of day one








Day 2.....MAGIC KINGDOM! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was ridiculously crowded and all of the baby strollers created so much traffic. Some of the kids sleeping on the Disney strollers were all sprawled out in weird ways that the parents looked like they were carting around dead carcasses. It makes sense though. Who wants to carry their kids around all day long in 90 degree heat? Not I.





We got to speed around a track with cars that couldn't get off a track. It was still fun. Although somebody kept tailgating me and tried to bump me from behind! Sam!












The updated Pirates of the Carribean ride. More PC and now with new animatronic Johnny Depp. He looked and moved very realistically, more so than the older robots. After seeing the movie you can definately see scenes taken from the ride. After every ride you're always dumped into the ride's giftshop. I wonder if you can buy the Johnny Depp robot? what?






Day 3 at Universal Studio. We only had time to do one and not the other half of Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure. That one had more thrill rides but this one was still pretty fun. It had all of the 3D movies, and rides that made you feel like you were in the movies. I recommend Shrek 4D, that was funny. Don't ride Jimmy Neutron, that made me a bit queasy.












I couldn't believe that they shut down the Back to the Future ride and were replacing it with something else! They still kept the Delorean out front, but now it's out of place sitting by its lonesome self. *sniff*











Me about to be chomped on by Jaws. Do I look like chum? After we took pictures we rode the ride which was a bit cheezy, but still it was fun. I found it fascinated when stuff got blown up and destroyed, after our boat passed the set, stuff would just jump back into position for the next boat. I liked that part the best.














The best ride of Universal Studios had to be Revenge of the Mummy! It was an enclosed roller coaster but there was a lot of variety in the ride. They had an amazing sequence where the ceiling lit up on fire and the effect was unbelievably cool. And then there were parts where you were speeding along a track in the dark. If I remember correctly your car also turned sideways and went backwards. It was too short of a ride, but if there are no rides I'd recommend riding this one several times!



Ah, the Mummy giftshop. Ridiculous? Or regal?
















I thought this was a funny scene so I had to take the picture. That's Kate and future hubby, Justin. We decided to rest on this fake grass amphitheater at Citywalk which is like the entertainment hub at Universal Studios. It has a bunch of restaurants, stores, and the parks surrounding this artificial waterway where guests from certain resorts can take ferries straight to Citywalk. After this we headed to Emeril's restaurant. It was pricey and the food was good, but it could have been better for that price.

I wanna leave Bennigan's

This has got to be the funniest thing I've seen lately. If you've always wanted to know what Eddie Vedder is singing, click on play! Here are the actual lyrics

Coney Island and alumni weekend

Sam and I went to Coney Island several weeks ago to see his creative director, Fred (aka The Great Fredini), swallow swords at the Coney Island Circus Sideshow for Alumni Weekend. It was actually a pretty fun day and it was warm and sunny. I've been a bit behind in downloading all of my photos, not to mention that my USB ports are busted and I don't want to bother getting my cheapo computer fixed (probably a new motherboard).

Anyway, It was a pretty short ride to the Coney Island stop from my apartment and as we exited the station there was this cool mural across the street.

















We stopped by Nathan's for lunch, but neither of us bothered to get a hot dog....instead, I got chicken strips and Sam got deep fried ocean platter.

















Here's Tyler Fire (fire eater), Thrill Kill Jill (contortionist/sexpot), and Eak the Geek (tattoo man) persuading us to see the Sideshows by the Seashore. This is where we saw The Great Fredini swallow swords, as well as a guy eating lightbulbs, one of the original Oompa Loompas (Jimmy), and the rest of the alumns.





















Ahhh....the Wonder Wheel. We rode the non-swinging car since I just wanted a peaceful relaxing ride. We got some views of the beach and surrounding neighborhood...the beach looked ok (i don't know if i'd swim in the water) and the area was very...GRITTY. It had it's charm though....I am a bit of a fan of crumbling brick facades, old warehouse buildings, factory machinery, and general urban decay. I guess I feel uncomfortable when all of my surroundings are so damn new. Must be why I love mountains since they've been around forever. But I digress...
















The last ride of the day, the Cyclone, or ye olde rickety wooden roller coaster from ancient antiquity. So it's not that ancient and it's not a ride for your gramma either. It wasn't necessarily that the ride itself was scary...ok maybe it was a bit scary. But I think it was more fear of death by flying off the tracks during the tight sudden turns. And damn does that thing shake! It was fun and I survived....but barely. I got a huge bruise on my forearm from the lap bar.

















All in all I had a fun time. I never got the chance to get my cotton candy, but there's always next time. Unless the next time I go it looks like this! Yowza....wtf? It's so commercializeds...and feels like Times Square or Vegas like the author mentions. I don't see why revitalizing Coney Island entails completely changing the character of it. Why does everything that's new have to be so damn neat and tidy? What's with the high rises too? And there's EEK again.....they keep popping up everywhere! Honestly, I'm still glad that I didn't accept a job there.

R-chitecture Rocks!....more like raps

Here's a great clip of my favorite kid show 321 Contact...next to Mr. Wizard. This one features R-chitecture!

You = my happiness....I = yo mama

This is the first time I've actually done this birthday thing for myself. It's scary how right these silly zodiac/numerology things can be....but it's so funny when it's really off too.

Your Birthdate: January 24

You understand people well and are a natural born therapist. A peacemaker, people always seem to get along when you are around. You tend to be a father or mother figure to friends, even to those older than you. You enjoy your role, and you find that you are close to many people. Your strength: Your devotion Your weakness: Reliance on others for happiness Your power color: Lilac Your power symbol: Heart Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Amazing Stevie Wonder drum solo

Stevie Wonder at his most awesome! I can't embed the actual video but check it out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCZv7786KY

The Shins at MSG

On Wednesday, March 14th, the Shins played their biggest live show at Madison Square Garden and they were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! The songs were performed really well, the background visuals and light fit the mood of each song perfectly, and I got to share this wonderful experience with Sam. So you can say it was a pretty perfect evening....except that I couldn't get a tshirt or vinyl because I didn't have any cash. Well at least I have the memories...and photos :)

Here's the set list from the night thanks to Yo55arian's blog site:

Sleeping Lessons (extended)
Australia
Pam Berry
Phantom Limb
Kissing the Lipless
Mine’s not a High Horse
Girl Inform Me
Girl on a Wing (acoustic style)
New Slang
Saint Simon
Girl Sailor
Turn on a Square
Gone for Good (unfortunately not acoustic!)
A Comet Appears
Know Your Onion
Turn on Me
Caring is Creepy

Encore
Pressed in a Book
Someone I Care About (a cover of a Modern Lovers song)
So Says I

Opening band...Viva Voce. The female guitarist was pretty bad ass and quite versatile with the four or five different guitars she switched around.

At last, the Shins! Loved the graphic and lighting....and especially loved James Mercer's shirt and tie. He means business :)

da Shins...

Hopefully I'll be posting some short video clips from the concert.

I like you for your personality

Take this personality test....are you a new wave puritan too??

My personality:

mood - sofisticat
fun - conqueror
habits - new wave puritan
love - love bug

Sunset Park

So, finally I have finished painting my apartment and putting shelves and pictures up. It's a little 2 bedroom apartment in Sunset Park at the corner of 41st Street and 5th Avenue which is at the corner of the park that gives the neighborhood it's name. The park slopes up and at the top of the hill you are standing at the highest point in all of Brooklyn. You can actually see over the building to lower Manhattan and even the Statue of Liberty...look carefully.

I have a roommate, Meg, who happens to be a friend of Sam's from SVA. She just got starter fish for her tank in our living room and we're hoping to have a housewarming pretty soon. It's cozy and soon I'll be posting pictures whenever I clean up my room and take them! My parents are visiting this weekend so it'll be really soon.