Let's introduce a little anarchy......
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Long overdue post.
It's been a while since I've had time to sit down and collect my thoughts and just reflect. Life in Los Angeles really moves too quickly for a twenty-four hour day. Everything is just do, do, and do, and when you want to just sit back and reflect on what you were doing, it's time to do again and you just get lost in everything. If there's something I've learned over the past two and a half years at UCLA, it's to cherish the downtime and the solitude and peace that comes with it.
Another thing I've learned is to cherish my family. You take them so much for granted when you're living at home, it's actually kind of odd to see myself bugging my mom instead of the other way around to see how she is. She actually gets annoyed of me since all she just wants to go back to her obsessive-compulsive e-mail checking. Oh well, c'est la vie. The last time I got to see my entire family was Thanksgiving weekend when we went up to La Verne's place in Seattle. If there's ever a reason to be my girlfriend, boyfriend, adopted sibling, half-cousin twice removed, or to have any other conceivable connection to my family, it's for the food. I don't know when it started, but my family get-togethers always require extra-intense workouts at the gym afterwards because all we do is feast. Let me elaborate.
My brother in law has been experimenting with his own charity project where he cooks a fabulous dinner for some of his friends, collects however much they would expect to pay at a real restaurant, collects corporate matching, and donates it all to a food bank. I was fortunate to make it in time to Seattle to participate in this great idea. It's really an innovative idea, and sounds like a great way to give back to the community especially in these more difficult times. Following my first taste of Fishes and Loaves, we got to have yet another awesome Sheu Thanksgiving®, where we had about 24 plates planned out, but were only able to serve and complete 20 because everybody got too full by then. Following that we were just able to enjoy some quality time with each other at the park and enjoy Black Friday in Seattle. Interesting Rain City tidbit: On Black Friday, people go to R.E.I. for the sales instead of going to the mall like Californians do. Because of that, the little shopping center that my family went to was as crowded as Oakridge or Valley Fair on a normal shopping day, which was pretty amazing to me.
On a quick side note, it's interesting to see different cultures of every major city. During my various visits to the east coast, namely New York City, many of the people dress warmly in very fashionable peacoats, while people from Seattle just dress in rugged Northface outerware and drive economical and enviromentally-friendly vehicles. Meanwhile, Los Angeles cityfolk just wear t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops in the middle of December while driving Escalades and Lamborghini's.
Tomorrow, my parents are leaving for Tokyo for a two week vacation. Notice how only my parents are going. Yes, this is implying that I'm going to be home alone for Christmas and New Year's, or rather I was going to be. Thankfully both of my sisters have graciously decided to give me some company and are returning to their Bay Area hometown. We were all kind of shocked when we found out that they were going on a vacation without the rest of us, since usually they do decide to bring us along to Alaska, or San Diego, or wherever. It's cute to see them being more independent now that I'm in college and they finally have some time to themselves, since they never really had any once my oldest sister was born right after they got married. I think La Verne took a hint from that, since she's been married for over five years now and she still doesn't have any kids (and she's getting old too!). I'm probably dead for writing that. As cute as my parents are getting, it was a little unsettling at first to see them a little...happier? I don't know what other word to use to describe it, but it was kind of gross. But hey, who am I to judge, they're my parents and they love each other, even if it does make their three kids a little disturbed.
It's good to be home. Hope all of you loyal readers have a safe and happy holidays. God bless =]
Another thing I've learned is to cherish my family. You take them so much for granted when you're living at home, it's actually kind of odd to see myself bugging my mom instead of the other way around to see how she is. She actually gets annoyed of me since all she just wants to go back to her obsessive-compulsive e-mail checking. Oh well, c'est la vie. The last time I got to see my entire family was Thanksgiving weekend when we went up to La Verne's place in Seattle. If there's ever a reason to be my girlfriend, boyfriend, adopted sibling, half-cousin twice removed, or to have any other conceivable connection to my family, it's for the food. I don't know when it started, but my family get-togethers always require extra-intense workouts at the gym afterwards because all we do is feast. Let me elaborate.
My brother in law has been experimenting with his own charity project where he cooks a fabulous dinner for some of his friends, collects however much they would expect to pay at a real restaurant, collects corporate matching, and donates it all to a food bank. I was fortunate to make it in time to Seattle to participate in this great idea. It's really an innovative idea, and sounds like a great way to give back to the community especially in these more difficult times. Following my first taste of Fishes and Loaves, we got to have yet another awesome Sheu Thanksgiving®, where we had about 24 plates planned out, but were only able to serve and complete 20 because everybody got too full by then. Following that we were just able to enjoy some quality time with each other at the park and enjoy Black Friday in Seattle. Interesting Rain City tidbit: On Black Friday, people go to R.E.I. for the sales instead of going to the mall like Californians do. Because of that, the little shopping center that my family went to was as crowded as Oakridge or Valley Fair on a normal shopping day, which was pretty amazing to me.
On a quick side note, it's interesting to see different cultures of every major city. During my various visits to the east coast, namely New York City, many of the people dress warmly in very fashionable peacoats, while people from Seattle just dress in rugged Northface outerware and drive economical and enviromentally-friendly vehicles. Meanwhile, Los Angeles cityfolk just wear t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops in the middle of December while driving Escalades and Lamborghini's.
Tomorrow, my parents are leaving for Tokyo for a two week vacation. Notice how only my parents are going. Yes, this is implying that I'm going to be home alone for Christmas and New Year's, or rather I was going to be. Thankfully both of my sisters have graciously decided to give me some company and are returning to their Bay Area hometown. We were all kind of shocked when we found out that they were going on a vacation without the rest of us, since usually they do decide to bring us along to Alaska, or San Diego, or wherever. It's cute to see them being more independent now that I'm in college and they finally have some time to themselves, since they never really had any once my oldest sister was born right after they got married. I think La Verne took a hint from that, since she's been married for over five years now and she still doesn't have any kids (and she's getting old too!). I'm probably dead for writing that. As cute as my parents are getting, it was a little unsettling at first to see them a little...happier? I don't know what other word to use to describe it, but it was kind of gross. But hey, who am I to judge, they're my parents and they love each other, even if it does make their three kids a little disturbed.
It's good to be home. Hope all of you loyal readers have a safe and happy holidays. God bless =]
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