The apprentice

I had a nightmare yesterday. All the typical fears I used to have when I was still in school: Nasty teammates in a group project, crappy team project results, not being prepared for that one critical presentation. Except this one nightmare was special in one way: Donald Trump was one of the judges in the presentation. Yup, .... the Donald, with the hair, the wince, the attitude and the "you're fired" snapping hand movement.

Can't help but wonder if this is a sign that going back to school is not really a good idea for me. ^_^

Hock-a-lugie

This is why I love my friends from work so much. They are my dependable source for interesting vocabulary that are way more interesting than my dearly beloved Webster dictionary.

If it quacks like a duck,.... it is a duck.

(according to this Accounting professor whose class I had to take my first year in grad school)

I really enjoyed today's weather. For all I know, this statement alone could get me killed. ^_^
People were all bundled up from head to toe.... and as my colleague so eloquently put it: It's almost May for God's sake!!!

But really, there's no sarcasm intended in my first statement. I did really enjoy the weather. As I told my friends at work, I am just trying to "absorb" as much cold weather as possible before I head home to the hot and annoyingly sticky climate. Hey,..... I'll take today's flurries and bitter, cold wind anytime and anyday then having to deal with the heat, the stickiness, the sun and all that.

Anyway, here are some pictures from today's outing by the River Walk in Naperville in the wonderfully cold weather:


two to tango
-(chocoholic)-


Three musketeers
-(chocoholic)-


get a room...., man!!
-(chocoholic)-

Dunno what's going on but it's been one heck of a weekend for my roommate and me. By Monday morning, I was so drained from the blow that I couldn't even drag myself to work although I have to admit this wasn't the first time it has happened.

Poop happens. I know.

Sighting

feeling blue
-(chocoholic)-
Site: North Michigan Ave. ,across the street from Water Tower Place.
Time: approx. 4.30 pm
Object: Dustin Hoffman
Ratings: **/*****

I'm a survivor

I used to have lots and lots of dreams in my sleep and I kind of enjoyed them. I know some people might find them to be a bit tiring and disturbing to their restful sleep, but I look forward to my dreams.

I love my dreams, or maybe the ones I used to have, to be more accurate.

You see, in those dreams, I was a survivor.

I survived an alien attack with zombies who took away my family and friends -- think X-Files, Men in Black and Aliens 1 thru 4 combined (I don't exactly remember how everything turned out but I know I survived the whole ordeal). I survived a full-blown gangster attack (think AK47s in early 90s with Hongkong action movie setup) and actually managed to successfully get my revenge in a counter-attack I skillfully planned. I survived a blood-sucking dracula who had taken in the form of a nasty teacher in secondary school and who basically sucked the life out of everyone in school. I managed to miraculously acquire the skill to basically defy grafity and fly in some of these dreams(or float in zero-gravity-like style, depending on which dream we're talking about). I also survived some seriously major falls. Suicidal jump from an 8-storey high building, deathly falls from mile-high cliffs .... you name it and I had it.

Now, I can't say that I was a brave heroine who faced all the obstacles and adventures in my dreams with no fear whatsoever. In most of them, such as the dracula dream and the falling dreams, I woke up sweating and out of breath with knees so weak that I would have fallen flat on the floor if I had tried to get out of bed but who cares? I was a survivor.

I love those dreams because I got to see some people in them. I got to see my idols and even talked to them. I got to see people that I hadn't seen for a while. They were mostly old friends, though I got to see my grampa once. It was quite a while after he passed away. It was one of those family gatherings we used to have more when he was still around. He was sitting on a chair in a corner, watching my little cousins play and fight like any ordinary day. I saw him smile and I remember feeling he was smiling at me. He didn't seem to be in pain or troubled in any way. No sign of the pain he was in that I heard so much about. No sign of the awful cancer that he had. It was just him, the sweet grampa that he was. Well, maybe not that sweet. But he's one of the two best grampas in the whole world for sure. Gosh, I miss him so much. I miss his toothless smile and the way he chewed his favorite food -- beef (God knows how). I miss his plain white t-shirt with holes from the ashes of his cigarette (He used to get a packet of tobacco and roll his own cigarette. Yeah.... filtered stuff's for wimps I guess :P). I miss his glasses that were so thick I could only see his eyes in the morning right after he got up from a good night's sleep. I miss the late night suppers we used to have whenever both of us were at my aunt's place in Singapore (Roti prata has never been the same). I miss him and it's nice seeing him though only in my dream.

I wish I had more dreams nowadays. Or maybe I should say I wish I could remember the few that I have nowadays on some rare occasions. Most of the ones I have nowadays are not as fun as the ones I used to have, though. Mostly just some random events. None of those full-blown productions that I used to have back in the days, ... back in my youth.

It's almost 4 am now. I think I'll give it another shot. Who knows, I might meet my prince charming tonight. I believe I will definitely survive that dream, too.

Mr. Sandman,
bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him two lips like roses and clover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
- Mr. Sandman-

Moonstruck

One beautiful full moon over lake michigan
-(chocoholic)-

What do you call it when everything intersects?
.....The Bermuda Triangle!

-Sleepless in Seattle (1993)-

Happy St. Pat's day

Forgot to put on something green today... not that I have that many green items in my closet. In order to avoid further torture from a certain girl at work who kept pinching my arms, I had to resort to putting a tiny green paperclip on my sleeves .

Saturday night live...

Had a farewell lunch today with yet another friends who's leaving town. This time I didn't say good bye though. Instead I said : See ya' soon...!
I don't know why... The words just flew out of my mouth.

Went to see the Body Works exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday(http://www.msichicago.org/bodyworlds/index.html). It was very interesting.... Managed to successfully freak myself out within the first 10 minutes 'cause I kept staring at the eyes .... Within half an hour or so after that, I somehow successfully managed to make myself numb though. I managed to somehow touch a plasticized lung and a sliced thoracic plasticine, and can even calmly declare that the last display, the lady in the archer pose, was simply BEAUTIFUL.
The sliced plasticine of an obese body kind of freaked me out though. (Note: must revisit New Year's resolution items).

Got home to an extremely quiet apartment, sat down for a skype session with my mom and brother (and my dad for about 30 seconds before they had to leave), and then sat in bed through a whole DVD. Basically bawled my eyes out in doing so and all I can say is: Noah Calhoun, where art thou?

You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
- Snatch (2000) -

I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we still had a few fools left.
- Lady Bracknell ( The Importance of Being Earnest, 2002)-

NUMANUMAIEI !!!!!!

hahaha....
yeah... I know I'm kinda' behind, but who cares??? I'm afraid I am one of those who enjoyed the wonderful lip-synching performance by the 16-year old kid (still don't have a clue what his real name is: WAY TO GO KID!!! YOU'RE HILARIOUS!!!!! O-Zone should give you a commission!!).

Yeah... the past few weeks have been kinda slow that the video was really close to being the highlight of my week (Pathetic, huh?.. I KNOOOW!!!). What I found most funny was the fact that this kid reminds me so much of one of my good friends (GO, GIRBO! GO, GIRBO! :D).

Quoted confession of a Twixter

"You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone..............it just sort of happens one day. One day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this right of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for you kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place."
- Garden State(2004)-

Thanks Zach Braff! Personally I'm not crazy at all about Scrubs.... but BRAVO for a job extremely well done in Garden State!

a la folie...pas du tout

Found this explanation about the title of the film A la folie, pas du tout (He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not....) :

il m'aime ...
... un peu
... beaucoup
... passionnément
... à la folie
... pas du tout

Quite an interesting movie by the way....

I hate politics!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence:
You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others.Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel.You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations.A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict.You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

http://www.blogthings.com/intelligencequiz.html

You've gotta be kidding me.... I HATE POLITICS!!

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

New Year's resolution v2.0

Had Chinese New Year Dinner with my closest friends in Chi-town (minus spikey bro). Though it's nothing crazy like the reunion dinner my family used to have at home, I'm really glad we made it. They're basically my family here, far far away from home. (I luv ya guys!!)

My New Year's resolution v2.0 aka Chinese New Year resolution:

• Maximize my level of utility from consumption of netflix's service, i.e. must reduce dvd turnaround time.
• Maximize my level of utility from my SUPER BASIC french class, e.g. by improving my 'chicken-a**" pouting skills and maximizing the coverage of the "local, man-made rain" from trying to produce a convincing "r" sound.
• Maximize my level of utility from consumption of good fortune that's supposed to come this rooster year for all of us "snake" people.
• Maximize my level of utility from consumption of the remaining time that I have here in chi-town. Just as what I've been telling myself: This could very well be your last ..... here(fill in the blanks) , .... so enjoy it as much as you can! Who knows where you're gonna be tomorrow?

Fallen Angel?

Location : Morton Arboretum, IL
Me (Director), Myself (Stunt person), and I (Cinematography)

-(chocoholic)-

When...

"They say, when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up. "

-Big Fish (2003)-

The end of the fellowship?

I hate it when a good story ends. I hate those last pages of the novel when I really want the characters to stay with me. Or maybe it's me who really want to stay with them. I wonder how I'd feel when JK Rowling stops hatching those money-making golden-eggs Harry Potters of hers. I've always been a sucker for series, almost any series... I think simply because of this one reason: I don't like any ending to any good story. I don't want it to end. Period.

However, I do need to point out that the Edge of Reason sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary was a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE idea. The book was not even remotely as fun and enjoyable as the original. There you go... so I guess I'm a selective sucker for series and sequels.

When I brought up the subject of my leaving Uncle Sam for good, this one good friend of mine basically said: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
(Hahahhaa.... you're so funny, Miss M!)

Anyway, yeah.. I wonder if it is really the time for the fellowship to end this time. Though there's no ring to be destroyed, no raw-fish-eating-weird-looking- Gollum-like creatures around, no awesomely-cool-elf-archer to drool at and no throne to be reclaim from a crazy steward, it sure won't be easy for me when the time comes.

Wonder how I'll manage it. I really have no idea. Guess we'll just have to wait and see...